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President Duterte’s statement on Chinese ‘incursion’ in Benham Rise
Faux pas or policy statement?
E
By Elijah Felice E. Rosales
veryone knows President Duterte has forged closer ties with the Chinese government. But nobody must have measured the degree of his closeness to the leaders in Beijing, not until he made pronouncements on the state of play in Benham Rise.
In a news briefing in Malacañang, Duterte revealed he had “cursory knowledge” of the recent activities of China in Benham Rise, an undersea region 250 kilometers off Aurora and Isabela provinces. His statement sprang a surprise, not only to the public, but even to some of the administration’s key officials, including Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana. “There’s no incursion [in Benham], because Beijing and I had
LORENZANA: “Huh? Sinabi niya ’yun? AP
an agreement. I invited them to the shores of the Philippines for a visit,” Duterte told the media with resounding confidence. He also revealed “[the Philippines was] advised ahead of time” of the research ships that navigated the Philippine waters late last week. Duterte said there’s no need to press the panic button, noting he is definite China is unlikely to turn to aggression this time. “We do not want to pick a fight. Things are getting great our way, so why spoil it?” Duterte concluded. See “Benham,” A2
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DUTERTE: “There’s no incursion [in Benham], because Beijing and I had an agreement. I invited them to the shores of the Philippines for a visit.” AP
AFP: War with communists continues
T
By Rene Acosta
he government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have embarked on yet another attempt at forging peace by agreeing to begin a new round of talks, along with a cease-fire. But until both parties begin meeting on the negotiating table, there is no certainty that even a temporary amity between them
will come—not just yet. In fact, a prelude to the meeting is already characterized by posturing and innuendos by “angels”
PESO exchange rates n US 50.1910
and “guardians” from both sides, one from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the other from the New People’s Army. Rather than building confidence, the demeanor does not give credence, or augurs well for the resumption of peace negotiations.
Continuing operations
Until the official start of the talks and the issuance of an accompanying cease-fire, the military said it will continue its “focused” combat and intelligence operations against the rebels. The chief of the military’s public affairs office, Col. Edgard A. See “AFP,” A2
In this November 23, 2016, file photo, New People’s Army new regional rebel commander and spokesman Jaime Padilla, who uses the nom de guerre Comrade Diego, poses beside Comrade Katryn, who had her face painted to conceal her identity, at their rebel encampment tucked in the harsh wilderness of the Sierra Madre mountains southeast of Manila. Young Filipino rebels represent a new generation of Maoist fighters, who reflect the resiliency and constraints of an insurgency that has dragged on for nearly half a century through six Philippine presidencies. Crushing poverty, despair, government misrule and the abysmal inequality that has long plagued Philippine society were their best recruiter, according to the guerrillas. AP/Aaron Favila
n japan 0.4430 n UK 62.0461 n HK 6.4649 n CHINA 7.2737 n singapore 35.8328 n australia 38.5316 n EU 54.0457 n SAUDI arabia 13.3882
Source: BSP (17 March 2017 )