1 News Update As of November 4, 2016
(Friday) Philippine Daily Inquirer
UN probe of EJKs to begin next year
By: Ador Mayol / @inquirerdotnetPhilippine Daily Inquirer / 04:28 AM November 04, 2016
CEBU CITY—The United Nations envoy on summary executions is expected to begin an
investigation into thousands of deaths linked to the government’s antidrugs war by early next year, while a European Union team is to arrive this month, an official said on Thursday.
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) head Jose Luis Martin Gascon said the
UN’s Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitration Executions had already received the government’s invitation to investigate the anti-drugs war, which has already left at least 4,700 people dead as of last month.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations were working to finalize the dates, but Gascon said the probe would officially start by the first quarter of 2017.
After blasting the United Nations, European Union as well as the United States for raising concerns on his war on drugs, President Duterte eventually relented and invited them over to investigate, on the condition they should also be prepared to answer queries he would raise.
The DFA however earlier said the rights representatives would likely be barred from investigating in slum areas which are considered dangerous.
A team from the European Union is meanwhile due in the Philippines later this month to meet with government leaders, businessmen and economic managers to evaluate the country’s human rights, environmental and labor conditions, Gascon said.
The European Union is expected to find out whether or not Manila has continued its
commitment to human rights and other policies as mandated in 27 international agreements entered into by the Philippines. Of these agreements, 10 involved human right treaties.
If the European Union determines that the country has relaxed its commitment to human rights, Gascon said it could affect the General System of Preference Plus (GSP Plus) mechanism which grants the Philippines access to the European market.
“If this team assesses that there is a backsliding or fall back in our commitment to human rights, then the GSP Plus mechanism maybe in jeopardy,” Gascon said.
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“Since we joined in 2014, there have been significant impact in terms of our exporters and we could want this to continue,” he said.
Gascon was in Cebu to speak before a human rights gathering attended by delegates from from Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
In a manifesto, the rights advocates said the government’s campaign “has made the country more unsafe with innocent people killed, drug lords evading arrest, and murder cases rising.”
“We call on the Philippine government to condemn the murder spree, immediately solve the vigilante killings, act on the failed police operations, and serve justice to the families of the murder victims,” they said.
‘Be wary of leader who lies’
By: Tarra Quismundo / @TarraINQPhilippine Daily Inquirer / 04:22 AM November 04, 2016
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday called on Filipinos to be discerning about a leader who repeatedly breaks his word, even as he noted how President Duterte has several times failed to deliver his promises, including his vow never to curse again.
“For me, that’s not new,” said Trillanes, a member of the Senate minority, when asked to comment on how Mr. Duterte had just broken his promise to stop firing off expletives.
“Open your eyes. Niloloko ka na. Niloloko na tayong lahat (You are being fooled. We are all being fooled.),” he said.
Trillanes said “there’s something wrong with the Filipino people” when support for the President remains strong despite his frequent turnarounds from official pronouncements.
“He said he will not run… Filipinos just rode along… You didn’t see, you’ve been had… He said he will stop crime in three to six months… He said *during the campaign that+ he will end
smuggling in three days… He will jetski to the Spratlys… that he will double the salaries of police and military officers,” Trillanes said, enumerating promises Mr. Duterte has yet to fulfill.
“There’s something wrong with you when you allow yourselves to be fooled,” he said at a Senate media forum.
Trillanes also cited the lack of loud public outcry for the still growing death toll in the President’s fierce war on drugs, adding that there should be “a day of reckoning” for Mr.
Duterte.
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“When someone kills, he should be held accountable. If we are angry at thieves, how much more at murderers? There’s something wrong about our morals these days,” he said.
Trillanes believes the President is behind the spate of drug-related deaths, just as he was responsible for the killings of drug suspects in Davao City during his time as mayor there.
“I am firm in my belief that President Duterte was behind the DDS (Davao Death Squad) in Davao City and the extrajudicial killings now happening in our country,” he said.
“If he was not the one behind this, then why can’t he stop it? Instead, he is even encouraging the killings. This is the big problem we’re facing here,” said Trillanes.
Asked if he sensed any unrest in the military, Trillanes, a former Navy officer who led a mutiny against the Arroyo administration in July 2003, said soldiers are “uncomfortable” but have yet to reach a tipping point that would prompt them to move for the President’s ouster.
He said the military may not be expected to take action unless problems actually “knock on their doors.”
Trillanes also hit some of his colleagues in the chamber for being “apologists,” “enablers” and
“collaborators” of President Duterte in pursuit of his war on drugs.
He said he was disappointed at five of his colleagues who have been “playing blind” to the deaths he believes have been spurred by Mr. Duterte’s brutal campaign against drug users and traffickers.
He also bared that there were at least 10 members of the Senate who were “not happy” with how government is being run.
“To me, there’s no debate on the war on drugs. Yes, we are all against that. But what we’re talking about is, what is your approach? Right now, I don’t see any holistic program. All they’re saying is ‘Kill them, kill them.’ To me, that’s wrong,” he said.
Trillanes did not name names. “If they feel alluded to, that’s probably them,” he said.
Americans warned: Stay away from south Cebu
By: Ador Vincent Mayol, Doris C. Bongcac, Nestle Semilla / @inquirerdotnetPhilippine Daily Inquirer / 04:26 AM November 04, 2016
CEBU CITY—The US Embassy in Manila has advised its citizens to avoid going to southern Cebu because of the risk of being kidnapped.
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But the advisory caught Cebu officials by surprise, saying they had not received any reports of terrorist threats in their areas.
The advisory, titled “Security message for US Citizens: Risk of Kidnapping in Southern Cebu”•
was posted on the embassy’s website about 11 a.m. on Thursday.
“Terrorists groups are planning to conduct kidnapping in areas frequented by foreigners on the southern portion of Cebu Island, specifically the areas around Dalaguete, Santander, to include Sumilon Island;•located off mainland Oslob town,” the advisory said.
Extremist targets
The advisory also reminded its citizens of a Department of State Worldwide Caution issued on Sept. 13, 2016 which mentioned threats of terrorist actions and violence against US citizens and interests abroad, including the Philippines.
“Extremists have targeted sporting events, theaters, markets, mass transportation systems—
including airlines, and other public venues where large crowds gather. Crowded nightclubs, shopping malls, buses and popular restaurants have also been targets.
The Embassy reminds US citizens of the importance of taking preventative measures to ensure their safety and security while traveling and residing in the Philippines,” said the US embassy advisory.
Mayors surprised
Mayor Ronald Allan Cesante of Dalaguete and Marilyn Wenceslao of Santander towns were surprised by the embassy’s alert status although they admitted receiving “raw information”•
that some groups planned to do harm in some southern parts of Cebu.
But they believed the intelligence report earlier received was not connected to the US advisory.
Wenceslao said she received a text message from a police intelligence officer that some groups planned to hold kidnapping activities in his town as well as Dalaguete and Sumilon Island which were frequented by tourists.
Duterte gives military say on arms issue
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 01:53 AM November 04, 2016
SUAL, PANGASINAN—In an apparent about-face, President Duterte on Wednesday said he would consider continuing to acquire weapons and defense equipment from treaty ally the United States if the military would recommend it, despite offers from China and Russia.
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Mr. Duterte made the remark in a speech in which he again railed at the United States with expletives for criticizing his deadly crackdown on drugs, calling American officials “fools” and
“monkeys” and breaking a promise that he would no longer resort to trash talk.
Mr. Duterte said he had asked Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and military officials to travel to China and Russia to check what weapons and defense equipment the two countries had to offer, but added that the military’s recommendation would be crucial.
Chinese arms
“China is open. Anything you want. They even sent me a brochure, telling me to choose and they will provide,” Mr. Duterte said.
“I’m just holding off because I’m looking at the military,” he said. “If you want to stick with America, fine, but assess it well and find a balance because we are being ridiculed.”
He did not describe the contents of the Chinese brochure, but the Philippine National Police, which needs a versatile assault rifle, would be dismayed if it saw what’s in there.
Chinese police, unarmed until a terrorist attack at a train station in Kunming, Yunnan province, in 2014, carry an unusual six-shot revolver that fires a 9-millimeter bullet apparently based on the old caliber .38 S&W round.
Fighting well-armed criminals, the PNP uses the 9mm Glock 17 and the 9mm Beretta 92 or its Brazilian variant, the Taurus PT100.
Shifting to the so-called Chinese police revolver, which needs to be reloaded manually, from self-loading German and Italian pistols would not be a move forward for the PNP.
Complete surprise
China has light arms for civilian security and military use, including the QSZ pistol, which has two chamberings—
for the 9mm and the 5.8mm cartridges—and the Type 84 pistol that fires the 7.62mm round.
A pistol of the same caliber as the Russian AK-47 would be a complete surprise for the PNP.
For assault rifles, China has the 5.8mm QBZ Bullpup and the 5.56mm Norinco CQ, an unlicensed derivative of the Colt M16.
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The PNP had ordered 27,304 US-made SIG Sauer M4 assault rifles, but the US state department halted the deal on Monday after Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, expressing concern about human rights violations in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs, said he would oppose the sale.
PNP Director General Ronald de la Rosa said on Wednesday, however, that SIG Sauer had advised the PNP that the license for the weapons sale to the Philippines was still “undergoing the normal process” at the US state department as of Nov. 1.
“We will continue to monitor the status of this license and advise of any meaningful changes,”
De la Rosa said, expressing hope that the P1.7-billion deal would proceed.
‘Fools’ and ‘monkeys’
Mr. Duterte chided the United States on Wednesday for halting the weapons deal, calling those behind the decision “fools” and “monkeys.”
In Davao City on Tuesday night, he indicated he might turn to Russia for defense equipment.
Mr. Duterte said he met with Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev before the elections in May and quoted the diplomat as telling him about weapons procurement: “Come to Russia. We have everything you need.”
The Russians, however, have nothing like the short and light M4 that fires the 5.56mm round familiar to Philippine policemen.
Mr. Duterte, who took office in June, has been antagonistic to US, EU and UN officials who have raised concerns about extrajudicial killings in his brutal war on drugs.
More than 3,700 people, mostly small-time users and pushers, have been killed by police and suspected vigilantes since Mr. Duterte launched the crackdown on drugs on June 30.
De la Rosa said the M4s that the PNP wanted would not be used in the war on drugs, but in a campaign against so-called private armies. —REPORTS FROM AP AND INQUIRER STAFF
The Philippine Star
PDP-Laban still solid – Koko
By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 4, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The ruling PDP-Laban remains strong and united and will not be
weakened by moves of some officials close to President Duterte to form a new political party, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said yesterday.
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Pimentel dismissed reports that the 30-year-old party founded by his father, former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr., was on the verge of breaking up due to weak membership and clashes in ideology.
He said “there’s no issue” within the party, as the media reports apparently were quoting unidentified individuals who were not members of PDP-Laban.
“How can non-party members do something inimical to the party when in the first place they don’t have any duty to be loyal to the party?” Pimentel told The STAR.
“They are non-party members. They can do whatever they want. Non-party members can join other political parties. They can even form one of their own. The loyalty to the party begins when one is accepted into the party,” he said.
The Senate President was referring to a news report that the PDP-Laban, which carried President Duterte to victory in the elections last May, was about to break up.
PDP-Laban, an old but relatively small party, was among those instrumental in convincing Duterte to run last year. But its ranks swelled when Duterte won by a landslide last May.
PDP-Laban now has over one hundred members in the House of Representatives led by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who is its secretary-general. Sen. Manny Pacquiao is one of its members in the Senate. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II is also a party member.
Sources said the reported rift in the ruling party started when Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., a top political adviser of Duterte, launched the Kilusang Pagbabago grassroots movement last August. The movement can be turned into another political party and vanguard of the administration.
The same sources said the new movement would soon register as a political party and could undermine the current ruling PDP-Laban and put the party on the sidelines of the political landscape.
Evasco, a former priest turned New People’s Army rebel leader, was the campaign manager and later chief of staff of then Davao City mayor Duterte. Evasco was also former mayor of
Maribojoc, Bohol.
In the first executive order he issued as president, Duterte placed 12 agencies under Evasco.
Misuari ready to talk peace with government
By Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 4, 2016 - 12:00am
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MANILA, Philippines - Fugitive Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari surfaced in Sulu yesterday and then met with President Duterte at Malacañang to discuss peace between the government and the Muslim rebels in Mindanao.
Duterte recalled how he had accepted Misuari with open arms when he was still vice mayor of Davao City and “I said that maybe someday we can finally talk about peace.”
“And little did I know, brother Nur, by the grace of Allah, I became the president of the republic and in the twilight of our years, we would be able to talk about the problem of our country, the revolution that you have led all these years and finally, understanding on a common ground with government,” Duterte said.
“And that I assure you, I said, as you have narrated, we will come up with the modality and then of course, how to place us in our proper homeland, our Mindanao, and that we will talk about the Bangsamoro Authority,” the President added.
Duterte said he and Misuari were now ready for the peace negotiations and even the federal system of government, “give everybody his due, do justice to the Moro people” who had been victimized by atrocities for years.
Duterte and Misuari embraced each other before Misuari on the President’s instance approached the podium and spoke.
Misuari vowed to cooperate with Duterte’s peace efforts as he assailed the media for
supposedly distorting his statements. He expressed confidence that the President would fulfill his promise to bring lasting peace to the country.
The impact of the Zamboanga City siege, for which Misuari is wanted, was not mentioned during the speeches of Duterte and Misuari. The aging MNLF leader, however, mentioned the event to stress that his group was not yet a spent force as portrayed by media.
Misuari said even the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), was sympathetic with him and told him “if you go to war, count on us.”
“I want people to be truthful about things. If you want us to be fair with you, you want us to deal with you, please be fair with us, just tell the truth, simple truth,” Misuari said.
Sipadan hostage-taking
Misuari also revealed that some Malaysian leaders were behind the Sipadan kidnapping
incident in April 2000. A total of 21 people, mostly European tourists, were kidnapped in a dive resort in Sipadan, Malaysia and were held by the Abu Sayyaf for more than a year in Mindanao.
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“…one day, I will drag their leaders into that International Criminal Court. I have all the evidence in my hands. My people are everywhere and besides, they cannot escape because they are hiring my own people,” Misuari said.
The MNLF founder lamented that his group was blamed for the kidnapping incident. Misuari was governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at the time.
Misuari also narrated his role in the release of some Abu Sayyaf hostages, including Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad. He also agreed with and backed Duterte’s war against illegal drugs.
More inclusive
Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 158 Judge Maria Rowena Modesto-San Pedro issued an eight- page resolution on Oct. 27 granting the motion of Misuari to suspend the proceedings and warrants of arrest against him in connection with the September 2013 Zamboanga City siege.
The court said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the Department of Justice not only supported but also adopted Misuari’s motion to temporarily set aside the cases against him so he could participate in the peace talks.
The President said this was done upon his orders.
Duterte said the warrants of arrest were “lifted” but Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II clarified they were only suspended.
The local government of Zamboanga City, the court noted, likewise did not oppose the motion.
Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza, who fetched Misuari from Sulu to meet Duterte in Malacañang, was described by Duterte as a key player in his road map to peace in Mindanao.
Habib Mujahab Hashim, chair of the MNLF’s Islamic Command Council (ICC), said Dureza presented the suspended warrants to Misuari, who emerged in Jolo with several of his armed MNLF followers.
Hashim said Dureza escorted Misuari out of Jolo at 11:25 a.m. to meet with Duterte originally in Davao City.
Duterte cited Dureza for the leg work that paved the way for Misuari’s appearance at the Palace.
Misuari is facing charges of rebellion and violation of Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity as his men held hostage Zamboanga City residents and put the place under siege for almost a month.
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The suspension of proceedings and the enforcement of the warrants of arrest against Misuari will be effective for six months, unless sooner lifted by the court, read the order directed at the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Bureau of
Investigation.
The local government of Zamboanga City initiated the filing of the cases against Misuari and wanted him held accountable for the 21-day siege that killed more than 200 civilians, soldiers and rebels.
Duterte earlier called on the military and police not to arrest Misuari so as not to jeopardize government efforts to forge peace with the MNLF.
In its decision, the court cited the vital role of Misuari in the peace talks and that pursuing negotiations with the MNLF was a political assessment of the executive department.
Hashim said the meeting of Misuari and Duterte would boost the chances of lasting peace in Mindanao.
The government has been talking peace with the MILF but the Duterte government wants the MNLF and other sectors included, as well as the full implementation of all Bangsamoro peace agreements.
The government of Zamboanga City and the AFP also declared their full support for Duterte’s
“bold and fresh” initiatives to bring out Misuari to achieve sustainable peace in Mindanao.
But Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said the city would pursue its cases against Misuari for his alleged masterminding the bloody September 2013 siege.
“Secretary Jess (Dureza exerted) effort to explain that Misuari’s release is temporary and subject to several conditions imposed by the court,” Salazar said.
Salazar said she had mentioned to Duterte on several conversations that Misuari must be made accountable for his alleged crimes against the people of the city. “We trust (that) justice will eventually be served,” Salazar said.
AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the military could only hope that Misuari’s surfacing would lead to a big leap in attaining peace. “We, as members of the AFP, are abiding by the orders of our commander-in-chief, because we know that his only desire is to have a lasting peace in our country,” Padilla said.
“There will be some opposition to this move but let us wait. The process is yet to be finished and let us allow our negotiators to work (on) this. The more important thing is to serve justice but at the same it is also equally paramount to bring peace to the land,” Padilla said.
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Law enforcers failed to effect Misuari’s arrest as he had surrounded himself with heavily armed fighters in the MNLF jungle base in Sulu. – With Edu Punay, Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude
Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia to join forces vs Abus
By Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 4, 2016 - 12:00am
The rise of sea hijackings involving the Abu Sayyaf has prompted Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia to agree on measures to coordinate patrols to secure the region’s busy waterways.
However, coordinated patrols are yet to get underway.
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia will jointly pursue the Abu Sayyaf as an international terrorist group, President Duterte said.
Duterte stressed the need for the three countries to join forces and strengthen border patrol to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from kidnapping foreigners.
“We are looking into who are with the Abu Sayyaf other than the Filipinos. There could be foreigners with the group,” Duterte said on Tuesday.
Duterte said he would discuss the issue with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak when he visits Kuala Lumpur next week.
“I have already discussed it with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and we have agreed on strengthening our border cooperation,” he said.
Up to 18 Indonesians and Malaysians were kidnapped in three attacks on tugboats earlier this year in Philippine waters by groups suspected to have ties to the Abu Sayyaf. All 14 Indonesian citizens were later released.
The rise of sea hijackings involving the Abu Sayyaf has prompted Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia to agree on measures to coordinate patrols to secure the region’s busy waterways.
However, coordinated patrols are yet to get underway.
“We are going to jointly address this problem of piracy in the seas together with Indonesia and Malaysia by conducting joint border patrols in going after the Abu Sayyaf,” Duterte said.
Abu Sayyaf, known for amassing tens of millions of dollars from kidnappings, reportedly earned more than P380 million in ransom for the first half of the year.
“The point is, they are bringing their victims and keeping them in Sulu,” Duterte said.
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Duterte said the government would also look into the 126,000 cross-border trips between Malaysia and the Philippines as well as between Indonesia and the Philippines that have gone unchecked by proper authorities.
US to work with Rody despite renewed insults
By Jose Katigbak, STAR Washington bureau (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 4, 2016 - 12:00am
State Department spokesman John Kirby declined comment on decisions that affect potential arms sales but stressed government-to-government relations between the United States and the Philippines are very strong. AP/Susan Walsh
WASHINGTON –The White House and State Department brushed aside President Duterte’s renewed barrage of insults and said the US government was committed to developing a good working relationship with him.
Asked if the recent cancellation of the sale of 26,000 M4 rifles to the Philippines was intended as a rebuke to some of Duterte’s rhetoric, White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said,
“I don’t have a tick-tock to share on that decision.”
“And while some of that rhetoric has been colorful and inflammatory, we haven’t received any official requests to change our security,
defense or cooperation with the Philippines,” he said.
State Department spokesman John Kirby declined comment on decisions that affect potential arms sales but stressed government-to-government relations between the United States and the Philippines are very strong.
Asked how he could describe relations as strong when he couldn’t say the US has a close relationship with Duterte, Kirby said: “Well, because the government isn’t – doesn’t rest – especially in a democracy, it doesn’t rest on the shoulders of just one individual.”
“Yes, he’s the head of state, but there are many agencies in his government, there are many Cabinet officials, there are longstanding relationships that we have nurtured over the years with figures in his government and those relationships are still there and they’re still vibrant,”
Kirby said.
Asked if he was trying to suggest Washington might circumvent Duterte or deal with other officials, Kirby said: “The point I was trying to make is that there are institutions in the government that we have good relationships with and we’re going to try to continue those relationships, as well as try to develop a good working relationship with him himself. That’s all I meant,” Kirby said.
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“And I can tell you, as I’ve said before from this podium, we’re committed to doing that,” he added.
Manila Bulletin
UN rapporteur told: Observe conditions on EJK probe, allow public rebuttal Published November 4, 2016, 12:08 AM
by Charissa M. Luci
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto “Jun” Yasay Jr. has reminded United Nations Special
Rapporteur Agnes Callamard to diligently observe and follow the conditions set by the Duterte administration when she conducts an investigation on the extrajudicial killings and summary executions in the country and allow the Philippine government to rebut her findings in public.
“She must subject herself also to scrutiny and give the opportunity to our President to rebut her allegations and findings in public and before media and the Filipino public. If she will not accept the conditions under which the President had invited her, I don’t think she should come because she cannot harbor the impression that the invitation was made on the basis of the protocols that the UN Commission on Human Rights have established for this purpose,” Yasay said.
Callamard has confirmed receiving the Philippine government’s invitation to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the country on Oct. 24, nearly a month after it was purportedly sent.
The letter was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on September 26 and was released two days after.
Yasay said the President Duterte’s invitation is “clear” and has conditions attached to it.
“The President has invited them not on the basis of protocol, but invited them precisely to dramatize to the world that what they are doing is wrong,” he said.
“If she feels that there are basis to be concerned about the human rights violations in the country, she or he must make a request to visit the country in accordance with the protocol that has been set and not to jump into conclusions or arbitrary findings that there is violation and even to suggest very strongly and accuse that the President that he is responsible for all of these, that is completely wrong; they have not followed the protocol,” he pointed out.
Callamard earlier said her Office has started the “process of negotiating the scope and
guarantees for the mission” to ensure that those who will cooperate would not be punished by the Duterte government.
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President Duterte has also invited the UN, the European Union and even US President Barack Obama to visit the country and conduct their own investigations on his intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has also invited a New York-based international group advocating protection against mass atrocities to visit and personally look into the allegations of massive human rights violations in the government’s war on drugs.
Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesman, said it would be best for any representative of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCRP2P), to find out for themselves the alleged extrajudicial killings as being reported in both local and international media.
“Let them visit/come to the Philippines and see for themselves what the real situation is in this country and not simply rely on reports from biased sources,” said Carlos.
The GCRP2P, in a statement, has earlier voiced out concerns about extrajudicial killings arising from the alleged State-sanctioned war on drugs in the country. As a result, the Philippines was included in its October 20 list of “Atrocity Alert” along with Iraq, Yemen and Central African Republic.
Based on the latest PNP data, a total of 1,790 suspected users and pushers were killed in police operations since the all-out war against illegal drugs started in July this year.
More than 2,000 cases of killings, on the other hand, were documented and considered by the PNP as Death Under Investigation and are being linked to illegal drugs war. (With Aaron Recuenco)
China wants military alliance with PH to ‘move forward’
Published November 3, 2016, 10:00 PM by Charissa M. Luci
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MND) wishes to “move forward” on its military ties with the Philippines.
Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), expressed hope that the military-to-military relationship between China and Philippines would be further developed and strengthened. He made the statements during a press briefing at the Ministry on October 27, 2016.
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Responding to the Chinese Ministry of Defense’s pronouncement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. clarified that “we do not have military alliance with China,” adding that
“forging military alliance with China is not in the Philippine government’s radar.”
Colonel Wu Qian said: “If you want me to make comments on the recent China-Philippines military-to-military relationship, I’d like to say that the relationship seemed to be going nowhere, but we expect to find a way forward,” he said during the press briefing.
Wu noted that “the healthy and stable development of the military-to-military relationship between China and the Philippines is in accord with the fundamental interests of the people of the two countries, and are conducive to regional peace and stability.”
He said that the Chinese military took note of the “consensus” reached between President Xi Jinping and President Duterte when the latter visited Beijing last month.
“The armed forces of the two countries will earnestly implement the important consensuses reached between President Xi Jinping and President Duterte, remove obstacles, manage disputes, accumulate mutual trust and strengthen exchanges and cooperation, so as to make positive contributions to the development of bilateral relations,” Wu said.
Reaffirming his earlier statement, Secretary Yasay said: “Military alliance is something that is not being thought of. We have not discussed it with China at this point.”
