WWE Returns to the Philippines on September 9 at SM MOA Arena

Wazzup Pilipinas!
Sports entertainment brand World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) returns to the Philippines for their only Southeast Asia event this 2016!

This is happening on September 9, 2016 at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay City. The door opens at 8 pm. Get to see all the action up close, or depending on which seats you can afford. It will surely be different when we watch it LIVE instead of from a TV or from a computer!

Who could best represent the WWE franchise but their biggest fighter. He was one of the hulking giants of the wrestling community, and you can't imagine the memories that was brought back after his appearance in Manila. It actually gave me goosebumps when I've heard of his upcoming visit but unfortunately I was scheduled somewhere else during his scheduled appearance and meet-up with media.

‪Dubbed as the World's Largest Athlete, specifically of Wrestling, Paul Donald Wright Jr. aka "The ‪Big Show"‬ visited Manila last July 26, 2016 at the SM MOA Music Hall for a press conference and meet and greet with fans. Hosting was Eric "Eruption" Tai who said the event was "electrifying and ecstatic."

The venue that night was jam-packed with fans, especially the Gen X generation, who can't help but reminisce their childhood watching him and his WWE colleagues fight it out on the ring. The fights were controversially seen as highly rigged and fake, but still it never stopped fans from watching the awesome spectacle as huge guys fought like crazy. It was entertainment to the max if you want adrenaline-pumping action, but would seem so violent for the faint of heart.

ANU Inks Deal with DLSU to Deliver Dual Program in Economics

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Australian National University (ANU) and De La Salle University (DLSU) in the Philippines signed an agreement on 2 August 2016 at DLSU Campus, Manila, Philippines, to establish a new joint program of graduate studies in economics at both universities.

The partnership was made possible through the Australian Government’s Institutional Partnerships Program in the Philippines. In the photo above are Professor Veronica Taylor (Dean of ANU College of Asia and the Pacific), Dr Gerardo Janairo (DLSU Chancellor), Mr Mat Kimberley (Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Embassy).

Under the new agreement, one year of graduate studies will be undertaken at DLSU and another year at ANU. Students who successfully complete the first year of studies will receive a Diploma in Development Economics from DLSU and will be granted entry into the ANU Crawford School to continue their graduate studies. Those who successfully complete studies at the Australian university will be awarded a Master of Environmental and Resource Economics (MERE) or a Master of International and Development Economics (MIDEC).

Mr Mat Kimberley, Australia’s Deputy Head of Mission to the Philippines was pleased to attend the signing, stating that “This is a wonderful development and one that we would like to see more of. Education plays a vital role in Australia-Philippine relations dating back to the 1950s when Filipino scholars were in the first cohort of the Colombo Plan. Since then, more than 3,000 young Filipinos have studied in Australia as part of the Australia Awards Program and each year 10,000 Filipinos study and train in Australia. Today, we are also sending Australia’s best and the brightest to study and train in the Philippines under the New Colombo Plan.”

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is also working with ANU to deliver The Philippines Update 2016 Conference on 2 - 3 September 2016. This conference will provide a forum to link Australian and Filipino officials and researchers’ together to support research on inclusive growth, trade and governance in the Philippines and to look at how development gains under the previous administration can continue under the Duterte administration. The Philippines Update 2016 conference is being presented as part of the 70th anniversary celebration of Philippine-Australia relations.

For updates on Australia-Philippines’ #First70Years, visit www.philippines.embassy.gov.au, like us on Facebook and follow us on @Ausembph.

The Problem of Encroachment: Shrinking Civic Spaces and Territorial Disputes in ASEAN

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Among the foremost concerns of civil society being prioritised at this year’s ASEAN People’s Forum is the issue of encroachment. This encroachment is being seen throughout the region, both in the form of shrinking civic spaces, as well as physical encroachment on land and maritime rights.

During yesterday’s sessions, representatives of organisations from Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Vietnam respectively discussed the issues faced by their communities with regard to resource exploitation by Australia, encroachment on the rights of traditional fisherman via government regulations, and China’s strong-arming of ASEAN countries in the South China Sea.

“A good response to this issue is to build more people-to-people solidarity, especially between and among peoples of the contending or claiming countries, such as Australia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, China, and the like,” stated Mr. Augusto (Gus) Miclat Jr., Executive Director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), based in the Phillipines.

Mr. Mark Batac, also representing IID as well as the Global Partnership for Prevention of Armed Conflict, heeded that we must further remember that, “Fighting encroachment is not a competition between the people of China and the people of ASEAN, or the people of TimorLeste and the people of Australia. While we celebrate our sovereignty as peoples, we should also be weary not to flame any conflicts between our peoples. We as the people’s movement in civil society must build bridges, not boundaries.”

Encroachment in the form of shrinking civil space also continues to plague ASEAN civil society. Mr. Andrew Khoo of the Malaysian Bar Council discussed how governments across ASEAN use means such as national security, censorship, and regulation to justify its encroachment on the rights of citizens.

Ms. Chalida Tajaroensuk of People’s Empowerment Foundation, Thailand, illustrated how these tools of oppression are used in Thailand, stating, “The justification behind the 2014 military coup was to ‘keep peace and order,’ and now Article 44 of the current version of the Constitution is being used under this guise to concentrate power with the government. They use Article 44 to justify the violation of rights, from land-grabbing to dragging human rights defenders into military court.”

Similarly, Mr. Victor Mambor of the Independent Alliance of Journalists (AJI Papua) discussed the repression that is taking place through silencing in West Papua, with police ‘categorising victims as terrorists and separatists, and arresting or killing them on these grounds.’ Mr. Mambor also shed light on the government’s tactic of preventing international media or NGOs from entering the country, further silencing any discussion of problematic issues.

Once again, greater solidarity among ASEAN civil societies to unite with a common voice against oppression, regardless of which country the offense is taking place in, was emphasised as a way forward. This further underscores the importance of the ACSC/APF forum in bringing representatives of ASEAN civil society together for open dialogue to discuss strategies and solutions in a safe space.