News Roundup 10 February 2024
Feb 10, 2024 • 4 min Read
Philippines, US hold third joint patrol in South China Sea | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and the United States held their third joint sea and air patrol in three months off the Southeast Asian country’s coast on Friday, the allies said.
The latest sea and air patrols in the South China Sea come as Washington seeks to strengthen its defence ties in the region in the face of an increasingly assertive China.
In separate exercises, the US and Japanese navies also held joint drills in the Philippine Sea this month in a show of force as tensions with China and North Korea rise.
Washington, which has a mutual defence pact with Manila, has denounced aggressive Chinese actions towards its ally and vowed to keep open the South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars worth of trade is shipped every year.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway and has ignored an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
China also claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has vowed to seize the island, by force if necessary, ramping up pressure with major military drills in the Taiwan Strait.
Friday’s sea and air patrols involved the US combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords and an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter, along with the Philippine Navy’s BRP Gregorio del Pilar warship and an AW109 helicopter.
The Philippine military said the patrol was held in its exclusive economic zone but did not provide an exact location.
Full Story at: Philippines, US hold third joint patrol in South China Sea | Philstar.com
28 lives lost in Davao de Oro landslide by Saturday noon | PHILSTAR.COM – COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Davao de Oro landslide fatality count had reached 28 as of noontime Saturday, the Maco Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported.
The number of lifeless bodies dug under tons of soil and rocks that covered an area in Barangay Masara in Maco was based on compiled reports from the Maco MDRRMC, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Police Regional Office 11, the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command and the Davao de Oro provincial government.
The Maco local government unit, in a statement released at noontime Saturday, confirmed that 28 bodies from the landslide-stricken area had been recovered since rescue operations started immediately after mud and other debris cascaded from a hill and covered a part of Barangay Masara at past 7:00 p.m. Monday.
Full Story at: 28 lives lost in Davao de Oro landslide by Saturday noon | Philstar.com
Belmonte launches country’s first vendor business school | INQUIRER.NET – In collaboration with the Consultancy Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIR) Resilient Cities Project, the Quezon City local government unit formally launched its own Vendor Business School (VBS).
The first batch included 49 public vendors, 60 hawker vendors, and 60 temporary vendors who will undergo six months of training on entrepreneurship, food safety, market technology, adaptation to climate changes, and proper calorie content for their food products.
The CGIAR Resilient Cities Project, headed by Dr. Simon Heck, is an international research group whose objective is to strengthen the flow of food systems in big cities of the world for food security.
Quezon City and Nairobi City Kenya are the only countries in the world with vendor business schools.
Mayor Joy Belmonte said the VBS was also an offshoot of the city’s membership to the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, a group of cities pushing for better food systems in the world and ending hunger.
Under the program, training, coaching, and mentoring of vendor business students will start this month and end in July. Upon graduation, they will be included in the PangkabuhayangQC Program under the SBCDPO where a small business grant will be given ranging from P10,000 to P20,000 as added capital.
Full Story at: Belmonte launches country’s first vendor business school (inquirer.net)
Two alleged NPA rebels died during Leyte clash | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Two alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed in an encounter with government troops in Leyte on Saturday.
The clash happened in Barangay Tinag-an, Albuera, Leyte, around 7 a.m. between the rebels and the 93rd Infantry Battalion and 8th Infantry Division, the Philippine Army said.
They have also recovered two caliber M16 rifles and one caliber.45 pistol during the encounter.
“Ang Phil Army ay nakikiramay sa pamilya ng mga nasawing miyembro ng CPP-NPA [Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA] na nabiktima ng maling paniniwala,” it said in a statement.
(The Philippine Army sympathizes with the families of the fallen members of the CPP-NPA [Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA] who were victims of false convictions.)
Full Story at: Two alleged NPA rebels died during Leyte clash | Inquirer News
