Cayetano tells Al Jazeera: More than 3,000 killed in police ops all drug dealers

 Entertainment
Oct 142017
 

SELFIE WITH THE DFA CHIEF. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano grants a selfie with Consul General Tess Dizon de Vega (2nd from left), and other officers of the FilAm Press Club of New York — Marivir Montebon (left), Cristina Dc Pastor (right), and Elton Lugay of the Inquirer International, outside the Philippine Consulate General Office in New York on September 21, 2017 at 3 a.m. (Philippine time). (Photo by King Rodriguez/Presidential Photographers)

MANILA, Oct 7 (Mabuhay) –Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs in an in-depth interview on Al Jazeera on Friday.

Cayetano answered UpFront host Mehdi Hasan’s questions regarding the country’s anti-illegal drug campaign, including more than 3,000 deaths as a result of police operations.

The DFA chief told Hasan that the victims of the drug war were drug dealers despite the host questioning the lack of due process in anti-drug operations.

“How do we know that? You didn’t try them. You didn’t prosecute them. You didn’t charge them. You shot them on sight. That’s not a democratic way of solving crime, is it?” Hasan asked.

“You’re absolutely saying it as if you’re not on the ground. Come and look. So, if I pull a gun on you here, right now, and you shoot me, it’s your fault? Or it’s my fault?” Cayetano said.

Hasan countered, “That’s not what I asked. I said three and a half thousand people have been killed… Are they all criminal drug dealers?”

“Yes,” Cayetano answered.

In one part of the interview, Hasan asked if the police officers arrested by the government admitted to “false killings” or framing victims of the drug war.

Cayetano replied that the officers were “charged for murder” and did not admit to such accusations. (MNS)

Taipei asks Duterte admin for proof of Taiwan-based Bamboo triad

 Entertainment
Oct 072017
 

MANILA, Sept 28 (Mabuhay) — Taiwan on Wednesday asked the Philippine government to provide information and evidence on the alleged Taiwanese drug cartel referred to by President Rodrigo Duterte as the major supplier of illegal narcotics in the country. Taking note of Duterte’s statement, Taiwan’s representative to the Philippines Gary Song-Huann Lin said he has already “requested our related agencies in Taipei to look into and investigate this matter.” “We also urged the Philippines to provide information and evidence through mutual legal assistance mechanisms and channels, through these information and evidence,” Lin said in a statement. Lin said Taiwan was committed to strengthen its anti-drug cooperation with the Philippines. Taiwan has no formal diplomatic relations with the Philippines in deference to the One-China Policy, which prevents countries from recognizing the self-ruling democratic island as a state. It is represented in the Philippines by the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO). In his speech on Tuesday night at the 120th anniversary of the Department of Justice, Duterte blamed a so-called Taiwan-based 14K Bamboo triad for supplying illegal drugs into the country. Duterte made the claim even after Philippine authorities recently intercepted a P6.4-billion drug shipment from China to Manila early this year. The drug syndicate, according to Duterte, cooks methamphetamine in the high seas and uses the Philippines as a transshipment point. Lin denied that Taiwan is the source of drugs in the Philippines. “Taiwan do not export drugs to this country,” Lin said. The Taiwanese official cited data by the Read More …

Maute stronghold in Marawi down to two barangays  — military

 Entertainment
Aug 092017
 
Maute stronghold in Marawi down to two barangays  — military

The Army’s 52nd Engineering Brigade transport one of several armored personnel carriers to Marawi City, where government forces are fighting Daesh-inspired terrorist groups that attacked and destroyed the city over two months ago. The military transport vehicles and other hardware arrived in Iligan port on board the BRP Davao del Sur on August 3. (MNS photo) MANILA, Aug 5 (Mabuhay) — Relentless armed offensives have narrowed down ISIS-inspired Maute group’s area of control to two barangays in Marawi City,  the military said Saturday. “Nasa dalawang barangay na lang tayo ngayon nakatuon … itong area na may military operation ay nasa mga less than 1 square kilometer na lang,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brigadier General Restituto Padilla Jr. said. As of 7 p.m. on August 3, a total of 522 Maute members and 119 government forces were killed in the ongoing clashes. Terrorist have so far killed 45 civilians. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said that only 30 to 40 Maute group members remain holed up in Marawi, noting that these are the most capable of inflicting casualties on the government side. However, Padilla said that the Maute members are running out of ammunition “Halata naman sa kanilang galaw, noong mga nakaraang linggo talagang akala niyo eh hindi sila mauubusan ng bala at kagamitan dahil talagang kung sila’y gumanti sa putukan ay tuloy-tuloy, ngayon eh hindi na. Mukhang talagang kinokonserba nila ang kanilang natitira pang kagamitan,” he said. Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte visited troubled Marawi City a second Read More …

President Rodrigo Duterte Can Still Do the Right Thing

 News
Jun 242017
 

In a recent article in Asia Times, William Pesek a Tokyo-based journalist and former columnist for Barron’s and Bloomberg noted that President Rodrigo Duterte might be “shooting the 100 million-person (Philippine) nation in the proverbial foot?” with his bloody war on drugs, instead of continuing to improve the economy he inherited from former President Benigno Aquino—“an economy on the ascendancy – from weak link to investment-grade growth star in just six years” …

Philippine Congressman warns of Duterte dictatorship, pleads for Congress to convene

 News
May 312017
 

Ifugao Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat has expressed serious concern that President Rodrigo Duterte is dangerously close to becoming a dictator and it may just happen without Congress doing its constitutional role to be a check against abuses by any other equal branch of government …

Martial Law in the Philippine South

 News
May 242017
 

While on a state visit to Russia, President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao in response to a string of attacks by a band of terrorists known as the Maute group. During a press conference on his arrival back in Manila, Duterte mentioned the killing and decapitation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief of Malabang, as well as arson and fighting in the streets of Marawi …

UN Human Rights Council and 45 Countries Tell Duterte to Stop the Killings

 News
May 112017
 

The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte received a stunning rebuke from the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in its just released draft report on the Philippines. Duterte’s war on drugs and the alleged extra-judicial killing of thousands of Filipinos appears to be widely condemned by the international community …

Strong peso due to Duterte’s ‘decisive’ pursuit of peace and order

 Entertainment
Apr 222017
 
Strong peso due to Duterte’s ‘decisive’ pursuit of peace and order

An employee counts Philippine pesos inside a money changer in Manila September 19, 2013. A Philippine official said a weaker peso will benefit Philippine exporters by making their products less expensive and thus more competitive in the global market. MANILA, April 18 (PNA) – Malacañang on Tuesday said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘decisive leadership’ in pursuing peace and order has resulted to healthy economic growth as indicated by the sustained strength of the Philippine peso. “The sustained strength of the Philippine peso mirrors the high business and investor confidence in the decisive leadership of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement. “Under the PRRD administration, it is a doctrine that an economy thrives when there is peace and order. Pursuing that tack has resulted in robust economic growth,” he said. The Palace official said the administration hopes to sustain the economic momentum in order to bring Filipinos closer to Duterte’s promise of a comfortable life. “To sustain it we are launching the biggest infrastructure program in Philippine history. Big-ticket projects such as roads and bridges, mass urban transport system, alternative green city solutions are among key investments intended to move the country closer to the promise of a comfortable life for all,” he said. “The Philippine economic future indeed looks very promising and we enjoin our people to continuously support the administration as we together build a nation worthy of all Filipinos,” Abella said.

Pangilinan: Report on ‘state-sponsored’ EJKs backs Lascañas’ death squad claim

 Entertainment
Apr 222017
 
Pangilinan: Report on ‘state-sponsored’ EJKs backs Lascañas’ death squad claim

Pangilinan in 2015(Wikipedia) MANILA, Apr 19 (Mabuhay) – A report on alleged “state-sponsored extrajudicial killings” authored by a retired police intelligence officer supports the claim of self-confessed hitman Arturo Lascañas about the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS), Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said Wednesday. “That corroborates the earlier statement made by Lascañas when he said that the DDS received cash payments for each killing made,” Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party, said in a text message when asked to comment on the report by Reuters news service. Lascañas, a retired cop, earlier claimed that President Rodrigo Duterte, during his term as Davao City mayor, paid up to P100,000 per drug suspect killed by police officers. Testifying in a Senate inquiry last month, Lascañas said he was involved in the killing of at least 200 people, including radio broadcaster Jun Pala, upon the orders of Duterte. He said members of the DDS, in which he was a “major player,” were motivated to kill drug suspects because of the “reward system” instituted by Duterte. According to two senior officers interviewed by Reuters, police officers have received payments for killing drug suspects. A 26-page report supposedly authored by one of the officers, titled “The State-Sponsored Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines,” alleged that the “reward” for drug killings range from P20,000 for a “street level pusher and user,” to P50,000 for a member of the barangay council, P1 million for “distributors, retailers and wholesalers” and P5 million for “drug lords.” The document has been shared Read More …

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