Asia Sentinel Would Have Told Ferdie to Land on Boracay

Instead, Ferdinand Magellan, the great Portuguese navigator, landed on Cebu, where the native chieftain Lapu Lapu ended the first circumnavigation of the earth with his death. Advance intelligence is important, and Asia Sentinel seeks to tell you what will happen before it happens. Magellan could have been sitting on a white sand beach sipping a mai tai and wearing a puka shell necklace. But no.

We might have been a little late for Magellan, who met his end in 1521, but not for you. Our job is to analyze the events beyond and behind them to let you know what the issues are and how they may affect you. Asia Sentinel is edited and written by professionals with decades of experience dedicated at getting to the story behind the story in Asia, holding governments to account, investigating the region’s most important political, economic, and cultural issues, and providing the most thoughtful coverage of Asia in the English language. 

As of August 1, we will start publishing most of our stories behind a paywall.   The paid version of Asia Sentinel will offer at least five updates a week, including continued commentary and analysis from me (John Berthelsen) and Philip Bowring plus reportage from our longtime correspondents who are spread across the region, offering news, analysis and opinion on national and regional issues in Asia. If you do not want to subscribe, you will still have access to stories that we choose to make widely available, but you will not be getting the full Asia Sentinel experience.

Your subscriptions will ensure we can continue to hold governments to account, to investigate the region’s most important political, economic, and cultural stories, and to provide the most thoughtful coverage of Asia in the English language. We can only do this with your support.

The subscription model aligns our interests with yours. Readers, not advertisers or interest groups, are our customers. Your direct support not only guarantees an ad-free news experience here at the Sentinel, but it also funds fearless reporting that is done in the service of citizens, shining a light on dark corners and exposing corruption. We are one of the only news outlets in Asia that remains independent of all governments and major media enterprises.

Independence matters. Over the years, our award-winning reporting include:

• a series on the brutal murder of Malaysia woman Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006 by bodyguards assigned to Najib Tun Razak's office (which won the Excellence in Investigative Reporting at the 2013 Society of Publishers in Asia journalism awards)

• a series on the unfolding political crisis in Thailand (which won the Excellence in Explanatory Reporting at the 2014 Society of Publishers in Asia journalism awards)

Please consider voting with your wallet to enable more of this kind of work.

Until July 31, all of our content will remain free. However, if you choose to subscribe before then, you can enjoy our charter rate of $10/month or $100/year. Our prices will increase in August. If you are a particularly strong believer in the work that Asia Sentinel does, you have the option to commit to a ‘Founding Member’ subscription at a higher rate than the standard options.  

Thank you for all your support and readership so far. We are excited to enter this new phase of Asia Sentinel’s life, and we look forward to working for all of you.