The results of the referendum on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) was announced on January 25, 2018. Voters, who were expected the the proposal for an expanded Muslim-led region, delivered a convincing result of about 1.7 million in favor and some 254,600 against, according to official results from the Philippines elections commission.
Happy over the overwhelming support of the people, Moro Islamic Liberation Front* (MILF) rebel leader Murad Ebrahim told AFP news agency that "It was a landslide. There's been nothing like this." With the passing of this law, citizens hope that it will bring a measure of peace after decades of fighting in the region has killed thousands and mired the area in poverty.
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East Timor’s president has vetoed the government’s budget, possibly jeopardizing plans to develop the Greater Sunrise oil and gas field, seen by leading East Timorese politicians as crucial to the impoverished country’s future
The turnout of the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law could make or break the decades-old peace process between the Philippines' national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (the Front), which started out as a secessionist armed movement in the southern island of Mindanao in the late 1970s.
If the "yes" vote wins, Bangsamoro - which means "Moro" nation - will replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which has been criticized as merely nominal and failed to end the violent conflict that has left at least 120,000 people dead over the last five decades. On paper, the proposed new Moro nation will be a more powerful and possibly larger political unit than the ARMM. It will have its own parliament, some exclusive powers previously held by the government in Manila, and a significantly larger share of local revenues. Above all, it will also mean the end of the Front's armed struggle, with the decommissioning of its 35,000 troops and its leaders taking positions in the new civilian government.
Dissenting opinions between two camps dominated Malaysia's Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre’s recent general assembly. The verbal conflict finds its roots in the matter of the country’s laws on public procurement. On one hand, one party believes that the Malaysian government should continue to support division leaders in granting contracts as they are vital to sustain grassroots support (for the current ruling party). On the other hand, the other camp heavily disagrees – labeling this practice as “politics of patronage”. The latter argues that government contracts should always go through open tenders.
Last week Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister Peter O’Neill made an official visit to Fiji. As the two largest Pacific Island countries (depending on how you categorize New Zealand), the cooperation and leadership of both PNG and Fiji is vital to advancing the interests and concerns of the South Pacific as a whole.
While acknowledging the improvements that could be made to bilateral arrangements between the two states, including proposing a bilateral free trade agreement, O’Neill sought to stress that wider regional cooperation was essential in light of economic change and “increased tension and geopolitical competition.” The 22-man Consultative Committee (ConCom) tasked to craft a new charter unanimously approved the draft constitution of the proposed Federal Republic of the Philippines.
The ConCom chairman, retired chief justice Reynato Puno, said the panel would present the draft charter shifting to a federal form of government to President Rodrigo Duterte on July 9 in Malacañang, ahead of the State of the Nation Address. Under the proposed new charter, the President’s term will end in 2022. “That’s it. It’s not open-ended,” Puno said. The Digital Government Blueprint outlines how the Government will re-organize and transform itself to deliver public services better through technology.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, developments in the digital domain offers Singapore new ways to interact, collaborate and form new partnerships, as well as embrace exciting opportunities to grow future economy and improve the lives of all citizens. As one of the most networked economies in the world, Singapore has invested in physical infrastructure and connectivity as the foundation for its Smart Nation vision. Currently, fiber broadband connectivity is available in Singapore to support affordable high-speed broadband mobile internet connectivity to both companies and citizens all across Singapore. How much do you trust each institution to do what is right?
This is the question tackled by the annual trust survey conducted by Edelman, a leading global communications marketing firm. The barometer has been done since 2001. This year, it has observed the following as major points to ponder in the worldwide scale. 1. Battle for trust: Trust in all institutions slightly changed from 2017 as more countries harbor distrust. 2. Polarization of trust: Gainers trust government more, while losers trust non-government organizations more. 3. Real versus fake news: Media remains the least trusted institution, but trust in journalism experienced a significant increase. 4. Uncertainty and apathy: Half the population seldom take note of news, and 63 percent do not know how to distinguish true from false reports. 5. Business initiative: More CEOs believe they should take charge in executing change rather than waiting for government to enact it. 6. High Technology: Sectors of technology and education are the most trusted in the industry, while financial services and consumer packaged goods (CPG) are the least trusted. 7. Cooperation between institutions: Protection of privacy and poverty alleviation among the top concerns among institutions to build trust. Despite sluggish recovery in global trust (plus 1 point in a scale of 100), Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East (West Asia), and Africa seem to be exceptions. For instance, Asian nations like China (+2), Indonesia (+2), and India (-4) lead the world in terms of institutional trust index. Other gainers moving up the index include Malaysia (+5), United Arab Emirates (+6), Turkey (+3), South Korea (+6), and Japan (+2). However, a number of Asia, the Pacific, West Asia, and Africa countries, which included Australia (-2), Singapore (-2), and South Africa (-4) still followed the global trend of decreasing trust. On May 9, Malaysia shocked the world via a stunning electoral outcome that saw a nonagenarian return to power. Similar to the Brexit vote and the 2016 US presidential elections, most observers falsely predicted a narrow victory for the losing side.
Yet, only hours after election booths closed down, it became clear to everyone that the impossible had happened. At the age of 92, a remarkably robust and fiery Mahathir Mohamad, the former strongman of Malaysia, led an energized opposition against the formidable machinery of outgoing Prime Minister Najib Razak. With legendary conviction and swagger, Mahathir braved the sweltering summer heat, a battering campaign schedule, and endless mudslinging by his critics, who mockingly claimed he was just "too old" to run for office. |
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