Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he personally killed suspected criminals while he was the mayor of a southern city in order to set an example for police.&nbsp;

Duterte made the revelation in a speech late on Monday night to businessmen while discussing his campaign to eradicate illegal drugs.

Duterte&rsquo;s &ldquo;war on drugs&rdquo; has seen police and unknown assailants kill thousands since he came to power in June.

After speaking about policing killing suspected criminal in the ongoing crime war, Duterte said he led similar efforts when he was the mayor of Davao.

&quot;In Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys (police) that if I can do it why can&#39;t you,&quot; Duterte said in his speech at the presidential palace, news agency AFP reported.

&quot;And I&#39;d go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around, and I would just patrol the streets, looking for trouble also. I was really looking for a confrontation so I could kill.&quot;

Responding to criticism from human rights groups and US President Barack Obama about his brutal tactics and vowing to continue his crackdown,

Duterte said,&quot;If they say that I am afraid to stop (the campaign) because of the human rights and guys from including Obama: Sorry, I am not about to do that,&quot; he said in English.

Rights groups had earlier accused Duterte of running vigilante death squads in Davao that killed more than 1,000 suspected criminals.

Duterte has denied and acknowledged his involvement in the death squads variously.

As president, Duterte has called on ordinary citizens &nbsp;as well as security forces to kill drug users and traffickers. But he has also added that he and his security forces would not break the law.

Police have reported killing 2,086 people in anti-drug operations since Duterte became president.&nbsp;

According to official figures, more than 3,000 others have been killed in unexplained circumstances.

 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

 
&nbsp;

The Philippines President said he killed suspected criminals to set an example for police

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he personally killed suspected criminals while he was the mayor of a southern city in order to set an example for police. Duterte made the revelation in a speech late on Monday night to businessmen while discussing his campaign to eradicate illegal drugs. Duterte’s “war on drugs” has seen police and unknown assailants kill thousands since he came to power in June. After speaking about policing killing suspected criminal in the ongoing crime war, Duterte said he led similar efforts when he was the mayor of Davao. "In Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys (police) that if I can do it why can't you," Duterte said in his speech at the presidential palace, news agency AFP reported. "And I'd go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around, and I would just patrol the streets, looking for trouble also. I was really looking for a confrontation so I could kill." Responding to criticism from human rights groups and US President Barack Obama about his brutal tactics and vowing to continue his crackdown, Duterte said,"If they say that I am afraid to stop (the campaign) because of the human rights and guys from including Obama: Sorry, I am not about to do that," he said in English. Rights groups had earlier accused Duterte of running vigilante death squads in Davao that killed more than 1,000 suspected criminals. Duterte has denied and acknowledged his involvement in the death squads variously. As president, Duterte has called on ordinary citizens as well as security forces to kill drug users and traffickers. But he has also added that he and his security forces would not break the law. Police have reported killing 2,086 people in anti-drug operations since Duterte became president. According to official figures, more than 3,000 others have been killed in unexplained circumstances. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Philippines' Duterte says he personally killed people

Philippine police conducted a controlled detonation of a home-made bomb found in a trash bin near the US&nbsp;embassy in Manila on Monday and said militants sympathetic to Islamic State could have been responsible.

National police chief Ronald dela Rosa said components of the improvised explosive device suggested it could have been planted by the Maute, a Muslim rebel group that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Maute&#39;s fighters were locked in a standoff with the military for a third day in the country&#39;s south. More rebels were reported killed on Monday, taking the number of dead to 19.

&quot;We could theorise that they could use this as a diversion,&quot; dela Rosa told a news conference. The embassy had no immediate comment on the discovery of the bomb, which was left about 200 metres from the compound. Business there continued as normal, with dozens of Filipinos queuing outside for visa applications.

An 81 millimetre&nbsp;mortar round was used as an explosive device and that was a signature of the group, Dela Rosa said. Similar components were used in a September&nbsp;2 bombing in Davao, which killed 15 people died and wounded about 70. Maute were blamed for that attack and four of its members were arrested and found with video clips of them pledging allegiance. Dela Rosa said intelligence operations would be stepped up and checkpoints would be set up around the capital.

Since the Davao bombing, the Philippines has been under what is termed a &quot;state of lawlessness&quot;, allowing the military to support the police, if required by the president. That has led to frequent speculation that martial law could be declared to support President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s deadly drugs war, something his office has repeatedly dismissed.

&quot;For God&#39;s sake, the government will not use an incident that will cause panic, fear and undue harm to declare martial law,&quot; he said.

In Lanao, a restive southern province, soldiers battled the Maute group to re-take an old town hall building, sending hundreds of residents fleeing. Army spokesman Major Filemon Tan said about a dozen soldiers had been wounded in an air-and-ground assault.

(WION)

Police say the bomb, which was found in a garbage can, could have been planted by a Muslim rebel group sympathetic to the Islamic State

Philippine police conducted a controlled detonation of a home-made bomb found in a trash bin near the US embassy in Manila on Monday and said militants sympathetic to Islamic State could have been responsible. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa said components of the improvised explosive device suggested it could have been planted by the Maute, a Muslim rebel group that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Maute's fighters were locked in a standoff with the military for a third day in the country's south. More rebels were reported killed on Monday, taking the number of dead to 19. "We could theorise that they could use this as a diversion," dela Rosa told a news conference. The embassy had no immediate comment on the discovery of the bomb, which was left about 200 metres from the compound. Business there continued as normal, with dozens of Filipinos queuing outside for visa applications. An 81 millimetre mortar round was used as an explosive device and that was a signature of the group, Dela Rosa said. Similar components were used in a September 2 bombing in Davao, which killed 15 people died and wounded about 70. Maute were blamed for that attack and four of its members were arrested and found with video clips of them pledging allegiance. Dela Rosa said intelligence operations would be stepped up and checkpoints would be set up around the capital. Since the Davao bombing, the Philippines has been under what is termed a "state of lawlessness", allowing the military to support the police, if required by the president. That has led to frequent speculation that martial law could be declared to support President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drugs war, something his office has repeatedly dismissed. "For God's sake, the government will not use an incident that will cause panic, fear and undue harm to declare martial law," he said. In Lanao, a restive southern province, soldiers battled the Maute group to re-take an old town hall building, sending hundreds of residents fleeing. Army spokesman Major Filemon Tan said about a dozen soldiers had been wounded in an air-and-ground assault. (WION)

Bomb defused near US embassy in Philippines: Police

A Philippine mayor detained for involvement in the country&#39;s illegal drug trade was killed along with another inmate in a shootout in prison on Saturday, police told.&nbsp;

Rolando Espinosa, the mayor of Albuera town in the central island of Leyte, had surrendered to the national police chief in August, saying he feared for his life. President Rodrigo Duterte had given orders to &quot;shoot on sight&quot; if the mayor and his son, accused of drug trafficking, resisted arrest.&nbsp;

But early on Saturday, police said Espinosa was killed in his cell in the provincial jail after he shot at officers during a search for illegal firearms. &quot;He fired on the raiding team. The raiding team fired back and this led to the mayor&#39;s death,&quot; chief inspector Leo Laraga of the regional police told AFP.&nbsp;

He is the second local official on Duterte&#39;s so-called &quot;narco-list&quot; to be killed in two weeks, as a bloody crackdown on illegal drug trade continues in the Southeast Asian country.&nbsp;

Police said they recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a .38 Super pistol from the cells Espinosa and the other inamte Yap. A small sachet containing suspected methamphetamine and assorted drug paraphernalia were also found inside Espinosa&#39;s cell, police said.

Earlier, Espinosa had publicly denied any part in the drug rade but said his son was peddling &quot;shabu&quot; (methamphetamine), which he gets from a jailed Chinese drug trader.

The presidential palace described his death as &quot;unfortunate&quot; and the national police said it was investigating the circumstances around his death as well as possible collusion between guards and inmates to get guns and drugs into the jail.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

Albuera mayor, Espinosa was killed in his cell after he allegedly shot at police officers during a search for illegal firearms

A Philippine mayor detained for involvement in the country's illegal drug trade was killed along with another inmate in a shootout in prison on Saturday, police told. Rolando Espinosa, the mayor of Albuera town in the central island of Leyte, had surrendered to the national police chief in August, saying he feared for his life. President Rodrigo Duterte had given orders to "shoot on sight" if the mayor and his son, accused of drug trafficking, resisted arrest. But early on Saturday, police said Espinosa was killed in his cell in the provincial jail after he shot at officers during a search for illegal firearms. "He fired on the raiding team. The raiding team fired back and this led to the mayor's death," chief inspector Leo Laraga of the regional police told AFP. He is the second local official on Duterte's so-called "narco-list" to be killed in two weeks, as a bloody crackdown on illegal drug trade continues in the Southeast Asian country. Police said they recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a .38 Super pistol from the cells Espinosa and the other inamte Yap. A small sachet containing suspected methamphetamine and assorted drug paraphernalia were also found inside Espinosa's cell, police said. Earlier, Espinosa had publicly denied any part in the drug rade but said his son was peddling "shabu" (methamphetamine), which he gets from a jailed Chinese drug trader. The presidential palace described his death as "unfortunate" and the national police said it was investigating the circumstances around his death as well as possible collusion between guards and inmates to get guns and drugs into the jail. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Philippine mayor on Duterte's drug list killed in prison shootout

Last week, Rodrigo Duterte called upon the US to treat the Philippines with respect. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to send this message once again for the last time... you talk to us as if we&rsquo;re still under your colony, as if we are your pawns that you&rsquo;ll only give aid to depending on many conditions&rdquo;.

This may have been just one statement but it has changed all the alignments in the world when it comes to the South China Sea. This may have been one last tweak from China to Obama as he exits his presidency.

Since Duterte has begun alienating the Philippines from the US, it is quite likely that the US will not be allowed to use the Palawan air base or the Subic Bay port on Philippine territory. These bases were integral to American forces projecting their might in the South China Sea region, especially since China has three military bases in the Spratly Islands (100 miles away from the Palawan base).

China and Russia are unlikely to let go the opportunity to make the most of this change of heart by the Philippines President. He made it clear that both China and Russia had offered him all the help that he require.

Last week, when meeting Chinese businessmen in capital Beijing, Duterte declared his breaking of ties from America and announced it would be China, Russia and the Philippines &ldquo;against the world&rdquo;.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also seems to have promised a helping hand to Duterte. They both had met on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian leaders&rsquo; summit in Laos last month. He said that &ldquo;They told me, come here, we have everything you need and we will give it to you&rdquo;.&nbsp;

China wants more control of what goes on in the South China Seas. This is one of the largest concerns of the US. Each year, $5.3 trillion of trade passes through the South China Sea; US trade accounts for $1.2 trillion of this total. Should a crisis occur, the diversion of cargo ships to other routes would harm regional economies as a result of an increase in insurance rates and longer transits.

Conflict of any scale in the South China Sea would hamper claimants from benefiting from its proven and potential riches.

India in choppy waters&nbsp;

India has no sovereign issues in the South China Sea but definitely has economic concerns. India has 55 per cent of its trade passing through its waters, thus, making it essential to maintain &lsquo;freedom of navigation&rsquo; there.

Moreover, the Vietnamese Government has offered India seven oil blocks in its territorial waters. Oil and Natural Gas Commission Videsh Limited has been deeply involved in sea drilling and exploration in the area. The Indian Government has pumped in over $5 billion of taxpayer money there. China has often raised concerns and issued warnings to India for its drilling activities in the region.

In fact, in 2011, to frighten India, the Chinese actually cut away the cable of a Vietnamese shipping rig.

However, India has always maintained that it would stay in the region and that every country should respect the concept of &lsquo;freedom of navigation&rsquo;. Under the Modi Government, the relationship between Vietnam and India has further strengthened in line with the India&rsquo;s Act East Policy.

The Prime Minister of India recently visited Vietnam before the G20 summit and extended a credit line of $500 million for deepening defence cooperation between the two countries. India is making sure that its interests and presence in the South China Sea are ensured with Vietnam as its main ally. Recently, India has signed energy deals with Brunei as well.

Drug war&nbsp;

Over 2,500 people have been killed in the last few months in the fight against drugs that Duterte launched. He admonished the outgoing US Ambassador Philip Goldberg for criticising his war on drugs and criticised the US government for setting &ldquo;many conditions&rdquo; on aid.

&ldquo;You can keep your assistance,&rdquo; Duterte said in a TV speech. &ldquo;We are not that desperate, we will survive&rdquo;, he added. Duterte had said there are three million suspected drug users in the country. Drugs have been a big issue in the Philippines. So, the personal criticism did not go down too well with him, and he is committed to cleaning out his country of drugs.

Block the hose&nbsp;

Duterte, in his talk with foreign correspondents in Beijing, made it clear that he was going to keep his country non-aligned in the fight between the US and China.

&ldquo;At this age, I have now the proper perspective to judge whether the foreign policy is good for us or not. I said a few days ago, that I will charter a new course, changing direction of the foreign policy and being with friends with everybody and with no enemies to contend with. No enemies to harm, no friends to serve.&rdquo;&nbsp;

But his statements don&rsquo;t reflect that. He has rubbished US assistance and made it clear that he would go with China and Russia.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

With Rodrigo Duterte changing equations in the South China Sea, what about Indian economic interests?

Last week, Rodrigo Duterte called upon the US to treat the Philippines with respect. “I’d like to send this message once again for the last time... you talk to us as if we’re still under your colony, as if we are your pawns that you’ll only give aid to depending on many conditions”. This may have been just one statement but it has changed all the alignments in the world when it comes to the South China Sea. This may have been one last tweak from China to Obama as he exits his presidency. Since Duterte has begun alienating the Philippines from the US, it is quite likely that the US will not be allowed to use the Palawan air base or the Subic Bay port on Philippine territory. These bases were integral to American forces projecting their might in the South China Sea region, especially since China has three military bases in the Spratly Islands (100 miles away from the Palawan base). China and Russia are unlikely to let go the opportunity to make the most of this change of heart by the Philippines President. He made it clear that both China and Russia had offered him all the help that he require. Last week, when meeting Chinese businessmen in capital Beijing, Duterte declared his breaking of ties from America and announced it would be China, Russia and the Philippines “against the world”. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also seems to have promised a helping hand to Duterte. They both had met on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian leaders’ summit in Laos last month. He said that “They told me, come here, we have everything you need and we will give it to you”. China wants more control of what goes on in the South China Seas. This is one of the largest concerns of the US. Each year, $5.3 trillion of trade passes through the South China Sea; US trade accounts for $1.2 trillion of this total. Should a crisis occur, the diversion of cargo ships to other routes would harm regional economies as a result of an increase in insurance rates and longer transits. Conflict of any scale in the South China Sea would hamper claimants from benefiting from its proven and potential riches. India in choppy waters India has no sovereign issues in the South China Sea but definitely has economic concerns. India has 55 per cent of its trade passing through its waters, thus, making it essential to maintain ‘freedom of navigation’ there. Moreover, the Vietnamese Government has offered India seven oil blocks in its territorial waters. Oil and Natural Gas Commission Videsh Limited has been deeply involved in sea drilling and exploration in the area. The Indian Government has pumped in over $5 billion of taxpayer money there. China has often raised concerns and issued warnings to India for its drilling activities in the region. In fact, in 2011, to frighten India, the Chinese actually cut away the cable of a Vietnamese shipping rig. However, India has always maintained that it would stay in the region and that every country should respect the concept of ‘freedom of navigation’. Under the Modi Government, the relationship between Vietnam and India has further strengthened in line with the India’s Act East Policy. The Prime Minister of India recently visited Vietnam before the G20 summit and extended a credit line of $500 million for deepening defence cooperation between the two countries. India is making sure that its interests and presence in the South China Sea are ensured with Vietnam as its main ally. Recently, India has signed energy deals with Brunei as well. Drug war Over 2,500 people have been killed in the last few months in the fight against drugs that Duterte launched. He admonished the outgoing US Ambassador Philip Goldberg for criticising his war on drugs and criticised the US government for setting “many conditions” on aid. “You can keep your assistance,” Duterte said in a TV speech. “We are not that desperate, we will survive”, he added. Duterte had said there are three million suspected drug users in the country. Drugs have been a big issue in the Philippines. So, the personal criticism did not go down too well with him, and he is committed to cleaning out his country of drugs. Block the hose Duterte, in his talk with foreign correspondents in Beijing, made it clear that he was going to keep his country non-aligned in the fight between the US and China. “At this age, I have now the proper perspective to judge whether the foreign policy is good for us or not. I said a few days ago, that I will charter a new course, changing direction of the foreign policy and being with friends with everybody and with no enemies to contend with. No enemies to harm, no friends to serve.” But his statements don’t reflect that. He has rubbished US assistance and made it clear that he would go with China and Russia.

South China Seas boondoggle

A mayor in Philippines was killed along with his nine guards after they opened fire at a checkpoint in President Duterte&#39;s home province of Mindanao.&nbsp;

Samsudin Dimaukom, a powerful mayor of Datu Saudi Ampatuan was suspected to have drug links and according to the police, they tried to stop the two vehicles but the mayor&#39;s side fired at them.&nbsp;

Bernard Tayong of the North Cotabato police said &quot;It was a legitimate police operation,&quot; and that no police personnel were injured in the firing.&nbsp;

&quot;We have information the mayor and his men were transporting drugs so we tried to intercept them but they chose to shoot it out,&quot; he told reporters.

The police recovered seven guns, including an Armalite rifle and 13 small packs of suspected methamphetamines from the vehicles.&nbsp;

The latest casualties come after the Philippines police changed their strategy by focusing on government officials, lawmakers, celebrities and other high-ranking police and army personnel who are involved in drugs.&nbsp;

The new tactic is called &quot;Project Double Barrel Alpha&quot; and according to Reuters, it aims to reduce killings and arrest more drug dealers.

More than 2000 people have been killed in Duterte&#39;s war on drugs since he took office on June 30.&nbsp;

National police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said that the overreach of drugs have gone beyond poor areas and now are present in wealthier neighbourhoods.&nbsp;

At least 150,000 policemen have been tested and 164 gave positive results and would be dismissed, he added.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

 
&nbsp;

A clash was reported near a police checkpoint in Mindanao, Duterte's home province, when the mayor and his nine guards opened fire

A mayor in Philippines was killed along with his nine guards after they opened fire at a checkpoint in President Duterte's home province of Mindanao. Samsudin Dimaukom, a powerful mayor of Datu Saudi Ampatuan was suspected to have drug links and according to the police, they tried to stop the two vehicles but the mayor's side fired at them. Bernard Tayong of the North Cotabato police said "It was a legitimate police operation," and that no police personnel were injured in the firing. "We have information the mayor and his men were transporting drugs so we tried to intercept them but they chose to shoot it out," he told reporters. The police recovered seven guns, including an Armalite rifle and 13 small packs of suspected methamphetamines from the vehicles. The latest casualties come after the Philippines police changed their strategy by focusing on government officials, lawmakers, celebrities and other high-ranking police and army personnel who are involved in drugs. The new tactic is called "Project Double Barrel Alpha" and according to Reuters, it aims to reduce killings and arrest more drug dealers. More than 2000 people have been killed in Duterte's war on drugs since he took office on June 30. National police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said that the overreach of drugs have gone beyond poor areas and now are present in wealthier neighbourhoods. At least 150,000 policemen have been tested and 164 gave positive results and would be dismissed, he added. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Duterte's drug war: Powerful mayor killed along with nine others

Philippines&#39;s outspoken president, Rodrigo Duterte, &nbsp;has promised to stop swearing after a series of controversial remarks in the past, international news agency Reuters reported.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

He said that God spoke to him on a flight from Japan on Thursday, warning him the plane would crash if he kept using bad language.

&nbsp;

&quot;I was looking at the skies while I was coming over here ... everybody was asleep, snoring, but a voice said that, &#39;you know, if you don&#39;t stop epithets, I will bring this plane down now&#39;,&quot; Duterte said at a news conference late on Thursday upon arrival in his home city of Davao, the international news agency reported.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;And I said, &#39;who is this?&#39; So, of course, it&#39;s God. OK.

&nbsp;

Duterte has previously come under fire for cursing Pope Francis and US President Barack Obama. &nbsp;He has now said that God told him to clean up his act.

&nbsp;

&quot;So, I promise God ... not to express slang, cuss words and everything.&quot;

&nbsp;

Duterte won by a huge margin in the May election in the Philippines, which is predominantly Roman Catholic.

&nbsp;

He called Obama &#39;son of a bitch&#39; and used the same words for cursing Pope. &nbsp;He also &nbsp;told Obama to &quot;go to hell&quot;, called UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a &quot;devil&quot; and said &quot;fuck you&quot; twice to the European Union, while raising his middle finger.

&nbsp;

Duterte&#39;s campaign against the&nbsp;illegal drug trade in the Philippines has also garnered international attention triggering criticism from several human rights organisations. He pledged to kill thousands of criminals when he was voted to power.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

During a flight from Japan, the Philippines President claims he heard God warn him from using profanities, or else the plane would crash

Philippines's outspoken president, Rodrigo Duterte, has promised to stop swearing after a series of controversial remarks in the past, international news agency Reuters reported. He said that God spoke to him on a flight from Japan on Thursday, warning him the plane would crash if he kept using bad language. "I was looking at the skies while I was coming over here ... everybody was asleep, snoring, but a voice said that, 'you know, if you don't stop epithets, I will bring this plane down now'," Duterte said at a news conference late on Thursday upon arrival in his home city of Davao, the international news agency reported. "And I said, 'who is this?' So, of course, it's God. OK. Duterte has previously come under fire for cursing Pope Francis and US President Barack Obama. He has now said that God told him to clean up his act. "So, I promise God ... not to express slang, cuss words and everything." Duterte won by a huge margin in the May election in the Philippines, which is predominantly Roman Catholic. He called Obama 'son of a bitch' and used the same words for cursing Pope. He also told Obama to "go to hell", called UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a "devil" and said "fuck you" twice to the European Union, while raising his middle finger. Duterte's campaign against the illegal drug trade in the Philippines has also garnered international attention triggering criticism from several human rights organisations. He pledged to kill thousands of criminals when he was voted to power. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

God told me to stop swearing: Duterte?

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he wants US troops out of his country in the next two years and is willing to scrap defence pacts with longtime ally Washington if necessary.

The comments follow a series of anti-American tirades by the firebrand leader, who has repeatedly attacked the US while cosying up to Beijing, upending his nation&#39;s foreign policy in comments that have sometimes been quickly retracted.

&quot;I want, maybe in the next two years, my country free of the presence of foreign military troops,&quot; Duterte told an economic forum in Tokyo, in a clear reference to US forces.

&quot;I want them out and if I have to revise or abrogate agreements, executive agreements, I will,&quot; he added.

The US, which once operated sprawling bases in the country, now has a small number of Special Forces on the southern island of Mindanao to aid in counter-terrorism operations.

Duterte has previously said he wants US troops out of Mindanao because their presence stokes tensions on the island where Islamic militants have waged a decades-long separatist insurgency.

The acid-tongued leader arrived in Tokyo Tuesday on his first visit to Japan since taking office June 30, looking to persuade executives his country is &quot;open for business&quot;, after overturning Manila&#39;s traditional diplomatic alliances.

The 71-year-old has also slammed Washington for questioning his violent crime crackdown, which has claimed some 3,700 lives and attracted widespread international criticism.

Duterte has also insulted President Barack Obama, calling him a &quot;son of a whore&quot; and announcing a &quot;separation&quot; from the US during a visit to Beijing last week.

Although he quickly walked back from his comments, saying that &quot;separation&quot; did not mean he would &quot;sever&quot; ties, he reiterated his calls on Wednesday for an end to all joint war games with the US.

&quot;This will be the last manoeuvre war games between the United States and the Philippines` military,&quot; he said of an event hosted in recent weeks by the Philippines.Duterte is set to hold a summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later on Wednesday and will also meet with Emperor Akihito during the trip.

Although his Japanese hosts depend on the US for security, Tokyo has so far not responded to Duterte`s diatribes, while Washington has taken a calm approach.

&quot;We&#39;re going to take the long view,&quot; State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.

&quot;We&#39;re not going to react and respond to every bit of rhetoric,&quot; he added.

Abe had worked to improve bilateral relations with Duterte`s predecessor, Benigno Aquino, providing patrol boats to support Manila in its territorial row with Beijing over rival claims to the South China Sea.

The Philippines took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive claims in the region and won a resounding victory in July.

But Duterte has not pressed the issue with Beijing, instead working to improve ties and attract billions of dollars in Chinese loans and investments.

Duterte also attempted to calm worries in Japan over his trip to China, assuring his audience that he was not seeking military ties with Beijing, just a closer economic relationship.

&quot;We did not talk about arms, we did not talk about stationing of troops,&quot; he said. &quot;We avoided talking about alliances, military or otherwise.&quot;

(AFP)

He also slammed Washington for questioning his violent crime crackdown that has attracted widespread international criticism

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he wants US troops out of his country in the next two years and is willing to scrap defence pacts with longtime ally Washington if necessary. The comments follow a series of anti-American tirades by the firebrand leader, who has repeatedly attacked the US while cosying up to Beijing, upending his nation's foreign policy in comments that have sometimes been quickly retracted. "I want, maybe in the next two years, my country free of the presence of foreign military troops," Duterte told an economic forum in Tokyo, in a clear reference to US forces. "I want them out and if I have to revise or abrogate agreements, executive agreements, I will," he added. The US, which once operated sprawling bases in the country, now has a small number of Special Forces on the southern island of Mindanao to aid in counter-terrorism operations. Duterte has previously said he wants US troops out of Mindanao because their presence stokes tensions on the island where Islamic militants have waged a decades-long separatist insurgency. The acid-tongued leader arrived in Tokyo Tuesday on his first visit to Japan since taking office June 30, looking to persuade executives his country is "open for business", after overturning Manila's traditional diplomatic alliances. The 71-year-old has also slammed Washington for questioning his violent crime crackdown, which has claimed some 3,700 lives and attracted widespread international criticism. Duterte has also insulted President Barack Obama, calling him a "son of a whore" and announcing a "separation" from the US during a visit to Beijing last week. Although he quickly walked back from his comments, saying that "separation" did not mean he would "sever" ties, he reiterated his calls on Wednesday for an end to all joint war games with the US. "This will be the last manoeuvre war games between the United States and the Philippines` military," he said of an event hosted in recent weeks by the Philippines.Duterte is set to hold a summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later on Wednesday and will also meet with Emperor Akihito during the trip. Although his Japanese hosts depend on the US for security, Tokyo has so far not responded to Duterte`s diatribes, while Washington has taken a calm approach. "We're going to take the long view," State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. "We're not going to react and respond to every bit of rhetoric," he added. Abe had worked to improve bilateral relations with Duterte`s predecessor, Benigno Aquino, providing patrol boats to support Manila in its territorial row with Beijing over rival claims to the South China Sea. The Philippines took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive claims in the region and won a resounding victory in July. But Duterte has not pressed the issue with Beijing, instead working to improve ties and attract billions of dollars in Chinese loans and investments. Duterte also attempted to calm worries in Japan over his trip to China, assuring his audience that he was not seeking military ties with Beijing, just a closer economic relationship. "We did not talk about arms, we did not talk about stationing of troops," he said. "We avoided talking about alliances, military or otherwise." (AFP)

Philippines' Duterte wants US troops out in two years

&nbsp;Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte softened his remarks about a &quot;separation&quot; from long-time ally the United States on the eve of a visit to Japan, a country worried about Manila`s apparent pivot away from Washington and towards China.

&quot;The alliances are alive,&quot; Duterte told Japanese media in Manila on Monday, Kyodo News reported. &quot;There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations.&quot;

 
The remarks will be welcomed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who wants to keep ties with the Philippines tight during Duterte`s visit to Japan, starting on Tuesday.

 
Duterte jolted the region last week on a trip to China when he announced a realignment towards Beijing, the latest in a series of outbursts against the United States.

 
Duterte and his aides later tried to clarify that he did not mean he was cutting ties with the United States and his remarks on Monday were the most conciliatory yet.

Duterte told Japanese media he had been expressing a personal opinion, not speaking for the government when he mentioned separating from Washington, the Nikkei newspaper said.&nbsp;

He said he only plans to have an &quot;alliance of trade and commerce&quot; with China, Kyodo reported.

The Yomiuri newspaper, however, said Duterte had repeated he wants to halt joint military exercises with the United States and end a military cooperation pact seen as crucial to projecting US power in Asia in the face of a fast-rising China.

 
Worried Japan 
Abe has sought to strengthen ties with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries as a counter-balance to Beijing.

 
&quot;It&#39;s certainly unfortunate and we are worried, but such things will not change Japan&#39;s commitment to the Philippines,&quot; said Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and former defence official, referring to Duterte&#39;s comments.

 
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry, after talking to his Philippine counterpart on Sunday, is confident the two countries can &quot;work through&quot; a period of confusion caused by Duterte`s remarks the State Department said.&nbsp;

 
Duterte has railed against U.S. expressions of concerns about the high loss of life in his campaign against drugs and Washington&#39;s calls for due process.

 
Japanese officials said Abe would not overtly try to mediate between Tokyo and Washington but would probably explain the importance of the U.S. role in the region.

 
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet Duterte on Tuesday for a low-key dinner, and Abe will hold rare one-on-one talks with Duterte at his residence in Tokyo the next evening following a larger, more formal meeting with senior officials.

 
&quot;I believe ties between Japan and the Philippines are very important and that seeking to stabilise bilateral ties will lead straight to peace, stability and prosperity of the region as well as of the international community,&quot; Kishida told reporters.

 
He added he wanted to listen carefully to Duterte&#39;s views.

 
Duterte&#39;s predecessor Benigno Aquino angered China by lodging a case with an arbitration court in the Hague challenging the legitimacy of Beijing&#39;s maritime claims in the resource-rich South China Sea.

 
A ruling earlier this year emphatically favoured Manila but was rejected by China, which has repeatedly warned the United States and Japan to stay out of the dispute.

 
Duterte said the two countries had agreed not to discuss the international court`s ruling on his initial visit, but would have to talk about it at some point, the Nikkei reported.&nbsp;

 
(Reuters)

 
&nbsp;

Duterte jolted the region last week on a trip to China when he announced a realignment towards Beijing

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte softened his remarks about a "separation" from long-time ally the United States on the eve of a visit to Japan, a country worried about Manila`s apparent pivot away from Washington and towards China. "The alliances are alive," Duterte told Japanese media in Manila on Monday, Kyodo News reported. "There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations." The remarks will be welcomed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who wants to keep ties with the Philippines tight during Duterte`s visit to Japan, starting on Tuesday. Duterte jolted the region last week on a trip to China when he announced a realignment towards Beijing, the latest in a series of outbursts against the United States. Duterte and his aides later tried to clarify that he did not mean he was cutting ties with the United States and his remarks on Monday were the most conciliatory yet. Duterte told Japanese media he had been expressing a personal opinion, not speaking for the government when he mentioned separating from Washington, the Nikkei newspaper said. He said he only plans to have an "alliance of trade and commerce" with China, Kyodo reported. The Yomiuri newspaper, however, said Duterte had repeated he wants to halt joint military exercises with the United States and end a military cooperation pact seen as crucial to projecting US power in Asia in the face of a fast-rising China. Worried Japan Abe has sought to strengthen ties with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries as a counter-balance to Beijing. "It's certainly unfortunate and we are worried, but such things will not change Japan's commitment to the Philippines," said Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and former defence official, referring to Duterte's comments. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry, after talking to his Philippine counterpart on Sunday, is confident the two countries can "work through" a period of confusion caused by Duterte`s remarks the State Department said. Duterte has railed against U.S. expressions of concerns about the high loss of life in his campaign against drugs and Washington's calls for due process. Japanese officials said Abe would not overtly try to mediate between Tokyo and Washington but would probably explain the importance of the U.S. role in the region. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet Duterte on Tuesday for a low-key dinner, and Abe will hold rare one-on-one talks with Duterte at his residence in Tokyo the next evening following a larger, more formal meeting with senior officials. "I believe ties between Japan and the Philippines are very important and that seeking to stabilise bilateral ties will lead straight to peace, stability and prosperity of the region as well as of the international community," Kishida told reporters. He added he wanted to listen carefully to Duterte's views. Duterte's predecessor Benigno Aquino angered China by lodging a case with an arbitration court in the Hague challenging the legitimacy of Beijing's maritime claims in the resource-rich South China Sea. A ruling earlier this year emphatically favoured Manila but was rejected by China, which has repeatedly warned the United States and Japan to stay out of the dispute. Duterte said the two countries had agreed not to discuss the international court`s ruling on his initial visit, but would have to talk about it at some point, the Nikkei reported. (Reuters)

Philippines:  Duterte eases stance towards US. before Japan visit

Asserting that he was not severing ties with long-time ally the United States, &nbsp;Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte &nbsp;on Friday said that he was merely pursuing a more independent foreign policy by strengthening relations with China.

&quot;It is not severance of ties. When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations. I cannot do that,&quot; the Philippine leader told reporters at a midnight news conference in his southern home city of Davao, AFP reported.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Duterte&#39;s remark came a day after he provoked fresh diplomatic alarm by announcing his &quot;separation&quot; from Washington. &nbsp;As &nbsp;he arrived back in the Philippines after a four-day visit to Beijing , the President struck a more conciliatory tone.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;It&#39;s in the best interest of my countrymen to maintain that relationship.&quot;

&nbsp;

During his four-day visit to Beijing, the firebrand leader on Thursday told a group of Chinese businessmen: &quot;I announce my separation from the United States.&quot;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

He said that he intended to end the Philippines&#39; 70-year alliance with US as he sought what he calls a new commercial alliance with China. &nbsp;He also said that he would seek closer ties with Russia.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Clarifying his comments on Friday, he said that what he meant was that Manila&#39;s foreign policy need not always &quot;dovetail&quot; with Washington.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;As in separation, what I was really saying was separation of foreign policy,&quot; he was quoted as saying by Reuters.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;In the past, and until I became president, we always follow what the United States would give the cue.&quot;

&nbsp;

The White House, was quick to welcome the apparent shift in tone after responding to the &quot;separation&quot; speech by saying there had been &quot;too many&quot; troubling statements from Duterte recently, was quick to welcome the apparent shift in tone.

&nbsp;

&quot;Based on his extensive, colourful previous comments, there is greater clarity that we would like to get about the intent of President Duterte and his government,&quot; White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily news briefing.

&nbsp;

&quot;But based on what you&#39;ve read me that seems to be a change in tone that is more consistent with the seven-decade-long alliance between the United States and the Philippines.&quot;

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters)&nbsp;

It is not severance of ties. When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations. I cannot do that: Duterte

Asserting that he was not severing ties with long-time ally the United States, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said that he was merely pursuing a more independent foreign policy by strengthening relations with China. "It is not severance of ties. When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations. I cannot do that," the Philippine leader told reporters at a midnight news conference in his southern home city of Davao, AFP reported. Duterte's remark came a day after he provoked fresh diplomatic alarm by announcing his "separation" from Washington. As he arrived back in the Philippines after a four-day visit to Beijing , the President struck a more conciliatory tone. "It's in the best interest of my countrymen to maintain that relationship." During his four-day visit to Beijing, the firebrand leader on Thursday told a group of Chinese businessmen: "I announce my separation from the United States." He said that he intended to end the Philippines' 70-year alliance with US as he sought what he calls a new commercial alliance with China. He also said that he would seek closer ties with Russia. Clarifying his comments on Friday, he said that what he meant was that Manila's foreign policy need not always "dovetail" with Washington. "As in separation, what I was really saying was separation of foreign policy," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. "In the past, and until I became president, we always follow what the United States would give the cue." The White House, was quick to welcome the apparent shift in tone after responding to the "separation" speech by saying there had been "too many" troubling statements from Duterte recently, was quick to welcome the apparent shift in tone. "Based on his extensive, colourful previous comments, there is greater clarity that we would like to get about the intent of President Duterte and his government," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily news briefing. "But based on what you've read me that seems to be a change in tone that is more consistent with the seven-decade-long alliance between the United States and the Philippines." (WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters)

After announcing 'separation' from US, Duterte says will not sever ties

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)

&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

However, there were no immediate reports of death.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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.

&nbsp;

&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.

&nbsp;

&quot;Power lines have been cut off and mobile phone signals were intermittent.&quot;

&nbsp;

&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.

&nbsp;

&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;

&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

&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.

&nbsp;

Isabela governor Faustino Dy III advised people in his province to stay indoors, including those displaced families in evacuation centers.

&nbsp;

&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;

&nbsp;

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.

&nbsp;

&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;

&nbsp;

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.

&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines in 2013, killing at least 6,000 people.

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

&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;

&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

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.

&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

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;

&nbsp;

&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;

&nbsp;

(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

&nbsp;

&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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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

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