Philippines - Duterte watch

[MyFrenU]

On 07/06/2016 at 3:58 AM, USAgoodMAN said:

Please help me understand. I'm no expert on the Philippines whatsoever, but from what I gathered during my most recent trip there last year and what I've read, Duterte is the reason many foreigners chose Davao as one of the best places to live in the Philippines. Supposedly it is the safest city in the Philippines, the only non smoking city, the only city with 911 service, etc. If he is so bad, why was his city so good compared to most of the rest of the Philippines? And wouldn't his success in Davao translate into a better Philippines if implemented countrywide?

Thank you in advance.

I would say that you are probably Pinoy/Filipino and from Davao/Mindanao personally!

[MyFrenU]

Duturdy is an absolute insane madman,a communist dictator and these are very dark times ahead for the Philippines a return to the Ferdinand Marcos days.
Unfortunately the Pinoy people have not yet woken up to the fact that he has started on the path to genocide,they have not taken notice or heeded the warnings from their neighbours Cambodia,with Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge and by the time they do it will probably be too late to do anything about it or stop him!
What country can honestly say that the good times started to roll,once the streets of the capital were filled with dead,rotting and decaying corpses,victims of extrajudicial killings by an out-of -control Police Force acting as judge,jury and executioner?
In all of South-East Asia the drug trade is run by the Police,Army or both that is common knowledge.All Duturdy has done is to give the green light and a charter to the Police to eliminate their competition,without arrest or trial and without any prospect of being brought to book or fear of prosecution for murdering their business rivals in cold blood.

Pray for the Philippines,they have never been in such need of divine intervention as they are now!

[MyFrenU]

On 25/07/2016 at 11:32 AM, tuky said:

Duterte, the saviour of the Philippines...

But I wonder, who will save the Philippines from Duterte?

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes".....Who will guard the guards?/Who will watch the watchmen?

[mike2011]

NYT

 

Obama Cancels Meeting After Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s Slur

By CHRISTINE HAUSERSEPT. 5, 2016

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President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines arriving in Laos on Monday for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which President Obama also planned to attend. Credit Made Nagi/European Pressphoto Agency

President Obama canceled a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines scheduled for Tuesday in Laos, after the Philippine president directed an expletive at Mr. Obama on Monday.

Mr. Duterte warned Mr. Obama not to ask him about extrajudicial killings related to his crackdown on drug dealers, a campaign pledge that helped sweep him to victory in the country’s presidential election in May.

“I am a president of a sovereign state, and we have long ceased to be a colony,” Mr. Duterte told reporters before he left his country for Laos, where he and Mr. Obama will attend the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody,” he said in remarks published by The Associated Press. Apparently addressing Mr. Obama, he added: “You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions.” Then, using a curse in Tagalog that can be translated as “son of a bitch,” he added, “I will swear at you in that forum.”

Mr. Obama, who was in China for a Group of 20 meeting, departed on Monday for Laos, becoming the first American president to visit the nation. He is also scheduled to take part in the East Asia Summit and speak at a forum with young people.

Mr. Obama had planned to meet Mr. Duterte in Laos, but the White House said early Tuesday that the meeting had been canceled.

“Clearly, he’s a colorful guy,” Mr. Obama said Monday. “I always want to make sure if I’m having a meeting that it’s productive.”

Mr. Duterte, a former mayor of Davao, was apparently referring to the numbers highlighting his campaign against drug dealers.

Last month, the Philippines’ top police official, Chief Ronald dela Rosa, told a Senate hearing that killings by the police and vigilantes in the country’s war on drugs had soared to nearly 1,800 in the seven weeks since Mr. Duterte was sworn into office.

Mr. Duterte’s public image has been characterized by bouts of coarse language. He has lashed out at his critics, threatening to withdraw from the United Nations after human rights experts called for a halt to the killings.

He joked about the rape of an Australian missionary during the presidential campaign. He cursed Pope Francis and his entourage for causing huge traffic jams in Manila during the pope’s visit to the Philippines in 2015.

[mike2011]

The Guardian

 

Duterte tells Obama 'son of a whore' remark was not meant to be personal

Philippine president says he wants ‘no quarrel’ with Barack Obama and spokesman says ‘strong comments’ arose from frustration at press questions

 

 

 

 

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Rodrigo Duterte calls Barack Obama ‘son of a whore’

Oliver Holmes in Bangkok

Tuesday 6 September 2016 07.10 BST

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President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has expressed regret for calling Barack Obama a “son of a whore” – a remark that led to the US leader cancelling their meeting during a regional summit in Laos.

In a statement read by his spokesman, Duterte said the remark was not intended as a personal insult. “While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret that it came across as a personal attack on the US president,” Ernesto Abella quoted Duterte as saying.

He added that a meeting with the US had been “mutually agreed upon to be moved to a later date”.

Duterte called Obama a “son of a whore” following weeks of criticism from the US against extrajudicial killings in the Philippines’ bloody drug war.

“Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum,” Duterte was quoted as saying.

As Duterte arrived in the Laos capital, Vientiane, for the Association of South-east Asian Nations summit on Monday evening, he was already rowing back on the remark, saying he did not want a fight.

“I do not want to quarrel with him. He’s the most powerful president of any country on the planet,” Duterte said.

Instead, he said, he was angry at members of the US state department who “keep on mouthing” statements about human rights.

Elected in May on an anti-crime platform, Duterte has lashed out at the US and others for criticising his war on drugs, in which more than 2,400 people have been killed by police and vigilante militia.

Obama said he was trying to schedule “some constructive, productive conversations” with Duterte but a White House spokesman later confirmed the meeting was cancelled.

Barack Obama cancels meeting after Philippines president calls him 'son of a whore'

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The Philippines has been a key US ally for years and Washington hopes it will remain one, especially as a partner against China’s military expansion in the South China Sea.

The Philippines, which has overlapping claims with China to islands and atolls in the sea, won an international ruling against Beijing in July. But Duterte has said it is “better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there”, starkly at odds with his recent comments about Obama.

“Our primary intention is to chart an independent foreign policy while promoting closer ties with all nations, especially the US with which we have had a longstanding partnership,” Duterte’s spokesman Abella said on Tuesday.

With domestic popularity ratings in the order of 90%, the Philippine leader has won approval for his foul-mouthed press conferences from a public tired with years of well-spoken politicians from a small Manila-based elite.

Duterte previously named the US ambassador to Manila a “gay son of a whore” and told the Catholic church: “Don’t <deleted> with me.”

He has called the United Nations “stupid” for criticism of his controversial war on crime, in which he said 100,000 people would be killed and told citizens they should murder addicts.

[mike2011]

LA Times

 

Duterte expresses regret for his Obama insult. But he's always had a way with words

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, arrives at the venue of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Vientiane, Laos. (Nyein Chan Naing / European Pressphoto Agency)

Jonathan Kaiman

 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made headlines this week after he called President Obama a “son of a bitch.” But given Duterte’s record of crude remarks, the insult could be considered typical, maybe even tame. 

During Duterte’s presidential campaign — he was inaugurated on June 30 — he remarked on the size of his penis, called Pope Francis the "son of a whore” and joked about an Australian missionary who was raped and killed during a prison break in 1989.

"I was angry because she was raped, that's one thing," he said, "But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first. What a waste.”

Duterte later expressed regret over his remark about Obama. In a statement read by his spokesman, he said his “strong comments” that were made in response to a reporter’s question “elicited concern and distress.”

"He expresses deep regret, regards and affinity for Obama and the U.S.’ diplomatic partnership with our nation,” the spokesman said, according to the Singaporean broadcaster Channel NewsAsia.

The apology was rare. While campaigning, Duterte refused to apologize for the rape joke, despite a wave of outrage. In mid-August, Duterte called the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg a “gay son of a whore.” He has not apologized for that insult.

After Philippine leader says he'd swear at Obama if questioned on death squads, White House cancels meeting

Duterte, 71, gained a reputation as a tough-talking, no-nonsense leader over his 22 years as mayor of the southern city of Davao. He campaigned for president on the promise of eradicating the country of illegal drugs within six months, without regard for human rights or due process — in the spring, he threatened to dump drug dealers’ bodies into Manila Bay “and fatten all the fish there.” 

Since his inauguration, more than 2,000 suspected drug dealers have lost their lives. Many were killed by police; others by shadowy vigilantes. (Obama had planned to raise the issue with Duterte at their planned meeting in Laos — since postponed — raising the Philippine president’s ire). 

Duterte’s statement of regret was delivered on the sidelines of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Laos.

Meet the Nightcrawlers of Manila: A night on the front lines of the Philippines' war on drugs

Richard Javad Heydarian, an assistant professor of political science at De La Salle University in Manila, said that Duterte’s comments tend to play well at home, where his spontaneity and audacity complement his image as a man of the people.

“His style has given him a 100% success rate with elections” in the Philippines, he said. “So he’s probably thinking, ‘I’ve had such a high success rate, why would I change tacks?’”

Duterte, in his remarks Monday, also blamed the U.S. for causing many of the country’s problems, including instability on the southern island of Mindanao. (The Philippines was a U.S. colony until 1946.) “We have long since ceased to be a colony of the United States,” Duterte said. 

“Duterte is a very sensible person,” Heydarian said. “He may seem like a crude, third-world strongman. But he reads about the early 19th century, and the 20th century, and he knows about U.S. injustices — not only against its own Native American and African American population, but also towards the Philippines, when the Philippines was a U.S. colony. 

“I think that’s the problem here — that Duterte makes a lot of sensible points, especially if you’re a progressive liberal,” Heydarian added. “The issue is that he has some problems with impulse control and preventing himself from making these statements. He’s also confident that he has domestic support — and that we’re reaching a post-American age, where the U.S. doesn’t have the power it did before.”

[mike2011]

Wall Sreet Journal

• World

Obama Nixes Meeting After Rodrigo Duterte Lobs an Insult

Change comes after fiery Philippine head, under criticism for killings in antidrug push, referred to U.S. president with slur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rodrigo Duterte, who became president of the Philippines in June, has already made a number of controversial moves, from waging a violent war on drugs and crime and publicly accusing individuals of aiding druglords to threatening to leave the United Nations. Photo: EPA

By

Carol E. Lee

Updated Sept. 6, 2016 1:12 a.m. ET

128 COMMENTS

VIENTIANE, Laos—President Barack Obama canceled a planned meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in a rare diplomatic rupture that follows an outbreak of tensions between two close allies over the Philippines’ new drug war.

The White House said last week that Mr. Obama was planning to meet with Mr. Duterte during his trip to Laos for a summit of Asian leaders beginning Tuesday. The meeting would have been the first between the world leaders since Mr. Duterte took office in June.

But in a notable expression of U.S. concern, Mr. Obama on Monday cast doubt on those plans, suggesting he may pull out of the meeting over bombastic comments from the Philippine leader demanding their discussion not touch on his approach to human rights and referring to the U.S. leader in Tagalog with an expression widely translated to mean “son of a bitch.”

After Mr. Obama arrived in Laos, the White House early Tuesday said the meeting with Mr. Duterte wouldn’t occur and that Mr. Obama would instead meet with South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye.

“President Obama will not be holding a bilateral meeting with President Duterte of the Philippines,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.

 

 

 

 

 

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President Barack Obama canceled a planned meeting with Rodrigo Duterte at a summit of Asian leaders in Laos after the Philippine president's outburst. Photo: Getty Images and Reuters

It is rare for Mr. Obama to cancel a meeting with a world leader in an intentional snub. In 2013, he backed out of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Moscow granted asylum to Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked classified information over White House objections.

Mr. Obama said Monday that he expects the U.S. and the Philippines to maintain close relations. The countries are longstanding treaty allies, and Manila relies on American support in its territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Washington is also due to deploy troops to the Philippines as part of the Obama administration’s strategy of rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region under terms of a 2014 defense pact.

Speaking at a news conference in China before flying to Vientiane, Mr. Obama said he had directed his aides to talk with their Philippine counterparts to make sure “the timing is right” for a meeting after learning that Mr. Duterte said forcefully on Monday that the U.S. president has no standing to confront him about human rights and that “plenty will be killed” in the Philippines’ antidrug campaign.

ENLARGE

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrives in Vientiane, Laos, ahead of a meeting of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Responding to questions from local reporters Monday about how he would react if Mr. Obama raised the human-rights issue, Mr. Duterte appeared angry and blamed the U.S.—which ran the Philippines as a colony until 1946—for causing the country’s problems.

“The Philippines is not a vassal state—we have long since ceased to be a colony of the United States,” said Mr. Duterte, rejecting criticism of his efforts to curb crime. He then spoke in Tagalog, referring to Mr. Obama with the slur.

Since Mr. Duterte became president, police and vigilantes have killed more than 2,000 people in the Philippines. The killings have led to allegations of human-rights abuses and criticism from the United Nations and human-rights groups. They have also drawn statements of concern from the U.S. State Department.

“Clearly he’s a colorful guy,” Mr. Obama said during a news conference at the end of a summit of the Group of 20 major economies in China. “What I’ve instructed my team to do is to talk to their Philippine counterparts to find out: Is this in fact a time where we can have constructive, productive conversations?”

Administration officials didn’t elaborate on the administration’s calculation in canceling the meeting, or whether the talks ordered by Mr. Obama ended without a resolution, but made clear it came in response to Mr. Duterte’s comments Monday. There was no immediate reaction from Manila.

Mr. Obama said the U.S. recognizes the significant challenges posed by drug trafficking, but that it needs to be combated in a way that is consistent with international norms.

“Undoubtedly, if and when we have a meeting, this is something that’s going to be brought up,” Mr. Obama said.

The American and Philippine leaders are in Laos for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Mr. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to travel to Laos, a visit aimed at moving relations past wartime wounds. He said he plans to announce “some really concrete assistance” to Laos to help the small Southeast Asian country clean up unexploded bombs the U.S. dropped during the Vietnam War.

“Their capacity alone to clean that up is hampered by a lack of resources,” Mr. Obama said during a news conference in China before flying to Vientiane. “We should help.”

The president said the U.S. hopes to develop economic ties with Laos, adding, “As we’re trying to build trust, a lot of work can be done around the war legacy issues.”

Mr. Obama also will use his two days in Laos to reassure leaders that he can deliver on a new trade deal. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, has stalled in Congress amid opposition from lawmakers in both parties.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he won’t bring it up for a vote this year, even after the November election, when the White House had hoped it would pass. Both Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton oppose the pact.

“The United States has never had a smooth, uncontroversial path to ratifying trade deals, but they eventually get them done,” Mr. Obama said, adding he would explain that U.S. dynamic to counterparts in Vientiane. “Back home, we’ll have to cut through the noise once election season’s over.”

Mr. Obama compared the Laos visit to his trip to Japan in May, when he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. “Symbolically this is important,” he said.

The U.S. dropped over two million tons of bombs on Laos during its attempt to knock out the North Vietnamese Army’s cross-border supply chain during the Vietnam War. Those unexploded bombs remain a significant threat in many of the country’s rural communities. Mr. Obama said he would also seek to account for U.S. troops who were lost in the region’s wars.

Mr. Obama will meet Tuesday with Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith. While in Laos, he will deliver a speech on his so-called rebalance in Asia, a policy centered on the U.S. countering China’s influence by engaging other countries in the region.

On Wednesday the president flies to Luang Prabang, where he will hold a town-hall question-and-answer session with young Southeast Asian entrepreneurs and activists and tour Wat Xieng Thong Buddhist Temple.

[mike2011]

Philstar Manila

 

Duterte regrets 'son of a bitch' remark on Obama

By Vijay Joshi (Associated Press) | Updated September 6, 2016 - 1:10pm

 

President Rodrigo Duterte arrives at Wattay International Airport in Sikhodtabong District, Laos People's Democratic Republic on September 5 to participate in the ASEAN Summit. TOTO LOZANO/PPD

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed regret over his "son of a bitch" remark while referring to US President Barack Obama.

 

In a statement read out Tuesday by his spokesman, Duterte said his "strong comments" to certain questions by a reporter "elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the US president."

 

 

Duterte made the remarks Monday before flying to Laos, where he will attend a regional summit. He had been scheduled to meet Obama separately. But Obama indicated that he was having second thoughts about that meeting.

 

Duterte said both sides mutually agreed to postpone the meeting.

 

Even though Duterte's latest comment does not amount to an apology, the expression of regret is a rare instance when the tough-talking former mayor has expressed contrition for his remarks that often slide into profanity.

 

"We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries," the statement said.

 

The flap over Duterte's remarks started when a reporter asked him how he intends to explain the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers to Obama. More than 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users have been killed since Duterte launched a war on drugs after taking office on June 30.

 

In his typical foul-mouthed style, Duterte responded: "I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions. Putang ina I will swear at you in that forum," he said, using the Tagalog phrase for "son of a bitch."

 

Duterte has earlier cursed the pope and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

 

"Who is he (Obama) to confront me?" Duterte said, adding the Philippines had not received an apology from the United States for misdeeds committed during its colonization of the Philippines.

 

He pointed to the killing of Muslim Moros more than a century ago during a US pacification campaign in the southern Philippines, blaming the wounds of the past as "the reason why (the south) continues to boil" with separatist insurgencies.

 

Last week, Duterte said he was ready to defend his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, which has sparked concern from the US and other countries.

 

Duterte said he would demand that Obama allow him to first explain the context of his crackdown before engaging the US president in a discussion of the deaths.  — with reports from AP 

[mike2011]

Inquirer Manila

Duterte expresses regret over Obama profane comment

By: Marlon Ramos

@MRamosINQ

Philippine Daily Inquirer

12:42 PM September 6th, 2016

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VIENTIANE, Laos — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday expressed “regrets” for issuing profanity-laced remarks against US President Barack Obama which caused Washington to cancel their bilateral meeting.

In a statement read by Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, the President blamed the media for reporting on Obama’s plan to “lecture” him about human rights which prompted him to curse at the American leader.

“While the immediate cause of my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the US President,” Duterte said.

 

The President flew here to attend the three-day 28th and 29th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summits, his first foreign travel since he was sworn in as head of state on June 30.

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DFA: Duterte looks forward to ‘ironing out differences’ with Obama

 

By: Estrella Torres

@inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer

02:09 PM September 6th, 2016

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The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte looks forward to “ironing out differences” with US President Barack Obama after his strong off-the-cuff comments that caused uproar and deep concerns in the diplomatic community.

“President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would ‘lecture’ him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern. He regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy,” said a DFA statement on Tuesday.

READ: Duterte expresses regret over Obama profane comment

 

The department said Duterte was asserting his intent to chart an independent foreign policy and promote closer ties with all nations. “He expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations.”

Duterte was supposed to hold a bilateral meeting with US President Obama along with eight other world leaders at the sidelines of the 49^th Asean Leaders Summit in Vientiane, Laos. But during a press briefing late Monday, an irate Duterte warned that he would curse Obama if the latter would raise the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the Philippines during the meeting.

READ: Duterte to Obama: Don’t lecture me on rights, PH not a US colony

In turn, the White House cancelled the scheduled meeting of Obama with President Duterte.

“Both delegations, however, have agreed that in the light of the issues that still need to be worked on, the bilateral meeting between the two nations will be postponed to a later date,” said the DFA statement.

READ: Obama scraps meeting with Duterte — White House

The DFA however did not specify the new schedule for the bilateral meeting of two leaders.

Duterte affirmed that the Philippines continues to value the alliance with the US, citing both countries share common goals in the fight against illegal drugs, terrorism, crime and poverty.

Duterte also thanked Obama’s firm support to the Philippines’ position to peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea and to stop China’s continuing military incursions in the disputed waters.

In particular, Duterte lauded Obama’s initiative to raise the issue of the need for China to abide by the rule of law in dealing with sea disputes at the recent G20 Summit held in China.

“The President looks forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries,” said the DFA statement.

It added that Duterte is mindful of the fact that in securing and preserving the rights and liberties of our people, “it is imperative that the fight against illegal drugs, terrorist, crimes and poverty must be won in order to preserve the principle and values upon which our democratic way of life is anchored.” CDG

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Duterte affirms ties with US, ‘deep regard’ for Obama—DFA

BILATERAL MEETING POSTPONED TO LATER DATE

 

By: Yuji Vincent Gonzales

@YGonzalesINQ

INQUIRER.net

02:17 PM September 6th, 2016

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The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte continues to value the Philippines’ ties with the United States despite his profanity-laced remarks against US President Barack Obama at the Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) summit.

In a statement, the DFA said the Philippines and the US “share common goals in their pursuit of the war against drugs, terrorists, crime and poverty.”

“President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would ‘lecture’ him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern. He regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy,” the DFA said.

 

“While asserting the intent to chart an independent foreign policy and promote closer ties with all nations, he expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations,” it added.

The statement came after Washington called off a planned meeting between Obama and Duterte, after the latter threatened to throw expletives at the top world leader should Obama “lecture” him on human rights and extrajudicial killings.

The DFA said Duterte looks forward to “ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries.

READ: DFA: Duterte looks forward to ‘ironing out differences’ with Obama

“President Duterte stressed that in securing and preserving the rights and liberties of our people, it is imperative that the fight against illegal drugs, terrorist, crimes and poverty must be won in order to preserve the principle and values upon which our democratic way of life is anchored,” it added. JE

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[MyFrenU]

What an utter POS Duturdy is,I really hope to see someone put a bullet in this scumbag's head for all the innocent people his death squads have murdered since he came to power!
Don't forget he called the Pope a son of a whore also,what a disrespectful jungle hick and his supporters are no better,very dark times ahead for the beautiful Philippines I'm afraid pray for them!

[tuky]

I agree MyFrenU, but for some reason a lot of locals do not agree.

 

Mike2011 keep up the good info mate, all this will be great for future reference.

 

 

[mike2011]

my pleasure

 

here something new from Reuters. I have highlighted one line which indicates the Phils government's strategy and attempt to keep face. These guys are either totally stupid or simply in a way shameless that would even make a Nana hooker blush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-obama-philippines-idUSKCN11B2C0

World News | Tue Sep 6, 2016 6:34am EDT

Philippines scrambles to soothe tensions after insult to Obama

By Roberta Rampton and Manuel Mogato | VIENTIANE

(Note: paragraphs 1, 6 and 19 contain language that may offend some readers)

 

The Philippines scrambled to defuse a row with the United States on Tuesday and its new president, Rodrigo Duterte, voiced regret for calling President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch", comments that prompted Washington to call off a bilateral meeting.

The tiff between the two allies overshadowed the opening of a summit of East and Southeast Asian nations in Laos.

It also soured Obama's last swing as president through a region he has tried to make a focus of U.S. foreign policy, a strategy widely seen as a response to China's economic and military muscle-flexing.

He said in a speech as the summit got under way that his push to make the United States a key player in Asia-Pacific was not some "passing fad".

However, diplomats say strains with longtime ally the Philippines could compound Washington's difficulties in forging a united front with Southeast Asian partners on the geostrategic jostle with Beijing over the South China Sea.

Duterte has bristled repeatedly at criticism over his "war on drugs", which has killed about 2,400 people since he took office two months ago, and on Monday said it would be "rude" for Obama to raise the question of human rights when they met.

Such a conversation, Duterte told reporters, would prompt him to curse at Obama, using a Filipino phrase "putang ina" which can mean "son of a bitch" or "son of a whore".

After Washington called off Tuesday's bilateral meeting between Obama and Duterte in response, the Philippines issued two statements expressing regret.

 

U.S. President Barack Obama walks to honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Vientiane, Laos September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

"President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would 'lecture' him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern," the Philippines government said in one statement.

"He regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy," it added. "He expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations."

The White House had earlier said Obama would not pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines, its treaty ally, when meeting Duterte.

Instead of the Duterte meeting, Obama plans to hold talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, said Ned Price, spokesman for the White House National Security Council - a meeting where the response to North Korea's latest missile tests is expected to be on the agenda.

A Philippines official who declined to be named said there would be no formal meeting rescheduled in Laos but a short 'pull-aside' conversation between the two presidents was still possible.

 

MOVES TO SOOTHE TENSIONS

Obama arrived in the city of Vientiane late on Monday for the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to Laos, where he wants to begin to address the legacy of U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War.

He announced on Tuesday that Washington would provide an additional $90 million over the next three years to help Laos, heavily bombed during the Vietnam War, clear unexploded ordnance, which has killed or wounded more than 20,000 people.

 

The unusually open tensions between the United States and the Philippines, its former colony, threaten to overshadow the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summits in Laos from Tuesday to Thursday.

The 10-member ASEAN will also meet leaders of other regional powers: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Russia and the United States.

Related Coverage

• VIDEOPhilippines' Duterte regrets controversial Obama comments
• VIDEOObama attends arrival ceremony in Laos
• VIDEOFear muzzles critics of Duterte’s bloody war
• U.S. gives Laos extra $90 million to help clear unexploded ordnance

Duterte won the presidency in May as he promised to suppress crime and wipe out drugs and drug dealers.

About 900 people linked to drugs have been killed in police operations since July 1 and a further 1,500 have been classed as "deaths under investigation", a term human rights activists in the Philippines say is a euphemism for extrajudicial killings.

Duterte has repeatedly poured scorn on critics, usually larding it with curses.

He lambasted the United Nations after it criticized the surge in killings and he turned down a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Laos summit.

In May, he called Pope Francis a "son of a whore", although he later apologized, and called U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg a "gay son of a whore".

On Tuesday, Duterte met the leaders of Singapore, Japan and Vietnam.

Manila has been aligned with the United States in its dispute with China over the South China Sea, in which Washington blames Beijing for militarizing a vital global trade route and jeopardizing freedom of movement at sea and in the air.

China rejects those accusations and accuses the United States of ratcheting up tensions unnecessarily. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

An arbitration court in The Hague in July invalidated China's territorial claims after a case was brought by the Philippines, a ruling Beijing refuses to recognize.

Duterte said last month he expected all ASEAN members to support the arbitration court's ruling, but that the Philippines would not raise the issue in Laos.

 

(Writing by John Chalmers, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

[MyFrenU]

1 hour ago, tuky said:

I agree MyFrenU, but for some reason a lot of locals do not agree.

 

Mike2011 keep up the good info mate, all this will be great for future reference.

 

 

"Do not allow yourself to become just another misinformed idiot!".....It doesn't get any more ironic than that!

[JB300]

I agree MyFrenU, but for some reason a lot of locals do not agree.

 

Mike2011 keep up the good info mate, all this will be great for future reference.

 

 

Where is the love (Black Eyed Peas [emoji13])

[mike2011]

Now it is Obama's mistake. Obviously, the Americans know nothing about the English language and are collectively retarded as is the rest of the world.

 

The highlighted sections shows what the Duterte crowd thinks and tries to project. It is a cult/clan beyond reason.

 

Duterte voices regrets for insult on Obama

Panelo says US misread hyperbole

 

By: Marlon Ramos

@MRamosINQ

Philippine Daily Inquirer

12:03 AM September 7th, 2016

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/144076/duterte-voices-regrets-for-insult-on-obama#ixzz4JXqlI1pj
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

 

VIENTIANE—With the sleeves of his barong tagalog rolled up and hands in pant pockets, a contrite President Duterte debuted on Tuesday at the annual Asean summit overshadowed by his “putang ina” remark directed at US President Barack Obama.

Mr. Duterte’s “son of a bitch” remark prompted the White House to cancel his meeting with Obama on Tuesday.

Other male leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) were dressed in business suits at the National Convention Center in the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Mr. Duterte rolled his sleeves down and buttoned them in the way the shirt is worn on formal occasions when Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith gave a speech to open the summit.

 

In a statement earlier read by presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, Mr. Duterte expressed “regret” for expletive-laden remarks he made on Monday before he departed Davao City for the summit.

“While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the US President,” the President said.

“Our primary intention is to chart an independent foreign policy while promoting closer ties with all nations, especially the United States with which we have had a long standing partnership,” he said.

After Washington called off Tuesday’s bilateral meeting between the two leaders, the Philippines issued two statements expressing regret.

“President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would ‘lecture’ him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern,” the Philippine government said in one statement.

“He (President Duterte) regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy,” it added.

“He expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations.”

‘Misreading’

The presidential chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, accused the US government of “misreading” Mr. Duterte’s comments.

“Don’t put meaning to that. That’s just his style. It’s just a hyperbole,” Panelo told reporters. “It’s just an expression. I don’t think it was directed to President Obama.”

In a separate statement, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Mr. Duterte wanted to reassure the United States that his administration “continues to value the alliance” between the two countries.

Opening address

In his opening address, the Laotian president outlined “multifaceted security challenges” in many parts of the world—such as terrorism and extremism, natural disasters, climate change, migration crisis, trafficking in people, territorial disputes and armed conflicts.

“At the same time, although the global economy has gradually recovered, growth remains slow and fragile,” he said. “There is a need for us to closely follow these developments and continue to enhance Asean cooperation and collaboration with the international community.”

Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The summit will be followed by a series of other meetings on Wednesday and a summit on Thursday between leaders from Asean and other countries, including the United States, China, Russia, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Obama arrived in Vientiane on Monday night and will attend Thursday’s summit.

Mr. Duterte also arrived on Monday night. But hours earlier, he dropped a diplomatic bombshell by saying he doesn’t want Obama to ask him questions about extrajudicial killings that have occurred amid an ongoing crackdown on drug dealers in the Philippines. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since he took office on June 30.

In his typical loose-tongued style, Mr. Duterte said: “I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions. Putang ina, I will swear at you in that forum,” he said, using the Tagalog phrase for “son of a bitch.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Duterte expressed regret over the remarks, but the damage was already done.

DFA still hoping

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, said the Philippine delegation was still pushing for the bilateral meeting between Obama and Mr. Duterte.

“Schedules are tight, but there are still occasions for the two leaders to meet here in Laos during the Asean summit. We’re working for that to happen,” Jose said in a text message on Tuesday to the Inquirer.

Mr. Duterte is also planning to ask China’s premier at the Vientiane meetings whether China is trying to develop a disputed reef, Scarborough Shoal, off the Philippines’ northwestern coast, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.

The shoal is part of the larger dispute in the South China Sea between China and some Asean countries. An international arbitration panel recently ruled that China’s expansive claims in the sea are illegal. Beijing has rejected the ruling as a sham.

Although Asean has the power of the ruling behind it, its summit is unlikely to mention it in its final declaration, a reflection of Beijing’s diplomatic clout.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses delegates of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, a parallel summit in the ongoing 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and other related summits Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016 in Vientiane, Laos. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

But according to a draft of the final statement Asean is scheduled to release on Thursday, the region’s leaders will express strong concern about Beijing’s construction of man-made islands in the South China Sea, which Southeast Asian countries fear could destabilize the region.

Chinese barges

Mr. Duterte said last week that the Philippine Coast Guard had sighted Chinese barges at Scarborough, which he said could presage the transformation of the Chinese-held reef into another man-made island. One of the Chinese vessels had what appeared to be a crane, according to a Philippine official.

China sparked widespread alarm when it converted seven reefs in the Spratly Islands into islands that the United States says could be transformed into military bases. With reports from AP and Estrella Torres in Manila

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/144076/duterte-voices-regrets-for-insult-on-obama#ixzz4JXqdsR00
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

[mike2011]

Washington Post.

The claim is a familiar technique used by politicians in the Phils. Make some claim and do not worry about the facts. The goal is simple: Dominate headlines and deflect from other, negative, news.

 

 

 

 

 

Philippine President Duterte said he’d be sitting next to Obama at dinner. He isn’t.

 

 

 

 

By Adam Taylor September 7 at 11:28 AM

President Obama, second from left, and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, second from right, look on from the podium before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gala dinner in Vientiane, Laos, on Sept. 7. (Ritchie B. Tongo/European Pressphoto Agency)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte looked set for a potentially awkward dinner Wednesday, with widespread reports suggesting he would be seated between two men he had recently insulted.

Worse still, these men happen to be two of the most important politicians in the world.

Representatives of the Philippine leader, notorious for both his campaign against drug traffickers and his frequent use of obscenities, had told reporters early Wednesday that he was due to be seated between President Obama and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gala dinner hosted by Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith in Vientiane on Thursday evening.

Despite these claims, images from the dinner quickly revealed that Duterte was not, in fact, seated next to Obama or Ban.

After all the hype, Obama does not sit next to Duterte at #ASEAN2016 dinner. He's chatting to Vietnam PM's wife pic.twitter.com/yWKab6hlA4

— Karl Malakunas (@karlmalakunas) September 7, 2016

 

Duterte not seated beside Obama, Ban Ki-Moon during ASEAN Summit gala dinner pic.twitter.com/cqpd72gUl2

— Trisha Macas (@trishamacas) September 7, 2016

 

Ban, Obama, and Duterte are seated apart in ASEAN gala dinner pic.twitter.com/7MdOOF66Gn

— Willard Cheng (@willardcheng) September 7, 2016

 

The apparent move may have saved Duterte some awkward small talk and Philippine officials later told the Associated Press said that Obama and Duterte did speak informally at the event.

However, it remains unclear why the Philippine president thought he would be sitting next to Obama and Ban.

Just a few days ago, Duterte had used the Tagalog term "putang ina" in threatening to curse Obama if he raised the issue of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines' fight against drug dealers. That phrase means "son of a bitch" or "son of a whore." Shortly after the comments were reported, the White House canceled a scheduled meeting with Duterte. The Philippine president later said that he regretted that his comments "came across as a personal attack."

Duterte has also criticized Ban for his comments about the extrajudicial killings, and last month he threatened to pull the Philippines out of the United Nations, saying that the organization had made a "very stupid" proposition. Again, the Philippine president later said he was only joking, but this week, Duterte said he would not meet with the U.N. secretary general at the ASEAN summit as he had "no time."

Early Wednesday, however, Duterte's press service announced that the Philippine president would meet both of these men for the first time at a dinner that evening — because he would be seated next to them.

"Presidents Duterte and Obama will be seated next to each other, which expectedly, will focus all cameras on them to deliver to the world the encounter of the two. Incidentally, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is also seated on the other side of President Duterte," the president's office said in a statement, according to Rappler.

Asked how the meeting with Duterte and Obama might go down, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters:  "It's difficult to speculate, but certainly they will have their drinks and food together."

 

[Travel2003]

Good luck to PI becoming the next Chinese province.

Good luck to US trying to cope with 50 million Filipino Green card seekers.

 

[mike2011]

World News | Fri Sep 30, 2016 | 3:34pm EDT

Philippines' Duterte likens himself to Hitler, wants to kill millions of drug users

 

Reuters

Philippines president likens himself to Hitler (01:05)

Replay

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Philippines president likens himself to Hitler

01:05

 

•  
•  
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By Karen Lema and Manuel Mogato | MANILA

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte appeared to liken himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on Friday and said he would "be happy" to exterminate three million drug users and peddlers in the country.

His comments triggered shock and anger among Jewish groups in the United States, which could add to pressure on the U.S. government to take a tougher line with the Philippines leader.

Duterte recently insulted President Barack Obama and in a number of remarks he has undermined the previously close relationship between Manila and Washington.

In a rambling speech on his arrival in Davao City after a visit to Vietnam, Duterte told reporters that he had been "portrayed to be a cousin of Hitler" by critics.

Noting that Hitler had murdered millions of Jews, Duterte said, "There are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I'd be happy to slaughter them."

"If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have ...," he said, pausing and pointing to himself.

"You know my victims. I would like (them) to be all criminals to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition."

Duterte was voted to power in a May election on the back of a vow to end drugs and corruption in the country of 100 million people. He took office on June 30 and over 3,100 people have been killed since then, mostly alleged drug users and dealers, in police operations and vigilante killings.

Duterte's comments were quickly condemned by Jewish groups.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Digital Terrorism and Hate project, called them "outrageous".

"Duterte owes the victims (of the Holocaust) an apology for his disgusting rhetoric," Cooper said.

 

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during a news conference upon his arrival from a state visit in Vietnam at the International Airport in Davao city, Philippines September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Lean Daval Jr

 

The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish group based in the United States, said Duterte's comments were "shocking for their tone-deafness".

"The comparison of drug users and dealers to Holocaust victims is inappropriate and deeply offensive," said Todd Gutnick, the group's director of communications. "It is baffling why any leader would want to model himself after such a monster."

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said any use of "the Holocaust and the suffering of the Holocaust in comparison to anything else, frankly, is inappropriate and needs to be rejected." He said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had made clear that the fight against illegal drugs must be done "in accordance with human rights standards."

State Department spokesman Mark Toner called Duterte's remarks "troubling."

"America's ... partnership with the Philippines is ... based on a mutual foundation of shared values and that includes our shared belief in human rights and human dignity," Toner said.

"President Duterte's comments are a significant departure from that tradition and we find them troubling."

A White House official stuck to a strategy of stressing long-standing ties with Manila, saying, "We continue to focus on our broad relationship with the Philippines and will work together in the many areas of mutual interest."

 

EX-PRESIDENT'S WARNING

Two days before the Philippines election, outgoing President Benigno Aquino had warned that Duterte's rising popularity was akin to that of Hitler in the 1920s and 1930s.

Duterte has been scathing about criticism of his anti-drugs campaign and has insulted the United Nations and the European Union, as well as Obama, at various times in recent weeks.

Related Coverage

• VIDEOOutrage as Rodrigo Duterte likens himself to Hitler

On Friday, reacting to critical comments on his war on drugs by U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Benjamin Cardin, Duterte said: "Do not pretend to be the moral conscience of the world. Do not be the policeman because you do not have the eligibility to do that in my country."

He also reiterated there will be no annual war games between the Philippines and the United States until the end of his six-year term, placing the longstanding alliance under a cloud of doubt. It also may make Washington's strategy of rebalancing its military focus toward Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China much more difficult to achieve.

Still, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking before the latest remarks from Duterte, said Washington had an "ironclad" alliance with Manila.

A senior U.S. defense official, also speaking earlier, told reporters that the United States had a long enduring relationship with the Philippines regardless of who was president.

Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for International and Strategic Studies think tank in Washington, said Obama was "taking the long view" in dealing with Duterte. Obama leaves office in January.

Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at Singapore's ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, said the U.S-Philippines alliance was not necessarily at risk, but Washington could seek to focus on ties elsewhere in the region.

"We are all in some sense becoming, by necessity, desensitized to Duterte's language," he said.

"Diplomatically, the U.S. would say they'll continue to work with him and the alliance is strong. But it's whether they'll continue to strengthen that alliance or not."

 

(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Yeganeh Torbati in San Diego, Marius Zaharia in Singapore, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Jeff Mason in Jerusalem, and David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Toni Reinhold)

[Travel2003]

People can now kill someone they owe money, and claim it was a criminal, and an "alleged" drug addict.

[mike2011]

The flipper Maoists are supporting Duterte (see the first article), the reasons for this is in posted article 2, Duterte's reasons are in article 3. It seems that Dudirty aka Davao Adolf is following Thaksin's money making strategies in the telecom sector. I wonder how much the Chinese pay him for the double sell-out.

 

 

1)

Left will be a reliable Duterte ally, says NDFP’s Jalandoni

By: Karlos Manlupig / @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:52 AM October 12, 2016

Jalandoni

OSLO—The Left will be a reliable ally of President Duterte in protecting Philippine sovereignty and patrimony, a senior communist leader said on Monday.

Luis Jalandoni, a senior adviser to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), said Mr. Duterte’s criticisms of US intervention could lead to threats that might affect the stability of the Philippines.

“The Left will be a reliable ally to the Duterte administration in fighting against US imperialist threats and other antipeople forces,” Jalandoni said.

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The Duterte administration and the NDFP concluded a second round of peace talks here on Monday, with high hopes of prisoners of war being released and a bilateral ceasefire being signed this month.
Socialist
Mr. Duterte, who describes himself as a socialist, rants almost daily against the United States, United Nations and European Union because of their criticism of his brutal war on illegal drugs.

He has said this week’s joint military exercises with the United States would be the last of his presidency. He has also threatened to expel US forces from Mindanao and to sever relations with the United States and seek closer ties with China and Russia.

US defense officials have dismissed Mr. Duterte’s statements as “all bluster.”

The Pentagon chief, Ash Carter, said last week that the US security commitment to the Philippines remained “ironclad.”

 

2)

Duterte says PH can’t win in Scarborough Shoal

By: Gil Cabacungan / @gilcabacungan

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 01:31 AM October 11, 2016

President Duterte has a “good feeling” that the Philippines will be “OK” with China as long as the Filipinos do not make the Chinese froth at the mouth by claiming Scarborough Shoal.

“We cannot win that,” he said in a speech to residents of Lamitan, Basilan province, on Monday, referring to the traditional fishing ground known to Filipinos as Panatag Shoal that China seized from the Philippines after a two-month maritime standoff in 2012.

Without military muscle to fight for Panatag, the Philippines sued China in the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, asking the court to invalidate Beijing’s claim to nearly all of the South China Sea and demanding Manila’s right to fish and explore for resources in waters within its 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ) be respected.

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Jet ski to Spratlys

On April 8, presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte told a news conference in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan province, that, if elected, he would protect Philippine territory and he was willing to be blasted into pieces for it.

“I will ask the Navy to deliver me to the nearest area tolerable to them and I will ride a jet ski and carry a pole and a flag. When I reach the Spratlys I will erect the Philippine flag,” he said.

“You want to shoot me with your missile, fine,” he added, referring to the Chinese.

He repeated his pledge during a presidential debate organized by ABS-CBN on April 24.

On July 12, the Hague court ruled in favor of the Philippines, saying China’s claims in the South China Sea had no legal basis and that Beijing had violated Manila’s sovereignty by preventing it from fishing and exploring for resources in waters within its EEZ.

Panatag is for all

The court, however, ruled that Panatag Shoal, which does not generate an EEZ, is a common fishing ground—meaning all the claimants can fish there.

But China rejected the ruling. It has cordoned off Panatag and drives Filipino fishermen away from the shoal.

On Monday, President Duterte, who is visiting China from Oct. 19 to 21 to begin mending ties between the two countries that have been frayed by the dispute, said a key strategy of his China initiative was not to make an issue of the tribunal’s ruling.

“I have a good feeling that we will be OK with them. But first let’s not touch the Scarborough Shoal issue because we cannot win that,” he said.

“Even if we get angry, we’ll just be putting on airs. We can’t beat [China]. We’ll ask them to allow our fishermen to [return] to their traditional fishing ground in Scarborough,” he said.

Mr. Duterte said he had already agreed to “this concession” in return for China’s relaxing its quarantine restrictions on banana and pineapple exports from the Philippines.

Help for Basilan

He promised the people of Basilan his administration would make up for the government’s neglect of the war-torn island if he got a windfall from his China visit.

“I have a good feeling they (China) really want to help us in a big way. If I get something big, I promise you I will build hospitals and schools from the soft-term loans we will get (from China). If there is anything left, I will use it to help you build a power plant,” he told the residents of Lamitan.

He said the power plant, which would be powered by sea waves, would be a catalyst for change in the lives of the people of Basilan.

Mr. Duterte gave P10 million in seed money for livelihood projects of coconut farmers in Lamitan and Isabel towns whose farms had been ravaged by cocolisap.

He also handed out 70 motorized, fiber glass fishing boats; seven farm tractors; rice and corn seedlings and fertilizer.

 

3)

Duterte to telcos: Shape up, or else…

By: Gil C. Cabacungan / @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 02:22 AM October 09, 2016

President Rodrigo Duterte. AP FILE Photo

President Duterte threatened to open the local telecommunications industry to Chinese competitors if the country’s mobile phone duopoly—

PLDT-Smart Communications of Manuel V. Pangilinan and Globe Telecom of the Ayala Group—fails to improve its atrocious services.

In a speech in Davao City, Mr. Duterte said he shared the frustration of millions of mobile phone users in the Philippines, who complain of poor phone service and slow internet speeds.

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Mr. Duterte said oftentimes he would “wait until the next day before I get a reply” to his text messages.

Competition

“I’m just suffering all of this but if you cannot do it right, you wait, I’m going to China and I’ll open everything for competition,” said President Duterte. He is scheduled to visit China from October 18 to 21.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said that PLDT-Smart and Globe should take seriously the President’s warning because “he talks like that only when he is really frustrated.”

Last May, San Miguel Corp. abandoned its plan to emerge as the third player to break the telecommunication duopoly when it sold its cell sites and a 700-Megahertz spectrum to PLDT-Smart and Globe. This is a type of low-band frequency with an ability to cover wide spaces and penetrate walls at a lower cost.

READ: SMC sells telco assets to PLDT, Globe

The Philippine Competition Commission sought to investigate the deal but it was blocked by the Court of Appeals.

Andanar said Malacanang would wait how PLDT-Smart and Globe would deploy San Miguel’s assets to improve services.

But if they fail to shape up, Andanar said the Department of Information and Communications Technology can put up a state-owned telecommunications firm to compete with them and build cellular sites in areas not currently served. They can also tap a third player to increase the competition.

“We want to have a vibrant competition and end the two-player competition which is why it is called a duopoly,” said Andanar.

 

[mike2011]

The Phils government, including the Foreign Affairs and Justice Depts., tells the world that it has not the slightest idea to which treaties the country is party and what obligations and associated procedures it involves.

 

Palace letter to UN probers: Allow Duterte to ask questions first

LETTER SENT TO WORLD BODY

By: Nestor Corrales / @NCorralesINQ

INQUIRER.net / 08:02 PM October 12, 2016

 

The United Nations (UN) officials who will come to the Philippines to investigate alleged extrajudicial killings should be able to answer questions from President Rodrigo Duterte under oath.

“Since it is this administration that is maligned as being behind these extrajudicial killings, due process requires that the President of the Philippines Republic, be given the opportunity to propound his own questions which every nation recognizes,” the letter sent to the UN read.

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“It would be best to put everyone to whom questions are directed to swear under oath that the answers and/or responses they give are the truth and nothing but the truth,” the letter added.

The letter, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, was dated September 28.

Duterte earlier accepted the challenge of the UN to investigate alleged extrajudicial killings under his administration provided they follow Philippine laws and they will also be subjected to questioning.

Medialdea said allowing the President to question the UN officials would “fortify his right to due process”

“I suppose that that would further fortify his right to due process which requires that the party against whom a charge is levelled, is accorded the opportunity to propound his own questions to whomever he deems appropriate, including your good self,” Medialdea said.

The executive secretary said Duterte was interested to know the “motive for the investigation, and why the focus is on the Philippines.”

“After all, the party charged is entitled to know the motive for the investigation, and why the focus is on the Philippines when there are other nations responsible for the death of innocent and defenseless individuals elsewhere in the world. Those are extrajudicial killings too, are they not?” he said.

[JB300]

In fairness 2) seems reasonable (Filipino fisherman get to fish there, fruit exporters get a better deal & encourage foreign infrastructure investment).

3) Would be welcome by everybody there (I don't know anybody who doesn't carry 2 sims/phones because any single telcos coverage is pants.

[mike2011]

The Phils won an international case. Duterte gives up rights without need or immediate compensation. Very surprising given his jingoist talk.

 

As for the bad coverage in the Phils. This is not a technical problem. It has something to do with regulation and the political non-system. Improving the regulatory body would run counter Dudirty's strategy of destroying governmental structures not owned by him. Bringing in Chinese would be a sweet deal for him personally along the lines of his bribe-taking.

[JB300]

The Phils won an international case. Duterte gives up rights without need or immediate compensation. Very surprising given his jingoist talk.
 
As for the bad coverage in the Phils. This is not a technical problem. It has something to do with regulation and the political non-system. Improving the regulatory body would run counter Dudirty's strategy of destroying governmental structures not owned by him. Bringing in Chinese would be a sweet deal for him personally along the lines of his bribe-taking.

I thought the Scarborough fields were considered outside of the Philippines EEZ so technically everybody has the right to fish there (just don't tell the Spanish [emoji14]), PI is just using them asking for it as a negotiating tool.

Whatever the problem with the Telcos, hopefully Duerte's threats will provide the necessary kick up the backside needed (Last November, my Globe coverage was so bad in Cebu (ITPark area) I ended up roaming with my Singtel Sim [emoji15]).

[mike2011]

I feel your pain. I once bought a sticker for good money from Sun. Problem was that there was hardly any coverage where I wanted to use it. Sun sucks.

 

In Phils I use smart for calls now which seems a bit better in areas where I go. For the interested reader: JB300 and I are not talking about deep valleys high in the mountains, we talk about downtown areas.

 

The Scarborough area is contested territory. Seems Duterte is working hard to get himself a fat Bank of China account in Shanghai. He might also like the Chinese more than Americans since for Dudirty it is all a matter of size and what I heard from pinays locals do not really measure up. Being presidential is unlikely to make much difference in that department.

[mike2011]

Things start getting tighter for Dudirty

 

ICC to closely monitor PH for killings under antidrug campaign

By: Nikko Dizon / @nikkodizonINQ

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 12:03 PM October 14, 2016

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during his address to a Filipino business sector in suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. Duterte has been under criticism by international human rights groups, the United Nations, European Union and the United States for the more than 3,000 deaths of mostly suspected drug-users and drug-pushers in his so-called “War on Drugs” campaign since assuming the presidency on June 30. AP

MANILA—The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday said her office would begin to “closely” monitor the developments in the Philippines, raising concern over  alleged extrajudicial killings that “may have led to over 3,000 deaths in the past three months.”

“Let me be clear: any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of mass violence, including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing, in any other manner, to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC, is potentially liable to prosecution before the Court,” ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement.

“My Office, in accordance with its mandate under the Rome Statute, will be closely following developments in the Philippines in the weeks to come and record any instance of incitement or resort to violence with a view to assessing whether a preliminary examination into the situation of the Philippines needs to be opened,” she said.

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On Thursday night, President Rodrigo Duterte defended his administration’s anti-drugs campaign at a Philippine Business Conference (PBC) event in Pasay City, saying “it is not a crime to threaten criminals with death.”

Stressing that he was unafraid of world leaders and international organizations, Duterte said “they cannot be brighter” than him, and that he could outsmart them if they come to the Philippines to look into the spate of killings attributed to his government.

READ: Duterte: US, UN, EU not brighter than me; I’ll shame them

Once again, he expressed dismay at how the international community has responded to the administration’s move to ensure peace and order in society, saying they do not understand the country’s situation.

Duterte said he had written letters to those accusing him of threatening criminals with death, such as United States President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State John Kerry, the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Commission and the European Union.

“So I will have to ask you questions after questioning me. Sige, punta kayo dito. Paikutin ko kayo dito ng kamay ko and I’ll play with you… I am very sure, very sure, they cannot be brighter than me… Maniwala kayo. Ay sus. Paikutin kita,” President Duterte said.

In her statement, Bensouda said that the Philippines is a State Party to the ICC since Nov. 1, 2011, giving the Court “jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the territory or by nationals of the Philippines,” from the day the country entered the Statute.

In a five-paragraph statement posted on the ICC website, Bensouda said she was “deeply concerned about these alleged killings and the fact that public statements of high officials of the Republic of the Philippines seem to condone such killings and further seem to encourage State forces and civilians alike to continue targeting these individuals with lethal force.”

“Extrajudicial killings may fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court if they are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population pursuant to a State policy to commit such an attack,” she said. CDG/rga

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/146773/icc-to-closely-monitor-ph-for-killings-under-antidrug-campaign#ixzz4N3MXIkY6
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[mike2011]

Dudirty on Aljazeera. It is hard to listen to the BS for about 20 min. I wonder how brain damaged pinoys must be to follow his speeches for hours. Excellent material for psycho students first year.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2016/10/exclusive-rodrigo-duterte-war-drugs-161015100325799.html

 

Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte interview: Death, drugs and diplomacy

In an exclusive interview, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte discusses his war on drugs and foreign policy.

16 Oct 2016 13:06 GMTRodrigo Duterte, Philippines

 

It's been about 100 days into the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. 

Since he took power, the Philippine president has overseen the killing of more than 3,500 people in his war on drugs, offended world leaders and strained relations with the US.

In an exclusive first interview since he was sworn in, we talk to Duterte about his controversial war on drugs and foreign policy - including deteriorating relations with the United States and potentially warming relations with China.

"We have three million drug addicts, and it's growing. So if we do not interdict this problem, the next generation will be having a serious problem ... You destroy my country, I'll kill you. And it's a legitimate thing. If you destroy our young children, I will kill you. That is a very correct statement. There is nothing wrong in trying to preserve the interest of the next generation." 

But Duterte admits that children and innocent people have also been killed in the bloody crackdown, and promises to investigate these extrajudicial killings, but he also calls them "collateral damage".

When asked about the contested South China Sea, the Philippine president says:

"We will not give up anything there; it's an entitlement ... You can only negotiate to prevent a war ... They invited me for talks, and I will go."

[siam2007]

16 hours ago, mike2011 said:

Dudirty on Aljazeera. It is hard to listen to the BS for about 20 min. I wonder how brain damaged pinoys must be to follow his speeches for hours. Excellent material for psycho students first year.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2016/10/exclusive-rodrigo-duterte-war-drugs-161015100325799.html

 

Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte interview: Death, drugs and diplomacy

In an exclusive interview, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte discusses his war on drugs and foreign policy.

16 Oct 2016 13:06 GMTRodrigo Duterte, Philippines

 

It's been about 100 days into the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. 

Since he took power, the Philippine president has overseen the killing of more than 3,500 people in his war on drugs, offended world leaders and strained relations with the US.

In an exclusive first interview since he was sworn in, we talk to Duterte about his controversial war on drugs and foreign policy - including deteriorating relations with the United States and potentially warming relations with China.

"We have three million drug addicts, and it's growing. So if we do not interdict this problem, the next generation will be having a serious problem ... You destroy my country, I'll kill you. And it's a legitimate thing. If you destroy our young children, I will kill you. That is a very correct statement. There is nothing wrong in trying to preserve the interest of the next generation." 

But Duterte admits that children and innocent people have also been killed in the bloody crackdown, and promises to investigate these extrajudicial killings, but he also calls them "collateral damage".

When asked about the contested South China Sea, the Philippine president says:

"We will not give up anything there; it's an entitlement ... You can only negotiate to prevent a war ... They invited me for talks, and I will go."

 

 

agree, I only recently had the chance to see and hear him talking on channelnewsasia, as I did not have international TV channels at my old place (not that I would have cared), and I simply cannot believe how this low-life-creature is acting and what he is saying.

You would expect such primitive talking and acting from a Gang-leader in Manila's Tondo slum talking to his cohorts rather than from an elected president. I just don't get..... but then again, in another big country a similar character is trying hard to become the leader, so maybe this is the new reality on this planet ?

[mike2011]

Duterte underlining his alliance with former dictator's Marcos clan and announcing another assault on the constitutional order:

 

Duterte’s introduction of Marcos as VP troubling–Senator Aquino

By: Carla P. Gomez / @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:19 AM October 21, 2016

 

Duterte introduces Bongbong as possible new VP

 

Bacolod City—Sen. Bam Aquino said on Thursday that President Duterte’s introduction of former Sen.  Bongbong Marcos to the Filipino community in Beijing, China, as the next vice president was “troubling” and should be viewed as a clear “call for action.”

“Personally as somebody who supported the Vice President [Leni Robredo], it’s very troubling to me that that is the way he introduced him,” Aquino said.

“I don’t know, maybe they will say again that President Duterte was just joking,” Aquino added.

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Aquino said the recount of votes in the vice presidential race should be watched closely, to prevent her victory being stolen from Robredo, who beat Marcos by a narrow margin of just over 200,000 votes.

 

‘Call for action’

“I think it’s a call for all of us to be vigilant. In fact, it seems people have forgotten that there is a protest, but maybe that’s a call to action for us to look at it more thoroughly,” he said.

President Duterte introduced Marcos as his second in command during a speech in the Chinese capital of Beijing, where he is on a state visit. Marcos, who was accompanied by sister Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, joined the President on the stage, and the President’s introduction was warmly received by the crowd.

“Bongbong could be our new vice president if he wins his protest,” said Mr. Duterte, who recently revealed he received campaign funds from Imee Marcos.

Mr. Duterte has been a staunch supporter of the Marcos family, and has been pushing for a hero’s burial for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whose body lies in a glass crypt in Ilocos Norte.

 

Divisive issue

Activists who were jailed and tortured during martial law have petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the burial, in a divisive issue nearly 30 years since the strongman died.

“I am hopeful that they will make the right decision and decide not to bury former President Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani,” said Aquino, who said that several other senators were also opposed to idea.

 

Reforms implemented

Asked how he would rate the President’s performance in his first 100 days, Aquino admitted the Duterte administration had implemented many reforms.

But he voiced concerns about the deaths of suspected drug addicts and dealers in the hands of vigilantes and Mr. Duterte’s troubling foreign policy pronouncements.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/828431/dutertes-introduction-of-marcos-as-vp-troubling-senator-aquino#ixzz4NhA5p4Gw
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[mike2011]

Visiting China Dudirty emphasized his Chinese 'blood'. Here the break with the U.S.

‘Time to say goodbye,’ Duterte tells US during visit to China

Agence France-Presse / 04:46 AM October 20, 2016

 

‘Time to say goodbye,’ Duterte tells US during visit to China

 

Beijing, China – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said it was “time to say goodbye” to the US during a visit to China on Wednesday, as the combative leader reconfigures his country’s diplomatic alliances.

Duterte is in China for a four-day trip that is expected to confirm his tilt away from Washington and towards Beijing’s sphere of influence.

During a speech addressing the Filipino community in Beijing, the firebrand president said the Philippines had gained little from its long alliance with the US, its former colonial ruler.

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“Your stay in my country was for your own benefit. So time to say goodbye, my friend,” he said, as if addressing the US.

“I will not go to America anymore. I will just be insulted there,” he added, before once again referring to US President Barack Obama as a “son of a whore.”

Duterte, who took office in late June, said he was fed up with the Philippines’ foreign policy being dictated by a Western agenda.

“What kept us from China was not our own making. I will charter a new course,” he said.

Foreign policy under Duterte has dramatically shifted from that pursued under predecessor Benigno Aquino III, who took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea and won a resounding victory.

The move infuriated Beijing. But Duterte, who took office in June shortly before the tribunal ruling, has made a point of not flaunting the outcome.

He has also suspended joint US-Philippine patrols in the South China Sea, and has threatened an end to joint military exercises.

Manila ‘a pawn’

The South China Sea is of intense interest to Washington and it has repeatedly spoken out on the various territorial disputes between China and its neighbours over the strategically vital waters.

Tensions have risen between the US and China over Washington’s so-called “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific, a move that Beijing says is intended to contain it.

Duterte will meet top leaders including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during his stay.

Hours before he spoke, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing that Beijing was pleased to move towards resolving the territorial dispute “through consultation and dialogue”.

“Anyone who truly wishes for peace, stability, development and prosperity in the Asia Pacific” should welcome Duterte’s visit, she said.

In an editorial Wednesday, China’s nationalist Global Times newspaper said Washington had treated Manila “as a pawn,” adding Duterte was now “redesigning Philippine foreign policy based on Philippine interests.”

Duterte has said his China trip will focus on promoting economic ties.

The Philippines is hoping, among other things, that Beijing will repeal a ban on imports of its bananas – an economic sanction intended to punish Manila for its South China Sea stance.

Hua said Wednesday announcements on infrastructure cooperation and economic development projects could be expected during the Philippine leader’s visit.

Drug war

As Duterte has cosied up to Beijing, he has repeatedly denounced the United States for criticising the deadly war on crime he instigated upon taking office.

Last month Duterte sparked a diplomatic storm when he branded Obama a “son of a whore” after being told the US president would raise the rights concerns at an Asia meeting.

Beijing, meanwhile, has enthusiastically endorsed Duterte’s war on drugs, which has seen more than 3,700 people killed and led the International Criminal Court to warn that those responsible could face charges.

Hua said Wednesday that the two sides were already in close communication about cooperating on drug control and anti-crime issues.

China has also offered to train some Filipino cadets in “anti-illegal drug and VIP security protection,” according to Senior Supt. Ramon Purugganan, deputy director of intelligence with the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/147175/time-to-say-goodbye-duterte-tells-us-during-visit-to-china#ixzz4NhByQc3k
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