News Roundup 03 December 2023
Dec 03, 2023 • 4 min Read
Strong indications of ‘foreign element’ in Marawi bomb attack — DND | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Philippine authorities said Sunday that there were strong indications pointing to the involvement of a “foreign element” in the deadly bombing at Mindanao State University in the Muslim-majority city of Marawi.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the “senseless and most heinous” bombing attack during a Catholic Mass at MSU’s Dimaparo gymnasium, attributing it to “foreign terrorists.” The blast killed at least four people and wounded 50 others.
In a briefing, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said that there was “strong” evidence of a “foreign element” being involved in the attack.
Teodoro, however, refrained from disclosing information about the potential perpetrator to avoid hampering ongoing investigations by the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
When asked about whether the unidentified fatality was the “foreign element,” the defense chief responded: “We cannot say so.”
“The mere fact that she is unidentified does not lead us to conclude anything before she is properly identified… We have to identify her first and backtrack,” he said.
The Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia said it is too early to make conclusions or assign blame to any individual or group at this time.
Full Story at: Strong indications of ‘foreign element’ in Marawi bomb attack — DND | Philstar.com
Coast Guard: Over 135 Chinese vessels ‘swarming’ Julian Felipe Reef | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — More than 135 Chinese maritime militia vessels were monitored in the vicinity of Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard reported Sunday.
The PCG said it initially observed on November 13 111 Chinese vessels swarming the Julian Felipe Reef, which is part of the Kalayaan Island Group in the contested waterway.
The number of Chinese militia vessels rose to 125 based on the military’s monitoring, and by Saturday, over 135 boats were “dispersed and scattered” in the area, according to the Coast Guard.
The PCG described the growing presence of Chinese vessels in the reef as an “alarming development.”
“No response was made to the radio challenges issued by the PCG to the CMM vessels,” it said, after deploying two boats to conduct patrols in the vicinity of Julian Felipe Reef.
Julian Felipe Reef is located 175 nautical miles, or around 320 kilometers, west of Bataraza town in Palawan. The reef is more than 1,000 kilometers from the nearest major Chinese landmass of Hainan island.
Full Story at: Coast Guard: Over 135 Chinese vessels ‘swarming’ Julian Felipe Reef | Philstar.com
Escudero supports gov’t decision to explore calls for PH rejoining ICC | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines – Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Sunday backed the decision of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to study calls for the Philippines to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC), five years after the country’s withdrawal.
The Philippines withdrew its membership at the ICC in March 2018 after its prosecutor’s office launched an initial inquiry into the alleged extrajudicial drug killings in the Philippines during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Para sa akin tama iyong sinabi ng Pangulo na dapat ito ay pag-aralang mabuti dahil may mga pinasok tayong tratado na tayo naman ang nagbabayad palagi at tayo ang nagdurusa,” Escudero said in a radio interview.
(In my opinion, what the President said is right, that this should be thoroughly studied because we entered into treaties where we are always the ones paying and suffering.)
Citing the country’s participation in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris as an example, Escudero said that the Philippines should make well-informed decisions when entering treaties with international bodies.
FATF is an intergovernmental organization that was established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.
Full Story at: Escudero backs gov’t move to study calls for PH rejoining ICC (inquirer.net)
De Lima eyes suing bloggers that ‘degraded’ her as a woman | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Bloggers who had spread “fake news” and malicious disinformation against recently released former Sen. Leila de Lima should brace themselves for possible court cases that are now “under study” by her legal team.
“The charges could include libel, cyberlibel, defamation, slander, and assault to honor,” said De Lima who was granted bail last month after almost seven years in detention at Camp Crame for drug-related charges filed against her during the previous administration.
In an interview with the Inquirer on Friday, the former human rights commissioner and justice secretary said that while she does not go for censorship and believes that “(one) should always be respectful of everyone’s right to free speech,” what some bloggers had posted on social media were a “clear abuse of their rights to free expression.”
‘Unprintable’
Social media, De Lima said, “was supposed to have been envisioned for good. [It was] supposed to be a source of information in order to do good for society.” Instead, it became a “tool for fake news, propaganda and misinformation,” she said.
Full Story at: De Lima eyes suing bloggers that ‘degraded’ her as a woman | Inquirer News
