ASEAN IN FOCUS

Duterte files COC for president

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte makes his 2016 presidential bid official. Duterte, who has been blowing hot and cold about his presidential bid for several months, filed his certificate of candidacy for president shortly after he withdrew his candidacy for mayor earlier today. Duterte submitted his COC for president through a representative. On November 21, Duterte declared that he was seeking the presidency, supposedly because of his displeasure over the senate electoral tribunal’s decision against […]

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ASEAN must counter Abu Sayyaf problem

A Sarawak Senior Minister says, ASEAN member countries must work together to counter the kidnapping threat posed by the Abu Sayyaf militant group. Noting that the recent ASEAN summit had discussed the issue of human trafficking in the region, Tan Sri James Masing said the “human trading” by Abu Sayyaf was a worse problem which needed to be countered. He said, in short, it’s not a Philippine or Malaysian problem but an Asian problem. Masing […]

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Philippines presents eight maps to disprove China’s claim

Lawyer Andrew Loewenstein also presented eight maps to the arbitral tribunal, the first of which dates back to the Ming dynasty, to disprove China’s nine-dash-line claim. The said maps “show that China’s territory did not include that which it claims now under the 9-dash line.” Earlier, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio also used China’s ancient maps to show that its claim is based on “historical lies.” A powerhouse Philippine team is in The Hague, Netherlands, […]

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China robs us of right to fish – Philippines

Philippines lead counsel Paul Reichler, complained to a United Nations’-backed arbitral tribunal that China has robbed the Philippines of its right to fish in the disputed West Philippine Sea. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abegail Valte said that at the start of the hearings on the merits of the Philippines’ case against china, “Mr. Reichler mentioned that china has asserted exclusive rights over the areas covered by the 9-dash line and has deprived the Philippines of fishing […]

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ASEAN countries sign anti-trafficking agreement

ASEAN leaders also signed an anti-trafficking agreement at the regional summit in Kuala Lumpur ASEAN said on its website that the agreement expressed an “urgent need for a comprehensive regional approach to prevent and to combat trafficking in persons, particularly women and children”. Following the signing ceremony, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was handed the memorandum by ASEAN Secretary-general Le Luong Minh. Southeast Asia had a huge migrant crisis in May after boats carrying thousands […]

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Amid sea row, ASEAN upholds freedom of navigation

Regional issues, mainly territorial dispute among ASEAN and China over the South China Sea were also discussed in the ASEAN summit. The summit host, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, said issue of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea was widely discussed during the meeting. “When it comes to freedom of navigation and over flight all countries agreed that should not be any interference with respect of the freedom of navigation and over flights. […]

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Obama arrives in Malaysia for ASEAN meeting

  (Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Malaysia on Friday (November 20) on the final leg of a series of summits aimed at furthering Washington’s bid to rebalance ties towards Asia and challenge China’s increasingly assertive posture in the region. Obama is joining leaders of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a weekend summit. Leaders from seven other countries with close partnerships with the grouping – Australia, China, India, […]

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APEC leaders strongly condemn all forms of terrorism in official declaration

  (MANILA) — Amid the shadow cast by recent deadly attacks against Russia and France supposedly perpetrated by the Islamic State terrorist organization known as ISIS, the leaders of the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies strongly condemned on Thursday all acts, methods, and practices of terrorism in all their forms and manifestations In their official declaration issued following their talks in Manila, the APEC leaders said they will not “allow terrorism to threaten […]

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Transparency 4.0 — The Road to an Empowered Citizenry

  Manila, Philippines —  With the 2016 National Elections looming, it is critical to promote fair, clean, and transparent elections through citizen empowerment and engagement. According to a report issued by the Electoral Integrity Project, the Philippines ranked 91st among 127 countries in terms of Perceptions of Electoral Integrity. The report added that the biggest areas of concern are transparency in political finance and the voting process. To help address challenges to electoral integrity and […]

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Innovators and technology disruptors inspire entrepreneurs at the APEC SME Summit 2015

  By Caesar Vallejos Eagle News Service online correspondent   (Eagle News) — “The best ideas and the most innovative solutions to the problems that we face today may come from the smallest enterprises,” President Benigno S. Aquino III, the APEC 2015 Chair said as he showcased the potential of micro,  small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the global stage at the APEC SME Summit 2015 held at the Green Sun, Makati City last November […]

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Filipina tells Obama, APEC CEOs: ‘climate change is like cancer — and the world is at stage 2’

(MANILA) Climate change is like cancer and the world is at Stage 2, young Filipina entrepreneur Aisa Mijeno told United States President Barack Obama and participants in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit 2015 here Wednesday. “Climate change is real and not a myth created by scientists to get funding. It is like cancer,” Mijeno said, citing the four stages of the disease — cell mutation, symptoms, manifest effects, and decline. “I believe we […]

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LRT, MRT and PNR remain on regular operations during APEC week

Metro Manila’s three elevated railways will continue normal operations during the APEC summit this week. The Light Rail Transit or LRT line 1, which runs from Roosevelt in Quezon City to Baclaran in Parañaque, will start operations at 5 am. The last northbound train from Baclaran will leave at 9:30 pm, while the last southbound train from Roosevelt will leave at 10 pm. LRT2, which links CM-Recto in Manila to Santolan in Quezon City, will […]

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