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Philippine legislators who are close allies to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are pushing for the abolition of the presidential form of government to pave the way for the adoption of a parliamentary system with a unicameral legislature through the amendment of the 1987 Constitution.

 

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Preparations for the 2nd ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC) to be held in Cebu, Philippines from December 10 to 12, 2006 have been underway since early this year. Civil society groups from the Philippines have been particularly active in the preparations, as the Philippine process was held last October 13-14, at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (INNOTECH) in Quezon City. This year’s ACSC, with the theme, “Creating a Caring and Sharing Community: Enhancing ASEAN People's Participation in Governance and Development,” hopes for greater cooperation in the region, and will be held parallel to the 12th ASEAN Summit, also in Cebu.

 

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The President of the Philippines, this year's host of the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, said that she intends to include World Trade Organisation (WTO) issues in the summit agenda, specifically the resumption of the stalled WTO talks, and which started in Qatar in November 2001. The ten member countries of the ASEAN, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, will gather together in Cebu, Philippines in December.

 

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Drawing up plans in creating a regional free trade area (FTA) was one of the agendas of both the 15th China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit held in Nanning, China on October 30, 2006 and the 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting last November 18-19, 2006 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

 

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Japan's trainee programme, which allows foreigners to obtain a trainee visa on the promise that they will learn new technologies, is allegedly just a front for cheap labour, according to activists.

 

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Plans to establish a Charter for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is already on its way. However, majority of the regional bloc's population have not yet even heard of this recent development.