News Roundup 16 March 2022
Mar 16, 2022 • 5 min Read
DFA to file diplomatic protest over incursions in Philippine Rise — Palace | PHILSTAR.COM – The government is expected to protest the incursions in the Philippine Rise, an area off the province of Aurora that is part of the Philippines’ continental shelf. “When it comes to the Philippine Rise, the Department of Foreign Affairs will take the necessary course of action which is to file a diplomatic protest,” acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said at a press briefing Wednesday. Andanar was asked to react to the statement of National Security Council deputy director general Rufino Lopez, who had revealed that Chinese ships have been intruding into the Philippine Rise. During a Senate hearing last Tuesday, Lopez was asked whether there are incursions in the Philippine Rise that are similar to the incidents reported in 2018. Lopez said there are still incursions in the area and that the Navy and the Coast Guard are “trying their best to conduct proper reports of all of these incursions.” Formerly called Benham Rise, the Philippine Rise is a 13-million hectare submerged continental shelf off Aurora. The Philippines has sovereign rights over the area, which means that the country has the exclusive right to explore and exploit the natural and non-living resources found in it. The United Nations declared the underwater plateau as part of the country’s continental shelf in 2012. The undersea landmass was renamed to Philippine Rise through Executive Order No. 25 signed by President Duterte in 2017. The Philippines and China are embroiled in a maritime dispute over some parts of the South China Sea, a busy sealane where more than $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes through every year. In 2016, a Hague-based arbitral court voided China’s wide-reaching claim in the South China Sea but the Chinese government refused to recognize the ruling.
‘She knows our story’: Hataman backs Robredo for president, urges support from Bangsamoro region | PHILSTAR.COM – House Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman (Basilan) came out in support of Vice President Leni Robredo’s presidential bid on Wednesday and called on the Bangsamoro region to back her as well. Hataman, the last governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao before it was replaced by the Bangsamoro ARMM, said Robredo understands their history, experience and issues and knows how to solve them. “Alam niya ang ating kuwento dahil pag may gulo, sakuna, o anumang isyu, agad-agad siyang pumupunta, tumatapak sa ground zero, nagpapabalik-balik — hindi para manligaw ng boto, pero para direktang mag-abot ng tulong at makinig sa ating kuwento,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. (She knows our story because when there are conflicts, calamities or any issues, she immediately goes here, lands on ground zero, frequently returns — not to court votes but to directly extend help and listen to our story.) Among these stories are the atrocities committed against the Moro people during the brutal regime of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, which Hataman called a “dark chapter” for them. “Maraming pinaslang at pinahirapan. Minasaker tayo. Maraming napilitang pumulot ng armas sa ngalan ng katarungan; maraming napilitang lumikas sa mga tahanan. Tutol ako sa pagbabalik sa kapangyarihan ng angkan na nagpasimuno at nakinabang sa pang-aaping ito,” Hataman said. (Many were killed and had suffered. We were massacred. Many were forced to take up arms in the name of justice; many were forced to flee their homes. I am against the return to power of the clan that started and benefited from this oppression.) He said Robredo represents the “best chance” to thwart the return of the Marcoses and keep the peace in the region. This is the latest in a string of recent endorsements of local officials of Robredo, which include Northern Samar Gov. Edwin Ongchuan, Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone, Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando and House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro). Groups from the academe, economists, the youth, priests, lawyers and human rights defenders have also endorsed Robredo, the de facto opposition candidate.
Robredo in alliance with Reds? ‘Far-fetched, incredulous’, says Chiz | INQUIRER.NET – Senatorial candidate Francis “Chiz” Escudero dubbed as “far-fetched and incredulous” allegations that Vice President Leni Robredo has forged an alliance with communist rebels. Escudero said that while he and Robredo may have a different stance regarding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), he does not believe the Vice President has aligned herself with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). “I am in favor of the retention of the NTF-ELCAC… and [Robredo] may have a different position but I find the allegation that she herself has entered into an alliance/agreement [with] the CPP-NPA-NDF both far-fetched and incredulous, to say the least,” Escudero said in a tweet.
PNP identifies 8 men behind the missing ‘sabungero’ case | Manila Bulletin – At least eight people have already been identified to be responsible in the case of more than 30 cockfighting gamers, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said on Tuesday, March 15. In a briefing with the President aired on Wednesday, March 16, Año said the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) have observed key points at the course of the probe into the missing cockfighting gamers (sabungeros) in Manila, Batangas, Laguna and Rizal. Based on the PNP-CIDG report, Año said all of the missing sabungeros were last seen near or within the premises of the cockfighting arenas and almost all of the vehicles they rode in were found abandoned near the places of their residences. He noted that only one administrator or operator was assigned in the cockfighting arenas where the sabungeros went after they got missing. Año also pointed out that the arenas do not have close-circuit television (CCTV) systems while the persons of interests involved in the missing sabungero cases are their security or management staff. The DILG chief stressed that they will seek the assistance of the courts in serving the warrants of arrest to the suspects and determine their participation in the 31 missing sabungero cases as soon as the ample pieces of evidence are gathered by the police authorities.
