China's ships need to leave the West Philippine Sea, according to NGOs

 China's ships need to leave the West Philippine Sea, according to NGOs

Militant organizations demanded on Tuesday that China renounce its claims to islands based on false sovereignty and remove its ships from the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

During a demonstration in front of the Chinese consulate in Makati City, at least 150 representatives from various cause-oriented organizations made the call in opposition to Beijing's aggression against Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal and other regions of the nation's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.

Speaking on behalf of Pilipinong Nagkakaisa para sa Soberanya, Antonio Tinio stated that China should remove all of its ships—including its coast guard, navy, and maritime militia—from the nation's territorial seas.

"We demand that they take down the military installations they have erected in our waterways on man-made reefs. This is essential to reducing regional tensions, he declared in a statement.

According to Tinio, China's claim of sovereignty is false. It will never be recognized by the Philippines or other nations like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam that have sovereign rights to the waters of the Western Pacific Sea under international law.

According to Tinio, "China's actions against Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea are a flagrant disregard for the livelihoods and well-being of thousands of Filipino families whose livelihood depends on access to their traditional fishing grounds, as well as a violation of our sovereignty."

He denounced China's blatant disregard for international law and its infringement on the nation's sovereign rights.

In addition to China, Tinio stated that the US should demolish its military outposts and remove its troops from Philippine territory.

Chinese naval personnel who compelled Filipino fishermen to throw back their catch into the sea should be held accountable, according to the fishermen's organization Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).

According to Fernando Hicap, the chair of Pamalakaya, China has no authority to forbid Filipinos from fishing in its territorial seas. According to him, President Marcos ought to put the black to shame for his lack of self-confidence.

According to Hicap, Marcos only depends on other foreign superpowers, which merely fuels tensions and jeopardizes fishermen's safety.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines verified yesterday that Chinese ships and maritime militia vessels in the West Philippine Sea did not pose any threat to their most recent rotation and resupply (RORE) operation to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, which was completed over the weekend.

The military, however, credited the efforts of the operational commanders who directed the mission for the effective delivery of supplies to troops on the ancient grounded battleship, despite China's accusations that it had been purposefully retreating.

According to a spokesman for the Philippine Navy for WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Coast Guard and supply boat Unaizah Mae carried out the most recent RORE mission on Friday or Saturday.

The Chinese Coast Guard was present, but they didn't do anything wrong. There was a marine militia nearby that was under observation. In a briefing, he said to reporters, "I would prefer to use the presence of rather than the word shadowing.

Trinidad stated that it is "not the first time that there was no interference, no illegal moves by the maritime militia, their coast guard, or the (People's Liberation Army Navy)" and that Western Command and Naval Forces West have been rotating troops and reprovisioning forces regularly. Hence, there was absolutely no interference during any of the previous RORE missions' actions.

According to him, out of the 28 RORE missions that were conducted last year to different WPS features, fewer than half of them ran across interference from China.

Only three of the 14 operations to Ayungin Shoal in 2023, according to Trinidad, came across unlawful activity or harassment by the China Coast Guard or the marine militia.

"Everyone else proceeded without any hindrance; no illicit activities were carried out," he clarified, adding that harassment included instances involving water cannons, unlawful actions, and the presence of any non-compliant behavior that could jeopardize the crew or the ship.

"Recently, we have successfully sent provisions to our troops and to include the local community in Pag-asa Island, stationed personnel at Lawak, Kota, Likas, Parola, Panata, and Patag Islands," added AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margarete Padilla.

Resupplies were also sent to Ayungin Shoal and Rizal Reef. This is in addition to the work being done by other government organizations to fulfill their responsibility of assisting the fishermen and local communities in the WPS, the spokesperson stated.

RORE missions, according to Padilla, "are all part of the operational mix on how the commanders implement their regular rotations and resupply missions," whether they are conducted by air or sea.

"We will not be discouraged from exercising our legal rights over marine zones, including Ayungin Shoal, and ensuring the welfare of our personnel in these maritime features, despite the obstacles and challenges that may arise during the missions. Your AFP is dedicated to carrying out its responsibility as the state's and the people's guardian, Padilla declared.

India's envoy claims that supersonic missiles will soon be sent to the Philippines.

 India's envoy claims that supersonic missiles will soon be sent to the Philippines.

The Philippines will shortly receive the first shipment of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.

Indian Ambassador to Manila Shambhu Kumaran claims this.

A representative of the armaments firm stated last year that the missiles were scheduled for delivery in December 2023.

Our goal is to arrive as soon as possible. Last week, during the Indian Embassy's 75th Republic Day reception in Makati City, Kumaran told reporters, "I don't have a timeline at this moment, but it's gonna be soon."

When will the delivery of supersonic missiles occur?

He declined to comment on a report published in India's The Economic Times on January 25 that quoted a Defense Research and Development Organization officer saying that the export procedure would start "in the next 10 days" and be completed by March when the goods reached the Philippines.

Although we are working toward it and I don't currently have any details to give, I believe we will have news for you soon," Kumaran stated.

The media was informed by a senior military officer who was aware of the BrahMos delivery but was not permitted to speak to the media that the missiles should reach the Philippines "within the first quarter" of the year.

P18.9-B agreement

As part of the Philippine Navy's shore-based antiship missile system project, the Philippines and the Indian-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd. inked a P18.9 billion deal in January 2022 for three cruise missile batteries.

During the deal signing, then-Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana stated, "The BrahMos missiles, being the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world, will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine our sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippines Sea."

The BrahMos system will be primarily used by the Coastal Defense Regiment of the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC). A few PMC employees received missile system operation training in India last year.

Entering a new ring, Manny Pacquiao gives the first Taiwan combat league more Filipino celebrity power.

 Entering a new ring, Manny Pacquiao gives the first Taiwan combat league more Filipino celebrity power.

The inaugural professional fighting league in Taiwan, Carry Fighting Championship, has selected Manny Pacquiao as its honorary president.

The much-anticipated return of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao to the ring will involve him playing a significant role in Taiwan's fighting scene rather than competing.

The revolutionary Carry Fighting Championship, Taiwan's first-ever professional fighting championship, has announced that Pacquiao will serve as honorary president. This information was provided by the Taiwan Fighting Sports Co., Ltd.

Taiwan Fighting CEO Jerry Yen said in a statement that Manny Pacquiao's participation "brings great honor to the 'Carry Fighting Championship' and also focuses global attention on Taiwan."

Manny Pacquiao's involvement gives the league a legendary feel, and we think this will be Taiwan's big chance to make an impression on the world boxing scene," he continued.

Carry Fighting Championship is set to make its formal debut in March 2024. Its objectives are twofold: to offer an exciting show and to give Taiwanese boxers a platform.

A clue at the league's ambitious goals to cause a stir abroad, Yen stated that their ambition is to expand possibilities for domestic boxing athletes and bring Taiwan's fighting sports standards to the worldwide arena.

From Sabah, 800 Filipino deportees arrived.

 From Sabah, 800 Filipino deportees arrived.

Social welfare officials reported that some eight hundred deportees from Sabah came here on a commercial vessel on Thursday - Philippines: Zamboanga del Sur / Zamboanga City

This is the second round of deportations that Malaysia has carried out this year as part of its ongoing campaign against undocumented immigrants.

Although Malaysian immigration authorities have been conducting a crackdown on a regular basis, the legal conflict with the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu began in 2019, which led to increased intensity in these efforts.

The successors of the sultanate won a $14.9 billion award for Sabah from a French arbitration court, over which they have a property claim.

After a Paris appeals court ruled that the arbitral tribunal that issued the verdict lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, Malaysia won a legal battle last year.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Region 9 spokesperson, Ivan Eric Salvador, stated that the deportees arrived at the port on January 25 in the afternoon on board the MV Antonia, a passenger liner operated by Aleson Shipping Lines that regularly travels between this city and Sabah.

According to Salvador, 97 out of the 800 deportees were children, with 61 males and 36 girls among them. There were 602 men and 101 women among the grownups.

For profiling purposes, they are being temporarily housed at the Processing Center for Displaced Persons, one of the DSWD facilities in Barangay Mampang.

"The preliminary analysis indicated that they were detained as undocumented immigrants in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan," Salvador stated.

The deportees' movement from the port to the DSWD facility was made easier by the Police Regional Office 9 (PRO 9).

Police support

The soldiers from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 9, Regional Logistics and Research Development Division, and Regional Community Affairs and Development Division were enlisted for the safe and secure transfer, according to Police Brig. Gen. Bowenn Joey Masauding, regional director of PRO 9.

We have a single truck that travels back and forth between the DSWD facility in Mampang and the port region of Zamboanga City. Our time was 3 p.m. It came to an end at roughly ten p.m., Masauding stated.

My profound thanks goes out to our hardworking PNP officers, who are always willing to lend a hand and are especially helpful in ensuring the safety and security of our returning Filipino citizens. Masauding continued, "Our community's collective spirit of compassion and support will inspire hope and bring inspiration in times of crisis and uncertainty."

Salvador reported that 680 of the first group of returning Filipinos arrived on January 11. They provided care for 6,409 deportees in 2023 before they were all returned to their home cities.

locations of origin

Although many also originate from the Eastern and Central Visayas, Mindanao accounts for the majority of the deportee population.

Representative Khymer Olaso of Zamboanga City requested the nat'l. government to investigate and deal with the ongoing influx of low-income undocumented Filipinos into Sabah through the so-called southern backdoor.

Before being elected to parliament, Olaso captained ships for the MV Antonia, and he recalled that deportations had begun in 1992.

He said, "The sad fact is that these Filipinos are undocumented, [having] no papers, but even though the Malaysian government deports them, they will always find ways to return to Malaysia."

The majority of people who smuggle themselves into the nearest neighboring country do so in pursuit of better opportunities, particularly in Sabah's extensive plantations. Traffickers brought a large number of them there.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) began an investigation of trafficking routes last week in collaboration with other government organizations.

On January 21, about a hundred professionals, specialists, and boat crew members sailed here on PCG's BRP Gabriela Silang, beginning a six-day journey meant to strengthen the nation's capacity to stop human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

The journey is noteworthy because, as we all know, human trafficking is a major issue in the nation, according to Justice Undersecretary Nicolas Felix Ty of the Inter-agency Council Against Trafficking.

US DOJ pays SC justices a courtesy call.

 US DOJ pays SC justices a courtesy call.

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez of the Supreme Court received a courtesy call from US Department of Justice representatives to examine potential collaborations.

The SC justices and representatives from the US DOJ's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training met in the conference room on Thursday.

Among the subjects covered during the cordial visit was the potential US government support for the creation of a guidebook and judge education about the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 regulations.

In addition, the discussion covered the appointment procedure and makeup of the Office of the Judiciary Marshalls.

The government looks at third-party electricity transmission initiatives.

 The government looks at third-party electricity transmission initiatives.

Presuming that the expensive and protracted blackout that occurred in Western Visayas earlier this month would never happen again, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) the task of researching the feasibility of permitting transmission projects by third parties.

During a Friday speech at Malacañang, Marcos stated that the country should move past the power outage that affected Panay and Guimaras Islands, resulting in P3.8 billion in losses.

This incident brought home how important these connectivity efforts are. He made this statement during the groundbreaking for the 450-megawatt Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project: "We cannot afford to have another round of this costly interruption, not only in Panay Island but anywhere in the country."

The President urged the prompt completion of connectivity projects, stating that the "massive inconvenience and loss for our people should not occur again."

Marcos acknowledged the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines' (NGCP) function in managing the government-owned electricity grid, but he also pointed out that more needed to be done.

As the nation emerges from the pandemic economy, the President stated, "I have also directed the [DOE and ERC] to look into the proposal of allowing third parties to construct transmission projects at the pace required by the country's power needs."

The ERC was instructed "to complete the reset of NGCP's rate without further delay," he continued.

The NGCP faced criticism for its inability to complete 37 transmission projects on time, intended to modernize the state's electrical infrastructure, and for causing the days-long blackout in Western Visayas.

Unplanned maintenance shutdowns were the cause of the power outage that occurred in the area earlier this month.

Due to the NGCP's inadequacies, some MPs demanded that it be reviewed and may be revoked.

50 Chinese ships swarm close to Ayungin Shoal.

50 Chinese ships swarm close to Ayungin Shoal.

An American marine security analyst reported seeing over 50 Chinese warships close to Ayungin Shoal before the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) rotated and resupplied to BRP Sierra Madre.

Former US Air Force official and former Defense Attaché Ray Powell stated last Thursday on X (formerly Twitter) that there are more Chinese vessels in Mischief Reef or Panganiban Reef than there were a week before.

The majority of China's marine militia rotation has been stationed around Mischief Reef, Powell said. "The Qiong Sansha Yu fleet has increased from 14 last week to 35 now, plus 15 smaller ships."

Powell speculates that China may stay until the Philippines' next resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal.

Powell speculated that China would maintain a significant troop presence there until after the adjacent 2nd Thomas Shoal in the Philippines receives its next resupply.

Powell reported last week that 27 ships of the Qiong Sansha Yu class had been deployed eastward to Scarborough Shoal and south of the Spratly Islands.

Powell said in December of last year that the Chinese ships were in "invasion" mode close to Ayungin Shoal; the AFP refuted this claim.

Since 1999, BRP Sierra Madre has been anchored near Ayungin Shoal. Over a dozen sailors and Marines are on board. It now serves as a representation of Philippine sovereignty over the offshore area.

On the other hand, resupply trips to the BRP Sierra Madre have grown more challenging due to Chinese warships interfering with Philippine vessels' access to the area.

In addition to being a part of the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, Ayungin Shoal is also a member of the Kalayaan Island Group, over which the nation possesses sovereignty, sovereign rights, and authority.

A string of incidents in the South China Sea has led to accusations between China and the Philippines, which has resulted in increased tensions between the two countries in recent months.

The majority of the South China Sea is claimed by China; however, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia also have claims to some of this area.

China denies Beijing's assertion that an international tribunal rejected its claim in a 2016 verdict on a dispute brought by the Philippines.

As part of the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the Philippines includes portions of the South China Sea that are located within its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ).