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FROM THE FRONT PAGE
LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • JANUARY 7-10, 2017
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US gov’t downplays PH defense ties...
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by added. In recent months President Duterte, seething at the outgoing Obama administration’s criticism of extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs, has been moving to lessen the country’s foreign military dependence on the United States and veering toward Russia and China. “I’d let the Philippine government and the Russian government speak to the degree of their bilateral defense relations and how that is taking shape. I’ve said many times – and this is a good example of it – that foreign relations aren’t binary. Right? And these choices that countries have to make are not binary choices, and every na-
President Duterte leads the flashing of his signature fist gesture during a tour of the visiting Russian anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs at the South Harbor in Manila on Thursday, January 5. He was joined by Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov, deputy commander of the Russian Navy’s Pacific fleet; Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev; Lieutenant Commander Artem Kolpaschicov and other ship officers. Also in photo are National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, presidential assistant Bong Go, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and AFP chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Anõ. Philstar.com photo by Kriz Jon Rosales
Veteran homelessness.. PAGE A1 t dropped 32 percent from 2015 due to collaborative efforts made by local leaders and organizations, the city and the federal government. Through conversations with the community and one-on-one interactions with the homeless Veterans themselves, the collective team continues to learn and address the issues that plague the homeless Veteran community. “We cannot have, in this city and in this country, a single homeless Veteran,” Garcetti asserted at a special session of the LA Veterans Alliance on Thursday, January 5 at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, which is a historic building established as a resource center for U.S. veterans. Today, there are 8,000 formerly homeless veterans in the city of LA today who were able to find housing through the city, county and VA’s efforts. There are, however, still more than 1,200 veterans today without a home. “Today let’s commit ourselves today in continuing in that work, to not rest until that number is zero,” Garcetti added. One of the key programs is
the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) voucher, which the HUD and the VA created to provide rental assistance among other services for homeless and in-need Veterans. In LA, more than 3,400 veterans have been issued HUDVASH vouchers, but the search for landlords that accept the HUD-VASH voucher proved to be troublesome for so many homeless veterans in the famously rigid LA rental housing market. There are hundreds of veterans in LA today struggling with this very issue, with some veterans experiencing rejection from more than a hundred landlords. Last year, national and local leaders established the Homes for Heroes program through United Way of Greater LA, which was a conscious effort to recruit landlords that will accept federal rent subsidies – like the HUDVASH voucher – and lease units to homeless veterans. Since then, the program has garnered more than 200 landlords’ support, housing hundreds of homeless veterans in the city. Garcetti – who serves as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Re-
serve Information Dominance Corps – said the issue is a personal one for him. His grandfather, Salvador Garcetti, emigrated from Mexico to Los Angeles when he was a child. His youth and adolescence were rough: he failed to graduate junior high school, got into trouble and was arrested by none other than Tom Bradley, who was then a police chief for the LAPD. He then volunteered his efforts in World War II as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army, fighting alongside General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines. When the war ended, the elder Garcetti was awarded citizenship, got a scholarship to USC and went on to build a life for himself and his family. “His service allowed him to lay down the groundwork that allows me to be standing here today as your mayor, and that’s why I feel so deeply about this issue of, not only homelessness, but veteran homelessness specifically,” Garcetti said, adding that the way to combat homelessness is through “one story at a time.” Minnesota native Todd Edhlund joined the Navy in the 1980s and was looking forward to a career in the service. For him, it was a way to “escape” Minnesota and build a life for
tion-state has the right to pursue bilateral relations of its own choosing,” Kirby said in a press briefing. “And so again, I would leave it to both of their governments to discuss it. What it – what I can promise you is that it won’t affect how we view the importance of our bilateral relationship with the Philippines,” he said. Russian anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs and tanker Boris Butoma made port call at the Manila South Harbor. In September, Duterte announced that he would establish alliances with China and Russia as part of his independent foreign policy. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philip-
pines and Russia have agreed to speed up work on a legal framework and plan of action for cooperative activities aimed at enhancing Philippines-Russia defense engagement. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana visited Moscow last month and discussed with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov expanding Philippines-Russia defense cooperation. The visit was a first for a Philippine defense chief since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries 40 years ago. It also came on the heels of a meeting between President Duterte and President Vladimir Putin in Lima, Peru last Nov. 19.
US newspaper says coup... PAGE A1 t
all footprint in the region, now hinges on a huge unknown: will Trump get along or clash with his equally unpredictable Filipino counterpart. When Duterte telephoned Trump in December to congratulate him on his election victory, the Filipino leader said Trump wished him success in his campaign against the drug problem and invited him to the White House. But Trump’s transition team hasn’t confirmed the anti-drug endorsement or the invitation. Under former president Benigno Aquino III, ties with the US were strong but soured when Duterte took office on June 30 and launched his war against drug pushers and users which to date has resulted in over 6,000 people killed. Duterte has insulted outgoing US President Barack Obama for interfering in the country’s internal affairs by condemning extrajudicial killings in the drug war. He has also started lessening military dependence on the
United States and is looking to China and Russia as allies. The Times’ Taylor, who visited Manila for his article, quoted a spokesman for the US Navy 7th Fleet as saying there has been no disruption in the clearance process for visiting US Navy ships to the Philippines. But other Navy officials who spoke with the newspaper said nerves are on edge over Duterte’s negative posturing toward Washington. In his second installment, Taylor said there is a bipartisan move in the US Senate to scrutinize and perhaps cut off the $32 million the State Department sends annually to aid Philippine security forces in light of “horrific violations of basic human rights” that have come with Duterte’s election. It said according to latest data from the Philippine National Police, 6,206 people have been killed in the war on drugs since July 1. Of these 2,157 were suspected drug pushers/addicts killed in police operations as of Dec. 27
while 4,049 were victims of extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings. The Times said the hard-line populist Filipino president has succeeded in turning Manila into one of the murder capitals of the world by authorizing the police and an array of unknown accomplices to gun down at pointblank range anyone suspected of dealing or using drugs. In its final series on Thursday the Times interviewed elder statesman, former president Fidel Ramos, who suggested a Trump visit to the Philippines may be needed to downgrade Duterte’s threat to neutralize the 70-year-old US-Phl defense alliance and shore up Washington’s troubled ties with one of the linchpins of its regional security network. Ramos told the Times that he and other former high-level military officials have made it clear to Duterte that he should “maintain our military alliance with the US and pursue not an independent foreign policy but an interdependent foreign policy.” ■
himself. But when he tore all the ligaments in his right foot during an exercise, he knew his plans were kaput. When he approached the VA, it didn’t have the programs and resources that existed today. “Back then the VA wasn’t very proactive so they just gave me an honorable discharge and basically said, ‘Good luck,’”
Edhlund said. Over the next 30 years, Edhlund’s struggled with his injury but managed to stay afloat and, one that point, moved to LA. But the pain was so severe that it caused more injuries and the medical bills kept piling up. He soon found himself broke with no other option than to turn to living in his car. “I never thought that I would
call myself homeless, but I had to,” the Navy veteran remarked. “It’s one of those humiliating things that can happen to a person, when you don’t have any other option than living in a car. Everything felt impossible to overcome.” About two years ago, he learned about the growing resources the VA was now offer-
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