News Roundup 20 September 2024
Joseph Guerrero in News and Updates
Sep 20, 2024 • 5 min Read
China seethes as US missile system stays in Philippines | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Beijing has voiced serious concerns over the Philippines’ decision to hold onto a US mid-range missile system it received earlier this year that can target mainland China.
The deployment of the powerful missile system in northern Philippines “gravely threatens regional countries’ security” and triggers “geopolitical confrontation,” Lin Jian, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday, September 19.
Not directly mentioning the United States, the Chinese official called on the “relevant country” to “correct the wrongdoing as soon as possible” and “quickly pull out the missile system as publicly pledged.”
Beijing’s statement comes after Reuters reported on Thursday, September 19 that the US has no immediate plan to pull out the Typhon missile system it deployed to the Philippines for joint exercises in April. The system can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of reaching targets from northern Philippines all the way to the Chinese mainland.
Philippine officials told Reuters that Filipino and American troops are still training with the missile system. They were not aware of immediate plans to return it, even though the Salaknib joint exercises have concluded this month.
The Typhon was discreetly delivered to northern Luzon from an undisclosed location for use in the Balikatan military exercises in April (a separate exercise from Salaknib).
The move drew the ire of China, who called on the Philippines to “think twice about being a cat’s paw for the US at the expense of its own security interests.”
Full Story at: China seethes as Typhon missile system stays in Philippines | Philstar.com
Sara Duterte pays surprise visit to Leni Robredo in Naga | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte traveled to Naga City on Friday, September 20, to speak to former Vice President Leni Robredo at her residence.
Robredo confirmed the meeting in a statement sent to reporters by her spokesperson Barry Gutierrez.
The former vice president said she did not discuss political matters with Duterte.
“While she was in Naga City for the Peñafrancia Festival, VP Sara Duterte took the opportunity to visit me at my home. The conversation we had was personal and not political,” Robredo said.
Gutierrez said Robredo was informed that the vice president was on her way to her home just minutes before her visit. Their conversation lasted about an hour, he said.
The Office of the Vice President has not responded to reporters’ requests for information.
Duterte and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, repeatedly took potshots at Robredo and her party, the Liberal Party, during her six-year term.
In 2019, Sara called Robredo a “fake VP” in response to the then-vice president’s comments about candidates’ honesty.
Weeks before Sara took office in 2022, Robredo met with her transition team and gave them a tour of the Office of the Vice President in Quezon City.
Story at: Sara Duterte pays surprise visit to Leni Robredo in Naga | Philstar.com
PDEA confirms: Mabilog wasn’t on initial narcolist, name was just added | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Former Iloilo mayor Jed Mabilog was not on the initial list of police generals and government officials supposedly aiding the illegal drug trade, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said.
Instead, PDEA officials told the House of Representatives’ quad committee on Thursday that the former local chief executive’s name was only included in the list produced by then-President Rodrigo Duterte.
During his turn to interpellate PDEA, Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano asked the agency’s officials to clarify if Mabilog was actually part of the so-called narcolist. In response, incumbent PDEA Director General Moro Virgilio Lazo confirmed that Mabilog’s name was just included later on.
“Now, question on the Duterte’s list. Just to be clear: Is the Duterte’s list true? Were the information validated? Did it go through vetting? Let me ask DG Lazo, with regards to the case of Mayor Jed Mabilog. DG Lazo, do you confirm that indeed, in the PDEA list, as claimed by Mayor Jed Mabilog, his name was not on the PDEA list?” Paduano asked.
“Yes, Mr. Chairman… Initially, it was not on the list, but later on, his name was included,” Lazo replied.
Full Story at: PDEA: Mabilog wasn’t on initial narcolist, name was just added (inquirer.net)
De Lima hits Duterte’s tagging of political rivals as drug lords | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Former senator Leila De Lima, who was detained for more than six years for drug-related charges during the Duterte administration, on Friday said it seemed that there was a “pattern” in branding political rivals as drug lords.
De Lima was reacting to the revelations of former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, who was likewise linked to the illegal drugs trade.
“Ako ang unang na-brand niya as (I was the first to be branded as) ‘The Mother of Drug Lords’, ‘The Bilibid Drug Trading Queen’, ‘No. 1 Narcopolitician’, ako ang unang siniraan nila, katulad din ng sinasabi ngayon ni former mayor Jed Mabilog na hindi naman pala totoo na dapat kasama siya sa listahan, tina-target lang siya dahil sa pulitika na naman,” De Lima said in an ambush interview.
(I was the first one they besmirched. Like what former mayor Mabilog said, it is not true that he should be on the list, he was just targeted because of politics.)
“Yun talaga ang nagiging pattern, kung makikita natin sa rebelasyon na ‘yan,” she added.
(That’s the pattern, if we base it on on his revelation.)
Mabilog on Thursday also revealed that there was a scheme to force him to tag former senators Manuel “Mar” Roxas and Franklin Drilon as drug lords.
Full Story at: De Lima Duthits erte’s drug lord-tagging of political enemies (inquirer.net)
