News Roundup 02 April 2024
Apr 02, 2024 • 4 min Read
Teodoro to Filipinos: Let’s not fall for Chinese propaganda | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. reminded the public that they must “not lose sight” of the “main threat” on the sovereign rights of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea amid purported rumors of the “gentleman’s agreement” with China.
In an “open letter” penned by the Defense chief on Tuesday, he warned Filipinos not to fall for Chinese propaganda which narratives distance the violations of the Chinese government at the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“Let us not fall into the trap set by Chinese propaganda of refocusing the debate on a so-called promise while deflecting attention away from China’s government, thereby freeing and allowing them to continue with their illegal activities in our EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” Teodoro said in an open letter to Filipinos.
This “open letter” was released by Teodoro amid circulating rumors that former President Rodrigo Duterte and China’s President Xi Jinping had a “gentleman’s agreement” wherein they agreed to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin shoal.
The agreement was revealed last week by former presidential spokesman Harry Roque. He said that Duterte and Xi had an agreement to keep WPS “status quo.”
The National Task Force for the WPS previously said that it is not aware of Roque’s statement concerning the reported gentleman’s agreement.
Another former presidential spokesman of Duterte, Salvador Panelo, denied the existence of the agreement between Duterte and the Chinese president.
“Kung sino man nagkakalat ng gentleman’s agreement ‘yun po ay nagsisinungaling,” Panelo said in an interview with Sonsine Media Network International.
(Whoever is spreading the gentleman’s agreement is lying.)
The BRP Sierra Madre has been anchored to the Ayungin Shoal since 1999 to be the country’s permanent outpost in the area amid China’s expansion to the South China Sea.
Full Story at: Teodoro to Filipinos: Let’s not fall for Chinese propaganda | Philstar.com
Chinese nationals arrested for obtaining gov’t IDs illegally — BI | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Four Chinese nationals suspected of obtaining government IDs through fraudulent means were apprehended in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan last month, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
In a statement on Monday, the BI said that the 4 Chinese men identified as Wang Tao, Li Xiaoming, Guo Zhi Yang and Lyu Zhiyang were arrested in Brgy. San Pedro in Palawan City on March 19.
“The arresting team of the operation have been working on the case for several months and have kept close coordination with intelligence forces and law enforcement agents to ensure the smooth arrest of the subjects,” the BI’s press release read, quoting BI Intelligence Chief Fortunato Manahan.
During the operation which was carried out by three different agencies, various Philippine-issued IDs such as driver’s licenses, postal IDs and birth certificates were discovered and confiscated from the foreign nationals.
The operation was carried out in collaboration with the Naval Forces West, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency 4B, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Full Story at: Chinese nationals arrested for obtaining gov’t IDs illegally — BI | Philstar.com
Police’s help sought in implementing arrest order vs Quiboloy | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSSA) has sought the assistance of police authorities on the implementation of the arrest order against alleged rapist and religious leader Apollo Quiboloy, according to Police Regional Office 11 spokesperson Captain Hazel Tuazon.
In a text message sent to INQUIRER.net, Tuazon said OSSA asked them for help but has yet to provide them with the arrest order’s copy.
“For info po as of today, wala po kaming na-receive na kopya sa arrest warrant po ni Pastor Quiboloy (We have not yet received a copy of the arrest warrant of Pastor Quiboloy) but OSSA is requesting for police assistance relative to the implementation of a warrant of arrest issued by the Senate,” she said on Tuesday.
“The Police Regional Office 11 is directed to assist the OSSA in implementing the contempt warrant po,” Tuazon added.
Full Story at: Davao police help sought in implementing arrest order vs Quiboloy (inquirer.net)
PCG regains access to its Facebook page that was hacked on Friday | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) regained complete control of its official Facebook account on Tuesday, according to the agency.
Quoting PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armand Balilo, the agency said the Coast Guard Public Affairs Service (CGPAS) recovered full access to the account around 9 a.m.
PCG’s Facebook account was hacked by an “unknown entity” around 12:30 p.m. last Friday (March 29).
Since then, PCG’s page featured posts of short clips from various movies.
“The CGPAS coordinated with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and Meta to conduct back-end operations and assess the security breach,” the agency said in a statement.
“The CGPAS is also set to conduct another hardware check with IT experts from the Armed Forces of the Philippines to strengthen its cybersecurity measures,” it added.
Full Story at: PCG regains access to its hacked Facebook page (inquirer.net)
