South-east Asian defence chiefs call for greater cooperation to fight ISIS

From the Straits Times (Jun 4): South-east Asian defence chiefs call for greater cooperation to fight ISIS



South-east Asian defence ministers called for greater cooperation and action among countries to dismantle the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) terrorist group on June 4, 2016.ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

South-east Asian defence ministers  on Saturday (June 4) called for greater cooperation and action among countries to dismantle the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) terrorist group and the persistent threat it poses to global security.

Calling the fight against ISIS “one of our greatest challenges today”, Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein noted that the terror outfit cannot be defeated using a piecemeal approach or knee-jerk reactions.

“We need a different strategy, a more tailored approach that moves past outmoded forms of conventional warfare,” Mr Hishammuddin said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security summit for defence ministers, scholars and business executives from Asia-Pacific and beyond organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

 

Indonesian Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu called on countries in the region to make a “more serious and concerted effort” to defeat ISIS.

Military operations to destroy the group's logistic and financial strength “is a right action to weaken the central gravity of ISIS”, but that alone is not enough, said Mr Ryacudu.

 

Instead, the greatest threat posed by ISIS is in the warped ideology that it seeks to disseminate around the world, he said.

Stressing that ISIS is not about religion, even as it cloaks itself in a warped version of Islam, Mr Ryacudu said that the terrorist group's message has managed to inspire various groups to conduct terrorism in their part of the world.

In South-east Asia, for instance, radical groups from the Southern Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, as well as Uighurs from China have been operating in the Sulu Sea in recent years, he noted.

“We can draw a conclusion that we face not only terrorism on the huge, international scale, but also that formed by...individuals and small groups from many countries,” said Mr Ryacudu.

To combat ISIS' virulent ideology, the Indonesian government has redoubled its national education efforts, with help from media and religious organisations. It is also collaborating with moderate religious groups to reintegrate those influenced by extremist ideology, he added.

Malaysia's approach has been to accelerate the sharing of intelligence between its home security and defence agencies through fortnightly National Security Council meetings, said Mr Hishammuddin, who urged more countries to adopt the practice.

“It's not easy because the threats are new...but it can be done if we share good practices with those going through (radicalism) around the globe, networking and sharing intelligence among different agencies,” he said, adding that security agencies “can no longer work in silos”.

There is also scope to expand cooperation in areas such as maritime security, said Mr Ryacudu, pointing to the release of 14 Indonesian sailors last month (May) by the Abu Sayyaf, a the militant group active in southern Philippines.

The group had kidnapped the men and held them for more than a month, and Mr Ryacudu said their release was the result of “successful cooperation between the Indonesian and Philippines governments”.

“We have to start thinking of a synergised approach among stakeholders between counterterrorism bodies and maritime security agencies,” he said.
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/south-east-asian-defence-chiefs-call-for-greater-cooperation-to-fight-isis

IS recruiting more militants than al-Qaeda in Asia

From Sky News Australia (Jun 5): IS recruiting more militants than al-Qaeda in Asia



Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen says Islamic State has recruited more militants in the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) than al-Qaeda.

'In the past three years alone, ISIS has recruited more sympathisers and operatives in ASEAN than al-Qaeda did in the last decade, with more than 1000 fighters in Iraq and Syria,' Ng said during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

The Singapore minister said militants who have returned to Southeast Asia maintain an ideological link with IS in the Middle East on holy war, or 'jihad'.

However, he stressed that the fight against Islamic terrorism was not a fight against Islam.

Ng added that terrorist groups today had developed more sophisticated strategies and had the ability to carry out more deadly attacks that could destabilise the region if countries did not act together to stop them.

He supported, for example, a proposal to conduct joint patrols by Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines in the Sulu Sea in southwestern Philippines - a hub for radical groups like Abu Sayyaf.'

Security forces, including militaries of individual countries, will have to combat terrorism rigorously ... collectively, we must work closely together to build up joint responses, and strengthen intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance efforts,' Ng said.

The Shangri-La security forum which ends Sunday saw some 600 delegates from Asia, Europe, United States and Australia attend talks in Singapore.Members countries of ASEAN are Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/asiapacific/2016/06/05/is-recruiting-more-militants-than-al-qaeda-in-asia.html

‘Delisting of NPA can form part of talks’

From The Standard (Jun 6): ‘Delisting of NPA can form part of talks’

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the suggestion to request the United States government to remove the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, from its list of terrorist organizations should be part of the renewed peace negotiations.

Esperon said this call from the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan to the government of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte can be settled by the negotiating panels of both sides.

“There should be no pre-conditions [for the resumption of the talks]. Having said that, the National Democratic Front can bring up the issue on the negotiating table and it should be part of the peace talks,” the former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines said in a brief phone interview.


The government panel is headed by the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza while Luis Jalandoni is representing the NDF in the negotiations.

Esperon said that sincerity on both sides is key to hammering out a final peace agreement that will finally end hostilities between the government and the NPA that have gone on for more than 47 years, making the conflict the longest-running communist armed struggle in Asia.

During his time as military chief of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Esperon promised to eliminate the NPA.

Last Saturday, Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. called for the delisting as both negotiating panels prepared to meet for preliminary talks in Oslo, Norway.

The US State Department has included the NPA in its list of 58 foreign terror organizations, a list that also includes the Abu Sayyaf Group.

“The US once again hopes to use the terrorist listing as a form of intervention in an internal matter and to cast a cloud of doubt even before the talks begin,” Reyes said in a statement.

During a press conference via Skype last June 3, CPP founder and NDF political consultant Jose Maria Sison expressed optimism that a final peace agreement would be achieved under the Duterte administration Sison said he coming home after 30 years of self-exile in Utrecht, Netherlands once a peace pact is in place.

http://www.thestandard.com.ph/news/-main-stories/top-stories/207457/-delisting-of-npa-can-form-part-of-talks-.html

Country Reports on Terrorism 2015

From the US Department of State (Jun ): Country Reports on Terrorism 2015

Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (the “Act”), which requires the Department of State to provide to Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the criteria of the Act.

Beginning with the report for 2004, it replaced the previously published Patterns of Global Terrorism.

Chapters

-Chapter 1. Strategic Assessment
-Chapter 2. Country Reports: Africa Overview
-Chapter 2. Country Reports: East Asia and Pacific Overview
-Chapter 2. Country Reports: Europe Overview
-Chapter 2. Country Reports: Middle East and North Africa Overview
-Chapter 2. Country Reports: South and Central Asia Overview
-Chapter 2. Country Reports: Western Hemisphere Overview
-Chapter 3: State Sponsors of Terrorism Overview
-Chapter 4: The Global Challenge of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorism
-Chapter 5: Terrorist Safe Havens (Update to 7120 Report)
-Chapter 6. Foreign Terrorist Organizations
-Chapter 7. Legislative Requirements and Key Terms
Annexes
-National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism: Annex of Statistical Information [ PDF version   ]
-Terrorism Deaths, Injuries and Kidnappings of Private U.S. Citizens Overseas in 2015


For a full PDF copy of the report go to the following URL: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/258249.pd

http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/index.htm

Use of Lumbia Airport as American base opposed

Letter-to-the editor posted in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jun 4): Use of Lumbia Airport as American base opposed

WE, FROM the League of Filipino Students–Northern Mindanao Region (LFS-NMR), reiterate our vehement condemnation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) between the Philippines and the United States.

We denounce the Aquino administration for allowing the hosting by the Philippines of US military troops and facilities.

The Edca shows that President Aquino suffers from historical amnesia; he is clearly oblivious to the tragic record of US interventionism in the Philippines and the scrapping by the Filipino people of the Military Bases Agreement in 1991. With the Edca, Mr. Aquino insults the memory of Filipinos who shed their blood and laid down their lives in defense of our country and people, and of our sovereignty and our freedoms.

Rubbing salt into the wound, the Edca designates the civilian Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City as one of the sites that may be used by American forces as a base of operations. This is outrageous, an insult to the revolutionary general Nicolas Capistrano and his men who fought to defend Cagayan de Oro from American occupation.

We can’t afford another Jennifer Laude to fall victim to the lust of American servicemen. We won’t allow prostitution, HIV/AIDS, and antisocial activities to destroy our city. We don’t want US nuclear and toxic wastes to kill thousands of our people. And we resolutely resist the presence of US military camps, facilities or bases in our country, as these make a mockery of our history of struggle for territorial integrity.

We call on President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to junk the Edca (which the Aquino administration conveniently classified as an executive agreement) and all other lopsided agreements, like the Visiting Forces Agreement, the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement, and the Mutual Defense Treaty.

More than ever, we are challenging all patriotic, nationalist young Filipinos to unite and fight against all forms of US interventionism in the country. We should resist the installation of a US base in Lumbia Airport. Together with the Filipino people, let us intensify the struggle for national sovereignty and territorial integrity!

—KRISTINE CABARDO,spokesperson,
League of Filipino Students-Northern Mindanao Region,
lfsnmr@gmail.com

http://opinion.inquirer.net/95046/use-of-lumbia-airport-as-american-base-opposed

Duterte’s peace adviser won’t comment on CPP-NDF’s demand for pullout of US forces

From GMA News (Jun 3): Duterte’s peace adviser won’t comment on CPP-NDF’s demand for pullout of US forces

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte's incoming adviser on the peace process on Friday declined to give the next administration's position on the call of communist rebels to end the presence of United States troops in the country.

"No comment. We cannot negotiate or express positions unless we meet," said incoming Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza in a text message to GMA News Online.

Calling it a "non-negotiable" demand, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on Thursday said it would ask the next administration at the resumption of formal talks to scrap the two agreements that give US forces access to Philippine military bases and allow US troops to engage in .

These are the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, both of which were upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court.

The US is the Philippines' main strategically, especially on the issue of its maritime dispute with China in the resource-rich South China Sea.

"From the very beginning, we have always stood on the basis of principled self-respect and national sovereignty. We cannot allow the presence of US military bases here," said Fidel Agcaoili, one of the negotiators of the NDFP with the government, in a news conference on Thursday.

Preliminary talks between Duterte's representatives and the NDFP are slated on June 14 to 15 in Oslo, Norway which will focus on how to go about with the formal negotiations.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/568698/news/nation/duterte-s-peace-adviser-won-t-comment-on-cpp-ndf-s-demand-for-pullout-of-us-forces

Report: A Court You’ve Never Heard of Is About to Raise the Stakes in the South China Sea

From Foreign Policy (Jun 2): Report: A Court You’ve Never Heard of Is About to Raise the Stakes in the South China Sea (By Dan De Luce and Keith Johnson)

An international tribunal’s decision will reorder the tense chess game over the South China Sea — and test Washington’s commitment to the Philippines.



An obscure court in The Hague will soon issue a ruling likely to inflame tensions in the South China Sea and force Washington to clarify how far it is willing to go to defend its allies in Manila.

The international tribunal is due to issue a decision this month over territorial disputes in the strategic waterway that have pitted China against its smaller neighbor, the Philippines. Most experts believe the court will side with Manila on the key issues.

But China has already rejected the court’s authority and vowed to stick to its far-reaching claims over the contested shoals, reefs, and rocks that the Philippines also asserts are its own. With a minuscule navy and coast guard, Manila will be looking to the United States for both diplomatic and military support. But, so far, Washington has stopped short of promising to come to the rescue of the Philippines if its ships clash with Chinese vessels in the South China Sea.


“We’ve had a number of uncomfortable senior-level engagements with the Filipinos over the past few years where they have pressed us, quite hard at times, to make our commitments clear,” a former senior U.S. government official, who was present at some of the discussions, told Foreign Policy. But the United States always declined to clarify its stance, the ex-official said.

The showdown in the South China Sea has been heating up for years, thanks to China’s large-scale land reclamation and aggressive use of fishing fleets and coast guard ships to bully other countries to steer clear of what Beijing considers its territory.

But the real spark threatening to ignite that tinderbox is 6,000 miles away, in the wood-paneled, stained-glass chambers of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The five-person tribunal has been wrestling with a host of tricky legal questions, poring over centuries-old maps, parsing legal terminology, and studying satellite images of the disputed outcrops since the Philippines filed its complaint in 2013.

From the beginning, China refused to acknowledge the tribunal’s jurisdiction in the case, or even the Philippines’s right to seek arbitration, and did not participate in the proceedings that concluded late last year.

The Philippines had argued that China’s so-called “historic” claims to the waters of the South China Sea — outlined in a sweeping “nine-dash line” that purports to show Chinese control over nearly all of the waterway — date only to 2009 and lack all basis in the historical record and in international law. Lawyers noted in particular that none of the features in dispute — from Fiery Cross Reef to Gaven Reef — had any Chinese-language names until recently, belying Beijing’s claims of a long, documented, historical relationship with those rocky outcrops.

Further, the Philippines argued, the reefs and atolls that China has occupied aren’t islands at all and thus don’t entitle Beijing to claim the surrounding 200 miles of water — and no amount of dredging and land reclamation can make them islands. Moreover, Manila said that some of the features are not even rocks, as they are underwater at high tide, and do not qualify for a boundary of 12 nautical miles. Finally, the Philippines argued that China’s aggressive behavior, including forcing Philippine fishermen and coast guard ships out of their own waters, violates the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea that China ratified.

While China never formally responded to The Hague tribunal, Chinese officials have repeated their own counterarguments in speeches, essays, and statements. They simply claim that the rocks and reefs in those waters are Chinese territory and always have been and that China has “historic rights” over the vast expanse of the South China Sea, even though the U.N. convention grants no such rights. Recently, China launched a public relations counteroffensive to discredit the tribunal and its ruling before any decision has been made public.

Most legal experts expect the tribunal will rule in favor of the Philippines on most, if not all, of the questions, and a decision is expected this month.

James Kraska, a professor of international law at the U.S. Naval War College, is one of those expecting a big win for the Philippines. And China, he said, which was bound to submit to the arbitration, “is legally bound to comply with the decision.”

But Beijing has vowed it will not respect the panel’s ruling, regardless of what it decides, and that is almost certain to raise temperatures across Asia. Chinese officials say they respect international law but argue that panels like the one in The Hague have no authority.

“All the islands, where we are doing reclamation, are Chinese islands, are Chinese territory,” Wang Xining, a deputy director-general at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a recent interview. “So on the South China Sea, I think there is a huge misunderstanding. We wish to act based on international law.”

Inside China, Kraska said, a legal defeat would be a slap in the face to leadership in Beijing, which has against all evidence and law insisted that the disputed areas are sovereign Chinese territory.

“China’s costs from losing will be great. Through its conduct, Beijing already has killed the meme of its ‘peaceful rise,’ so most of the damage has already been done,” he said. But “the decision will be embarrassing and have its greatest impact regionally in the coming decades, and internally, trying to explain to its people how it lost.”

Analysts and former U.S. government officials say China has a range of options as to how to respond. It could issue a diplomatic protest, send more ships to the disputed waters, step up dredging and land reclamation activities at contested reefs, or even implement an “air defense identification zone” (ADIZ) around all the islets it lays claim to. Under an ADIZ, Beijing would demand foreign aircraft seek Chinese permission to fly through the area.

But few expect China to seek a military clash with the United States, and even an accidental escalation is less likely than a few years ago, said retired Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the U.S. Navy’s former chief of naval operations, thanks to new communications protocols he helped put in place.

For the Philippines, a legal win would be, above all, a moral victory and could well inspire other countries in the region to also seek arbitration; indeed, Japan and Indonesia have toyed with doing just that in their own disputes with China.

“The Philippines maintains that the decision of the tribunal, once rendered, will be legally binding and should be accorded due respect by everyone, including China,” Jose Cuisia, the Philippine ambassador in Washington, told FP.

But the biggest question is how the United States will respond to the panel’s ruling and especially to any uptick in tension between the Philippines and China.

If the waters around those disputed atolls are determined to be international waters — rather than Chinese turf — then Washington will likely be under pressure to conduct more freedom-of-navigation operations with naval ships. By sailing within 12 miles of those disputed features, the United States would make clear that those waters are open to all — and can’t be fenced off by Chinese forces. That’s a crucial point to underscore in a waterway that moves more than $5 trillion worth of goods annually.

“I think it’s incumbent on us to insist we’re not going to recognize” the Chinese claims, said Greenert, who stepped down as Navy chief last year. However, the sluggish U.S. response a few years ago allowed Beijing to create facts on the ground with its large-scale reclamation and construction of military harbors and airfields, he said, a view shared by other former officers and diplomats.

“We did not get out ahead of it,” Greenert said. “It’s a fait accompli; they are there. It is unfortunate.”

An even bigger looming question is whether Washington will defend the Philippines if it gets into a scrap with China over those rocks and reefs. Since 1951, the Unites States and the Philippines have maintained a mutual defense treaty. During the Cold War, U.S. officials made clear that the treaty commits the United States to defend the Philippines not just in the event of an attack on its home islands, but also in the event of a military challenge in the waters of the South China Sea. In recent years, the U.S. administration has not specified whether that interpretation still stands.

“As President Obama has said, our commitment to the Philippines is ironclad,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Anna Richey-Allen said.

But the nature of the U.S. commitment in the event of a showdown on one of those disputed shoals is still not entirely clear. Richey-Allen told FP that the State Department does not “speculate about hypothetical situations” with respect to the defense treaty.

Experts and former U.S. officials say the ambiguity in Washington’s stance potentially reins in both Manila and Beijing from taking rash action, because they don’t know how the United States might respond.

“The basic logic of the U.S. government position is that strategic ambiguity provides us more maneuvering space than might otherwise be the case,” the former official said.
 
But in the case of another territorial dispute involving China and a U.S. ally, Washington has been crystal clear about its alliance commitments. In the East China Sea, where Beijing is at loggerheads with Tokyo, top American officials and President Barack Obama himself have promised that the United States would honor its treaty obligations and come to the defense of Japan if a conflict erupted over the disputed Senkaku Islands, known in China as the Diaoyu.

The different approaches to Japan and the Philippines are partly due to the language of the defense treaties, experts say, and partly a calculation that Tokyo has a more capable military that could deter possible provocations by Beijing.

When Asian and Western defense officials, including U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, gather in Singapore for an annual security conference this weekend, the imminent court ruling from The Hague — and America’s potential response — will be the main topic of discussion. Carter’s scheduled speech will be closely followed for any hints of a change in Washington’s policy.

When it comes to maritime tensions between China and the Philippines, one potential flash point that could draw a U.S. response is the Second Thomas Shoal. A team of less than a dozen Philippine Marines are stationed at the shoal on a rusting, World War II-era ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which was run aground deliberately to safeguard Manila’s claims in the area.

If the Philippine troops run into trouble, the Obama administration could be forced to make a difficult call. But U.S. officials have privately discouraged Manila from taking any action that could trigger a crisis.

Or, as another former senior administration official put it: “Does the U.S. really want to get into a war over the Second Thomas Shoal?”

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/02/a-court-youve-never-heard-of-is-about-to-raise-the-stakes-in-the-south-china-sea/

DND opens bids for P191M projects for Air Force facilities

From Malaya (Jun 6): DND opens bids for P191M projects for Air Force facilities

THE Aquino government has earmarked P191 million for the construction and repair of facilities at the Air Force headquarters in Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, and in Occidental Mindoro and Bataan provinces.

Roy Deveraturda, defense undersecretary for plans and programs and concurrent chairman of the DND’s Special Bids and Awards Committee, said the project is part of the ongoing modernization program of the Armed Forces.

The bid invitation said the project involves the construction and rehabilitation/repair of different facilities at Villamor Air Base, Gozar Air Station in Lubang island in Occidental Mindoro, and Mariveles Radio Relay Station in Mariveles, Bataan.

Deveraturda said the facilities to be constructed or repaired under the project will house air surveillance radars, worth P2.58 billion, that are being acquired by the defense department.

“These are like support facilities,” said Deveraturda of the P191-million project. “Before acquiring the radars, the ground has to be ready, the facilities… These are called base support facilities.”

Deveraturda said the air surveillance radars that are being acquired will help in monitoring the country’s airspace. He said the radars are also important in aviation safety because they can monitor both commercial and military aircraft.

“You will be able to see intrusion into your airspace, those are the radars. But the project that was published is for ground support, basing support. These are where the (radar) equipment will be housed in the layman’s term,” he said.

In an invitation to bid posted on the DND website, Deveraturda said bidders “should be construction-oriented, affiliated group of professionals who can successfully prepare the project.”

“They should have experience and capability in the type of services, and the field under consideration, specifically on the rehab/repair and construction of the different facilities under the radar basing and support system project and other requirements,” he said.

The DND-SBAC will conduct a pre-bid conference on June 8 at the DND-SBAC conference room in Camp Aguinaldo. Deadline for the submission of bids and the opening of the bids is on June 22.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/dnd-opens-bids-p191m-projects-air-force-facilities

PNP: No general found involved in drugs, so far

From Malaya (Jun 6): PNP: No general found involved in drugs, so far

THE Philippine National Police yesterday said there no active police general has yet been found involved in illegal drug activities, contrary to the statement of incoming PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor said “internal cleansing” is a continuous process in the PNP to weed out undesirables, including those involved in illegal drugs.

“A big part of our strategy against illegal drugs addresses the involvement of PNP personnel in drugs thru `INTERNAL CLEANSING.’ It’s a work in progress but no active generals have been identified to have been involved,” Mayor said.

Dela Rosa, former deputy chief of the PNP Intelligence Group, last week said he has a list of ranking police officials who are one way or another involved in illegal drugs. He said based on intelligence information, several police generals and junior officers are on the take from illegal drugs syndicates. He did not name names.

Duterte, last February during the campaign period, said based on intelligence information, around three police generals are involved in illegal drug activities. He did not name them. 

Duterte’s campaign focused mainly on eradicating crime, particularly illegal drugs peddling and abuse.

Last Saturday during a thanksgiving party, Duterte told three unnamed police generals based in Camp Crame, who he said are involved in corruption, to resign or he will humiliate them publicly.

“Corruption must stop. I would have to ask about three generals diyan sa (Camp) Crame to resign. Do not wait for me to name you in public because I will only humiliate you,” he said.

It was unclear if those three unnamed generals are those involved also in illegal drug activities.

Police insiders said while there is talk about officers involved in drugs or who are on the take from drug syndicates, proving their involvement or coming up with evidence against them would be difficult.

Duterte also on Saturday said he will ask for a review of all cases of policemen dismissed due to illegal drugs to make sure they will not make it back to the police service.

Duterte said policemen with pending drug cases must also immediately resign.

Mayor said at least 91 policemen have pending drug cases

“We will validate the information shared by the incoming President to identify those involved and secure the necessary evidence for their eventual dismissal,” Mayor said.

He added: “We support the effort of the incoming President to get rid policemen who are involved in illegal drugs and those who violate other laws… these policemen have no place in our organization. We will work hand in hand with the incoming administration to strengthen and enhance this policy and ensure that those involved will be prosecuted and separated from the service.”

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/pnp-no-general-found-involved-drugs-so-far

MILF confident BBL will pass, hails Duterte talks with MNLF

From Malaya (Jun 6): MILF confident BBL will pass, hails Duterte talks with MNLF

THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front expressed confidence that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte would keep his word to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will establish a new political entity in the South.

“We believe in him (Duterte) and his commitment to proceed with the BBL,” the MILF said on its website of the proposed measure which didn’t pass Congress during the last year of the Aquino administration.

At the same time, the MILF welcomed a planned meeting between Duterte and Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari, whose group signed a peace accord with government in 1996.

“The purported meeting between President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Chair Nurulaji Misuari is in the right direction. The MILF interposes no objection to it,” the MILF said.

“If there are serious matters to consider, (these) are the facts that Misuari has a pending warrant of arrest and the security of Duterte,” it added.

Misuari is facing a rebellion case in connection with the Zamboanga City siege in September 2013.

The MILF and the Aquino government signed a peace accord in March 2014. Aquino endorsed to Congress the proposed law a year after but it was not passed, partly because of the MILF’s involvement in the January 2015 Mamasapano incident that left 44 police commandos dead.

“We asked people close to him about the attitude of Duterte, (and) they told us that once he commits he fulfils it, and once a friend, he is a friend forever. Except for a major or serious breach of friendship or trust, he stands by his friends or associates,” the MILF said.

The MILF noted that that during the campaign period, Duterte had the “clear edge” in terms of policy statements on Moros, BBL, and peace process issues.

“His is not only the commitment to solve the Bangsamoro Question but the unequivocal conviction that ‘nothing will satisfy the Muslims, nay Moros, except to give them the BBL’,” the MILF said.

It also cited Duterte’s meeting with MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar last Feb. 27 at the MILF base in Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao.

During the meeting, the MILF said “he (Duterte) was categorical in stating his position that he would pass the BBL as a template to make the Philippines shift to federal system of government. Again, the same promise was re-echoed in Cotabato City during the campaign.”

The MILF said the peace agreement signed by the MNLF and the government in 1996 “has already been practically implemented or fulfilled.”

“All the remaining unimplemented aspects of the agreement, namely, provisional government, socio-economic intervention, and strategic minerals, were settled or are being addressed,” the MILF said.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/milf-confident-bbl-will-pass-hails-duterte-talks-mnlf

Coast Guard’s first Japanese-made Multi-Role Vessel launched (PHOTOS)

From Update.Ph (Jun 4): Coast Guard’s first Japanese-made Multi-Role Vessel launched (PHOTOS)

Philippine Coast Guard photo

The first of ten ordered Multi-Role Response Vessels (MRRVs) for the Philippine Coast Guard was formally named Tubbataha, one of the lighthouses in the Philippines situated in Tubbataha Marine National Park, Palawan, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

 Ten 40-meter MRRVs were ordered from Japanese shipbuilder Japan Marine United (JMU) under Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project (MSCIP).

Tubbataha was unveiled during the Launching and Naming Ceremony at Japan Marine United Corporation (JMUC) Yokohama Shipyard Isogo Works 12, Shin-suguta-cho, Isogo-ku in Yokohama, Japan last May 12.

Coast Guard Commandant Rear Admiral William Melad and Lieutenant Junior Grade Lalaine Manapul attended the ceremony.

On the same day, Keel Laying Ceremony of the 2nd MRRV of the Philippine Coast Guard was held also at the Isogo Works of JMUC Yokohama Shipyard on May 13. Keel laying for Tubbataha was conducted February this year.

Deliveries of the first two Coast Guard vessels is scheduled this year with Tubbataha expected to be delivered September. From first delivery, succeeding deliveries are expected every quarter until completion of 10 units in 2018.

“(The MRRVs can) be deployed anywhere but the (MRRV) project is all about maritime safety improvement, basically its for search-and-rescue and other needs, but if needed to augment (our naval presence) at the West Philippine Sea, it could be deployed there, as it could also be use for security patrols,” Melad previously said.

Philippine Coast Guard photo

http://www.update.ph/2016/06/coast-guards-first-japanese-made-multi-role-vessel-launched-photos/6229

China sending warships, hospital ship to RIMPAC

From Update.Ph (Jun 5): China sending warships, hospital ship to RIMPAC

China’s participation in the US-led biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) multinational maritime drills is a “perfect example” of security cooperation between world’s powers, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said on Friday.

On Thursday, Chinese Navy spokesman Liang Yang confirmed that a Chinese missile destroyer, missile frigate, supply ship, hospital ship, submarine rescue vessel and two helicopters would take part in RIMPAC 2016.

China’s decision to participate in the RIMPAC is a signal of common security cooperation in the Pacific, Carter stated.

“China will be participating in RIMPAC. That’s a perfect example… of countries working together, their militaries working together for common purpose,” Carter stated during a press conference in Singapore.

China previously participated in RIMPAC in 2014, but its participation in this year’s exercise was cast in doubt as a result of tensions in the South China Sea and an expanded US presence in the Asia Pacific.

Carter was adverse to commenting on tensions between China and its neighbors, noting only that China is a “rising power” in the region, and emphasizing the importance of cooperation.

China will join 26 other nations in the world’s largest maritime exercise.

http://www.update.ph/2016/06/china-sending-warships-hospital-ship-to-rimpac/6250

Suspected NPA rebels kill intel cops

From Update.Ph (Jun 5): Suspected NPA rebels kill intel cops  

Two police officers died on the sport while one civilian was wounded when three men believed to be New People’s Army rebels ambushed the law enforcers in Barangay Zone 8, Bulan, Sorsogon at about 4:30 p.m. Friday.

A police report identified the victims as PO3 Teddy Sacupon and PO2 Efren Villamor Jr., both intelligence operatives of the Police Public Safety Company in Sorsogon who both suffered gun wounds in their heads and bodies.

The report named the wounded civilian as Ruben Hemo, a resident of the village who got caught in the ambuscade and is now recovering at the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital.

Sr. Supt. Ronaldo Cabral, Sorsogon Police Provincial Office director, said the two police officers were doing intelligence gathering in the area when ambushed by the rebels using .45-caliber pistols.

http://www.update.ph/2016/06/suspected-npa-rebels-kill-intel-cops/6252

US Coast Guard Cutter conducts final voyage with American crew

From Update.Ph (Jun 5): US Coast Guard Cutter conducts final voyage with American crew  

US Coast Guard photo

The recently decommissioned United Coast Guard High Endurance Cutter USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) has returned to San Francisco Bay, the US Coast Guard Pacific Southwest said June 3. The voyage will be the last with US Coast Guard crew.

“Recently decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell returns to ‪‎San Francisco Bay area for its final voyage with a ‎Coast Guard crew,” USCG Pacific Southwest said.

USCGC Boutwell will be transferred to Philippine Navy. The Hamilton-class cutter was earlier pledged to the Philippine Navy by US President Barack Obama.

“After 47 years of of service, the crew will prepare the ship for a foreign military sale and transfer to the Philippine navy,” USCG Pacific Southwest added.

Boutwell is the sister ship of BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (formerly the USCGC Hamilton) and BRP Ramon Alcaraz (ex-USCGC Dallar) which were decommissioned in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

“We are expecting the delivery of this ship this year. (It will be an) additional asset for the PN and will be a big boost to our capabilities once it enters our inventory,” Navy public affairs office chief Captain Lued Lincuna said.

http://www.update.ph/2016/06/us-coast-guard-cutter-conducts-final-voyage-with-american-crew/6258

PH, Indonesia conduct joint maritime patrol

From Update.Ph (Jun 5): PH, Indonesia conduct joint maritime patrol  

The Philippines and Indonesia have conducted an 8-day coordinated patrol in Philippine-Indonesia maritime border that ended June 2. The joint maritime patrol activity was dubbed as CORPAT PHILINDO XXX-16 joined by Armed Forces of the Philippines – Eastern and Western Mindanao Commands, and Indonesian Armed Forces.

The closing ceremony was held at Naval Station Felix Apolinario, Panacan Davao City.

“The activity was graced by Commodore Elson K Aguilar of Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao representing Lt General Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, Commander of Eastern Mindanao Command, Indonesian Acting Consul General TatianaHandayani and was attended by the delegates from Indonesian Navy and Eastern Mindanao Command,” Eastern Mindanao Command (EASTMINCOM) said.

The joint patrol aimed to secure the border areas between the Philippines and Indonesia from any illegal activities as well as to enhance the interoperability and foster harmonious working relationship between the two neighboring countries.

The opening ceremony was held May 25 Manado City, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Philippine forces utilized the Miguel Malvar-class corvette BRP Pangasinan (PS-31). Indonesia utilized KRI Sura (802).

EASTMINCOM said the activity also paved the way for the Department of Foreign Affairs repatriation of 128 Filipino fishermen who were apprehended in the high seas of Indonesia. The first batch composed of 35 repatriates arrived in the early afternoon of May 25, 2016 aboard C295 of the Philippine Airforce under Colonel Alejandro Baclayon at Tactical Operations Group XI, Old Airport, Sasa, Davao City while the second batch composed of 93 repatriates arrived at Makar Wharf General Santos City on the evening of May 29, 2016 via BRP Pangasinan.

http://www.update.ph/2016/06/ph-indonesia-conduct-joint-maritime-patrol/6264

MILF camps transformation to productive, civilian communities continues

From the Philippine Information Agency (Jun 5): MILF camps transformation to productive, civilian communities continues

MUNAI, LANAO DEL NORTE – Despite initial uncertainties with regard the continuation of the Bangsamoro peace process with the upcoming change of administration, the planned transformation of the six previously acknowledged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps continues as outlined in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro particularly in its Normalization Annex.

Earlier last week, the Department of Agriculture (DA) together with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and other government agencies including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), turned over farming assistance to beneficiaries in Camp Bilal here in Munai, Lanao del Norte, including farm tractors, three carabaos and provisions for agriculture farm inputs totaling 600 bags of corn seedlings and 1,000 pieces of fruit-bearing tree seedlings.

“This is in compliance with the provisions of the CAB, particularly the Annex on Normalization, as part of the confidence-building measures that are undertaken through the joint task force for the six acknowledged MILF camps with the end in view of transforming these areas into peaceful and productive communities,” said Government of the Philippines (GPH) Peace Panel member Senen Bacani.

The six previously acknowledged MILF strongholds included Camps Abubakar, Omar, Badr, Rajamuda, Bushrah, and Bilal.

“It’s our fervent hope that this assistance with the Department of Agriculture will help very much in gradually transforming the communities in the six MILF camps into [the] peaceful and productive communities we have envisioned in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, ” said Bacani, who co-chairs with MILF panel member Abhoud Lingga the Joint Task Forces on Camps Transformation, which coordinate and facilitate socio-economic projects and programs for the camps and their communities.

“We believe that peace will not be achieved by talking alone but by action. The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) may be delayed but we must continue to push for the economic development of the Bangsamoro communities because development is a responsibility of every single leader,” he added.

Col. William Alunday, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade of the Mechanized Infantry Division, Philippine Army and Carlota Madriaga, Operations Division Chief of DA Regional Field Office X, were in attendance during the event and served as coordinators for Camp Bilal.

Ensuring the continuity of the process to the next administration

At the two-day special meeting between the GPH and MILF panels in Malaysia, the parties issued the Declaration of Continuity of the Partnership of the GPH and MILF in the Bangsamoro Peace Process that “seeks to ensure the full implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in the next administration”. They also signed the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Project Board of the Mindanao Trust Fund for the Six Previously Acknowledged MILF Camps (MTF-RDP Camps Project).

The TOR provides management guidelines for quick-impact socioeconomic projects that will be funded by the Mindanao Trust Fund Reconstruction and Development Programme (MTF-RDP).

The MTF-RDP is a “multi-donor funding facility managed by the World Bank to be managed from January to December 2016 in accordance with the rules and regulations of the World Bank with technical assistance from the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) – Community and Family Services International (CFSI).”

Incoming Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza vowed to continue the momentum of the Bangsamoro peace process once the new administration takes over on June 30.

“In my capacity as Presidential Peace Adviser-Nominee to President-Elect Rodrigo R. Duterte, allow me to welcome with positive note the forging in Malaysia of the declaration of continuity in the search for sustainable peace between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,” Dureza said in a statement which was read during the special meeting in Kuala Lumpur of the GPH and MILF negotiating panels.

“We intend to continue with the gains and build on those already done and achieved. The roadmap that we will traverse hereon will take policy guidance and direction from the new President when he assumes office on June 30, 2016,” the statement continued.

Support from International Community

Meanwhile in Cotabato City, representatives from the different international non-government organizations gathered in a one-day activity workshop on socio-economic survey on the six acknowledged MILF camps conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in partnership with the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) and the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA).

Project Coordinator Mr. Koji Demizu said that the objective of the socio-economic survey is “to contribute [to] the successful implementation of the Normalization Annex by knowing/getting socio-economic profiles and in-depth information of socio-economic needs/aspirations of the selected communities.”

Demizu explained that the activity aimed to gather and consolidate ideas and solicit recommendations in terms of interventions and assistance needed in line with the results/findings and recommendations from the socio-economic survey conducted last September 2015 up to February 2016 from the invited participants, most of which came from the international community such as The Asia Foundation, Save the Children, UNICEF, UNDP, and the International Monitoring Team.

The JICA-spearheaded socio-economic survey detailed the recommended economic opportunities that the different invited agencies can help develop in order to help uplift the lives of the people in the six municipalities covered by the study, namely: Barira, Matanog and Buldon of Maguindanao; Kapatagan, Balabagan and Marogong of Lanao del Sur.

The Normalization Annex is part of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) under which the MILF and GPH agreed to intensify development efforts of rehabilitation, reconstruction and development of the Bangsamoro addressing the needs of MILF-BIAF members, Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) and poverty stricken communities. (OPAPP)

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1141465038686/milf-camps-transformation-to-productive-civilian-communities-continues

China hits US 'provocations', says doesn't fear 'trouble'

From Rappler (Jun 5): China hits US 'provocations', says doesn't fear 'trouble'

(4th UPDATE) Admiral Sun Jianguo: 'China firmly opposes such behavior. We do not make trouble but we have no fear of trouble.'



MARITIME ROW. China's Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), delivers his speech during a plenary session at the 15th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 5, 2016. Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP

An Asian security summit ended in discord Sunday, June 5, after China denounced US "provocations" in the South China Sea and declared it does not fear trouble in the contested waters.

"The South China Sea issue has become overheated because of the provocations of certain countries for their own selfish interests," Admiral Sun Jianguo told an annual forum in Singapore.

Sun, who stressed China's desire for a peaceful solution, spoke one day after US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said any Chinese construction on an islet near the Philippines would prompt unspecified "actions" by the United States and other nations.

On a visit to Mongolia Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry also warned Beijing against setting up an air defense identification zone over the disputed waters.

"We would consider an ADIZ, an ADIZ zone, over portions of the South China Sea as a provocative and destabilizing act, which would automatically raise tensions and call into serious question China's commitment to diplomatically manage the territorial disputes of the South China Sea," Kerry said.

"We believe that it is critical that no country move unilaterally to militarize the region," he added.

His remarks came on the eve of a US-China dialogue in Beijing and after Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper cited Chinese army sources as saying Beijing was mulling such a zone.

China claims nearly all of the sea despite competing claims by several Southeast Asian neighbours, and has pressed its claims by rapidly building artificial islands suitable for military use.

Washington has responded by sending warships close to Chinese-claimed reefs, angering Beijing.

Rhetoric has escalated ahead of a decision at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on a case brought by the Philippines, a longtime US ally and former colony, against China, which says it will not recognize any ruling.

The Chinese admiral said US naval and air patrols in the sea were a display of "military muscles" and China was being forced to "accept and honor" the tribunal's ruling.

"China firmly opposes such behavior. We do not make trouble but we have no fear of trouble," Sun, the leader of the Chinese delegation in Singapore, said in prepared remarks.

Carter had left Singapore by the time Sun made his speech.

Sun also took exception to Carter's statement on Saturday that Beijing risks building a "Great Wall of self-isolation" with its military expansion.

China 'not isolated'

"We were not isolated in the past. We're not isolated, and we will not be isolated in the future. Actually I am worried some people and countries are still looking at China with a Cold War mentality and prejudice," the Chinese admiral said in response to questions from other delegates.

Apparently referring to the United States and the Philippines, Sun said "some hegemonic countries have empowered small countries to make provocations against big countries."

The SCMP has reported that China plans to establish an outpost on Scarborough Shoal 230 kilometers (140 miles) off the Philippines which considers it part of its exclusive economic zone.

According to a Pentagon report, China has added more than 3,200 acres (1,295 hectares) of land to the 7 islets it occupies in the Spratlys, a separate island chain from Scarborough.

Manila says China took effective control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012, stationing patrol vessels and shooing away Filipino fishermen.

Carter declined to elaborate when pressed on Saturday over what "actions" Washington might take. But the Pentagon chief proposed stronger bilateral security cooperation with China to reduce the risk of a mishap.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the forum that the European Union had a stake in maintaining freedom of shipping and navigation in the South China Sea, and said he would speak to his counterparts on the issue.

Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan also have competing claims in the sea.

Beijing's territorial claims, based on controversial historical records, have pitted it against the United States, which has conducted patrols near Chinese-held islands to press for "freedom of navigation" in the waterway.

Pentagon officials say two Chinese fighters last month conducted an "unsafe" intercept of a US spy plane in international airspace over the South China Sea.

http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/asia-pacific/135381-china-hits-us-provocations-doesnt-fear-trouble

Abu Sayyaf kills 2 soldiers; AFP wants to wipe out terror group in 6 months

From InterAksyon (Jun 5): Abu Sayyaf kills 2 soldiers; AFP wants to wipe out terror group in 6 months

The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) killed two more soldiers in an ambush Sunday morning in Basilan, as the military put the finishing touches on a operational plan meant to wipe out in six months the terrorist group blamed for dozens of abductions and killings, including beheadings of foreign captives.

A report from the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said the slain soldiers were riding in tandem in Barangay Tumahubong in Sumisip town, when attacked at around 10:25 a.m. 

They died instantly from multiple gunshot wounds, according to Major Filemon Tan, military public affairs officer.

The slain soldiers were not named pending notification of their families. Tan only identified them as members of the Army’s Alpha Company of the 64th Infantry Battalion.

The soldiers were returning from a logistics run from Barangay Tumahubong to their command post in Barangay Sapah Bulak when a band of Abu Sayyaf ambushed them, Tan said.

Oplan to wipe out ASG

Meanwhile, the incoming AFP chief said a “drastic shift of operational plan” will be carried out against the ASG, with a view to  neutralizing the dreaded terrorist group in half a year.

Lieutenant General Ricardo Visaya, now the Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM) chief, said in an interview the oplan is “now being prepared. Definitely, we will implement an operational plan that aims to eliminate the ASG problem in 6 months.”

He declined to provide details of the Oplan, citing only the need to field more troops in the Sulu-Basilan area, even as he acknowledged, “we’ve a lot of troops already there."

Once the new operational plan is put in place, he said, "dito na magkakasubukan [this is where the real reckoning comes].”

Seven battalions or more than two brigades have been deployed in Sulu and almost the same number of soldiers deployed in Basilan to hunt the ASG.

Less than a dozen captives are held by the ASG in Sulu. They include foreigners like Canadian Robert Hall and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad; as well as Hall’s Filipino girlfriend Marites Flor.

Another Canadian, John Ridsdel, was also beheaded by the ASG in April, after his family failed to deliver ransom of P300 million. The bandits have set another deadline of June 13, vowing to behead another captive if the P300 million each sought for Hall and Sekkingstad is not delivered to them.

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly called on the Abu Sayyaf to surrender in his press conferences, or else, “I will invade Jolo”.

http://interaksyon.com/article/128662/abu-sayyaf-kills-2-soldiers-afp-wants-to-wipe-out-terror-group-in-6-months

US terror tag on NPA can be tackled at the peace table: incoming NSA chief

From InterAksyon (Jun 5): US terror tag on NPA can be tackled at the peace table: incoming NSA chief

The peace negotiating table is the better venue for tackling the "terrorist" group tag that the United States government continues to keep on the New People's Army, the incoming National Security Adviser has said.


Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan's suggestion that the incoming Duterte government request Washington to de-list the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), from its “Foreign Terrorists Organizations,” is a matter that should be part of the new administration's peace negotiations with the Left.

Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte, a former student of CPP founder-in-exile Jose Maria Sison, had early on listed rapprochement with the Left as a key plank of his administration. He has named former Justice secretary Silvestre Bello III, a veteran negotiator, to head his team of peace advisers, and he has named leftist leaders to Cabinet positions: as agrarian reform chief and Cabinet secretary.

The terror tag issue was raised Saturday by Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr., just as both negotiating panels were preparing to meet for  preliminary peace talks in Oslo, Norway, on June 15.

The US State Department lists the NPA among 58 foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), a list that also includes the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) operating in Basilan and Sulu.

“The US once again hopes to use the terrorist listing as a form of intervention in an internal matter and cast a cloud of doubt even before the talks begin,” Reyes said in a statement.

He noted the fact that Cabinet posts were even offered by incoming President Duterte posts in his government as the best foil to the ‘terrorist’ claims of the US. "This practice of ‘terrorist listing’ should be rejected. Any form of US intervention in the peace talks should be exposed and opposed by the Filipino people who have long sought a just and lasting peace,” Reyes added.

Esperon said the request for the Duterte administration to flag Washington over its tagging of the NPA as a terror group looks like a “precondition” raised by the Left for the resumption of peace talks. But, he said, this can be settled at the level of the two negotiating panels: led by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process on one hand and Luis Jalandoni of the National Democratic Front on the other.

“There should be no pre-conditions. Having said that, the NDF can bring up the issue on the negotiating table and it should be part of the peace talks,” said Esperon, former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, in a phone interview at the weekend.

Sincerity on both sides is key to successful peace negotiations, stressed Esperon, echoing the hopes of both sides for final peace agreement to end the armed hostilities waged by the NPA the past 47 years, making the insurgency the longest in Asia.

Way back when he was AFP chief under then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Esperon had vowed to eliminate the NPA.

CPP founder and NDF political consultant Sison had, in a press conference via Skype on June 3 in Quezon City, expressed optimism that a final peace agreement can be forged with the Duterte administration.

Sison, who has spent 30 years in self-exile in Utrecht, The Netherlands, said he will come home once a peace agreement is in place.

http://interaksyon.com/article/128665/us-terror-tag-on-npa-can-be-tackled-at-the-peace-table-incoming-nsa-chief

China hits at US 'provocations', says doesn't fear 'trouble'

From InterAksyon (Jun 5): China hits at US 'provocations', says doesn't fear 'trouble'



REUTERS FILE PHOTO

China on Sunday hit out at US "provocations" and said it does not fear "trouble" over its territorial disputes with neighbors in the South China Sea.

"Countries outside should play a constructive role in this regard, not the other way around. The South China Sea issue has become overheated because of the provocations of certain countries for their own selfish interests," Admiral Sun Jianguo told a security summit in Singapore.

Sun spoke one day after US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned that Chinese construction on a South China Sea islet claimed by the Philippines would prompt "actions being taken" by the United States and other nations.

"We do not make trouble but we have no fear of trouble," the Chinese admiral said.

Pentagon chief Carter also said Saturday that Beijing risks building a "Great Wall of self-isolation" with its military expansion in the contested waters.

But he also proposed stronger bilateral security cooperation with China to reduce the risks of a mishap.

Admiral Sun on Sunday repeated China's pledges to seek a peaceful solution but accused Washington of a "Cold War" mentality.

"I reiterate that our policy on the South China Sea remains unchanged. China has wisdom and the patience to resolve the disputes through peaceful negotiations. We also believe other countries concerned have the same wisdom and the patience to walk on the path of peace along with China," he said.

"Any countries not directly concerned are not allowed to sabotage our path of peace for selfish gains," Sun told the annual security forum known as the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Rhetoric has escalated ahead of a ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague on a case brought by the Philippines against China, which has shunned the proceedings and says it will not recognize any ruling.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post has reported that China plans to establish an outpost on Scarborough Shoal, located 230 kilometers (140 miles) off the Philippines, which considers it part of its exclusive economic zone.

Beijing claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea and has developed contested reefs into artificial islands, some topped with airstrips.

Manila says China took effective control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012, stationing patrol vessels and shooing away Filipino fishermen, after a two-month stand-off with the Philippine Navy.

Carter declined to elaborate when pressed on Saturday over what "actions" Washington might take.

http://interaksyon.com/article/128655/china-hits-at-us-provocations-says-doesnt-fear-trouble

Kerry warns vs setting up of air-defense zone over South China Sea

From InterAksyon (Jun 5): Kerry warns vs setting up of air-defense zone over South China Sea

US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday warned Beijing against setting up an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the disputed South China Sea during a visit to Mongolia.

Washington would consider the establishment of such a zone -- which would require civilian aircraft to identify themselves to military controllers -- "a provocative and destabilising act," Kerry told reporters in Ulan Bator.

The remarks came on the eve of a US-China dialogue in Beijing and after a Hong Kong newspaper cited Chinese army sources as saying Beijing was mulling such a zone, similar to one Beijing established over the East China Sea in 2013.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea despite competing claims by several Southeast Asian neighbours, and has pressed its claims by rapidly building artificial islands suitable for military use.

Washington has responded by sending warships close to Chinese claimed reefs, angering Beijing.

Further US actions in the region "will give Beijing a good opportunity to declare an ADIZ in the South China Sea," a Chinese army source told the South China Morning Post newspaper last week.


Kerry said such a move would "raise tensions".

"We would consider an ADIZ, an ADIZ zone, over portions of the South China Sea as a provocative and destabilising act, which would automatically raise tensions and call into serious question China's commitment to diplomatically manage the territorial disputes of the South China Sea," Kerry said.

"We believe that it is critical that no country move unilaterally to militarise the region," he added.

Kerry also repeated Washington's standard line that it does not take sides in disputes over the sea.

But that stance has been called into question by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, who last month accused Beijing of "pressing excessive maritime claims contrary to international law".

China blasted his remarks as expressing "typical US thinking and US hegemony" and a "cold war mentality".

Carter warned a regional security forum in Singapore on Saturday that Chinese construction on an islet claimed by the Philippines would prompt "actions being taken" by the US and other nations.
Young democracy 

The US and Mongolia have enjoyed strong ties for decades. Washington sees the country as a strategic ally against its regional rivals Russia and China.

Mongolia depends on Russia for three-quarters of its oil and China for most of its trade, but sees US relations as a hedge against its neighbours.

Hillary Clinton and US Vice President Joe Biden are among other top officials to have visited the country in recent years as Washington "pivots" to Asia.

Kerry met with Mongolia's President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, and was scheduled to attend a festival of horse-racing and Mongolian wrestling.

"We're delighted to be, in a sense, your third significant friend," Kerry told Mongolia's foreign minister.

"Mongolia has made remarkable progress for a young democracy," he told reporters.

The former Soviet nation of about three million people possesses enormous mineral resources and deposits of gold, copper and uranium, still largely untapped.

Those resources helped the country achieve over 17 percent growth in 2011, but that has since drastically fallen to under 3 percent last year along with plummeting metal prices and capital flight.

Ahead of the visit a US State Department official acknowledged that a US bid for the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine several years ago went to a Chinese contractor.

"We think that the regulatory environment and the legal environment in Mongolia needs to be improved," the official said, after he was asked about transparency in the key sector.

http://interaksyon.com/article/128660/kerry-warns-vs-setting-up-of-air-defense-zone-over-south-china-sea