Maniolas

Incensed at foreign criticism of his brutal war on drugs, President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday threatened to follow in Russia’s footsteps  and pull the Philippines out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN-backed tribunal that handles cases involving war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Like Russia, the Philippines has drawn ICC warning because of extrajudicial killings in Mr. Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs. On Monday, the ICC angered Moscow by referring to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2015 as an armed conflict. The court is also examining allegations of war crimes committed by Russian and Georgian forces during a brief war in 2008. Russia is also under pressure for its bombing of opposition forces fighting President Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war. An angry Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Wednesday to withdraw Russia from the ICC. The Russian foreign ministry explained that the court “failed to match the hopes one had and did not become a truly independent and respected body of international justice.” ‘Shameless bullies’ Speaking in his hometown, Davao City, shortly before flying to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, Mr. Duterte said: “They (the Russians) may have thought the International Criminal Court is useless, so they withdrew their membership. I might follow. Why? Because these shameless bullies only pick on small countries like us.” Mr. Duterte’s comments came just two days after he told reporters that he was excited to meet Putin, who he said was into Read More …

Agnes Callamard seeks assurance of freedom of movement and security. —INQUIRER PHOTO The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings has asked the Duterte administration to guarantee her unfettered access in investigating the spate of deaths in its bloody war on illegal drugs. Agnes Callamard, responding to an invitation from President Rodrigo Duterte, said she wanted assurance of freedom of movement and security in her talks with officials, witnesses and individuals and in her visits to detention facilities, among many others. Sen. Bam Aquino said during his sponsorship presentation Wednesday night of the P16.59-billion budget next year of the Department of Foreign Affairs that Mr. Duterte’s invitation to Callamard had conditions, including a public debate. “She has responded already with her own conditions, and now the interagency body has been created to discuss each of the parties’ conditions,” Aquino said. Conditions Sen. Leila de Lima, who is among those calling for the UN investigation, had inquired about the status of Mr. Duterte’s invitation, prompted by the criticism of his war on drugs that had incensed him. Mr. Duterte at one point had threatened to take the Philippines out of the United Nations. Callamard’s conditions, read out by Aquino, included: A similar invitation to the UN special rapporteur on health. Freedom of movement, including facilitation of transport, in particular, to restricted areas. Freedom of inquiry with regard to access to all prisons, detention centers and places of interrogation. Contacts with central and local authorities. Contacts with representatives of nongovernment organizations, private institutions Read More …

The Philippines hopes to strengthen relations with Pacific rim economies at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, in Lima, Peru. “In Apec, our goal is cooperation and free trade—how economies in the region can help each other in collectively ensuring free trade and implementing trade facilitation measures, with the aid of technology, to help more of our [micro, small and medium enterprises],” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said before leaving for Peru on Tuesday night. The strategy is a continuation of the Philippine push for MSMEs when it played host to  Apec meetings last year. On the sidelines of the Apec meetings in Lima, Lopez will meet with trade ministers from Russia, Chile, Hong Kong and Peru for talks to boost cooperation and increase bilateral trade and investment. This year’s talks could lead to the creation of joint economic commissions that would facilitate bilateral exchanges among member economies. Such efforts could lead to free trade agreements, although these take time and are usually subject to further discussions, Lopez said. He said Apec members had a long way to go before they could negotiate and agree on the proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. TAGS: Amy R. Remo, APEC, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, Pacific rim, Philippines foreign relations, Ramon M. Lopez For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.

NAIA terminal 3. FILE PHOTO MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration is beefing up its gatekeeping capabilities with the integration of its databases with those of other government agencies and the Interpol. The agency has begun implementing the BI Information System, which links up information sources and databases from the BI, government agencies and its international partners. BI commissioner Jaime Morente said the Filipino-designed system has been up and running in 10 international airports, including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The system has been focusing on stronger border control and improved service efficiency, he said. Morente is expected to lead the formal launching of the BIIS, one of the agency’s flagship projects, at the NAIA Terminal 3 on Friday. Immigration officers can now access a centralized database of more than 320 million records of arrivals and departures, which is also linked to the databases of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Tourism and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency. By linking databases from both local and international law enforcement agencies, the BI hopes to reduce the processing time at immigration counters from one minute to 30 seconds. Morente said the BIIS was programmed for quicker search and query through improved search engines and query functions. Immigration officers can now capture actual photos of passengers and take biometrics data with the deployment of cameras and fingerprint scanners in all points of entry. The BI will also be better equipped with improved anti-fraud control with the activation of ultra-violet and infrared auto-detection Read More …

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday warned that the Philippines might also withdraw its membership from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and follow Russia. “I might follow [Russia]. Why? Tayo lang maliliit ang binubugbog ng mga walang hiya,” Duterte said in his departure speech for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) in Peru. READ: Russia withdraws from ICC as nations leave court On Thursday, Russia said it was formally withdrawing its signature from the ICC. Duterte also said he was willing to join Russia and China if they decide to create a “new world order.” READ: Putin withdraws Russia from International Criminal Court “If Russia and China decide to create a new world order, I will be the first to join,” he said. “Alis ako diyan sa… there used to be a League of Nations before. It was in Hague something. Itong predecessor ng United Nations, it used to be called League of Nations. Nothing happened. There is still war. United Nations, walang nagawa,” he added. ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensoud earlier said her office would start monitoring the Philippines amid concerns over summary executions in Duterte’s bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, adding that the government “seems to condone such killings.” Duterte has repeatedly said that he was willing to rot in jail for Filipinos amid his brutal crackdown on illegal drugs. JE TAGS: ICC, International Criminal Court, Rodrigo Duterte, Russia For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.