Benigno Aquino’s convincing performance in this week’s Philippine presidential poll point to a smooth transition over the next six weeks, but the outgoing administration could cause some headaches.
Aquino has said he is ready to govern, but has not directly claimed the presidency. He is setting up a committee to look at cabinet posts, with investors waiting on his choices for key economic and finance positions for signals on policy direction.
The relatively smooth election process and the emergence of a clear winner with market-friendly credentials is seen as a positive development for improving long-term investor perception.
However, the speed with which the result has become known has created something of a void. Official results are not likely until next month, and second-placed Joseph Estrada will not concede until then.
“His victory has some good things going for him, firstly credibility and legitimacy will not be questioned,” said Benito Lim, a political science professor at Ateneo de Manila University.
But until June 30, the government he vowed to investigate is in control. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promised a smooth transition, but this week’s appointment of a former chief of staff as Chief Justice has cast some doubt on that.
“It will test Aquino’s resolve to undo Arroyo’s last-minute deals and appointments and to prosecute Arroyo,” said Elmer Labog, head of the labor group KMU.
Aquino said the appointment of Renato Corona was inappropriate and asked Arroyo not to create more problems for the next administration, prompting a rebuke from the government.
“I think whoever becomes president will make sure that the constitution will have to be respected, because if the new leader decides to set aside what is clearly written in the constitution, this could be a serious violation and an impeachable offense,” presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo told reporters.
Results will not be officially declared until Congress sits from the end of this month, although Aquino’s lead looks insurmountable. While the election commission Comelec has stopped releasing figures, some local media have access to its raw data.
ABS-CBN television said its calculations showed Aquino had 14.01 million votes, or 42 percent of 33.28 million votes counted. Estrada was in second place with 8.86 million votes, or 26.6 percent of the vote. Around 5 million votes remain to be counted, based on a estimate of 75 percent voter turnout.
While the election process and outcome has been well received, ratings agencies have said that on its own, it does not change the immediate outlook on the Philippines. More important are efforts to cut a deficit nearing 300 billion pesos (US$6.6 billion) and broaden the tax base.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Monday met virtually with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) and raised concerns about “malicious cyber activity” carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement. The department last month reported that an unspecified number of its computers had been compromised by Chinese hackers in what it called a “major incident” following a breach at contractor BeyondTrust, which provides cybersecurity services. US Congressional aides said no date had been set yet for a requested briefing on the breach, the latest in a serious of cyberattacks
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RSS