Japan beefs up aid to Phl to enhance maritime capability

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): Japan beefs up aid to Phl to enhance maritime capability

The Japanese government will beef up its assistance to the Philippines on maritime security as both countries commit to continue partnership especially on enhancing the maritime capability of the Philippine Coast Guard.

This was revealed by Japan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Fumio Kishida, who is paying a courtesy call to President Rodrigo Duterte in Davao Thursday where he was set to discuss with the Chief Executive enhancing the maritime capabilities of the Philippines, improving transportation and business climate.

Kishida’s announcement came as the Philippine government is working on peaceful resolution with China on the West Philippine Sea issue after the international arbitral tribunal came out with its resolution favoring the Philippines.

Kishida said Japan will be giving 10 patrol vessels (one of which will arrive towards the end of the month) through the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) aimed at enhancing law enforcement on the law of the sea.

The assistance for maritime security is over and above the current total ODA assistance to the country for development and infrastructure projects amounting to US US$ 7 billion.

The assistance came as the Philippines and Japan celebrate the 60th year of the normalization of their diplomatic ties. “The visit will be an important opportunity to develop relationship strongly under Duterte administration built on strategic partnership,” Kishida said.

Japan also has its own issue with China on the East China Sea. Kishida, however, underscored respect of rule of law and resolving the issue by not using force and coercion.

Japan’s offer was welcomed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, who said that the Philippines shares the same concern. “We are one in articulating and invoking and urge China to make sure maritime security and rule of law are strictly and uncompromisingly respected.

He said intimidation and use of force are not within the concept of respect of the rule of law.

Meanwhile, Minister Kishida said that during his visit, he expects to further develop cooperation in broad areas including political, economic, infrastructure and cultural, aside from maritime concerns.

Kishida also committed to “continue to support concentrated assistance for Mindanao especially on infrastructure development for agriculture activity and projects in Metro Manila.

According to Yasay, the Philippines is grateful for Japan’s development assistance which is about 35 percent of all ODA to the Philippines. He praised Japan’s unprecedented work in bringing economic and development works to the Philippines, not to mention the durability and longevity of partnership.

“I look forward to enhancing collaboration with Japan on health, defense, international security, disaster management,” Yasay said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=912853

Air Force general assumes as new AFP Centcom chief

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 12): Air Force general assumes as new AFP Centcom chief

A general from the Philippine Air Force (PAF) has assumed as the new chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command (AFP-Centcom) based in Camp Lapu-Lapu in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.

Major Gen. Raul del Rosario, the newly-installed Centcom commander, vowed to support the government’s drive against illegal drugs and also keep the peace and stability in the Visayas.

“I promise I will not destroy the trust you have placed in me,” he said in his speech after his installation on Thursday.

Del Rosario replaced Lt. Gen. Nicanor Vivar, who retired Thursday after 38 years of military service. Vivar turned 56 Friday.

Gen. Ricardo Visaya, the Armed Forced of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, presided over the change of command.

Visaya said their role is to support the drive against illegal drugs.

He said a task force was created in the AFP to help police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Law enforcers can also tap the military for additional forces when they have operations.

“Aside from that, the role of the armed forces is to give intelligence reports, so they can collate the information well,” said Visaya, an underclassman of Vivar.

Two active members of the AFP are being investigated after they were named by President Rodrigo Duterte as drug protectors.

They will be discharged from the service if proven guilty.

Del Rosario thanked Vivar, who is his upperclassman in the Philippine Military Academy, for his guidance and promised to continue the latter’s best practices.

During his stint as Centcom commander in the past year and 11 months, Vivar said they conducted more than 47,000 operations against rebels and other lawless elements.

He said 121 rebels surrendered, while 34 were either killed or arrested during this period.

The Centcom’s engineering unit also helped build infrastructures like roads in remote areas in the Visayas.

Vivar said they were also involved in humanitarian missions in places ravaged by typhoons in the past years.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=913014

F-27 transport plane in NAIA mishap still flyable

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): F-27 transport plane in NAIA mishap still flyable

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) Fokker F-27 "Friendship" transport aircraft, whose tires went flat at the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City Wednesday night, is still flyable.

This was stressed by PAF spokesperson Col. Araus Robert Musico in a message to the PNA Thursday.

"The aircraft (with tail number 10620) is flyable," he added.

But Musico declined to comment further on the mishap as it is still being investigated as part of the PAF standard accident operating procedure.

"We can't further comment until (the investigation) is completed except for the flat tire, the aircraft did not sustain any damage so it absolutely flyable," he added.

A PAF F-27 got disabled in NAIA at 8:40 p.m. Wednesday after its landing gears sustained two flat tires.

It was towed clear at 9:37 p.m. resuming normal operations in the airport.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912672

S-211 jet engine up for repair

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 12): S-211 jet engine up for repair

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has allocated the sum of Php30 million for the acquisition of spares and services needed for the repairs of the JT15D-4C engine of its SIAI-Marchetti S-211 jet trainers.

Pre-bid conference is scheduled for Aug. 17, 9 a.m. at the PAF Procurement Center Conference Room, Villamor Air Base, Pasay City.

Submission and opening of bids is on Aug. 30, 9 a.m. at the same venue.

The S-211 is one of the PAF's two jet-powered aircraft after the Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50PH "Fighting Eagle."

It is primarily used for air-to-ground and surveillance missions.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=913031

August is International Humanitarian Law Month

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): August is International Humanitarian Law Month

In observance of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Month, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), along with the Department of National Defense, Department of Foreign Affairs, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and the Commission on Human Rights will hold a series of activities aimed at heightening public awareness and respect for IHL.

The IHL or Geneva Conventions of 1949 is a set of rules which place restrictions on the use of weapons and methods of warfare. It protects people who or are no longer participating in hostilities such as the wounded combatants, shipwrecked members at sea, prisoners of war, and civilians.

All activities for this year’s IHL Month are geared to promote the principles of IHL and are anchored on the theme, “Mga Aral ng Nakaraan at Hamon sa Kasalukuyan (“IHL: Lessons of the Past, Challenges of the Present”).

During the official IHL Day, Aug. 12, IHL Fun Run, Blood letting activity, and IHL Human Formation will be held at Camp Aguinaldo where 1,500 personnel from DND, DFA, PNP, CHR, ICRC, Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Philippine Coast Guard, and Philippine Navy are expected to participate.

The PRC NHQ and its chapters will also hold various activities such as:

IHL Rescue Day: Aug. 13, Comembo Makati hosted by Rizal Chapter

IHL Training: Aug. 16-17, DND Office

Symposium: Aug. 18, Lyceum of the Philippines Manila

Photo exhibit: Aug. 31- Starmall, Alabang

PRC chapters in Alaminos, La Union, Masbate, Agusan Del Sur, and Zamboanga City will hold a “Run/Walk/Zumba for Humanity,” while the Laguna Chapter will facilitate “Ride for Red: Bike for Humanity.”

A series of dissemination sessions in universities, government agencies and various organizations will be integrated by Quezon City, Caloocan, Camarines Norte, Occidental Mindoro, Bohol, Capiz, Siquijor, Southern Leyte, Agusan Del Norte-Butuan City, Bukidnon, Davao Del Sur, and Misamis Oriental.

PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon, a staunch advocate of IHL and the author of Republic Act No. 9851 which defines and penalizes violations of International Humanitarian Law and other crimes against humanity, said that the commemoration of the international humanitarian rules also honors Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross Movement and main initiator of the Geneva Conventions.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912759

PVAO hoping 17th Congress will prioritize bills pushing for veterans' pension hike, creation of real veterans agency

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): PVAO hoping 17th Congress will prioritize bills pushing for veterans' pension hike, creation of real veterans agency

The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) is hoping that the 17th Congress will prioritize the passage of bills mandating the increase of old age pensions of Filipino veterans and the creation of an agency dedicated to their well-being.

PVAO, in a statement Thursday, noted that it is more than two decades already since Republic Act 7696 was enacted and mandated the increase of old age pension (OAP) from PHP1,000 to the PHP5,000.

"Hence, the veterans have been really clamoring for the government to finally increase their old age pension," PVAO administrator Ernesto Carolina said.

The following bills are filed for the increase in OAP:

1. House Bill No. 270 – An Act Increasing the Monthly Pension of Senior Veterans Thereby Amending Republic Act 6948, As Amended (filed by Cong. Geraldine Roman)

-This seeks to increase to PHP20,000 the OAP of senior veterans (World War II veterans and Korean/Vietnam war veterans who are not receiving retirement pension from the AFP.

2. Senate Bill No. 246 – An Act Providing for a Three Thousand Peso (PHP3,000) Increase in the Monthly Pension of War Veterans and Their Dependents, Appropriating Funds Thereof and for Other Purposes (filed by Sen. Loren Legarda)

-This bill seeks to increase the monthly pension of all Filipino War Veterans across the board by PHP3,000.

The monthly pension shall be granted directly to the war veterans as long as he/she is still alive. Upon the death of the war veteran, the surviving spouse shall continue to receive the pension.

3. Senate Bill No. 97 — An Act to Increase the Old-Age Pension of Military Veterans Amending for the Purpose Section 10 of Republic Act 6948 (filed by Sen. Sonny F. Trillanes IV)

-This bill seeks to increase the monthly Old Age Pension of Veterans from PHP5,000 to PHP8,000.

Seeing the need to have a dedicated agency that caters to the welfare and well-being of the veterans, PVAO is pushing for the creation of Philippine Veterans Authority that is separate from the Department of National Defense.

Carolina said PVAO is drawing inspiration from the fact that all developed countries have a separate agency on veterans’ administration.

As an example, the United States established its own Veterans Affairs (VA) system to oversee the medical care and other benefits for its veterans. Two same versions of this initiative are filed in both Senate and House of Representatives:

1. House Bill No. 109 – An Act Integrating All Agencies and Offices on Veterans Welfare, Creating for the Purpose the Philippine Veterans Authority (filed by Cong. Gary Alejano)

2. Senate Bill No. 529—An Act Integrating All Agencies and Offices on Veterans Welfare, Creating for the Purpose the Philippine Veterans Authority (filed by Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes).

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912805

Military: No truth to hamletting, food blockade reports in Compostela Valley

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 12): Military: No truth to hamletting, food blockade reports in Compostela Valley

The 10th Infantry Division on Friday strongly denied reports claiming that its 25th, 71st and 66th Infantry Battalions are blocking food supplies and hamletting communities in Compostela Valley.

"These unfounded and malicious allegations of the National Democratic Front (NDF)-allied organizations are designed to distract our units and soldiers who are conducting Peace and Development Outreach Program (PDOP)," 10th Infantry Division public affairs office chief Capt. Rhyan Batchar said.

PDOP aims to bring the people closer to government and assist in facilitating the government’s delivery of basic needs and services to communities in far flung areas of Compostela Valley.

Such programs are against the efforts of the New People's Army to drive the people further away from government by agitating them into resorting to violence, he added.

"The 10th Infantry Division and all its units are open to investigation by any duly constituted authorities. We will support and fully cooperate in any investigation to ferret out misfits, scalawags and misbehaving member of the military organization," Batchar said.

"We, therefore, encourage these NDF-allied groups to file appropriate charges against officers and soldiers of units responsible for committing the said allegations. We urge them to go beyond mere propaganda aimed at only besmirching the good image of our soldiers," he added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=913020

10th ID condemns mutilation done by rebels to fallen troops

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): 10th ID condemns mutilation done by rebels to fallen troops

The Compostela Valley-based 10th Infantry Division strongly condemns New People's Army (NPA) rebels for mutilating the bodies of three of its soldiers killed during a clash in Barangay Rizal, Monkayo town last Aug. 5.

Capt. Rhyan Batchar, 10th Infantry Division public affairs office chief, said the cadavers of Cpl. Jimmy Bayta, Cpl. Gilmar Mapa and Pfc. Rolen Roy Sarmiento, all members of the 25th Infantry Battalion were mutilated by the rebels shortly after the firefight at Km 56, Barangay Rizal, of the above-mentioned town.

"The Regional Crime Laboratory Office (RCLO) 11 of the Philippine National Police (PNP) conducted an autopsy on the cadavers of Cpl. Bayta and Pfc. Sarmiento. The family of Pfc. Mapa did not submit his cadaver for autopsy.

As per the autopsy report of RCLO 11, the cadavers of Cpl. Bayta and Pfc. Sarmiento sustained multiple gunshot wounds and hack wounds on different parts of the head and neck.

"The cadaver of Cpl. Bayta has an incised wound transecting and fracturing the larynx and the thyroid cartilage at the anterior neck. The cadaver of Pfc. Sarmiento has hacked wounds in the head and neck," he added.

Batchar said autopsy reports showed that the rebels used sharp-edge tools to slash the neck of Bayta and Sarmiento.

"We are deeply saddened that our hero soldiers were subjected to barbaric and inhumane acts by the NPAs in complete violation of International Humanitarian Law.

With this, the AFP is determined to use legitimate force against any armed threats in accordance with the principles of human rights and other war conventions on the protection of the combatants and non-combatants, he added.

"We will endeavor on bringing this barbaric acts committed by the NPA on the dead bodies of our soldiers to the attention of the Government of the Philippines Panel as these are clear violations of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and the International Humanitarian Law," Batchar stressed.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912818

Carpio: PHL can sue China for damages on WPS

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): Carpio: PHL can sue China for damages on WPS

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday called on rival South China Sea claimants to declare the Spratlys a marine protected park to shield it from further destruction following China’s massive island construction binge in the contested waters.

Carpio sees the move as a “way forward” and a “win-win” solution to the territorial disputes that involves the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

An international tribunal on July 12 had invalidated China’s massive claim over the resource-rich South China Sea and declared its reclamation activities as illegal in response to a complaint filed by the Philippines in January 2013.

Beijing refused to honor the ruling and discredited the The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that operates under a United Nations convention, of which it is a signatory, along with the Philippines and more than 160 other states.

China, according to Carpio, has the “legal obligation” to comply with the ruling, but admitted that there is no marine policeman to enforce the decision, making the waters’ uninhabited feature vulnerable to future destructive reclamation activities by China.

“We are not moving at all so the Philippines should talk to Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia to declare Spratlys as a protected area on our own. We can do that,” Carpio said at a forum organized by think-tank ADR Institute for Strategic and International Studies at De La Salle University in Manila.

Indonesia is not officially regarded as a South China Sea claimant, but China’s nine-dash line territorial claim is widely believed to be eating up a portion of Indonesia’s Natuna Sea.

Carpio said the initiative could be done collectively through a convention or a treaty or even individually if it failed to get the cooperation of all other claimants.

“We have to move, otherwise, we are stuck here,” he said, noting that a collective declaration will “isolate” China if it will continue to defy the tribunal’s ruling and resume the reclamation of features.

Backing a proposal by renowned marine biologist Dr. John McManus for the creation of a Spratlys International Marine Peace Park, Carpio said the move would enable all claimants to suspend for 100 years their territorial claims.

They should also declare all the low-tide and high-tide features in the Spratlys, and an area of 3-nautical miles around each feature, a preserved marine area, for the benefit of all coastal states in the South China Sea.

Carpio said this ensured that the Spratlys will remain the South China Sea’s nursery where fish spawn.

“The eggs and larvae of fish that spawn in the Spratlys are carried by the currents to the coasts of China, Vietnam, Luzon, Palawan, Malaysia, Brunei, Natuna Islands, as well as the Sulu seas,” he said.

Prof. Carmen Lagman of the De La Salle University’s College of Science claimants may also opt for joint, bilateral, or trilateral agreement for reefs that have been identified by scientists in four areas in the Spratlys as very important.

“What it does is that its resources will be put in the area for policing and the area will be monitored,” Lagman said.

Meanwhile, claimant states, under the peace park proposal, will hold on to whatever islands or structures they now possess, but only coast guard personnel and vessels can be stationed in the Spratlys, said Carpio.

Existing structures can only be used for marine scientific research and eco-tourism, he said, citing a similar model such as the 1994 peace agreement between Israel and Jordan that created the Red Sea Marine Peace Park in the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.

Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Manila should act now to save South China Sea’s ecosystem, lamenting that the highly destructive practice by China is now “very widespread” across the Spratly area.

“These realities are not just unsustainable, but unacceptable,” he said at the same forum. “If you can see the gravities of these activities, the incidents they sparked showed us that marine destruction is not simply collateral damage but it is at the heart of the problem to be resolved.”

Del Rosario urged the Philippine government to look for ways to cooperate with its neighbors to preserve marine ecosystems in the South China Sea and to ensure the sustainability of fishing resources for everyone.

“Some things we can not reverse, but at least we should not aggravate the destruction,” Del Rosario said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912915

DOE taps USAID to review current energy mix

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): DOE taps USAID to review current energy mix

The Department of Energy (DOE) has tapped technical experts for possible collaboration in drawing up an optimal energy mix policy for the country.

In a statement on Thursday, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the department will be coordinating with members of the USAID’s Building Low Emission Alternatives to Develop Economic Resilience and Sustainability (B-LEADERS) to form a team that will conduct a review of the current energy mix.

The study will focus on the energy requirements for economic growth trends, load consumption profiles for energy consumers, emerging energy technologies and local industry readiness, transmission configurations and network development.

The team will also look into the availability of indigenous energy for ensuring stable pricing to lessen dependence on energy that is dependent on international market prices.

During his meeting with the B-LEADERS, Cusi stressed the need for a reliable power supply to sustain the country’s economic growth, as well as sufficient contingency reserves.

“Our main concern now is to increase the availability of quality, reliable, secure and affordable supply,” said Cusi, alluding to the fluctuating power supply situation of the country.

“We are also looking at establishing an “army of reserves” so that when there is lack of supply, we have something to rely on,” he added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912849

GPH, MILF to formally re-launch its peace engagements in KL meeting

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): GPH, MILF to formally re-launch its peace engagements in KL meeting

Members of the government’s newly-created implementing panel and representatives of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are scheduled to meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Aug. 13-14 to formally re-launch the two parties’ engagements for the implementation of the two-year-old Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

The formal meeting between the Philippine government and the MILF is the first under the Duterte administration. President Rodrigo Duterte, who won in a platform to correct the historical injustices committed against the Moros in Mindanao, vowed to implement all signed peace agreements in the country.

In a press briefing, presidential peace adviser Jesus G. Dureza said the scheduled meeting was crucial as the two sides were entering the implementation phase of the peace agreement.

“This [meeting] is actually to launch the implementation stage of what we envisioned to be a Bangsamoro enabling law. It is to implement the CAB that was signed between the government and the MILF in 2014,” he told journalists here.

“We have already gotten the consensus of all sectors in the Bangsamoro that the period of the negotiations is over. We are now in the process of implementing all these signed agreements,” he added.

The guidance of the government implementing panel is hinged on the Peace and Development Roadmap that was recently approved by President Duterte. Under the said roadmap, all Bangsamoro peace agreements—MILF’s CAB and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), as well the key results of the 10-year-old GPH-Organization of Islamic Cooperation-MNLF Tripartite Review Process—will be integrated into the new enabling law that will create a new Bangsamoro government unit; thus, replacing the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The implementation of the peace agreement with the MILF largely depends on its political track since the Bangsamoro Basic Law — the supposed implementing mechanism of the CAB — failed to pass in the previous Congress.

Dureza said that the KL meeting would zero-in on the mechanism that determines how the new enabling law will be crafted, as well as to discuss key provisions in the CAB that can already be implemented, including the delivery of socio-economic development programs in Mindanao.

Moro convergence

The presidential peace adviser also explained that the composition of the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), a body tasked to draft the new enabling law, would be among the agenda of the upcoming meeting.

He said the possible idea was to expand the representations of the BTC to include leaders of the MNLF, officials of the ARMM, and other sectors in Mindanao for it to be inclusive.

“If everything goes well, and it is acceptable in their convergence, that can be very well be the mechanism to start of the groups to already come together and craft of the enabling law,” Dureza hoped.

BTC is now composed of eight representatives from the MILF and seven appointees of the government.

“There must be a convergence of all sectors among the Bangsamoro and in the forthcoming crafting of the enabling law that will establish the Bangsamoro governance unit. We’d like to see inclusivity in this work, meaning all sectors in the Bangsamoro must be adequately represented,” Dureza pointed out.

Dureza, who have touched-based with Moro leaders earlier, including MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim, said there is a collective understanding of the willingness of all Moro leaders to be part in crafting of the enabling law.

On Tuesday (Aug. 9), Dureza met with MNLF’s Muslim in Sema, who expressed his commitment to join the BTC.

Dureza said they are also looking forward to have a meeting with MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari “but he is still under legal constraint because of the pending case against him.” However, there are “direct engagements with him through other channels.”

Misuari is facing charges following the so-called Zamboanga Siege, where more than 200 people were killed in a three-week battle.

“This is part of our continuing efforts to reach out to all the key players in the work for the sustainable peace with the Bangsamoro,” Dureza said.

Continuing engagement

Meanwhile, the KL meeting will also serve as a venue for the Duterte administration to brief the Malaysian facilitators on its peace agenda in Mindanao.

“We would like to brief the Malaysians on our peace and development roadmap under the Duterte administration. Remember, the Malaysians have contributed enormously in the negotiation stage. Therefore, we thought it’s fitting to give them that due recognition for their contributions to our peace efforts by launching the implementation stage in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

The government delegation will be headed by Dureza, along with the chair of the implementing panel Irene Santiago, and its members, namely: Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Undersecretaries Diosita Andot and Nabil Tan, and Assistant Secretaries Dickson Hermoso and Rolando Asuncion.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912857

Palace says PHL-US alliance remains strong despite gay remark

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): Palace says PHL-US alliance remains strong despite gay remark

Malacanang on Thursday said the alliance between the Philippines and the United States will remain strong despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s remark calling US ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg a gay.

”Regarding Goldberg statements, this is to assure each and every one that the Philippine-US alliance remains strong,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a press briefing.

Abella said President Duterte has just made a statement affirming that the relationship between the Philippines and the US remains strong.

He said Philippine Charge d’Affaires to Washington D.C. Patrick Chuasoto had made representation for President.

”They have already explained their situation. The explanations have been properly made” Abella said.

When asked if everything has been settled, Abella answered: ‘I assume.’

In his speech before the military soldiers in Cebu City last Friday, President Duterte called Goldberg gay for supposedly meddling in Philippine politics.

”First and foremost, it was not meant to be a public statement. It was addressed to a certain audience and the comments are confined specifically to that audience,” Abella explained.

US State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Tradeau found President Duterte’s remark “inappropriate.”

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912863

(Update):GPH, MILF to formally launch CAB implementation stage in KL

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): (Update):GPH, MILF to formally launch CAB implementation stage in KL

Both panels of the Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Saturday to Sunday to formally signify the start of the implementation stage of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

“This (meeting) is actually to launch the implementation stage of what we envisioned to be a Bangsamoro enabling law. It is to implement the CAB that was signed between the government and the MILF in 2014,” Dureza said in a press briefing.

“We have already gotten the consensus of all sectors in the Bangsamoro that the period of the negotiations is over. We are now in the process of implementing all these signed agreements,” he added.

The formal meeting between the GPH and the MILF is the first under the Duterte administration.

The new phase of peace engagement is also aligned with President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncement to implement all signed agreements in the country.

Among the agenda of the upcoming meeting include the mechanism that will determine the crafting of a new enabling law in lieu of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), as well as key provisions in the CAB that can already be implemented, such as the delivery of socio-economic development programs in Mindanao.

The presidential peace adviser added that the meeting would also cover the composition of the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), a body tasked to draft the new enabling law.

He stressed the need to expand the representations of the BTC to include leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), officials of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and other sectors in Mindanao for it to be inclusive.

“If everything goes well, and it is acceptable in their convergence, that can be very well be the mechanism to start of the groups to already come together and craft of the enabling law,” Dureza said, noting that all sectors in the Bangsamoro must be adequately represented.

The current setup of the BTC is composed of eight representatives from the MILF and seven appointees of the government.

Meanwhile, the KL meeting will also serve as a venue for the Duterte administration to brief the Malaysian facilitators on its peace agenda in Mindanao dubbed as “Peace and Development Roadmap”.

Dureza recognized the contribution of Malaysia in the negotiation stage as the third party facilitator in the government’s peace talks with the MILF.

“We would like to brief the Malaysians on our peace and development roadmap under the Duterte administration. Therefore, we thought it’s fitting to give them that due recognition for their contributions to our peace efforts by launching the implementation stage in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

The government delegation will be headed by Dureza, along with the chair of the implementing panel Irene Santiago, and its members, namely: Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Undersecretaries Diosita Andot and Nabil Tan, and Assistant Secretaries Dickson Hermoso and Rolando Asuncion.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912901

Declare Spratlys a hotspot marine-protected park, Carpio urges rival sea claimants

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): Declare Spratlys a hotspot marine-protected park, Carpio urges rival sea claimants

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday called on rival South China Sea claimants to declare the Spratlys a marine protected park to shield it from further destruction following China’s massive island construction binge in the contested waters.

Carpio sees the move as a “way forward” and a “win-win” solution to the territorial disputes that involves the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

An international tribunal on July 12 had invalidated China’s massive claim over the resource-rich South China Sea and declared its reclamation activities as illegal in response to a complaint filed by the Philippines in January 2013.

Beijing refused to honor the ruling and discredited the The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that operates under a United Nations convention, of which it is a signatory, along with the Philippines and more than 160 other states.

China, according to Carpio, has the “legal obligation” to comply with the ruling, but admitted that there is no marine policeman to enforce the decision, making the waters’ uninhabited feature vulnerable to future destructive reclamation activities by China.

“We are not moving at all so the Philippines should talk to Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia to declare Spratlys as a protected area on our own. We can do that,” Carpio said at a forum organized by think-tank ADR Institute for Strategic and International Studies at De La Salle University in Manila.

Indonesia is not officially regarded as a South China Sea claimant, but China’s nine-dash line territorial claim is widely believed to be eating up a portion of Indonesia’s Natuna Sea.

Carpio said the initiative could be done collectively through a convention or a treaty or even individually if it failed to get the cooperation of all other claimants.

“We have to move, otherwise, we are stuck here,” he said, noting that a collective declaration will “isolate” China if it will continue to defy the tribunal’s ruling and resume the reclamation of features.

Backing a proposal by renowned marine biologist Dr. John McManus for the creation of a Spratlys International Marine Peace Park, Carpio said the move would enable all claimants to suspend for 100 years their territorial claims.

They should also declare all the low-tide and high-tide features in the Spratlys, and an area of 3-nautical miles around each feature, a preserved marine area, for the benefit of all coastal states in the South China Sea.

Carpio said this ensured that the Spratlys will remain the South China Sea’s nursery where fish spawn.

“The eggs and larvae of fish that spawn in the Spratlys are carried by the currents to the coasts of China, Vietnam, Luzon, Palawan, Malaysia, Brunei, Natuna Islands, as well as the Sulu seas,” he said.

Prof. Carmen Lagman of the De La Salle University’s College of Science claimants may also opt for joint, bilateral, or trilateral agreement for reefs that have been identified by scientists in four areas in the Spratlys as very important.

“What it does is that its resources will be put in the area for policing and the area will be monitored,” Lagman said.

Meanwhile, claimant states, under the peace park proposal, will hold on to whatever islands or structures they now possess, but only coast guard personnel and vessels can be stationed in the Spratlys, said Carpio.

Existing structures can only be used for marine scientific research and eco-tourism, he said, citing a similar model such as the 1994 peace agreement between Israel and Jordan that created the Red Sea Marine Peace Park in the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.

Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Manila should act now to save South China Sea’s ecosystem, lamenting that the highly destructive practice by China is now “very widespread” across the Spratly area.

“These realities are not just unsustainable, but unacceptable,” he said at the same forum. “If you can see the gravities of these activities, the incidents they sparked showed us that marine destruction is not simply collateral damage but it is at the heart of the problem to be resolved.”

Del Rosario urged the Philippine government to look for ways to cooperate with its neighbors to preserve marine ecosystems in the South China Sea and to ensure the sustainability of fishing resources for everyone.

“Some things we can not reverse, but at least we should not aggravate the destruction,” Del Rosario said.

 http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912915

Yasay to China: Rule of law must be respected “uncompromisingly”

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 11): Yasay to China: Rule of law must be respected “uncompromisingly”

Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay on Thursday called on China to “uncompromisingly” respect the rule of law as Beijing continues to beef up its military structures in disputed reefs in the South China despite an international tribunal ruling that invalidated its massive claim in the resource-rich waters.

Yasay, who made the statement at a joint press conference with visiting Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Davao City, said the Philippines was one with Japan in expressing “grave concern” in the situation in the South China Sea.

“We invoke and urge China to make sure that maritime order and security and the rule of law must completely and uncompromisingly be respected,” Yasay said.

The Philippines and Japan are both embroiled in separate territorial disputes with China. The Philippines is locked in a long-running sea row with China over parts its exclusive economic zone being claimed by Beijing off an area of the South China Sea that Manila calls the West Philippine Sea. Japan and China, on the other hand, are contesting ownership over islands called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu in Chinese.

Recent satellite images show that China has reinforced construction of fighter-plane hangars in Fiery Cross, Mischief Reef and Subi Reefs – features that are within Manila’s exclusive economic zone.

China claims a huge swathe of the South China Sea as part of its territory, but an international tribunal in The Hague invalidated this claim in July 12 following a case filed by the Philippines in 2013.

Beijing has ignored and belittled the ruling, maintaining it has “indisputable” and “historical” claim over nearly the entire waters even as it encroaches on the territories of its smaller neighbors like the Philippines.

Kishida said maritime order based on the rule of law is “indispensable” for regional stability and prosperity.

“It is important to base ourselves on the rule of law and to resolve through peaceful means and not the use of force or coercion,” he said.

Japan, Manila’s strategic ally next to the United States, “will continue to provide support for the improvement of the maritime security capabilities of the Philippines,” Kishida said.

Aggressive actions, Yasay said, “is the not the kind of actions that is mandated by international law.”

“If anyone, including China, has any particular claim that it asserts over any particular territory, it must bring this within the concept of a peaceful resolution under international law and respect that rule of law,” he said.

Since the Philippines share the same experience with Japan, Yasay stressed “in the strongest manner” that everyone “must respect our maritime order and security in this area in the South China Sea, in the East China Sea and urge them to be firm in their respect for the rule of law.”

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=912906