MANILA // When Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino is sworn in today as the 15th president of the Republic of the Philippines he will be under no illusion about the job facing him over the next six years.
The mild mannered 50-year-old bachelor told reporters: "I know a lot of people expect so much from me but I am not Superman or Einstein ? I don't have all the answers."
The man who just 12 months ago was trying to find a "polite way" of turning down an offer to run as vice president with Mar Roxas was reluctantly thrown into the limelight following the death of his mother, the former president Corazon Aquino, last August.
Corazon Aquino, revered by million of Filipinos after she led a non-violent people power revolution that forced the dictator Ferdinand Marcos out of office in 1986, restored democracy to this South East Asian archipelago nation.
She too was reluctantly thrown into the spotlight after her husband and opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino was gunned down at Manila international airport after returning from exile in the United States in 1983. His father has often been described by many Filipino commentators as the "best president the country never had".
For Mr Aquino the expectations are daunting. Millions of Filipinos, especially the poor, expect him to perform miracles in a country blighted by corruption, at all levels of society, and with 28 million, roughly a third of the country's 92 million population, living below the poverty line according to the World Bank.
At a press conference near his family home in Quezon City, Manila, yesterday Mr Aquino said he expects to "experience some rough" patches. Introducing his cabinet, he said: "We have a good team of tried and tested people who think the same and have the same vision for this country as I do ? we can only try to do our best for the people."
But it will not be easy. He will inherit an economy deep in debt and where education and public health services have gone backwards compared with neighbouring South East Asian nations. And he has been left with a 40-year-old Communist insurgency and a 30-year-old Muslim insurgency in the country's south.
In an interview with The National shortly before his election on May 10, Mr Aquino admitted his biggest problem would be meeting the expectations of the people.
A simple man of modest tastes he does not read much but he does enjoy practical shooting in his spare time as well as the company of close friends and listening to music.
Mr Aquino's record during his 12 years in Congress and the last three as a senator could best be described as lacklustre. None of the bills he authored became laws.
Despite his political critics during the election campaign, Mr Aquino spoke articulately and with a great deal of knowledge about the social and economic challenges facing the Philippines.
Mr Aquino's inauguration spokesman, Manuel Quezon, said: "The people's expectations will be high ? there is no doubt about that.
"While no one doubts his personal integrity, he now has to confront many problems that he's inherited and try to work it out and deliver to the man on the street," he said in an interview on ANC television's Headstart programme. He said like the US president Barack Obama, Mr Aquino will play a "big part in uniting a nation that has been divided by a widely unpopular president".
The outgoing leader, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was elected to Congress in the May 10 elections, leaves office at midnight on June 30 as the country's most unpopular president ever, and that includes Marcos, according to opinion polls.
"Just how much time the public will give him to do his job and basically get started remains to be seen," Mr Quezon said.
Professor Raul Fabella of the economics department of the University of the Philippines said Mr Aquino's election as son of the country's "democracy heroine Corazon Aquino was the easy part".
"In this country, hope has often been dashed in the past. There is no guarantee it will end differently this time," he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
A former president, Fidel Ramos, writing in the Manila Bulletin last Saturday said: "Like many Filipinos I hope he can deliver a better future for the Philippines.
"After 10 years of impeachments, warlordism, cronyist-dynasties, journalist killings, corruption and budget deficits, it is about time that the Philippines moves in a more positive direction in accordance with its potential weight, given our population [projected to reach 100 million by 2015], strategic geographic position, Christian-Muslim culture, skilled workforce, English language proficiency and democratic tradition."
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Company%20Profile
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eco%20Way%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20December%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Kroshnyi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electric%20vehicles%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bootstrapped%20with%20undisclosed%20funding.%20Looking%20to%20raise%20funds%20from%20outside%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20TV%204K%20(THIRD%20GENERATION)
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Squads
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Babar Azam (vc), Abid Ali, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hasnain, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz
Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Minod Bhanuka, Angelo Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara
The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Brescia v Atalanta (6pm)
Genoa v Torino (9pm)
Fiorentina v Lecce (11.45pm)
Sunday
Juventus v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Inter Milan v SPAL (6pm)
Lazio v Udinese (6pm)
Parma v AC Milan (6pm)
Napoli v Bologna (9pm)
Verona v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Cagliari v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
The%20specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The%20specs
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
