News Roundup 10 September 2024
Sep 10, 2024 • 5 min Read
Philippine Navy reports largest Chinese ship presence in West Philippine Sea | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — At least 207 Chinese vessels were spotted crowding the West Philippine Sea last week, breaking the previous week’s record-high even after a powerful storm swept through the area.
According to the Philippine Navy’s monitoring from September 3 to 9, which an official presented on Tuesday, September 10, four more Chinese vessels were spotted in the nine features of the West Philippine Sea compared to the previous week. The increase marks China’s largest show of force in the disputed waters this year.
Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, noted that around 68 or a third of the Chinese vessels were concentrated near or within Escoda (Sabina) Shoal a feature 75 nautical miles from Palawan and deep within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
“The numbers do not mean there is something suspicious,” Trinidad said.
“In the first place, even only one ship, their presence is already illegal within the exclusive economic zone. It just so happens that because of our extra attention giuven to Sabina Shoal, the maritime militia numbers have also increased focusing on Sabina Shoal,” he added.
Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua has been stationed at Escoda Shoal since April amid reports of Chinese reclamation activities in the area. Beijing has called on the Philippines to remove the vessel, saying its presence is an affront to its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.
“Sabina and Escoda have been under our attention for the past good number of months because of the reported increase of crushed corals… We have to determine if this is man-made or by force of nature. Hence, the extra patrols given by the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources,” Trinidad said.
The number of Chinese ships deployed so far in the West Philippine Sea, which is part of the broader South China Sea, is within the “force projection capability of South Sea Fleet, the CCG, and the maritime militia,” the Navy official added.
Full Story at: Philippine Navy reports largest Chinese ship presence in West Philippine Sea | Philstar.com
‘Unprogrammed funds’ puzzle senators reviewing slashed DOTr budget | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Senators were surprised to find that a significant portion of the Department of Transportation’s (DOTR) proposed budget for 2024 was reallocated to so-called unprogrammed funds.
In the executive branch’s 2024 National Expenditure Program, the DOTr was allotted P213.7 billion. However, in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) passed by Congress, the DOTr was only allotted P41.2 billion, a mere 19% of the proposed amount.
“It’s that low? Are you sure?” Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel asked.
“Majority of our appropriations was put in the unprogrammed appropriations,” DOTR Assistant Secretary Jesus Gonzales responded, referring to 81% of the proposed budget which was not directly granted to the department.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista that the “funds given to us were not enough.”
Pimentel asked for how much of the 2024 unprogrammed funds were allocated for DOTR’s project, but Batan said that the unprogrammed funds acted as a lump sum for the entire government.
Asked by Pimentel if Congress was able to help the DOTR, Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said “they helped partially.”
Several big-ticket transportation projects were transferred to the “Support to foreign-assisted program” category under unprogrammed funds. These include:
- MRT LINE 4 Project
- Davao Public Transport Modernization Project
- North-South Commuter Railway System
- EDSA Greenway Project
- Cebu Bus Rapid Transit Project
- Metro Manila Subway Project
- PNR South Long Haul Project
- Maritime Safety Enhancement Project
Senator JV Ejercito was taken aback. “The flagship programs, the priority programs, were relegated to unprogrammed. That is where I am puzzled. Why is this so?” he asked.
Full Story at: Senators puzzled: Most of DOTr’s budget went to ‘unprogrammed funds’ | Philstar.com
Sara blasted for diverting issue: Tatak Duterte ang pambubudol – Co | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co lambasted Vice President Sara Duterte for her alleged fakery and for trying to divert the issue regarding her office’s expenses.
During his interpellation at Tuesday’s hearing of his committee on appropriations on the proposed P2.037 billion budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2025, Co unleashed scathing words against Duterte, who decided to not attend the proceeding.
Co reacted to Duterte’s earlier pronouncements about lawmakers’ questioning of her budget – branding it as political attacks – and accused the chairperson of the House committee on appropriations and Speaker Martin Romualdez of controlling and manipulating national budget allocations.
“Nakita natin lahat ang part one ng video message ni Vice President Sara Duterte kung saan nililihis na naman niya ang mga issue. Talaga pong tatak Duterte ang pangbu-budol. mula sa pekeng war on drugs, pekeng good governance, pekeng pagkontra sa korapsyon at ngayon pekeng sagot sa mga issue,” Co said.
(We all saw part one of Vice President Sara Duterte’s video message where she diverted the issues again. Deception is really a Duterte brand, from the fake war on drugs, fake good governance, fake anti-corruption, and now fake answers to issues.)
Full Story at: Sara Duterte blasted for diverting issue, ‘fakery’ (inquirer.net)
DND opposes Quiboloy’s motion for military custody before Pasig court | INQUIRER.NET –MANILA, Philippines (Updated) — The Department of National Defense (DND) filed a motion to oppose the camp of detained Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s petition to transfer his custody from the police to the military.
The four-page “comment and opposition” to Quiboloy camp’s urgent motion for transfer was lodged by Erik Dy, DND assistant secretary for legal and legislative affairs, before Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 159 on Tuesday afternoon.
“[As per] the process of the court, they will request us to comment but we did this on our own, to file our comment, because we oppose the transfer of the accused to the custody of the [military],” Dy said in an ambush interview, partly in Filipino.
Dy said that a copy of Quiboloy’s motion to transfer his custody from the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was only received by the DND on Tuesday morning.
Full Story at: DND counters Quiboloy motion for AFP custody before Pasig court (inquirer.net)
