Opinion 11/20/15

Inquirer on three images during Apec

Three images from the past week may come to define the 2015 edition of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting, in global public opinion.[…] The first of the defining images...involved Obama, taking part in only his fifth Apec powwow, breaking protocol (and stolid Apec tradition). He gamely served as moderator of what turned out to be the liveliest panel during the Apec CEO Summit[…] The second of the defining images came right after Obama’s session, when Xi addressed the same audience […] But the distance between hope and reality was captured, perhaps unwittingly, in the third of the defining images: Xi’s awkward walk down the red carpet of the Philippine International Convention Center, all but ignored by Mr. Aquino and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who were engrossed in an animated conversation. [full page]

Sun.Star Cebu on public transportation and private interest

When SM Holdings made a pitch for the operation of a fleet of buses called MyBus owned by a firm called Metro Transit to service its soon-to-open mall at the South Road Properties (SRP), it did so by mentioning general welfare. The buses, totaling 77 in all, would compliment the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) that will soon be established in some major routes in Cebu City. […] SM being a part owner of Metro Transit makes the operation of MyBus rather awkward. In the application it filed with LTFRB, the buses could only load or unload passengers in bus stations that the firm itself is designating. Here, the possibility of the general interest clashing with private interest becomes real. [full page]

Manila Bulletin on climate change

When the world’s nations meet in Paris, France, at the end of this month for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNCCC), they will seek to reach agreement on what each nation should do to hold back the changes in global climate that have been blamed for some of the unusually deadly natural calamities in recent years. […] [T]here may be little that the Philippines can contribute to the effort to lessening the causes of climate change. But it can help with ideas and programs to mitigate the ill effects of climate change, programs focusing on resiliency and adaptation, that can help similarly situated island nations. [full page]

Philippine Star on terrorism, Philippines, and Malaysia

After hosting the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, President Aquino flies to Kuala Lumpur today for another regional gathering, this time hosted by Malaysia. The APEC summit’s Manila Declaration focused on one particular message: it condemned terrorism and called for global action against the threat. […] While Philippine officials may blame Malaysia for giving in to a ransom demand, the Abu Sayyaf is still the perpetrator. The bandit group, loosely linked to al-Qaeda, is based in the Philippines where the government has failed to neutralize the threat.  [full page]