Tag: Philippines

Philippines: Abu Sayyaf Leader Behind Execution Of Foreigners Is Killed

A leader of a militant group who was directly involved in the kidnap and execution of Canadian and German nationals was among those killed by Philippine troops in a clash on a resort island this week, the military said on Wednesday.

Troops killed at least six members of the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf during the firefight on the popular tourist island of Bohol on Tuesday, but suffered four casualties.

The military has recovered the body of Muamar Askali, also known as Abu Rami, a former spokesman for Abu Sayyaf, a group well known for extortion, piracy and kidnaps for ransom.

Armed Forces chief of Staff General Eduardo Ano described Abu Rami as “a very notorious Abu Sayyaf leader” responsible for several atrocities.

The group last year beheaded Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall. Elderly German Jurgen Kantner suffered the same fate in February when a US$600,000 ransom demand was not paid.

Ano said Abu Rami was “trying to make a name of his own” and had risen to become one of Abu Sayyaf’s top leaders. He was involved in what the army said was a thwarted attempt to kidnap tourists in Bohol during Holy Week in the mainly Roman Catholic nation.

Ano said the situation in Bohol, far from Abu Sayyaf’s island strongholds in the South, was now “back to normal” even as security forces chased down other fighters involved in the gun battle.

The clash happened after the United States, Canadian, Australian and British embassies warned citizens about kidnappings during the holiday and advised against travel to Central Visayas, which includes Cebu and Bohol.

The military has declared all-out war with Abu Sayyaf on the islands of Jolo and Basilan, but is hamstrung by its presence among large civilian communities.

Abu Sayyaf has its roots in separatism but its activities are mostly banditry and piracy and it has invested the profits of its business in modern weapons and fast boats.

The military has struggled to curb the piracy, with the group’s boats difficult to detect when they target slow-moving trawlers. Indonesian, Malaysian and Vietnamese vessels are frequently targeted and their crew abducted, and the government has sought international help to patrol the Sulu Sea.

The government also says it has credible intelligence that some Abu Sayyaf leaders are in contact with Islamic State with a view to establishing a presence in the mainly Muslim southern Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte has warned of a potential Islamic State “contamination”.

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Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com

April 12, 2017
Filipina Scolds Woman Who Questioned Her For Having ‘Singapore’ Emblazoned In Shorts

A reader sent us a video of a commotion in a hawker centre. According to the reader the woman, a Singaporean, questioned the Filipina about why she had ‘Singapore’ emblazoned in the back of her shorts. The Filipina who got upset with the woman’s question went ballistic with her attracting many onlookers.

According to the reader, the woman is a maid who had engaged in a game of weekend netball before the incident.

Do you think the word ‘Singapore’ should be better respected?

Source: www.theindependent.sg

February 28, 2017
Duterte Nixes Military Alliance With Any Nation Other Than The US

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday (Oct 24), on the eve of his visit to Japan, that he has no plan to forge a military alliance with any country other than the United States, downplaying concerns over his veering toward China.

“The alliances are alive, it is there,” the Philippine leader said, referring to the Philippines’ longest standing ally, the United States. “There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations.”

Mr Duterte added that he only plans to have an “alliance of trade and commerce” with China.

These remarks to a group of Japanese reporters came after he announced amid a visit to China last week his “separation from the United States, both in military, not maybe social, but economics also” and suggested his country would be much better off aligning itself with China.

“America has lost. I realign myself in your ideological flow,” he told his Chinese hosts at a business forum.

“And 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. It’s the only way,” he said then.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella later downplayed the president’s remarks in China, saying he was merely “asserting the imperative to separate the nation from dependence on the US and the West, and rebalance economic and military relations with our Asian (China, Japan and South Korea) neighbours and the ASEAN community.”

The populist leader had already declared there will be no more joint military exercises with the United States, with which the Philippines has a mutual defence treaty.

Japanese government sources said earlier Monday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to call for Mr Duterte to repair his government’s strained ties with the United States when they meet later this week in Tokyo.

Japan has been concerned over the strain on US-Philippine relations from Mr Duterte’s repeated anti US comments and the possible impact on stability in the South China Sea, where China is engaging in military expansion.

The talks between the leaders, likely to take place on Wednesday, will be most closely watched for whether Mr Duterte expresses a willingness to continue cooperating with Japan and the United States, which seek to halt China’s expansionary activities.

Source: TODAY Online

October 27, 2016
Philippines’ Duterte Set To Toughen Laws On Smoking

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is set to sign a regulation this month banning smoking in public across South-east Asia’s second-most populous country, rolling out among the toughest anti-tobacco laws in the region.

Public health campaigners who have long battled against the country’s hefty tobacco lobby, welcomed the push to end smoking in public places and said they believed Mr Duterte, with his tough anti-vice record, was the man to do it.

Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial told Reuters on Tuesday (Oct 11) she hoped the president would sign the ban, which expands the definition of public places, into law before the end of October and that it would come into effect next month.

She was quoted by newspapers as saying that no smoking would be allowed in public places, whether indoor or outdoor. “Parks, bus stations, and even in vehicles. All these are considered public places,” she said, according to media. She later clarified the law would apply only to public vehicles.

Designated smoking areas will be set up at least 10 metres outside buildings, according to a draft of the executive order seen by Reuters.

Around 17 million people, or nearly a third of the adult population, smoke in the Philippines, according to a 2014 report by South-east Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, the second highest in the region after Indonesia. Nearly half of all Filipino men and 9 per cent of women smoke and experts say the habit costs the economy nearly US$4 billion (S$5.5 billion) in healthcare and productivity losses every year.

The proposed smoking ban replicates on a national level an existing law in Davao City, where Mr Duterte ruled as mayor for 22 years until his rise to the presidency earlier this year.

Penalties for breaking the anti-smoking law in Davao can include a 5,000 Philippine peso (S$141) fine or four months in prison.

When Mr Duterte was in Davao, he once personally forced a man to stub out his cigarette and eat it after he refused to stop smoking in a restaurant, according to media reports.

A government spokesman declined to comment on the incident but said: “Certainly in Davao, the sentiment and business establishments support a smoke-free Davao. The president sees it as something that’s not ideal for health… and this is part of the public well-being,” Mr Ernesto Abella said.

Mr Duterte also rolled out a number of other strict rules in the city of 1.5 million during his term as mayor, including banning late-night drinking and karaoke, and a 10pm curfew for school children. He also oversaw a severe crackdown on narcotics and crime in the city, earning him the nickname “The Punisher”.

The 71-year old won the presidency on a promise of widening that crackdown throughout the country of 100 million. Over 3,600 people, mostly small-time drug user and dealers, have died in police operations and alleged vigilante killings since he took office in June.

Anti-tobacco activists said Mr Duterte’s reputation meant the nationwide smoking ban would be implemented. “This is effectively a scaling up of the Davao City plan,”said Mr Ralph Degollacion of Health Justice Philippines, a local NGO. “We know his track record… and given the political will in his government, we’re confident that in terms of implementation he will really push it,” he said.

When asked if the ban could extend to alcohol and gambling – both multi-million dollar industries – government spokesman Abella said there were no such plans in the offing and that bars and casinos were continuing to operate normally.

The nationwide ban is set to be among the strictest no-smoking laws in South-east Asia, experts say. The region is home to nearly 10 per cent of the world’s smokers and while most countries have partial smoking bans in place, enforcement is often lax.

The Philippines ban will also cover ‘vaping’ or the use of electronic cigarettes.

Analysts say the ban would put major tobacco companies, already under pressure from tobacco tax hikes under the previous government, at further risk. “Industry volumes and pricing have become pressured due to the growth of cheaper illicit brands… A smoking ban could see any further recovery in the sales dynamics in the market stall,” Mr Owen Bennett, equity analyst at Jefferies International, said in a note.

Mr Duterte’s government has also proposed increasing taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kenneth Chua said. The tax would build on a landmark tax-hike imposed by the previous government, but Mr Chua did not elaborate on how much additional revenue the government was expected to net.

A spokeswoman for Philip Morris International, which controls around 70 per cent of the cigarette market in the Philippines, referred queries to the Philippine Tobacco Institute, which represents tobacco interests in the country.

A spokesman for the institute said he had no immediate comment on the proposed ban.

Source: The Straits Times

October 12, 2016
Philippine Leader Tells Obama ‘Go To Hell’, Says Can Buy Arms From Russia, China

Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told U.S. President Barack Obama to “go to hell” and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

In his latest salvo, Duterte said he was realigning his foreign policy because the United States had failed the Philippines and added that at some point, “I will break up with America”. It was not clear what he meant by “break up”.

During three tangential and fiercely worded speeches in Manila, Duterte said the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily.

“Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy,” Duterte said.

“If you don’t want to sell arms, I’ll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said ‘do not worry, we have everything you need, we’ll give it to you’.

“And as for China, they said ‘just come over and sign and everything will be delivered’.”

His comments were the latest in a near-daily barrage of hostility towards the United States, during which Duterte has started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China.

In Washington, U.S. officials downplayed Duterte’s comments, saying they were “at odds” with the two countries’ warm relationship and decades-long alliance. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there has been no communication from the Philippines about making changes in that relationship.

Earnest did not, however, back down from criticism of Duterte’s tactics in his deadly war on drugs.

“Even as we protect the strong alliance, the administration and the United States of America will not hesitate to raise our concerns about extrajudicial killings,” he said at a briefing.

‘HELL IS FULL’

On Sunday, Duterte said he had received support from Russia and China when he complained to them about the United States. He also said he would review a U.S.-Philippines Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement.

The deal, signed in 2014, grants U.S. troops some access to Philippine bases, and allows them to set up storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations.

Duterte said the United States should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but that instead it had criticised him for the high death toll, as did the European Union.

“Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell,” he said.

“EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is full already. Why should I be afraid of you?”

At a later speech he said he was emotional because the United States had not been a friend of the Philippines since his election in May.

“They just … reprimand another president in front of the international community,” he told the Jewish community at a synagogue.

“This is what happens now, I will be reconfiguring my foreign policy. Eventually, I might in my time I will break up with America.”

It was not clear if by his “time”, he was referring to his six-year term in office.

According to some U.S. officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Duterte’s rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts.

While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China’s influence has grown, there were no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, two U.S. officials said on Monday.

Several of Duterte’s allies on Monday suggested he act more like a statesman because his comments had created a stir. On Tuesday, he said his outbursts were because he was provoked by criticism of his crackdown on drugs.

“When you are already at the receiving end of an uncontrollable rush, the only way out is to insult,” he said.

“That is my retaliation.”

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

October 5, 2016