News Roundup 23 October 2023
Oct 23, 2023 • 4 min Read
DND: China’s move in WPS a ‘serious escalation of illegal activities’ | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Philippine government describes China’s latest offense in the West Philippine Sea as a “serious escalation” in a string of illegal activities within the country’s territories.
China disregarded international law, according to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.
“The Philippine government views the latest aggression by China as a blatant violation of international law,” said the defense chief at a Malacañang briefing.
“China has no legal right or authority to conduct law enforcement operations in our territorial waters and in our exclusive economic zone,” he emphasized.
“This is a serious escalation of the illegal activities conducted by the Chinese government in the West Philippine Sea, in complete disregard of any norm or convention of any international law,” he declared.
Teodoro said the Philippines’ top officials are seriously discussing the collision in Ayungin Shoal.
“The use of China of brute force behind disingenuous facades necessitates this course of action,” explained the defense secretary.
Full Story at: DND: China’s move in WPS a ‘serious escalation of illegal activities’ | Global News (inquirer.net)
US stands in support of PH after China’s incursion in WPS | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The United States (US) on Monday reaffirmed its sworn defense treaty with the Philippines, standing in support of Filipinos following China’s incursion in the West Philippine Sea.
The US Department of State issued the statement after a Chinese maritime militia on Sunday rammed Philippine navy boats en route for a resupply mission to troops stationed on Ayungin Shoal.
In a statement, the US called China’s actions “dangerous and unlawful.”
“By conducting dangerous maneuvers that caused collisions with Philippine resupply and Coast Guard ships, the People’s Republic of China Coast Guard and maritime militia violated international law by intentionally interfering with the Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation,” it said.
“China’s conduct jeopardized Filipino crew members’ safety and impeded critically needed supplies from reaching service members stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre. Obstructing supply lines to this long standing outpost and interfering with lawful Philippine maritime operations undermines regional stability,” it added.
In the same statement, the US reaffirmed the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty, reiterating that it “extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, and aircraft anywhere in the South China Sea.”
Full Story at: US stands in support of PH after China’s incursion in WPS (inquirer.net)
Philippines distances from Locsin’s comment on ‘killing’ Palestinian children | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has disassociated itself from a remark made by one of its diplomats inciting violence upon Palestinian children who he said would grow up to tolerate the actions of militant group Hamas.
In a curt statement on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that it “completely disassociates itself from the statement made on Twitter by Ambassador Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr.”
“Such statement was made in his strictly personal capacity,” the DFA said.
In a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Locsin, the country’s special envoy to China, said that “Palestinian children should be killed” because “they might grow up to become as gullible as innocent Palestinians letting Hamas launch rockets at Israel.”
“Not that they could stop them but that’s no excuse. They are Muslims. They could stage mass suicide against Hamas until the latter ran out of bullets,” Locsin said.
Locsin’s post on X was shared as a “quote” or a reaction to the post of another user describing the hardships of Palestinians who are “led astray by Hamas leaders.”
After deleting the post, Locsin apologized for his remarks and said that his comment — which was shared with his more than 662,000 followers — was a “sarcastic response” to another user on the platform.
Full Story at: Philippines distances from Locsin’s comment on ‘killing’ Palestinian children | Philstar.com
Oil price hike to take effect this week | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Fuel companies are set to increase petroleum prices beginning Tuesday.
In separate advisories, Shell, SeaOil, CleanFuel and Caltex announced a P0.95 per liter price hike on gasoline. PetroGazz, Jetti, Unioil and PTT will also implement the same price adjustments on gasoline.
Diesel prices for all petroleum companies will also increase by P1.30 per liter. The price change ends the three-week consecutive rollbacks for diesel.
Meanwhile, kerosene prices will increase by P1.25 per liter.
On Friday, the Department of Energy said that the increase was due to the depletion of crude oil stockpiles in the United States.According to the DOE’s October 17 data, price changes led to a year-to-date per-liter increase of P12.80 for gasoline, P10.40 for diesel, and P4.99 for kerosene.
