News Roundup 05 September 2022
Sep 05, 2022 • 6 min Read
‘Philippines should proceed with West Philippine Sea exploration without China’ | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines should proceed to explore and develop the oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea, similar to the action of its neighbors who were able to assert their sovereign rights over their waters and completed drilling even without the benefit of an Arbitral Award and defense treaty, former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario said yesterday. Del Rosario made the statement after Minister Liu Jianchao of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and former ambassador to Manila, declared during his visit on Aug. 28 that China and the Philippines are ready to continue negotiations on oil and gas development in the West Philippine Sea, which includes Reed Bank. According to Del Rosario, the 2016 Award under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) categorically held that, “under international law, the West Philippine Sea, including Reed Bank, exclusively belongs to Filipinos, and no one else.” He stressed that under international law “Filipinos do not need China’s consent or permission to explore and develop the oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea.” “The question, therefore, is: what is there to talk about, in terms of exploring and developing the natural resources in the West Philippine Sea, when it is clear that the West Philippine Sea exclusively belongs to Filipinos?” Del Rosario said in a statement. Under international law, China has zero claim on the West Philippine Sea, but Beijing continues to claim it by law and by force of arms. “Filipinos have every right to explore and develop the oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea, including Reed Bank, without interruption or harassment from other countries,” he added. Del Rosario, who led the country in bringing the case against China before an arbitration court, warned that negotiating with China for oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea will diminish Philippine laws and rights, and that it is a crime of treason.
Kapatid calls for release of Nasino, 2 activists after court voids faulty warrants PHILSTAR.COM – Kapatid, an advocacy and support group for political prisoners, is calling for the immediate release of detained activists Reina Mae Nasino, Alma Moran and Ram Carlo Bautista after the Court of Appeals voided the search warrants that led to their arrest. Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said in a statement Monday that nothing now stands in the way of freedom of the three activists who have been detained since February 2020. “We ask the courts to order their prompt release. Let Reina Mae now visit the grave of her baby daughter and mourn her in peace, which was so cruelly denied to her during the wake and burial of River,” Lim said. This was after the Court of Appeals 12th Division granted the Petition for Certiorari filed by the three activists that questioned the July 1, 2020 and July 22, 2020 orders of a Manila court that denied their Motion to Quash, and rejected their appeal. “Search Warrants Nos. 5944 (19) and 5945 (19) are declared VOID for failure to meet the standards of a valid search warrant, and all evidence procured by virtue thereof are deemed inadmissible,” Associate Justice Emily San Gaspar-Gito wrote. The activists have been detained since Feb. 19, 2020, and Nasino was then pregnant. She gave birth during custody and was separated from Baby River after a month. Appeals and requests to the court to let her be with her baby until River turned a year old were denied. Baby River died in October 2020, and Nasino attended the burial in shackles, unable to hug her daughter or even wipe her tears properly as jail guards and security personnel watched her closely. In resolving the detainees’ petition, the CA held that “such grave abuse of discretion is present” in the issuance of the search warrants. The CA pointed out that case records showed that the Search Warrants had three different addresses: No. 1822 Hondarez Street, corner Algeciras Street, Brgy. 444, Sampaloc, Manila; No. 672 Flora St. corner Clemente Street, Brgy. 183, Tondo, Manila and 672 Flora St. Brgy 178, Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila. The search warrants were eventually implemented at 672 Flora St. corner Clemente Street, Brgy. 183, Tondo Manila “thereby camouflaging their mistake, perpetrating their mistake and misleading everyone with such mistake,” the CA pointed out. “These apparent irregularities in the application and implementation of the subject Search Warrants are more than enough to debunk the presumption of regularity of performance of official duties,” it said. According to the Bill of Rights in the 1987 Constitution, warrants — for arrest or to authorize a search — may only be issued “upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.”
Mary Jane Veloso case prospects turn iffy in Marcos trip | INQUIRER.NET – The prospect of bringing home Mary Jane Veloso, a convicted drug mule who was sentenced to death by an Indonesian court in 2010, has remained uncertain even as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived here on Sunday for a three-day state visit. Marcos did not mention Veloso’s case when he spoke before members of the Filipino community here, his first official function overseas as head of state since he took office on June 30. The president also did not say if he would raise the possibility of saving her from death row during his scheduled meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at Bogor Palace on Monday. Instead, the president praised the overseas Filipinos, most of whom were employed as professionals in Indonesia, for their efforts in protecting the country’s reputation. “Your good standing in the Indonesian society has contributed to sustaining trade, tourism, and people-to-people links between our countries,” Marcos told a crowd of about 300 Filipinos who gathered at the Fairmont Hotel. Moments before the president’s arrival, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles told reporters covering the visit that the Filipino death row convict’s status was not officially on the table of the meeting between the two heads of state. “We can’t say officially,” Angeles replied when asked if Veloso’s case was included in the bilateral meeting. “It’s always an issue. Perhaps it will be broached by one or both parties. We will have to see,” she added. “I understand that since it’s a pending issue, it may be inescapable [to discuss it].” As to whether she would personally provide Marcos a copy of the letter of Veloso’s parents asking Marcos to help save their daughter from death row, she said: “Based on our discussion, [Foreign] Secretary [Enrique] Manalo will take care of this. I am pretty sure he will bring this to the president’s [attention].”
