MANILA – Former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario said on Monday that the government can seize China’s assets and properties as payment for the damaged reef in the West Philippine Sea. Del Rosario cited a University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute study that China owes the Philippines over P230 bil for the environmental damage in the West Philippine …

Global demand for essentials items such as medicine and food has kept the Southeast Asian trade afloats as the region fight the novel coronavirus pandemic and its effects on slowing down the economies around the world. Singapore’s exports, driven by pharmaceuticals, surged to 170%. Japan’s also grew record numbers. Food exports rose 66% overall, increasing almost 10-fold. Exports to the …

The Central Sulawesi Regional Police Chief, Insp. Gen. Syafril Nursal said that there was a firefight between the Combined Task Force of Tinombala and suspected civilian groups armed with the Eastern Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT) network in Poso District. “Yesterday, Sunday (7/6) afternoon there was a firefight, in which a member of the Tinombala Operations Task Force team, whose whereabouts were …

Parliamentary opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim called for an RM35 billion investment plan from the government to support the economy rebound from the Covid-19 crisis. The president of the PKR said that Parliament would carefully examine the system and ensure that it was fully enforced. Anwar stated that, despite the billions of ringgit allocated to the initiative, the Penjana plan was …

MANILA – The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Monday announced that customers can expect a lower electricity in June, amid months of power rates increase. In an advisory, customers consuming 200 kWh per month will have a reduced rate of ₱4 in their billing, while ₱6 for 300kwh, ₱8 for 400 kWh and ₱12 for those consumers with 500 kWh. …

Social media was recently enlivened by complaints from citizens about electricity bills for household customers in May 2020 which tripled. Soaring electricity bills are not only experienced by a number of ordinary customers. This was also experienced by one of the directors of PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero). PLN Director of Human Capital Management Syofvie Felianti Roekman admitted, his electricity …

PAS today pledged its commitment to Perikatan Nasional (PN), saying it would work hard to enhance cooperation with the alliance’s two other Malay parties, Umno and PPBM. The Islamist party said it was also committed to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by leaders of Barisan Nasional, PPBM as well as Sabah and Sarawak parties following the collapse of Pakatan Harapan …

Trade barriers including tariff and non-tariff restrictions will be limited to support the economies of ASEAN members amid the coronavirus pandemic, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said in a statement. Vietnam, who is also the chair for this year’s Asean summit, hosted an online meeting with economic ministers in Southeast Asia and China, Japan and South …

MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) will look into the emergence of dummy or fake accounts in the popular social media site. The agency has received over a hundred reports from Facebook users containing two or more dummy accounts. According to Undersecretary Markk Perete, they have asked Facebook to take down but preserve the data for possible use as …

The mother of a pregnant child in northeastern Thailand was shocked after hospital staff said her daughter claimed that “God” made her pregnant. However under further investigation its reported her step father had sexually abused her in their home. The 14-year-old girl is now under the care of a shelter in northern Thailand’s Buriram province. Her state of her mind …