News

Sarah Geronimo to represent PH in music fest in Japan

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Sep 17 04:56 PM

Sarah Geronimo is representing the Philippines in a music festival that will gather top artists from Southeast Asia and Japan in October, the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines has announced. Read more »

OPINION: Who’s leading the pack in ASEAN?

Karim Raslan -- Ceritalah ASEAN
Posted at Sep 14 11:21 PM

Sadly, the Philippines with its clapped-out infrastructure, expensive energy and notorious bureaucracy remains the outlier.  Read more »

Asia business leaders meet in Vietnam as US-China spat looms

Jenny Vaughan, Agence France-Presse
Posted at Sep 12 08:14 AM

The escalating trade spat between Washington and Beijing has caused global ripples -- and is being closely watched in Southeast Asia where many export-focused economies are set to gain from the fallout.  Read more »

Duterte to skip World Economic Forum on ASEAN

Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Sep 10 11:20 PM

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte will not attend this year’s World Economic Forum on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and has instead sent his trade secretary to the international forum. Read more »

OPINION: Looking for the President

Karim Raslan -- Ceritalah ASEAN
Updated as of Sep 11 12:58 AM

For a leader that claims to be a ‘man of the people’, President Duterte’s failure to visit Marikina has perplexed even his strongest supporters. Read more »

China flags fly in Batasan as Arroyo meets with Chinese officials

RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Sep 10 05:16 PM

Flags of the People’s Republic of China were flown alongside the Philippine flags outside the Plenary Hall of the House of Representatives in Quezon City Monday, catching the attention of the House media. Read more »

OPINION: A storyteller's tribute to VS Naipaul

Karim Raslan -- Ceritalah ASEAN
Posted at Sep 04 02:57 PM

What I learned from a Nobel Literature Laureate.  Read more »

Reuters journalists get 7 years in prison

Stringer, Reuters
Posted at Sep 03 09:03 PM

Detained Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo leave Insein court after listening to the verdict in Yangon, Myanmar on Monday. Read more »

Agreement on world's biggest trade deal set for November, Singapore says

Reuters
Posted at Sep 01 09:17 PM

The deal, called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, does not include the US, which is locked in a trade spat with China and pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.  Read more »

Trump to skip summits in Singapore, Papua New Guinea; Pence to attend

Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom, Reuters
Posted at Sep 01 11:08 AM

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump will skip summits with Asian leaders in Singapore and Papua New Guinea in November, sending Vice President Mike Pence in his place, the White House said on Friday, an announcement that will raise questions about his commitment to a regional strategy to counter China. Read more »

China-backed trade pact talks at 'critical stage': Singapore PM

Agence France-Presse
Posted at Aug 29 07:00 PM

Talks on a China-backed free-trade pact have reached a "critical stage", Singapore's leader said Wednesday as he urged regional economic ministers to seal the deal by the end of the year. Read more »

Asian Games medal tally

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Aug 24 03:46 PM

Asian Games medal tally Read more »

PH wants stronger cooperation on disaster management in ASEAN

Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Aug 22 03:08 PM

The Philippines wants stronger cooperation on disaster management among Southeast Asian countries in the wake of recent natural calamities that have struck the region. Read more »

Mahathir coalition's first 100 days: Do Malaysians need more patience?

Karim Raslan -- Ceritalah ASEAN
Posted at Aug 21 05:10 PM

As the 100 days of the new Coalition of Hope (Pakatan Harapan, or PH) government drew to a close on 17 August, Ceritalah ASEAN followed up with some of the people they met to get a sense of how they’re feeling now. Read more »

China proposes regular military exercises with ASEAN in S. China Sea

Kyodo News
Posted at Aug 21 12:07 PM

MANILA - China is proposing to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that the two sides hold regular joint military exercises in the South China Sea, according to an ASEAN diplomatic source. Read more »

Music for the people: Isaarn grooves to Molam music

Karim Raslan -- Ceritalah ASEAN
Posted at Aug 11 08:57 AM

Perhaps the easiest way of understanding how Molam fits in (or doesn’t) in Thailand is to think of it as comparable with the “Country & Western” music forever shunned by metropolitan New York and Los Angeles, but very much alive – out there – in Nashville and elsewhere in the South. Read more »

Singapore seeks ASEAN cybersecurity standards as digital shift grows

Tarra Quismundo, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Aug 10 12:55 PM

Officials underscored the urgent need for stronger safeguards against cyber attacks as the city-state, among Asia’s most technologically advanced cities, reeled from an unprecedented hack of its state healthcare database, the worst it has seen. Read more »

Singapore minister rallies ASEAN behind fight vs fake news

Tarra Quismundo, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Aug 08 12:09 PM

Desmond Lee, Singapore’s Minister for Social and Family Development, expressed hope that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would recognize the need to act on fake news and follow through on a framework the bloc crafted in May. Read more »

China can veto foreign war games in SE Asia under draft code: analyst

ABS-CBN News
Updated as of Aug 08 09:31 AM

China can "veto" military exercises Southeast Asian nations will want to have with foreign entities outside the region if the current draft code of conduct is passed wholly, an analyst said Wednesday. Read more »

Singapore asserts rule of law to calm South China Sea tensions

Tarra Quismundo, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Aug 07 02:26 PM

Singapore, the host of this year's ASEAN meetings, believes in respecting international law, "and that countries do not use force or even resort to threat and use of force in order to resolve disputes." Read more »