VOL. XXX NO. 18 3 Sections 24 Pages P18 SUNDAY : FEBRUARY 28, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph
HANDCRAFTED OPULENCE
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CHINA’S MOVES ALARM NATIONS
MORE nations expressed concern at China’s rising maritime assertiveness with Japan, Australia, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressing “concerns” about tensions in the region.
PANAGBENGA 2016. Schoolchildren join the street dancing during the 21st Panagbenga flower festival in Baguio City on Saturday. DAVE LEPROZO
JAPANESE ENGINEER TRANSFORMS PH EDUCATION
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Senior officials of Japan, Australia and India met in Tokyo on Friday to stress the importance of maintaining the rule of law in the South China Sea and expressing “strong concerns” about tensions in the region amid China’s rising maritime assertiveness. “We shared strong concerns about moves to unilaterally change the status quo that would lead to destabilization in the region,” Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki told reporters after talks with his Australian and Indian counterparts. The three-way meeting comes as China’s deployment of an advanced surface-to-air missile system has stoked concerns the country is pursuing militarization in the South China Sea, adding to tensions already heightened by Beijing’s massive and fastpaced reclamation works in the sea. China is also boosting its presence in the Indian Ocean, which provides essential maritime traffic access for the transportation of oil, gas and other resources from the Arabian Sea. “We also shared the need to establish a new rule in the region to secure the rule of law and the freedom of navigation,” Saiki Next page said.
ARMY STEPS UP WAR ON JIHADISTS By Francisco Tuyay THE death toll from the fighting in Lanao del Sur rose to 55 on Saturday as the military pressed its operation against a group of militants who are believed to be harboring foreign fugitive jihadists who had been training local extremists in bomb making and other terrorist activities.
Col. Billy dela Rosa, commander of the Army’s 51st Infantry Battalion, said his troops have tallied the deaths of at least 55 members of the group led by brothers Abdullah and Omar Maute at the outskirts of Butig town in Lanao del Sur. Dela Rosa said his troops only found the bodies of three rebel fatalities while
the others were likely dragged away by their comrades, but government troops found rifles, including a Barret sniper rifle, and other military materiel at the site of the battle. Dela Rosa said they also recovered photographs of young boys brandishing assault rifles and were apparently recruited into the Maute group. Next page