Maniolas

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – Senators were briefed almost at every turn on how the new PH-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement was taking shape, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Tuesday. Trillanes, the chair of the Senate committee on national defense, made the statement in the wake of criticism at the apparent lack of transparency in the negotiations. “The Senate defense committee was extensively briefed at the start of the negotiations. It was attended by a few senators but the others sent their representatives,” Trillanes told the Inquirer. “Aside from this, after every round of negotiations, all the senators were apprised by the government panel of its status to include the minutes of the meetings.” Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said Monday that the Senate had yet to receive a copy of the EDCA, which allows US forces access to Philippine bases and the increases the presence of US troops in the country. “I feel as if I have been slapped or ordered to melt into the wallpaper,” Santiago was quoted as saying about the Senate not being given a copy of the deal. Santiago is the chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations, the panel that has jurisdiction on proposed treaties with other countries.  Treaties need to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. “Let’s just say that the initial briefing was sometime in August last year and the status updates came in almost every month,” Trillanes said. “Now, if senators feel these Read More …

U.S. President Barack Obama AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—A look, by the numbers, at President Barack Obama’s weeklong trip across Asia. Obama closed the trip Tuesday in the Philippines and headed back to Washington. — 4: Countries visited: Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines. — 21,000: Miles Obama will have traveled by the time of his scheduled return to Washington on Tuesday night. — 0: Major speeches delivered. — 4: News conferences held. — 3: State dinners attended: Japan, Malaysia, Philippines. — 1: Military pact signed: A 10-year agreement to increase the U.S. military presence on Philippine bases. — 0: Free-trade agreements signed: Negotiations continue over a 12-nation trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. — 4: Palaces visited: Imperial Palace in Japan, Gyeongbokgung Palace in South Korea, National Palace in Malaysia and Malacanang Palace in the Philippines. — 600: Number of guests at state dinner in Malaysia. — 1: American flag Obama gave away, to South Korean President Park Geun-hye. It flew above the White House on April 16, the first day of the Sewol ferry tragedy. — 1: White House magnolia tree given away, to President Park, in memory of the students and teachers who died on the Sewol. RELATED STORIES ‘Nonoy’, ‘Niño’: Ano ba talaga, Obama? Obama: Allies never stand alone Who’s who at Aquino’s state dinner for Obama Obama arrives in Manila Philippines, US sign defense pact Obama heads to Philippines Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. Read More …

Three weeks after the Supreme Court rejected pleas to reconsider its ruling upholding the legality of the Reproductive Health Law, four groups have banded together to ask the high court to restore the penal provisions that it earlier struck down. In a motion for reconsideration, the groups also asked the high tribunal to reverse its ruling last April 8 that declared as unconstitutional portions of Sections 7 and 23 of the controversial law, which President Benigno Aquino III enacted in December 2012. The groups that filed the appeal were the Filipino Catholic Voices for Reproductive Health (“C4RH”), Inc., Interfaith Partnership for the Promotion of Responsible Parenthood (IPPRP), Emeliza Bayya Mones (former national Council Representative of the UCCP), and Zahria Mapandi (Executive Director of Al-Mujadillah Development Foundation, Inc.). Section 7 on “Access to Family Planning” states among others that hospitals refusing to give reproductive health services to a person will have to refer him or her to another health facility which is conveniently accessible. Section 23, meanwhile, lays down the penalties on RH law offenders. Among the penalties nullified include sanctions for refusing to give RH Law services to minors without parental consent, and to give RH Law services to married individuals without the consent of the spouse. The groups said allowing healthcare service providers to refuse RH services like ligation due to absence spousal consent “will pave the way for abusive husbands to continue to abuse and control the health and lives of their wives.” “Between the so-called ‘marital privacy,’ Read More …

President Obama vowed anew to a military audience on Tuesday morning that the United States would come to the defense of the Philippines in case of attack, without once mentioning China. “Our commitment to defend the Philippines is iron-clad,” Obama told Philippine and US troops in Fort Bonifacio Monday morning, as a multiethnic backdrop of camouflaged soldiers stood behind him on stage. It was a reiteration of a message he delivered at the state dinner in Malacañang Palace on Monday night. “Through our treaty alliance, the United States has an iron clad commitment to defend you, your security and your independence,” Obama told an audience of dignitaries in the presidential palace, including President Aquino, referring to the 1951 mutual defense treaty between the two nations. On Monday morning, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) in Camp Aguinaldo, which will enlarge the presence of US troops in the Philippines, purportedly the latest step in the US’ so-called Asian pivot. Non-committal US officials have long been non-committal about the US response to any Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. Obama himself said at a press conference with President Aquino on Monday that the US does not take sides in disputes over territory in Asia’s cauldron of tensions, and did not cite any instances where the US would take up arms to defend the Philippines. Analysts have been skeptical that the US would get involved in any armed confrontation Read More …