15/09/2026

TUESDAY | SEPT 15, 2026

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Voting starts in Moro enclave MANILA: Voting began yesterday in the southern Philippines under heightened security after three people were killed and 15 wounded in violence on the eve of the historic election. o Legislature will choose chief minister a 2014 peace deal between Manila and separatists can be sustained through elected institutions.

The Virgo Transport 8 carrying 243 people went missing in bad weather on Sunday, the rescue agency said. Authorities have since rescued 108 people from the ship, which was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. Choppy waters with high waves and strong winds were impeding the search yesterday, said Mohammad Syafii, head of the national rescue agency. The agency has deployed at least 622 personnel, 17 ships, five helicopters and aircraft to find the missing passengers, Syafii said. Some of the ships have arrived at the location but it was difficult for rescuers to make their way into the capsized ship, he said. “We will also deploy personnel with underwater rescue skills but conditions do not allow us to,” he said. “While waiting for the weather conditions to improve, we are identifying more personnel with special skills,” he said, adding the death toll remained at six. In a video shared by the agency, a large red-and-black ship was capsized and partially submerged, with its red-painted underside visible above the surface. The grant of autonomy was intended to halt a conflict that killed more than 120,000 people, displaced about 2 million, and helped extremist groups gain a foothold in the region. “The election marks a milestone in the continuing journey of BARMM towards lasting peace, democratic governance and meaningful self determination”, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in a video message urging voters to take part in what he also described as a “defining moment” for the region and the country. The election completes a transition set in motion by the agreement between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest separatist group, and a subsequent law that granted greater political and economic powers to the region. The law was ratified in a 2019 plebiscite in which residents overwhelmingly backed greater self rule, paving the way for the creation of BARMM and an interim government tasked with preparing the region for elections. The Bangsamoro spans parts of Mindanao, the Philippines’ second largest island, and a chain of dozens of small islands to the west once

The vote is seen as a crucial test of efforts seeking to bring lasting peace and development to a region once torn by separatist conflict and extremism which peaked in the 2017 siege of Marawi City. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) placed Cotabato City under its control after the violence on Sunday, when an argument at a polling station erupted in gunfire, according to local reports. Comelec said voting was proceeding smoothly across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and that it did not expect broader unrest, citing expanded checkpoints and the swift deployment of security forces. The election also faced an early logistical challenge after election officials discovered pre-shaded ballots in Basilan, delaying the voting there as ballots would have to be reprinted, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said. Nearly 2.4 million voters are registered for the vote, which international partners and peace monitors view as a key test of whether the regional autonomy granted under JAKARTA: Indonesia tapped Deputy Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara as the country’s new finance chief yesterday in a move that analysts said could signal policy continuity. President Prabowo Subianto issued a decree for 55-year-old economist Suahasil to replace his boss Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. Suahasil, who took the oath of office in Jakarta yesterday, said he was mandated by the president to maintain fiscal credibility. “The president’s specific directive is to safeguard the state finances, meaning maintaining its health and credibility,” he said. Outgoing finance chief Purbaya was appointed a year ago, following anti-government protests. – AFP KEY DEFENCE FORUM OPENS TODAY HONG KONG: China’s military leadership is expected to outline its aims for global security when it hosts its annual defence forum this week. Defence Minister Dong Jun is expected to open the three-day Xiangshan Forum in Beijing today with a fresh pitch for international cooperation. Hundreds of military officers, diplomats and scholars from dozens of countries are expected to attend the three-day event. “This will be a good opportunity for foreign defence delegates to meet potential members of the next generation of PLA leaders,” said Chinese security scholar James Char, of Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. – Reuters PRABOWO TAPS NEW FINANCE MINISTER

Abdullah Makapaar (centre), a former MILF commander, leaves after casting his vote in Marawi City yesterday. – AFPPIC

Panel to hear maritime dispute SINGAPORE: Cambodia and Thailand will face off before international mediators in Singapore this week in a dispute over maritime resources. Phnom Penh initiated a UN-backed conciliation process at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) after Bangkok pulled out of an agreement to work towards joint offshore energy exploitation in the Gulf of Thailand. The 2001 memorandum of understanding covers a 27,000 sq km resource-rich territory claimed by Cambodia and Thailand. Bangkok in May pulled out of the framework agreement, called “MoU 44”, saying that “no progress had been made” in implementing it. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied it was linked to a border conflict with its neighbour. Cambodia said last week that it resorted to the conciliation process “after Thailand unilaterally terminated the agreed bilateral framework” through which the two nations had “negotiated overlapping maritime claims for more than two decades”. The two countries’ representatives are will give opening statements today before a five-member conciliation panel of law experts at the world’s oldest arbitration court’s offices in Singapore. Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn is expected to open the floor, followed by his Thai counterpart Sihasak Phuangketkeow. Set up in 1899, the PCA is the world’s oldest intergovernmental dispute-resolution body. – AFP “Hopefully, the people the voters truly want will win,” Abing said. – Reuters gripped Lamitan in 2001 when Abu Sayyaf gunmen stormed the city and took hostages. Today, she points to a recently opened branch of fast-food chain Jollibee as a symbol of confidence in a city once associated with kidnappings and insecurity.

power in the election are parties led by former MILF rebels, rival factions that emerged from the movement after the peace deal and traditional political clans. In Basilan province, 70-year-old Jessica Abing was among those who voted for greater self-rule in 2019 and plans to cast her ballot again. She still remembers the fear that

associated with piracy and banditry. BARMM is the country’s only region governed by a parliamentary system, with voters electing an 80 member parliament made up of 40 party representatives, 32 district representatives and eight sectoral representatives. The legislature will then choose the chief minister. Among those competing for

Rescuers battle turbulent seas JAKARTA: Hundreds of rescuers including the coastguard and the navy raced yesterday to board a passenger ship that capsized in the Java Sea over the weekend as they searched for the 129 people still missing, officials said, with the confirmed death toll at six.

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Rescued passengers disembarking in Banjarmasin yesterday. – AFPPIC

waves hit its starboard side. Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the capsized boat had the capacity to accommodate 500 passengers, so it was not overloaded. Freddy Manuhua has been anxiously awaiting news of his brother Stefiyansah at Surabaya port since Sunday. His brother had worked as a keyboard player for the ship’s entertainment show for the past two months. He remembers taking his brother, who was very excited about his new job, to Surabaya port last Saturday before the vessel left for Banjarmasin. “I will accept whatever happens and would be grateful if I can still see my younger brother again, no matter what condition he is in,” he said. – Reuters

Two small boats, each carrying people, were seen floating in rough waters near the capsized ship. The location of the capsized boat is 150km from the command centre at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, said another official at the rescue agency. “The conditions there are quite windy, making it difficult for the vessel to dock,” the official, Arianto Ardi, said. The weather was very poor when the incident happened, with waves as high as three metres crashing into the ship, Syafii said. It takes around five hours to reach the location from Trisakti Port in good weather but requires up to nine hours in rough conditions. On Sunday, Edy Prakoso, another official at the agency, said the ship leaned heavily after strong