In a two-day people’s opinion tribunal held in Bali, Indonesia on May 2 and 3, 2009, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was charged by civil society groups and grassroots sectors from the Asia Pacific region for human rights violations.

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) “Water for All” policy stands as its water sector agenda in the Asian Region. The governing logic of this policy are tradable water rights, private sector participation/provision, full cost recovery and the elimination of subsidies. Disastrous results have followed after each and every project that is shaped by this flawed logic.

Water supply and management projects of multi-lateral institutions are insensitive and detrimental to the needs of people and communities because they are market-driven. The commodification and privatization of water supply and water services violate the principle of water as an inalienable human right.

Research group IBON Foundation, a convenor of the Water for the People Network, asked the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to stop the joint-venture proposal of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) as well as the bidding process that will revive the controversial Laiban dam project because it is marked by allegations of corruption and cronyism.

Corruption in the water sector cannot be de-linked from the issue of privatization of the water sectors around the world, as water resources become increasingly controlled by corporations and subjected to profit-maximization.

The Himalaya is one of the fastest changing regions of the world due to global warming. The mountains’ mighty glaciers, the source of most large Asian rivers and a critical “savings account” of South Asia’s water supply, are melting. In early February 2009, Chinese scientists warned that glaciers on the Tibetan plateau are melting at a “worrisome speed,” according to Xinhua news agency.

A Sign-on Statement initiated by RESIST! (International People’s Campaign to Confront Crisis and War)

The G20 Summit in London on 2 April did not achieve what had been expected in terms of reforms to the global financial architecture, on regulation, or on coordinated macro-economic policy response.

Amidst the worsening global financial and economic climate, the Regional Forum on the Economic and Financial Crisis organized by several leading Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)* from the Asia-Pacific region provided a timely discussion of its causes and impacts on the poor in Asia.

The unbelievable trajectory of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire in the universe of film awards has aroused endorsement and loathing for the film in equal measure. Poverty porn/hymn to hope; slum tourism/no-bull honesty; cliché-ridden bilge/heart-warming tribute - contending adjectives multiply with every review.

Results of the April 2009 nationwide survey of research group IBON Foundation show that most Filipinos are not in favor of Charter change (Cha-cha).