Maniolas

The Philippines has reached out to global power Russia to strengthen military capability amid lingering South China Sea disputes, threats of terrorism, and transnational crimes. Philippine defense officials met with the Russian Federal Service for Military­Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) to explore military cooperation to strengthen the country’s military capability and defense training for Philippine military and police officers. Foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said Russia’s global stature and wide experience in conflict prevention can contribute efforts in maintaining peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. “One of the most pressing challenges in the region is keeping a stable, predictable and peaceful maritime order, particularly in the South China Sea,” said Yasay in a speech at the 40th anniversary of Philippines­Russia bilateral relations. Yasay said the Philippines recognizes the importance of the South China Sea, “as one of the main arteries of global trade, to the continued favorable economic outlook of the Asia Pacific region.” The Asia Pacific region, he said, is a strategic hub for global economic growth, and countries in the region navigate through the disputed waters of South China Sea. “Therefore, we all have a legitimate stake in maintaining peace and security in the region through peaceful means and the rule of international law,” said Yasay in a speech, a copy of which was posted in the Facebook account of the Philippine ambassador to Russia, Carlo Sorreta. The recent visit of high officials of the Department of National Defense (DND) to Russia is part of the thrusts of the Read More …

Senator Leila De Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO Senator Leila de Lima wants the United Nations to come to the Philippines and look into what she called “unprecedented phenomenon of extrajudicial killings and summary executions” in the country in the midst of the government’s intensified fight against illegal drugs. In Senate Resolution No. 153 filed on Monday, de Lima is urging the executive branch through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to extend an invitation to the United Nationals Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killing and Summary Executions to visit the country and look into the rampant killings here. It was on the day she filed the resolution that De Lima was also removed as chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, investigating on the issue. READ: De Lima ousted as Senate justice committee chair “It is hereby resolved, in view of the foregoing reasons and circumstances, the Senate respectfully urges the Executive Department, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, to extend an invitation to the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Ms. Agnes Callamard, to conduct a visit to the country and perform inquiries or investigation on the unprecedented phenomenon of extrajudicial killings and summary executions that has arisen during the aggressive enforcement of the administration’s war on drugs,” the resolution said. In calling for the UN probe, De Lima cited in the resolution the official data from the Philippine National Police (PNP), which showed that as of September 14, 2016, there are a total of Read More …

THE BUREAU of Immigration (BI) said on Tuesday it was on the lookout for some 1,200 Indonesians who may be among the 6,700 Filipino Muslim pilgrims returning from Mecca after joining the hajj. The agency said it would be confiscating the hajj passports of all Muslim pilgrims to identify the fake ones. Immigration personnel at the airport would be screening the arriving pilgrims and cross matching their confiscated passports with existing immigration records, BI deputy commissioner Al Argosino said. “We are doing cross matching of data to determine who are the nationals holding Philippine hajj passports. We are putting them in a holding room. We are not treating them as criminals but as part of our system to identify the Indonesian victims of this scam,” he told a press briefing. The official also asked for patience from Muslim pilgrims who would be affected by the screening process at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia). “I ask for your patience. As of this moment, we can’t determine who are the Indonesians unless we determine who the regular passport holders are,” Argosino said. The BI intercepted last month 177 Indonesians who posed as Filipinos with hajj passports who were en route to join the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Most of them however were later sent home as they were considered victims, though nine remained behind to help in the probe of an interagency task force hunting down the syndicate behind the scam. Five Filipinos who acted as the foreigners’ escorts have been Read More …

US President Barack Obama and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. AP FILE PHOTO THE PHILIPPINES needs the United States as a counter balance in the South China Sea, where it remains locked in a territorial dispute with China, President Duterte said on Tuesday. Mr. Duterte made the statement in the course of explaining his earlier remark that he might later ask US Special Forces  to leave Mindanao to pave the way for talks with Muslim rebels, who have historical grievances from abuses suffered at the hands of the Americans. “I never said get out of the Philippines, for after all, we need them there in the China Sea. We don’t have armaments,” President Duterte said. He added that the Philippines was not ready to go to war with China, and he would not want it, because it would be a “massacre.” The Permanent Court of Arbitration, acting on the Philippines’ complaint, earlier invalidated Beijing’s claim to almost the whole of the South China Sea. China has refused to recognize the ruling. The President is seeking bilateral talks with China over the issue, and has said that he would insist that discussions between the two countries be based on the decision. Mr. Duterte however insisted that the Americans continue to look down on the Philippines. “I really do not know what’s wrong with these Americans. They look at us as if we’re lowly,” he said. He repeated his earlier lament over the FA-50 jets the country had acquired, which he said did Read More …

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Tuesday denied that President Rodrigo Duterte had a hand in the congressional investigation on the alleged illegal drug operations inside the national penitentiary where Senator Leila de Lima was supposedly involved. “Hindi totoo ‘yung kanyang akusasyon na ginaganap itong House investigation na ito ay dahil sa utos ng ating Pangulong Duterte. Hindi po totoo ‘yun,” Aguirre said at a press briefing after Tuesday’s hearing by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice. “Ako mismo makapagsasabi na kahit minsan ako ay hindi kinausap ni Presidente Duterte na imbestigahan itong kanyang (De Lima) involvement sa illegal drug trade sa loob ng Bilibid,” he added. De Lima, a former Department of Justice secretary, denied the allegation and described the House hearing as a “sham inquiry.” The neophyte senator has been investigating the extrajudicial killings being linked to Duterte’s anti-drug war until she was voted out of the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Monday De Lima has been a staunch critic of Duterte ever since she was head of the Commission on Human Rights. Meanwhile, Aguirre chided De Lima for concluding that the testimonies of the witnesses would be all lies even without hearing them. “Kahit hindi pa niya naririnig, sinasabi na agad niya na ang mga testigong ito ay puro kasinungalingan at imbento lamang ang sasabihin,” he said. “Pero bago mo sabihin iyon, pakinggan mo muna kung ano ang sasabihin nung tao bago ka magsabi na kasinungalingan.” “Hindi maaaring sabihin mo Read More …