Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte and the West

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Aug 07 2019 - Duterte will Never Let US Deploy Nukes, Mid-Range Missiles in Philippines

The Philippines will never allow the US to deploy nuclear weapons on its soil to counter China’s growing influence in the region, President Rodrigo Duterte declared, slamming Washington’s untrustworthiness even in small arms deals.

Following American withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia last week, Washington made clear that it is now free to deploy ground-launched ballistic nuclear missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers anywhere in the world - including Asia, to counter China in the region, RT reported.

Manila, which has recently enjoyed closer ties with China, will never allow American plans to materialize on its soil, Duterte stressed on Tuesday.

“That will never happen because I will not allow it,” Duterte said, adding, “I will never allow any foreign troops... I don't want to fight China.” "You cannot place nuclear arms in the Philippines. That can never happen," he noted.

Duterte's Rejection of Post-INF American Nukes is Consistent With His Non-Aligned Foreign Policy - Eurasia Future
Not since Rizal has The Philippines produced a major national figure who prioritises internal development over aligning with one or multiple external powers as is the case in respect of President Rodrigo Duterte. As such, Duterte cannot be said to be for or against China nor the United States but instead he continues to seek pragmatic foreign relations based on expanding trade, procuring investment and protecting the internal security of The Philippines against narco-terrorism, religious terrorism and far-left terrorism.

Because of this, Duterte has sent shockwaves through western countries and the US in particular because as an Asian leader, Duterte naturally finds more commonality with fellow Asian leaders than with western ones. This includes Chinese, Japanese, Korean and fellow ASEAN states. This itself is in indication of a new era in which The Philippines is not choosing proverbial sides in Asia nor in the wider world.

It is in fact Duterte’s foreign policy shifts away from a formerly sheepish pro-western position that has incurred the ire of certain western governments that now seek to bully and harass The Philippines as a result of Duterte’s global non-alignment. All the while such duplicitous critics of Duterte invoke so-called concerns about Duterte’s pro-law and order positions as cover for their true motivation in seeking to defame Duterte.

 

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Philippines’ military to retrain former armed rebels for new roles as peacekeepers

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front was one of the groups that waged a rebellion in the Mindanao region that claimed about 150,000 lives since the 1970s. (File/Reuters)

August 23, 2019 - The 3,000 former fighters will receive basic military training to prepare them for their new role as members of the Joint Peace and Security Teams.

MANILA: The Philippines military is retraining 3,000 former armed rebels for their new roles as peacekeepers in the country’s south, serving alongside the agencies and authorities they used to fight against.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was one of several groups that waged a rebellion in the Mindanao region that claimed about 150,000 lives since the 1970s.

The government and the MILF signed a peace pact to end the decades-long conflict and, under the deal, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao was expanded and the MILF plays a role in its governance.

MILF chair Murad Ibrahim, who is chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, said the training was part of the peace process.
“We are now working with them (government forces). Everyone has already accepted that we are no longer adversarial with the government. We are now in partnership,” he told Arab News.

“We expected that this kind of partnership with the military would happen, especially when we entered into a political process, a peace process. There were no personal adversarial relations. It was just a matter of principle,” he said, adding they were ready to work with the government for the sake of lasting peace in the region.

The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., said the military was committed to continuing with the “process of healing, and the process of normalization” in Bangsamoro.

“We have long dreamed for peace in the Bangsamoro region,” he added, emphasizing that maintaining “mutual trust” between the government and the MILF was crucial to the process.

“One thing that we should further develop is the willingness to work together. This can only happen with the start of the healing process, and confidence-building between the armed forces and the MILF.”

The 3,000 former fighters will receive basic military training to prepare them for their new role as members of the Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPST), where they will serve with the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The JPST is tasked with ensuring the successful implementation of the normalization track of the 2014 peace accord between the MILF and Manila, which includes the decommissioning of MILF forces.

On Thursday, the AFP and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process signed an agreement to formalize their partnership in implementing the decommissioning process for 40,000 MILF fighters and their weapons in the next three years.

Madrigal said the training course aimed to achieve the “same views towards security, to develop the same parameters, and synchronization of the movement” to maintain peace and order in Bangsamoro’s communities.

Earlier this month, 225 grizzled ex-fighters started their training at in Carmen, North Cotabato. Former rebel Abdulraof Macacua said this type of event was “simply unimaginable” many years ago.

“No-one ever thought that the MILF would ever be in a military camp such as Camp Lucero to undertake military training … and with soldiers at that,” he added.

 

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Duterte's Visit to China is Set to be a Success - Eurasia Future
2019-08-28 - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is among the world’s most honest politicians but his rhetoric is often steeped in metaphor, sarcasm, innuendo and humor. Because of this, it is easy for those who seek to willfully defame Duterte or those who simply do not understand him, to level accusations of “flip-flopping”. The reality however is that Duterte’s policies have been remarkable consistent whilst his leadership has been remarkable for its consistent popularity among Filipinos in The Philippines and among OFWs (overseas Filipino workers).

Duterte’s main goals for his country are as follows:

–Modernise the economy so as to improve the material wealth and well being of the people

–Protect and support OFWs – thus reversing the policies of his predecessor

–Increase economic and in some cases security connectivity with fellow Asian countries including ASEAN partners, China, Korea (South), Japan and even beyond to India, Russia and Turkey.

–Secure democratic autonomy for Muslim Mindanao

–Fight the war on narco-terrorism

–Neutralise NPA terrorism

–Neutralise Daesh style religious terrorism

–Remain neutral in any China-USA conflicts in south east Asia

–Seek and maintain a win-win cooperative approach in the South China Sea

–Modernise tax regulations

–Improve health and educational standards

–Respect the separation of church and state

–Enact major constitutional reforms in a federal and parliamentary direction


Of these major policy goals, the most complete has been the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) whilst full constitutional reform (aka Charter Change) is the key area on which the clock is currently ticking the fastest.

But when it comes to foreign policy issues, creating what Xi Jinpig called a “golden era” of relations between China and The Philippines has been Duterte’s major accomplishment. Notably, Duterte has achieved this whilst developing a warm personal relationship with Donald Trump and at the same time expanding positive economic ties with Japan and South Korea.

In China, The Philippines has not only a major trading and investment partner but also has a partner in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). BRI can help The Philippines to re-connect with the ancient trading routes that once made the islands that are now The Philippines economically prosperous and culturally rich places.

If The Philippines modifies its constitution to remove draconian restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI), the country has every opportunity to experience an ‘economic miracle’ in the way that Malaysia did in 1980 when Dr. Mahathir Mohamad modernised the domestic economy and expanded foreign economic connectivity.

Chinese investment and cooperation can help immensely to modernise a Philippine economy that Duterte seeks to open and reform before the end of his term in 2022. Duterte clearly understands this which is why he continues to ignore the racist elements of Philippine politics who seek maddening conflict with China. Duterte instead continues to prioritise cooperation on a win-win basis.


Whilst Duterte’s opponents who could not even protect human life nor the natural environment of The Philippines clamour over the legal position of uninhabited rocks in the South China Sea, Duterte sees a bigger picture in which China-Philippines cooperation will help lead to more economic opportunists for the Filipino people who have been let down by multiple leaders for well over thirty years.

As Duterte has said multiple times, death and destruction is the only logical conclusion to a policy of hostility directed against China. By contrast, cooperation, pragmatism and mutual respect are the trilateral keys to opening up doors of immense potential that should have long ago been flung open in a win-win partnership between China and The Philippines.

It is for all of these reasons that it can be expected that Rodrigo Duterte will have a highly successful forthcoming meeting with Xi Jinping in China.

 

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As maritime rows resurface, Duterte readies to raise ruling with China

FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before the meeting at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, China on April 25, 2019. Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool via REUTERS

When Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte visits China this week, he'll need to salvage something from a "pivot" to Beijing that has left him empty-handed, and exposed his neighbors to a new level of brinkmanship in the South China Sea.

Despite his huge domestic popularity and great affection for China, Duterte is under growing pressure to push back at its growing maritime assertiveness. After avoiding the issue for three years, he has vowed to raise with President Xi Jinping a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea.

The trip comes amid a recent rise in tension on multiple fronts, with Chinese vessels challenging energy assets and sea boundaries of Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, prompting warnings and rebukes by the United States, which accuses China of “coercive interference” and holding hostage $2.5 trillion of oil and gas.

China called that “warrantless criticism” with distorted facts.

Duterte’s motivation, experts say, is to tackle public unease over his refusal to speak out against a deeply mistrusted China, and frustrations among a defense establishment that has started to find its own voice.

“If that’s all it is, then this is just a cynical political play. But it could be effective if it marks the start of a concerted effort to raise diplomatic costs on Beijing for its bad behavior,” said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, a Washington think-tank.

“That would mean bringing it up not just now, but at every opportunity, including introducing resolutions to the U.N. calling for Chinese compliance, and rallying international support.”

“That will be a tall order ... but it’s the only option that could actually work.”

It would require an about-face by Duterte, who caused a storm in 2016 when he announced his “separation” from closest ally the United States, in favor of a bumper business relationship with Beijing, worth billions in loans and investment. Most of that has yet to materialize.

In return, Duterte heaped effusive praise on Xi, set aside the arbitration ruling and helped keep it off the regional agenda, creating an environment that enabled China to expand its navy, coastguard and fishing fleet and further militarize its artificial islands.

A commentary on Wednesday carried by China’s Xinhua news agency said Xi and Duterte had “a firm faith and strong will to bridge their differences and push aside any distractions”.

TENSION ESCALATING
After some initial calm, tensions have resurfaced this year, with Chinese coastguard tracked around an oil rig on Malaysia’s continental shelf, and near an oil block in Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone operated by Russia’s Rosneft (ROSN.MM), angering Vietnam, which is calling for international support.

Duterte’s top defense officials are outraged after a Chinese trawler sank a Filipino boat in June and scores of Chinese militia boats surrounded a Philippine-held island.

Repeated unannounced movements of Chinese warships within the Philippines’ 12-mile territorial waters has incensed the military, and is stoking concern about spying.

Some diplomats and analysts say building a unified position against China’s militarization is still possible, despite China’s strengthened hand.

Former Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the presence of five other Southeast Asian states and Japan as observers at The Hague arbitration showed there was significant support, and a “compelling rebuke to those who doubt that international justice does exist and will prevail”.

Philippine Supreme Court Judge Antonio Carpio has been advocating that Southeast Asian countries conduct freedom of navigation and overflight activities together, and join those of the United States, Japan, India and Britain.

But finding a common approach would be difficult, according to Jay Batongbacal, a South China Sea expert. He said Duterte had weakened the international position by allowing China to consolidate power “without interference or even a peep from us”.

Much depended on China’s actions, and whether Western powers were convinced that Duterte and other Southeast Asian leaders were prepared to confront Beijing.

“If China pushes, it may raise the possibility of us unifying around that ruling,” he told news channel ANC. “If we don’t speak up, they will not be able to take a stronger position.”

China's Xi sees bigger role for joint development of offshore oil, gas with Philippines



Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meet at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, August 29, 2019. How Hwee Young/Pool via REUTERS

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and the Philippines could take a "bigger step" in the joint development of oil and gas resources in the South China Sea if they can properly handle their dispute over sovereignty.

Philippine lawmakers want a 'Designated Survivor' in case of leadership crisis
Philippine lawmakers have introduced legislation based loosely on a popular Netflix political thriller called the "Designated Survivor" to ensure the country has a president in the case of a constitutional leadership crisis.

 

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Philippines' Duterte wants 1,700 freed inmates locked up

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, August 30, 2019. How Hwee Young/Pool via REUTERS

September 4, 2019 - MANILA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday 1,700 convicts who were freed early for good behavior should be sent back to prison after questions were raised over the legality of their release.

Duterte told a news conference the 1,700 inmates, some of them imprisoned for rape and murder, had 15 days to surrender or they would be considered fugitives.

“If I were you, I would surrender to the nearest police or military detachment wherever you are now,” Duterte said, adding he would offer a bounty for inmates who failed to do so.

“I will place 1 million pesos ($19,065) per head, dead or alive,” he said.

Duterte demanded the resignation of his prison Chief, accusing him of disobeying an order not to release inmates convicted of heinous crimes.

A 2014 law allows for prisoners to be released early for good behavior.

It is being scrutinized by lawmakers after public outrage triggered by reports that a former mayor convicted of raping and murdering two university students in 1993 could have walked free before his prison term ended.

Close to 2,000 inmates serving a life sentence have been freed under the 2014 law, Senator Franklin Drilon said on Sunday, but their release orders were invalid because they were not approved by the Department of Justice Secretary.

 

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An explosion at a public market in the southern Philippines wounded at least seven people early on Saturday, the fourth blast in that area in 13 months, the military said.

Blast wounds seven people at public market in southern Philippines
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but a militant group operating in the mostly Christian city of Isulan in the province of Sultan Kudarat was among the suspects, military said.

The latest blast comes at a time of heightened tensions in the volatile southern Philippines after three incidents in the past year authorities said were suicide bombings by militants linked to the Islamic State.

Video footage showed Saturday’s blast occurred in a parking space for motorcycles. A suspected improvised explosive device was placed beside a parked motorcycle, Major Arvin Encinas, a regional military spokesman, told reporters.

In April, a bombing by suspected members of a pro-Islamic State militant group injured at least 18 people in a restaurant in Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao region.

Mindanao is troubled by banditry and armed rebellions that keep large parts of the region mired in poverty and instability.

Islamist militants operate in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation country and some are known to have links with groups abroad, including al Qaeda and Islamic State.

 

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If he gets his way, Filipino senator and boxing champion Manny Pacquiao would have drug criminals executed by firing squad.

Shoot them? Hang them? - Filipino heavyweights hanker for death penalty return

FILE PHOTO: Philippine boxing icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao poses for photographers during a news conference with welterweight world title holder Lucas Matthysse (not pictured), for their upcoming WBA "regular" welterweight title fight, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin

That’s getting closer to becoming a reality in the Philippines, where in the past seven weeks, 21 bills have been filed before the lower house and Senate to reinstate the death penalty, collectively covering crimes ranging from drug trafficking and plunder to kidnapping, rape and murder.

It comes at the behest of President Rodrigo Duterte, the popular, self-styled “punisher”, notorious for his crackdowns on crime, and a war on drugs that has killed thousands of mostly poor, urban Filipinos.

Pacquiao, a staunch Duterte loyalist and the only boxer to win world titles in eight divisions, believes executions are the best deterrent for big drug syndicates.

“We need it. In Asia, we are one of the few countries without a death penalty, so a lot of drug lords, pushers came in. It is alarming,” said Pacquiao, who enjoys rock-star appeal among Filipinos, and is being touted as a future president.

“If you ask me, firing squad,” he told Reuters, when asked how they should be dealt with. “But it depends on what the people want, as long as death penalty is imposed.” But it isn’t clear if Filipinos actually want capital punishment.

Though opinion polls put Duterte’s approval rating consistently above 80%, the same surveys reflect mixed views on his policies, including a poll 11 months ago that showed less than a third of Filipinos agreed with reviving the death penalty.

Human rights groups say reinstating it counters a clear global trend of moratoria on executions or abolition of capital punishment, and goes against a United Nations covenant against the death penalty that the Philippines signed.

That matters not to Duterte, who has repeatedly said he favors hanging criminals, as many as 20 per day.

Most of the 21 bills have not prescribed a method of execution.

From 1950 to when capital punishment was abolished in 1987, the electric chair was used. The death penalty was restored in 1993, using lethal injections, then scrapped again in 2006, with 1,230 convicts taken off death row in what Amnesty International called the biggest commutation of its kind.

Breaking Point
If Duterte’s drugs crackdown continues on the same scale and the death penalty is reinstated covering “heinous crimes” - including piracy, kidnapping, murder, treason and violent robbery - death row could potentially consist of tens of thousands of people, going by current numbers.

In the country’s largest prison, two-thirds of the 27,756 population are serving sentences for heinous crimes, according to the corrections department.

But the biggest problem, activists say, is the strain Duterte’s drugs war is putting on an overstretched criminal justice system now being pushed to breaking point.

Under Duterte, police made 193,000 drug-related arrests, but many cases were thrown out or resulted in acquittals. Less than a third of drug cases in 2016 and 2017 led to successful convictions, according to the National Prosecution Service.

Duterte’s opponents say the chance of miscarriages of justice are greater now than when capital punishment was last used. From 1993 to 2004, 72% of death penalty verdicts reviewed by the Supreme Court were overturned, sparing 677 people.

Centrist Senator Grace Poe opposes the death penalty and says reforming the criminal justice system is vital, like addressing manpower shortfalls, improving investigation standards, preventing graft and giving poor people better access to legal help.

“Debating on the effectiveness and correctness of re-imposing the death penalty is not a waste of time. However, we need to give time to our other priorities,” Poe told Reuters.

For Duterte, executing criminals was his top priority, with a bill put to Congress on the first day of his presidency. The lower house overwhelmingly approved it, but it never reached the Senate, where resistance was anticipated, including from the influential Catholic Church, the country’s dominant faith.

The church vehemently opposes it, citing the Vatican’s decision last year to formally change its teachings to declare the death penalty inadmissible in all circumstances.

But politics could prevail, with Duterte’s influence over both houses strengthened to a super-majority after mid-term elections in May.

Pacquiao, a devout Christian, said he may propose doubling the justice department’s budget to ensure innocent people aren’t executed.

“If we want good results, we need to help the justice system,” he said. “They play a big part to eradicate illegal drugs. We can prevent mistakes in court decisions.”

 

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Preferably dead: Duterte offers cash for capture of freed Filipino felons

FILE PHOTO: President Rodrigo Duterte speaks after his arrival, from a visit in Israel and Jordan at Davao International airport in Davao City in southern Philippines, September 8, 2018. REUTERS/Lean Daval Jr./File Photo

MANILA September 18, 2019 - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has offered big bounties for hundreds of convicted murderers and rapists set free in a corrections bureau blunder - and said he would be happier if they were caught dead rather than alive.

The release under a good-behavior reward program of more than 1,700 criminals guilty of mostly violent offences has been a huge embarrassment for a crime-busting leader elected almost entirely on promises to make the streets safer.

Duterte said there was a “prize” of a million pesos ($19,175) for tracking down each convict still at large, after less than 700 of them heeded his call for their surrender.

“The one million prize is available to those who can capture them dead or alive. But maybe dead would be a better option. I will pay you smiling,” he told reporters late on Tuesday.

Duterte is a former mayor and prosecutor who boasted he would kill as many as 100,000 criminals if be became president. Since his election he has become known for a bloody “war on drugs” during which police have killed thousands of mostly urban poor dealers and users. Activists say many of the killings were executions, but police deny this.

His latest remarks are likely to outrage opponents who accuse him of deliberately inciting vigilantism. His office rejects that and says his tough talk is endearing him to millions of Filipinos.

However on Wednesday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra appeared to row back from Duterte’s bounty offer.

“‘Dead or alive’ should not be taken literally,” he said. “Law enforcers are supposed to effect peaceful arrests, but they may use reasonable force if the subject of the arrest violently resists.”

The good conduct law was passed under Duterte’s predecessor to try to reduce the populations of some of the world’s most crowded jails.

More than 21,000 inmates were released, but justice department officials say more than 2,000 of them were sentenced for crimes like rape, drugs, murder, bribery, plunder, kidnapping and arson, and were therefore not eligible for release.

Some 1,700 of them were freed by a corrections bureau run by Duterte’s appointees, two of them staunch loyalists. One of them, Nicanor Faeldon, was sacked after it emerged that nearly 900 serious offenders were freed on his watch. Faeldon denies wrongdoing.

Duterte defended the appointment on Tuesday of a new corrections bureau boss - a prison chief for whom prosecutors have sought homicide charges.

Gerald Bantag ran a Manila jail where in 2016, a grenade explosion killed 10 inmates, most of them drug offenders. A court has yet to take up the case.

“I don’t think that he did it. If he did, then he might be convicted,” Duterte said. “But in the meantime, I like him because I heard he throws grenades,” he added.

 

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Preferably dead: Duterte offers cash for capture of freed Filipino felons

Stop the police, Philippine minister says, as bounty-seekers track felons

The Philippine justice minister on Friday urged police to abort a manhunt of dozens of potentially dangerous convicts freed in error, fearing possible violence after the president offered big bounties to kill or capture them.

Philippines' Duterte orders shunning of loans, grants from backers of U.N. drug war probe

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has instructed all departments and state-run firms to halt negotiations and agreements on grants and loans from countries that have backed a U.N. investigation into his bloody war on drugs.

Philippines' Duterte pestered again as gecko stalls speech (Must be a slow day in the News Room?)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte just keeps getting bugged during his public speeches.

MANILA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte just keeps getting bugged during his public speeches.

A noisy gecko was the latest wildlife contributor to an address by Duterte, interrupting the leader on Thursday evening just as he launched another tirade at human rights groups critical of his bloody war on drugs.

The reptile’s persistence caused laugher in the crowd of mostly soldiers, causing Duterte stop mid-sentence, turn to his left and pause for a while to see what the off-camera commotion was. “You brought a gecko here?” he asked an official sitting behind him, drawing laughs.

Geckos are common across Southeast Asia. The small lizard-like reptiles are known for their ability to produce various loud sounds, from barks to chirps, to communicate or when threatened.

While activists accuse Duterte of cowing his opponents into silence, reptiles and insects have no qualms about pestering him during his often hours-long, televised addresses.

A big cockroach reut.rs/2Od6b4s crawled up his shoulder and down his shirt during a speech in May when he was lambasting an opposition party ahead of a national election. He joked the cockroach was its supporter.

Two months later, a fly kept buzzing around him and landing on his forehead, just as he was berating his rivals in the Catholic clergy. He said in jest that the fly was acting on their orders.

 

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Filipinos give thumbs up to Duterte's 'excellent' drugs war: poll

Philippine citizens are overwhelmingly satisfied with President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs, a survey showed, giving a boost to a government outraged by an international push to investigate allegations of systematic murders by police.

The quarterly poll of 1,200 Filipinos by Social Weather Stations returned a rating of “excellent” for Duterte’s three-year campaign, with 82% satisfied due to a perception of less drugs and crime in the country.

That compared to 12% dissatisfied, because they believed the drug trade was still flourishing and there were too many killings and police abuses. The survey conducted by the independent pollster in late June had 6% undecided.

It was released two days after the leak of a presidential memo ordering departments and state-run firms to decline loans or aid from the 18 countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) - among them Spain, Britain and Australia - that backed a resolution to investigate Duterte’s crackdown.

Police say they have killed more than 6,700 suspected drug dealers who all resisted arrest, and deny involvement in the mysterious murders of thousands more drug users.

Police reject allegations by human rights groups that they have executed targets, falsified reports and tampered with evidence and crime scenes.

Presidential spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said the poll showed that the international community had a warped understanding of what was happening.

 

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Duterte to be honored by Moscow university

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (C) attends a meeting in Moscow, on October 2, 2019. (AFP)

MANILA: President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte will receive an honorary doctorate from one of Russia’s top universities,
officials told Arab News on Wednesday - the day Duterte began his five-day visit to the country.

The Moscow State Institute of International Relations University (MGIMO), which serves as a training ground for diplomats, is set to confer the honorary degree to Duterte on Saturday, when the Filipino president will also deliver a lecture at the university. “After he gets the degree I hope I’m the first one to greet him as ‘Doctor Duterte," Philippine Ambassador to the Russian Federation Carlos Sorreta said, adding, “It’s a degree that’s given to heads of states and leaders.

“MGIMO is . . . the top university for training Russians in foreign affairs and international business transactions. So it’s something we are looking forward to,” he continued.

Duterte was originally scheduled to receive the doctorate from MGIMO in May 2017, during his first visit to Russia. However, after widespread criticism on social media due to Duterte’s bloody war on drugs — which has seen him accused of human rights violations — including Andrei Silantiev, a political scientist at MGIMO, calling the award a “shame” on Facebook, the ceremony never took place.

Aside from his lecture at the university, Duterte is also scheduled to give a speech in Sochi City at the annual forum organized by the Valdai Discussion Club, a prominent Russian think tank.

“In this visit, it’s a little bit different because the president is not only meeting with President (Vladimir) Putin, but is also his guest at the Valdai forum, to give his views on the world order,” Sorreta said.

“I think the Philippines is in a great position to speak about the Eastern perspective in terms of the world order, because … our traditions, our values, are heavily dependent on Western education but we are located in the East, our neighbors are all Eastern.”

In a statement before his departure for Moscow on Tuesday night, Duterte said the visit was a good opportunity to further strengthen ties with the Russian Federation, saying that the two countries “share key strategic interests both bilaterally and in the larger Asia-Pacific region.”

He continued: “We will identify ways of further intensifying cooperation in security and defense, combatting terrorism and violent extremism, and addressing transnational crimes.”

Duterte said he expected “key agreements” to be signed in a number of areas, including political cooperation, health, science and technology, and culture.

“I will also join President Putin and other world leaders at the Forum of the Valdai Discussion Club. We are each expected to provide our own perspective on the topic ‘The Dawn of the East and the World Political Order,’” Duterte explained.

“This will be an opportune occasion to articulate, to a key audience, our independent Philippine foreign policy — one that is based on respect for sovereignty and non-interference, the time-honored principles of international law. Apparently this most basic principle that governs the relations between nations has been forgotten by some idiots in some parts of the world,” he concluded.

Philippine separatist leaders’ embrace hints at thaw in ties

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces at their camp. (Shutterstock)

MANILA: In another historic moment in the Philippines’ quest to bring lasting peace to Mindanao, the country’s top Muslim separatist leaders, who have been at odds for decades, on Monday shook hands and embraced each other.

The warm exchange between Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chair Nur Misuari and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Murad Ibrahim, who is now interim chair of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, came as the two Muslim revolutionary leaders crossed paths at the culmination of the National Peace Month celebrations.

The event, broadcast live on social media, was hosted by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, which was also celebrating its 26th anniversary. Also present were other former revolutionary leaders, active and retired military officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and peace advocates.

Minutes before the end of the event, special guests, including Misuari and Murad, were called to the stage for a group photo. When the two took to the stage, the surprising moment followed. Murad extended his hand to Misuari and they then shook hands and embraced each other, sparking hopes of possible reconciliation.

Misuari and Murad have not been under one roof in decades. The two Moro leaders distanced themselves from each other after the MILF broke away from the MNLF in 1977.

Aside from Murad, Misuari also exchanged warm greetings with former MNLF secretary general Muslimin Sema.

“The meeting was indeed historic. What we are seeing here is a reflection of the collective desire of all revolutionary leaders and the government to attain lasting peace in the country,” said Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr.

“In line with the peace commitment of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, we at the OPAPP will continue to do our best to bridge people, promote understanding and unity all in the name of peace,” he added.

“It’s a wonderful night that gave us the sign that it is now the time for our deep wounds from all conflicts to heal,” Galvez continued.
Misuari lauded Duterte’s strong political will and unwavering commitment to resolve the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao.

“I look forward to the success of our peace process… The president knows how to totally achieve peace. I do believe this is a very opportune time for all of us to join hands to concretize what the president wants to happen very soon (in the peace process),” Misuari said.

It can be recalled that Malacanang announced last August the creation of a coordinating committee with the MNLF, as instructed by the president. While it is not clear “whether the committee will be used to thresh out a new agreement with the MNLF on a new territory for them,” Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said, “the committee would be a venue to seek the cooperation of the MNLF to achieve immediate peace in Sulu.”

Meanwhile, Murad extended a message of peace to the other Moro fronts in Mindanao — a gesture of goodwill that could invaluably contribute to achieving sustainable peace in the island region.

“We are open, our arms are open, we are inviting all groups. We also believe that the real success of the peace process is the collective effort of everybody. We cannot afford to isolate anybody. We need everybody,” Murad said, referring to the ongoing implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which paved the way for the establishment of the BARMM.
Murad likewise said they still recognize Misuari as their leader, as he pointed out it was the MNLF chair who was the first to “unite the entire Bangsamoro.”

Murad also expressed his desire to mend the differences between him and Misuari so they can work together for a united Bangsamoro.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who was instrumental in the passage and ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, recognized the OPAPP’s key role in pushing forward the Bangsamoro peace process.

“OPAPP has been an invaluable instrument for peace in the nation. In particular, OPAPP has served and continues to serve a vital purpose in our journey toward genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao,” noted Zubiri, who was the event’s guest of honor.

 

[Cosmos]

Duterte was invited to russia for the second time. Last time, the meeting with the russian goverment was cut very short because serious riots broke out back in the Philippines, so Duterte had to leave for the emergency situation.

This time around Duterte was offered the opportunity to attend the Valdai discussion with Putin and other heads of state. Here is his speech:

Later on Duterte spoke a bit about the serious problems in his country with drugs and terrorist who are trying to destroy his country and the situation that erupted right at the moment he was not in his country and visiting russia for the first time. He also spoke rather openly about the rather strong measures he had to take to get the situation under control, including the by now famous order to kill drug lords and drug addicts. As he points out though, the order was given so that the police and military can shoot those people, before they shoot them. A sort of "you are allowed to kill them if they threaten you". He also managed to tell a "joke" about the CIA and that he is sure they are listening now. You can see why Duterte and his open way of handling things, even endorsing killing criminals openly, by saying things like "frankly I'm happy, when those people get killed", is easy food for the west to condemn him. Duterte's first priority seems to be the well being of his country and people and the fight against those who destroy they country, by any means necessary. And the means necessary in a country like the Philippines seem to be rather drastic from a western perspective. He also points out how drugs destroy families in his country and how big of a problem it is.

 

[angelburst29]

October 4, 2018 - Philippine Leader raises doubts about his health
Philippine leader raises doubts about his health | Reuters

Philippine President Duterte says he has chronic neuromuscular disorder

FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks with an official during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, August 29, 2019. How Hwee Young/Pool

MANILA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he has a chronic neuromuscular disorder called myasthenia gravis that is causing one of his eyelids to droop.

Duterte made the comment about his condition while speaking on Saturday to the Filipino community in Russia, where he was on a working visit.

“It is a nerve malfunction,” Duterte said, explaining to the crowd why one eye appears smaller than the other. His remarks were contained in a transcript that was emailed to the media in the Philippines on Sunday.

There is no cure for myasthenia gravis, an illness that causes muscle weakness, but treatment can help relieve symptoms.

The firebrand leader, 74 is known for a busy schedule and for giving long speeches, often several a day. Several disappearances from public view in the past fueled rumors he is in declining health. The government has repeatedly denied that.

Duterte’s latest comments could raise more questions about the state of his health.

Duterte’s known ailments include back problems, migraines due to nerve damage after a motorcycle accident and Barrett’s oesophagus, which affects his throat. He also suffers from Buerger’s disease, caused by his heavy smoking in younger days, which can cause blockages in the blood vessels.

Last October, Duterte underwent a colonoscopy, a procedure to check the health of the rectum and lower bowel, which officials said the president does on yearly basis.

The Philippine Constitution mandates that the public must be informed of the state of the president’s health in case he has a serious illness.

Under Philippine laws, if a sitting president dies in office, is permanently disabled or removed through impeachment, the vice president takes over and serves the remaining years in a six-year, single term. Vice President Leni Robredo, a leader of the political opposition, was elected in 2016, the same year Duterte was elected.

Duterte names Russia priority trade and investment market for Philippines

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte © Mikhail Klimentyev/Presidential press-service/TASS

Russia Oct.4, 2019 - The Philippine leader stressed that economic relations between the two countries are developing.

Russia is a priority trade and investment market for the Philippines, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told the Russian-Philippine Business Forum on Friday.

"Our economic relations are developing. For us, Russia is a priority trade and investment market. I am very much pleased that our economic exchange is increasing. Last year, total trade amounted to $1.36 bln," Duterte said. Duterte noted that trade turnover for 2018 more than doubled that of 2017.

He also pointed out that Filipino fishing companies gained access to the Russian market and markets of Eurasian countries. "I personally thank President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for this. I know that this will create more jobs for Filipinos," Duterte said. He invited "Russian friends to invest more and do business in the Philippines."

Duterte plans to expand cooperation with Russia — Filipino minister

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin © Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, October 4, 2019 - President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has started to build partner relations with Russia, Filipino Acting Agriculture Minister William Dar told TASS on the sidelines of the Russian-Filipino business forum.

"Our president [Rodrigo Duterte] has already started building partner relaitons with Russia. And we will continue to increase [the level] of partner relations with Russia," Dar said.

 

[angelburst29]

Philippine police chief resigns amid drug allegations

In this Oct. 3, 2019, file photo, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde gestures as he testifies at the resumption of the Senate probe on the release of hundreds of convicts under the shortened serving of their sentence for good behavior, in suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines. (AP)

October 14, 2019 - MANILA, Philippines: The Philippine national police chief has resigned after he faced allegations in a Senate hearing that he intervened as a provincial police chief in 2013 to prevent his officers from being prosecuted for allegedly selling a huge quantity of seized drugs.

Gen. Oscar Albayalde said Monday his decision relinquishing his post was accepted by Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano over the weekend but insisted on his innocence, saying he has never been criminally or administratively charged for the alleged irregularity.

Albayalde resigned about three weeks before his scheduled retirement on Nov. 8.

The allegations against Albayalde were the latest dark cloud to loom over the national police force, which has largely been enforcing President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody anti-drug crackdown that has left thousands of mostly petty drug suspects dead.

Top Philippine cop resigns after accusation of link to drug scandal

FILE PHOTO: Incoming Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde arrives for the National Police chief handover ceremony in Camp Crame, Quezon City, metro Manila, Philippines, April 19, 2018. REUTERS/Dondi Tawatao/File Photo

The Philippines' police chief stepped down on Monday less than a month before his retirement, after he was accused of involvement in "recycling" confiscated drugs, an allegation that could undermine the government's anti-narcotics campaign.

President Rodrigo Duterte has made a bloody war on drugs his signature campaign, to the approval of most voters, despite international outrage about the bloodshed amid fears many suspected dealers have been killed by police in staged encounters and by death squads.

Duterte has rejected the accusations.

In testimony that has raised questions about the government’s campaign, witnesses in Senate inquiries have accused police chief Oscar Albayalde of protecting officers who sold confiscated narcotics back onto the black market.

Albayalde denied the accusations and had ruled out resigning.

On Monday, he referred to the hearing and the fact he was being implicated in the scandal and said he was stepping down to make way for a new police chief.

“After careful thought and deliberation, I have come to the decision to relinquish my post as chief of the Philippine National Police,” Albayalde said in the speech to police officers.

Albayalde, the second chief of the 191,000-strong force under Duterte, was the head of the Pampanga provincial police when 13 of its officers were accused of stealing about 160 kg (353 lb) of narcotics seized in a 2013 raid.

Albayalde had sought to prevent the dismissal of the 13, Senate witnesses said.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told ANC news channel that perhaps Albayalde was stepping down because he had had enough of the “the accusations, the innuendos”.

“He wants to spare the entire organization from whatever speculations, bad or false about him and the organization,” Panelo said.

Albayalde was set to retire on Nov. 8.

The police are spearheading the anti-drugs campaign. They say they have killed more than 6,700 suspected drug dealers who resisted arrest, and deny involvement in the mysterious killing of thousands more suspected drug users.

But Duterte has at times criticized the force, once deriding it as “rotten to the core” and twice suspending anti-narcotics operations until the police cleaned up the force.


The thousands of killings, mostly of poor urban people, have alarmed rights groups. The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council in July approved a resolution to investigate the crackdown.

Duterte condemned the proposed investigation.

 

[angelburst29]

Philippine president 'in good hands' after minor motorcycle mishap

FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks with an official during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, August 29, 2019. How Hwee Young/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte was slightly injured in a fall from a motorcycle in the grounds of his residence, aides said on Thursday, but the 74-year-old fan of big bikes was recovering well.

The maverick president’s life-long passion for motorcycles has left him with permanent nerve damage in his neck, and frequent migraines, among numerous ailments that ensure his health and his disappearances from the public eye are often the subject of fervent speculation.

“I would like to assure the nation that the president is safe, in good hands and in good health,” Duterte’s spokesman and legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, told a regular news conference.

Duterte was riding around the presidential palace grounds late on Wednesday and fell off while trying to reach his shoe, causing light bruises and scratches on his elbow and knee, Panelo said.

Christopher “Bong” Go, a senator and Duterte’s closest aide, told reporters the president had fallen while trying to turn the bike around, leaving him with an injured hip.

Duterte’s allies played down concern about his health earlier this month after the firebrand leader told the Filipino community in Russia that he was suffering from a chronic neuromuscular disorder that causes one of his eyelids to droop.

His office routinely dismisses concerns about his health but opponents say the administration is not being open about the extent of his problems, which include back pain, a throat illness and another disease that affects the circulation.

Months after taking office in 2016, Duterte spoke of his sadness at having to forfeit his beloved motorcycles and heed the instructions of his security staff to steer clear of bikes.

He has boasted of having reached speeds of 180 km per hour (112 mph) and of owning a Yamaha, a Honda and a Harley Davidson.

................. Duterte - Putin will give you a ride ...