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CHENGDU CITY, China – Eighteen Chinese citizens have died so far this year in separate incidents in the Philippines. A Chinese official said the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Manila is alarmed by the development. The embassy has stepped up coordination with the Philippine National Police and local anti-crime advocates. In an interview with reporters in Chengdu, the Chinse foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least four of the Chinese citizens died in accidents while the 14 others were killed in separate kidnapping and murder incidents. “The Philippine government declared that it is safer in the Philippines, but we cannot feel it…In the past years, only 6 to 7 deaths average per year was recorded, but this year, it’s not even the end yet, it’s already 18,” he said. He added that they have also received reports of an alleged plan to attack the Chinese Embassy in Manila by a self-proclaimed anti-China group. “There was even someone who wanted to attack the embassy. They wanted to bomb the embassy,” he said. “So, it is our obligation to remind the Chinese to keep safe.” The official said the Chinese government has coordinated with local police and the Philippine National Police, and anti-crime advocate Teresita Ang-See, adding that no suspect has been arrested in connection to recent crimes against Chinese nationals. Chinese tourists going to popular locations in the Philippines has also been a growing coordination concern with Philippine authorities. “For tourism, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Read More …

PNoy meets with Pinoys in Paris. President Benigno Aquino III addresses members of the Filipino Community during a meeting with the Pinoy expatriates at the Chapelle Sainte Bernadette in Paris on Wednesday, September 17. Aquino is in France as part of his four-nation European tour. Before this, Aquino went to Spain and Belgium. He is expected to visit Germany next before proceeding to the US. Ryan Lim After his budget secretary was nearly mobbed by students at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, President Benigno Aquino III received a warm welcome from a UP alumnus in France. Following a speech and a forum at the French Institute for International Relations, or Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), Aquino got a pleasant surprise after a tall Frenchman greeted him in Filipino. “Maligayang pagdating po sa inyo dito sa France,” Wesley Romain told Aquino. Romain learned to speak Filipino when he was an exchange student at the University of the Philipines from 2012 to 2014.  Because of his height og 6’5″, Aquino even joked if he could recruit Romain to play basketball for the Philippine national team.  But Romain said he did not have the hardcourt skills.  Aquino’s close friend and political ally, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, was nearly mobbed by student-activists after attending a forum at the UP Diliman on Wednesday night.   Aquino himself was at the receiving end of heckling by student-protesters a few times before. Before flying to Germany to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel, Aquino went to Read More …

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Florida –  President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday the United States will not fight another ground war in Iraq, seeking to reassure Americans about the level of U.S. involvement after a top general suggested combat troops could be deployed against Islamic State forces. Obama, who has spent much of his presidency distancing himself from the Iraq War, stressed during a speech at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa that airstrikes would be the central U.S. contribution to the fight against Islamic State, along with coordinating a coalition that he said now includes more than 40 countries. “I want to be clear. The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission,” Obama said. “We will train and equip our partners. We will advise them and we will assist them. We will lead a broad coalition of countries who have a stake in this fight.” His message came a day after General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, left the door slightly ajar to the possibility of some ground forces during congressional testimony that worried some Democrats. “As your commander in chief I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq,” Obama said. The United States has launched more than 160 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in several areas in Iraq and Obama has authorized similar attacks against the extremist group’s strongholds in Syria. Read More …

Student-activists nearly mobbed Budget Secretary Florencio Abad at the University of the Philippines in Diliman after speaking at a forum at the School of Economics on Wednesday night, GMA News TV’s State of the Nation has reported. The report said the students, who picketed the venue, even chased Abad until he reached his car. The activists alleged that Abad defended the Aquino administration’s Disbursement Acceleration Program during the forum. “I don’t that’s unusual at UP,” Abad said in a statement after the incident. “They were violent and meant to harm but nothing serious,” he added. The Supreme Court in July declared the DAP partially unconstitutional. —NB, GMA News

VP Binay at PHL mining confab. Vice President Jejomar Binay (center) exchanges pleasantries with Artemio Disini (right), Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CMP) chairman, and Benjamin Philip Romualdez, CMP president, during the 25th Philippine Mining Conference at Sofitel in Pasay City on Wednesday, September 17. Danny Pata Vice President Jejomar Binay on Wednesday denied that he was already campaigning when he went to Cagayan and Isabela to bring relief goods to victims of typhoon Luis, a report on GMA’s “24-Oras” said Wednesday. He said his visit to the Cagayan Valley an act to help victims of the typhoon after he was questioned for giving out t-shirts. “Unang-una, masama ba ‘yun? Pangalawa ‘di ba mataas ang priority nun? Biro mo naman dahil sa Signal No. 3 ‘yung dumating ang isang taga pamahalaan ay nagpapakita na mayroong caring na government,” he said. Meanwhile, members of the United Makati Against Corruption (UMAC) picketed outside the Vice President’s office in the Coconut Palace. The UMAC challenged Binay to face the Senate investigation on the alleged overpriced Makati Cityhall parking building. Binay and his son, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, are facinig plunder charges in connection with the P2.7-billion  Binay is set to deliver a public address around 2 p.m. on Thursday regarding the issue at the Philippine International Convention Center. —Andrei Medina/NB, GMA News