Maniolas

China’s official news agency on Friday likened the Philippines to a “crying baby” for seeking international support against island-building in disputed waters by Beijing, denouncing its efforts as “pathetic”. The caustic commentary by the Xinhua news agency came two days after foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) voiced concern over Beijing’s land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea. Manila — which has challenged China’s territorial claims at a UN tribunal — had urged the 10-country grouping to take a firmer stand against Beijing on the issue. “Only one month after an arbitration farce, the Philippines is putting up another pathetic show in an attempt to lobby international sympathy and support in its territorial spat with China,” Xinhua wrote. “Manila should be fully aware that acting like a crying baby and begging for compassion from the international community would never help justify its claims in the South China Sea dispute,” it said. The dispute “should and could be properly handled only by the parties directly concerned”, it added. China says it controls almost all of the South China Sea, a claim which conflicts with those of ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam as well as non-member Taiwan. Manila accused Beijing last year of reclamation work around isolated reefs in the Spratly islands, which could hold fortified positions or even airstrips. Beijing has repeatedly rejected Philippine protests, saying that the projects were being conducted in Chinese sovereign territory. On Wednesday, following a two-day ministers’ meeting Read More …

Associate Justice Antonio Carpio. FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines needs a favorable ruling from an international body to sway world opinion and compel China to back down and respect maritime boundaries in the disputed South China Sea, a senior magistrate said on Thursday. In a lecture at the Ateneo Professional Schools on Thursday, Associate Justice Antonio Carpio pressed for clarity in the protracted conflict as he cited the urgency of settling the dispute amid China’s continuing reclamation activities in the disputed area. The Philippines has filed a case against China before the United Nations arbitral tribunal, seeking to invalidate Beijing’s expansive nine-dash-line claim and stop its incursions into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). China has ignored the proceedings, and reiterated its “indisputable sovereignty” over the waters. It has continued with reclamation activities in at least five reefs within the Philippines’ EEZ. “We need clarity, that’s why our strategy would be do everything to get clarity through compulsory arbitration or, if not, through compulsory conciliation,” said Carpio, referring to the two possible legal remedies to the dispute. He noted that “there are only two things that can restrain China.” Either Beijing itself backs down—which would be unlikely given its naval buildup investment—or “world opinion would force China to behave,” he said. “We cannot expect China to restrain itself… We can only hope for world opinion,” said Carpio, a strong defender of Philippine sovereignty, taking to the lectern to lecture on the subject in other academic institutions like the University of Read More …

DAVAO CITY, Philippines–Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiators agreed to meet in Kuala Lumpur on Friday for the signing of the implementing procedures for the decommissioning of firearms and forces the erstwhile rebel group earlier agreed to. Chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the expected signing would be attended by representatives from the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB), which is made up of experts from such countries as Turkey, Norway and Brunei. Chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer. AFP FILE PHOTO The MILF will be represented by its chief negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal, according to Coronel-Ferrer. “The signatories of the protocol implementing the (decommissioning) are the panel chairs, the IDB chair and the Malaysian facilitator,” she said. Coronel-Ferrer said the meeting came amid doubts over the implementation of the peace process following Sunday’s clash between MILF forces and members of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force (SAF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. But she did not say if any discussion on the bloodbath would be held. Coronel-Ferrer said during the meeting, the two panels would discuss plans for the turnover of the first batch of weapons to the IDB, which was tasked to secure the weapons in a storage area. These decommissioned weapons, she said, would be kept there and put beyond use. The decommissioning process was among the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro that the Philippine government and the MILF formally signed in March 2014. Initially, the MILF agreed to turnover 75 high-powered firearms during the ceremony that Read More …

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Monday ordered the arrest of Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. and five other personalities after citing them for contempt for their continued refusal to attend the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee on the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II and other alleged anomalies despite the issuance of subpoenas and show-cause orders. Senator Teofisto Guingona, chairman of the committee, granted the recommendation of Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, chairman of the subcommittee, to cite in contempt and order the arrest of Binay, City Administrator Eleno Mendoza, Eduviges “Ebeng” Baloloy, former City Administrator Marjorie de Veyra, Engineer Line Dela Peña, and Bernadette Portallano.  “I am ordering the Senate sergeant-at-arms to serve the detention order,” Guingona said. University of Makati president Tomas Lopez was not included in the order as he submitted a letter manifesting his willingess to attend the next hearing on Thursday. Present at the meeting were Guingona, Pimentel and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. Binay attended the first hearing and answered the questions of senators but he was absent in the succeeding proceedings. The other Makati officials, on the other hand, were present in the following hearings. The officials refused to attend the subsequent hearings when they decided to challenge the jurisdiction of the committee. In their respective letters explaining their continued absence, Binay, Baloloy, Mendoza, Lopez, De Veyra, and Dela Peña said they were merely availing of remedies under the Senate Rules and were constrained to file a jurisdictional challenge because Read More …

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the military is now confirming reports that Jemaah Islamiyah leader Zulkifli bin Hir also known as Commander Marwan was killed in a day-long firefight between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao on Sunday. “Well, we have no confirmation but that was the report we got last night…According to reports they (PNP) were able to neutralize one of them, si Marwan, although ‘yung isa nakawala, ‘yung si Basit Usman,” Gazmin told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo on Monday. File photo shows Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan (L) and Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Jumdail (R). AFP photo At least 30 police officers belonging to the elite group, Special Action Force (SAF) were confirmed dead in the firefight on Sunday. Army sources, however, said they suspect that about 50 people died from the clash, majority of them belonging to the side of the police. Gazmin said he, Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas and PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina will go later on Monday to Maguindanao and Cotabato to assess the situation and to confirm the report about Marwan’s death. “We will validate that (report). I am going to Cotabato today so that I can get more accurate information to be able to disseminate to you,” Gazmin said. In a report sent to Espina on Sunday, the SAF director, Chief Superintendent Getulio Napenas Jr., said the SAF operatives were able to “neutralize” Marwan at around Read More …