Tag Archives: Philippines

Philippines election victor Duterte plans government overhaul

A poster of presidential candidate Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte at a residential district during the national elections in Davao

By Neil Jerome Morales

DAVAO, Philippines (Reuters) – The Philippines’ president-elect, rough-talking city mayor Rodrigo Duterte, announced plans on Tuesday for an overhaul of the country’s system of government that would devolve power from “imperial Manila” to long-neglected provinces.

Duterte’s win in Monday’s poll has not been confirmed, but an unofficial count of votes by an election commission-accredited watchdog showed he had a huge lead over his two closest rivals, both of whom conceded defeat.

By Tuesday afternoon, the ballot count showed Duterte had almost 39 percent of votes cast. He was more than 6 million votes ahead of the second-placed candidate with 92 percent of votes counted from an electorate of 54 million.

It is not clear when Duterte’s victory will be officially declared but he is expected to take office on June 30.

Votes were also cast on Monday for vice-president. One day on, counting showed the outgoing administration’s candidate, Maria Leonor Robredo, ahead of the son and namesake of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Duterte’s spokesman, Peter Lavina, told a news conference that the new president would seek a national consensus for a revision of the constitution which would switch from a unitary form of government to a parliamentary and federal model.

The proposal to devolve power from Manila fits with Duterte’s challenge as a political outsider to the country’s establishment, which he has slammed as self-serving and corrupt.

“The powerful elites in Manila who will be affected by this system will definitely oppose this proposal,” said Earl Parreno, an analyst at the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms.

Duterte’s spokesman said he would also seek peace agreements with rebel groups in the south of the archipelago, where the outgoing government has been using force to quell militancy.

The 71-year-old’s truculent defiance of political tradition has drawn comparisons with U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as have his references to his libido.

That tapped into popular disgust with the ruling class over its failure to reduce poverty and inequality despite several years of robust economic growth.

SOUTH CHINA SEA TALKS

Duterte’s vows to restore law and order also resonated with voters. But his incendiary rhetoric and advocacy of extrajudicial killings to stamp out crime and drugs have alarmed many who hear echoes of the country’s authoritarian past.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Russel told reporters in Vietnam that Washington respected the choice of the Philippine people and “will gladly work with the leader that they select”.

Duterte made a succession of winding, bellicose and at-times comical remarks late on Monday as the votes were being counted, venting over corruption and bad governance and telling anecdotes from his 22 years as mayor of Davao city.

Wearing a casual checked shirt and slouched in a chair, he said corrupt officials should “retire or die” and reiterated his support for police to use deadly force against criminals.

“I’ll behave if I become president,” he said, adding that he would not make state visits to countries with cold weather.

In an early indication of his unorthodoxy, Duterte told reporters on Monday that if he became president he would seek multilateral talks to resolve disputes over the South China Sea.

The outgoing administration of President Benigno Aquino has asked a court of arbitration in The Hague to recognize its right to exploit waters in the South China Sea, a case it hoped could bolster claims by other countries against China in the resource-rich waters.

Duterte said negotiations should include Japan, Australia and the United States, which is traditionally the region’s dominant security player and contests China’s development of islands and rocky outcrops in the sea.

The influential Chinese state-run tabloid the Global Times, said that Beijing would not be naive enough to believe that a new president would bring a solution to the South China Sea disputes.

“Only time will tell how far the new leader, be it Duterte or not, will go toward restoring the bilateral relationship.”

FIGHTING THE ESTABLISHMENT

Duterte’s entertaining and profanity-loaded speeches have shed little light on his policies beyond going after gangsters and drug pushers.

He has been vague on what he would do to spur an economy that has averaged growth at around 6 percent under Aquino.

Duterte said on Monday he had been criticized for not discussing policy but would “hire the best economic minds”.

One of his advisers told Reuters spending on education would be lifted to benefit “disadvantaged regions” and rural development will be prioritized to spread wealth more evenly across the country.

“Everything seems to be in imperial Manila,” said Ernesto Pernia, professor emeritus of economics at the University of the Philippines. “He wants to give more attention to the lagging, the backward regions.”

Pernia said the pursuit of tax evaders and corrupt officials should bolster government revenues to fund extra spending.

(Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato in MANILA and My Pham in HANOI; Writing by John Chalmers; editing by Robert Birsel)

Trail in cyber heist suggests hackers were Chinese: senator

Bangladesh central bank

By Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) – A Philippine senator said on Wednesday that Chinese hackers were likely to have pulled off one of the world’s biggest cyber heists at the Bangladesh central bank, citing the network of Chinese people involved in the routing of the stolen funds through Manila.

Unidentified hackers infiltrated the computers at Bangladesh Bank in early February and tried to transfer a total of $951 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

All but one of the 35 attempted transfers were to the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC), confirming the Philippines’ centrality to the heist.

Most transfers were blocked, but a total of $81 million went to four accounts at a single RCBC branch in Manila. The stolen money was swiftly transferred to a foreign exchange broker and distributed to casinos and gambling agents in Manila.

“The hacking was done, chances are, by Chinese hackers,” Senator Ralph Recto told Reuters in a telephone interview. “Then they saw that, in the Philippines, RCBC particularly was vulnerable and sent the money over here.”

Beijing was quick to denounce the comments by Recto, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and a former head of the Philippines’ economic planning agency.

The suggestion that Chinese hackers were possibly involved was “complete nonsense” and “really irresponsible,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters.

Recto said he couldn’t prove the hackers were Chinese, but was merely “connecting the dots” after a series of Senate hearings into the scandal.

At one hearing, a Chinese casino boss and junket operator called Kim Wong named two high-rolling gamblers from Beijing and Macau who he said had brought the stolen money into the Philippines. He displayed purported copies of their passports, showing they were mainland Chinese and Macau administrative region nationals respectively.

“BEST LEAD”

Wong, a native of Hong Kong who holds a Chinese passport, received almost $35 million of the stolen funds through his company and a foreign exchange broker.

The two Chinese named by Wong “are the best lead to determine who are the hackers,” said Recto. “Chances are… they must be Chinese.”

The whereabouts of the two high-rollers were unknown, Recto added, saying the Senate inquiry “may” seek help from the Chinese government to find them.

Recto also questioned the role of casino junket operators in the Philippines, saying many of them have links in Macau, the southern Chinese territory that is the world’s biggest casino hub. “There are junket operators who are from Macau, so it (the money) may find its way back to Macau,” he said.

A senior executive at a top junket operator in Macau told Reuters there was “no reason” to bring funds from the Philippines to Macau.

“This seems more like a political story in the Philippines,” he said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The U.S. State Department said in a report last month that the gaming industry was “a weak link” in the Philippines’ anti-money laundering regime.

Philrem, the foreign exchange agent, said it distributed the stolen $81 million to Bloomberry Resorts Corp, which owns and operates the upmarket Solaire casino in Manila; to Eastern Hawaii Leisure Company, which is owned by Wong; and to an ethnic Chinese man believed to be a junket operator in Manila.

Wong has returned $5.5 million to the Philippines’ anti-money laundering agency and has promised to hand over another $9.7 million. A portion of the money he received, he said, has already been spent on gambling chips for clients.

Solaire has told the Senate hearing that the $29 million that ended up with them was credited to an account of the Macau-based high-roller but it has managed to seize and confiscate $2.33 million in chips and cash.

(Writing by Andrew R.C. Marshall; Additional reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

China says U.S.-Philippines base deal raises questions over South China Sea

BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Monday agreements like the one reached last week by the United States and the Philippines allowing for a U.S. military presence at five Philippine bases raised questions about militarization in the South China Sea.

The United States is keen to boost the military capabilities of East Asian countries and its own regional presence in the face of China’s assertive pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest trade routes.

The United States and its regional allies have expressed concern that China is militarizing the South China Sea with moves to build airfields and other military facilities on the islands it occupies.

Asked about the base deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that U.S.-Philippine cooperation should not be targeted at any third party nor harm other nations’ sovereignty or security interests.

“I also want to point out that recently the U.S. military likes to talk about the so-called militarization of the South China Sea,” Hua told a daily news conference.

“Can they then explain, isn’t this kind of continued strengthening of military deployments in the South China Sea and areas surrounding it considered militarization?”

China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

The United States says it takes no sides in the disputes but wants to ensure free navigation through the sea. It has said it will increase what it calls freedom-of-navigation operations by its navy ships through the waters.

U.S. allies Malaysia and Australia both reiterated on Monday calls for freedom of navigation through the South China Sea.

“We’ve been extremely consistent in saying that our activities will continue, that we will send our ships and our planes to that part of the world as we require, as it is necessary in accordance to international law,” Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said after meeting her counterpart in Malaysia.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that free movement in the air and waters should continue.

China has never interfered with freedom of navigation and has stressed that some of the equipment it is installing on small islands and reefs will facilitate navigation.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, addtional reporting by Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Nick Macfie, Robert Birsel)

U.S., Philippines agree on five base locations under defense deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and the Philippines have agreed on five locations for U.S. military bases in the Philippines under a security agreement inked amid rising tensions with China in the South China Sea, U.S. officials said on Friday.

The U.S. State Department named the five as Antonio Bautista Air Base, Basa Air Base, Fort Magsaysay, Lumbia Air Base, and Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Amy Searight said the deal was reached under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed last year that grants Washington increased military presence in its former colony through rotation of ships and planes for humanitarian and maritime security operations.

Searight told the opening of the annual U.S.-Philippines Bilateral Strategic Dialogue in Washington that Manila was a “critical U.S. ally” and ties had never been stronger.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is set to visit the Philippines in April.

Searight also said the Pentagon had told the U.S. Congress of its intention to provide $50 million to help build maritime security in the region and that the Philippines would get “the lion’s share.”

The funds are expected to go toward improving radar and other monitoring capabilities in the South China Sea, where China’s pursuit of territorial claims has raised U.S. concerns and those of rival claimants, including the Philippines.

In January, the Philippines said it had offered eights bases for U.S. use, including the former U.S. air force base of Clark and the former U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay, and two sites on Palawan island near the South China Sea.

Philippines Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino said Manila was pleased with the finalization of the locations.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel said the deal would speed U.S. help in response to natural disasters and facilitate modernization of the Philippines armed forces.

He said it came at an important time ahead of a ruling in a case the Philippines has brought against China over its South China Sea claims in the International Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

On Thursday, the U.S. Navy said it had seen activity around a reef China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago that could be a precursor to more Chinese land reclamation in the South China Sea.

Admiral John Richardson also expressed concern that the Hague ruling, which is expected in late May, could prompt Beijing to declare an exclusion zone in what is one of the world’s busiest trade routes.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish and Grant McCool)

U.S. sees new Chinese activity around South China Sea shoal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has seen Chinese activity around a reef China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago that could be a precursor to more land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. Navy chief said on Thursday.

The head of U.S. naval operations, Admiral John Richardson, expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could be a trigger for Beijing to declare an exclusion zone in the busy trade route.

Richardson told Reuters the United States was weighing responses to such a move.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.

Richardson said the U.S. military had seen Chinese activity around Scarborough Shoal in the northern part of the Spratly archipelago, about 125 miles west of the Philippine base of Subic Bay.

“I think we see some surface ship activity and those sorts of things, survey type of activity, going on. That’s an area of concern … a next possible area of reclamation,” he said.

Richardson said it was unclear if the activity near the reef, which China seized in 2012, was related to the pending arbitration decision.

Asked about Richardson’s statement, Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it was hypocritical for the United States to criticize China for militarizing the region when it carries out its own naval patrols there.

“This is really laughable and preposterous,” he said.

The Philippine foreign ministry said it had yet to receive a report about Chinese activity in Scarborough Shoal.

A Philippine military official who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media said he was unaware of a Chinese survey ship in the area.

“China already has de facto control over the shoal since 2012 and they always have two to three coastguard ships there. We are also monitoring their activities and movements,” the official told reporters.

Richardson said China’s pursuit of South China Sea territory, which has included massive land reclamation to create artificial islands elsewhere in the Spratlys, threatened to reverse decades of open access and introduce new “rules” that required countries to obtain permission before transiting those waters.

He said that was a worry given that 30 percent of the world’s trade passes through the region.

Asked whether China could respond to the ruling by the court of arbitration in The Hague by declaring an air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did to the north, in the East China Sea, in 2013, Richardson said: “It’s definitely a concern.

“We will just have to see what happens,” he said. “We think about contingencies and … responses.”

Richardson said the United States planned to continue carrying out freedom-of-navigation exercises within 12 nautical miles of disputed South China Sea geographical features to underscore its concerns about keeping sea lanes open.

JOINT PATROLS?

The United States responded to the East China Sea ADIZ by flying B-52 bombers through the zone in a show of force in November 2013.

Richardson said he was struck by how China’s increasing militarization of the South China Sea had increased the willingness of other countries in the region to work together.

India and Japan have joined the U.S. Navy in the Malabar naval exercise since 2014, and were due to take part again this year in an even more complex exercise that will take place in an area close to the East and South China Seas.

South Korea, Japan and the United States were also working together more closely than ever before, he said.

Richardson said the United States would welcome the participation of other countries in joint patrols in the South China Sea, but those decisions needed to be made by the countries in question.

He said the U.S. military saw good opportunities to build and rebuild relationships with countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines and India, which have all realized the importance of safeguarding the freedom of the seas.

He cited India’s recent hosting of an international fleet review that included 75 ships from 50 navies, and said the United States was exploring opportunities to increase its use of ports in the Philippines and Vietnam, among others – including the former U.S. naval base at Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Bay.

But he said Washington needed to proceed judiciously rather than charging in “very fast and very heavy,” given the enormous influence and importance of the Chinese economy in the region.

“We have to be sophisticated in how we approach this so that we don’t force any of our partners into an uncomfortable position where they have to make tradeoffs that are not in their best interest,” he said.

“We would hope to have an approach that would … include us a primary partner but not necessarily to the exclusion of other partners in the region.”

(Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila and Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing; Editing by Peter Cooney and Nick Macfie)

Philippine officials say China blocked access to disputed South China Sea atoll

By Manuel Mogato

MANILA (Reuters) – China sent several ships to a disputed atoll in the South China Sea, preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing traditional fishing grounds and raising tensions in the volatile region, Philippine officials said on Wednesday.

China had sent as many as seven ships to Quirino Atoll, also known as Jackson Atoll, in recent weeks, said Eugenio Bito-onon Jr, the mayor of nearby Pagasa Island in the Spratly Islands.

The Spratlys are the most contested archipelago in the South China Sea, a resource-rich region and critical shipping lane linking North Asia to Europe, South Asia and the Middle East.

“This is very alarming, Quirino is on our path when we travel from Palawan to Pagasa. It is halfway and we normally stop there to rest,” Bito-onon told Reuters.

“I feel something different. The Chinese are trying to choke us by putting an imaginary checkpoint there. It is a clear violation of our right to travel, impeding freedom of navigation,” he said.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China’s Ministry of Transport had sent vessels to tow a grounded foreign ship and they had since left the surrounding waters.

“To guarantee safety of navigation and of work conditions, China urged fishing vessels near the site to leave,” Hong said, adding that China had indisputable sovereignty over the atoll.

The Philippines Foreign Ministry said Chinese coast guard vessels had been seen at the atoll two weeks ago but were not in the area on Wednesday.

“The Department is monitoring reports on the situation on the ground and reiterates its call for China to exercise self-restraint from the conduct of activities that could complicate or escalate disputes in the South China Sea and affect peace and stability in the region,” the ministry said in a statement.

TENSIONS ON THE RISE

Earlier, the Philippine military said it was looking into the situation around Jackson Atoll, where a Chinese warship allegedly fired warning shots at Filipino fishermen in 2011.

“We know there are Chinese ships moving around the Spratly area,” spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla told Reuters. “There are also ships around Second Thomas Shoal, so we want to make sure if the presence is permanent.”

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said it was trying to confirm the latest reported incident.

Mark Toner told a regular news briefing that the United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines that has repeatedly expressed concerns about Beijing’s methods in pursuit of maritime claims, did not want to China using its ships “to intimidate … fishing vessels in that region.”

Second Thomas Shoal is where the Philippine navy has been occupying and reinforcing a rusting ship it ran aground in 1999 to bolster its claims to the disputed reef.

A military source from Palawan said a surveillance plane had seen four to five ships in the vicinity of Jackson Atoll last week.

“There are no indications China will build structures or develop it into an island,” said the source, who was not authorized to speak to the media about the South China Sea.

The Philippines Star newspaper, which earlier reported the story, quoted an unidentified fisherman as saying Chinese boats chased them away when they tried to enter the area last week.

Along with China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year.

Tensions have been building recently, with the United States and others expressing concerns about China’s land reclamation in the Spratly Islands and deployment of surface-to-air missiles and fighter jets in the Paracel Islands.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned China on Tuesday against what he called “aggressive” actions in the region, saying there would be “specific consequences” to militarization of the South China Sea.

In response, Hong urged Washington on Wednesday to “stop exaggerating and sensationalizing” the issue.

For its part, Beijing has been angered by “freedom of navigation” air and sea patrols the United States has conducted near the islands it claims in the South China Sea and says it needs military facilities for its self defense.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina and Adam Rose in Beijing and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing by Lincoln Feast and John Chalmers; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Peter Cooney)

Philippine court allows military deal with U.S. as sides meet in Washington

MANILA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Philippines Supreme Court on Tuesday declared constitutional a security deal with the United States allowing an increased U.S. military presence in the former U.S. colony as tension rises in the South China Sea.

Dozens of anti-U.S. activists held protests outside the court denouncing the deal as a de facto basing agreement that would make the Philippines a launching pad for military intervention in the region.

Manila has long been a staunch U.S. ally and the pact is widely seen as important for both sides, worried by China’s increasingly assertive pursuit of territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.

The court voted 10-4 to deny a petition of some lawmakers and activists to declare the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) unconstitutional because it surrendered Philippine sovereignty to a foreign power.

“EDCA is not constitutionally infirm,” said Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te. “It remains consistent with existing laws and treaties that it purports to implement.”

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ash Carter welcomed the court’s decision as they began talks with their Philippine counterparts on security and economic issues, including tensions in the South China Sea and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

“The United States has an iron-clad commitment to the security of the Philippines,” Kerry said in opening remarks. “To that end we welcome the Philippines Supreme Court’s decision … (and) look forward to implementing this accord,” he added.

Philippine Defense Minister Voltaire Gazmin said security cooperation with the United States had become more intertwined amid increasing tensions over the South China Sea.

“While we grapple with non-traditional security concerns and natural … disasters, traditional security challenges, to include territorial and maritime disputes, remain … fundamental concerns,” he said. “Given this strategic context, we should be in a position to address such common concerns, as well as contribute to regional peace and stability.”

The pact, signed days before U.S. President Barack Obama visited the Philippines in 2014, will allow U.S. troops to build facilities to store equipment for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations, in addition to giving broad access to Philippine military bases.

U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain called it “a landmark agreement … (that) will bring our alliance to a level of cooperation and integration that we have not witnessed in decades.

“As Manila finds itself the target of Chinese coercion in the West Philippine Sea and is looking to Washington for leadership, this agreement will give us new tools to … expand engagement with the Philippine Armed Forces, and enhance our presence in Southeast Asia,” he said in a statement.

McCain said he looked forward to implementation this year of a congressional Maritime Security Initiative he has championed that will provide resources to build the maritime capacity of the Philippines and other Southeast Asia countries.

Philippine military officials say there has been an increase in U.S. exercises, training and ship and aircraft visits in the past year under Obama’s “rebalance” of U.S. forces and diplomatic efforts to Asia in the face of China’s rise, but the pact would take the relationship a step further.

China claims almost all the South China Sea, which is believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, and has been building up facilities on islands it controls.

Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines also have claims. Tension rose this month when China began test flights on Fiery Cross Reef, one of three artificial islands where Beijing has constructed airfields.

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato in Manila; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Andrea Shalal and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie, Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish)

Nearly 725,000 Evacuated as Typhoon Slams Philippines

Nearly 725,000 people were evacuated from their homes as a powerful typhoon brought heavy rain and winds as high as 115 mph to the Philippines on Monday.

Typhoon Melor, known within the Philippines as Typhoon Nona, made landfall at 11 a.m. local time Monday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

The NDRRMC reported that 724,839 people had been evacuated ahead of the storm, with 589,235 of them in the Albany province that’s located near where the storm made landfall.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), which is monitoring the typhoon, reported the storm features 93 mph sustained winds and gusts of up to 115 mph. The weather service forecast “heavy to at times intense” rainfall within a 150-mile radius of the storm, and cautioned of the chance for flash floods and landslides.

For comparison’s sake, 93 mph sustained winds would make the storm a category 1 hurricane.

The storm is expected to weaken as it trends further west over the Sibuyan Sea, according to a PAGASA forecast, but meteorologists were expecting wind gusts could still reach 105 mph on Tuesday and 75 mph on Wednesday. The weather service warned the high winds could damage or destroy buildings in other provinces, as well as impact local banana, rice and corn crops.

The NDRRMC reported that the eastern and northern portions of the island of Samar, as well as the Sorsogon province lacked power because the typhoon brought down transmission lines. Additional outages were possible, PAGASA warned. The weather service also issued flood advisories throughout the central Philippines and warned of the chance for 10-foot storm surges.

The storm was also wreaking havoc on travel, as the NDRRMC reported that 42 flights were cancelled as a result of the typhoon, and some 6,800 would-be sea travelers were stranded because of abnormally rough sea conditions. A host of shipping channels were also disrupted.

President Obama Tells China to Quit Land Reclamation of South China Sea

President Obama spoke on the sidelines of an economic summit of Asia Pacific nations and stated that China had to stop claiming land in the South China Sea.

Obama continued by pledging money and naval assistance to the Philippines who are competing with China for the region due to its many resources.

“We discussed the impact of China’s land reclamation and construction activities on regional stability,” Obama said.

“We agree on the need for bold steps to lower tensions, including pledging to halt further reclamation, new construction, and militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea,” Obama told reporters after a meeting, according to USA Today.

BBC News reports that China’s land reclamation began in late 2013 when they began building islands on reefs. They continue to claim that their actions are legal and they have “no intention to militarise” those islands.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting will discuss the South China Sea dispute. The summit brings together 21 leaders of the Pacific Rim. Smaller countries – including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan – worry that China will dominate the area and its oil and gas resources.

According to Yahoo! News, China responded to President Obama’s remarks by saying the U.S. should not get involved in the South China Sea dispute.

“The United States should stop playing up the South China Sea issue, stop heightening tensions in the South China Sea and stop complicating disputes in the South China Sea,” Hong Lei, a foreign ministry spokesman, said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

“No country has the right to point fingers at” China’s construction activities, he added.

Beijing has claimed nearly all of the South China Sea, including waters near the coasts of other countries.

Typhoon Koppu weakens rapidly after killing 58 in Philippines

Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Erik De Castro

CASIGURAN, Philippines (Reuters) – A typhoon that dumped heavy rains on the northern Philippines, killing 58 people as it flattened houses and destroyed crops, was petering out on Wednesday, weather officials said.

Typhoon Koppu weakened from a tropical depression into a low pressure area, but authorities maintained a warning to ferries and fishermen on three northern islands not to go to sea.

Raging floodwaters and landslides triggered by the typhoon in the main Philippine island of Luzon caused most of the deaths, Romina Marasigan, a spokeswoman for the national disaster agency, told reporters.

More than 100,000 people are still in temporary shelters as Koppu destroyed more than 6.57 billion pesos ($141.63 million) worth of crops, infrastructure and homes.

“We were terrified and prayed as we stayed under a table for hours after strong winds blew away the roof and walls of our house,” said one survivor, Andres Subang, 72, wiping away tears as he told of how his family made it through the disaster.

“I have experienced countless typhoons in my lifetime, but this was the worst. It left nothing, we have no food and no more livelihood.”

Farm officials said flooding destroyed 5 percent of expected fourth-quarter production in rice-producing provinces.

The coast guard said seven people died when a boat sank in the central Philippines.

Authorities in the coastal town of Casiguran, where Koppu made landfall at the weekend as a category 4 typhoon, deployed heavy equipment to clear roads of uprooted trees, toppled electric posts and debris.

“When we went around the town, we saw the typhoon’s destructive impact, there were so many houses destroyed,” municipal official Nida Coralde told Reuters, adding that distribution of relief supplies had begun.

Strong winds reduced people’s homes to matchwood, leaving them with nothing, said one survivor, as residents began work to repair homes.

The typhoon grounded military planes and helicopters on Tuesday, forcing the government to send in food, water and other relief materials by road. Some areas were still flooded, without power and communication links.

The Philippines is hit by 20 typhoons every year, on average.

(Writing by Roli Ng & Manuel Mogato; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)