President Rodrigo Duterte (left), talks with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua (right), earlier this month
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told China’s ambassador yesterday that he will not immediately press Beijing to comply with an international tribunal’s ruling that invalidated Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, but would do so in the future.
Duterte made the comments in a speech marking Philippine heroes’ day that was attended by Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua and other diplomats. Zhao was apparently surprised by the remarks and just smiled in response.
China avoids discussion of its territorial disputes in the presence of other governments.
Duterte said pressing China to comply now might result in the suspension of talks between the two countries, which would not be good.
“I will not use the arbitral judgment now, but I would one day sit in front of your representative or you and then I will lay bare my position,” Duterte said, addressing his remarks to Zhao.
Duterte has said he will also not raise the arbitration decision at an annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos next week, although he might discuss the issue if other leaders bring it up.
The tribunal ruled in July that China’s extensive territorial claims, which overlap those of the Philippines and four other governments, are invalid under a 1982 U.N. treaty, in a major setback for Beijing. China has ignored the decision and refused to hold any talks with the Philippines based on the ruling.
Duterte added in jest that if the Philippines had as many ships as Beijing, he might consider a more forceful action.
Philippine acquiescence to talks that would not directly take up the arbitration decision would allow Duterte’s government to discuss pressing issues such as asking China to allow Filipino fishermen to regain access to disputed Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing effectively seized in 2012. Chinese coast guard ships have been blocking Filipino fishermen from the rich fishing area.
“I hope that you treat us as your brothers, not your enemies, and take note of the plight of our citizens,” Duterte told Zhao.
No genocide in drug war
Meanwhile, at home, Duterte has enough to deal with.
The Philippine president defended his bloody anti-drug campaign, saying the nearly 1,800 deaths in two months didn’t compare with brutality in Syria or atrocities committed by Islamic State group extremists.
“I did not kill any child. I did not drop barrel [bombs] like [Syrian President Bashar] Assad,” Duterte said in a speech marking National Heroes’ Day. “I’m fighting […] criminals.”
Referring to Islamic State group militants, whom he called “idiots,” Duterte said, “I do not burn women because they refuse to have sex.”
At least 1,779 drug suspects have been killed in Duterte’s campaign, including 712 who were gunned down in clashes with police, with the rest being slain in still-unclear circumstances, the national police chief told a Senate inquiry last week.
Duterte said at least 3.7 million Filipinos have become addicted to methamphetamine, a stimulant known locally as shabu, with about 600,000 drug users and dealers surrendering to authorities.
Human rights groups have expressed alarm over the killings, and U.N.-appointed human rights experts have warned that steps should be taken to halt the violence, adding that the government and law enforcers could be held responsible.
“Claims to fight the illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its international legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings,” U.N. Special Rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard said in a statement this month.
Duterte, 71, who took office June 30, built a name with a deadly crime-busting style as the longtime mayor of southern Davao city. He described his campaign against drugs as a harsh war that would involve the military because the problem is now a crisis and claimed the lives of law enforcers.
“We might still end up like the South American countries and their fractured governments. I am declaring war,” he told the audience that included ambassadors, war veterans and security officials. The drug menace, he said, “has infected every nook and corner of this country involving generals, mayors, governors, barangay [village] captains” and policemen.
Pressing his campaign, Duterte announced bounties of 2 million pesos (USD42,000) for information that would help the government identify any police officer protecting drugs syndicates.
He repeated his pledge to defend the police and military, but warned law enforcers against conniving with criminals.
“In the pursuit of law and order, pursuant to my directions, you do not have to worry about criminal liability,” he said. “I will go to the prison for you. I take full legal responsibility, you just do it according to the books.”
“But for those in government, the police, the corrupt police and the corrupt judges and the corrupt prosecutors, there will be a day of comeuppance, there will always be a day of reckoning,” Duterte said.
Yesterday, an unidentified gunman killed a suspected drug lord, Melvin Odicta Sr., and his wife after they got off an inter-island ferry in central Aklan province, police said. The killer escaped.
Odicta, a wealthy businessman who owned a fleet of taxis, a bar and a restaurant, denied involvement in the illegal drug trade when he and his wife met officials in Manila last week.
Asked about Odicta, Duterte told reporters the slain man was a leading suspected drug lord in the central Philippines. “He really got unlucky. Who wants to step in next after Odicta?” Duterte asked. AP
15 philippine troops killed in clash with abu sayyaf rebels
Officials say 15 army soldiers have been killed in a clash with Abu Sayyaf extremists in a major offensive in the south.
Military officials said five other soldiers were wounded in fierce fighting yesterday that killed at least two militants in Sulu province’s mountainous Patikul town, where the Abu Sayyaf have detained many of their kidnapped victims.
It was the largest single-day combat loss under President Rodrigo Duterte, who ordered government troops to crush the Abu Sayyaf militants last week after they beheaded a kidnapped villager whose family was too poor to pay a ransom.
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