ASEAN News

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that the government will modify Covid-19 restrictions for the week of Aug. 31 to Sept. 6, involving those for shopping malls and industries, in response to a decreased infection rate in more regions. More areas of highly populated Java island have been removed from the most severe Level 4 category, according to President Jokowi, who …

Pacquiao, Duterte and their respective supporters have been trying to wrest control of the PDP-Laban party ahead of elections in May by unilaterally electing their own members to leading party roles. The faction supported by Duterte recently booted out Pacquiao as party president, but Pacquiao has refused to step down. Related PostsA Challenge of Straighforwardness Towards the PresidentA Hazardous and …

The Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) should stop China from tampering with the regional code of conduct, former senior diplomat Albert del Rosario said on Thursday (Aug. 26). China has used the code of conduct and its predecessor, the 2002 Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, as a way to legitimize its illegal nine-dash line claim …

The US welcomes competition and is not seeking confrontation with Beijing, but would speak out on matters such as maritime conflicts in the South China Sea, Vice President Kamala Harris said as she wrapped off a tour to Southeast Asia. Harris criticized China of pressuring its Southeast Asian neighbors during trips to Singapore and Vietnam, prompting strong rebukes from Beijing, which …

Blackpink The Movie, which stars members of the famous K-pop girl group Blackpink, is the top earning event cinema release of 2021. Distribution companies CJ 4DPLEX and Trafalgar Releasing made the announcement, and they revealed that they had earned a total of US$4.8 million (RM20 million) from less than 100 regions. It has been reported that the movie, which was …

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has decided to run as the governing political party’s vice-presidential candidate in next year’s elections, the ruling PDP-Laban party said today, setting the foundation for the leader to remain in power beyond his term. The PDP-Laban party made the declaration ahead of a national assembly scheduled for September 8, during which it is likely …

Manny Pacquiao says he would take his time before determining his future, but he acknowledged on Saturday he may not fight again after losing to Yordenis Ugas. He said he will focus on his political career in the Philippines after losing a unanimous decision to Ugas. “You may not see Manny Pacquiao fight again,” Pacquiao stated. “I don’t know.” Related …

Russia’s envoy to Afghanistan complimented the Taliban’s behavior yesterday, saying the group, which is still officially classified as a terrorist organization in Russia, had made Kabul safer in the first 24 hours than it had been under previous administrations. The remarks by Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov reflect an overt effort by Russia to strengthen its long-standing ties with the Taliban while …

The ASEAN’s progress in Myanmar has not been as successful as anticipated, according to Singapore‘s foreign minister. United Nations and many countries have urged the bloc, which includes Myanmar, to restore stability via diplomacy. Vivian Balakrishnan remarked that ASEAN is not as effective or fast as they expected. “But this is a difficult situation.” she added. Related PostsA Hazardous and …

State auditors have identified accounting irregularities and inadequacies totaling billions of pesos in the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) 2020 financial report, which the DA has promised to correct going forward. According to the Commission on Audit’s (COA) annual audit report on the DA, there were P32.362 billion in accounting errors, including the absence of subsidiary ledgers and insufficient accounting records …