News Roundup 08 October 2024
Oct 08, 2024 • 4 min Read
Chinese vessels deploy water cannons against Philippine civilian boats | PHILSTAR.COM –MANILA, Philippines — Chinese Coast Guard vessels fired water cannons at Philippine boats near Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) in the West Philippine Sea early Tuesday, October 8, in an attempt to block the civilian vessels from delivering supplies to Filipino fishers.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said in a statement on Tuesday that two of its ships were on a routine resupply mission to Filipino fishers near Panatag Shoal when they were shadowed by three Chinese Coast Guard vessels and one Chinese warship.
The Chinese vessels attempted to interfere with the mission by tailing the BFAR ships and deploying water cannons, though the blasts failed to reach the Philippine vessels, the BFAR said.
Despite the reported “dangerous maneuvers” by the foreign vessels, civilian vessels BRP Datu Cabaylo and BRP Datu Sanday successfully resupplied seven large Filipino fishing boats and 16 smaller ones near Bajo de Masinloc.
The bureau said Chinese vessels’ actions would not keep it from continuing to patrol all Philippine maritime zones and support the country’s fishers in the West Philippine Sea.
This fresh incident in the disputed waters comes less than a month after the Philippine government vowed to ramp up its rotational presence in the rich fishing grounds of Bajo de Masinloc to counter China’s harassment of Filipino fishers there.
Full Story at: Chinese vessels deploy water cannons against Philippine civilian boats | Philstar.com
Marcos skips VP Sara in caretaker role amid Lao PDR visit | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not list Vice President Sara Duterte as the Philippines’ caretaker while he travels to Laos for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.
Marcos often designates the vice president as caretaker during his many foreign trips.
In a message to reporters, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cesar Chavez said that Marcos formed an Executive Committee instead.
“It is an Executive Committee chaired by ES (Executive Secretary), with Secretaries of Justice and Agrarian Reform as members,” Chavez said.
Marcos will be in Laos from October 8 to 11 for the ASEAN. This year’s theme is “ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience.”
Once allies to secure victory in the 2022 elections, the rift between Marcos and Duterte has continuously widened ever since the vice president was stripped of her proposed confidential funds in 2023.
A few months later in 2024, the Duterte clan, led by former president Rodrigo Duterte, began to openly criticize Marcos. Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte even told Marcos to resign.
The quiet feud appears to have led the vice president to quit her posts in the Department of Education and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Full Story at: Marcos skips VP Sara in caretaker role amid Lao PDR visit | Philstar.com
Solon links OVP, DepEd issues to decline in VP Sara’s rating | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The decline in Vice President Sara Duterte’s ratings, as shown in recent surveys, is due to issues faced by her office and the Department of Education when it was under her supervision, House of Representatives Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said on Monday.
Dalipe, in a statement, said the drop in Duterte’s net trust ratings, based on a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey — from 45 percent in July 2024 to just 29 percent in September 2024 — can be attributed to her refusal to address questions about her offices’ budget utilization.
“Sa palagay natin, nagde-demand ng transparency at accountability ang taumbayan kay VP [Sara] sa gitna ng napakaraming tanong na hindi niya sinasagot o masagot. Repleksyon ito kung anong klaseng lider ka kasi dapat iniingatan natin ang pondo ng bayan,” Dalipe said.
(I think that the public is demanding transparency and accountability from Vice President Duterte since there are so many questions that she failed or refused to address or answer. It is a reflection of what kind of leader you are, because we should take care of public funds.)
‘Dalipe said the SWS survey was commissioned by think-tank firm Stratbase, Inc.
Full Story at: Solon links OVP, DepEd issues to decline in VP Sara’s rating (inquirer.net)
Jonvic Remulla takes oath before Marcos as new DILG chief | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla took oath as the new secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday.
His oath-taking was held in the Malacañan Palace hours after Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cesar Chavez confirmed to reporters in a Viber message on Tuesday morning that the chief executive chose the Cavite governor as a replacement for Benjamin Abalos Jr.
Abalos filed his certificate of candidacy for senator and, hence, automatically resigned from his Cabinet post as a presidential appointee.
Chavez’s confirmation came after Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told reporters on Monday evening about the appointment of his brother as the new DILG chief.
Full Story at: Jonvic Remulla takes oath before Marcos as new DILG chief (inquirer.net)
