Del Rosario told reporters that Wang said “Scarborough and Ayungin were theirs, historically, and we were the ones sending ships, interdicting their fishermen, and the grounded ship has been there for so long.”
Wang was referring to BRP Sierra Madre which ran aground at Ayungin Shoal also known as Second Thomas shoal (Ren’ai Reef to the Chinese) in May 1999.
Ayungin Reef is 105.77 nautical miles from Palawan. It is about 21 nautical miles from Mischief Reef, which was occupied by China in 1995.
Newspaper reports quoted Gazmin as saying: “We cannot stand alone. We need allies. If we do not (seek allies), we will be bullied by bigger forces and that is what is happening now. China is already there, staying in our territory.”
Gazmin must be referring to the situation in Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal or Panatag, off Zambales which is no longer accessible to Filipino fishermen since April 2012 and Mischief Reef in the Spratlys , which was China occupied in 1995.
It is feared that China would take over Ayungin Shoal, some 25 miles away from Mischief Reef.
Dapat itapon sa impyerno, sa lumiliyab na apoy, ang mga kawani ng pamahalaan na sangkot sa racket na sex for flight sa Kuwait, Jordan at sa iba pang bansa sa Middle East kung saan maraming mga babaeng OFW ay nag-iistambay sa iba’t ibang dahilan.
Ibinulgar ni Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello noong Martes na sa halip na tulungan ng mga mga opisyal ng Department of Labor at ng Philippine Embassy ang mga OFW na na-stranded, ay ibinubugaw pa sa mga Arabo at ang iba, sila na mismo ang nag-momolestiya.
Pinangalanan ni Bello si Mario Antonio, labor attaché sa Jordan. Itinanggi ni Antonio ang paratang sa isang press conference dito sa Manila.
Pinapa-imbestigahan daw ng Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA) at ng Department of Foreign Affairs ang paratang ni Bello, chairman ng House Committee on Overseas Workers.
Doble o tripling trahedya itong “Sex for Flight” dahil ang mga biktima ay ang mga kababaihan na nabiktima na ng mga ilegal na recruiter o mga salbahe na amo.
Tuesday’s feature of Kris TV was the Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Ismail, a close friend of the Aquinos.
Kris related that her family’s closeness with the Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Ismail, dates back to their Boston stay in the mid’80s. The Sultan was a student in the United States at that time. Internet search showed that he received military training in the US–at Fort Benning, Georgia and later at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
“We will oppose the change of status quo by force of anyone,” Locklear said referring to the situation in South China Sea where China is reported to be positioning in Ayungin Reef, just 25 miles away from Mischief Reef, 130 miles away from Palawan, that China occupied in 1994.
But just like other American officials, Locklear did not commit that the US will fight China if the latter gets embroiled in violent confrontation with any of the countries in this part of the world. That’s because, in truth, the US will not because it values relations with China.
By Lauro Baja Jr., VERA Files
It is difficult to develop a pattern of action for the incident in Balintang Chanel which happened a month ago. We know what Taiwan wants but we are still at sea on how we have responded and/ or how we will further respond.
Taiwan is a province (read: surrogate) of China. It is also an ally (read: vassal) of the United Sates and has the support of the powerful China lobby in Washington. The media carry reports of statements of US House members supporting Taiwan.
The Philippines has substantial trade and investment relations with the “system” and thousands of Filipinos work in the island. This arrangement redounds to the mutual benefits of both and is governed by our so-called One-China policy.
Domingo Lee, to those who have forgotten who he is, was Aquino’s choice as ambassador to China after Gloria Arroyo’s appointed ambassador who was extended by Aquino, Francisco Benedicto, was recalled.
Lee’s primary qualification for one of the most important diplomatic positions was, he was a family friend of the Aquinos. Despite his embarrassing interviews with the Commission on Appointment, Aquino was determined to send him to Beijing.
Until the Scarborough (also known as Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag) standoff happened in April 2012. Lee, himself, asked Aquino that his appointment be recalled.
The Philippine Navy reported sightings of Chinese ships in the vicinity of Ayungin shoal as early as first week of May, the last stretch of the May 13 elections, and before the May 9 incident in Balintang Channel where the Philippine Coast Guard fired upon a Taiwanese fishing vessel and killed one of the fishermen.
The Department of Foreign Affairs filed a diplomatic protest on Chinese presence near Ayungin shoal May 10.
DFA Spokesman Raul Hernandez said in their protest, they cited “the provocative and illegal presence of the Chinese government ships around Ayungin Shoal.”
He is still into forming rainbow coalitions. This time, on the global stage.
JDV and a group of statesmen from Asia, Latin America and South Africa formed the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI) which is designed, in his own words, “to primarily bridge the classical gap between orthodox political parties and civil society groups working for peace, reform and development in Asia’s emerging democracies.”
CAPDI, he said in a speech during the 2nd General Assembly in the port city of Makassar in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, “is perhaps the only organization in the Asia Pacific which brings together political parties and civil society under one roof in a common house.”
By Ellen Tordesillas,VERA Files
Ramos also stressed that almost two weeks after the incident, the results of the Philippine investigation “should already have come out by this time.”
Speaking to Filipino journalists on the sidelines of the Second General Assembly of the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI), Ramos drew from lessons in the 1995 Flor Contemplacion crisis and recommended that a “neutral country or group do a second investigation” in case Taiwan rejects the results of an investigation by the Philippine authorities even if he said it’s “a very valid honest, according to law, upright, and credible investigation.”