Category Archives: International

Government, International, Science and Environment

Bluff Diplomacy: Canada Offers To Take Back Its Trash Shipped To The Philippines

May 2, 2019 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – For many years, dozens of containers of trash and toxic waste shipped from Canada have been sitting idle in the Port of Manila. The shipment was supposed to contain recyclable plastic.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has had it, so he threatened to declare war on Canada if the trash aren’t shipped back ASAP.

Well…

Canada has made an offer to the Philippines to repatriate six dozen shipping containers full of rotting garbage that were erroneously shipped there six years ago, the federal environment minister said recently.

If the offer is accepted, the trash would return to Canada through the port of Vancouver before disposal.

The previous Aquino administration used channels at the United Nations to resolve its international conflict with China. Didn’t work.

Duterte used bluff diplomacy to put an end to a long-standing issue with Canada, and it worked!

Government, History, International, Politics

BREAKING: Leni Robredo Abdicates Philippine Vice Presidency, Liberal Party

May 1, 2019 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Following the lead of Japanese Emperor Akihito, Leni Robredo has announced she will formally abdicate the Philippine Vice Presidency as well as the leadership of the Opposition Liberal Party.

(Akihito handed over the symbols of power to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito on Tuesday. The 85-year-old Emperor who reigned for 30 years was given permission to abdicate after saying he felt unable to fulfil his role because of his age and declining health.He is the first Japanese monarch to step down in more than 200 years.)

In a statement issued to local and international news media, Robredo said that she feels she is no longer effective as Vice President or leader of her party given the fact that the popularity of President Rodrigo Duterte has reached and continues to maintain unprecedented levels.

Robredo says her abdication is effective immediately, coming within less than two weeks before her country’s mid-term elections where the Opposition Party’s candidate slate is expected to do very poorly.

“It’s time for our people to heal and I don’t want to be an obstacle to that healing. Rather than do a ‘harakiri,’ I have chosen to step down and abdicate,” Robredo said.

Government, International, Media, Politics, Social Media

Indonesia’s President Wants To Appoint Maria Ressa As Press Secretary Of The New Capital

April 30, 2019 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

JAKARTA, Indonesia (The Adobo Chronicles, Jakarta Bureau) – Being a former CNN Bureau Chief for Jakarta counts for something, and that’s exactly what Rappler CEO Maria Ressa is counting on, as Indonesia is now poised to move its capital away from the island of Java.

President Joko Widodo’s decision comes less than two weeks after private pollsters said he had won an April 17 presidential election, although official results are not due until May 22. His challenger, Prabowo Subianto, has also claimed victory.

“The president chose to relocate the capital city to outside of Java, an important decision,” Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told a news conference after a cabinet meeting.

Brodjonegoro said the administration had yet to pick a new location, but was looking at the eastern side of the sprawling archipelago.

As part of the transition to a new capital, Widodo has sent feelers to Ressa if she would consider an appointment as the Press Secretary of the new capital. “We definitely want someone with expertise on biased and fake news in order to help promote the new capital,” Widodo said.

Experts say it would be a good, graceful way out for Ressa whose online news source has lost business and credibility because of several criminal charges filed against her, including tax evasion, violation of the Constitution and cyber libel.

No word from Ressa if she would accept the offer, but majority of Filipinos are supportive of the idea, saying it would constitute “good riddance.”