As dusk settles over Angeles City, Justin Cunanan prepares for another long night. While the rest of the Philippines sleeps, he joins millions of his compatriots powering a global industry that is now facing threats from both Washington and Silicon Valley. For the next nine hours, the 33-year-old will field customer service calls for a company based in the United States. The night shift is gruelling, but for Cunanan, who previously worked in hospitality, the benefits of a business process outsourcing (BPO) job are worth it. He has a five-day work week, premium pay for nocturnal hours, health insurance for himself and his family, and a monthly wage of 45,000 pesos (approximately US$770). Read more.

Could the Philippines’ flood-control corruption scandal engulf President Marcos, too?

At least 50 politicians and top officials have been implicated so far in what has been called ‘the biggest corruption scandal in history’

The Philippines’ “biggest corruption scandal” in history continues to rivet Filipinos as whistle-blowers implicate a slew of top officials, with the unfolding saga threatening to drag even the president into its 545 billion peso (US$9.4 billion) embrace. On Thursday, Filipinos in Metro Manila – from taxi drivers to building lobby receptionists and security guards – were spotted with their mobile phones tuned in to the Senate’s eight-hour hearing on the so-called ghost flood projects. In one dental office, an aide told This Week in Asia, “Sorry, there’s no music. Other patients requested to tune in to the hearings instead.”The live-streamed hearing drew some 2.7 million listeners across four channels, with about 847,000 people watching on the normally ignored official Senate YouTube account. Read More