Foreign Correspondence

Missing: Sombath Somphone

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — A few weeks ago on December 15th, a mild-mannered but well-known NGO worker in Laos, Sombath Somphone, was following his wife home after dinner in Vientiane. They drove in separate cars but the 60-year-old Somphone […]

Foreign Correspondence

Disappearing, Marcos Billions

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — A shortage of funds and a resurgence of political power within the Marcos family have cast a shadow over the hunt for billions-of-dollars that went missing when Ferdinand Marcos was ousted as president, with […]

Foreign Correspondence

ASEAN’s War on Drugs

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The pledge by ASEAN leaders to intensify campaigns to create a drug-free ASEAN by 2015 is increasingly out of step with international trends which, according to the recent findings of The […]

Foreign Correspondence

Climate Change in The Philippines

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Almost a year after Typhoon “Sendong” devastated the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the northern part of Mindanao, Philippines in December 2011, the historically “typhoon-free” island experienced another […]

Foreign Correspondence

ASEAN’s Year in Review

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — 2012 has etched itself into the history books. During the last twelve months Southeast Asia regularly made global headlines largely due to competing territorial claims between China and various neighboring states. […]