Pro-business candidate wins Colombian presidential election

BOGOTA - Right-wing candidate Ivan Duque won Colombia's presidential election on Sunday, beating leftist Gustavo Petro in a victory that reassured investors but raised the prospect of changes to a landmark peace accord with Marxist rebels.

With 98.2 percent of polling stations counted, Duque won the ballot with 53.9 percent of votes while Petro, who had pledged to shake up Colombia's economic model, had 41.8 percent.

Duque, 41, the business friendly protégé of hardline former President Alvaro Uribe, wants to change a peace deal he deems too lenient on Marxist FARC rebels while keeping Colombia's economic policies intact.

Former guerrilla Petro, whose positions prompted comparisons to Venezuela's former socialist President Hugo Chavez, pledged to take on political elites, redistribute land to the poor and gradually eliminate the need for oil and coal in Latin America's fourth-largest economy.

"We need a strong hand in the peace process now," said Lucero Cevallos, 42, an auxiliary nurse, at a Duque celebration in Bogota.

From the sweltering Caribbean coast to the frigid heights of the Andes, voting was largely uneventful at the 11,230 polling stations across the nation. Marking of ballots was monitored by international election observers to guard against any fraud.

Petro, 58, had called on supporters to take to the streets if he felt there was widespread manipulation of the tally.

"Petro won more votes than I had expected, and that's scary because it says that a great part of the country wants socialism," said another Duque supporter, 77-year-old retired politician Roque Diaz.

It was the first elections since a 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which ended their part in a 5-decade conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Liberal Moon Jae-in wins South Korean election - exit polls

SEOUL - Liberal politician Moon Jae-in won South Korea's presidential election on Tuesday, exit polls showed, an expected victory that would end nearly a decade of conservative rule and bring a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea.

Moon, 64, is expected to beat conservative challenger, former prosecutor Hong Joon-pyo, by 41.4 percent to 23.3 percent of the votes, exit polls conducted jointly by three network television stations showed.

A decisive win by Moon would end months of political turmoil stemming from a parliamentary vote in December to impeach former President Park Geun-hye over an extensive corruption scandal.

The Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment in March, making her the first democratically elected leader to be removed from office and triggering a snap election to choose her successor.

Wearing a dark blue suit with a blue tie, Moon was seen shaking hands with supporters and officials and smiling on his way to his Democratic Party building on Tuesday evening, TV footage shows.

He told his party he would push for reform and national unity if he was confirmed as the next president.

A Gallup Korea poll last week showed Moon had 38 percent support in a field of 13 candidates.

Moon is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday after the National Election Commission releases the official result. Most candidates including Moon have said they would skip a lavish inauguration ceremony and start work straight away.

The new leader is expected to quickly name a prime minister, who will need parliamentary approval, and main cabinet positions, including national security and finance ministers, which do not need parliamentary confirmation.

Moon's victory was bolstered by strong support from younger people, the majority of whom voted for him, according to the exit polls.

Many of his supporters participated in big, peaceful weekend rallies over the last few months of 2016 and early this year, demanding Park step down.

QUESTION OVER U.S. ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM

Moon, whose campaign promises include a "National Interest First" policy, has struck a chord with people who want the country to stand up to powerful allies and neighbors.

He wrote in a book published in January South Korea should learn to say "no to America".

Moon favors dialogue with North Korea to ease rising tension over its accelerating nuclear and missile program. He also wants to reform powerful family-run conglomerates, such as Samsung and Hyundai, and boost fiscal spending to create jobs.

Moon, who narrowly lost to Park in the last presidential election, in 2012, has criticized the two former conservative governments for failing to stop North Korea's weapons development. He advocates a two-track policy of dialogue while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change.

The election is being closely watched by allies and neighbors at a time of high tension over North Korea's accelerating development of weapons since it conducted its fourth nuclear test in January last year. It conducted a fifth test in September and is believed ready for another.

Moon said in a YouTube live stream on Tuesday South Korea should take on a more active diplomatic role to curb North Korea's nuclear threat and not watch idly as the United States and China talk to each other.

His election could complicate the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system, which the former Seoul government and the U.S. military agreed last year to deploy in South Korea as defence against North Korean missiles.

Moon, a human rights lawyer and former student activist, has said the next administration should have the final say on whether to deploy the system.

Many conservatives worry he will revert to a former liberal governments' policy of promoting economic ties with North Korea, which they say helped fund its weapons development, while undermining the all-important alliance with Washington.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park, Se Young Lee, Cynthia Kim and Jack Kim in SEOUL, Writing by Soyoung Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Fake job' scandal deepens for France's Fillon

A scandal surrounding French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon deepened on Tuesday with allegations that he obtained jobs for his children as well as his wife that paid around one million euros.

The new claims in the Canard Enchaine came as investigators raided parliament and seized documents as part of a preliminary probe into a first set of charges levelled against the conservative candidate by the weekly paper last week.

The Canard alleged in its new issue to be published Wednesday that it had unearthed proof Penelope Fillon was paid as a parliamentary aide out of public funds available to MPs for an additional seven years, nicknaming her "Miss Moneypenny".

In another new allegation, the paper said two of the couple's five children, Charles and Marie, had earned 84,000 euros ($91,000) working as parliamentary assistants.

Fillon, 62, was the long-time frontrunner in the presidential race and had been widely forecast to face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the runoff in May, but the claims have hit his support.

The Canard Enchaine alleged last week that Welsh-born Penelope earned around 500,000 euros as a parliamentary aide over eight years from 1998 to 2007.

The new allegations bring to more than 830,000 euros the total sum she allegedly made.

The Canard said it could find no witnesses who could recall her working at parliament and Le Parisien newspaper reported she did not have an accreditation badge or an official email account at the National Assembly.

- Support slipping -

Fillon responded Tuesday by repeating his claim that he is the target of a dirty tricks campaign designed to knock him out of the presidential contest.

"Such a large-scale and professional campaign has been mounted just to eliminate a candidate by other means than the democratic route," he told a business conference.

Fillon has argued that his wife has "always" worked for him, doing tasks such as editing his speeches and meeting people in his constituency.

In addition to the parliamentary job, Penelope worked at a literary review owned by a billionaire friend of her husband's where she allegedly earned another 100,000 euros.

The couple were quizzed separately by investigators for several hours on Monday.

Sources close to the investigation said Fillon's staff had voluntarily handed over documents in the raid at parliament on Tuesday.

Lawmakers are entitled to employ family members, and it is a common practice in many countries, but questions have focused on what work was actually done.

Investigators have also quizzed the former editor and owner of the literary review, La Revue des deux Mondes.

The claims are damaging for Fillon, a devout Catholic who has campaigned on his "clean" record and has vowed to cut 500,000 civil servants' jobs, slash welfare benefits and increase working hours.

The former prime minister swept past scandal-tainted ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy and ex-premier Alain Juppe in November's Republicans primary.

But Fillon has lost momentum since the allegations first emerged.

An opinion poll published on Sunday showed Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigration and anti-EU National Front (FN), would score 25 percent in the first round of the election on April 23, with Fillon slipping to second place and virtually neck-and-neck with the fast-rising centrist Emmanuel Macron.

- Low-key wife -

Fillon has insisted that his wife, also 62, has played a real, if discreet, role in his long political career.

He says that when he was an MP in Paris his wife did a lot of constituency work but was based at their 12th-century chateau near Le Mans in northern France.

Penelope, who has not spoken publicly about the accusations, has always styled herself as a low-key political wife.

A trained lawyer, she told Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper after her husband became prime minister in 2007 that she preferred staying at home than in glitzy Paris.

"I'm just a country peasant, this is not my natural habitat," she joked.

In 2008, when her husband was prime minister, she told French TV her role amounted to "accompanying him (on some functions), and it is limited to that".

The Republicans group in the French parliament on Monday closed ranks around Fillon, expressing "unanimous support".

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Chelsea Clinton meets Fil-Ams in New York for mom's presidential campaign

NEW YORK CITY-- Filipino-Americans have met with US democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's daughter Chelsea Clinton, at a special reception in New York in support of the Clinton campaign.

Headed by Loida Nicolas Lewis, the Hillary Victory Fund was able to raise over $100,000 and was attended by about 50 guests.

Chelsea acknowledged Nicolas Lewis’ support of her mother and highlighted the theme of Hillary Clinton’s platform that “stronger together,” the US can build a stronger economy, protect the nation and the world, and celebrate American values.

“Chelsea was wonderfully eloquent. Feet on the ground, charming, personable and utterly convincing about her faith in her Mom’s being president of the USA,” Lewis said.

Chelsea also reiterated the support of the Fil-Am community and highlighted Clinton’s involvement with the Filipino community, citing her attendance at a major National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) event as first lady many years ago.

“For Filipino-Americans, this election offers a historic opportunity to make a difference. Hillary Clinton brings a consistent track record of public service, fighting for issues that touch our lives; healthcare, children, families, women, and immigration policy,” Clinton supporter Angelie Berrie said.

Members of the Sponsor Committee include Loida Nicolas Lewis, Angelica Berrie, Geraldine Acuna Sunshine, Gail Alvarez and Carla Villacorta, as well as Christina Lewis Halpern, Leslie Malaika Lewis, Dr. Angie Cruz, Edwin Josue, Susan Grant, Matthew Tollin and Bruce Reed.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US billionaire Buffett challenges Trump to reveal tax returns

WASHINGTON - US billionaire Warren Buffett challenged Donald Trump Monday to release his tax returns, a feat which the Republican presidential candidate has so far resisted.

Trump has said he won't release the documents because he is under audit, which Buffett -- one of the world's richest men -- suggested is a weak excuse.

"Now I've got news for him, I'm under audit too," Buffett said, speaking at a Hillary Clinton rally in Nebraska. "You're only afraid if you got something to be afraid about."

"He's afraid because of you," Buffett told the attendees.

Buffett suggested he and Trump meet "any place, any time" before election day to publicly go over their tax records together.

The business magnate also sharply criticized Trump for a recent dispute with the parents of a slain Muslim American soldier.

Pakistani immigrant Khizr Khan galvanized the Democratic National Convention with a tribute to his dead son in which he rebuked the Republican nominee for having "sacrificed nothing" for the country.

In an interview aired on ABC Sunday, Trump insisted he had, in fact, made "a lot of sacrifices" for the United States.

Buffett declared otherwise: "Donald Trump and I haven't sacrificed anything," he said, referencing Trump's remark.

"How in the world can you stand up to a couple of parents who have lost a son and talk about sacrificing because you were building a bunch of buildings?"

Buffett is one of several extremely wealthy Americans to back Clinton for president, including billionaire and independent former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Stock picks in sluggish market: banking, consumer

Shares opened lower on Monday, tracking seven straight days of losses, as concerns over presidential elections next week kept investors on the sidelines.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index was down 129.76 points or 1.81 percent to 7,029.53 in early trade.

"Investors should just stay away for the meantime until the election is done and we see a better picture of how the current president will continue or sustain the current economic growth," AB Capital Securities analyst Alex Tiu told ANC's "Market Edge with Cathy Yang."

Tough-talking Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte leads closes rival Sen. Grace Poe by 11 points one week before the elections. He spoke before the country's business elite last week but did not specify how he would sustain robust growth.

Tiu recommend banking stocks BDO Unibank, Metrobank, Security Bank and East West Bank, which have been trading near record lows.

He also recommended consumer stocks that were benefiting from election-driven demand: Puregold, Robinsons Retail, SM Prime Holdings and Cebu Pacific.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com