BEIRUT – The team of United Nations inspectors that was investigating the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria arrived at Beirut International Airport on Saturday, a Reuters witness said. The team had crossed the land border from Syria into Lebanon earlier in the day after completing its four-day investigation. – Reuters
MANILA (Mabuhay) — A Malacañang spokesman on Thursday said there is no need to send peacekeepers to Mindanao, contrary to what former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari told the United Nations (UN) in a letter. During a press conference earlier in the day, Misuari said he wrote to UN Secretary General Ban […]
Agence France-Presse 1:17 pm | Friday, June 28th, 2013 An Israeli army Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) maneuvers during a military exercise near the northern border with Syria on June 25, 2013 in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. INQUIRER file photo UNITED NATIONS—The UN Security Council on Thursday backed UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights carrying machine guns, as fallout from the Syria war increases in the ceasefire zone. The council passed a resolution to extend the mandate of the force, where the Philippines has the biggest contingent, until the end of the year. It also called on Syrian government and opposition fighters to stay out of the zone where peacekeepers monitor a three-decade-old ceasefire between Syria and Israel. The 15-member council strongly condemned three abductions of UN peacekeepers in the Golan since March and expressed “grave concern” at violations of the 1974 ceasefire accord. Members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) were kidnapped by different opposition groups between March and May. Two peacekeepers have been wounded in shelling as President Bashar al-Assad’s forces attack rebels in the ceasefire zone. The council stressed the “need to enhance the safety and security” of peacekeepers, and endorsed UN leader Ban Ki-moon’s changes to the mission’s operations to “enhance the self-defense capabilities of UNDOF.” The council resolution did not set out the measures. But UN officials and diplomats say that UNDOF peacekeepers, who traditionally only carry very light arms, will get machine guns, extra body armor and Read More …
By Nikko DizonPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:08 am | Friday, June 28th, 2013 Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera reviews a guard of honor during a welcome ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Thursday June 27, 2013. In a joint news conference with Philippine counterpart Voltaire Gazmin, Onodera said Japan supports the peaceful resolution of the current row between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). AP PHOTO/BULLIT MARQUEZ MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines and Japan on Thursday welcomed the deepening of their “strategic partnership” for defense, particularly in maritime affairs, amid their territorial disputes with an increasingly aggressive China. Without mentioning China, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera vowed their governments would work together to protect their territories in accordance with the rule of law. The meeting between Gazmin and Onodera was the first between the defense chiefs of the Philippines and Japan in nearly a decade. The two defense chiefs also discussed the United States’ rebalancing of its forces to the Asia-Pacific region. Rotational deployment “We did not talk about any individual or specific equipment of United States forces, but we agreed that Japan and the Philippines will work together to make this rebalance a reality,” Onodera said. He added that he learned from Gazmin that the Philippines was “making efforts to further increase the rotational deployment of the United States forces and I have also heard that the Philippine side is now discussing with the United States (its) presence Read More …
By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:36 am | Friday, June 21st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—A United Nations humanitarian agency has called for urgent help from the international community for the Mindanao provinces devastated by Typhoon “Pablo” and decades of conflict, saying the region still needed some $47 million (around P2 billion) for shelter and livelihood requirements this year. Top officials of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha) also said it was downsizing its presence on the ground in the typhoon-devastated parts of Mindanao as operations had shifted from immediate relief to long-term rehabilitation. David Carden, the head of Unocha Philippines, said the $47 million, part of the $91 million call for aid that the agency made under its revised humanitarian action plan for central and western Mindanao, had remained unfilled as of this month. “This revised plan will help us to meet the ongoing needs of those affected by Pablo, particularly in the areas of shelter, because people need shelter and livelihood,” Carden told a press conference on Thursday. “The requirements are still there in the areas of shelter, education, sociopsychological rehabilitation. A lot of people who lost relatives, friends, they are recovering now and I’d say we don’t have much time… We have to move rather quickly,” said Rashid Khalikov, the Geneva-based Unocha director who headed a high-level team of aid officials and international donors who visited Maguindanao this week. Carden said the revised call for aid aimed to “meet the humanitarian and protection needs of Read More …
By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:42 pm | Thursday, June 20th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations’ humanitarian agency called for immediate international response to the prevailing needs in Mindanao provinces devastated by Typhoon “Pablo” and decades of conflict, estimating that the region would have to raise $47 million (roughly P2 billion) for shelter and livelihood needs in 2013 alone. Top officials of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) also bared on Thursday that it has started downsizing its operations on the ground in typhoon-hit parts of Mindanao as operations shifted from immediate relief to long-term rehabilitation. The $47 million is part of a $91-million call for aid under the agency’s revised humanitarian action plan for Central and Western Mindanao as of this month, according to David Carden, head of OCHA Philippines. “This revised plan will help us to meet the ongoing needs of those affected by Pablo, particularly in the areas of shelter, because people need shelter and livelihood,” Carden said in a press conference on Thursday. “The requirements are still there in the areas of shelter, education, socio-psychological rehabilitation. A lot of people who lost relatives, friends, they are recovering now and I’d say we don’t have much time… We have to move rather quickly,” Rashid Khalikov, Geneva-based UNOCHA director who led a high-level visit of aid officials and international donors to Maguindanao this week. Carden said the revised call for aid aimed to “meet the humanitarian and protection needs of 530,000 affected Read More …
By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:28 pm | Monday, June 17th, 2013 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — Some 26 children were recruited as soldiers, messengers and informants in conflict zones while dozens of other minors were slain and maimed in militant attacks and gunfights in the Philippines last year, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said in a report. In the report “Grave violations committed against children in 22 situations of concern” released on June 12, Ban expressed concern over the use of children as operatives, informants and messengers in conflict areas, recruited by terror groups, militant organizations and even state agents. The report specified the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and the Philippine military as those involved in using children in their operations. “During the reporting period, the country task force recorded 11 incidents of recruitment and use of children, involving 23 boys and 3 girls between 12 and 17 years of age,” read Ban’s report, which the UN publicly released last week but was first reported to the UN Security Council on May 15. Culled by a UN country task force, the confirmed cases represent a decrease in child involvement in conflict but the world body remained concerned that minors are at all involved. “That figure represents a decrease in 2012, given that there were 26 incidents affecting 33 Read More …
A total of 26 child “soldiers” were recruited by various armed groups in the Philippines, including the military, in 2012, a report by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. The 26 children—23 boys and three girls between 12 and 17 years—were recruited in 11 separate incidents, according to the report released on June 12 titled “Grave Violations Committed Against Children in 22 Situations of Concern.” Of the number, two were reportedly recruited and used by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), 11 by the New People’s Army (NPA), 11 by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and two who were used as “guides” by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in locating an enemy camp. While the number remains considerably high, child soldier recruitment has seen a decrease from the previous year, Moon noted in the report. “That figure represents a decrease in 2012, given that there were 54 incidents affecting 33 boys and 21 girls in 2011,” he said. But Moon said the actual number of children soldiers in the country may in fact be higher, owing to the reality that the UN has no access to other armed groups, including the MILF splinter group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). “Although the United Nations has no access to the areas under the control of the BIFF, a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front led by Commander ‘Kato’, the country task force continued to receive credible reports that the armed group was actively training and providing weapons to Read More …
(Updated 3:30 p.m.) The Philippine military was among the armed groups in the country that recruited minors for their operations in 2012, according to a report by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The report, released June 12, said there was a “verified case” in July last year where two young boys were “forced” by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to serve as guides to locate a communist rebel camp in North Cotabato province in Mindanao. “[We] remained concerned over the use of children by the national armed forces as guides and informants during military operations,” the report, titled “Grave Violations Committed Against Children in 22 Situations of Concern,” said. “In a verified case in July 2012, the Fifty-Seventh Infantry Battalion forced two boys aged 12 and 13 years to serve as guides to locate an NPA camp in North Cotabato Province,” it added. Against AFP policy Reached for comment, AFP spokesperson Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said the military leadership will have the reported use of children as guides in operatioins verified as such is against their policy. “As a matter of policy, the AFP does not use children as guides during military operations so as not to endanger them,” he said Monday. “We will verify this information if there is any truth to it.” Moon, in the report, noted that the AFP has “issued directives prohibiting such use of children, assigning responsibility to commanders, institutionalizing investigations and putting in place corrective measures.” The two guides were among the Read More …
INQUIRER.net US Bureau 2:01 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 NEW YORK–A U.S. group critical of China’s claim on islands off the Philippines will hold a protest rally at the United Nations headquarters here on July 24. The U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG) is denouncing China’s latest “incursion” in Ayungin Reef, located just 105 nautical miles from Palawan. Rep. Walden Bello of the Akbayan partylist announced that his group is joining the July 24 mass action in the Philippines and will encourage its supporters throughout the world to join in global actions to denounce China’s provocative actions in the Ayungin Reef. “China seized the Philippines’ Mischief Reef in 1994, then our Scarborough Shoal last year,” stated Loida Nicolas Lewis, the national chair of USP4GG and former national chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA). “This year, China is set to invade and occupy the Ayungin Reef. We refuse to accept China’s expansionist agenda.” Sansha anniversary Lewis explained that July 24 marks the first anniversary of China’s establishment of the Sansha City Prefecture, which Beijing mandated to have jurisdiction over more than two million square kilometers of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), including islands and reefs in the Spratlys that are within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested the creation of the Sansha Prefecture, after learning that its jurisdiction covered the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratlys, which “is an integral part of the Philippine Read More …