News Roundup 16 July 2024
Jul 16, 2024 • 5 min Read
Top U.S. military official arrives in Philippines, to visit EDCA site | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Charles Q. Brown Jr., chair of the joint U.S. military chiefs, arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday and is set to visit one of the nine designated facilities for American rotational forces under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
Brown, the Air Force general and the highest-ranking U.S. military official, will also meet with his Filipino counterpart, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Romeo Brawner Jr., according to a U.S. Department of Defense news release.
The visit came days after the eighth anniversary of the Philippines’ arbitral victory at United Nations that invalidated China’s nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea.
In a statement, Brown reasserted the United States’ commitment to international law, saying that in the Philippines, the U.S. has a “longstanding, shared interest in regional stability.”
“The Philippines is one of our oldest treaty allies in the region,” he added, referring to the 72-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries.
The undisclosed site Brown is set to visit supplements the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement allowing the presence of U.S. military personnel in the Philippines.
Signed in 2014, EDCA, meanwhile, allows U.S. troops access to specific Philippine military facilities, enabling them to construct infrastructure and position equipment, aircraft and vessels.
The agreement was forged as China continued to encroach on waters in within Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, blocking coast guard resupply missions and harassing Filipino fishermen.
Full Story at: Top U.S. military official arrives in Philippines, to visit EDCA site | Philstar.com
Philippines losing P99.52 billion yearly due to POGOs — DOF | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) doubled down on its stance to ban Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), saying that allowing the gaming hubs to continue operations is costing the country P99.52 billion a year.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means deliberated on Tuesday over two bills: one proposing to ban online gaming and another to tax POGOs.
During the hearing, DOF Assistant Secretary Karlo Adriano, who heads the agency’s Fiscal Policy and Monitoring Group, presented a cost-benefit analysis of POGOs.
“Our estimates show that the net cost of POGO operation is around P99.52 billion annually. The estimated total economic benefits of POGOs amount to P166.49 billion annually while the estimated total economic costs amount to P265.74 billion,” Adriano said.
The economic benefits comprised both direct and indirect benefits. Adriano explained that direct economic benefits include tax revenues, gaming revenues, private consumption spending, real estate and other consumptions.
Indirect economic benefits are economic and fiscal multiplier effects.
Meanwhile, the direct economic costs include lost investment opportunities, additional costs of law enforcement and the impact to tourism. Adriano also cited the social costs of allowing POGOs to operate, saying that their analysis does not account for the loss of life and other injuries brought by illegal POGOs.
“If ever there will be a ban of POGOs, but that can be compensated if there will be more investment that will be coming in because of the ban,” he said.
Full Story at: Philippines losing P99.52 billion yearly due to POGOs — DOF | Philstar.com
‘Marites warfare’: AFP denies walkout of top brass at command conference | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday categorically denied the reported walkout of military officials during a command conference.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said this in response to a DZRH radio expose about the alleged walkout last July 4 of a “top general” followed by other officials during a command conference.
However, it can be recalled that the last command conference of the AFP was presided over by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on July 4.
The midyear command conference came on the heels of the June 17 incident in the BRP Sierra Madre — a naval outpost in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal — which saw the most violent actions of China Coast Guard personnel so far, leading to what the Philippine military deem as “looting” of its disassembled high-powered guns and even caused the thumb amputation of one of its naval personnel.
On July 2, or two days before the command conference, Manila and Beijing also held the bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea to de-escalate tensions between the two nations.
“If you are referring to the command conference, that’s fake news,” Padilla said in a regular AFP press conference held at Philippine Air Force headquarters when asked to respond to such claims.
“I was there personally. There is nothing of that sort that happened; it was a very professional exchange of ideas and discussions and there were also a lot of updates that were given. It all ended on a positive note,” she added.
Full Story at: AFP denies walkout of top brass at command conference (inquirer.net)
Navy missile boat gets battle system upgrade | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines–One of the Philippine Navy’s most capable surface combatants, the fast attack interdiction craft BRP Nestor Acero (PG-901), became more potent as its “battle net” (BNET) system received a significant upgrade from Israeli defense manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
“This upgrade was validated through a comprehensive sea trial near Manila Bay and Cavite City, involving PG-901 and five other ACPGs (Acero Class Patrol Gunboats),” the BRP Nestor Acero said in a Facebook post Monday night.
It added that the sea trial, held on July 4, tested the connectivity and communication range of the upgraded BNET system, focusing on voice, chat, and video feed relay. No other details on the system upgrade were provided for security reasons.
“The results exceeded baseline specifications, confirming the upgrade’s success. This enhancement significantly boosts the ACPG fleet’s operational capabilities, ensuring improved connectivity and real-time communication for modern naval operations,” the post read.
The PN now has six Acero-class gunboats in service, with the BRP Nestor Acero as the lead ship.
Full Story at: Navy missile boat gets battle system upgrade (inquirer.net)
