News Report
20 September 2018 Local
1. Duterte sees end of communist insurgency next year The Philippine Star, 20 September 2018
President Duterte is expecting the defeat of the decades-old communist insurgency by the second quarter of 2019. He said many communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels have surrendered despite threats of being assassinated by their former comrades.
Peace negotiations between the government and the rebels were terminated after Duterte accused the communists of seeking a coalition government, a power-sharing setup that he said is not allowed by the Constitution.
Korea
2. N. Korea’s Kim to visit Seoul, shut missile site Manila Bulletin, 20 September 2018, p. 4
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he will make a historic visit to Seoul “in the near future”. He issued this statement after the summit with the South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang.
President Moon said the trip could happen this year unless there were “special circumstances”.
He also said that North Korea had agreed to “permanently close” a missile engine testing site and launch facility in Tongchang-ri, “in the attendance of experts from relevant nations”. They could also close its Yongbyon nuclear facility if Washington takes “corresponding measures”.
Economic
3. NEDA: PHL could gain ₱42 M from trade war
Business Mirror, 20 September 2018, p. A1, continued on A2
The Philippine economy stands to gain $42.2 million annually from the ongoing trade war between the United States and China between 2018 and 2022, according to the National Economic and Development Authority. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia explained that with the trade war, China and the US both need another source of electronic products and transport equipment, and these can be exported to them by the Philippines.
He said that the Philippines’ main exports to the US comprise of electronic equipment and transport equipment, as well as other nonagricultural products, chemical and rubber products, and ferrous metals, and mineral products as inputs to their production
