Maniolas

President Rodrigo Duterte. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA — President Duterte threatened on Sunday (Oct. 2), to stop the implementation of the Philippines-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) as he revealed he would soon announce a new policy that his government would observe in connection with the country’s ties with the United States. Mr. Duterte said his government has been reviewing the EDCA, reminding the US government that while it might be an official document, it was just an executive agreement not even signed two years ago by then president Benigno Aquino III, but only by his official representatives in the negotiation for EDCA. He said EDCA, which was signed in 2014 but was not implemented until the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in January, was only signed by then defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin and a US aide. “Better think twice now because I would be asking you to leave the Philippines altogether,” President Duterte said to the US government. That would happen, said the President, if the US were “unable to produce the signature bearing the permit to conduct war games.” The President made the statement as he reiterated he would strengthen the country’s ties with China and Russia, disclosing for the first time he had talked to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev while he was in Laos for the Asean summit last month. The President said he met with Medvedev and told him about the way the US was humiliating him and that the latter told him he would Read More …

This May 11, 2015 file photo shows land reclamation of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. (Ritchie B. Tongo/Pool Photo via AP, File) Defense ministers from Asean and the United States agreed Saturday to work closer together to strengthen maritime security in the region to combat terrorism, respond to natural disasters and, crucially, manage tensions at sea. They were at the Asean-US Defense Ministers’ Informal Meeting in Hawaii, where they discussed practical ways to prevent incidents from escalating in the South China Sea amid heightened tensions in the contested waters recently. Asean ministers welcomed the US’ continued engagement in the region and its active role in the Asean Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, a forum which also includes China, Japan, South Korea, India, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. The ministers also discussed direct lines of communication and forums to resolve disputes, Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said. “We need not only the absence of tensions but established platforms to anticipate and defuse problems before they occur,” he told his counterparts. He called for a Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, which guides how military vessels should react to situations, to include coast guards and non-military ships, and for regional navies to develop a code of conduct for submariners to enhance underwater safety. Asean ministers meet regularly with their counterparts from key partners, but the current meeting comes as the US is keen to stress its commitment to its Asia rebalance. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter told Read More …

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks at a press conference during a defense ministers meeting of ASEAN , Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 in Kapolei, Hawaii. AP PHOTO KO OLINA, Hawaii—US Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Friday opened talks in Hawaii with his counterparts from 10 Southeast Asian nations, even as US relations with the Philippines, a longtime American ally, grew shakier. In opening comments to the meeting at a seaside resort on the island of Oahu, Carter said he wanted to encourage more regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific on key issues like maritime security and combatting terrorism. As part of a broader Obama administration push to “rebalance” its security interests by paying greater attention to Asia and the Pacific after 15 years focused mainly on the Middle East, Carter is pitching the idea of an Asian security “network.” “The network will help us uphold important principles like resolving disputes peacefully; ensuring that countries can make their own choices free from foreign coercion and intimidation; and preserving the freedom of overflight and navigation guaranteed by international law,” he said. A more immediate issue not mentioned by Carter in his formal remarks, however, was a steep deterioration in relations with the Philippines. When Carter visited the Philippines in April, he praised the strength of the partnership. Earlier this week in San Diego he called US-Philippine defense relations “ironclad.” That seeming closeness took a sharp downturn when Rodrigo Duterte was elected president in June. In early September, President Barack Obama canceled Read More …

President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday faced a barrage of criticism from the United Nations, Israel, Western governments and international rights groups for drawing parallels with his brutal war on drugs and Adolf Hitler’s extermination of Jews before and during World War II. Even longtime ally the United States has hinted at impatience with Mr. Duterte over his latest inflammatory comments, with Pentagon chief Ashton Carter and the US Embassy in Manila both saying the Philippine leader’s remark about being “happy to slaughter” 3 million drug addicts is “deeply troubling.” READ: Duterte’s Hitler remarks ‘deeply troubling,’ says Pentagon chief Early on Friday, Mr. Duterte, speaking to reporters at Davao International Airport after arriving from a two-day official visit to Vietnam, said his critics were threatening to bring him before an international court for the killing of thousands of people in his bloody war on drugs and complained that they were picturing him as “a cousin of Hitler” even if nothing had been proven against him. Noting that Hitler had murdered millions of Jews, Mr. Duterte said he was also willing to kill the 3 million drug addicts in the Philippines if it were the only way to solve the country’s drug problem.   READ: Heil Digong? “There are 3 million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I’d be happy to slaughter them,” he said. “If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have …,” he said, pausing and pointing to himself. “You know my victims. I Read More …