(THE MANILA TIMES) SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday welcomed the appointment of former Foreign Affairs secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. as special envoy to China for special concerns. “I believe Amb. Teddyboy Locsin is perfect for that job. Being a former DFA (Department of Affairs) secretary, as well as the former ambassador to the…
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(THE MANILA TIMES) (UPDATE) SEN. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Tuesday said that administrations that succeeded the Estrada presidency are “partly at fault” for not establishing a permanent base in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). The senator said the apparent failure of the Arroyo, Aquino 3rd and Duterte administrations to do so had…
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(THE MANILA TIMES) IT is “impossible” for former president Joseph Estrada to commit to China the removal of the BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, as alleged by The Manila Times columnist Rigoberto Tiglao, Senators Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said. The Chinese Embassy in Manila…
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(MANILA TIMES) THE Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday confirmed the nomination and ad interim appointment of two ambassadors and one senior Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official. The CA confirmed the nomination of Mersole Mellejor as ambassador to Nigeria, with concurrent jurisdiction over Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Equatorial…
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(PHILSTAR) MARKING the seventh anniversary of the arbitral tribunal ruling that favored the Philippines in its case against China in the South China Sea (SCS), the country’s allies called on China to comply with the decision to maintain freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific. In a forum organized by Stratbase ADRi, Ambassadors Hae Kyong Yu…
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(THE MANILA TIMES) VOTING 21-0-0, the Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading Senate Bill (SB) 1480 that proposes a 350 percent to 488 percent increase in the disability pension of veterans. SB 1480 aims to rationalize the disability pension of veterans who were rendered disabled due to disease or injuries sustained in…
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(THE MANILA TIMES) SENATORS on Thursday, April 13, slammed the International Criminal Court (ICC) for rejecting a Philippine government appeal against its investigation into alleged human rights violations by the past Duterte administration during its anti illegal drug campaign. “No one can tell us how to run our country and undermine our judicial system, especially…
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(MANILA TIMES) RECENT developments in the maritime sector, the massive oil spill from a sunken tanker in Oriental Mindoro that affected four provinces, and the continued Chinese incursions and aggressions in waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone highlight the need to modernize the fleet of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to make it more…
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(THE MANILA TIMES) THE Commission on Appointments (CA) has confirmed the nomination and ad interim appointments of 15 senior officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), including the country’s ambassador to New Zealand. The CA on Wednesday confirmed Kira Azucena as Philippine ambassador to New Zealand with concurrent jurisdiction over Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and…
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(THE MANILA TIMES) SEN. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada has proposed the establishment of a national database of sex offenders to help the public be informed of their movements or whereabouts. The senator described the sex offender database as “a piece of easily available and accessible information to local law enforcement agencies and their foreign counterparts.” Under…
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