The Philippines will maintain its trade and economic ties with the United States, trade minister Ramon Lopez said on Friday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte announced its &quot;separation&quot; from Washington.

Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he was visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate.

&quot;In this venue, your honours, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States,&quot; Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people to applause at a forum in the Great Hall of the People attended by Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli.

&quot;Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost.&quot;

Duterte&#39;s efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in the Hague ruled that Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous administration in Manila, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old former mayor took office on June 30.

Lopez on Friday sought to explain Duterte&#39;s comments.

&quot;Let me clarify. The president did not talk about separation,&quot; Lopez told CNN Philippines in Beijing.

&quot;In terms of economic (ties), we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region which we have been trading with for centuries.&quot;

He said the Philippines was &quot;breaking being too much dependent on one side&quot;.

&quot;But we definitely won&#39;t stop the trade and investment activities with the West, specifically the US.&quot;

Maria Banaag, assistant secretary at the Philippine presidential communications office, urged the public to wait for guidelines before interpreting Duterte&#39;s announcement.

&quot;There is no rush for us to interpret the speech of the President as we have to wait for guidelines that would be coming from him, from the department of foreign affairs, as soon as they come back,&quot; she said.

Duterte said in Beijing that he had &quot;realigned (himself) in your ideological flow&quot;.

&quot;Maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines and Russia,&quot; he said. &quot;It&#39;s the only way.&quot;

Duterte&#39;s remarks will prompt fresh concern in the United States, where the Obama administration has seen Manila as an important ally in its &quot;rebalance&quot; of resources to Asia in the face of a rising China.

(Reuters)

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Ramon Lopez said trade is not being stopped with America, but Duterte wishes to strengthen ties with China and the ASEAN countries

The Philippines will maintain its trade and economic ties with the United States, trade minister Ramon Lopez said on Friday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte announced its "separation" from Washington. Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he was visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate. "In this venue, your honours, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States," Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people to applause at a forum in the Great Hall of the People attended by Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli. "Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost." Duterte's efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in the Hague ruled that Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous administration in Manila, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old former mayor took office on June 30. Lopez on Friday sought to explain Duterte's comments. "Let me clarify. The president did not talk about separation," Lopez told CNN Philippines in Beijing. "In terms of economic (ties), we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region which we have been trading with for centuries." He said the Philippines was "breaking being too much dependent on one side". "But we definitely won't stop the trade and investment activities with the West, specifically the US." Maria Banaag, assistant secretary at the Philippine presidential communications office, urged the public to wait for guidelines before interpreting Duterte's announcement. "There is no rush for us to interpret the speech of the President as we have to wait for guidelines that would be coming from him, from the department of foreign affairs, as soon as they come back," she said. Duterte said in Beijing that he had "realigned (himself) in your ideological flow". "Maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines and Russia," he said. "It's the only way." Duterte's remarks will prompt fresh concern in the United States, where the Obama administration has seen Manila as an important ally in its "rebalance" of resources to Asia in the face of a rising China. (Reuters)

Philippines: Minister says US trade relations will continue, despite President's announcement

Super Typhoon Haima, the strongest cyclone to hit the Philippines in three years, wreaked havoc in the northern province of Cagayan late on Wednesday &nbsp;as it toppled power and communication lines, damaged houses and displaced thousands, international news agency Reuters reported.&nbsp;

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However, there were no immediate reports of death.&nbsp;

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The category 5 storm &nbsp;prompted the&nbsp;shutdown of &nbsp;schools and government offices in many parts of the main Luzon island and several flights were canceled.

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<h5>Haima weakened over land on Thursday, prompting the weather bureau to lift storm warning signals in some areas</h5>
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Infrastructure damage&nbsp; 
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council received several reports of infrastructure damage particularly in Cagayan but so far there were no confirmed reports of any casualties, &nbsp;Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman at the agency was quoted as saying by Reuters.

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&quot;We have received several reports of roofs that were ripped off because of strong winds. Even the operations center of the Office of Civil Defense in (Cagayan) was not spared,&quot; she said.

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&quot;Power lines have been cut off and mobile phone signals were intermittent.&quot;

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&quot;Rice and corn plants as far as the eye can see are flattened,&quot; Villamor Visaya, a university teacher in Ilagan, one of the main northern cities with a population of 130,000 people, told AFP by telephone.

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&quot;Many houses were destroyed. I saw one school building crushed under a large tree... it was as if our house was being pulled from its foundations.&quot;

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Jefferson Soriano, mayor of Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan where Haima made landfall, reported badly damaged schools and gymnasiums where people had sought shelter, AFP reported.&nbsp;

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&quot;They are calling for help because the roofs have been torn off. The problem is, our rescuers here are unable to go out and help,&quot; Soriano told DZMM radio before dawn while the storm was still raging.

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Isabela governor Faustino Dy III advised people in his province to stay indoors, including those displaced families in evacuation centers.

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&quot;The rivers are still swelling. They must wait for local officials to announce if it is safe to go out,&quot; he said in a radio interview, according to Reuters.&nbsp;

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<h5>An average of 20 typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation every year and Haima is the 12th typhoon to hit the archipelago&nbsp;this year,</h5>
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We are ready: Duterte 
The government&#39;s disaster risk management council said on Wednesday that about 10 million people across the northern parts of Luzon were at risk.&nbsp;

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President Rodrigo Duterte said that all possible preparations had been made for Haima, with tens of thousands of people evacuated, but he still struck an ominous tone.

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&quot;We only pray we be spared the destruction such as the previous times, which brought agony and suffering,&quot; Duterte said in Beijing. &nbsp;&quot;But we are ready. Everything has been deployed.&quot;

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Meanwhile, Haima weakened over land on Thursday, prompting the weather bureau to lift storm warning signals in some areas, according to Reuters. It was expected to exit the landmass via Ilocos Norte province between 0000-0200 GMT and moved out of the country by Thursday evening.

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An average of 20 typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation every year and Haima is the 12th typhoon to hit the archipelago&nbsp;this year, according to Reuters.&nbsp;

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Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines in 2013, killing at least 6,000 people.

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(WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters)&nbsp; 
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About 10 million people across the northern parts of Luzon were at risk, the government's disaster risk management agency said on Wednesday

Super Typhoon Haima, the strongest cyclone to hit the Philippines in three years, wreaked havoc in the northern province of Cagayan late on Wednesday as it toppled power and communication lines, damaged houses and displaced thousands, international news agency Reuters reported. However, there were no immediate reports of death. The category 5 storm prompted the shutdown of schools and government offices in many parts of the main Luzon island and several flights were canceled. Haima weakened over land on Thursday, prompting the weather bureau to lift storm warning signals in some areas × Infrastructure damage The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council received several reports of infrastructure damage particularly in Cagayan but so far there were no confirmed reports of any casualties, Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman at the agency was quoted as saying by Reuters. "We have received several reports of roofs that were ripped off because of strong winds. Even the operations center of the Office of Civil Defense in (Cagayan) was not spared," she said. "Power lines have been cut off and mobile phone signals were intermittent." "Rice and corn plants as far as the eye can see are flattened," Villamor Visaya, a university teacher in Ilagan, one of the main northern cities with a population of 130,000 people, told AFP by telephone. "Many houses were destroyed. I saw one school building crushed under a large tree... it was as if our house was being pulled from its foundations." Jefferson Soriano, mayor of Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan where Haima made landfall, reported badly damaged schools and gymnasiums where people had sought shelter, AFP reported. "They are calling for help because the roofs have been torn off. The problem is, our rescuers here are unable to go out and help," Soriano told DZMM radio before dawn while the storm was still raging. Isabela governor Faustino Dy III advised people in his province to stay indoors, including those displaced families in evacuation centers. "The rivers are still swelling. They must wait for local officials to announce if it is safe to go out," he said in a radio interview, according to Reuters. An average of 20 typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation every year and Haima is the 12th typhoon to hit the archipelago this year, × We are ready: Duterte The government's disaster risk management council said on Wednesday that about 10 million people across the northern parts of Luzon were at risk. President Rodrigo Duterte said that all possible preparations had been made for Haima, with tens of thousands of people evacuated, but he still struck an ominous tone. "We only pray we be spared the destruction such as the previous times, which brought agony and suffering," Duterte said in Beijing. "But we are ready. Everything has been deployed." Meanwhile, Haima weakened over land on Thursday, prompting the weather bureau to lift storm warning signals in some areas, according to Reuters. It was expected to exit the landmass via Ilocos Norte province between 0000-0200 GMT and moved out of the country by Thursday evening. An average of 20 typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation every year and Haima is the 12th typhoon to hit the archipelago this year, according to Reuters. Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines in 2013, killing at least 6,000 people. (WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters)

Super Typhoon Haima slams northern Philippines

Millions of people in the Philippines were ordered today to brace up for Haima, one of the strongest typhoons ever to hit the disaster-battered country, international news agency AFP reported.&nbsp;

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Haima, referred to as Lawin in the Philippines, quickly strengthened over the weekend, reaching typhoon status on Sunday morning, local time, American weather forecasting service, AccuWeather, said today.&nbsp;

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It is likely to hit the remote communities in the far north of the country about 11:00 pm (1500 GMT) today, bringing winds almost on a par with catastrophic Super Typhoon Haiyan that claimed more than 7,350 lives in 2013, according to AFP.&nbsp;

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&quot;It&#39;s not just heavy rain and strong winds that we are expecting. It&#39;s also floods, landslides and storm surges in coastal areas. Those in these areas, you are in danger. Find safer ground,&quot; Allan Tabel, chief of the interior ministry&#39;s disaster and information coordinating centre, told a nationally televised briefing, AFP reported.&nbsp;

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Haima, the 12th typhoon to hit the country this year according to Reuters, has been labelled a category 5 storm on a scale of 1 to 5 by Tropical Storm Risk and could cause flooding, landslides and storm surges of up to five metres (16.5 ft), the weather bureau has been quoted as saying by the international news agency.&nbsp;

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Some flights and classes have been suspended and the Philippine Coast Guard has banned sea travel and fishing. The weather bureau raised storm warning signals for the northern and eastern parts of main island of Luzon, home to industrial and export centres.

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According to AFP, with Haima having a weather band of 800 kilometres (500 miles), more than 10 million people across the northern parts of the Philippines` main island of Luzon will be affected, government&#39;s disaster risk management agency said.&nbsp;

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Haima was approaching the Philippines with sustained winds of 225 kilometres an hour and gusts of 315 kilometres an hour, the state weather bureau said.&nbsp;

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&quot;The typhoon is very strong and destructive because of its large diameter,&quot; &nbsp;Rene Paciente, assistant weather services chief at the weather bureau, has been quoted as saying by Reuters.&nbsp;

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(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Haima is one of the strongest typhoons ever to hit the disaster-battered country,

Millions of people in the Philippines were ordered today to brace up for Haima, one of the strongest typhoons ever to hit the disaster-battered country, international news agency AFP reported. Haima, referred to as Lawin in the Philippines, quickly strengthened over the weekend, reaching typhoon status on Sunday morning, local time, American weather forecasting service, AccuWeather, said today. It is likely to hit the remote communities in the far north of the country about 11:00 pm (1500 GMT) today, bringing winds almost on a par with catastrophic Super Typhoon Haiyan that claimed more than 7,350 lives in 2013, according to AFP. "It's not just heavy rain and strong winds that we are expecting. It's also floods, landslides and storm surges in coastal areas. Those in these areas, you are in danger. Find safer ground," Allan Tabel, chief of the interior ministry's disaster and information coordinating centre, told a nationally televised briefing, AFP reported. Haima, the 12th typhoon to hit the country this year according to Reuters, has been labelled a category 5 storm on a scale of 1 to 5 by Tropical Storm Risk and could cause flooding, landslides and storm surges of up to five metres (16.5 ft), the weather bureau has been quoted as saying by the international news agency. Some flights and classes have been suspended and the Philippine Coast Guard has banned sea travel and fishing. The weather bureau raised storm warning signals for the northern and eastern parts of main island of Luzon, home to industrial and export centres. According to AFP, with Haima having a weather band of 800 kilometres (500 miles), more than 10 million people across the northern parts of the Philippines` main island of Luzon will be affected, government's disaster risk management agency said. Haima was approaching the Philippines with sustained winds of 225 kilometres an hour and gusts of 315 kilometres an hour, the state weather bureau said. "The typhoon is very strong and destructive because of its large diameter," Rene Paciente, assistant weather services chief at the weather bureau, has been quoted as saying by Reuters. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Millions in Philippines brace for super typhoon

The foreign minister of the Philippines has said President Rodrigo Duterte wishes to&nbsp;liberate the country from its &quot;shackling dependency&quot; on the United States, especially when America refuses to guarantee that it will come to the Philippines&#39;&nbsp;aid when its sovereignity is under threat.&nbsp;

In a Facebook post, the country&#39;s&nbsp;foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay&nbsp;said, &quot;Breaking away from the shackling dependency of the Philippines to effectively address both internal and external security threats has become imperative in putting an end to our nation&#39;s subservience to United States&#39; interests.&quot; &nbsp;

Yasay added that while the Philippines was grateful to the US for many things,&nbsp;&quot;the stark reality is that even in protecting our territorial boundaries and the exclusive use of our maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, our defensive forces remain grossly incapable in meeting the security threats that we face from potential foes, not to mention their stagnating impact on our development,&quot; Reuters reported.&nbsp;

&quot;Worse is that our only ally could not give us the assurance that in taking a hard line towards the enforcement of our sovereignty rights under international law, it will promptly come to our defence under our existing military treaty and agreements, &quot; Reuters reported. This, Reuters reported, was the most forceful show of accord from a top official with President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s tough anti-American stance.&nbsp;

Yasay also accused the United States of using a &quot;carrot and stick&quot; policy to keep the&nbsp;Philippines dependent on it, even after 70 years of independence.&nbsp;

Yasay&#39;s comments come after President&nbsp;Duterte announced that joint military exercises between the US and the Philippines would stop, and that he might at some point &quot;break up&quot; with the US.&nbsp;

On Thursday, Duterte challenged the US and EU to withdraw all aid to the country if they were uncomfortable with his war on drugs.

US response

US state department spokesman John Kirby said they are&nbsp;&quot;mindful of the rhetoric but we believe that it is at odds with the kind of cooperation that we have right now,&quot; Reuters quoted him as saying.&nbsp;

He also told reporters in his daily news briefing that US aid to the Philippines for the fiscal year starting October 1 was 180 million dollars and that &quot;we&#39;re&nbsp;committed&quot;&nbsp;to delivering that and working on areas of mutual interest.&nbsp;&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Perfecto Yasay accused the US of not providing an assurance that it would protect the Philippines' rights in the South China Sea dispute

The foreign minister of the Philippines has said President Rodrigo Duterte wishes to liberate the country from its "shackling dependency" on the United States, especially when America refuses to guarantee that it will come to the Philippines' aid when its sovereignity is under threat. In a Facebook post, the country's foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay said, "Breaking away from the shackling dependency of the Philippines to effectively address both internal and external security threats has become imperative in putting an end to our nation's subservience to United States' interests." Yasay added that while the Philippines was grateful to the US for many things, "the stark reality is that even in protecting our territorial boundaries and the exclusive use of our maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, our defensive forces remain grossly incapable in meeting the security threats that we face from potential foes, not to mention their stagnating impact on our development," Reuters reported. "Worse is that our only ally could not give us the assurance that in taking a hard line towards the enforcement of our sovereignty rights under international law, it will promptly come to our defence under our existing military treaty and agreements, " Reuters reported. This, Reuters reported, was the most forceful show of accord from a top official with President Rodrigo Duterte's tough anti-American stance. Yasay also accused the United States of using a "carrot and stick" policy to keep the Philippines dependent on it, even after 70 years of independence. Yasay's comments come after President Duterte announced that joint military exercises between the US and the Philippines would stop, and that he might at some point "break up" with the US. On Thursday, Duterte challenged the US and EU to withdraw all aid to the country if they were uncomfortable with his war on drugs. US response US state department spokesman John Kirby said they are "mindful of the rhetoric but we believe that it is at odds with the kind of cooperation that we have right now," Reuters quoted him as saying. He also told reporters in his daily news briefing that US aid to the Philippines for the fiscal year starting October 1 was 180 million dollars and that "we're committed" to delivering that and working on areas of mutual interest. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Duterte wants to free Philippines of 'shackling dependency' on US: Foreign minister

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&nbsp;There are two versions of how Manila pedicab driver Neptali Celestino died.

According to Philippines police, he shot at plainclothes officers during a sting operation on September 12, and they returned fire. His family says police burst into their ramshackle home, cornered an unarmed Celestino and shot him in front of his teenage sons.

Whatever the case, Celestino&#39;s days seem to have been numbered. His name had appeared on a police &quot;watch list&quot; of drug suspects drawn up with the help of community leaders and other people who lived alongside him in Palatiw, a frenetic, traffic-choked area on the eastern side of the nation&#39;s capital.

The local officials who help cops draw up these lists are foot soldiers in a war on drugs that has led to the killing of more than 3,600 people since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30.

Most of the 1,377 people shot by the police had appeared on the lists, according to national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa. It was unclear how many of the remaining 2,275 victims, who human rights activists suspect were mostly killed by vigilantes, were on the lists.

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<h5>Duterte&#39;s war on drugs has killed more than 3,600 people since he took office on June 30</h5>
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The campaign draws its momentum from President Duterte: Last Friday, he seemed to compare himself to Hitler and said he would be &quot;happy to slaughter&quot; three million drug addicts in the Philippines. But the campaign&#39;s efficiency depends on the lowliest officials in the country&#39;s barangays - its districts and villages.

&quot;They are on the forefront of this fight,&quot; Dela Rosa told Reuters. &quot;They can identify the drug users and pushers in their barangays. They know everyone.&quot;

Motorbike-riding assassins

Interviews with local police, residents and barangay officials reveal the mechanics of an anti-drugs crusade that the popular Duterte has vowed to wage until next June in the face of global condemnation.

Barangay leaders, known as &quot;captains&quot;, have been instrumental in drawing up the lists, say police.

Maricar Asilo Vivero is the captain of Pinagbuhatan, a Manila barangay with about 145,000 people, and says she is an enthusiastic supporter of Duterte&#39;s campaign.

&quot;The war on drugs is good,&quot; she said. &quot;It lowers crime. It identifies those who want to change.&quot;

The night before, said Vivero, motorbike-riding assassins killed two men who had been named as pushers on the barangay&#39;s watch list. Vivero said she sympathised with the victims&#39; families but didn&#39;t feel responsible for the deaths.

People weren&#39;t included on the watch list with &quot;the objective of killing them, or asking the police or authorities to kill them,&quot; she said. &quot;Our objective is to guide them, to direct their lives to the better - not to kill.&quot;

Asked if people named on the watch list were more likely to get killed, Vivero replied: &quot;No, I don&#39;t think so.&quot;

There were 323 suspected users and dealers on Pinagbuhatan&#39;s watch list, according to a computer print-out seen by Reuters. It had been swelled by people who had gone to the barangay office to admit to police they were users, a process known as &quot;surrendering&quot;.

Often a family affair

The origins of the barangay system predate the arrival of Spanish colonisers in the 16th century. In Manila, a barangay can consist of just two densely populated streets; in the countryside, it can sprawl for miles.

Each has a barangay captain and six kagawad, or councillors, who are elected in polls often dogged by allegations of corruption. And as with more senior posts in the Philippines, the barangay captaincy often passes between members of the same family.

The barangay office sits at the heart of the community and, on any given day, its hallways are clogged with people seeking so-called &quot;clearances.&quot; These are certificates, signed by the captain, for people needing to establish residency, set up a business, apply for a job or enroll a child at a local school.

Barangay captains routinely attend the weddings, baptisms and funerals of constituents, and even victims of serious crimes will sometimes report to them first rather than the police.

&quot;They trust us more and get an immediate response,&quot; said Eriberto Guevarra, who for 11 years was captain of Palatiw.

His wife Dinah now occupies the position, while Eriberto works at her side as a self-styled &quot;peace and order czar&quot;.

&quot;Drug personalities&quot;

The Barangay Anti-Drug Action Committees (BADACs) play a key role in helping the police identify alleged drug dealers and users in each district.

Each BADAC&#39;s 6-10 members are chosen by the barangay captain, who also chairs the committee. They might be teachers, church workers, youth leaders or members of other civil society groups.

Each BADAC provides the names of what police term &quot;drug personalities&quot;, meaning suspected users or dealers, most of them small-time. Police say they then &quot;validate&quot; these names in consultation with national anti-narcotics and intelligence officials. They also add names of their own.

First created by the government in 1998, BADACs were meant to convene every month, but for years many did little or existed only on paper. Duterte not only revived the BADACs, he made them the lynchpin of his war on drugs.

Duterte pioneered the nationwide campaign in the southern city of Davao, where he was mayor for 22 years.

There, barangay leaders and police compiled similar lists that were used by death squads to assassinate hundreds of alleged drug dealers, petty criminals and street children, said Human Rights Watch in a 2009 report. Duterte denied any involvement in the killings.

&quot;A grudge and a gun&quot;

Officials say the watch lists are not arbitrary hit lists.

Metro Manila&#39;s list of 11,700 users and dealers has been &quot;validated and revalidated by intelligence&quot;, said Kimberley Molitas, police spokeswoman for a region that has seen more than a quarter of the drug-war deaths.

Human rights monitors and some officials counter that the process is open to abuse.

Lists have included the names of people &quot;who are not even drug users, never mind pushers,&quot; said Karen Gomez-Dumpit, a commissioner at the Philippines&#39; Commission on Human Rights.

&quot;It&#39;s an environment conducive to someone with a grudge and a gun to hunt you down,&quot; she said.

In one high-profile case, the bullet-riddled body of Mark Culata was found in Cavite, a province south of Manila, on Sept. 9. It bore a placard identifying him as a drug dealer.

Culata&#39;s mother Eva told local media that her 27-year-old son had nothing to do with drugs and had been heading overseas to start a job. Police told Reuters in a statement that investigators were considering the &quot;illegal drug trade and love triangle&quot; as a possible motive.

Four officers involved in the case have been moved to administrative positions pending an investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines equivalent of the FBI. Culata&#39;s death was raised as a possible extrajudicial killing in a Philippines Senate hearing on October 3.

Police told Reuters that watch lists are confidential. But so-called &quot;knock and plead&quot; operations, in which police visit drug suspects at their homes and urge them to mend their ways, means inclusion on a list is often public knowledge.

Drug pushers and users are also urged to &quot;surrender&quot; to the police at barangay meetings that are, again, public. Their names are added to the watch list.

The process resembles a mass arrest. The so-called &quot;surrenderers&quot; are questioned by police, who ask for details of their dealers and fellow users. This information can be used to identify other drug suspects, police said. The names of surrenderers are later added to a national database so they can be watched even if they move to another barangay.

After the questioning, the users are fingerprinted and pose for a mugshot holding a whiteboard bearing their name and that day&#39;s date. Raising their right hands, they then swear to stay away from drugs and support &quot;the government and the police in their noble campaign.&quot;

In the following weeks, said barangay captain Vivero, surrenderers are expected to do community service such as painting walls, unclogging sewers or picking up trash.

Intended to change

Former barangay leader Eriberto Guevarra said he tried to avert the killing of pedicab driver Celestino. The dead man, Guevarra said, was just a small-time dealer and user, not the &quot;notorious pusher&quot; police dubbed him.

&quot;He was endangered because he was on the watch list,&quot; he said.

Guevarra said he had warned Celestino to stop dealing and using drugs. Three days before his death Celestino had attended a three-hour &quot;drug awareness&quot; seminar run by police and barangay officials.

&quot;It was his intention to change,&quot; said Guevarra.

John Patrick Celestino, 17, one of Celestino&#39;s four children, trembled as he recalled the night his father died.

The dogs began barking at about 9 p.m. There were armed men at the door who showed John Patrick a photo on a cellphone. &quot;Is this your father?&quot; they demanded.

When he said it was, according to John Patrick, the men rushed upstairs and kicked open the door to a small room where Celestino was hiding.

John Patrick, who had followed them to the room, said: &quot;The men kept shouting, &#39;Where&#39;s the shabu?&#39; Where&#39;s the shabu?&#39;&quot; referring to the local name for crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug widely available in the Philippines.

He told them his father was unarmed and begged them not to shoot. But one gunman fired three rounds into the room, and the teenager heard his father gasp with pain.

The gunman then ordered John Patrick to flee. As he ran downstairs, he heard five more shots.

Police said they found a .22 revolver and three sachets of shabu on Celestino. His wife Zandey, 38, denies this was the case.

&quot;My husband had already surrendered, so why did they kill him?&quot; she asked. &quot;Why didn&#39;t they give him one more chance?&quot;

Sitting around his coffin, relatives told a Reuters reporter of a long-running feud with another family, who they blamed for telling the police that Celestino was a drug dealer. Reuters was unable to independently verify this claim.

&quot;Nefarious activities&quot;

Celestino was on the watch list as a drug dealer, confirmed chief superintendent Romulo Sapitula, director of the Eastern Police District of Manila.

&quot;The information came from the community,&quot; he said. &quot;It was given by barangay officials and validated by the police.&quot;

The &quot;best information&quot; comes from the neighbourhood itself, he added. &quot;Most of the watch lists which came from that place are true and correct.&quot;

Celestino&#39;s surrender as a drug user didn&#39;t put him above suspicion, said Sapitula.

&quot;There are some on the watch list who surrender but continue their nefarious activities,&quot; he said. &quot;They pretend to embrace the programme, but in reality ... they are still doing their old thing. And there are some who surrender as users when they&#39;re really pushers.&quot;

Sapitula confirmed the operation was carried out by seven or eight members of the anti-narcotics police. He rejected the family&#39;s claim that drugs were planted on Celestino. An internal investigation, he said, had concluded that the police opened fire in self-defence because Celestino had &quot;opted to shoot it out&quot;.

Sapitula said family members shouldn&#39;t be afraid to file a formal complaint, but only &quot;if they&#39;re innocent&quot; and not involved in criminal activities.

The Celestinos told Reuters there was little point appealing to the same people who had killed their relative. Zandey said she feared not only for the safety of her children, but for other members of her extended family who, like Celestino, had &quot;surrendered&quot; to authorities.

Her older son, Cedric, 19, was so traumatised by the killing that he has stopped talking, she said.

&quot;It will be bloody&quot;

Some local leaders plead with the police to spare lives.

In the Manila slum of Tondo, barangay captain Erick Simbiling said two policemen recently told him they had &quot;scheduled to kill&quot; a local man who was a small-time but persistent drug dealer.

&quot;I spoke to the policemen and said, &#39;Please give him a chance,&#39;&quot; Simbiling said.

He then visited the dealer and urged him to surrender to the authorities. The dealer did so, like hundreds of thousands of others nationwide, and then fled the barangay.

The barangay captains are under pressure from the president himself. Duterte has vowed to publish a list of a thousand elected officials suspected of drug ties. Prominent among them are captains who have connived with terrorists and drug lords, he told reporters on Sept. 18.

But not all barangays have toed the line. Police in central Luzon told Reuters that 31 of the region&#39;s 3,100 barangays had not supplied a watch list.

Romeo Caramat, police chief of Bulacan province in central Luzon, said these barangay officials were probably either allied to Duterte&#39;s political opponents or bankrolled by drug traffickers.

&quot;Actually, one of the barangay captains who was uncooperative got killed,&quot; said Caramat. The man was shot in early August in San Jose Del Monte city by unidentified assassins on a motorbike, he said.

&quot;One barangay chairman runs out of luck!&quot; added Caramat, laughing. He described the man as &quot;a well-known drug pusher and user&quot; who had not included himself on his barangay&#39;s watch list.

The dead captain, Damaso Santiago, was a drug user, not a dealer, said his younger brother Arman Santiago. &quot;Anyone you ask, they will say he does not peddle drugs. He was just a victim of drug use,&quot; said Arman.

Police chief Caramat described his province&#39;s 17,000 drug dealers and users as &quot;a walking time bomb&quot;. For him, the death toll in his province is a measure of the campaign&#39;s success.

&quot;It will be bloody,&quot; he said. &quot;You have a problem with dengue. You think you can solve it without killing mosquitos?&quot;

(Reuters)

Most of the 1,377 people shot by police had appeared on the lists, according to national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa

There are two versions of how Manila pedicab driver Neptali Celestino died. According to Philippines police, he shot at plainclothes officers during a sting operation on September 12, and they returned fire. His family says police burst into their ramshackle home, cornered an unarmed Celestino and shot him in front of his teenage sons. Whatever the case, Celestino's days seem to have been numbered. His name had appeared on a police "watch list" of drug suspects drawn up with the help of community leaders and other people who lived alongside him in Palatiw, a frenetic, traffic-choked area on the eastern side of the nation's capital. The local officials who help cops draw up these lists are foot soldiers in a war on drugs that has led to the killing of more than 3,600 people since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30. Most of the 1,377 people shot by the police had appeared on the lists, according to national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa. It was unclear how many of the remaining 2,275 victims, who human rights activists suspect were mostly killed by vigilantes, were on the lists. Duterte's war on drugs has killed more than 3,600 people since he took office on June 30 × The campaign draws its momentum from President Duterte: Last Friday, he seemed to compare himself to Hitler and said he would be "happy to slaughter" three million drug addicts in the Philippines. But the campaign's efficiency depends on the lowliest officials in the country's barangays - its districts and villages. "They are on the forefront of this fight," Dela Rosa told Reuters. "They can identify the drug users and pushers in their barangays. They know everyone." Motorbike-riding assassins Interviews with local police, residents and barangay officials reveal the mechanics of an anti-drugs crusade that the popular Duterte has vowed to wage until next June in the face of global condemnation. Barangay leaders, known as "captains", have been instrumental in drawing up the lists, say police. Maricar Asilo Vivero is the captain of Pinagbuhatan, a Manila barangay with about 145,000 people, and says she is an enthusiastic supporter of Duterte's campaign. "The war on drugs is good," she said. "It lowers crime. It identifies those who want to change." The night before, said Vivero, motorbike-riding assassins killed two men who had been named as pushers on the barangay's watch list. Vivero said she sympathised with the victims' families but didn't feel responsible for the deaths. People weren't included on the watch list with "the objective of killing them, or asking the police or authorities to kill them," she said. "Our objective is to guide them, to direct their lives to the better - not to kill." Asked if people named on the watch list were more likely to get killed, Vivero replied: "No, I don't think so." There were 323 suspected users and dealers on Pinagbuhatan's watch list, according to a computer print-out seen by Reuters. It had been swelled by people who had gone to the barangay office to admit to police they were users, a process known as "surrendering". Often a family affair The origins of the barangay system predate the arrival of Spanish colonisers in the 16th century. In Manila, a barangay can consist of just two densely populated streets; in the countryside, it can sprawl for miles. Each has a barangay captain and six kagawad, or councillors, who are elected in polls often dogged by allegations of corruption. And as with more senior posts in the Philippines, the barangay captaincy often passes between members of the same family. The barangay office sits at the heart of the community and, on any given day, its hallways are clogged with people seeking so-called "clearances." These are certificates, signed by the captain, for people needing to establish residency, set up a business, apply for a job or enroll a child at a local school. Barangay captains routinely attend the weddings, baptisms and funerals of constituents, and even victims of serious crimes will sometimes report to them first rather than the police. "They trust us more and get an immediate response," said Eriberto Guevarra, who for 11 years was captain of Palatiw. His wife Dinah now occupies the position, while Eriberto works at her side as a self-styled "peace and order czar". "Drug personalities" The Barangay Anti-Drug Action Committees (BADACs) play a key role in helping the police identify alleged drug dealers and users in each district. Each BADAC's 6-10 members are chosen by the barangay captain, who also chairs the committee. They might be teachers, church workers, youth leaders or members of other civil society groups. Each BADAC provides the names of what police term "drug personalities", meaning suspected users or dealers, most of them small-time. Police say they then "validate" these names in consultation with national anti-narcotics and intelligence officials. They also add names of their own. First created by the government in 1998, BADACs were meant to convene every month, but for years many did little or existed only on paper. Duterte not only revived the BADACs, he made them the lynchpin of his war on drugs. Duterte pioneered the nationwide campaign in the southern city of Davao, where he was mayor for 22 years. There, barangay leaders and police compiled similar lists that were used by death squads to assassinate hundreds of alleged drug dealers, petty criminals and street children, said Human Rights Watch in a 2009 report. Duterte denied any involvement in the killings. "A grudge and a gun" Officials say the watch lists are not arbitrary hit lists. Metro Manila's list of 11,700 users and dealers has been "validated and revalidated by intelligence", said Kimberley Molitas, police spokeswoman for a region that has seen more than a quarter of the drug-war deaths. Human rights monitors and some officials counter that the process is open to abuse. Lists have included the names of people "who are not even drug users, never mind pushers," said Karen Gomez-Dumpit, a commissioner at the Philippines' Commission on Human Rights. "It's an environment conducive to someone with a grudge and a gun to hunt you down," she said. In one high-profile case, the bullet-riddled body of Mark Culata was found in Cavite, a province south of Manila, on Sept. 9. It bore a placard identifying him as a drug dealer. Culata's mother Eva told local media that her 27-year-old son had nothing to do with drugs and had been heading overseas to start a job. Police told Reuters in a statement that investigators were considering the "illegal drug trade and love triangle" as a possible motive. Four officers involved in the case have been moved to administrative positions pending an investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines equivalent of the FBI. Culata's death was raised as a possible extrajudicial killing in a Philippines Senate hearing on October 3. Police told Reuters that watch lists are confidential. But so-called "knock and plead" operations, in which police visit drug suspects at their homes and urge them to mend their ways, means inclusion on a list is often public knowledge. Drug pushers and users are also urged to "surrender" to the police at barangay meetings that are, again, public. Their names are added to the watch list. The process resembles a mass arrest. The so-called "surrenderers" are questioned by police, who ask for details of their dealers and fellow users. This information can be used to identify other drug suspects, police said. The names of surrenderers are later added to a national database so they can be watched even if they move to another barangay. After the questioning, the users are fingerprinted and pose for a mugshot holding a whiteboard bearing their name and that day's date. Raising their right hands, they then swear to stay away from drugs and support "the government and the police in their noble campaign." In the following weeks, said barangay captain Vivero, surrenderers are expected to do community service such as painting walls, unclogging sewers or picking up trash. Intended to change Former barangay leader Eriberto Guevarra said he tried to avert the killing of pedicab driver Celestino. The dead man, Guevarra said, was just a small-time dealer and user, not the "notorious pusher" police dubbed him. "He was endangered because he was on the watch list," he said. Guevarra said he had warned Celestino to stop dealing and using drugs. Three days before his death Celestino had attended a three-hour "drug awareness" seminar run by police and barangay officials. "It was his intention to change," said Guevarra. John Patrick Celestino, 17, one of Celestino's four children, trembled as he recalled the night his father died. The dogs began barking at about 9 p.m. There were armed men at the door who showed John Patrick a photo on a cellphone. "Is this your father?" they demanded. When he said it was, according to John Patrick, the men rushed upstairs and kicked open the door to a small room where Celestino was hiding. John Patrick, who had followed them to the room, said: "The men kept shouting, 'Where's the shabu?' Where's the shabu?'" referring to the local name for crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug widely available in the Philippines. He told them his father was unarmed and begged them not to shoot. But one gunman fired three rounds into the room, and the teenager heard his father gasp with pain. The gunman then ordered John Patrick to flee. As he ran downstairs, he heard five more shots. Police said they found a .22 revolver and three sachets of shabu on Celestino. His wife Zandey, 38, denies this was the case. "My husband had already surrendered, so why did they kill him?" she asked. "Why didn't they give him one more chance?" Sitting around his coffin, relatives told a Reuters reporter of a long-running feud with another family, who they blamed for telling the police that Celestino was a drug dealer. Reuters was unable to independently verify this claim. "Nefarious activities" Celestino was on the watch list as a drug dealer, confirmed chief superintendent Romulo Sapitula, director of the Eastern Police District of Manila. "The information came from the community," he said. "It was given by barangay officials and validated by the police." The "best information" comes from the neighbourhood itself, he added. "Most of the watch lists which came from that place are true and correct." Celestino's surrender as a drug user didn't put him above suspicion, said Sapitula. "There are some on the watch list who surrender but continue their nefarious activities," he said. "They pretend to embrace the programme, but in reality ... they are still doing their old thing. And there are some who surrender as users when they're really pushers." Sapitula confirmed the operation was carried out by seven or eight members of the anti-narcotics police. He rejected the family's claim that drugs were planted on Celestino. An internal investigation, he said, had concluded that the police opened fire in self-defence because Celestino had "opted to shoot it out". Sapitula said family members shouldn't be afraid to file a formal complaint, but only "if they're innocent" and not involved in criminal activities. The Celestinos told Reuters there was little point appealing to the same people who had killed their relative. Zandey said she feared not only for the safety of her children, but for other members of her extended family who, like Celestino, had "surrendered" to authorities. Her older son, Cedric, 19, was so traumatised by the killing that he has stopped talking, she said. "It will be bloody" Some local leaders plead with the police to spare lives. In the Manila slum of Tondo, barangay captain Erick Simbiling said two policemen recently told him they had "scheduled to kill" a local man who was a small-time but persistent drug dealer. "I spoke to the policemen and said, 'Please give him a chance,'" Simbiling said. He then visited the dealer and urged him to surrender to the authorities. The dealer did so, like hundreds of thousands of others nationwide, and then fled the barangay. The barangay captains are under pressure from the president himself. Duterte has vowed to publish a list of a thousand elected officials suspected of drug ties. Prominent among them are captains who have connived with terrorists and drug lords, he told reporters on Sept. 18. But not all barangays have toed the line. Police in central Luzon told Reuters that 31 of the region's 3,100 barangays had not supplied a watch list. Romeo Caramat, police chief of Bulacan province in central Luzon, said these barangay officials were probably either allied to Duterte's political opponents or bankrolled by drug traffickers. "Actually, one of the barangay captains who was uncooperative got killed," said Caramat. The man was shot in early August in San Jose Del Monte city by unidentified assassins on a motorbike, he said. "One barangay chairman runs out of luck!" added Caramat, laughing. He described the man as "a well-known drug pusher and user" who had not included himself on his barangay's watch list. The dead captain, Damaso Santiago, was a drug user, not a dealer, said his younger brother Arman Santiago. "Anyone you ask, they will say he does not peddle drugs. He was just a victim of drug use," said Arman. Police chief Caramat described his province's 17,000 drug dealers and users as "a walking time bomb". For him, the death toll in his province is a measure of the campaign's success. "It will be bloody," he said. "You have a problem with dengue. You think you can solve it without killing mosquitos?" (Reuters)

In Duterte's war on drugs, local residents help draw up hit lists

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been rated &quot;very good&quot; in an opinion poll on his first 90 days in office, which has been defined largely by his deadly war on drugs and vitriol against Western leaders.

Only 11 per cent of 1,200 Filipinos surveyed by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) agency said they were dissatisfied with his performance. That gave Duterte a net satisfaction rating of 64 per cent, getting him off to a better start than predecessors Benigno Aquino, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but short of the 66 per cent achieved by Fidel Ramos in 1992.

The rating, announced on Thursday, was calculated by deducting the 11 per cent from the 76 per cent of respondents who said they were satisfied with Duterte&#39;s presidency, then rounding it off. Thirteen per cent were undecided.

The SWS survey did not ask respondents to give a reason for the rating. It was conducted in face-to-face interviews held from September&nbsp;24-27, after Duterte had a spat with President Barack Obama over criticism of his anti-drugs campaign but before he said he was seeking new alliances with China and Russia.

A survey by Pulse Asia, another polling agency, less than a month after he took office on June 30 said Duterte had a record 91 per cent trust rating. The two polls are not comparable.

Duterte won the May 9 election by a substantial margin after promising to expand a ruthless anti-crime campaign he started while mayor of Davao City, which had earned him nicknames like &quot;the Punisher&quot; and &quot;Duterte Harry&quot;.

Political analyst Nelson Navarro said the SWS survey suggested Filipinos felt safer because Duterte had followed through with his promised war on crime and drugs, in which over 3,400 people have been killed.

He said Duterte&#39;s abrasive style and his sometimes profane outbursts against the United States, European Union and United Nations were not discrediting him either, and supporters would rally in his defence amid criticism at home and abroad.

&quot;This is not going to be good manners and right conduct. What you see here is exactly what you get. His tough stance has gained him popularity across the Philippines,&quot; Navarro said.

&quot;Everyone likes to dump on President Duterte for the extra-judicial killings but ... there is a kind of backlash on the perception of the West.&quot;

The SWS poll considers a net approval rating of over 70 per cent as &quot;excellent&quot; and 50-69 per cent as &quot;very good&quot;.

(Reuters)

Only 11 per cent of Filipinos surveyed said they were dissatisfied with his performance

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been rated "very good" in an opinion poll on his first 90 days in office, which has been defined largely by his deadly war on drugs and vitriol against Western leaders. Only 11 per cent of 1,200 Filipinos surveyed by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) agency said they were dissatisfied with his performance. That gave Duterte a net satisfaction rating of 64 per cent, getting him off to a better start than predecessors Benigno Aquino, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but short of the 66 per cent achieved by Fidel Ramos in 1992. The rating, announced on Thursday, was calculated by deducting the 11 per cent from the 76 per cent of respondents who said they were satisfied with Duterte's presidency, then rounding it off. Thirteen per cent were undecided. The SWS survey did not ask respondents to give a reason for the rating. It was conducted in face-to-face interviews held from September 24-27, after Duterte had a spat with President Barack Obama over criticism of his anti-drugs campaign but before he said he was seeking new alliances with China and Russia. A survey by Pulse Asia, another polling agency, less than a month after he took office on June 30 said Duterte had a record 91 per cent trust rating. The two polls are not comparable. Duterte won the May 9 election by a substantial margin after promising to expand a ruthless anti-crime campaign he started while mayor of Davao City, which had earned him nicknames like "the Punisher" and "Duterte Harry". Political analyst Nelson Navarro said the SWS survey suggested Filipinos felt safer because Duterte had followed through with his promised war on crime and drugs, in which over 3,400 people have been killed. He said Duterte's abrasive style and his sometimes profane outbursts against the United States, European Union and United Nations were not discrediting him either, and supporters would rally in his defence amid criticism at home and abroad. "This is not going to be good manners and right conduct. What you see here is exactly what you get. His tough stance has gained him popularity across the Philippines," Navarro said. "Everyone likes to dump on President Duterte for the extra-judicial killings but ... there is a kind of backlash on the perception of the West." The SWS poll considers a net approval rating of over 70 per cent as "excellent" and 50-69 per cent as "very good". (Reuters)

Duterte rated 'very good' in first 90 days: Poll

As Rosita leaves Jose&#39;s small office in downtown Cebu in the central Philippines, he passes her a handful of biscuits and six clean needles. What Jose has just done could land him in jail.

Rosita is a pregnant, HIV-infected injecting drug user&nbsp;and Jose is a social worker. Amid&nbsp;Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s war on drugs - in which nearly 3,000 people have been killed, according to police - it is safer to be anonymous. Neither wants to give their real name.

Clean needles have been distributed in Cebu City for years, sometimes illegally, in order to prevent the spread of HIV. Under the new government, which took office at the end of June, pressure is increasing for such clandestine activities to stop.

The Philippines has one of the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world, according to the United Nations.&nbsp;

&quot;HIV cases have sharply increased from maybe one new infection a day back in 2007 to what we have now which is more than 24 new cases a day,&quot; said Teresita Bagasao, country manager for UNAIDS in the Philippines.

The latest figures by department of health show&nbsp;there were 841 newly diagnosed HIV cases in the Philippines in June,&nbsp;the biggest monthly total since records began in 1984 and higher than the annual total for 2009.

Most new cases were from sexual contact, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM), according to the government&#39;s figures, but in Cebu it is sharing dirty needles that is the driver.

Rosita, a former sex worker, explained: &quot;Sometimes my friends don&#39;t have needles so we share.&quot;

Since finding out she had HIV two years ago, Rosita says she has stopped sharing needles but adds that a lack of clean syringes means she is scared more people are going to contract the virus.

Rosita, 35, lives in Kamagayan neighbourhood,&nbsp;the historic epicentre of the drugs problem in Cebu, the Philippines&#39; second city.

In a dark rabbit warren of wood and corrugated iron, the most commonly used drugs - shabu (crystal meth) and nubain (a morphine-like opiate) - are sold in &quot;shooting galleries&quot; for 300 pesos ($6) per syringe.

For those who can&#39;t afford a full syringe, it can be divided between up to 10 people. Prices have almost doubled since Duterte was elected by a landslide in May after vowing to wipe out drugs and crime.

&nbsp;

Crackdown on drug users&nbsp;

Efforts to protect drug users, including the distribution of clean needles, began in Cebu, particularly in Kamagayan, in 1993 but were halted by city officials in 2009.

&quot;The following year prevalence of HIV amongst people who inject drugs went from less than 0.5 per cent to 53 per cent,&rdquo; said Ilya Tac-an, who leads the STD/AIDS detection unit at Cebu City Health Department.

The World Health Organisation says there is &quot;compelling evidence&quot; that needle programmes substantially reduce the spread of HIV among injecting drug users without increasing drug use, but in the Philippines possession of &quot;paraphernalia for dangerous drugs&quot; is illegal and carries a prison sentence of between six months to four years.

Since 2009, research programmes,&nbsp;under which clean needles can be legally distributed,&nbsp;have been repeatedly given the green light by the Philippines&#39; Dangerous Drugs Board but then stopped under pressure from anti-drugs groups and politicians.

In 2015, the programmes were finally terminated, and under Duterte&#39;s government pressure to not distribute needles has increased.

&quot;It is very hard for us to work with the new administration as they have a very strong programme for drugs and there have been a lot of killings going on,&quot; said one healthcare source in Cebu. &quot;They are really quite serious about it.&quot;

Jerson See, founder and president of Cebu Plus, an HIV care organisation that has in the past been involved in clean needle programmes but does not distribute any more, said the organisation was being watched by the government.

&quot;It came to our attention that the name of our organisation is already under the radar of the National Bureau of Investigation,&quot; he said.

He urged the government to reconsider its position on needle programmes.

&quot;The police and drug enforcement agency&#39;s mandates are a supply and demand reduction programme but we just hope the government will reconsider the harm reduction programme because it is also a way of halting the spread of HIV,&quot; See said.

Special Cases

Jose, the social worker, also says he was &quot;called by Manila&quot; a month ago and advised to stop distributing clean needles. He says he has drastically reduced the amount of needles he hands out.

&quot;In some special cases I hand out needles - when it is really needed such as in the case of a person living with HIV who is in the company of those not living with HIV,&quot; he said.

Cebu Plus and Cebu City Health Department offer other services to people with HIV including counselling and HIV testing, but Dr Tac-an says it is not enough.

&quot;The needle and syringe programme was one of getting them (injecting drug users) to come in for the other services,&quot; she said. &quot;We are not really reaching that many injecting drug users (now).&quot;

But not everyone in Cebu is supportive of clean needle initiatives. Alice Uttlang is the head of COSAP, the city government&#39;s Cebu Organisation for Substance Abuse Prevention.

The veterinarian-by-trade was given the COSAP job in 2014 in the office next door to Cebu Plus at a time when clean needles were being distributed as a part of a research programme.

&quot;I saw a lot of people outside my office with the typical &#39;users&#39; look,&quot; she said. &quot;I asked myself what these people are doing here, were they lining up to get the syringes?

&quot;Is this not a slap in our face? Our office is here preventing and here they are condoning, even encouraging them to continue to use drugs, to inject drugs, as long as you use a clean syringe.&quot;

Uttlang says some of those getting free needles would go on to sell them. She adds that she would potentially accept a clean needles programme as long as there were other conditions, such as police being given data about the locations of drug users.

The department of health did not respond to questions on clean needle programmes in Cebu, but said it was implementing a &quot;behaviour modification programme&quot; which included community members teaching others about the dangers of drugs, as well as HIV testing.

For Jose, the government&#39;s efforts are helping: &quot;Everybody is trying to think of what is best and there is no perfect remedy.&quot;

But he says he will continue to distribute needles in special cases.&nbsp;

&quot;I have a different understanding. Others (the government, churches and NGOs) are doing something good but they are not on the frontline - I know these people.&quot;

&nbsp;

(Thomson Reuters Foundation)

The latest Department of Health figures showed there were 841 newly diagnosed HIV cases in the Philippines

As Rosita leaves Jose's small office in downtown Cebu in the central Philippines, he passes her a handful of biscuits and six clean needles. What Jose has just done could land him in jail. Rosita is a pregnant, HIV-infected injecting drug user and Jose is a social worker. Amid Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs - in which nearly 3,000 people have been killed, according to police - it is safer to be anonymous. Neither wants to give their real name. Clean needles have been distributed in Cebu City for years, sometimes illegally, in order to prevent the spread of HIV. Under the new government, which took office at the end of June, pressure is increasing for such clandestine activities to stop. The Philippines has one of the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world, according to the United Nations. "HIV cases have sharply increased from maybe one new infection a day back in 2007 to what we have now which is more than 24 new cases a day," said Teresita Bagasao, country manager for UNAIDS in the Philippines. The latest figures by department of health show there were 841 newly diagnosed HIV cases in the Philippines in June, the biggest monthly total since records began in 1984 and higher than the annual total for 2009. Most new cases were from sexual contact, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM), according to the government's figures, but in Cebu it is sharing dirty needles that is the driver. Rosita, a former sex worker, explained: "Sometimes my friends don't have needles so we share." Since finding out she had HIV two years ago, Rosita says she has stopped sharing needles but adds that a lack of clean syringes means she is scared more people are going to contract the virus. Rosita, 35, lives in Kamagayan neighbourhood, the historic epicentre of the drugs problem in Cebu, the Philippines' second city. In a dark rabbit warren of wood and corrugated iron, the most commonly used drugs - shabu (crystal meth) and nubain (a morphine-like opiate) - are sold in "shooting galleries" for 300 pesos ($6) per syringe. For those who can't afford a full syringe, it can be divided between up to 10 people. Prices have almost doubled since Duterte was elected by a landslide in May after vowing to wipe out drugs and crime. Crackdown on drug users Efforts to protect drug users, including the distribution of clean needles, began in Cebu, particularly in Kamagayan, in 1993 but were halted by city officials in 2009. "The following year prevalence of HIV amongst people who inject drugs went from less than 0.5 per cent to 53 per cent,” said Ilya Tac-an, who leads the STD/AIDS detection unit at Cebu City Health Department. The World Health Organisation says there is "compelling evidence" that needle programmes substantially reduce the spread of HIV among injecting drug users without increasing drug use, but in the Philippines possession of "paraphernalia for dangerous drugs" is illegal and carries a prison sentence of between six months to four years. Since 2009, research programmes, under which clean needles can be legally distributed, have been repeatedly given the green light by the Philippines' Dangerous Drugs Board but then stopped under pressure from anti-drugs groups and politicians. In 2015, the programmes were finally terminated, and under Duterte's government pressure to not distribute needles has increased. "It is very hard for us to work with the new administration as they have a very strong programme for drugs and there have been a lot of killings going on," said one healthcare source in Cebu. "They are really quite serious about it." Jerson See, founder and president of Cebu Plus, an HIV care organisation that has in the past been involved in clean needle programmes but does not distribute any more, said the organisation was being watched by the government. "It came to our attention that the name of our organisation is already under the radar of the National Bureau of Investigation," he said. He urged the government to reconsider its position on needle programmes. "The police and drug enforcement agency's mandates are a supply and demand reduction programme but we just hope the government will reconsider the harm reduction programme because it is also a way of halting the spread of HIV," See said. Special Cases Jose, the social worker, also says he was "called by Manila" a month ago and advised to stop distributing clean needles. He says he has drastically reduced the amount of needles he hands out. "In some special cases I hand out needles - when it is really needed such as in the case of a person living with HIV who is in the company of those not living with HIV," he said. Cebu Plus and Cebu City Health Department offer other services to people with HIV including counselling and HIV testing, but Dr Tac-an says it is not enough. "The needle and syringe programme was one of getting them (injecting drug users) to come in for the other services," she said. "We are not really reaching that many injecting drug users (now)." But not everyone in Cebu is supportive of clean needle initiatives. Alice Uttlang is the head of COSAP, the city government's Cebu Organisation for Substance Abuse Prevention. The veterinarian-by-trade was given the COSAP job in 2014 in the office next door to Cebu Plus at a time when clean needles were being distributed as a part of a research programme. "I saw a lot of people outside my office with the typical 'users' look," she said. "I asked myself what these people are doing here, were they lining up to get the syringes? "Is this not a slap in our face? Our office is here preventing and here they are condoning, even encouraging them to continue to use drugs, to inject drugs, as long as you use a clean syringe." Uttlang says some of those getting free needles would go on to sell them. She adds that she would potentially accept a clean needles programme as long as there were other conditions, such as police being given data about the locations of drug users. The department of health did not respond to questions on clean needle programmes in Cebu, but said it was implementing a "behaviour modification programme" which included community members teaching others about the dangers of drugs, as well as HIV testing. For Jose, the government's efforts are helping: "Everybody is trying to think of what is best and there is no perfect remedy." But he says he will continue to distribute needles in special cases. "I have a different understanding. Others (the government, churches and NGOs) are doing something good but they are not on the frontline - I know these people." (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

Philippines' war on drugs fuelling an HIV epidemic?

At least 10 people died and 60 were injured when a blast rocked a market area in southern Philippines&#39; biggest city of Davao, authorities said.&nbsp; 
 
The explosion occurred just before 11:00 pm (1500 GMT) close to one of the city&#39;s top hotels.&nbsp; 
 
The vice mayor has confirmed there were at least 10 people dead and has asked residents to stay indoors.&nbsp; 
 
Islamic militants and communist rebels have allegedly carried out the attack. The authorities have however stressed that it&#39;s too early to determine the cause.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;There was an explosion but, as to what caused it, it is still under investigation,&quot; city spokeswoman Catherine dela Rey said. 
 
&quot;Right now, we cannot yet give definite answer to questions as to who is behind this as we are also trying to determine what really exploded,&quot; the president&#39;s son and Davao vice mayor, Paolo Duterte, said in a statement. 
 
The Communist Party of the Philippines since 1968 has waged an armed struggle, fighting Asia&#39;s longest-running Muslim insurgencies that has claimed more than 120,000 lives. The communist rebels maintain a considerable presence in rural areas surrounding Davao. 
 
President Rodrigo Duterte has been widely praised for bringing peace to the city with his stringent security policies.&nbsp; 
 
Duterte has in recent weeks pursued peace talks with the two main Muslim rebel groups. Its leaders have said they want to broker a lasting peace. 
 
Duterte has also ordered an offensive against Abu Sayyaf -- a rebel group that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State and has vowed to keep on fighting.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with input from agencies)

'The cause of the explosion is still under investigation,' said Davao's spokeswoman

At least 10 people died and 60 were injured when a blast rocked a market area in southern Philippines' biggest city of Davao, authorities said. The explosion occurred just before 11:00 pm (1500 GMT) close to one of the city's top hotels. The vice mayor has confirmed there were at least 10 people dead and has asked residents to stay indoors. Islamic militants and communist rebels have allegedly carried out the attack. The authorities have however stressed that it's too early to determine the cause. “There was an explosion but, as to what caused it, it is still under investigation," city spokeswoman Catherine dela Rey said. "Right now, we cannot yet give definite answer to questions as to who is behind this as we are also trying to determine what really exploded," the president's son and Davao vice mayor, Paolo Duterte, said in a statement. The Communist Party of the Philippines since 1968 has waged an armed struggle, fighting Asia's longest-running Muslim insurgencies that has claimed more than 120,000 lives. The communist rebels maintain a considerable presence in rural areas surrounding Davao. President Rodrigo Duterte has been widely praised for bringing peace to the city with his stringent security policies. Duterte has in recent weeks pursued peace talks with the two main Muslim rebel groups. Its leaders have said they want to broker a lasting peace. Duterte has also ordered an offensive against Abu Sayyaf -- a rebel group that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State and has vowed to keep on fighting. (WION with input from agencies)

At least 10 dead, 60 injured as blasts rock market area in southern Philippines

The Philippines government and Communist guerrillas today signed an indefinite ceasefire deal to facilitate peace talks aimed at ending one of Asia&#39;s longest-running insurgencies. 
 
&quot;This is a historic and unprecedented event ... (but) there is still a lot of work to be done ahead,&quot; President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s peace adviser, Jesus Dureza, said at a signing ceremony in Norway, which is mediating the talks. 
 
Both sides agreed to implement unilateral, indefinite ceasefires -- something that has never been achieved before in the peace process. 
 
Norwegian foreign minister Borge Brende described the agreement as a &quot;major breakthrough.&quot; 
 
&quot;We are on the highway to peace and we are talking of a timeline of maximum 12 months,&quot; Silvestre Bello, the Philippine government delegation&#39;s head of negotiations, told AFP. 
 
The two parties have been meeting in Oslo since Monday, wrapping up their talks with the signing ceremony today. 
 
As a prelude to the negotiations, both sides had agreed to a ceasefire, but the truce commitment by the Communist side was due to end on Saturday. 
 
The two parties also agreed to &quot;speed up the peace process, and aim to reach the first substantial agreement on economic and social reforms within six months,&quot; a statement from the Norwegian foreign ministry said. 
 
&quot;They plan to follow this up with an agreement on political and constitutional reforms, before a final agreement on ending the armed conflict can be signed.&quot; 
 
The two delegations agreed to meet again in Oslo on October 8-12. 
 
&nbsp;&#39;Good atmosphere&#39;&nbsp; 
 
The head of the rebel delegation, Luis Jalandoni, was optimistic about the potential for achieving a lasting peace deal. 
 
&quot;We think that the peace talks now can move forward with a good atmosphere and try to move on with the (negotiations on) social and economic reforms, which are vital for addressing the roots of the armed conflict,&quot; he said. 
 
The government and the rebels also renewed an agreement that ensures immunity and security for key representatives of the rebels&#39; political wing, the National Democratic Front, so that they can take part in the negotiations. 
 
The Communist Party of the Philippines launched a rebellion in 1968 that has so far claimed the lives of 30,000 people, according to official estimates. 
 
Its armed faction, the New People&#39;s Army (NPA), is now believed to have fewer than 4,000 gunmen, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s, when a bloodless revolt ended the 20-year dictatorship of late president Ferdinand Marcos. 
 
They remain particularly active in rural areas, where they are notorious for extorting money from local businesses. They also regularly attack police and military forces, sometimes targeting them in urban areas. 
 
In 2002, the US state department designated the Communist Party and the NPA as terrorist organisations. 
 
Forging peace with the rebels has been the elusive goal of Philippine presidents since a 1986 revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos. 
 
The force behind the current talks is Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office on June 30 after a landslide election victory. 
 
Hopes for peace deal&nbsp; 
 
On Monday, his government said it hoped to reach a peace accord within a year. 
 
Duterte, who calls himself a Socialist, hails from Mindanao, the impoverished southern third of the Philippines where two rebellions -- Communist and Muslim -- have been most active. 
 
He says ending both insurgencies is vital to his plan to curb poverty. He has even sketched the possibility of forming a coalition government with the rebels. 
 
Duterte reputedly has close links to the Communists and is a former university student of Jose Maria Sison, now aged 77, who established the party. 
 
The two sides hope to breathe new life into the process by discussing the outstanding issues of social and economic reforms, political and constitutional changes, and an end to hostilities. 
 
Previous peace talks have addressed one issue at a time. 
 
(AFP)

Both sides agreed to implement unilateral, indefinite ceasefires -- something that has never been achieved before in the peace process

The Philippines government and Communist guerrillas today signed an indefinite ceasefire deal to facilitate peace talks aimed at ending one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies. "This is a historic and unprecedented event ... (but) there is still a lot of work to be done ahead," President Rodrigo Duterte's peace adviser, Jesus Dureza, said at a signing ceremony in Norway, which is mediating the talks. Both sides agreed to implement unilateral, indefinite ceasefires -- something that has never been achieved before in the peace process. Norwegian foreign minister Borge Brende described the agreement as a "major breakthrough." "We are on the highway to peace and we are talking of a timeline of maximum 12 months," Silvestre Bello, the Philippine government delegation's head of negotiations, told AFP. The two parties have been meeting in Oslo since Monday, wrapping up their talks with the signing ceremony today. As a prelude to the negotiations, both sides had agreed to a ceasefire, but the truce commitment by the Communist side was due to end on Saturday. The two parties also agreed to "speed up the peace process, and aim to reach the first substantial agreement on economic and social reforms within six months," a statement from the Norwegian foreign ministry said. "They plan to follow this up with an agreement on political and constitutional reforms, before a final agreement on ending the armed conflict can be signed." The two delegations agreed to meet again in Oslo on October 8-12. 'Good atmosphere' The head of the rebel delegation, Luis Jalandoni, was optimistic about the potential for achieving a lasting peace deal. "We think that the peace talks now can move forward with a good atmosphere and try to move on with the (negotiations on) social and economic reforms, which are vital for addressing the roots of the armed conflict," he said. The government and the rebels also renewed an agreement that ensures immunity and security for key representatives of the rebels' political wing, the National Democratic Front, so that they can take part in the negotiations. The Communist Party of the Philippines launched a rebellion in 1968 that has so far claimed the lives of 30,000 people, according to official estimates. Its armed faction, the New People's Army (NPA), is now believed to have fewer than 4,000 gunmen, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s, when a bloodless revolt ended the 20-year dictatorship of late president Ferdinand Marcos. They remain particularly active in rural areas, where they are notorious for extorting money from local businesses. They also regularly attack police and military forces, sometimes targeting them in urban areas. In 2002, the US state department designated the Communist Party and the NPA as terrorist organisations. Forging peace with the rebels has been the elusive goal of Philippine presidents since a 1986 revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The force behind the current talks is Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office on June 30 after a landslide election victory. Hopes for peace deal On Monday, his government said it hoped to reach a peace accord within a year. Duterte, who calls himself a Socialist, hails from Mindanao, the impoverished southern third of the Philippines where two rebellions -- Communist and Muslim -- have been most active. He says ending both insurgencies is vital to his plan to curb poverty. He has even sketched the possibility of forming a coalition government with the rebels. Duterte reputedly has close links to the Communists and is a former university student of Jose Maria Sison, now aged 77, who established the party. The two sides hope to breathe new life into the process by discussing the outstanding issues of social and economic reforms, political and constitutional changes, and an end to hostilities. Previous peace talks have addressed one issue at a time. (AFP)

Philippines government, Communist guerrillas sign indefinite ceasefire

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that he expects talks with China over South China Sea dispute within a year and he would not raise an international ruling rejecting China&#39;s claims there when he attends a regional summit next month. 
 
An international &nbsp;arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July when it ruled that China had no historical claim over the South China Sea and it had breached the Philippines&#39; sovereign rights with various actions there. 
 
Taking up the issue at a summit in Laos of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, together with its &quot;dialogue partners&quot; including China, the United States and Japan, would inevitably compound China&#39;&#39;s anger. 
 
Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace in Manila, Duterte said it was &quot;better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there&quot;. 
 
Asked about a date for bilateral talks, he said: &quot;Within the year.&quot; 
 
The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines that has been concerned about China&#39;s pursuit of territory in the South China Sea, said it welcomed efforts by rival claimants to manage and resolve differences peacefully. 
 
At the same time, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, Anna Richey-Allen, said Washington &quot;urge(d) that negotiation should be undertaken on terms acceptable to all parties, free from coercion or the use or threat of force.&quot; 
 
Washington was a strong backer of the case the Philippines brought against China, but has sought unsuccessfully to forge a unified position among Southeast Asia countries on the issue. 
 
Richey-Allen did not comment on Duterte&#39;s comment that he would not raise the issue at Sept. 6-8 Laos summit, which US President Barack Obama is due to attend.&nbsp; 
 
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims to parts of the sea. 
 
Duterte said the Philippines had no intention of raising the arbitration ruling during the summit, although he added: &quot;If somebody dwells on it, we will discuss, but for the Philippines, we have talks.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
If formal negotiations with China were to fall through, &quot;where do we go?&quot; he asked. 
 
Former Philippine president, Fidel Ramos, travelled to Hong Kong this month in an effort to rekindle damaged ties with Beijing. 
While there, Ramos said the Philippines wanted talks with China to explore a path to peace and cooperation. 
 
Duterte said his government wanted to talk to China so Philippine fishermen could return to the disputed Scarborough Shoal fishing ground. 
 
In 2012, China seized the shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access and prompting Manila to file the arbitration case. 
 
China has ignored the court&#39;s ruling that none of its claims in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Its construction work on reefs there has alarmed other claimants, as well the United States and Japan. 
 
China says its aims are peaceful and it has the right to do what it wants on its territory. 
 
(Reuters) 
 
&nbsp;

Duterte will not raise the issue at a 10-member summit in Laos, says better to hold diplomatic talks with China than 'anger officials there'

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that he expects talks with China over South China Sea dispute within a year and he would not raise an international ruling rejecting China's claims there when he attends a regional summit next month. An international arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July when it ruled that China had no historical claim over the South China Sea and it had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights with various actions there. Taking up the issue at a summit in Laos of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, together with its "dialogue partners" including China, the United States and Japan, would inevitably compound China''s anger. Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace in Manila, Duterte said it was "better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there". Asked about a date for bilateral talks, he said: "Within the year." The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines that has been concerned about China's pursuit of territory in the South China Sea, said it welcomed efforts by rival claimants to manage and resolve differences peacefully. At the same time, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, Anna Richey-Allen, said Washington "urge(d) that negotiation should be undertaken on terms acceptable to all parties, free from coercion or the use or threat of force." Washington was a strong backer of the case the Philippines brought against China, but has sought unsuccessfully to forge a unified position among Southeast Asia countries on the issue. Richey-Allen did not comment on Duterte's comment that he would not raise the issue at Sept. 6-8 Laos summit, which US President Barack Obama is due to attend. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims to parts of the sea. Duterte said the Philippines had no intention of raising the arbitration ruling during the summit, although he added: "If somebody dwells on it, we will discuss, but for the Philippines, we have talks." If formal negotiations with China were to fall through, "where do we go?" he asked. Former Philippine president, Fidel Ramos, travelled to Hong Kong this month in an effort to rekindle damaged ties with Beijing. While there, Ramos said the Philippines wanted talks with China to explore a path to peace and cooperation. Duterte said his government wanted to talk to China so Philippine fishermen could return to the disputed Scarborough Shoal fishing ground. In 2012, China seized the shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access and prompting Manila to file the arbitration case. China has ignored the court's ruling that none of its claims in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Its construction work on reefs there has alarmed other claimants, as well the United States and Japan. China says its aims are peaceful and it has the right to do what it wants on its territory. (Reuters)

South China Sea dispute: Duterte to hold talks with China 'within the year'

The Philippines is not leaving the United Nations, the foreign minister said on Monday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to quit the body after it called for an end to the wave of killings unleashed by his war on drugs. 
 
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said Duterte&#39;s statement &quot;is a statement expressing profound disappointment and frustration&quot;. 
 
&quot;We are committed to the U.N. despite our numerous frustrations with this international agency,&quot; Yasay told a news conference. 
 
(Reuters)

The statement came after President Rodrigo Duterte had threatened to quit the body

The Philippines is not leaving the United Nations, the foreign minister said on Monday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to quit the body after it called for an end to the wave of killings unleashed by his war on drugs. Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said Duterte's statement "is a statement expressing profound disappointment and frustration". "We are committed to the U.N. despite our numerous frustrations with this international agency," Yasay told a news conference. (Reuters)

Philippines not leaving United Nations: Foreign minister

The Philippines&#39; firebrand President Rodrigo Duterte has sparked a fresh diplomatic row with his colourful language, calling the US ambassador &quot;gay&quot; in comments that prompted Washington to summon Manila&#39;s envoy to complain. 
 
In the latest of series of tirades, Duterte used a local Tagalog language homophobic slur to express his displeasure with US Ambassador Philip Goldberg in televised comments made Friday. 
 
&quot;As you know, I&#39;m fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry&#39;s) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off,&quot; Duterte said. 
 
Duterte, 71, surged to power with a landslide in May following an incendiary campaign in which he gleefully used foul language to disrespect authority figures, from his local political rivals to the pope. 
 
He first came into conflict with US envoy Goldberg on the campaign trail, after he said he wanted to rape a &quot;beautiful&quot; Australian missionary who was sexually assaulted and murdered in a 1989 prison riot in Davao, the city he ran for two decades.
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Goldberg and the Australian Ambassador both strongly criticised these comments. 
 
&quot;He meddled during the elections, giving statements here and there. He was not supposed to do that,&quot; Duterte said Friday. 
 
The US State Department said that the Filipino charge d&#39;affaires, Patrick Chuasoto, had been summoned Monday to discuss Duterte&#39;s comments. 
 
&quot;We had that conversation,&quot; department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said. 
 
&quot;I think what we were seeking is perhaps a better understanding of why that statement was made,&quot; she added. 
 
Philippine foreign affairs spokesman Charles Jose confirmed the meeting but said Manila&#39;s envoy had been &quot;invited to the State Department to discuss the entire breadth of Philippines-US relations.&quot; 
 
&quot;Philippine-US relations remain strong,&quot; he told AFP Wednesday. 
 
A former US colony, the Philippines and the United States have long shared a military treaty. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

Duterte used a local Tagalog language homophobic slur to express his displeasure with US Ambassador Philip Goldberg

The Philippines' firebrand President Rodrigo Duterte has sparked a fresh diplomatic row with his colourful language, calling the US ambassador "gay" in comments that prompted Washington to summon Manila's envoy to complain. In the latest of series of tirades, Duterte used a local Tagalog language homophobic slur to express his displeasure with US Ambassador Philip Goldberg in televised comments made Friday. "As you know, I'm fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry's) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off," Duterte said. Duterte, 71, surged to power with a landslide in May following an incendiary campaign in which he gleefully used foul language to disrespect authority figures, from his local political rivals to the pope. He first came into conflict with US envoy Goldberg on the campaign trail, after he said he wanted to rape a "beautiful" Australian missionary who was sexually assaulted and murdered in a 1989 prison riot in Davao, the city he ran for two decades. As you know, I'm fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry's) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off - Rodrigo Duterte Goldberg and the Australian Ambassador both strongly criticised these comments. "He meddled during the elections, giving statements here and there. He was not supposed to do that," Duterte said Friday. The US State Department said that the Filipino charge d'affaires, Patrick Chuasoto, had been summoned Monday to discuss Duterte's comments. "We had that conversation," department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said. "I think what we were seeking is perhaps a better understanding of why that statement was made," she added. Philippine foreign affairs spokesman Charles Jose confirmed the meeting but said Manila's envoy had been "invited to the State Department to discuss the entire breadth of Philippines-US relations." "Philippine-US relations remain strong," he told AFP Wednesday. A former US colony, the Philippines and the United States have long shared a military treaty. (AFP)

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte calls US envoy 'gay, son of a wh**e'

Former Philippines president Fidel Ramos today named the head of a Chinese government think-tank among the experts and officials he hoped to meet on a trip to rekindle ties with China soured by a maritime dispute in the South China Sea. 
 
On July 12, an arbitration court in the Hague ruled that China had no historic title over the busy waterway and had breached the Philippines&#39; sovereign rights there, infuriating China, which had dismissed the case. 
 
&quot;I&#39;ve always been a very optimistic person, always looking for the best results,&quot; Ramos told reporters in Hong Kong. &quot;But of course that also depends on the attitude of the Chinese officials.&quot; 
 
No details of itinerary&nbsp; 
 
Ramos gave no details of his itinerary or of those he planned to meet, except for Wu Shicun, who heads the National Institute for South China Sea Studies think-tank, based on China&#39;s southern island of Hainan. 
 
Asked about others, such as China&#39;s former deputy minister for Foreign Affairs Fu Ying, Ramos said he did not know yet. 
 
&quot;They all have links with Beijing, because some of them are already retired but elevated to the parliament as chairman of this and that committee.&quot; 
 
Ramos said he sought to improve economic and tourism links, such as by allowing &quot;more fishing in the common fishing ground&quot; of the Scarborough shoal in the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone. 
 
&quot;The idea is to use the South China Sea as a place to save lives, but not to kill people or to destroy lives,&quot; he added. 
 
China&#39;s 2012 seizure of the Scarborough Shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access, was among the factors that prompted Manila to seek arbitration. 
 
But China has ignored the court&#39;s ruling that none of its reefs and holdings in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. 
 
&#39;First concrete step&#39; 
 
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, believed to be rich in energy deposits. 
 
Ramos, 88, who described his role as an &quot;icebreaker&quot;, is known for an impromptu duet of Elvis Presley&#39;s &#39;Love Me Tender&#39; with former Chinese president Jiang Zemin at a 1996 banquet. 
 
His trip represents &quot;the first concrete step&quot; in engagement for both sides and &quot;could open a new chapter in settling disputes&quot;, China&#39;s state news agency, Xinhua, said in a commentary. 
 
Ramos was Philippines president from 1992 to 1998, when China occupied the submerged Mischief Reef. 
 
(Reuters)

After the Hague ruling, the former president's visit is being viewed as an opportunity to open a new chapter in settling disputes with China

Former Philippines president Fidel Ramos today named the head of a Chinese government think-tank among the experts and officials he hoped to meet on a trip to rekindle ties with China soured by a maritime dispute in the South China Sea. On July 12, an arbitration court in the Hague ruled that China had no historic title over the busy waterway and had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights there, infuriating China, which had dismissed the case. "I've always been a very optimistic person, always looking for the best results," Ramos told reporters in Hong Kong. "But of course that also depends on the attitude of the Chinese officials." No details of itinerary Ramos gave no details of his itinerary or of those he planned to meet, except for Wu Shicun, who heads the National Institute for South China Sea Studies think-tank, based on China's southern island of Hainan. Asked about others, such as China's former deputy minister for Foreign Affairs Fu Ying, Ramos said he did not know yet. "They all have links with Beijing, because some of them are already retired but elevated to the parliament as chairman of this and that committee." Ramos said he sought to improve economic and tourism links, such as by allowing "more fishing in the common fishing ground" of the Scarborough shoal in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. "The idea is to use the South China Sea as a place to save lives, but not to kill people or to destroy lives," he added. China's 2012 seizure of the Scarborough Shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access, was among the factors that prompted Manila to seek arbitration. But China has ignored the court's ruling that none of its reefs and holdings in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. 'First concrete step' China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, believed to be rich in energy deposits. Ramos, 88, who described his role as an "icebreaker", is known for an impromptu duet of Elvis Presley's 'Love Me Tender' with former Chinese president Jiang Zemin at a 1996 banquet. His trip represents "the first concrete step" in engagement for both sides and "could open a new chapter in settling disputes", China's state news agency, Xinhua, said in a commentary. Ramos was Philippines president from 1992 to 1998, when China occupied the submerged Mischief Reef. (Reuters)

Philippines envoy Fidel Ramos "optimistic" about ice breaking China trip

Ex-Philippine president Fidel Ramos left for Hong Kong on Monday to &quot;rekindle&quot; ties with Beijing that have soured over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea. Ramos, 88, whom President Rodrigo Duterte named as his envoy for talks with Beijing, stressed that he was not going as a negotiator, but that he hoped to reopen dialogue between the two countries. 
 
&quot;I am just the icebreaker, to rekindle, to warm up again our good, friendly relations with China,&quot; Ramos, who served as president from 1992 to 1998, said. 
 
Ties between Manila and Beijing have cooled especially since a UN-backed tribunal handed the Philippines a sweeping victory last month when it ruled that China&#39;s claims over most of the South China Sea were invalid. 
 
China has refused to recognise the tribunal&#39;s decision 
 
&nbsp;A longtime advocate of closer Philippine-Chinese ties, Ramos said he would be gone for four to five days to meet with old Chinese contacts, former government officials who are now working in the private sector. 
 
He added that formal bilateral talks would only take place after the trip, but hinted that he may travel on from Hong Kong to mainland China for further informal talks. 
 
&quot;It is not up to me to bring it up because that is not my mission,&quot; Ramos said when asked if he would bring up the decision of the UN-linked Permanent Court of Arbitration. 
 
Duterte&#39;s spokesman Ernie Abella also confirmed Ramos&#39;s trip to Hong Kong, saying he would &quot;meet with old friends and possibly (play) a few rounds of golf&quot;. 
 
&quot;This may also pave the way for future diplomatic talks,&quot; Abella said without elaborating. 
 
Last month, Manila rejected Beijing&#39;s demand that it &quot;disregard&quot; the tribunal&#39;s ruling before the two countries could negotiate on the issue. 
 
Philippine-Chinese ties have frayed in recent years due to growing tensions over conflicting claims in the South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to the sea, a major sea lane that is believed to hold vast mineral resources. 
 
(AFP)

Ties between the two countries have deteriorated after the Hague ruled China's claims over most of the South China Sea were invalidd

Ex-Philippine president Fidel Ramos left for Hong Kong on Monday to "rekindle" ties with Beijing that have soured over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea. Ramos, 88, whom President Rodrigo Duterte named as his envoy for talks with Beijing, stressed that he was not going as a negotiator, but that he hoped to reopen dialogue between the two countries. "I am just the icebreaker, to rekindle, to warm up again our good, friendly relations with China," Ramos, who served as president from 1992 to 1998, said. Ties between Manila and Beijing have cooled especially since a UN-backed tribunal handed the Philippines a sweeping victory last month when it ruled that China's claims over most of the South China Sea were invalid. China has refused to recognise the tribunal's decision A longtime advocate of closer Philippine-Chinese ties, Ramos said he would be gone for four to five days to meet with old Chinese contacts, former government officials who are now working in the private sector. He added that formal bilateral talks would only take place after the trip, but hinted that he may travel on from Hong Kong to mainland China for further informal talks. "It is not up to me to bring it up because that is not my mission," Ramos said when asked if he would bring up the decision of the UN-linked Permanent Court of Arbitration. Duterte's spokesman Ernie Abella also confirmed Ramos's trip to Hong Kong, saying he would "meet with old friends and possibly (play) a few rounds of golf". "This may also pave the way for future diplomatic talks," Abella said without elaborating. Last month, Manila rejected Beijing's demand that it "disregard" the tribunal's ruling before the two countries could negotiate on the issue. Philippine-Chinese ties have frayed in recent years due to growing tensions over conflicting claims in the South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to the sea, a major sea lane that is believed to hold vast mineral resources. (AFP)

Ex-Philippines president Ramos leaves for Hong Kong 'to rekindle' ties with Beijing

Officials from the Bangladesh central bank are visiting Manila this week to pressure the authorities in the Philippines to find ways to return the $63 million that is still missing out of the funds stolen from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York earlier this year, two people close to Bangladesh Bank said. 
 
Unknown cyber criminals tried to steal nearly $1 billion from the Bangladesh Bank account between Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, and succeeded in transferring $81 million to four accounts at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in Manila. Only about $18 million has been recovered. 
 
The&nbsp;Bangladeshi&nbsp;officials&nbsp;are alleging that the&nbsp;money&nbsp;was allowed to disappear into the casino industry in the Philippines, where investigators say it was laundered, because of systemic failures at RCBC, the two sources said. 
 
Bangladesh Bank is relying on internal RCBC documents to buttress its assertion that the Filipino bank&rsquo;s Jupiter Street branch in Manila ignored suspicions raised by some RCBC officials when the money was first remitted to the accounts on Feb. 5, and then delayed acting on requests from RCBC&rsquo;s head office to freeze the funds on Feb. 9, said one of the sources in Dhaka. 
 
RCBC did not respond to requests for comment, but its then president Lorenzo Tan told a Senate hearing in March that the incident was &quot;some judgment error from the people on the ground&quot;. 
 
&quot;I think what happened here is we had the IT controls, the human controls. But unfortunately, it failed in the end, in the execution,&quot; said Tan, who subsequently resigned. &quot;Yes, we are sorry this happened, but you know, it is human error, human judgment or intentional.&quot; 
 
The Bangladeshi delegation consists of Debaprosad Debnath and Abdul Rab from Bangladesh Bank&#39;s financial intelligence unit, Bangladesh Bank lawyer Ajmalul Hossain, and Bangladesh&#39;s ambassador to the Philippines, John Gomes. 
 
They plan to meet with officials from the anti-money-laundering council in Manila, the Philippines&#39; department of justice, the central bank of the Philippines and from RCBC over the next four days, said the sources. 
 
Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha declined to say if the bank had plans to sue RCBC, but added it was trying to recover the money with the help of the Philippines&#39; central bank. 
 
RCBS blamed its own employees 
 
RCBC has previously blamed its own employees for the ease with which the money left the bank, including the manager of the branch in question. But the Dhaka source said the Bangladesh Bank believes the failures extend beyond individual officers and that RCBC allowed itself to be used as a conduit for the illegal transfer of stolen money. 
 
Bangladesh Bank claims the documents show that RCBC should be accountable for the losses. The documents, which have been reviewed by Reuters, include emails between RCBC managers at the time of the heist in February as well as memos and emails to various RCBC officials during a subsequent internal investigation. 
 
They show that RCBC had frozen the accounts concerned at its Jupiter Street branch in Manila for about an hour on Friday Feb. 5 because of questions from some bank officials about where the money had come from, where it was going, and whether the transfers were legitimate. 
 
At 6.27 pm on that day, a temporary hold was placed on the accounts at the branch, pending further investigation into the &quot;validity of the remittances and nature of the funds&quot;, according to one memo that was sent on March 21 by the head of RCBC&rsquo;s human resources group, Rowena F. Subido, to Ismael S. Reyes, its national sales director for retail banking. 
 
Some officials at RCBC&#39;s headquarters, also in Manila, had questioned the transfers after about $22.7 million of the money was withdrawn from one of the accounts in cash at 3.16 pm that day only to be then deposited to another account that was opened at around 3 pm that day at the same branch, according to the notice sent to Reyes. 
 
However, the hold on the accounts was shortlived. By around 7.30 pm it was lifted after then Jupiter Branch Business Manager Maia Deguito&#39;s &quot;representation to her superiors&quot; that the transactions were legitimate, according to another memo sent to Reyes. Deguito was fired by the bank earlier this year and is under investigation by the Philippines&#39; anti-money laundering council. 
 
Ferdinand Topacio, lawyer for Deguito, said that RCBC could not escape blame by singling out employees for mistakes. &quot;If she had any fault, she was negligent and she was naive,&quot; Topacio said. He said RCBC did not act urgently on the stop payment requests from the Bangladesh central bank. 
 
The documents show that when the bank reopened on Tuesday, Feb. 9 after the Chinese New Year holiday, RCBC&#39;s settlements department received messages as early as 9.15 am from Bangladesh Bank, alerting it about the fraud. It sent four emails, between 10.59 am and 11.30 am, to its Jupiter Street branch, asking it to recall or freeze the remaining funds, the documents show. The reasons for the delay in sending those emails could not be ascertained. 
 
The branch processed withdrawals, totalling $58.15 million, between 10.24 am and 11.35 am, the documents show. According to former Senator Sergio Osmena, who led a Philippines&#39; Senate probe into the events, only $15.2 million of this was withdrawn before 11.19 a.m. 
 
&quot;RCBC did not perform its role properly,&quot; Bangladesh Bank&rsquo;s Saha said. &quot;RCBC is similarly liable as those parties who took money in their accounts.&quot; 
 
(Reuters) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

Unknown cyber criminals transferred $81 million from Bangladesh Bank to RSBC in Manila in February. Only $18 million has been recovered

Officials from the Bangladesh central bank are visiting Manila this week to pressure the authorities in the Philippines to find ways to return the $63 million that is still missing out of the funds stolen from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York earlier this year, two people close to Bangladesh Bank said. Unknown cyber criminals tried to steal nearly $1 billion from the Bangladesh Bank account between Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, and succeeded in transferring $81 million to four accounts at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in Manila. Only about $18 million has been recovered. The Bangladeshi officials are alleging that the money was allowed to disappear into the casino industry in the Philippines, where investigators say it was laundered, because of systemic failures at RCBC, the two sources said. Bangladesh Bank is relying on internal RCBC documents to buttress its assertion that the Filipino bank’s Jupiter Street branch in Manila ignored suspicions raised by some RCBC officials when the money was first remitted to the accounts on Feb. 5, and then delayed acting on requests from RCBC’s head office to freeze the funds on Feb. 9, said one of the sources in Dhaka. RCBC did not respond to requests for comment, but its then president Lorenzo Tan told a Senate hearing in March that the incident was "some judgment error from the people on the ground". "I think what happened here is we had the IT controls, the human controls. But unfortunately, it failed in the end, in the execution," said Tan, who subsequently resigned. "Yes, we are sorry this happened, but you know, it is human error, human judgment or intentional." The Bangladeshi delegation consists of Debaprosad Debnath and Abdul Rab from Bangladesh Bank's financial intelligence unit, Bangladesh Bank lawyer Ajmalul Hossain, and Bangladesh's ambassador to the Philippines, John Gomes. They plan to meet with officials from the anti-money-laundering council in Manila, the Philippines' department of justice, the central bank of the Philippines and from RCBC over the next four days, said the sources. Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha declined to say if the bank had plans to sue RCBC, but added it was trying to recover the money with the help of the Philippines' central bank. RCBS blamed its own employees RCBC has previously blamed its own employees for the ease with which the money left the bank, including the manager of the branch in question. But the Dhaka source said the Bangladesh Bank believes the failures extend beyond individual officers and that RCBC allowed itself to be used as a conduit for the illegal transfer of stolen money. Bangladesh Bank claims the documents show that RCBC should be accountable for the losses. The documents, which have been reviewed by Reuters, include emails between RCBC managers at the time of the heist in February as well as memos and emails to various RCBC officials during a subsequent internal investigation. They show that RCBC had frozen the accounts concerned at its Jupiter Street branch in Manila for about an hour on Friday Feb. 5 because of questions from some bank officials about where the money had come from, where it was going, and whether the transfers were legitimate. At 6.27 pm on that day, a temporary hold was placed on the accounts at the branch, pending further investigation into the "validity of the remittances and nature of the funds", according to one memo that was sent on March 21 by the head of RCBC’s human resources group, Rowena F. Subido, to Ismael S. Reyes, its national sales director for retail banking. Some officials at RCBC's headquarters, also in Manila, had questioned the transfers after about $22.7 million of the money was withdrawn from one of the accounts in cash at 3.16 pm that day only to be then deposited to another account that was opened at around 3 pm that day at the same branch, according to the notice sent to Reyes. However, the hold on the accounts was shortlived. By around 7.30 pm it was lifted after then Jupiter Branch Business Manager Maia Deguito's "representation to her superiors" that the transactions were legitimate, according to another memo sent to Reyes. Deguito was fired by the bank earlier this year and is under investigation by the Philippines' anti-money laundering council. Ferdinand Topacio, lawyer for Deguito, said that RCBC could not escape blame by singling out employees for mistakes. "If she had any fault, she was negligent and she was naive," Topacio said. He said RCBC did not act urgently on the stop payment requests from the Bangladesh central bank. The documents show that when the bank reopened on Tuesday, Feb. 9 after the Chinese New Year holiday, RCBC's settlements department received messages as early as 9.15 am from Bangladesh Bank, alerting it about the fraud. It sent four emails, between 10.59 am and 11.30 am, to its Jupiter Street branch, asking it to recall or freeze the remaining funds, the documents show. The reasons for the delay in sending those emails could not be ascertained. The branch processed withdrawals, totalling $58.15 million, between 10.24 am and 11.35 am, the documents show. According to former Senator Sergio Osmena, who led a Philippines' Senate probe into the events, only $15.2 million of this was withdrawn before 11.19 a.m. "RCBC did not perform its role properly," Bangladesh Bank’s Saha said. "RCBC is similarly liable as those parties who took money in their accounts." (Reuters)

Bangladesh officials visit Manila to seek recovery of bank heist money

Over 300 anti-narcotics and human rights groups from around the world on Tuesday called for the United Nations to condemn Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s war on drugs that has already killed hundreds of people. 
 
The appeal, directed to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), came as an influential Philippine senator called for an investigation into the killings of suspected drug pushers that Duterte has endorsed. 
 
Senator Leila de Lima and the foreign organisations cited reports of police killing hundreds of people since Duterte won May elections largely on a platform to wage a bloody war on drugs. 
 
&quot;Instead of ensuring the protection and rights of people who use drugs... President Duterte has called for them to be killed,&quot; said the statement from groups such as the Australian Drug Foundation and Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. 
 
&quot;Instead of ensuring the rights of people suspected of committing drug-related crimes... the President has called for them to be executed on the spot.&quot; 
 
The statement called on the INCB and the UNODC to condemn the killings and &quot;demand an end to the atrocities&quot;. 
 
De Lima, in a speech before Senate, also lashed out at the killings. &quot;We cannot wage the war against drugs with blood. We will only be trading drug addiction with another more malevolent kind of addiction.&nbsp;This is the compulsion for more killing,&quot; said the senator, a former justice minister who also headed the nation&#39;s human rights body. De Lima said police were summarily killing even innocent people, using the anti-drug campaign as an excuse. 
 
Since assuming the presidency on June 30, Duterte has promised to protect police and soldiers from sanctions for killing criminals and even urged ordinary citizens and communist rebels to join in the bloodshed. 
 
While his campaign has been widely popular in the impoverished Philippines, more groups have begun criticising Duterte, with De Lima calling for a congressional probe into the killings. 
 
But the president has dismissed human rights concerns while police have insisted that they only acted in self-defence. In June, even UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon condemned Duterte&#39;s apparent support of extra-judicial killings. 
 
Police figures showed that as of Tuesday, 402 drug suspects had been killed a month into Duterte&#39;s presidency. 
 
The figure does not include those slain by suspected vigilantes. The country&#39;s top broadcaster, ABS-CBN, reported that 603 people had been killed since Duterte was elected, with 211 murdered by unidentified gunmen. 
 
(AFP)

While his campaign has been popular in the impoverished Philippines, more international groups have begun criticising President Duterte

Over 300 anti-narcotics and human rights groups from around the world on Tuesday called for the United Nations to condemn Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs that has already killed hundreds of people. The appeal, directed to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), came as an influential Philippine senator called for an investigation into the killings of suspected drug pushers that Duterte has endorsed. Senator Leila de Lima and the foreign organisations cited reports of police killing hundreds of people since Duterte won May elections largely on a platform to wage a bloody war on drugs. "Instead of ensuring the protection and rights of people who use drugs... President Duterte has called for them to be killed," said the statement from groups such as the Australian Drug Foundation and Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. "Instead of ensuring the rights of people suspected of committing drug-related crimes... the President has called for them to be executed on the spot." The statement called on the INCB and the UNODC to condemn the killings and "demand an end to the atrocities". De Lima, in a speech before Senate, also lashed out at the killings. "We cannot wage the war against drugs with blood. We will only be trading drug addiction with another more malevolent kind of addiction. This is the compulsion for more killing," said the senator, a former justice minister who also headed the nation's human rights body. De Lima said police were summarily killing even innocent people, using the anti-drug campaign as an excuse. Since assuming the presidency on June 30, Duterte has promised to protect police and soldiers from sanctions for killing criminals and even urged ordinary citizens and communist rebels to join in the bloodshed. While his campaign has been widely popular in the impoverished Philippines, more groups have begun criticising Duterte, with De Lima calling for a congressional probe into the killings. But the president has dismissed human rights concerns while police have insisted that they only acted in self-defence. In June, even UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon condemned Duterte's apparent support of extra-judicial killings. Police figures showed that as of Tuesday, 402 drug suspects had been killed a month into Duterte's presidency. The figure does not include those slain by suspected vigilantes. The country's top broadcaster, ABS-CBN, reported that 603 people had been killed since Duterte was elected, with 211 murdered by unidentified gunmen. (AFP)

UN must condemn Philippine drug killings: Rights groups

The Philippine government may still re-impose a ceasefire with Maoist-led guerrillas, a senior administration official said today, a day after it was withdrawn by President Rodrigo Duterte. 
 
Duterte lifted the unilateral truce with the communist New People&#39;s Army on Saturday evening, six days after it was declared as a goodwill gesture ahead of formal peace negotiations in Oslo next month.&nbsp;The move came after rebels did not respond to a deadline to reciprocate the government&#39;s truce. 
 
&quot;We may work out a negotiated truce with the Communists,&quot; Jesus Dureza, presidential peace adviser, said. &quot;It was in our agenda when the formal peace talks resume in Oslo. The peace talks will go on as scheduled.&quot; 
 
The peace talks, brokered by Norway, will resume on August 20, four years after bogging down due to rebels&#39; demand for the release of 500 political prisoners. The government has now promised to free them for health and humanitarian reasons. 
 
Dureza said he welcomed a statement from rebel leader Jose Maria Siso, who was interviewed on local television hours after Duterte withdrew the ceasefire, saying the communists had also intended to impose a truce but it was overtaken by events. 
 
&quot;This is what we have been waiting for,&quot; Dureza said in an official statement. &quot;The leadership of the CPP/NPA/NDF announced through the media its belated but still strategic and awaited decision to also declare its own unilateral ceasefire.&quot; 
 
Duterte also was angered by reports that Maoist-led rebels had killed a militiaman, and wounded four others, in an ambush on Wednesday when they were returning to an army base in Davao del Norte to comply with the government&#39;s unilateral truce. 
 
Renato Reyes, secretary-general of Bayan (Nation), a left-wing political group, criticised the government for imposing &quot;unrealistic&quot; ultimatums, saying the &quot;peace talks are more complicated than some folks think&quot;. 
 
&quot;The road to peace is a difficult one, where deadlines and ultimatums cannot just be imposed and where discussions of the substantial agenda are the only sure means to achieve a lasting end to hostilities,&quot; he said. 
 
Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said army units have resumed offensive action against the rebels. 
 
&quot;The rebels have missed a golden opportunity to manifest their commitment to the attainment of much sought peace throughout the land,&quot; he added. 
 
(Reuters)

President Rodrigo Duterte lifted the truce after reports that rebels violated it by killing a militiaman and wounding four others

The Philippine government may still re-impose a ceasefire with Maoist-led guerrillas, a senior administration official said today, a day after it was withdrawn by President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte lifted the unilateral truce with the communist New People's Army on Saturday evening, six days after it was declared as a goodwill gesture ahead of formal peace negotiations in Oslo next month. The move came after rebels did not respond to a deadline to reciprocate the government's truce. "We may work out a negotiated truce with the Communists," Jesus Dureza, presidential peace adviser, said. "It was in our agenda when the formal peace talks resume in Oslo. The peace talks will go on as scheduled." The peace talks, brokered by Norway, will resume on August 20, four years after bogging down due to rebels' demand for the release of 500 political prisoners. The government has now promised to free them for health and humanitarian reasons. Dureza said he welcomed a statement from rebel leader Jose Maria Siso, who was interviewed on local television hours after Duterte withdrew the ceasefire, saying the communists had also intended to impose a truce but it was overtaken by events. "This is what we have been waiting for," Dureza said in an official statement. "The leadership of the CPP/NPA/NDF announced through the media its belated but still strategic and awaited decision to also declare its own unilateral ceasefire." Duterte also was angered by reports that Maoist-led rebels had killed a militiaman, and wounded four others, in an ambush on Wednesday when they were returning to an army base in Davao del Norte to comply with the government's unilateral truce. Renato Reyes, secretary-general of Bayan (Nation), a left-wing political group, criticised the government for imposing "unrealistic" ultimatums, saying the "peace talks are more complicated than some folks think". "The road to peace is a difficult one, where deadlines and ultimatums cannot just be imposed and where discussions of the substantial agenda are the only sure means to achieve a lasting end to hostilities," he said. Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said army units have resumed offensive action against the rebels. "The rebels have missed a golden opportunity to manifest their commitment to the attainment of much sought peace throughout the land," he added. (Reuters)

Philippines may still re-impose withdrawn ceasefire with Maoist-led rebels

The newly convened Philippine Congress heard a proposal today to re-impose the death penalty for &#39;heinous crimes&#39;, giving priority to President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s push for capital punishment in its first legislative session. 
 
The death penalty bill was received the same day Duterte took office on June 30, and it cites illicit sales and use of drugs as the root cause of &quot;the most perverse and atrocious crimes&quot;. 
 
Introduced by two lawmakers, including a house speaker allied with Duterte, the bill cites the need for a war on crime and argues that existing laws were not a deterrent and had &quot;emasculated&quot; the criminal justice system. 
 
The death penalty was repealed in 2006 following pressure from church groups. 
 
The bill comes as Duterte&#39;s war on crime is in full swing, with at least 200 people killed in the past month, according to police, who say many of the deaths are the work of vigilantes. 
 
Other estimates of the body count are far higher and human rights groups are outraged. 
 
Duterte&#39;s vow to wipe out crime and drugs by the end of the year resonated among millions of locals when he campaigned for election on threats to kill drug dealers who refused to surrender and dump their bodies in Manila Bay. 
 
He will not get everything his way, however, with the bill calling for lethal injection as a method of administering the punishment. Duterte had called for death by hanging, which he described graphically during speeches. 
 
(Reuters)

Philippine Congress discusses death penalty bill that cites illicit sales and use of drugs as the root cause of most atrocious crimes

The newly convened Philippine Congress heard a proposal today to re-impose the death penalty for 'heinous crimes', giving priority to President Rodrigo Duterte's push for capital punishment in its first legislative session. The death penalty bill was received the same day Duterte took office on June 30, and it cites illicit sales and use of drugs as the root cause of "the most perverse and atrocious crimes". Introduced by two lawmakers, including a house speaker allied with Duterte, the bill cites the need for a war on crime and argues that existing laws were not a deterrent and had "emasculated" the criminal justice system. The death penalty was repealed in 2006 following pressure from church groups. The bill comes as Duterte's war on crime is in full swing, with at least 200 people killed in the past month, according to police, who say many of the deaths are the work of vigilantes. Other estimates of the body count are far higher and human rights groups are outraged. Duterte's vow to wipe out crime and drugs by the end of the year resonated among millions of locals when he campaigned for election on threats to kill drug dealers who refused to surrender and dump their bodies in Manila Bay. He will not get everything his way, however, with the bill calling for lethal injection as a method of administering the punishment. Duterte had called for death by hanging, which he described graphically during speeches. (Reuters)

Philippine President Duterte pushes for re-imposition of death penalty in first legislative reform

Southeast Asian nations overcame days of deadlock today when the Philippines dropped a request for their joint statement to mention a landmark legal ruling on the South China Sea, officials said, after objections from Cambodia. 
 
Beijing publicly thanked Cambodia for supporting its stance on maritime disputes, a position which threw the regional bloc&#39;s weekend meeting in the Laos capital of Vientiane into disarray. 
 
Competing claims with China in the vita shipping are among the most contentious issues for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with its 10 members pulled between their desire to assert their sovereignty while finding common ground and fostering political and commercial ties with Beijing. 
 
Communique insists on peaceful resolutions&nbsp; 
 
China claims most of the sea, but ASEAN members -- the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei -- all have rival claims. In a ruling by the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12, the Philippines won an emphatic legal victory over China on the dispute. 
 
The Philippines and Vietnam both wanted the ruling, which denied China&#39;s sweeping claims in the strategic seaway that channels more than $ 5 trillion in global trade each year, and a call to respect international maritime law to feature in the communique. 
 
Calling for bilateral discussions, Cambodia opposed the wording on the ruling, diplomats said. 
 
Manila agreed to drop the reference to the ruling in the communique, one ASEAN diplomat said today, in an effort to prevent the disagreement leading to the group failing to issue a statement. 
 
The communique referred instead to the need to find peaceful resolutions to disputes in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, including the United Nations&#39; law of the sea, to which the court ruling referred. 
 
&quot;We remain seriously concerned about recent and ongoing developments and took note of the concerns expressed by some ministers on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region,&quot; the ASEAN communique said. 
 
It was important to avoid militarisation of the region, and for freedom of navigation to be maintained, ASEAN said. 
 
Beijing says the court ruling has no bearing on its rights in the sea, and described the case as a farce. 
 
Cambodia&#39;s position was the right one and would safeguard unity of ASEAN and cooperation with China, China&#39;s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Cambodia&#39;s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon, according to a statement posted on China&#39;s Foreign Ministry website early today. 
 
&quot;China greatly approves of Cambodia and other ASEAN countries taking charge of impartiality and safeguarding fairness,&quot; Wang said. 
 
China frequently blames the United States for raising tensions in the region and has warned regional rival Japan to steer clear of the dispute. 
 
&quot;We will not permit any outside force to seek to exploit and hype up the so-called South China Sea arbitration case and bring chaos to this region,&quot; Wang said. 
 
Major powers arrive 
 
The United States, allied with the Philippines and cultivating closer relations with Vietnam, has called on China to respect the court&#39;s ruling. 
 
It has criticised China&#39;s building of artificial islands and facilities in the sea and has sailed warships close to the disputed territory to assert freedom of navigation rights. 
 
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Laos capital today. 
 
He is expected to discuss maritime issues in a meeting with Wang, as well as in meetings with ASEAN members. 
 
Both are in town for the ASEAN regional forum and East Asia summits, which bring ASEAN diplomats together with the US, China, Japan, Russia and several other countries. 
 
Kerry will urge ASEAN nations to explore diplomatic ways to ease tension over Asia&#39;s biggest potential military flashpoint, a senior US official said ahead of his trip. 
 
Barack Obama is set to become the first US president to visit Laos, attending an annual summit in September. 
 
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is also in Laos, making her debut at ASEAN meetings as the foreign minister for Myanmar. 
 
(Reuters)

Philippines agreed to drop the reference to ruling in communique,to prevent disagreement leading to the group failing to issue a statement

Southeast Asian nations overcame days of deadlock today when the Philippines dropped a request for their joint statement to mention a landmark legal ruling on the South China Sea, officials said, after objections from Cambodia. Beijing publicly thanked Cambodia for supporting its stance on maritime disputes, a position which threw the regional bloc's weekend meeting in the Laos capital of Vientiane into disarray. Competing claims with China in the vita shipping are among the most contentious issues for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with its 10 members pulled between their desire to assert their sovereignty while finding common ground and fostering political and commercial ties with Beijing. Communique insists on peaceful resolutions China claims most of the sea, but ASEAN members -- the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei -- all have rival claims. In a ruling by the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12, the Philippines won an emphatic legal victory over China on the dispute. The Philippines and Vietnam both wanted the ruling, which denied China's sweeping claims in the strategic seaway that channels more than $ 5 trillion in global trade each year, and a call to respect international maritime law to feature in the communique. Calling for bilateral discussions, Cambodia opposed the wording on the ruling, diplomats said. Manila agreed to drop the reference to the ruling in the communique, one ASEAN diplomat said today, in an effort to prevent the disagreement leading to the group failing to issue a statement. The communique referred instead to the need to find peaceful resolutions to disputes in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, including the United Nations' law of the sea, to which the court ruling referred. "We remain seriously concerned about recent and ongoing developments and took note of the concerns expressed by some ministers on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region," the ASEAN communique said. It was important to avoid militarisation of the region, and for freedom of navigation to be maintained, ASEAN said. Beijing says the court ruling has no bearing on its rights in the sea, and described the case as a farce. Cambodia's position was the right one and would safeguard unity of ASEAN and cooperation with China, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon, according to a statement posted on China's Foreign Ministry website early today. "China greatly approves of Cambodia and other ASEAN countries taking charge of impartiality and safeguarding fairness," Wang said. China frequently blames the United States for raising tensions in the region and has warned regional rival Japan to steer clear of the dispute. "We will not permit any outside force to seek to exploit and hype up the so-called South China Sea arbitration case and bring chaos to this region," Wang said. Major powers arrive The United States, allied with the Philippines and cultivating closer relations with Vietnam, has called on China to respect the court's ruling. It has criticised China's building of artificial islands and facilities in the sea and has sailed warships close to the disputed territory to assert freedom of navigation rights. US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Laos capital today. He is expected to discuss maritime issues in a meeting with Wang, as well as in meetings with ASEAN members. Both are in town for the ASEAN regional forum and East Asia summits, which bring ASEAN diplomats together with the US, China, Japan, Russia and several other countries. Kerry will urge ASEAN nations to explore diplomatic ways to ease tension over Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint, a senior US official said ahead of his trip. Barack Obama is set to become the first US president to visit Laos, attending an annual summit in September. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is also in Laos, making her debut at ASEAN meetings as the foreign minister for Myanmar. (Reuters)

ASEAN breaks deadlock on South China Sea, Beijing thanks Cambodia for support

Vietnam has warned that the inability of Southeast Asian nations to forge a unified front against Beijing&#39;s militarisation of the South China Sea is a &quot;test&quot; of the regional bloc in the face of its greatest security challenge. 
 
The unusually strong comments from a key claimant to the contested waters, comes as diplomats meet in Laos for the first summit since a UN-backed tribunal debunked Beijing&#39;s legal claim to vast stretches of the strategically vital sea. 
 
After talks stuttered on Sunday, Vietnam&#39;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a late night statement warning that the South China Sea had become &quot;a test case for the unity and the central role of ASEAN&quot;. 
 
&quot;Many ministers stressed that in this context, ASEAN should promote solidarity, unity and a central role,&quot; the statement added. 
 
Diplomats met for a new round of crunch talks, called for by Laos today morning.&nbsp;As they came to a close, Indonesia&#39;s foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, expressed optimism that a statement would be agreed to, though diplomats previously told AFP it would likely be &quot;watered down&quot;. 
 
Staunch Beijing ally Cambodia has been accused of scuppering efforts by the bloc to issue a joint statement calling on Beijing to adhere to the UN tribunal&#39;s decision.&nbsp;Four ASEAN members - Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South China Sea.&nbsp; 
 
Most members of the bloc want to keep pressure on China over its campaign of island building in the strategic waters.&nbsp;But ASEAN operates on a tradition of consensus diplomacy, meaning a single nation can have an effective veto power if it disagrees with the others. 
 
China has been accused of teasing poorer members like Laos and Cambodia into fracturing regional unity with promises of aid and trade.&nbsp;Critics have long derided ASEAN for lacking real diplomatic clout. 
 
A failure to respond to the tribunal ruling or the region&#39;s key security issue will do little to counter those claims.&nbsp;The ongoing impasse in Vientiane has led to fears of a repeat of a 2012 summit in Cambodia, where the bloc failed to issue a joint communique for the first time in its history because of disagreements over the South China Sea. 
 
Chinese pressure was blamed last month for a startling show of discord by the bloc, when countries swiftly disowned a joint statement released by Malaysia after an ASEAN-China meeting.&nbsp;That statement had expressed alarm over Beijing&#39;s activities in the South China Sea. Cambodia and Laos were later fingered as being behind moves to block the joint statement. 
 
(AFP)

Four ASEAN members - Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South China Sea

Vietnam has warned that the inability of Southeast Asian nations to forge a unified front against Beijing's militarisation of the South China Sea is a "test" of the regional bloc in the face of its greatest security challenge. The unusually strong comments from a key claimant to the contested waters, comes as diplomats meet in Laos for the first summit since a UN-backed tribunal debunked Beijing's legal claim to vast stretches of the strategically vital sea. After talks stuttered on Sunday, Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a late night statement warning that the South China Sea had become "a test case for the unity and the central role of ASEAN". "Many ministers stressed that in this context, ASEAN should promote solidarity, unity and a central role," the statement added. Diplomats met for a new round of crunch talks, called for by Laos today morning. As they came to a close, Indonesia's foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, expressed optimism that a statement would be agreed to, though diplomats previously told AFP it would likely be "watered down". Staunch Beijing ally Cambodia has been accused of scuppering efforts by the bloc to issue a joint statement calling on Beijing to adhere to the UN tribunal's decision. Four ASEAN members - Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South China Sea. Most members of the bloc want to keep pressure on China over its campaign of island building in the strategic waters. But ASEAN operates on a tradition of consensus diplomacy, meaning a single nation can have an effective veto power if it disagrees with the others. China has been accused of teasing poorer members like Laos and Cambodia into fracturing regional unity with promises of aid and trade. Critics have long derided ASEAN for lacking real diplomatic clout. A failure to respond to the tribunal ruling or the region's key security issue will do little to counter those claims. The ongoing impasse in Vientiane has led to fears of a repeat of a 2012 summit in Cambodia, where the bloc failed to issue a joint communique for the first time in its history because of disagreements over the South China Sea. Chinese pressure was blamed last month for a startling show of discord by the bloc, when countries swiftly disowned a joint statement released by Malaysia after an ASEAN-China meeting. That statement had expressed alarm over Beijing's activities in the South China Sea. Cambodia and Laos were later fingered as being behind moves to block the joint statement. (AFP)

Vietnam warns South China Sea is a 'test' of ASEAN

The Philippines has stopped accepting applications for new ride-sharing vehicles of Uber and Grab due to a backlog amid a government review of its policies on fare spikes, a senior official said today. 
 
The Southeast Asian nation was the first country to regulate app-based car-hailing operations after coming out with rules last year. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s just the new applications that we have to suspend so we don&#39;t have a huge amount of backlog,&quot; said Cherie Mercado, spokeswoman of the transportation department. 
 
Applications have ballooned to record high, with 29,000 pending, 23,000 of which were for Uber and the rest divided between Grab and u-Hop, she said. 
 
Mercado said the suspension was indefinite and it was not clear what changes would be required to reverse it. 
 
&quot;We will also review the fare scheme, the surge pricing,&quot; she said, referring to the fluctuating fare charges which have caused friction as conventional taxis are not allowed to apply them. 
 
The Philippines is Southeast Asia&#39;s third fastest growing market for automobiles. 
 
The country&#39;s motor vehicle sales jumped 25.4 per cent in January to May, next only to Singapore 76.8 per cent uptick and Vietnam&#39;s 36.6 per cent climb, data from the ASEAN Automotive Federation showed. 
 
Uber said it respected the decision, even though it went against its goal of getting more people into fewer cars, which it said would be a plus for a notoriously gridlocked city like Manila. 
 
&quot;Fewer drivers on Uber leads to lower reliability of service for riders in Metro Manila, who have come to rely on Uber as a viable alternative to buying and driving their own private vehicles,&quot; it said in a statement. 
 
&quot;This decision also comes at a time when we are trying to help improve the traffic situation in Metro Manila by providing an efficient method of carpooling.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)

Applications have ballooned to record high, with 29,000 pending, 23,000 of which were for Uber and the rest divided between Grab and u-Hop

The Philippines has stopped accepting applications for new ride-sharing vehicles of Uber and Grab due to a backlog amid a government review of its policies on fare spikes, a senior official said today. The Southeast Asian nation was the first country to regulate app-based car-hailing operations after coming out with rules last year. "It's just the new applications that we have to suspend so we don't have a huge amount of backlog," said Cherie Mercado, spokeswoman of the transportation department. Applications have ballooned to record high, with 29,000 pending, 23,000 of which were for Uber and the rest divided between Grab and u-Hop, she said. Mercado said the suspension was indefinite and it was not clear what changes would be required to reverse it. "We will also review the fare scheme, the surge pricing," she said, referring to the fluctuating fare charges which have caused friction as conventional taxis are not allowed to apply them. The Philippines is Southeast Asia's third fastest growing market for automobiles. The country's motor vehicle sales jumped 25.4 per cent in January to May, next only to Singapore 76.8 per cent uptick and Vietnam's 36.6 per cent climb, data from the ASEAN Automotive Federation showed. Uber said it respected the decision, even though it went against its goal of getting more people into fewer cars, which it said would be a plus for a notoriously gridlocked city like Manila. "Fewer drivers on Uber leads to lower reliability of service for riders in Metro Manila, who have come to rely on Uber as a viable alternative to buying and driving their own private vehicles," it said in a statement. "This decision also comes at a time when we are trying to help improve the traffic situation in Metro Manila by providing an efficient method of carpooling." (Reuters)

Philippines suspends new Uber, Grab vehicle registrations as backlog mounts

Former Philippines president Gloria Arroyo was released from detention today following nearly five years in a military hospital after the Supreme Court dismissed her corruption charges, her lawyer said. 
 
The 69-year-old, who suffers from a spinal illness, was accused of stealing 366 million Pesos ($8.8 million) in state lottery funds meant for charity programmes while she was in office between 2001 and 2010.&nbsp;The Supreme Court threw out the case on Tuesday, citing insufficient evidence, but her release was delayed for procedural reasons. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s a happy day today because she has just been freed,&quot; said Laurence Arroyo, who is also a distant relative through marriage.&nbsp;&quot;Finally justice has been done.&quot; 
 
A convoy of vehicles carrying Arroyo, her supporters and lawyers left the suburban hospital compound near Manila but she could not be seen from her car&#39;s tinted windows.&nbsp;Outside the gates of the hospital, supporters drenched by rain cheered Arroyo&#39;s release and carried placards reading: &quot;We love Gloria&quot;. 
 
Arroyo returned to her home in a smart area of the capital minutes after her release. Laurence Arroyo said she may now seek medical treatment abroad for her disease.&nbsp;In a statement issued by her lawyers on Wednesday, Arroyo thanked the Supreme Court and newly-installed President Rodrigo Duterte for not standing in the way of her release. 
 
Government Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales defended the decision to charge Arroyo for plunder, and said on Wednesday she was preparing another corruption charge against her. 
 
The former leader was jailed in 2011 under the administration of arch critic, then-president Benigno Aquino.&nbsp;Aquino questioned the ruling to free Arroyo today, saying she should be held accountable for the mismanagement of funds that were supposed &quot;to alleviate the suffering of many of our countrymen&quot;. 
 
Duterte succeeded Aquino in June, and said he was willing to pardon Arroyo.&nbsp;Another of Arroyo&#39;s lawyers, Estelito Mendoza, had suggested that the Supreme Court waited until Aquino stepped down before issuing its ruling as a &quot;courtesy&quot; to Aquino. 
 
Arroyo was initially arrested on charges of electoral sabotage for allegedly conspiring with election officials to rig 2007 senatorial polls.&nbsp;Because of her illness, the government allowed her to be detained in a military hospital. 
 
She was granted bail for the vote-rigging case in July 2012 after the court, while not dismissing the charge, ruled evidence against her was weak.&nbsp;But the corruption case against Arroyo was lodged the same year, keeping her in detention. 
 
Despite being detained, Arroyo has won a seat in the House of Representatives in the past three elections, serving as a congresswoman while being held in the hospital. 
 
(AFP)

Gloria Arroyo was accused of stealing $8.8 from lottery funds meant for charities. She served as a congresswoman while in hospital

Former Philippines president Gloria Arroyo was released from detention today following nearly five years in a military hospital after the Supreme Court dismissed her corruption charges, her lawyer said. The 69-year-old, who suffers from a spinal illness, was accused of stealing 366 million Pesos ($8.8 million) in state lottery funds meant for charity programmes while she was in office between 2001 and 2010. The Supreme Court threw out the case on Tuesday, citing insufficient evidence, but her release was delayed for procedural reasons. "It's a happy day today because she has just been freed," said Laurence Arroyo, who is also a distant relative through marriage. "Finally justice has been done." A convoy of vehicles carrying Arroyo, her supporters and lawyers left the suburban hospital compound near Manila but she could not be seen from her car's tinted windows. Outside the gates of the hospital, supporters drenched by rain cheered Arroyo's release and carried placards reading: "We love Gloria". Arroyo returned to her home in a smart area of the capital minutes after her release. Laurence Arroyo said she may now seek medical treatment abroad for her disease. In a statement issued by her lawyers on Wednesday, Arroyo thanked the Supreme Court and newly-installed President Rodrigo Duterte for not standing in the way of her release. Government Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales defended the decision to charge Arroyo for plunder, and said on Wednesday she was preparing another corruption charge against her. The former leader was jailed in 2011 under the administration of arch critic, then-president Benigno Aquino. Aquino questioned the ruling to free Arroyo today, saying she should be held accountable for the mismanagement of funds that were supposed "to alleviate the suffering of many of our countrymen". Duterte succeeded Aquino in June, and said he was willing to pardon Arroyo. Another of Arroyo's lawyers, Estelito Mendoza, had suggested that the Supreme Court waited until Aquino stepped down before issuing its ruling as a "courtesy" to Aquino. Arroyo was initially arrested on charges of electoral sabotage for allegedly conspiring with election officials to rig 2007 senatorial polls. Because of her illness, the government allowed her to be detained in a military hospital. She was granted bail for the vote-rigging case in July 2012 after the court, while not dismissing the charge, ruled evidence against her was weak. But the corruption case against Arroyo was lodged the same year, keeping her in detention. Despite being detained, Arroyo has won a seat in the House of Representatives in the past three elections, serving as a congresswoman while being held in the hospital. (AFP)

Former Philippines president freed after 5 years in military hospital detention

A decision invalidating China&#39;s vast claims in the South China Sea was a &quot;crowning glory&quot; that renews faith in international law, the&nbsp;Philippines&#39; top lawyer said on Friday, in Manila&#39;s strongest comment yet on its sweeping win.

The remarks by solicitor general Jose Calida follow two days of carefully calibrated responses from the&nbsp;Philippines&nbsp;and are almost certain to irritate China further.

Manila has so far been keen not to rock the boat in the hope of starting dialogue towards Beijing allowing it to exercise what the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled were its sovereign maritime rights.

&quot;It confirms that no one state can claim virtually an entire sea. The award is a historic win not only for the&nbsp;Philippines&nbsp;... it renews humanity&#39;s faith in a rules based global order,&quot; Calida told a forum on the South China Sea.

&quot;The award opens a horizon of possibilities for all stakeholders. The award is a crowning glory of international law.&quot;

China has refused to recognise Tuesday&#39;s ruling and did not take part in its proceedings. It has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries for the decision to be adhered to.

China&#39;s foreign ministry on Friday said Beijing&#39;s position on the case had the support of Laos, the current chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional bloc long dogged by discord over how to deal with China&#39;s maritime assertiveness.

The verdict was discussed on Thursday between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith ahead a regional summit in Mongolia.

&quot;Thongloun said that Laos supports China&#39;s position, and is willing to work with China to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea region,&quot; the ministry said in a statement.

The statement did not elaborate. Laos&#39; foreign ministry has not responded to Reuters&#39; request for comment on the ruling and its state media made no mention of Thongloun&#39;s comments to Li.

Land-locked Laos, which is boosting economic ties with China, will be hosting a key security meeting later this month at which the South China Sea is expected to dominate. ASEAN has not issued a statement about the ruling and its members have not said why.

Cautious Approach

China has said it has widespread support for its rejection of the case but many countries have stuck to cautious comments about resolving disputes peacefully and following international laws.

China claims much of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the&nbsp;Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

Philippines&#39; President Rodrigo Duterte ended his unusual silence at a private function late on Thursday and said he wanted dialogue with China and was considering sending former President Fidel Ramos to Beijing to get the ball rolling.

&quot;War is not an option,&quot; he said. &quot;So, what is the other side? -&nbsp;Peaceful talk.&quot;

Immediately after the ruling, the normally brash and outspoken Duterte privately told his ministers to be magnanimous and not to pique Beijing, according to one minister.

But the cautious tone appears to be changing in the&nbsp;Philippines, where there are signs of public disgruntlement with the subdued government response to a decision that most of the country was celebrating.

The United States, a key&nbsp;Philippines&#39; ally, is urging Asian nations not to move aggressively to capitalize on the court ruling, according to US&nbsp;administration officials.

The chief of its naval operations, Admiral John Richardson will discuss the South China Sea among other issues when he meets China&#39;s navy commander, Admiral Wu Shengli, from Sunday on a three-day trip to &quot;improve mutual understanding&quot;, according to a US navy statement.

(Reuters)

China said Beijing's rejection of the verdict had the support of Laos, current chair of the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN)

A decision invalidating China's vast claims in the South China Sea was a "crowning glory" that renews faith in international law, the Philippines' top lawyer said on Friday, in Manila's strongest comment yet on its sweeping win. The remarks by solicitor general Jose Calida follow two days of carefully calibrated responses from the Philippines and are almost certain to irritate China further. Manila has so far been keen not to rock the boat in the hope of starting dialogue towards Beijing allowing it to exercise what the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled were its sovereign maritime rights. "It confirms that no one state can claim virtually an entire sea. The award is a historic win not only for the Philippines ... it renews humanity's faith in a rules based global order," Calida told a forum on the South China Sea. "The award opens a horizon of possibilities for all stakeholders. The award is a crowning glory of international law." China has refused to recognise Tuesday's ruling and did not take part in its proceedings. It has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries for the decision to be adhered to. China's foreign ministry on Friday said Beijing's position on the case had the support of Laos, the current chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional bloc long dogged by discord over how to deal with China's maritime assertiveness. The verdict was discussed on Thursday between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith ahead a regional summit in Mongolia. "Thongloun said that Laos supports China's position, and is willing to work with China to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea region," the ministry said in a statement. The statement did not elaborate. Laos' foreign ministry has not responded to Reuters' request for comment on the ruling and its state media made no mention of Thongloun's comments to Li. Land-locked Laos, which is boosting economic ties with China, will be hosting a key security meeting later this month at which the South China Sea is expected to dominate. ASEAN has not issued a statement about the ruling and its members have not said why. Cautious Approach China has said it has widespread support for its rejection of the case but many countries have stuck to cautious comments about resolving disputes peacefully and following international laws. China claims much of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims. Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte ended his unusual silence at a private function late on Thursday and said he wanted dialogue with China and was considering sending former President Fidel Ramos to Beijing to get the ball rolling. "War is not an option," he said. "So, what is the other side? - Peaceful talk." Immediately after the ruling, the normally brash and outspoken Duterte privately told his ministers to be magnanimous and not to pique Beijing, according to one minister. But the cautious tone appears to be changing in the Philippines, where there are signs of public disgruntlement with the subdued government response to a decision that most of the country was celebrating. The United States, a key Philippines' ally, is urging Asian nations not to move aggressively to capitalize on the court ruling, according to US administration officials. The chief of its naval operations, Admiral John Richardson will discuss the South China Sea among other issues when he meets China's navy commander, Admiral Wu Shengli, from Sunday on a three-day trip to "improve mutual understanding", according to a US navy statement. (Reuters)

Philippines' top lawyer hails South China Sea ruling a 'crowning glory'

A Chinese coastguard boat stopped a group of Philippine fishermen from approaching a disputed shoal on Thursday despite an arbitration ruling granting the Philippines the right to fish in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). 
 
An international court in The Hague ruled on Tuesday that China has no historic title over the large swathes of the South China Sea and that it has breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines with its actions there. 
 
A news team from local network ABS-CBN joined a group of fishermen as they travelled to Scarborough Shoal, which lies within the Philippines&#39; Exclusive Economic Zone and was seized by China in 2012. 
 
A Chinese coastguard patrol ship was spotted while they were approaching the mouth of the shoal and was soon approached by its personnel. 
 
&quot;This is Chinese Coastguard performing law enforcement duties here. you should leave here immediately,&quot; said one of the Chinese coastguard personnel. 
 
The fishermen decided to return and fish outside the shoal, ABS-CBN reported. 
 
The coastal town of Masinloc, which faces the South China Sea, has advised its fishermen not to fish in Scarborough Shoal until disputes are completely settled with China. 
 
In Manila, the Philippines&#39; top lawyer told a forum on today that the decision invalidating China&#39;s claims was a &quot;crowning glory&quot; that renews faith in international law. 
 
&quot;It confirms that no one state can contain virtually an entire sea. The award is a historic win, not only for the Philippines, but for the community because it renews humanity&#39;s faith in a rules based global order,&quot; Solicitor General Jose Calida said, the strongest comment a Philippine official has made since the arbitration award. 
 
&quot;The award opens a horizon of possibilities for all stake holders. The award is a crowning glory of international law. It provides for the norms to be followed, for the peaceful and orderly conduct of world affairs,&quot; he added. 
 
Manila has so far been keen not to rock the boat in the hope of starting dialogue towards Beijing allowing it to exercise what the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled were its sovereign maritime rights. 
 
The ruling is significant as it is the first time that a legal challenge has been brought in the dispute, which covers some of the world&#39;s most promising oil and gas fields and vital fishing grounds. 
 
The court has no power of enforcement, but a victory for the Philippines could spur Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei to file similar cases. 
 
China has refused to recognise Tuesday&#39;s ruling and did not take part in its proceedings. It has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries for the decision to be adhered to. 
 
China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. 
 
(Reuters)

China has refused to recognise Hague's ruling on Tuesday that it has no historic claim over the South China sea

A Chinese coastguard boat stopped a group of Philippine fishermen from approaching a disputed shoal on Thursday despite an arbitration ruling granting the Philippines the right to fish in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). An international court in The Hague ruled on Tuesday that China has no historic title over the large swathes of the South China Sea and that it has breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines with its actions there. A news team from local network ABS-CBN joined a group of fishermen as they travelled to Scarborough Shoal, which lies within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone and was seized by China in 2012. A Chinese coastguard patrol ship was spotted while they were approaching the mouth of the shoal and was soon approached by its personnel. "This is Chinese Coastguard performing law enforcement duties here. you should leave here immediately," said one of the Chinese coastguard personnel. The fishermen decided to return and fish outside the shoal, ABS-CBN reported. The coastal town of Masinloc, which faces the South China Sea, has advised its fishermen not to fish in Scarborough Shoal until disputes are completely settled with China. In Manila, the Philippines' top lawyer told a forum on today that the decision invalidating China's claims was a "crowning glory" that renews faith in international law. "It confirms that no one state can contain virtually an entire sea. The award is a historic win, not only for the Philippines, but for the community because it renews humanity's faith in a rules based global order," Solicitor General Jose Calida said, the strongest comment a Philippine official has made since the arbitration award. "The award opens a horizon of possibilities for all stake holders. The award is a crowning glory of international law. It provides for the norms to be followed, for the peaceful and orderly conduct of world affairs," he added. Manila has so far been keen not to rock the boat in the hope of starting dialogue towards Beijing allowing it to exercise what the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled were its sovereign maritime rights. The ruling is significant as it is the first time that a legal challenge has been brought in the dispute, which covers some of the world's most promising oil and gas fields and vital fishing grounds. The court has no power of enforcement, but a victory for the Philippines could spur Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei to file similar cases. China has refused to recognise Tuesday's ruling and did not take part in its proceedings. It has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries for the decision to be adhered to. China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. (Reuters)

Chinese coastguard blocks Philippine fishermen from approaching disputed shoal

The Philippines urged Beijing today to respect an international tribunal&#39;s ruling that rejected Chinese claims to most of the South China Sea, escalating a row that has raised the prospect of conflict. 
 
China reacted furiously to the verdict by a UN-back tribunal on Tuesday, insisting it will ignore the decision while warning its rivals too much pressure on the issue could turn the resource-rich and strategically vital waterway into a &quot;cradle of war&quot;. 
 
Dispute to remain talking point during at ASEM&nbsp; 
 
The Philippines, which launched the legal challenge, had initially refrained from asking China to abide by the ruling. This followed President Rodrigo Duterte`s directive to achieve a &quot;soft landing&quot; with the Philippines&#39; much more powerful Asian neighbour. 
 
But Manila hardened its stance today with a statement detailing Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay&#39;s priorities when he attends an Asia-Europe summit, known as ASEM, in Mongolia this week along with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. 
 
&quot;Secretary Yasay will discuss within the context of ASEM&#39;s agenda the Philippines&#39; peaceful and rules-based approach on the South China Sea and the need for parties to respect the recent decision,&quot; the foreign affairs department said in a statement. 
 
Even just raising the issue at the two-day summit starting on Friday will anger China, which has long bridled at Philippine efforts to have the dispute discussed at multilateral events. 
 
Chinese assistant foreign minister Kong Xuanyou insisted on Monday the ASEM summit was &quot;not an appropriate venue&quot; to discuss the South China Sea. 
 
But China appears to be in the minority -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also said today as he left for Mongolia that he wanted to discuss the South China Sea at the summit. 
 
China claims nearly all of the sea -- which is of immense military importance and through which about $5 trillion worth of shipping trade passes annually -- even waters approaching the coasts of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. 
 
US, China call on China to respect Hague ruling&nbsp; 
 
China justifies its claims by saying it was the first to have discovered, named and exploited the sea, and outlines its territory using a vague map made up of nine dashes that emerged in the 1940s. 
 
However the tribunal, in The Hague, ruled China&#39;s claimed historic rights to resources within the nine-dash map had no legal basis. 
 
It also declared that China had acted unlawfully by violating the Philippines` sovereign rights within its exclusive economic zone -- waters extending 200 nautical miles from the Filipino coast. 
 
China had done so by interfering with Philippine fishing and petroleum exploration within the exclusive zone, as well as by building artificial islands there. 
 
China has in recent years undertaken giant land reclamation works in the Spratlys archipelago, one of the biggest island groups in the sea which partly falls within the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone. 
 
The United States and Australia were among Philippine allies this week to call on China to respect the ruling.&nbsp; 
 
China mulling over introducing air defence zone over the sea&nbsp; 
 
But the Chinese government and state media instead unleashed a tirade of vitriol against the tribunal, and vowed never to give up its claims to the sea. 
 
&quot;Do not turn the South China Sea into a cradle of war,&quot; vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday in a warning to rivals. 
 
He also said China may introduce an air defence zone over the sea, which would give its military authority over foreign aircraft, depending on the &quot;threat&quot; level. 
 
The English-language China Daily said: &quot;Beijing certainly should, and has to, ready itself for worst-case scenarios, including potential military collisions&quot;. 
 
China and the United States had already deployed significant naval firepower in the sea ahead of the verdict.&nbsp; 
Taiwan, which has a very similar claim to the waters as China, sent a warship into the waters on Wednesday to protect its interests.&nbsp; 
 
The Philippines filed the legal challenge against China in 2013 under Duterte`s predecessor, Benigno Aquino. Relations between Beijing and Manila plummeted over the row. 
 
Duterte, who took office on June 30, has said he wants better relations with China and to attract Chinese investment for major infrastructure projects.&nbsp; 
 
Unlike Aquino, Duterte has said he wants to talk directly with China over the issue. Beijing also wants to negotiate, but at the same time insists it will never concede on sovereignty. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

Philippines' Foreign Secretary will discuss country's rules-based approach on South China Sea with Chinese Premier at ASEM this week

The Philippines urged Beijing today to respect an international tribunal's ruling that rejected Chinese claims to most of the South China Sea, escalating a row that has raised the prospect of conflict. China reacted furiously to the verdict by a UN-back tribunal on Tuesday, insisting it will ignore the decision while warning its rivals too much pressure on the issue could turn the resource-rich and strategically vital waterway into a "cradle of war". Dispute to remain talking point during at ASEM The Philippines, which launched the legal challenge, had initially refrained from asking China to abide by the ruling. This followed President Rodrigo Duterte`s directive to achieve a "soft landing" with the Philippines' much more powerful Asian neighbour. But Manila hardened its stance today with a statement detailing Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay's priorities when he attends an Asia-Europe summit, known as ASEM, in Mongolia this week along with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. "Secretary Yasay will discuss within the context of ASEM's agenda the Philippines' peaceful and rules-based approach on the South China Sea and the need for parties to respect the recent decision," the foreign affairs department said in a statement. Even just raising the issue at the two-day summit starting on Friday will anger China, which has long bridled at Philippine efforts to have the dispute discussed at multilateral events. Chinese assistant foreign minister Kong Xuanyou insisted on Monday the ASEM summit was "not an appropriate venue" to discuss the South China Sea. But China appears to be in the minority -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also said today as he left for Mongolia that he wanted to discuss the South China Sea at the summit. China claims nearly all of the sea -- which is of immense military importance and through which about $5 trillion worth of shipping trade passes annually -- even waters approaching the coasts of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. US, China call on China to respect Hague ruling China justifies its claims by saying it was the first to have discovered, named and exploited the sea, and outlines its territory using a vague map made up of nine dashes that emerged in the 1940s. However the tribunal, in The Hague, ruled China's claimed historic rights to resources within the nine-dash map had no legal basis. It also declared that China had acted unlawfully by violating the Philippines` sovereign rights within its exclusive economic zone -- waters extending 200 nautical miles from the Filipino coast. China had done so by interfering with Philippine fishing and petroleum exploration within the exclusive zone, as well as by building artificial islands there. China has in recent years undertaken giant land reclamation works in the Spratlys archipelago, one of the biggest island groups in the sea which partly falls within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. The United States and Australia were among Philippine allies this week to call on China to respect the ruling. China mulling over introducing air defence zone over the sea But the Chinese government and state media instead unleashed a tirade of vitriol against the tribunal, and vowed never to give up its claims to the sea. "Do not turn the South China Sea into a cradle of war," vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday in a warning to rivals. He also said China may introduce an air defence zone over the sea, which would give its military authority over foreign aircraft, depending on the "threat" level. The English-language China Daily said: "Beijing certainly should, and has to, ready itself for worst-case scenarios, including potential military collisions". China and the United States had already deployed significant naval firepower in the sea ahead of the verdict. Taiwan, which has a very similar claim to the waters as China, sent a warship into the waters on Wednesday to protect its interests. The Philippines filed the legal challenge against China in 2013 under Duterte`s predecessor, Benigno Aquino. Relations between Beijing and Manila plummeted over the row. Duterte, who took office on June 30, has said he wants better relations with China and to attract Chinese investment for major infrastructure projects. Unlike Aquino, Duterte has said he wants to talk directly with China over the issue. Beijing also wants to negotiate, but at the same time insists it will never concede on sovereignty. (AFP)

Manila hardens stance, tells China to respect Hague ruling

The United States is using quiet diplomacy to persuade the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other Asian nations not to move aggressively to capitalise on an international court ruling that denied China&#39;s claims to the South China Sea, several US administration officials said on Wednesday. 
 
&quot;What we want is to quiet things down so these issues can be addressed rationally instead of emotionally,&quot; said one official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private diplomatic messages. 
 
Some were sent through US embassies abroad and foreign missions in Washington, while others were conveyed directly to top officials by Defence Secretary Ash Carter, Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior officials, the sources said. 
 
&quot;This is a blanket call for quiet, not some attempt to rally the region against China, which would play into a false narrative that the US is leading a coalition to contain China,&quot; the official added. 
 
The effort to calm the waters following the court ruling in The Hague on Tuesday suffered a setback when Taiwan dispatched a warship to the area, with President Tsai Ing-wen telling sailors that their mission was to defend Taiwan&#39;s maritime territory. 
 
The court ruled that while China has no historic rights to the area within its self-declared nine-dash line, Taiwan has no right to Itu Aba, also called Taiping, the largest island in the Spratlys. Taipei administers Itu Aba but the tribunal called it a &quot;rock&quot;, according to the legal definition. 
 
The US officials said they hoped the US diplomatic initiative would be more successful in Indonesia, which wants to send hundreds of fishermen to the Natuna Islands to assert its sovereignty over nearby areas of the South China Sea to which China says it also has claims, and in the Philippines, whose fishermen have been harassed by Chinese coast guard and naval vessels. 
 
Unknown Quantity 
 
One official said new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte remains &quot;somewhat of an unknown quantity&quot; who has been alternately bellicose and accommodating toward China. 
 
Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that ahead of the ruling he had spoken to Carter, who he said that China had assured the United States it would exercise restraint, and that the US government made the same assurance. 
 
Carter had sought and been given the same assurance from the Philippines, Lorenzana added. 
 
China, for its part, repeated pleas for talks between Beijing and Manila, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying the it is time to get things back on the &quot;right track&quot; after the &quot;farce&quot; of the case. 
 
Today, the official newspaper of China&#39;s ruling Communist Party said China had shown it can fix territorial issues via talks, pointing to agreement reached with Vietnam over their maritime boundary in the Gulf of Tonkin and ongoing talks with South Korea. 
 
&quot;China is a faithful defender of the principle that countries large and small are equal and has consistently upheld using consultations to resolve border issues on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect,&quot; the People&#39;s Daily said in a commentary. 
 
Meanwhile, two Chinese civilian aircraft landed on Wednesday at two new airports on reefs controlled by China in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, a move the State Department said would increase tensions rather than lower them. 
 
&quot;We don&#39;t have a dog in this fight other than our belief ... in freedom of navigation,&quot; State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing on Wednesday. &quot;What we want to see in this very tense part of Asia, of the Pacific, rather, is a de-escalation of tensions and we want to see all claimants take a moment to look at how we can find a peaceful way forward.&quot; 
 
Contingency Plan 
 
However, if that effort fails, and competition escalates into confrontation, US air and naval forces are prepared to uphold freedom of maritime and air navigation in the disputed area, a defence official said on Wednesday. 
 
Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said confrontation is less likely if the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries work with the United States rather than on their own. 
 
&quot;I don&#39;t think China wants a confrontation with the United States,&quot; he told reporters. &quot;They don&rsquo;t mind a confrontation with a Vietnamese fishing boat, but they don&rsquo;t want a confrontation with the United States.&quot; 
 
The court ruling is expected to dominate a meeting at the end of July in Laos of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.&nbsp;US Secretary of State John Kerry, and his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang, will attend the ministerial. 
 
Sino-American relations suffered two fresh blows on Wednesday as a congressional committee found China&#39;s government likely hacked computers at the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the United States challenged China&#39;s export duties on nine metals and minerals that are important to the aerospace, auto, electronics and chemical industries. 
 
(Reuters)

Confrontation is less likely if the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries work with the United States rather than on their own

The United States is using quiet diplomacy to persuade the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other Asian nations not to move aggressively to capitalise on an international court ruling that denied China's claims to the South China Sea, several US administration officials said on Wednesday. "What we want is to quiet things down so these issues can be addressed rationally instead of emotionally," said one official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private diplomatic messages. Some were sent through US embassies abroad and foreign missions in Washington, while others were conveyed directly to top officials by Defence Secretary Ash Carter, Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior officials, the sources said. "This is a blanket call for quiet, not some attempt to rally the region against China, which would play into a false narrative that the US is leading a coalition to contain China," the official added. The effort to calm the waters following the court ruling in The Hague on Tuesday suffered a setback when Taiwan dispatched a warship to the area, with President Tsai Ing-wen telling sailors that their mission was to defend Taiwan's maritime territory. The court ruled that while China has no historic rights to the area within its self-declared nine-dash line, Taiwan has no right to Itu Aba, also called Taiping, the largest island in the Spratlys. Taipei administers Itu Aba but the tribunal called it a "rock", according to the legal definition. The US officials said they hoped the US diplomatic initiative would be more successful in Indonesia, which wants to send hundreds of fishermen to the Natuna Islands to assert its sovereignty over nearby areas of the South China Sea to which China says it also has claims, and in the Philippines, whose fishermen have been harassed by Chinese coast guard and naval vessels. Unknown Quantity One official said new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte remains "somewhat of an unknown quantity" who has been alternately bellicose and accommodating toward China. Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that ahead of the ruling he had spoken to Carter, who he said that China had assured the United States it would exercise restraint, and that the US government made the same assurance. Carter had sought and been given the same assurance from the Philippines, Lorenzana added. China, for its part, repeated pleas for talks between Beijing and Manila, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying the it is time to get things back on the "right track" after the "farce" of the case. Today, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party said China had shown it can fix territorial issues via talks, pointing to agreement reached with Vietnam over their maritime boundary in the Gulf of Tonkin and ongoing talks with South Korea. "China is a faithful defender of the principle that countries large and small are equal and has consistently upheld using consultations to resolve border issues on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect," the People's Daily said in a commentary. Meanwhile, two Chinese civilian aircraft landed on Wednesday at two new airports on reefs controlled by China in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, a move the State Department said would increase tensions rather than lower them. "We don't have a dog in this fight other than our belief ... in freedom of navigation," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing on Wednesday. "What we want to see in this very tense part of Asia, of the Pacific, rather, is a de-escalation of tensions and we want to see all claimants take a moment to look at how we can find a peaceful way forward." Contingency Plan However, if that effort fails, and competition escalates into confrontation, US air and naval forces are prepared to uphold freedom of maritime and air navigation in the disputed area, a defence official said on Wednesday. Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said confrontation is less likely if the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries work with the United States rather than on their own. "I don't think China wants a confrontation with the United States," he told reporters. "They don’t mind a confrontation with a Vietnamese fishing boat, but they don’t want a confrontation with the United States." The court ruling is expected to dominate a meeting at the end of July in Laos of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand. US Secretary of State John Kerry, and his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang, will attend the ministerial. Sino-American relations suffered two fresh blows on Wednesday as a congressional committee found China's government likely hacked computers at the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the United States challenged China's export duties on nine metals and minerals that are important to the aerospace, auto, electronics and chemical industries. (Reuters)

US launches quiet diplomacy to ease South China Sea tensions

An international tribunal on Tuesday ruled against China in a bitter row over territorial claims to the South China Sea that is likely to ratchet up regional tensions. 
 
&quot;The tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights within the sea areas falling within the &#39;nine-dash line,&#39;&quot; the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) said in a statement. 
 
All eyes were watching for reaction from the Asian political and military powerhouse, which had fired off a barrage of criticism even before the decision by the PCA in The Hague was announced. 
 
China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea -- about 90 per cent of the strategically vital waters -- in the face of rival claims from its South East Asian neighbours. 
 
Manila had lodged the suit against Beijing in 2013, saying that after 17 years of negotiations it had exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues.&nbsp;Beijing waged a months-long campaign to discredit the panel, which it says has no jurisdiction in the multinational dispute, and it refused to take part in the case. 
 
The state-run China Daily topped its front page with a picture of Woody Island in the Paracels, emblazoned: &quot;Arbitration invalid&quot;. 
 
English-language headlines on the official Xinhua news agency included: &quot;South China Sea arbitration abuses international law: Chinese scholar&quot;, &quot;Permanent Court of Arbitration must avoid being used for political purposes&quot; and &quot;The sea where Chinese fishermen live and die&quot;. 
 
Ahead of the decision, new Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had signalled he did not want to antagonise China, saying he would not &quot;taunt or flaunt&quot; a favourable ruling and would seek a &quot;soft landing&quot; with China. 
 
Nine-dash line&nbsp; 
 
China&#39;s claims were first enshrined in a map drawn in the 1940s with a nine-dash line stretching south from China and encircling almost all of the sea, although it says Chinese fishermen have been using it for centuries. 
 
To bolster its position it has rapidly turned reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. 
 
It has held naval drills between the Paracels and the southern Chinese island of Hainan in recent days. 
 
US naval destroyers have been patrolling near the Chinese-claimed Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands, supported by aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the US-based Navy Times reported. 
 
Chinese state media have said Beijing will not take a &quot;single step back&quot; after the ruling, and President Xi Jinping said earlier this month that China would never compromise on sovereignty, adding: &quot;We are not afraid of trouble&quot;. 
 
China had sought diplomatic support around the world, and foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said its latest backers included Angola, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea, showing that &quot;justice and righteousness always have popular support&quot;. 
 
&quot;Who is upholding the sanctity of international law and who is breaking international law, I think people are all clear about that,&quot; Lu said. 
 
Likely to &#39;escalate the war of words&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Manila lodged its suit against Beijing in 2013, saying China was in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both countries are signatories. 
 
One of the key issues was whether the land features in the area are islands capable of supporting human habitation - which under UNCLOS are entitled to territorial waters and an exclusive economic zone - or rocks, which only have territorial waters, or low-tide elevations, which get neither. 
 
If none of the outcrops are islands, then none of the claimants to them would gain sole rights to major expanses of the waters around them. 
 
&quot;The ruling can reduce the scope of the South China Sea disputes, but will not solve them,&quot; said analysts Yanmei Xie and Tim Johnston of the International Crisis Group in a report. 
 
The ruling was likely to &quot;escalate the war of words&quot;, they said, but added: &quot;Escalation to military standoffs is not inevitable&quot;. 
 
China could choose to withdraw from UNCLOS, or begin building on Scarborough Shoal, which Washington would view as a provocation. 
 
Beijing could also declare an air defence identification zone over the South China Sea, claiming the right to interrogate aircraft passing through the airspace, or try to remove a ship grounded by the Philippines on Second Thomas Shoal for use as a base. 
 
Alternatively, it could move to reduce tensions. 
 
Philippine foreign minister Perfecto Yasay had said on Friday that Manila hoped to open direct talks with Beijing on the dispute, and presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Tuesday: &quot;The top priority will be national interest.&quot; 
 
The Philippine embassy in China has warned its citizens to beware of personal &quot;threats&quot; and avoid political debates. 
 
Nationalist demonstrations are not rare in China, sometimes apparently with the tacit backing of authorities. 
 
More than 20 Chinese police were positioned outside the Philippine embassy on Tuesday, with more in vans nearby - a significantly larger presence than usual - along with two lorries loaded with crowd control barriers, a possible indication that authorities expected protests at the building. 
 
Official response from China 
 
China rejected an international ruling on the South China Sea on Tuesday, saying its islands had exclusive economic zones and the Chinese people have more than 2,000 years of history of activities there. 
 
China has sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea, including the Spratlys and Paracels, and China&#39;s position is consistent with international law and practice, China&#39;s Foreign Ministry added. 
 
(AFP and Reuters)

China claims 90% of the sea. The Philippines took it to court in 2013, saying that after 17 years it had exhausted all other options

An international tribunal on Tuesday ruled against China in a bitter row over territorial claims to the South China Sea that is likely to ratchet up regional tensions. "The tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights within the sea areas falling within the 'nine-dash line,'" the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) said in a statement. All eyes were watching for reaction from the Asian political and military powerhouse, which had fired off a barrage of criticism even before the decision by the PCA in The Hague was announced. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea -- about 90 per cent of the strategically vital waters -- in the face of rival claims from its South East Asian neighbours. Manila had lodged the suit against Beijing in 2013, saying that after 17 years of negotiations it had exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues. Beijing waged a months-long campaign to discredit the panel, which it says has no jurisdiction in the multinational dispute, and it refused to take part in the case. The state-run China Daily topped its front page with a picture of Woody Island in the Paracels, emblazoned: "Arbitration invalid". English-language headlines on the official Xinhua news agency included: "South China Sea arbitration abuses international law: Chinese scholar", "Permanent Court of Arbitration must avoid being used for political purposes" and "The sea where Chinese fishermen live and die". Ahead of the decision, new Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had signalled he did not want to antagonise China, saying he would not "taunt or flaunt" a favourable ruling and would seek a "soft landing" with China. Nine-dash line China's claims were first enshrined in a map drawn in the 1940s with a nine-dash line stretching south from China and encircling almost all of the sea, although it says Chinese fishermen have been using it for centuries. To bolster its position it has rapidly turned reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. It has held naval drills between the Paracels and the southern Chinese island of Hainan in recent days. US naval destroyers have been patrolling near the Chinese-claimed Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands, supported by aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the US-based Navy Times reported. Chinese state media have said Beijing will not take a "single step back" after the ruling, and President Xi Jinping said earlier this month that China would never compromise on sovereignty, adding: "We are not afraid of trouble". China had sought diplomatic support around the world, and foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said its latest backers included Angola, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea, showing that "justice and righteousness always have popular support". "Who is upholding the sanctity of international law and who is breaking international law, I think people are all clear about that," Lu said. Likely to 'escalate the war of words' Manila lodged its suit against Beijing in 2013, saying China was in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both countries are signatories. One of the key issues was whether the land features in the area are islands capable of supporting human habitation - which under UNCLOS are entitled to territorial waters and an exclusive economic zone - or rocks, which only have territorial waters, or low-tide elevations, which get neither. If none of the outcrops are islands, then none of the claimants to them would gain sole rights to major expanses of the waters around them. "The ruling can reduce the scope of the South China Sea disputes, but will not solve them," said analysts Yanmei Xie and Tim Johnston of the International Crisis Group in a report. The ruling was likely to "escalate the war of words", they said, but added: "Escalation to military standoffs is not inevitable". China could choose to withdraw from UNCLOS, or begin building on Scarborough Shoal, which Washington would view as a provocation. Beijing could also declare an air defence identification zone over the South China Sea, claiming the right to interrogate aircraft passing through the airspace, or try to remove a ship grounded by the Philippines on Second Thomas Shoal for use as a base. Alternatively, it could move to reduce tensions. Philippine foreign minister Perfecto Yasay had said on Friday that Manila hoped to open direct talks with Beijing on the dispute, and presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Tuesday: "The top priority will be national interest." The Philippine embassy in China has warned its citizens to beware of personal "threats" and avoid political debates. Nationalist demonstrations are not rare in China, sometimes apparently with the tacit backing of authorities. More than 20 Chinese police were positioned outside the Philippine embassy on Tuesday, with more in vans nearby - a significantly larger presence than usual - along with two lorries loaded with crowd control barriers, a possible indication that authorities expected protests at the building. Official response from China China rejected an international ruling on the South China Sea on Tuesday, saying its islands had exclusive economic zones and the Chinese people have more than 2,000 years of history of activities there. China has sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea, including the Spratlys and Paracels, and China's position is consistent with international law and practice, China's Foreign Ministry added. (AFP and Reuters)

South China Sea dispute: Hague rules against China

Beijing has begun military drills in the South China Sea, state media reported today ahead of a ruling by an international arbitration court on a dispute with the Philippines over the strategic waters. 
 
The navy on Friday carried out &quot;combat exercises&quot; with &quot;live missiles&quot; between the Paracels and the southern Chinese island of Hainan, the PLA Daily, the military&#39;s official newspaper, said on its website. 
 
State television CCTV broadcast images of fighter aircraft and ships firing missiles, helicopters taking off and submarines surfacing. 
 
&quot;The drill focused on air control operations, sea battles and anti-submarine warfare&quot;, said the PLA Daily, whose article was reposted on the defence ministry website. 
 
The military manoeuvres come as the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is set to make its final decision on Tuesday in the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China. 
 
The PLA Daily however insisted they were &quot;routine exercises&quot; and unrelated to the court&#39;s ruling. 
 
China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital waters in the face of rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours, most notably the Philippines and Vietnam. 
 
To bolster its claims it has rapidly turned reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. 
 
Manila lodged its suit against Beijing in 2013, challenging China&#39;s claims to much of the strategic waterway and saying it was in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both countries are signatories. 
 
Beijing has boycotted the proceedings, saying the court has no jurisdiction over the issue and that it will ignore the ruling. 
 
The Philippines said on Friday it was willing to share natural resources with Beijing in the contested seas even if it wins next week&#39;s legal challenge. 
 
Foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay told AFP that President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s administration hoped to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday&#39;s verdict. 
 
He said the negotiations could cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds within the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone. 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

The navy carried out 'combat exercises' with 'live missiles' between the Paracels and the southern Chinese island of Hainan

Beijing has begun military drills in the South China Sea, state media reported today ahead of a ruling by an international arbitration court on a dispute with the Philippines over the strategic waters. The navy on Friday carried out "combat exercises" with "live missiles" between the Paracels and the southern Chinese island of Hainan, the PLA Daily, the military's official newspaper, said on its website. State television CCTV broadcast images of fighter aircraft and ships firing missiles, helicopters taking off and submarines surfacing. "The drill focused on air control operations, sea battles and anti-submarine warfare", said the PLA Daily, whose article was reposted on the defence ministry website. The military manoeuvres come as the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is set to make its final decision on Tuesday in the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China. The PLA Daily however insisted they were "routine exercises" and unrelated to the court's ruling. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital waters in the face of rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours, most notably the Philippines and Vietnam. To bolster its claims it has rapidly turned reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. Manila lodged its suit against Beijing in 2013, challenging China's claims to much of the strategic waterway and saying it was in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both countries are signatories. Beijing has boycotted the proceedings, saying the court has no jurisdiction over the issue and that it will ignore the ruling. The Philippines said on Friday it was willing to share natural resources with Beijing in the contested seas even if it wins next week's legal challenge. Foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay told AFP that President Rodrigo Duterte's administration hoped to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday's verdict. He said the negotiations could cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. (AFP)

Beijing holds South China Sea war games before Hague ruling

Manila, Phillipines: Nine people were killed overnight in the Philippines, authorities said Saturday, as police and suspected anti-drug gunmen pushed ahead with President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s controversial war on crime. 
 
Duterte won the May 9 election by landslide largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of drug dealers and other criminals, and has urged the police and civilians to help in the killings. 
 
More than 100 suspects have been killed in the seven weeks since Duterte&#39;s election. 
 
One pre-dawn raid in the town of Matalam, about 900 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila, left eight &quot;drug personalities&quot; dead Saturday, including a woman, regional police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo told reporters. 
 
One other person was arrested on suspicion of drug offences, Galgo said, adding that three pistols and four grenades were found on the dead suspects. 
 
In Manila, police said they found a yet to be identified dead man, his entire head wrapped in tape, on a poorly lit road late Friday. 
 
His torso was covered with a cardboard sign reading: &quot;I Am A Pusher&quot;. 
 
Civil rights campaigners including two legislators called Friday for an enquiry into recent months&#39; police operations amid concerns at least some of the dead suspects could have been summarily executed by the lawmen. 
 
Police have said they had operated within the boundaries of the law in killing 103 suspects between May 10 and July 7. 
 
The Manila newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer&#39;s own &quot;kill list&quot; of suspected criminals showed 119 victims of suspected summary killings up until July 7, including 13 unidentified ones, since the elections. 
 
(AFP)

More than 100 people have been killed in the seven weeks since Rodrigo Duterte was elected President

Manila, Phillipines: Nine people were killed overnight in the Philippines, authorities said Saturday, as police and suspected anti-drug gunmen pushed ahead with President Rodrigo Duterte's controversial war on crime. Duterte won the May 9 election by landslide largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of drug dealers and other criminals, and has urged the police and civilians to help in the killings. More than 100 suspects have been killed in the seven weeks since Duterte's election. One pre-dawn raid in the town of Matalam, about 900 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila, left eight "drug personalities" dead Saturday, including a woman, regional police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo told reporters. One other person was arrested on suspicion of drug offences, Galgo said, adding that three pistols and four grenades were found on the dead suspects. In Manila, police said they found a yet to be identified dead man, his entire head wrapped in tape, on a poorly lit road late Friday. His torso was covered with a cardboard sign reading: "I Am A Pusher". Civil rights campaigners including two legislators called Friday for an enquiry into recent months' police operations amid concerns at least some of the dead suspects could have been summarily executed by the lawmen. Police have said they had operated within the boundaries of the law in killing 103 suspects between May 10 and July 7. The Manila newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer's own "kill list" of suspected criminals showed 119 victims of suspected summary killings up until July 7, including 13 unidentified ones, since the elections. (AFP)

Nine more killed in controversial Philippines drug war

The Philippines is willing to share natural resources with Beijing in contested South China Sea areas even if it wins a legal challenge next week, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said today. 
 
Yasay said President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s administration hoped to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday&#39;s verdict, with the negotiations to cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds within the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone. 
 
&quot;We can even have the objective of seeing how we can jointly explore this territory. How we can utilise and benefit mutually from the utilisation of the resources in this exclusive economic zone where claims are overlapping,&quot; Yasay said in an interview. 
 
The Philippines, under Benigno Aquino&#39;s previous administration, filed a legal challenge with a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague contesting China&#39;s claims to nearly all of the strategically vital sea. 
 
China&#39;s claims reach almost to the coasts of the Philippines and some other Southeast Asian nations, and it has in recent years built giant artificial islands in the contested areas to enforce what it says are its indisputable sovereign rights. 
 
The Philippines&#39; case enraged China, which repeatedly vowed to ignore the tribunal&#39;s ruling and is currently holding military drills in the northern part of the sea as a show of force. 
 
Duterte, who took office on June 30, has adopted a more conciliatory approach to China than Aquino. 
 
The previous president refused to hold direct talks, and likened China&#39;s expansionist efforts in the sea to Nazi Germany&#39;s march on parts of Europe ahead of World War II. 
 
Yasay signalled on Friday that Duterte would be making no such analogies, emphasising his administration would seek to ensure the best possible relations with China. 
 
&quot;I would like to be forward-looking on these matters,&quot; he said when asked to comment on Aquino&#39;s Nazi statement. 
 
&quot;I would like to make sure whatever actions this administration will take, the statements we will be making will be in the pursuit of strengthening our relationship with everybody and will be for the purpose of making sure there will be no stumbling block to our negotiating a peaceful solution to the issue.&quot; 
 
He also said China and the Philippines had agreed not to make any &quot;provocative statements&quot; following the release of the ruling. 
 
Yasay said after the ruling the Philippines would study it closely, discuss it with allies, and then seek to launch talks with China &quot;as soon as possible&quot;. 
 
Yasay said the Philippines was open to sharing Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground within the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone that China took control of in 2012. 
 
He said the Philippines would also consider jointly exploring a natural gas field at Reed Bank, which is also within the Philippines` exclusive economic zone. 
 
However Yasay insisted the Philippines would not concede any of its rights in the sea. 
 
Duterte and Yasay met with China&#39;s ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, on Thursday. Zhao was seen again at the Department of foreign affairs today. 
 
(AFP) 
 
&nbsp;

However, the Philippines' foreign secretary insisted that it will not concede any of its rights in the sea

The Philippines is willing to share natural resources with Beijing in contested South China Sea areas even if it wins a legal challenge next week, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said today. Yasay said President Rodrigo Duterte's administration hoped to quickly begin direct talks with China following Tuesday's verdict, with the negotiations to cover jointly exploiting natural gas reserves and fishing grounds within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. "We can even have the objective of seeing how we can jointly explore this territory. How we can utilise and benefit mutually from the utilisation of the resources in this exclusive economic zone where claims are overlapping," Yasay said in an interview. The Philippines, under Benigno Aquino's previous administration, filed a legal challenge with a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague contesting China's claims to nearly all of the strategically vital sea. China's claims reach almost to the coasts of the Philippines and some other Southeast Asian nations, and it has in recent years built giant artificial islands in the contested areas to enforce what it says are its indisputable sovereign rights. The Philippines' case enraged China, which repeatedly vowed to ignore the tribunal's ruling and is currently holding military drills in the northern part of the sea as a show of force. Duterte, who took office on June 30, has adopted a more conciliatory approach to China than Aquino. The previous president refused to hold direct talks, and likened China's expansionist efforts in the sea to Nazi Germany's march on parts of Europe ahead of World War II. Yasay signalled on Friday that Duterte would be making no such analogies, emphasising his administration would seek to ensure the best possible relations with China. "I would like to be forward-looking on these matters," he said when asked to comment on Aquino's Nazi statement. "I would like to make sure whatever actions this administration will take, the statements we will be making will be in the pursuit of strengthening our relationship with everybody and will be for the purpose of making sure there will be no stumbling block to our negotiating a peaceful solution to the issue." He also said China and the Philippines had agreed not to make any "provocative statements" following the release of the ruling. Yasay said after the ruling the Philippines would study it closely, discuss it with allies, and then seek to launch talks with China "as soon as possible". Yasay said the Philippines was open to sharing Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone that China took control of in 2012. He said the Philippines would also consider jointly exploring a natural gas field at Reed Bank, which is also within the Philippines` exclusive economic zone. However Yasay insisted the Philippines would not concede any of its rights in the sea. Duterte and Yasay met with China's ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, on Thursday. Zhao was seen again at the Department of foreign affairs today. (AFP)

Philippines willing to share resources in South China Sea with Beijing

China&#39;s foreign minister spoke with the US secretary of state John Kerry over telephone on Wednesday, ahead of a key international court ruling on China&#39;s South China Sea claims, and warned Washington against moves that infringe on China&#39;s sovereignty, Beijing&#39;s official Xinhua news agency reported. 
 
Xinhua said Wang Yi repeated China&#39;s rejection of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Arbitration in a case the Philippines has brought against China&#39;s claims to nearly all of the South China Sea, calling it a &quot;farce&quot; that should come to an end.&nbsp; 
 
The court, based in The Hague, is due to give its ruling on Tuesday, raising fears of confrontation in the region. US officials say the US response should China stick to its vow to ignore the ruling could include stepped up freedom-of-navigation patrols close to Chinese claimed islands in what is one of the world&#39;s business trade routes. 
 
In the call initiated by Kerry, Wang &quot;urged the United States to honour its commitment to not to take sides on issues related to sovereign disputes, to be prudent with its actions and words, and not to take any actions that infringe upon the sovereignty and security interests of China,&quot; Xinhua said. 
 
Wang said that regardless of the tribunal&#39;s ruling, China would &quot;firmly safeguard its own territorial sovereignty and legitimate maritime rights and firmly safeguard the peace and stability,&quot; Xinhua said. 
 
Wang also said that relations between China and the United States were generally on a sound track and that the two sides should further focus on cooperation while properly managing their differences. 
 
The US State Department confirmed that Kerry had spoken by phone to Wang. 
 
&quot;The two discussed issues of mutual interest. We are not going to get into the details on this private diplomatic conversation,&quot; State Department spokeswoman Gabrielle Price said. 
 
China has been angered by US patrols in the South China Sea in recent months and on Tuesday launched what the Defense Ministry termed &quot;routine&quot; military drills there.&nbsp; 
 
On Tuesday, Beijing sought to downplay fears of conflict in the South China Sea after an influential state-run newspaper said Beijing should prepare for military confrontation. 
 
US officials say they fear China may respond to the ruling from The Hague by declaring an air defence identification zone in the South China Sea, as it did in the East China Sea in 2013, and by stepping up its building and fortification of artificial islands. 
 
(Reuters)

Regional tension increases as China calls The Hague 'a farce' before the court releases its verdict

China's foreign minister spoke with the US secretary of state John Kerry over telephone on Wednesday, ahead of a key international court ruling on China's South China Sea claims, and warned Washington against moves that infringe on China's sovereignty, Beijing's official Xinhua news agency reported. Xinhua said Wang Yi repeated China's rejection of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Arbitration in a case the Philippines has brought against China's claims to nearly all of the South China Sea, calling it a "farce" that should come to an end. The court, based in The Hague, is due to give its ruling on Tuesday, raising fears of confrontation in the region. US officials say the US response should China stick to its vow to ignore the ruling could include stepped up freedom-of-navigation patrols close to Chinese claimed islands in what is one of the world's business trade routes. In the call initiated by Kerry, Wang "urged the United States to honour its commitment to not to take sides on issues related to sovereign disputes, to be prudent with its actions and words, and not to take any actions that infringe upon the sovereignty and security interests of China," Xinhua said. Wang said that regardless of the tribunal's ruling, China would "firmly safeguard its own territorial sovereignty and legitimate maritime rights and firmly safeguard the peace and stability," Xinhua said. Wang also said that relations between China and the United States were generally on a sound track and that the two sides should further focus on cooperation while properly managing their differences. The US State Department confirmed that Kerry had spoken by phone to Wang. "The two discussed issues of mutual interest. We are not going to get into the details on this private diplomatic conversation," State Department spokeswoman Gabrielle Price said. China has been angered by US patrols in the South China Sea in recent months and on Tuesday launched what the Defense Ministry termed "routine" military drills there. On Tuesday, Beijing sought to downplay fears of conflict in the South China Sea after an influential state-run newspaper said Beijing should prepare for military confrontation. US officials say they fear China may respond to the ruling from The Hague by declaring an air defence identification zone in the South China Sea, as it did in the East China Sea in 2013, and by stepping up its building and fortification of artificial islands. (Reuters)

China warns US about controversial South China Sea sovereignty ahead of court ruling

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