LAST WEEK TONIGHT
WITH JOHN OLIVER
Welcome to "Last Week Tonight".
I'm John Oliver.
Thank you so much for joining us.
It has been a truly terrible week,
one that started
with two Jared Letos at the Met Gala
and then somehow
managed to get worse from there,
to the point that we're gonna do
something a little unusual right now
and that is two main stories.
Our first story tonight
concerns the fact that this week
saw the leak of a draft opinion
written by Justice Samuel Alito
that looks set to strike down
Roe v. Wade.
While the fate of Roe
may not have been a surprise,
the draft itself
was still a horror show.
The 67-page draft opinion is clear,
sharp and scornful,
declaring in its opening paragraphs
that Roe vs Wade "must be overruled"
and that the 1972 ruling "was
egregiously wrong from the start."
Alito dismisses the argument
in Roe versus Wade
that the right to choose abortion
is part of the constitutional guarantee
of liberty and privacy, insisting:
"The inescapable conclusion
is that the right to abortion
is not deeply rooted in the nation's
history and traditions."
Okay, but even if that were true,
which, by the way, f*ck off,
the Framers probably left off
the specific right to abortion
because they couldn't anticipate it
being such a massive concern.
I don't know why these particular
individuals didn't have abortion
on the forefront of their minds,
there must have been some explanation.
I can't quite place the exact reason,
but it is on the tip of my penis.
Alito wasn't just
deferring to the constitution,
he repeatedly cited some
other notable sources, too,
like 17th-century jurist
Sir Matthew Hale,
who once described abortion
as a "great crime".
But that is not all that Hale thought.
He argued that a husband cannot be
guilty of a r*pe committed upon his wife,
"sentenced two women
to death for witchcraft"
and argued young women
were the "ruin of families",
because they, and I quote:
"learn to be bold" and "talk loud".
While those beliefs might earn you
a Netflix comedy special called
"Trigger This",
they should disqualify you
as a scholarly reference
on the matter of reproductive rights.
This is not the first time that we've
talked about abortion on this show.
In fact, the first time
that we talked about it in depth,
we rewarded anyone for sticking
to the end of our story
with a video
of sloths playing in a bucket
that was almost criminally joyful.
And if you're expecting
something similar this time,
I've got some bad news for you:
those sloths are dead now.
All of them, two from heroin.
It's time to grow up.
We need to be able to talk
about abortion like adults.
When, as now seems inevitable,
this ruling becomes official,
there will be immediate
and devastating consequences.
And it is worth taking some time
to talk about a few things:
what this ruling means,
how we got to this point
and where we go now.
And when it comes to what this means,
it's catastrophic.
It'll quickly trigger bans
on abortion in these 22 states.
And if you are still unaware of just
how ubiquitous a procedure this is,
an estimated "25 percent
of women have an abortion"
and six in 10 of them
are already parents.
Some who get abortions
are survivors of r*pe or incest,
others might need one for medical
reasons, but also, just to be clear,
some will be seeking an abortion
because they f*cking want one
and this is very much
about them, too.
This a fight for people's right
to have control over their bodies.
It's about bodily autonomy.
The only time
it's okay to argue against that
is if the body in question
belongs to Elmo.
Because then, it is actually fine.
He literally cannot function
unless someone else
is arm-f*cking him from below.
But anything beyond that example
is just not okay.
And some conservatives have argued
that the reaction this week
has been hysterical, that this
is returning the issue to the states
and that people
do still have a choice.
This is not an opinion that is going
to undo abortion in this country.
States may put
some more restrictions on it,
but people have the right to leave,
they can go live somewhere else
where it's more of a free-for-all and
they can do whatever they want.
Okay, first...
"Where it's more of a free-for-all?"
Let's just get one thing straight.
If you move to Delaware,
you're not in some bacchanalian,
buy-one-get-one-free abortion paradise.
You're just in Wilmington.
I just don't want anyone
to be disappointed when they visit.
But also, it's not about merely having
the right to go somewhere else.
It's about whether you have
the resources and ability to do that.
And many may not, with this
disproportionately affecting
those with disabilities, transgenders,
immigrants or people of color.
Even with just the existing laws
that have been recently passed,
abortions had become
increasingly difficult to get.
Watch as one woman in Texas
learned what getting an abortion
would entail for her,
after her state passed its so-called
"fetal heartbeat" law last year.
You're measuring at 6.1 weeks today,
but we do see fetal cardiac
activity on the ultrasound.
So, as of September 1st in Texas,
what that means
is that you are ineligible to have
an abortion in the state of Texas now.
Your next options
would be traveling out of state
to get the procedure done.
I didn't even know that I was pregnant.
I kind of just took a test.
I'm six weeks and one day pregnant.
I'm not ready to have another kid.
I have two other little ones
that I take care of by myself.
This kind of was very unexpected.
Other forms of birth control failed me
and now it looks like I'm jumping
through more hoops
in order to keep our lives going.
Six weeks and a day
and she can't get an abortion.
For most people, that is a period
that is two weeks late.
And your period could be two weeks
late for any number of reasons.
Maybe you're tired, or traveling,
or you had a change in diet or exercise,
or maybe you're dealing with the stress
of living in a misogynistic theocracy
run by five of the biggest weirdos
in the country,
including Justice Beer Pong here
and Justice My Wife Planned a Coup
And All I Got Was No Consequences.
In that woman's particular case,
she was able to take a loan
and drive all the way to Oklahoma
to get an abortion.
As awful as this sounds,
she was actually lucky there,
because now,
that is no longer possible.
This week, Oklahoma's governor signed
a Texas-style abortion ban into law.
Which is one of the worst things
that Oklahoma has ever produced,
as I'll remind you, it also
gave the world Dr. f*cking Phil.
Given that half of those who have
abortions are below the poverty line,
with an additional
one-quarter very close to it,
many will be facing limited options.
One estimate is that
in the year after the ruling,
there will be roughly 75 000 people
who want but can't get abortions
and will give birth instead.
And inevitably,
some of those people will die,
because pregnancy
is a major medical event.
Those living in states with
the most restrictive abortion policies,
and thus the least access to them,
"were found to be more likely to die
while pregnant or shortly thereafter."
I know this is all extremely grim.
But it is now worth taking a moment
on exactly how we got to this point,
especially as some have been telling
a slightly incomplete story this week.
Listen to Chuck Schumer pointing
the finger of blame in one direction.
This isn't your grandfather's
Republican Party, America.
It's Donald Tr*mp's
Republican Party.
Hold on, there. In what way is this not
your grandfather's Republican Party?
It has been advocating for
this exact outcome for decades now.
I would be willing to bet that
if your grandfather d*ed in the '70s,
came back to life right now
and scanned the news,
the first thing he'd say
is that the current Republican Party
sounds exactly like the one
he remembers.
I take that back, the first thing
he'd say is: "Who's Elon Musk?"
To which you'd say: "He's a rich
assh*le who wants to own Twitter."
To which he'd say: "What's Twitter?"
And you'd say:
"A massive public toilet that people
sh*t their bad opinions into,"
"but at least Cher is on there, too!"
To which he'd reply:
"You mean Sonny's wife?"
And you'd say: "Yeah!",
because you don't really have time
to fill him in on the divorce,
much less the accident,
to which he'd say:
"How's Sonny doing, by the way?"
Yeah, he's great! Very healthy!
To which he'd reply:
"Does he still have the mustache?"
And you'd say: "Yeah, you betcha!"
because you are way too deep into
the lie to admit to your grandpa
that Sonny Bono d*ed
by skiing into a tree.
After all of that conversation,
he'd definitely look at you and say
that the current Republican Party
sounds like the one that he remembers.
Because it does. This is just
not a recent development at all.
Because while, yes,
Tr*mp did pick one-third of this court,
including a seat for Gorsuch
that was stolen for him,
that was the result of decades of work
by anti-abortion forces.
Long before Tr*mp ever even
considered running for office,
conservatives were openly announcing
their intention to overturn Roe.
In fact, the very day
the Roe decision was handed down,
the strategizing
against it had already begun.
Just watch this news report
from that day, featuring a lawyer
talking about a lawsuit that he was
supporting that could overturn Roe.
What about the child's right?
When you talk about the woman's right,
you're talking
about one-third of the rights involved.
The mother, the father and the child.
Somebody's morality, or lack of it,
is certainly imposed upon
the unborn children who are k*lled.
Women have one-third of the rights
involved. That is kind of perfect.
Because if there is one thing
that we love to do in America,
it's turn everyone who isn't a straight
white man into a f*cking fraction.
That is something that truly is
"deeply rooted in the nation's
history and traditions."
But arguments like that are why some
Democrats, like Bella Abzug,
argued in the wake of the Roe decision
that Congress still needed
to quickly pass legislation
codifying the right to an abortion.
And she was absolutely right.
But, of course, they didn't do that.
Nor did they do it as the anti-abortion
movement kicked into high gear
in the late 1970s, with the support of
evangelical leaders like Jerry Falwell,
who helped elevate the abortion issue
as a way of motivating
conservative voters to the polls.
They didn't even do it
as anti-abortion legislators managed
to pass 1000 restrictions
into law at the state level.
Too many Democratic leaders
shied away from engaging in that fight,
or were squeamish
in their defense of abortion.
Bill Clinton, for instance, argued that
it should be "safe, legal and rare",
which "cast abortion as a regrettably
necessary evil,"
"not a cornerstone
of comprehensive health care."
While later, Barack Obama campaigned
on passing the Freedom of Choice Act,
enshrining the rights to abortion
into law,
when he was reminded of that promise
he wasted no time
distancing himself from it.
The Freedom of Choice Act
is not my highest legislative priority.
I believe that women
should have the right to choose.
But I think that the most important
thing we can do to tamp down
some of the anger
surrounding this issue
is to focus on those areas
that we can agree on.
Okay, except that's just ridiculous.
Partly because this is something
a majority of Americans do agree on.
Polls consistently show that around
two-thirds of Americans
support the Roe v. Wade decision,
two-thirds!
Presidents can't even get
an approval rating that high,
unless there are, like, two 9/11s.
It's called an 18/22. If we're honest,
it might actually be coming.
And that's sadly been emblematic
of Democrats' approach,
offering vague statements in support,
while abortion has been
specifically under att*ck.
Republicans have focused on this
issue with relentless determination.
Here is Jerry Falwell, right after
Alito was appointed to the court,
taking a victory lap following
a ruling that upheld the ban
on a specific abortion procedure.
That is the culmination, for me,
of about 35 years of work.
I don't think we have
five votes on Roe v. Wade.
I think we're probably
one or two votes short.
As we talked
that last week of his life,
Falwell seemed to recognize that
his battle to end all abortions
would have to be won by the next
generation of God's warriors.
My children are more likely to see
this victory won than I am.
I think we're 50 years away.
We've got to just stay with it,
and never give up.
Even the truly magnificent sight
of Jerry Falwell in a coffin
somehow still doesn't make that
go down any easier.
Falwell was actually pessimistic
in his prediction there.
They achieved that victory 35 years
ahead of his 50-year schedule.
That's not the only thing that
he was wrong about in that interview,
because he also said that he'd been
praying for another 20 years of life,
despite only having
about one week of it left.
So, I guess at the very least
we now know that God
didn't want to listen to any more
of Jerry Falwell's bullshit either.
It is important to know, conservatives
aren't remotely done here.
They've already embarked
on the next fight,
with Louisiana just this week
advancing legislation
that would allow prosecutors there
to charge those who get abortions,
or provide them, with homicide.
That bill, like anti-abortion
legislation in several other states,
even defines personhood as "beginning
from the moment of fertilization",
which "would criminalize in vitro
fertilization and birth control."
And all of this is happening,
even as other countries
are expanding reproductive rights.
Even Ireland is now more progressive
on abortion than some U.S. states.
If you are not up on your Irish history,
that was not always the case!
And that is as much
as I will weigh in on Irish history,
because I sound like this.
It's not just Ireland,
other predominantly Catholic countries,
like Argentina, Mexico and Colombia,
have also expanded abortion rights.
Just two months ago, Colombia
won a massive court victory there,
to huge celebrations.
This is historic.
It brings us such happiness.
Because little by little,
we are changing our history.
We finally succeeded in having them
allow us to decide over our bodies.
We fought for this for many years
and clandestine abortions
took the lives of so many women.
That is truly inspiring to watch,
and also, quick shoutout
to the individual who made a crocheted
ski mask with the letters "ACAB".
Let this be a lesson that you
absolutely don't want to f*ck
with someone who has the patience,
attention to detail
and sustained anger to crochet their
resentment into a handmade garment.
That is stamina. That is someone
in the fight for the long haul.
So clearly, we in the States have
a lot of work to do right now,
both in the short
and the long term.
And let us start with those
in the most immediate danger:
people who need an abortion
in states where bans
are or are about to be in effect.
You still have options available to you
and one good way to find out
what they are is to go to the website
"I-need-an-A-dot-com".
It has lots of info, including
what is permitted where you live
and where you can find clinics
and appropriate resources.
If you're struggling financially,
one of those resources
might be an abortion fund,
which can help cover your expenses.
If you want to access or support
one of those funds, there are lots,
like The Brigid Alliance,
which helps abortion patients
who are traveling long distances
to reach their appointments,
and The Lilith
and Yellowhammer funds,
both of which help people
on the ground in impacted states.
These are just stopgap solutions
to deal with an immediate crisis.
Long-term, we need elected officials
to stop tiptoeing
around the issue of abortion
and take steps
to properly safeguard it.
Now, the dream version of this
would be a constitutional amendment
that'd support people's fundamental
rights to make personal decisions
about contraception, pregnancy,
marriage and family life.
Until then, we're going to need other
legislation at state and federal level.
And while we're at it,
we may now also need to shore up
all the other rights supposedly
guaranteed by Supreme Court rulings,
from voting rights to gay marriage,
because the fact is,
under the current Supreme Court,
your basic rights today
could become crimes tomorrow.
And there are actually some small
opportunities for you on the horizon.
In at least these four states,
abortion is going to be
on the ballot this year.
I know you would probably
rather eat shards of glass
than be told to vote one more time.
Especially if you've been keeping up
your end of the deal:
showing up to the polls and holding
your nose to vote for a candidate
you may not even like, while enduring
thousands of texts screaming:
"It is the most important election
of your lifetime,"
"donate 20 dollars
to the DNC right now."
And you didn't
text "stop 2 quit" once,
no matter how much you wanted to,
and you wanted to throw
your phone in the f*cking river!
I also get why "just vote" is
an infuriatingly insufficient slogan,
when voting rights themselves
are under siege.
I cannot defend
the system we currently have.
But it is, unfortunately,
the one we've got right now.
So, electoral victories
are going to be critical here.
They also must be followed by
concrete actions by those that we elect.
Because Republicans,
if nothing else,
just grimly demonstrated what
committed action can actually achieve.
They never accepted Roe v. Wade
as final. They played the long game,
and not always fairly,
but they rallied their base
and relentlessly held
their party leaders accountable,
whether
they liked those leaders or not.
And then, crucially,
those leaders delivered for them,
because they understood that voting
is only meaningful
if the people who win actually do
what they f*cking promise you.
Anti-choice advocates worked
really hard for a really long time
to ensure
that Roe would not be permanent.
But the thing is, its undoing
doesn't have to be, either.
This week, we have all been reminded
of what the most marginalized people
have known for years:
that freedoms are never guaranteed,
they are hard-won and easily lost.
Progress requires a consistent,
sustained struggle,
a willingness to disrupt everyday life
and actual courage from the people
that we choose to lead us.
In short, we are all going
to badly need to have the same anger
and the same willingness
for a long-haul fight
as the world's
most hardcore knitter.
And now, this.
Local News Shows Go Through
the Motions for "Star Wars" Day.
Good morning, San Diego.
I'm Lauren Phinney.
I'm Paul Rudy. Today is Wednesday.
Say it with me, Lauren.
Now say it with me.
May the fourth be with you.
Today is a celebration for the Star Wars
fans. It is May the fourth.
- We know how much you love today.
- Really look forward to it.
I don't mind the movies.
I don't like how they took this day
and made it this: "May the fourth
be with you", but I get it.
Does that do anything better for you?
No?
Turn it on. Now hit the button.
It's not working. Anyway,
should I be attacking these two?
From the other galaxy?
They're good guys?
- Harrison Ford, was that...
- Han Solo!
- That's the guy I was talking about.
- An hour later, we got it.
And I'd want to be him, 'cause
he was cool. He had the spaceship.
- And he got all the women.
- There you go.
Moving on. Our main story
tonight concerns the Philippines.
It's the country that gave us,
among other things,
Bruno Mars, Olivia Rodrigo,
and Jollibee,
the single greatest fast-food
mascot of all time.
He's a six-foot five bee
in a tuxedo top
that just wants to serve you
fried chicken and spaghetti.
What do we have that compares
to that? Terrifyingly Large Child?
Hamburger Joker? Hello Mister Police
I Gave You All The Clues? Please.
The winner here is clear.
We've discussed the Philippines
on this show before,
mostly thanks to their current leader
and self-proclaimed dictator,
Rodrigo Duterte, who has,
if nothing else, a way with words.
I wanted to call Pope
you son of a whore, go home!
Mr. Obama, you can go to hell.
Why do you have to, you know,
f*ck with us, goddamnit?
Once again, I'll repeat it, f*ck you.
That is a striking amount of swearing,
but you also cannot understate
how brazen it is
for the president of the Philippines,
a nation over 80 percent Catholic,
to call the Pope "a son of a whore".
That is a big deal.
Imagine if Joe Biden publicly told
Dolly Parton to go f*ck herself.
Forget backlash, he'd be dragged from
the White House, and rightly so.
While Duterte's language
may have been shocking,
his actions have been far worse,
especially his w*r on dr*gs.
It's estimated that on his watch,
government officials or vigilantes
have k*lled up to 30 000 people,
in v*olence which even triggered
the International Criminal Court
to launch "an investigation into
possible crimes against humanity."
And Duterte has viciously
targeted his critics.
This senator, who launched
an investigation into his drug w*r,
has been languishing in jail
for the last five years.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa
and her news website Rappler,
have been buried in legal actions,
facing at least 11 cases
and 10 arrest warrants
since Duterte came into office,
and the thing is,
that's just the beginning.
The Philippines ranks among the top
Reports say as many as 19 of them
have been k*lled
since Duterte took office.
At news of one, he replied:
"Just because you're a journalist"
"you are not exempted from
assassination, if you're a son of a..."
Holy sh*t. That speaks
not only to his brutality,
but also to the incredible bravery
of journalists there.
The possibility of assassination
is the kind of thing that can
thin out a work force.
If Michaels' job's listing said:
"Applicants must have some familiarity
with candle-making and scrapbooking."
"Also, please note, employees
are not exempted from assassination,"
"if they're sons of b*tches."
I don't think anyone
would work at Michaels anymore.
Now, thankfully, Duterte's term
is about to come to an end.
Presidents in the Philippines
can only serve one six-year term
and elections are actually
happening there tomorrow.
And this is a big election,
in every sense,
the Philippines is a nation
of 100 million people
and turnout
is often around 80 percent.
Unfortunately, there are some
familiar faces running in this.
Duterte's own daughter, Sara,
is running for vice president,
a position which is elected
separately in the Philippines.
To get just a little sense of her,
here she is when she was a mayor,
punching a local sheriff
that she was angry with.
And it is just not great that
you can look at that and fairly say:
"At least
she's not as violent as her dad."
But there's also someone
running for president,
and who is pretty likely to win, who
has an even more alarming last name.
A front-runner in the current polls,
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
His father declared martial law,
ruling the Philippines with
a terrible human rights record,
until a popular uprising
ousted him in 1986.
His mother, Imelda,
still famous for her shoes.
The son of a guy who terrorized
the Philippines for years
is now the frontrunner to take over.
I'm not saying that anyone should be
judged solely on their family name.
It's just a little weird
in his particular case.
It'd be like if the most popular frozen
yogurt chain in the U.S.
was called
Bin Laden's Froyo Delights.
I'm not saying a frozen yogurt shop
cannot be called that,
I just wouldn't expect it
to be a national hit.
That is, after all,
why they changed it to Pinkberry.
As for Imelda Marcos's
gigantic shoe collection,
that wasn't
just a fun personality quirk.
It was a sign of the staggering scale
of the Marcoses' graft.
They embezzled billions of dollars
from the Philippines,
to the point that it was once recognized
by the Guinness World Records
as the "greatest robbery
of a government".
It is weird for them to be handing out
records for such a terrible thing.
It's like giving Lee Harvey Oswald
an award for "most JFK's sh*t".
But the enormity
of the Marcos family's theft
makes how Bongbong has described
his childhood on the campaign trail
a little hard to swallow.
My parents would never
let us forget
that this is not yours,
this is from the people.
Everything we have, all the advantages
that we have gained,
any successes that we have achieved
and any comfort or privilege we enjoy
comes from the people.
Now, I will say this:
that is not technically inaccurate.
The Marcoses are sort of
the British Museum of families,
in that most of what they have
is f*cking stolen.
So, if you are wondering
how on earth it is possible
for the son of the Philippines'
most notorious leader
to now be on the brink
of running the country,
that is what this story is about.
And before we start,
there is a lot of history
between the U.S. and the Philippines
and none of it
reflects particularly well on us.
To give you just a quick rundown,
first, the U.S. bought
the Philippines in 1898,
then utterly brutalized them
in their fight for independence
in the Philippine-American w*r,
which resulted in "200 000 casualties",
then subjected them to 50 years
of repressive and r*cist colonial rule,
and then, even after granting them
their independence in 1946,
continued to use the CIA
to meddle in their affairs.
It was an attitude
of unchecked imperialism
that was, and I do not say this lightly,
borderline British.
The story of the... That hurt,
didn't it, and it should have done!
But the story of the Marcoses dynasty
really begins in 1965,
when Ferdinand Marcos was elected.
While initially presenting himself
as a reformer,
by his second term, facing dissent,
he cracked down hard,
inventing or exaggerating internal
threats to justify imposing martial law.
And that was a period which was,
to put it very, very mildly,
a bad time to be in the Philippines.
Under martial law,
some "34 000 were tortured"
and thousands more were k*lled.
The Marcoses were siphoning off
money on an astonishing scale,
with Imelda particularly adept
at spending it.
Imelda,
known as "the iron butterfly",
would become a notorious
jet-setting socialite and fashion icon,
amassing hundreds of millions
in jewels, fine art, real estate.
Her travels so luxurious, she once
reportedly spent 2000 dollars
on chewing gum
during a layover in San Francisco.
She even forced an airplane
departing Rome
to make a U-turn
because she forgot to buy cheese.
Hold on, 'cause I do have
some questions there.
First, what do you mean "forced"
an airplane?
Did Imelda storm the cockpit?
Did a pilot say a soft prayer to see
his children again
all because Imelda Marcos
had a hankering for pecorino?
Also, if you forget to buy cheese
in Italy, you're okay!
Filipino cuisine is perfectly delicious
without it.
Anyone who's eaten a single plate
of adobo knows
there is no need to introduce
aged cow jizz into the equation.
But as the Marcoses plundered
and mismanaged the country,
the average Filipino suffered badly,
the economy was in crisis,
and the incomes of wage laborers
declined substantially,
to the point that, by the end
of Ferdinand's time in office,
many Filipinos were surviving
on "less than 2 dollars a day."
While Bongbong is not innately
responsible for actions of his father,
he very much benefited
from that spending spree.
The Marcoses
lavished money on their children,
including this birthday party
for their daughter.
Extravagant parties
on the presidential yacht,
decadent by the standards
of this Catholic nation.
Ferdinand Jr., nicknamed Bongbong,
governor of the family's home province,
is the man in the flashing bow tie.
What did I just watch there?
I don't know what's more unsettling,
the adult baby emerging
from a cake screaming "mommy"
or the fact that while Bongbong
looks very young there,
he was actually a governor then.
And honestly, I would not trust a man
wearing that bow tie to run anything.
I wouldn't even trust him with the job
that he's dressed for there:
bringing out the birthday cake
at an Olive Garden.
The Marcoses were ultimately
forced to flee the country
after a mass uprising in 1986.
But Ferdinand held on
to the billions that he stole.
They were granted asylum in Hawaii
and took a lot with them on the plane,
showing up with "7 million
in cash and gems"
and "24 bars of gold engraved: 'To
my husband on our 24th anniversary.'"
Which is not remotely romantic.
That anniversary present
is the pilfering billionaire equivalent
of handing your spouse
an envelope of cash labeled:
"we have been married
for 24 years as of today."
But obviously, they did have
to leave some things behind,
and for many in the Philippines,
it was a real shock to see
the sheer extent to which
they'd just been robbed.
Filipinos who used to be kept blocks
from the Marcoses' private universe
got a 20-minute kaleidoscope
of unimaginable luxury.
Including the former
first lady's 10-foot-wide bed.
That's why a lot of people here
in the Philippines are starving.
As far as Ray is concerned,
the Marcoses belong in jail.
He can come back here
in the Philippines
to face what he do
to the people of the Philippines.
Yeah, it's funny, seeing the wealth
of the rulers who ripped you off
does tend to put things
into perspective.
It's like how after French workers
learned of the majesty of Versailles
in the 18th century, the revolution
was right around the corner.
Hold on, they have
four gold-plated pipe organs?
Yeah, these m*therf*ckers
are gonna have to go.
Now, in the end,
a government commission was set up
to track down and recover
the stolen money and assets,
but 36 years later, thanks to court
delays and the Marcoses fighting them,
they've only retrieved
about 5 billion,
or around half of what
was estimated to have been stolen.
This is actually something
that Bongbong was directly asked about
when he ran
for vice president six years ago,
and his response back
then was pretty infuriating.
An apology
should be voluntarily given.
We cannot force it out of him.
But for me, it's the recognition
of the numerous mistakes in the past.
Those include the hidden wealth
that until now has not been returned.
It is stolen
from the people of the nation.
I cannot give what I do not have.
I do not have control. I do not have
any knowledge of any of the things.
Once again, let me repeat,
I cannot give what I do not have.
Not great. But also, I will say, credit
to the sign language interpreter,
who managed to get
across not just what he was saying,
but also communicate
his whole "big angry crybaby" vibe.
It is impressive that Bongbong is
somehow the biggest baby in this story
and it also contains
this f*cking guy.
Despite being
booed for that response,
Bongbong is now on the edge
of being elected president.
And that is because,
over the past decade,
something kind of remarkable
has happened in the Philippines
and that is,
history has been rewritten.
Since the return of the Marcoses,
there's been a trickle of new
information in YouTube,
in Google, that's a revision
of the interpretation of martial law.
What do you read,
what do you hear about martial law?
About President Marcos?
During martial law the life
of people became peaceful.
I also heard
the Philippines became rich.
I think martial law
made the Philippines better.
That is a stark rewriting
of a terrible period.
And I do realize that the U.S.
isn't exactly perfect here, either.
We grapple with our greatest monsters
by putting up reminders of them
on mountains, in town squares
and on crisp 20 dollar bills.
This willful distortion of history
has been abetted by the internet,
as the Philippines frequently ranks
as the most online nation in the world.
That is actually something that
Duterte very much benefited from,
as he "rode a wave of false stories,
paid trolling and Facebook engagement"
all the way to the presidency.
Facebook itself even called him
the "undisputed king
of Facebook conversations",
a title surprisingly not held
by your uncle
who has hot takes on the vaccine
he thinks you should know about.
And the internet is now similarly
awash in Facebook posts and videos
that both glorify and romanticize
the Marcos family.
Popular posts on Facebook
have explained away
Ferdinand's ill-gotten wealth,
saying that his fortune came
from treasure left by a Japanese
general after World w*r II
or that it was earned
for being a "fantastic lawyer".
There's also this one suggesting
that Marcos, at one point,
gave bread
to a young Michael Jordan.
It seems to have originated as a joke
but has since been passed around
completely seriously.
Let's just break this story down.
On December 24th, 1969,
the Marcos family was in Wilmington,
North Carolina,
to celebrate the holidays.
That tracks. If you're a billionaire
from the other side of the world
and you want to celebrate
the holidays in America,
there's only one place that you're going
and that's Wilmington, North Carolina.
Then, President Marcos
was walking in a park
and he saw a skinny child
begging for food.
He gave him a whole box
of Nutribun and said:
"Bring this with you child, someday you
will grow up to be someone important."
So, to be clear, in this story,
Marcos was walking through a park,
holding bread, specifically Nutribun,
a bread mainly sold in the Philippines.
Meaning Marcos flew
to the United States with Nutribun
because he was like:
"What if we get to Wilmington,"
"my favorite holiday destination,
and they don't have any bread there?"
Then, he went to the park and passed
like 10 other kids, thinking:
"None of you are gonna grow up
to be important,"
"so you're not getting
any of my park bread",
then he saw Michael Jordan
and was like:
"Wait, I'm pretty sure
that you are gonna be important,"
"so have this bread that I brought
from the other side of the world."
And then that kid
grew up to be Michael Jordan,
the greatest basketball player
who ever lived.
That is the dumbest story involving
a young Jordan I ever heard
and I have seen "Space Jam".
So, that is just a taste
of the online nonsense
which is successfully reframing
the Marcos family history.
And at the same time, Bongbong's
main rival, Leni Robredo,
the current vice president
and the woman that you saw
challenging him
in that debate clip earlier,
has faced vicious att*cks online,
ranging from false allegations
that she has ties
to armed communist rebels
to phony rumors
that she m*rder*d her husband.
In fact, fact-checkers have reported
that "almost all the disinformation
about Robredo is negative",
while any disinformation
about Bongbong
"overwhelmingly puts him
in a positive light."
But maybe the most fantastical lie
that Bongbong's campaign has told
is actually the most mundane one:
that he's not the scion
of a political crime family,
he's just a regular, ordinary citizen
who happen to run for president.
Here is how his wife described
the moment that he decided to run.
Six months ago,
he wasn't yet sure what to do,
we had no party, you know.
And then one day we were watching
"Ant-Man" in the room,
'cause we love Marvel movies,
and then he looked at me
and he goes: "Okay, we're gonna
do this," he told me.
I said: "Do what?"
Run for the presidency.
No f*cking way.
That did not happen.
I am calling total bullshit
on the idea
that Bongbong decided to run
for president out of nowhere,
mid-Marvel film.
I can think of a much more salient
reason that he'd want to run.
As President, Bongbong would hold
sway over the commission
devoted to investigating
and recovering his family's wealth,
as well as the tax office.
Which would be
particularly useful for him,
as the Marcoses have refused to pay
a tax bill
that reportedly amounts to 3.9 billion
dollars, including penalties.
So Bongbong could easily tell
his own administration
to just forget about his massive debt,
which is a very appealing idea for him.
When you think of it,
"Ant-Man" could actually be
the perfect movie to inspire him,
given that it's about a thief
whose questionable past is forgotten
after he rises to power
using resources that he also stole.
Of course he f*cking likes
"Ant-Man"!
Bongbong's brand relaunch
has not worked on absolutely everyone.
Plenty of Filipinos
are still opposed to him
and to having the Marcos era
rewritten in front of their very eyes.
Despite trailing Bongbong
massively in the polls,
Leni Robredo
has inspired huge rallies there.
Walden Bello, who is running against
Sara Duterte for vice president,
has been outspoken about just
how outrageous he finds all of this.
Marcos has created
a big public relations machine
that uses social media
to try to convince people
that the 14 years of martial law,
the collective nightmarian,
he's trying to use social media
and his hundreds of trolls to say:
"My God, golden years..."
This is a family
that has r*ped the country,
it has not apologized to the country,
and he wants to r*pe the country again.
f*ck you, Marcos!
Yeah, well put.
Very well put.
It's clear, no matter how hard
you try to reinvent yourself,
there's always going to be some
who remember who you really are.
Whether you're a new college
freshman trying on a British accent
or a massive tech oligarchy
trying to paper over its complicity
in v*olence and genocide.
Mark, I think Meta's really
starting to catch on!
Just give it a few more weeks, maybe.
You're doing great, buddy!
People are really pumped for this.
It has been truly amazing
to see the Philippines election unfold.
Because in this election,
they're not voting on their future.
They're voting on their past,
specifically, which one
do they want to believe?
The one where Ferdinand Marcos
wreaked havoc on a country
and its people under martial law?
Or the one where he was somehow
the greatest NBA scout of all time?
I know that most people watching this
are not eligible to vote in it,
although, if you are,
and you are watching:
"Kumusta!
Maraming salamat po!"
And to you, let me just say this,
I do get why you'd be skeptical
about a breakdown of your politics
from someone
with what I can only describe
as "big colonizer energy",
and who lives in a country
that is frankly no stranger
to dishonest billionaires who propelled
themselves to power with Facebook lies.
Don't listen to me. But maybe
do listen to your fellow citizens,
who both remember the past
and are determined not to repeat it.
Because Bongbong Marcos
has shown virtually no remorse
for what his father
put the country through.
And if the Philippines is to avoid
more of the same graft and v*olence
that they've experienced
over the past 50 years,
they are going to need these people
and others like them to continue
speaking out and telling
the likes of Bongbong Marcos,
if I may use the poetic words of
the Philippines' current president...
"f*ck you!" And now, this.
WDIV Meteorologist Brandon Roux
enjoys Cinco de Mayo a Little Too Much.
Take a look at a beautiful skyline
here and a beautiful sky,
el cielo, on this Cinco de Mayo.
Cinco de Mayo tomorrow
should start with sun.
A little bit of sunshine, el sol.
We'll keep Cinco de Mayo mostly dry.
Cinco de Mayo,
I think we hold off the rain.
Looks pretty good here
on this Cinco de Mayo.
It will be sesenta tres.
Sesenta y tres.
Rain chances, if you have
the Cinco de Mayo fiesta plans.
Little fiesta, then a quick siesta.
Parcialmente nublado.
El cielo es parcialmente nublado,
o mayormente nublado.
What language was that?
I just said: "The sky is partly cloudy
or at times, mostly cloudy."
Here's Kim DeGiulio
with your traffico.
All right, traffic looking bueno.
That's our show. Thanks for watching.
We'll see you next week. Good night!
09x10 - Leaked draft opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
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American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver.
American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver.