ENHANCED TIES.
President Rodrigo Duterte and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) attend a joint news conference at the latter’s office in Tokyo Wednesday where the Filipino leader made a pitch for enhanced economic ties with Japan, a day after hurling for the nth time fresh insults at countries that have criticized his unrelenting illegal drugs crackdown which have killed almost 4,000 since July 1. AFP
VOL. XXX • NO. 257 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph
Tokyo pitch: Manila open for business By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday sought to persuade Japanese businessmen that the country is “open for business,” offering warm words about their country in sharp contrast to the angry rhetoric he had for the United States, which he told to “pack up and leave.” In a speech to an investment forum in Tokyo on Wednesday, Mr. Duterte said stronger economic ties with Japan—“a longstanding friend and ally”—are a priority. “We look to Japan as a steady fulcrum in our regional engagement as the Philippines’ first and only bilateral free-trade partner to date,” Duterte said during the Philippine Economic Forum in Tokyo. “We would like to see more investors and more businesses setting up shop in the Philippines,” he said, page adding that he sought Next Japanese Next page
Metro cop chief rapped for ‘violent dispersal’ TEN policemen are facing charges over the violent dispersal of demonstrators in front of the United States Embassy in Manila on Oct. 17. They are National Capital Region Police Office Chief Oscar Albayalde, Manila Police District deputy director for operations Marcelino Pedrozo, PO3 Franklin Kho and seven other policemen. The protesters and indigenous people belonging to the Sandugo group have charged them with multiple attempted murder, serious physical injuries and unlawful arrest before the Office of the Ombudsman. They have also been charged with obstruction of justice, grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority and conduct unbecoming of public officers. Jerome Succor Aba, a Moro leader and Sandugo co-convener, said they wanted to “set a precedent for the promise of justice under the new administration by filing a case against these police criminals.” Next page
US troops out in 2 yrs—Rody By John Paolo Bencito
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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he wanted US troops out of the country in the next two years and was willing to scrap defense pacts with longtime ally Washington if necessary. But the US State Department also on Wednesday played down Duterte’s continued anti-American tirades, declining to respond to his latest attack from Japan, where he is on an official visit. The comments follow a series of anti-American rhetoric by Duterte, who has repeatedly attacked the US while cozying up to Beijing, upending his nation’s foreign policy in comments that have sometimes been quickly retracted. “I want, maybe in the next two years, my country free of the presence of foreign military troops,” Duterte told an economic forum in Tokyo, in a clear reference to US forces. “I want them out and if I have to revise or
abrogate… executive agreements, I will,” he added. At a press briefing, the US State Department brushed off the President’s comments after being asked if Washington will continue doing nothing despite getting insulted by its closest ally in Southeast Asia. “I’ve said for several days now, that despite the rhetoric, we haven’t seen any policy traction behind it; in other words, there hasn’t been any change, tangible changes, to the policies and to the programs that both our nations are implementing and executing on a daily basis,” US
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By John Paolo Bencito THE country’s chief diplomat on Tuesday urged the media to avoid asking provocative questions just to incite President Rodrigo Duterte to anger. Speaking at a radio interview before leaving the country for Tokyo, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. on Tuesday blamed members of the press for pushing the President to respond to his critics. “I think the press should also understand that they should not do that. This is the weakness of the President and the President is not a perfect man. But let us not try to provoke him. We know that… he will not take half of these [criticisms] sitting down,” he said.
The President’s statements often attract world headlines due to his repetitive curses against international community--like US President Barack Obama, the United Nations and the European Union and critics such as Senator Leila de Lima. Despite his negative image, Yasay insisted that Duterte is a “very respectful” man who deals with other world leaders “that are respectful to him.” “I have seen it in his language that he is very deliberate He’s kind and he’s very very collaborative,” Yasay said. “But don’t provoke him into anger because your reason for provoking him is to go for negative statements from him,” he said. Next page
Aquino slams DAP charges as baseless FRESH FLOWERS. An unidentified flower attendant at the Dangwa flower center in Manila’s Sampaloc District gets her hands full arranging different petals, only days away to All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1, a regular non-working holiday in predominantly Christian Philippines. Hawkers say the prices of fresh flowers are expected to go up because majority of the flower farms were damaged by two recent typhoons. Norman Cruz
Davao fiscal shot dead in front of justice hall DAVAO CITY—The prosecutor of Mati City was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle in front of the Hall of Justice at 8:40 a.m. on Wednesday morning, an official said. Fiscal Rolando Acido was brought to hospital by an aide on a motorcycle but was pronounced dead on arrival, Chief Inspector Andrea dela Cerna said. She said Acido was about to enter the Hall of Justice when he was gunned down. She said he had been in charge of several drug- related cases in the city.
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Don’t get Du30 fired up—Yasay
FORMER President Benigno Aquino III has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to dismiss the graft and other charges filed against him by various groups over the implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program, parts of which had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. He filed a 28-page counteraffidavit citing the alleged failure of the complainants to present evidence that would warrant his
prosecution and indictment. The complainants are Bayan Muna, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, Juana Change Movement, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Gabriela party-list and Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap. Aquino said these groups could not just anchor their complaint Next page
Mamasapano probe reopening backed By Vito Barcelo and Macon R. Araneta
FREAKISH FISHING. A man tries to catch fish inside a flooded
public cemetery in Macabebe, a first class town in Pampanga, the other day after typhoons ‘Lawin’ and ‘Karen’ flooded many towns and villages in Central and Northern Luzon. Manny Palmero
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THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippine expressed support for the Duterte administration’s plan to reopen the investigation into the Mamasapano massacre that killed 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police-Special Action Force
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(PNP-SAF). Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa and Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel said it was clear that issues remained unresolved as to who were responsible for the debacle. Arguelles, a former bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, said the public, especially the families of the victims,
deserve to know the truth. “There were lies and inconsistencies in the whole tragic affair. Even the role of the USA needs to be clarrified,” he said. President Rodrigo Duterte said he may order a new probe to be carried out into the bloody January 2015 incident that claimed over 60 lives, including 44 police Next page commandos.
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