From the Mindanao Examiner BlogSpot site (Jul 4): Soldier killed, 3 more wounded in NPA clash
A government soldier was killed and three more wounded in fierce clashes Friday with communist rebels in the southern Philippine province of Misamis Oriental, officials said.
Officials said the fighting erupted in the hinterland village of Umagos in Lagonglong town after patrolling soldiers from 58th Infantry Battalion ran into a group of New People’s Army rebels. Another fighting broke out in Kibanban village in the neighboring town of Balingasag.
The wounded soldiers were evacuated to Cagayan de Oro City as the military deployed more soldiers, backed by helicopters, to reinforce the troops fighting rebel forces.
Major Christian Uy, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, said a still undetermined number of rebels were either killed or wounded in the fighting.
“One of our soldiers was killed and three others are wounded in the fighting. There are reports that an undetermined number of rebels were also killed and wounded. The operation against the NPA is still going on,” Uy told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
The military has tagged the NPA as behind the killing of Mayor Mario Okinlay, of Impasug-ong town in Bukidnon on July 2. It said communist rebels opened fire on the convoy carrying Okinlay who was inspecting a medical mission in the town.
The NPA has been fighting for a separate communist state in the country.
From the Mindanao Examiner BlogSpot site (Jul 4): Philippine rebels ambush government militia, wife and nephew
Communist rebels killed a government militia and wounding his wife and nephew in an ambush in the southern Philippines, officials said Friday.
Maj. Christian Uy, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, said the trio was travelling on a motorcycle when New People’s Army rebels attacked them in the village of San Mateo in Butuan City late Wednesday.
The ambush killed Eddie Toda, who was assigned with the 6th Agusan del Norte CAFGU Active Auxiliary, and wounded Susan Toda and Giovanni Balbosina.
Uy said the rebels fled after the ambush. “CAA Toda was unarmed and off-duty and travelling with his wife and nephew, who are both civilians, when NPA rebels ambushed them,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said the militiaman died from multiple gunshot wounds in the body.
Lt. Col. Adonis Orio, commander of the 29th Infantry Battalion, has condemned the attack and branded the ambush as a “cowardly act.”
“The attack on CAA Toda was an act of cowardice on the part of the NPA. He was in civilian attire and was clearly unarmed when he was ambushed. What will happen to his family now that their father is already dead? And so I urge the peace loving people of Butuan City and Caraga to condemn those who use threat and intimidation against the people especially these NPAs. Let us give peace a chance,” Orio said.
Maj. Gen. Ricardo Visaya, the army division commander, has urged the Commission on Human Rights and the human rights group Karapatan and other allied organizations to investigate the murder of Toda, saying the NPA must pay for its crimes.
He also condemned Toda’s killing. “We strongly condemn the brutality and inhumane atrocities of the NPAs who are killing helpless civilians. Again, we will file charges against the perpetrators of the said ambush. We also urge the Commission on Human Rights, Karapatan and other human rights advocacy groups to investigate this matter. These NPAs must be punished for the crimes they committed and must be condemned by the whole nation,” Visaya said.
“For the family of CAA Toda and Giovanni, who are currently grieving for the loss of their father and son, we are saddened for your loss. We will ensure that the necessary support will be provided as soon as possible. This is how we care for the families of our fallen comrades and civilians,” he added.
From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 4): 3 soldiers wounded as fighting erupts in Misamis Oriental
Three army soldiers were airlifted to the military camp here Friday morning
as fresh fighting erupted anew in the hinterlands of Lagonglong, a fifth class
town north of the province.
Maj. Christian Uy, spokesperson of the army’s 4th Infantry Division in CampEvangelista,
said an army soldier was in critical condition while two others were slightly
wounded.
Uy said the soldiers of the 58th Infantry Division were on combat patrol
when they encountered an undetermined number of armed men believed members of
the communist New People’s Army (NPA)in Kapatagan, Lagonglong Friday morning.
He said that fighting continues as of press time.
The military has dispatched helicopter gunships to provide the government
troopers air cover and immediate evacuation of the wounded, Uy added.
Uy said it could not be determined yet if the rebels have suffered
casualties in the gun battle that rages in the hinterlands of Lagonglong.
Two days ago, elements of the army’s 58th IB also figured in an armed
encounter with the NPA rebels in the nearby village
of Bunal, a hinterland village in the
municipal town of Salay,
Uy said.
He said that there were no reports of casualty in the Salay armed skirmish.
The encounter in Lagonglong took place two days after the military launched
a hot pursuit operation against the NPA rebels who were suspected in the
ambush-slaying of Impasug-ong town Mayor Mario T. Okinlay in Bukidnon last
Wednesday morning.
Uy said that the military tagged the NPA as responsible in the
ambush-slaying of Okinlay who was on his way home Wednesday morning to their
town proper after a medical mission in the remote village of Bontongon
the day before.
The town of Impasug-ong
borders the mountains of Claveria, a rebel infested farming town in Misamis
Oriental.
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jul 3): Military owns ‘raw’ terror threat report that ‘should not have been released’
The military has said it provided the intelligence report that warned of terror attacks in this city, which Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte had discussed last week.
But Brig. Gen. Alexander Balutan, deputy commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) here, said the intelligence information was raw and should have not been publicized.
It was Duterte who made the report public after meeting with Roxas.
Balutan said when the military got the information, it was sent to Malacañang as part of the daily briefing for the President.
“We got the information and we informed the President about it,” Balutan told reporters at a news briefing here on Wednesday.
But Balutan said based on military protocol, “information particularly on terror threats (that have not been) verified and raw information, should not be made public.”
In cases of verified information “especially those that concern national security,” he said that the task of making it public would be the duty of the military’s public information officer.
Balutan said that the intelligence information had actually not singled out the city as possible target of terror groups.
He said the cities of Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Butuan, Koronadal, and other major urban centers in Mindanao had equally been identified and the authorities there also alerted.
“Whether the information is raw or unverified, we have to act on it,” Balutan said.
Up to now, the military continues to look for indicators and is still in the process of verifying the intelligence information, according to Balutan.
Balutan admitted the terror alert came out following the series of the military’s clashes with the Abu Sayyaf in Western Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Maguindanao.
In Zamboanga City, Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, the Western Mindanao Command chief, said the military has been monitoring terror suspect Abdul Basit Usman, an al-Qaeda-trained bomber “who was recently monitored in Maguindanao.
“We are facing a serious threat and we know he is alive and he is our current target in our operation in Central Mindanao,” Guerrero said.
He said Usman has been hiding inside the camps of the BIFF in Maguindanao and has been training BIFF gunmen on bomb making.
In January 2010, Usman was reported to have been killed, along with several other terror suspects, during a US drone strike in Pakistan.
But according to Guerrero, Usman is alive and teaching the BIFF how to build up its capability by providing IED training.”
A few weeks ago, Guerrero said soldiers from the 6th Infantry Division recovered assorted war materiel, bomb-making equipment and documents during a clash in Maguindanao, which he said belonged to Usman.
As to how they were certain about this, he said the military had worked hard to verify its information.
The National Democratic Front has denounced the national government for its “alarmist moves” in the wake of the terror alert.
Rubi del Mundo, spokesperson of NDF-Southern Mindanao, said it was clear that the announcement of the terror threats was “politicking, irresponsible, careless and clearly concocted.”
“Using as mouthpiece the AFP Eastern Mindanao Command, Benigno Aquino III and his gang led by Mar Roxas have exposed themselves as having aligned their political interests for 2016 with that of the United States Imperialism, Del Mundo said.
“Not content with approving the highly irregular and grossly anti-people Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), the puppet US-Aquino regime patently wants Davao City to be its war launch pad of the South”and be popular in the process, a popularity enough to translate into presidential votes,” the communist leader added.
Del Mundo said the people, most especially residents in Davao City, were not stupid and could easily discern that everything was scripted.
“The announcement was suspicious even to ordinary citizens, especially when they see a desperate presidential hopeful in the person of Mar Roxas instigating meetings for security measures with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte,” Del Mundo said in an emailed statement.
Del Mundo asserted that aside from the political interests, Aquino has been pursuing US military interventionist policies in Asia particularly in Davao and Mindanao.
“What is even more shameless in this whole affair is how the US-Aquino regime pursues US military interventionist policies in Asia, eyeing
Davao and Mindanao as its ultimate war theater, at the expense of national sovereignty and patrimony, Del Mundo said.
Earlier, Duterte revealed that the US government has forwarded their intent to utilize the city’s old airport as a base for its drones program.
The mayor shared that a retired Filipino general connected with the Visiting Forces Agreement talked to him to communicate the request of the US government.
“I told him that I would not allow planes or drones here. It is not that I am scared. I just do not want to make enemies,” Duterte said.
From the Visayan Daily Star (Jul 4): NDF: Army fails to destroy rebel base
The National Democratic Front-Negros yesterday claimed that the military failed to destroy the guerilla base of the New People’s Army in northern Negros, despite its sustained combat operations and Civil Military Operations-related projects being implemented by the Oplan Bayanihan campaign and the Provincial Peace Integration and Development Unit.
Instead, the strength of the NPA not only increased, but it also managed to expand its mass bases in northern Negros, NDF spokesperson Frank Fernandez said in a statement he issued to the media.
Earlier the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade had described as “successful” the Provincial Peace Integration and Development Unit peace and development initiatives in conflict-affected communities in the 1st and 5th district of Negros Occidental.
Fernandez said the transfer of “Marching for Peace, Serving the Countryside” activities from the 1st district to 5th district of Negros Occidental is a desperate attempt of Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and Col. Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, to give foreign capitalists and investors a free hand in pushing their business interests in the area.
The Marching for Peace is a grandiose display of terrorism in the 5th district, he added.
Aying had earlier attributed the success of the peace and development activities to the unity of government officials, working in tandem with civil society groups, church, non-government and people’s organizations.
Meanwhile, Fernandez said the Sugarcane Industry Development Act, being proposed by Rep. Alfredo Benitez and the Sugar Industry road map, will serve only the interest of the landlords in Negros Occidental.
From the Visayan Daily Star (Jul 4): Army condemns use of IEDs
The Army’s 3rd Infantry Division yesterday joined the growing calls of civil society groups and the clergy in Western Visayas condemning the continued use of landmines.
Two civilians and two Army soldiers were injured after rebels set off an improvised explosive device used as a landmine in Miag-ao and Guimbal towns of Iloilo Tuesday.
Injured were Melvin Depositario, Dexter Herradura, Sgt. Ruben Dimzon and Cpl. Allen Chris Grapa, military records showed.
Maj. Gen. Aurelio Baladad, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said the New People’s Army has again violated the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) when it used landmines, not only against soldiers but innocent civilians as well.
Several months ago, the Army's 303rd Infantry Brigade also recovered six anti-personnel claymore mines with blasting caps, which were hidden allegedly by the NPA in Brgy. Purisima, Manapla in Negros Occidental.
This confirmed reports of IEDs being brought into Negros from Panay, and of rebels being trained in assembling homemade explosives, Col. Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said.
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jul 3): AFP evaluating if Usman part of Davao threat
MANILA, Philippines—With international terror threat Basit Usman still at large, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is evaluating every angle on the possible source of the new brouhaha in Davao City.
“We are evaluating possible angles, we are not discounting if he is part of the threat,” Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala, AFP Public Affairs Office Chief, said.
Earlier reports say that Islamist terror group Abu Sayyaf is planning to sow terror in Davao City, Cotabato City and General Santos City after one of its bomb factories, wherein Usman was said to operate, was raided last June.
Usman has a $1-billion bounty that the United States put on his head while the AFP put P6.3-million
“Usman is a subject of high interest and is a subject of law enforcement,” Zagala said.
He added that Usman trained under Fatur Rohman Al-Ghozi in the late 1990s and is linked with the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
“Basit Usman must be made accountable for his crimes,” Zagala said.
In response to the threat, the AFP has coordinated with the Philippine National Police in securing the area.
Various checkpoints that the joint forces man are scattered about in the region.
“We urge our citizens to be more vigilant and report to the authorities any information that would help our troops in our ongoing security operations against the terrorist,” Zagala said.
From the Manila Standard Today (Jul 4): PH, US mark ‘Friendship Day’
AS the country marks the 52nd Filipino-American Friendship Day today, Vice President Jejomar Binay asked the United States government to grant temporary protection status to Filipinos who survived or have relatives affected by super typhoon “Yolanda” last November.
“Today we celebrate the bond of two nations whose kinship is rooted in the ideals of freedom and democracy and built on mutual respect and cooperation,” Binay, concurrent presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns, said on Thursday.
The Philippines 4th. Old photographs show the ceremony at the Luneta where the US flag was pulled down as that of the Philippines was raised on July 4, 1946. Days before, Filipino socialites gathered at Malacañan Palace to put the finishing touches on the US flag that was used in the ceremony.“As we celebrate this long-standing alliance, I hope that as an act of goodwill, the United States government will grant Temporary Protection Status to our [countrymen] currently working in the US who were or have relatives affected by super typhoon Yolanda,” he added.
Temporary protected status is an immigration condition where eligible nationals of designated countries are allowed to stay in the US temporarily because of ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster or other extraordinary and temporary condition in their home country.
So far, the seven countries under TPS are El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan and Syria. The Philippines, along with Guatemala and Pakistan, are the countries seeking TPS for its citizens.
The vice president said the issuance of the TPS will allow Filipinos in the US to focus on providing for their families and rebuilding their lives without worrying about being removed from employment or deported back to the Philippines.
Binay said the humanitarian act will further cement and deepen the friendship between Filipinos and Americans which the country celebrates on the day the US officially withdrew from the Philippines in July 4, 1946.
The country’s Independence Day was celebrated in ceremonies held at the Independence Grandstand (a temporary structure built in front of the Rizal Monument) with the US flag was lowered and the Philippine flag was raised to fly alone over the islands.
According pre-World War II socialite Pura Kalaw, the last American flag to fly over the Philippines was specially-prepared by Filipino socialites, including three first ladies: Mrs. Manuel L. Quezon, Mrs. Sergio Osmeña and Mrs. Manuel Roxas.
After the ties at the Luneta, the flag was sent to the US as a souvenir from a former colony which, like the US, also celebrated its own independence day on July 4.
But after 16 years, President Diosdado Macapagal issued a proclamation in 1962 moving the date of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, the date Filipinos declared independence from Spain at Emilio Aguinaldo’s home in Kawit, Cavite in 1898.
In his proclamation, President Macapagal cited “the establishment of the Philippine Republic by the Revolutionary Government under General Emilio Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898, marked our people’s declaration and exercise of their right to self-determination, liberty and independence.”
From the Manila Bulletin (Jul 4): 3 soldiers wounded in clash
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental -- Three army soldiers were airlifted to the military camp here Friday morning as fresh fighting erupted anew in the hinterlands of Lagonglong, a fifth class town north of the province.
Maj. Christian Uy, spokesperson of the army’s 4th Infantry Division in Camp Evangelista, said an army soldier was in critical condition while two others were slightly wounded.
Uy said the soldiers of the 58th Infantry Division were on combat patrol when they encountered an undetermined number of armed men believed members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA)in Kapatagan, Lagonglong Friday morning.
He said that fighting continues as of press time.
The military has dispatched helicopter gunships to provide the government troopers air cover and immediate evacuation of the wounded, Uy added.
Uy said it could not be determined yet if the rebels have suffered casualties in the gun battle that rages in the hinterlands of Lagonglong.
Two days ago, elements of the army’s 58th IB also figured in an armed encounter with the NPA rebels in the nearby village of Bunal, a hinterland village in the municipal town of Salay, Uy said.
He said that there were no reports of casualty in the Salay armed skirmish.
The encounter in Lagonglong took place two days after the military launched a hot pursuit operation against the NPA rebels who were suspected in the ambush-slaying of Impasug-ong town Mayor Mario T. Okinlay in Bukidnon last Wednesday morning.
Uy said that the military tagged the NPA as responsible in the ambush-slaying of Okinlay who was on his way home Wednesday morning to their town proper after a medical mission in the remote village of Bontongon the day before.
The town of Impasug-ong borders the mountains of Claveria, a rebel infested farming town in Misamis Oriental.
From the Manila Bulletin (Jul 4): PH-Vietnam agree to address tension in the South China Sea
With China becoming increasingly aggressive in the disputed South China Sea, the Philippines and Vietnam emphasized the urgent need to address the escalating challenges in the region through peaceful means and in accordance with international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
This communal view was raised by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh during their meeting in Hanoi Wednesday.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the discussions between the two foreign ministers were “comprehensive, constructive and productive, and covered bilateral cooperative projects, international and regional concerns, and people-to-people ties.”
At the same time, the two foreign ministers urged that the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) be implemented in its entirety, including refraining from the use of coercive force.
The two Ministers also agreed that the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) be expeditiously concluded without undue delay.
STRONGER TIES
In this regard, Del Rosario and his Vietnamese counterpart reaffirmed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Joint Statement on the Developments in the South China Sea issued last May 10 and the ASEAN Six-Point Principles on the South China Sea.
Aside from the full implementation of the DOC and the Guidelines for the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, the six-point principles of ASEAN include : the early conclusion of a COC, the full respect of the universally recognized principles of International Law, including the UNCLOS, the continued exercise of self-restraint and non-use of force by all parties, and the peaceful resolution of disputes, in accordance with universally recognized principles of International Law.
On a bilateral basis, the two ministers discussed a wide range of issues and agreed to further promote cooperation in many areas such as fisheries, ocean and maritime, defense and security, trade and investment. The Foreign Ministers also agreed to advance partnership to a higher level, including the establishment of a Joint Commission headed by the two Ministers to formulate a road map in working towards a strategic partnership.
The two countries are currently embroiled in separate territorial disputes with China over territories in the South China Sea.
FLOWERS NOT THORNS
Meanwhile, China urged the United States to have an objective view of China’s national conditions as well as its domestic and foreign policies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking to former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson ahead of next week’s China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue said he hoped both countries could use such gatherings to keep “injecting positive energy” into the relationship.
“The two sides should expand common interests, deepen cooperation, plant more flowers, not thorns, clear the interference and avoid suspicion and confrontation,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official China Daily.
China would stick to the path of peaceful development and shoulder its international duties, Xi added.
China and the United States, as the world’s two largest economies, have close trade and business ties and work together on important international issues like North Korea.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is also attending, and will likely address Chinese concerns over what Beijing views as Washington’s support for Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines over their territorial disputes with China.
Posted to InterAksyon (Jul 4): With one eye on Washington, China plots its own Asia 'pivot'
The Silk Road, an obscure Kazakh-inspired security forum and a $50-billion Asian infrastructure bank are just some of the disparate elements in an evolving Chinese strategy to try to counter Washington's "pivot" to the region.
While Chinese leaders have not given the government's growing list of initiatives a label or said they had an overall purpose, Chinese experts and diplomats said Beijing appeared set on shaping Asia's security and financial architecture more to its liking.
"China is trying to work out its own counterbalance strategy," said Sun Zhe, director of the Centre for US-China Relations at Beijing's Tsinghua University and who has advised China's government on its foreign policy.
Added one Beijing-based Western diplomat who follows China's international relations: "This is all clearly aimed at the United States."
President Barack Obama's pivot -- as the White House initially dubbed it -- represented a strategy to refocus on Asia's dynamic economies as the United States disentangled itself from costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
China sees the pivot as an attempt to contain its growing influence, especially given the United States is strengthening its ties with Asian security allies such as Japan and the Philippines, which have bitter territorial disputes with Beijing in the region's waters.
Washington denies this.
One key part of China's diplomatic outreach has been to breath life into the little-known Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, or CICA, which has languished since Kazakhstan proposed it in 1992 to promote peace and security.
CICA comprises two dozen mostly Asian nations, as well as Russia and some Middle Eastern countries. The United States, Japan and the Philippines are not members.
China took over chairmanship of CICA at a summit in Shanghai in May for three years. There, President Xi Jinping spoke about a new "Asian security concept," saying China would explore the formulation of a code of conduct for regional security and an Asian security partnership program.
While Xi gave few details and made no direct mention of disputes such as in the South China Sea, he warned Asian nations about strengthening military alliances to counter China, an oblique reference to the US pivot.
"Asian problems must be resolved by Asian people, and Asian security must be protected by Asian people," Xi said.
Rival bank?
Another Chinese initiative is the $50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which Xi first proposed in October during a visit to Southeast Asia.
Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said this week Beijing would likely have a 50 percent stake in the bank, which diplomats see as a possible rival to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, though China says its role is a complementary one, not competitive.
Washington and Tokyo have the biggest voting rights in both the decades-old institutions.
China sees the infrastructure bank as a way to spread the message of its benign intentions in Asia, where developing countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam accuse Beijing of being the aggressor over territorial claims.
"China upholds a basic guiding principle in regional diplomacy -- being friends and partners with our neighbors," Lou said.
On top of that, China has dangled financial and trade incentives to Central Asia, backing efforts to resurrect the old Silk Road that once carried treasures between China and the Mediterranean.
China is also pushing ahead with various trade pacts in the region, but is not part of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation bloc whose two biggest economies are the United States and Japan.
Not everyone is convinced China's initiatives will amount to much.
"Some of those things are more about the optics of these issues rather than the realities of a Chinese-led order," said Matthew Goodman, senior adviser for Asian Economics at the Center for Security and International Studies in Washington.
Washington watching
China's foreign policy since the country began economic reforms three decades ago has traditionally followed the maxim of late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping of "hiding ones' strength and biding ones' time," or keeping a low profile.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier this year flagged China's more assertive regional foreign policy at his annual press conference and in a newspaper article.
"We must accept the role of a responsible major country in international affairs," Wang wrote.
Asked this week whether China was carrying out its own pivot, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was pursing a policy of good neighborliness.
A senior Obama administration official said Washington was paying close attention to Xi's approach to Asia.
"We noted his statement at the CICA conference about Asia for Asians, the growing criticism of US alliances and the Asian infrastructure bank," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"It's raising serious questions about whether the US vision and the Chinese vision are fully compatible."
A second senior US official said Washington had not been assured that the infrastructure bank would adopt the high governance and other standards of institutions such as the World Bank and the ADB. He said the administration did not see how such an entity would "add value" for the region and that Washington would be making this point to Asian allies.
While they were not members, the United States and Japan were welcome to join the bank, Lou said.
Top Chinese and US officials will get the chance to discuss the bank and many other issues during annual talks in Beijing on July 9-10, a meeting known as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
Forgotten anniversaries
At the start of the CICA summit, China turned on the pomp, with live television showing Red Flag limousines delivering leaders one by one to a Shanghai conference center where they walked down a red carpet to shake hands with Xi.
Most recently, Xi feted suspicious neighbors India and Myanmar last Saturday to celebrate the 1954 signing of almost forgotten principles of peaceful coexistence.
He cited Indian Nobel Literature laureate Rabindranath Tagore in a speech to India's vice president on the 60th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, an early Cold War pledge of peace between China, India and the country then known as Burma.
Xi has gone out of his way to court India, a country which hosts exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and with which China has a festering border dispute.
Still, China's messages of peace can come across as ham-fisted to those it's trying to court.
"China has long engaged in a kind of smile diplomacy in the region but the challenge for China is that many of its neighbors can see the glint of steel beneath the robe," said Goodman from the CSIS thinktank.
From the Mindanao Examiner (Jul 3): Sulu province donates 600-horsepower speedboat to military
The Sulu provincial government handed over a 600-horsepower speedboat it donated to the Philippine Marines in support to its law enforcement operations in the southern Philippines.
The boat also serves as a multi-purpose vessel which the military can use in its rescue or logistic operations, among others.
Governor Totoh Tan and Vice-Governor Sakur Tan led the turnover of the speedboat to Brigadier General Martin Pinto, commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade, and Brigadier General Orlando del Leon, the deputy chief of the Western Mindanao Command who represented Lt. Gen. Rustico Guererro.
Both Pinto and De Leon thanked the provincial officials for the donation, saying, the speedboat equipped with three outboard engines, is a big contribution to the efforts of authorities in maintaining peace and order in the province.
The provincial government has been very supportive of the military and police authorities in Sulu in an effort to professionalize the uniformed personnel here.
Sulu Governor Totoh Tan and Vice-Governor Sakur Tan hand over a 600-horsepower speedboat the provincial government donated to the Philippine Marines. Brigadier General Martin Pinto, commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade, and Brigadier General Orlando de Leon, the deputy chief of the Western Mindanao Command who represented Lt. Gen. Rustico Guererro, received the boat on July 2, 2014. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Franzie Sali)
From the Daily Tribune (Jul 4): Six JSOG officers killed by ‘friendly fire’; probe on
Another military blunder?
An inquiry is now ongoing to determine whether there was a “misfire” of artillery that resulted in the death of six members of the military’s elite Joint Special Operations Group (JSOG) during an operation in Sulu province.
An informed source said that the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), which has jurisdiction over military units deployed in Sulu, created a Board of Inquiry (BoI) to look into the incident last June 19 in Barangay Kabuntakas, Patikul.
The source admitted there were reports that the death of six members of JSOG was caused by a “friendly fire.”
“Wesmincom is now conducting an investigation, a BoI was created for that,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
“Those are the reports now subject of investigation by the BoI. There is nothing clear as of now,” he added.
The incident stemmed from an intense clash between elements of the 2nd Marine Brigade and Abu Sayyaf terrorist in the hinterlands of Patikul at around 6:30 a.m last June 19.
A Marine lieutenant was killed during the clash.
Hours later, six JSOG members were also killed after they were hit reportedly by a mortar fire in Barangay Kabuntakas.
Initial report, at that time, said that the JSOG, composed of Army soldiers, were dispatched to reinforce the Marines engaged by the Abu Sayyaf but were hit by a mortar.
However, there were reports saying that the JSOG were hit by a “misfire” from other military units.
“That is the subject of the investigation. There are reports saying they were hit by mortar while other information said it was a cannon…so we cannot say what really transpired until after the BoI completes its report,” the officer said.
The source said that part of the inquiry would be to determine if the artillery used were not “defective.”
“You can only plot your target…after firing, you’ll never know if the ammos will work based on the plot or if fail because they are defective,” he said.
Another officer, however, downplayed the possibility that a “friendly fire” hit the JSOG personnel.
“Initial plotting showed they (JSOG personnel) were not along the line of fire,” the second source said.
“In Sulu, lawless elements, particularly the Abu Sayyaf group, have mortars and other heavy armaments, including IEDs (improvised explosive devices) being used against government troops,” he added.
NDF propaganda statement posted to the CPP Website (Jul 3): Filipino masses are not stupid. Aquino should stop terror threat charade
Rubi Del Mundo Spokesperson NDFP Southern Mindanao Chapter
The National Democratic Front Southern Mindanao slams the early politicking of the US-Aquino regime as demonstrated by its recent irresponsible, careless and clearly concocted announcement of terror threats in Davao City. Using as mouthpiece the AFP Eastern Mindanao Command, Benigno Aquino, III and his gang led by Mar Roxas have exposed themselves as having aligned their political interests for 2016 with that of the United States Imperialism. Not content with approving the highly irregular and grossly anti-people Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), the puppet US-Aquino regime patently wants Davao City to be its war launch pad of the South—and be popular in the process, a popularity enough to translate into presidential votes.
The Filipino masses, however, are not stupid, and can see through this whole brouhaha as scripted and orchestrated. Nothing can be so far from the truth when the US-Aquino regime announced that a Jemaah Islamiyah bomb expert led by one Abdul Basit Usman will bomb installations in the city. And even if bombing would occur in the city—a possibility not far-fetched to occur anytime and anywhere among US neo-colonies in the world—history has shown that the bombings would most likely be regime-sponsored.
The announcement was suspicious even to ordinary citizens, especially when they see a desperate presidential hopeful in the person of Mar Roxas instigating meetings for security measures with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. The Aquino-Roxas faction in the ruling class is sending obvious signals to the public and to Duterte who is playing his cards as a potential 2016 frontrunner. Aquino would later backtrack by saying that the terror threat is based on raw information, a fact that did not surprise many discerning citizens who are already tired of this regime’s disinformation and penchant for lies and cover-up.
What is even more shameless in this whole affair is how the US-Aquino regime pursues US military interventionist policies in Asia, eyeing Davao and Mindanao as its ultimate war theater, at the expense of national sovereignty and patrimony. What is even more callous and insensitive amid this terror threat is how the US-Aquino regime focuses on further perpetuating lies to protect its elitist interest and glosses over the real issues besetting the masses—the grave economic crisis in general and specifically, the skyrocketing increases in the prices of rice, electricity and other basic commodities.
The Aquino administration has not lifted a finger on how to stop the increases of rice prices and alleviate the suffering of the urban and rural poor consumers of this basic staple. Aquino is only interested in nailing the coffin against his political opponents while trying hard to absolve himself from being part of the PDAF scam. Aquino is truly the pork barrel king even in the eyes of justices of the reactionary regime when its High Court declared as unconstitutional the presidential pork or the Disbursement Acceleration Program.
Thus, the people must unite and gather enough strength in order to oust a corrupt, puppet and fascist president and remove Aquino from power.
From the Manila Times (Jul 3): Muslims getting restive over Bangsa law delay – group
A multi-sectoral group of Muslim, Christian and Indigenous Peoples has expressed alarm over the continued delay in the release of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) submitted more than two months ago to Malacañang by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) after the signing of a comprehensive agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) said it was high time the draft BBL was released to the public to assure all stakeholders of the sincerity of the government efforts to forge a lasting peace in the South.
“Unhealthy speculations are running high about the fate of the peace roadmap agreed upon by both the government and the [MILF] in a bid to settle over four decades of Moro rebellion in Mindanao,” the MPC said in a statement.
It explained that unhealthy speculations have stemmed from the unavailability to public scrutiny of the BBL.
The statement stressed that the longer such speculations persist, the greater the chance of eroding the public’s trust in the peace process.
“The biggest stakeholders of the peace process are Mindanao’s grassroots communities and peoples who have suffered the most during the long periods of war,” the group added.
“We feel that enough time has passed for a thorough review of the BTC draft; it is also about time to give the public, especially the Bangsamoro constituency, the opportunity to examine the documents,” MPC further said.
The group also urged Malacañang to immediately release its comments on the BTC’s draft basic law before a ‘revised’ draft is submitted to Congress when it resumes session on July 28.
Earlier, MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said every day of delay reduces the BBL’s chances of becoming a law within the year.
“It is important to the Bangsamoro government because a government cannot run without a law,” Jaafar stressed.
He said the Bangsamoro people was getting worried at the delay but ignored speculations that the Aquino administration might not be interested in the peace agreement.
Jaafar also hinted that the delay in passage of the BBL could lead to some sort of violence.
“I am not saying that but the question is what will happen if the approval of the proposed [BBL] is delayed? If the ratification of the proposed [BBL] is delayed, what will the Bangsomoro do? Will the Bangsamoro accept that, if they reject it, what will they do? That I cannot answer for the moment,” Jaafar stressed.
The draft law was submitted by the BTC to Malacanang on April 22.
Its enactment into law would pave the way for the establishment of a new autonomous region in Mindanao to end the decades-old conflict in the South.
Malacañang, through Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, earlier said the draft law would not be forwarded to Congress until the Palace legal team and the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel finishes reviewing it.
Coloma, however, could not say when the review would be completed since it needed a meticulous and thorough evaluation to ensure that it conforms with the Constitution.
