Manila Standard - 2017 February 9 - Thursday

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TIT FOR TAT

Reds vow to step up ‘actions’

AFP tells NDF: Give up or run like rats

By John Paolo Bencito

T

HE Communist Party of the Philippines on Wednesday told its cadres to intensify both armed and nonarmed actions against the government, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte declared an all-out war on them. “The Filipino people must intensify both their armed and non-armed struggles against all forms of oppression and exploitation,” the CPP said in an editorial in its official publication, Ang Bayan. “They must vigorously carry forward the national democratic revolution in order to lay down the conditions for a just and lasting peace.” The communists also scored Duterte’s refusal to release all political prisoners as the NDF has demanded. “[Duterte] makes the absurd claim that the release of all political prisoners is equivalent to a surrender... He disregards the basic fact that they have been charged with trumped up cases and are victims of a flagrant injustice,” the editorial read. “Over the past months, Duterte has adamantly refused to release all political prisoners through a presidential amnesty proclamation, contrary to his promise,” the group said. Next page

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo

PUSH FOR PEACE TALKS. Kadamay, an organization of urban poor Filipinos, mobilizes thousands Wednesday in front of the

National Housing Authority office in Quezon City hours before the arrival of President Rodrigo Duterte to attend the Housing Summit, stressing it is in the best interest of poor Filipinos to continue canceled peace talks. Manny Palmero

ARMED Forces chief General Eduardo Año on Wednesday vowed to go after National Democratic Front consultants and told them to surrender or spend the rest of their lives “hiding like rats.” “I’ve reports that most of these people are now going into hiding but do they really want to spend the rest of their lives hiding like rats?” said Año when informed that communist leaders Wilma and Benito Tiamzon were already in hiding. He noted that the order President Rodrigo Duterte was very clear following the termination of peace negotiations with the communist rebels. Año issued the warning following reports thaf NDF consultants had reportedly gone in hiding after Duterte ordered them rearrested. Last year, Duterte had ordered the detained communists freed so they could take part in peace talks in Oslo. But a spate of rebel attacks on government troops prompted Duterte to call off the peace talks. Año said they would follow the President’s order to arrest the NDFP consultants who were in jail but given a temporary pass to participate in the peace talks with the government. The NDF insists that all of its 17 consultants are protected from rearrest because they are covered by the Joint Next page

VOL. XXX • NO. 362 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

House to dig deep into mining order By Maricel V. Cruz TWO lawmakers have filed a resolution seeking a congressional probe into Environment Secretary Gina Lopez’s order to close 23 mining companies and suspend five others, saying the action was selective and taken in the absence of due process. Kalinga Rep. Allen Jesse Mangaoang and Coop-Natcco partylist Rep. Anthony Bravo, in filing House Resolution 756, sought the investigation in aid of legislation to protect the mining industry, which contributes significantly to

the national economy. “Some sources revealed that the announcement of these closure and suspension came on the heels of allegations that personal prejudices of her office mired the mining audit process and the choices of who or what company gets to be closed and suspended,” Mangaoang and Bravo alleged. “The apparent whimsical acts of closing and suspending these mining companies, if made arbitrarily and oppressively, constitute [a] violation of substantive due process,” they said. Next page

On death penalty bill: Plum posts at stake By Maricel V. Cruz

INFORMAL SETTLERS. Firefighters (above) extinguish a fire eating up hundreds of houses in an informal settlers community in Manila’s water-

front district of Tondo while thousands of fire victims (below) seek refuge at a basketball court at the Del Pan Gymnasium after the 10-hour blaze. Norman Cruz

Ex-Colombian president warns Du30 on drug war By John Paolo Bencito FORMER Colombian president César Gaviria, who battled drug kingpin Pablo Escobar during his campaign against drug trafficking, said President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against drugs was

wrong and would likely backfire. But Duterte scoffed at his advice and called him an “idiot.” “Throwing more soldiers and police at the drug users is not just a waste of money but also can actually make the problem worse,” Next page

THE leaders of the House of Representatives will be stripped of their posts if they vote against the passage of the Palace-backed death penalty bill, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said on Wednesday. He said the members of the House would have to toe the line or resign if they refused. “It is a party stand. If you do not agree with the party stand, you might as well quit,” Alvarez told reporters before the holding of a caucus of the administration’s Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.

He said the House leadership will pass the death penalty bill at all costs and even at the expense of losing his speakership. Alvarez, the principal author of the bill, said the policy will apply to all deputy speakers and committee chairmen. “The deputy speakers who will not support the bill [will] be replaced―otherwise they will be in an awkward situation if they do not agree with the leadership,” Alvarez said. That was contrary to his earlier pronouncement that the anti-deathpenalty lawmakers belonging Next page

China downplays Trump rhetoric 30 generals, 5 envoys ok’d THE Commission on Appointments on Wednesday confirmed General Eduardo Año as the 48th chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and 29 other generals and senior officers. Following Ano’s confirmation, the CA also appointed to the rank of Major General the following: Herminigildo Francisco Aquino,

Enrique Reyes, Joselito Reyes, Jon Aying, Rhoderick Parayno, Robert Arevalo, Danilo Pamonag and Paul Atal. Those who were appointed to the rank of Brigadier General were Jose Antonio Carlos Motril, Emmanuel Joaquin Guina, Edmund Dante Janda, Bienvenido Next page

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SYDNEY―Beijing has played down the prospects of conflict with the United States over the South China Sea in the wake of aggressive rhetoric by Donald Trump’s administration, saying both sides would lose. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resourcerich region despite rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbors and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. In Manila, officials said

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Wednesday the Philippines is seeking US and Chinese help to guard a major sea lane as Islamic militants shift attacks to international shipping. Manila does not want the Sibutu Passage between Malaysia’s Sabah state and the southern Philippines to turn into a Somalia-style pirate haven, Coast Guard officials said. The deep-water channel, used by 13,000 vessels each year, offers the fastest route between Australia and the manufactur-

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ing powerhouses China, Japan and South Korea, they said. In the past year Abu Sayyaf gunmen from the southern Philippines boarded ships and kidnapped dozens of crewmen for ransom in the waters between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, raising regional alarm. Meanwhile, the islands in the South China Sea are considered a potential flash point and recent comments from White House spokesman Sean Spicer

Next page Secretary Delfin Lorenzana

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