Maniolas

VIENTIANE—US President Barack Obama urged President  Duterte on Thursday to conduct his war on drugs “the right way,” after 3,000 people were killed in the crackdown in just over two months. “As despicable as these (crime) networks may be and as much damage as they do, it is important from our perspective to make sure that we do it the right way,” Obama told reporters when asked about his conversation with Mr. Duterte on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) summit in Laos. “Because the consequences of when you do it the wrong way are innocent people get hurt and you have a bunch of unintended consequences that don’t solve the problem,” Obama said he told Mr. Duterte. Relations between the United States and the Philippines, longtime allies, saw a spectacular setback this week after the foul-mouthed Mr. Duterte branded Obama a “son of a bitch” and warned that he would not be lectured by the US leader on human rights. Mr. Duterte’s outburst on Monday was in response to being told Obama planned to raise concerns about his war on drugs. “I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Putang ina, I will curse you in that forum,” Mr. Duterte told reporters, using the Filipino phrase for “son of a bitch,” shortly before flying to Laos. “We will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that Read More …

Flight instructor Julie Wang landed at the Clark International Airport, on Sept. 7, 2016, in Pampanga province, one of her stops as she attempts to fly around the world on her Cirrus Generation Three single-engine aircraft. (Photo contributed by the Clark International Airport Corp.) BAGUIO CITY —  Flight instructor Julie Wang has landed at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga province, one of her stops as she attempts to fly around the world on her Cirrus Generation Three single-engine aircraft. Wang’s plane landed on Wednesday after a 10-hour flight from Guam and flew out at noon on Thursday for China without much fanfare. A resident of Florida in the US, Wang intends to become the first Chinese woman to circumnavigate the world on a single-engine plane. A Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) report said Wang’s journey, which has been promoted by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) in China, would cover 23,000 nautical miles, mostly over oceans. Wang grew up in Dalian, China, but she has been a Florida resident for the past six years.  SFM Latest Villar seeks 4Ps review Duterte sums up debut at Asean summit: ‘Perfect’ ASEAN, China agree to ease military tensions at sea, set up hotline Global stocks higher after stronger China trade, Nasdaq gain Recommended Disclaimer: Comments do not represent the views of INQUIRER.net. We reserve the right to exclude comments which are inconsistent with our editorial standards. FULL DISCLAIMER View Comments For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.

United States President Barack Obama on Thursday (Manila time) shrugged off the tirades launched against him by President Rodrigo Duterte. READ: Duterte, Obama shared handshake, ‘good conversation’—Cayetano “I don’t take these comments personally because it seems the phrase is used repeatedly including [the one] directed at the Pope. It seems to be just a habit,” Obama said in a televised press conference at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Vientiene, Laos. READ: Duterte to Obama:  Don’t lecture me on rights, PH not a US colony Obama said he met briefly with Duterte on Wednesday night. “I did shake hands with President Duterte last night,” Obama said. “It was not a long interaction,” he added. Obama said he is willing to partner with the Philippines on addressing the drug problem in the country. “We wanna partner with the Philippines on [the war against] narco-traffickers,” he said. TVJ/rga Latest Villar seeks 4Ps review Duterte sums up debut at Asean summit: ‘Perfect’ ASEAN, China agree to ease military tensions at sea, set up hotline Global stocks higher after stronger China trade, Nasdaq gain Recommended Disclaimer: Comments do not represent the views of INQUIRER.net. We reserve the right to exclude comments which are inconsistent with our editorial standards. FULL DISCLAIMER View Comments For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) applaud after posing for a group photo at National Convention Center in Vientiane, Laos, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016. Leaders from left, Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang, Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte, Brunei Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) MANILA — Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China have agreed to step up measures to stop military tensions in the disputed waters of South China Sea  through the Code of Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) and a hotline that alerts parties on skirmishes including military incursions particularly of claimants. Both parties supported the creation of a hotline to respond to maritime emergencies in the implementation of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). The DOC adopted by Asean and China in 2002 commits parties “to exercise restraint and prevent tensions” in the disputed waters. “We remain committed to the full and effective implementation of the DOC in its entirety and working substantively towards the early adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) based on consensus,” said the Asean-China joint communiqué signed on Sept. 7, 2016 during the Asean Summit in Vientiane, Laos. The Asean-China Read More …

VIENTIANE, Laos — President Barack Obama put the long-simmering dispute in the South China Sea front and center on the agenda at a regional summit Thursday as it became clear that most of the other leaders gathered in the Laotian capital were going to let China off with a mild rebuke over its territorial expansion in the resource-rich waters. “We will continue to work to ensure that disputes are resolved peacefully including in the South China Sea,” Obama said in his opening remarks at a meeting with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. He said an international arbitration ruling on July 12 against China was “binding” and “helped to clarify maritime rights in the region.” ASEAN will hold a separate summit later Thursday with other world powers, including China and the US The summit is expected to let China off with a muted reprimand over its expansionist activities in South China Sea, according to a draft of their joint statement to be released Thursday. The mild language in the statement, despite growing frustrations in the region over China’s claims, is a reflection of Beijing’s diplomatic, economic and military clout within ASEAN, which forms the core of the East Asia Summit that also includes the US, China, Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The US has repeatedly expressed concern over Beijing’s actions in the resource-rich sea. Obama brought that up again. Referring to the arbitration panel’s ruling that invalidated China’s claims, Obama said: Read More …