US-backed report says Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children for ‘re-education’
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2023
Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children – likely many more – in sites in Russian-held Crimea and Russia whose primary purpose appears to be political re-education, according to a US-backed report published on Tuesday.
The report said Yale University researchers had identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian children have been held that were part of a “large-scale systematic network” operated by Moscow since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The children included those with parents or clear familial guardianship, those Russia deemed orphans, others who were in the care of Ukrainian state institutions before the invasion and those whose custody was unclear or uncertain due to the war, it said.
Some of the children were moved through the system and adopted by Russian families, or moved into foster care in Russia, the report said.
The youngest child identified in the Russian program was just four months old, and some camps were giving military training to children as young as 14, Nathaniel Raymond, one of the researchers, said, adding that researchers had not found evidence those children were later deployed in combat.
Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Moscow has denied intentionally targeting civilians in what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine and has pushed back against previous claims it had forcibly moved Ukrainians.
The report was the latest produced by the Yale University School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab as part of a State Department-backed project that has examined human rights violations and war crimes allegedly committed by Russia.
Ukrainian prosecutors have said they are examining allegations of forced deportation of children as part of efforts to build a genocide indictment against Russia.
Nato allies weigh more arms for Ukraine as Russian artillery batters Bakhmut.
Onion crisis leaves Filipino farmers crying for change
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2023
Onion prices in the Philippines are now some of the highest in the world after a shortage sent prices skyrocketing, but local farmers say they aren’t benefitting from this and are worried about their future.
At the end of last year, the shortage hiked prices 10-fold from eight months earlier to 700 pesos ($37.28) per kilogram in Manila markets. The exorbitant prices grabbed headlines and pushed food inflation to double-digit levels, prompting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is also the agriculture secretary, to eventually clear an emergency importation of up to 21,060 tonnes at the start of 2023 to bring prices down.
But it was an untimely move, made just two weeks before the peak local harvest season began. Local onion farmers were forced to harvest early and sell low in order to prevent making a loss.
Onion farmer 41-year-old Jon-Jon Taverna from Bongabon said they are not against any importation as long as it is done in a timely manner, or when the local harvest is almost sold out.
“We are nervous. We will get nothing from what we have worked hard for,” he said. “No matter how good the crop is, if prices are depressed, you won’t make money,” he said.
Aside from that, there is also the issue of unscrupulous middlemen – traders who would buy local onions at bargain prices from farmers and hoard the commodity for several months, creating an artificial shortage to manipulate prices and sell higher.
The unsavoury turn of events highlights what government critics point to a chronic mismanagement of the Philippine agriculture sector that’s causing distress and frustration among consumers and farmers.
But Roehlano Briones, an economist at the think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies says food importation is necessary.
“Imports are brought in as a safety valve because we cannot deny that there will be local supply shocks,” Briones said, citing production losses from diseases that plague hog and poultry businesses and the average of 20 storms that destroy local crops each year.
The government said it is aware of its shortcomings in addressing food security and agricultural productivity challenges, as well as its poor planning for a sector that is grappling with climate change and animal diseases.
Reforms and reorganisation at the Department of Agriculture are forthcoming, said Marcos, as he faces growing calls for him to appoint a full-time agriculture secretary.
In the meantime, some communities are finding their own solutions to mitigate the onion crisis. At a retail store in Manila, customers trade their leftover onions for a variety of items, including snacks, toiletries, and other household items. The onions collected are then distributed to those in need through a community food pantry.
“Since the prices of onions are rising and a lot of people cannot afford to buy onions, with this community pantry they can get as many onions as they need for free. It’s our way of helping and giving back,” said store manager Mitzi Gamboa.
Flower vendors like Nhits Evangelista, however, are hoping to cash in on the onion trend that has been circulating on social media. With added onions and some chilli peppers, his unique Valentine’s Day bouquets can be had for 500 pesos ($9).
“We wanted to have a different type of flower arrangement (for Valentine’s), especially since the prices of onions have gone up and we’d like to join in on the trend,” he said.
Haley announces 2024 Republican presidential bid in first challenge to Trump
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2023
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will launch her candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Feb. 15, squaring off against her one-time boss, former President Donald Trump, according to a source familiar with her plans.
Haley is expected to release details about her White House bid in an invitation to supporters later on Wednesday (February 15) according to local news outlet The Post and Courier, which first reported the planned announcement.
The daughter of two Indian immigrants who ran a successful clothing store in a rural part of the state, Haley has gained a reputation in the Republican Party for her ability to address issues of gender and race in a more credible fashion than many of her peers.
She has also pitched herself as a stalwart defender of American interests abroad, having served as US ambassador to the United Nations under Trump from 2017 to 2018. During that time, the United States pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, which was inked under Democratic President Barack Obama and was highly unpopular among Republicans.
Haley received national attention in 2015 when, as governor, she signed a bill into law removing the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol, following the murder of nine black churchgoers by white supremacist Dylann Roof.
If she were to win the nomination, Haley would be the first woman at the top of the Republican presidential ticket in history, as well as the party’s first non-white nominee.
Among her major challenges will be nailing down a consistent message. Even in a field where most candidates have changed their mind about key issues multiple times, Haley is particularly chameleonic.
She has distanced herself from Trump several times, only to later soften her rhetoric toward the former president, saying he has an important role to play in the Republican Party.
While she has criticized Republicans for baselessly casting doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election, she campaigned on behalf of multiple candidates who supported Trump’s false election fraud claims during the 2022 midterms.
And even as she has at times adopted a conciliatory message on racial issues, she often opts for a less measured tone. In November, she said at a campaign rally that Democratic Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, a Black man born in Savannah, should be “deported.”
Playing into Haley’s hands may be geography: South Carolina is historically the third state to host the Republican nominating contest, and it often plays an outsized role in the race. Haley, who governed the state from 2011 to 2017, is popular there, polls show.
While she comes into the race as an underdog – most national polls show her support in the single digits – Haley is used to running from behind, having gained a reputation in political circles for coming out on top in tough-to-win races.
Disgraced Indonesia’s ex-police general sentenced to death for murder
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2023
The South Jakarta District Court sentenced on Monday former National Police internal affairs chief Ferdy Sambo to death for the premeditated murder of his own aide-de-camp Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat and for tampering with evidence in orchestrating a cover-up.
The panel of three judges found Ferdy guilty of the two counts. The sentence is much harsher than the life in prison demanded by prosecutors for Ferdy as the principal perpetrator.
The initial narrative surrounding the incident suggested that Yosua was killed at Ferdy’s official residence in South Jakarta in July 2022 in a shoot-out with Richard Eliezer, another aide-de-camp assigned to Ferdy. Richard at the time was an enlisted officer who ranked lower than Yosua.
Judges said on Monday, however, that Ferdy had instead fired a shot into Yosua’s head after Richard had shot Yosua at Ferdy’s command.
“The defendant, who was wearing a glove at the time, walked toward [Yosua who was lying on the floor after being shot by Richard] and shot the victim using a Glock firearm,” presiding Judge Wahyu Imam Santoso said.
Ferdy had said that he ordered Richard to deal with Yosua after his wife Putri Chandrawathi claimed she had been sexually assaulted by Yosua in Magelang, Central Java, the day prior to Yosua’s murder. But Ferdy said he did not plan the murder beforehand.
Judges concluded on Monday that Ferdy’s claim was not backed by convincing evidence. They also questioned why he did not take Putri for a forensic examination for sexual abuse victims to prove the alleged assault despite his experience as a police officer.
“The bench did not find sufficient evidence that Yosua had committed sexual assault or rape,” Wahyu said.
The judges concluded that Ferdy had enlisted the help of accomplices Kuat Ma’ruf, a private chauffeur and domestic assistant with Ferdy’s family, and another aide-de-camp Ricky Rizal, to provide back-up for Ferdy in case Yosua put up resistance in their eventual confrontation.
The judges also said Ferdy had instructed several police officers to destroy any CCTV footage that showed Yosua still alive when Ferdy entered the house, in an attempt to maintain the initial narrative that Yosua was already killed in a shoot-out with Richard when Ferdy arrived.
Judges pointed to the convoluted statements Ferdy had made, his senior role in the police, his involving other officers in his crime and his disgracing the police institution as aggravating factors. The three-member bench found no mitigating circumstances for a lighter sentence.
Trials of accomplices
Judges are scheduled later on Monday to hand down their verdict on Putri, who is facing eight years in prison as demanded by prosecutors; while Kuat and Ricky will have their verdicts delivered on Wednesday.
Richard, meanwhile, is facing a possible 12 years in prison for his alleged role in the murder, with the court set to read out its verdict on Wednesday. Prosecutors in his case had said their sentence demand would have been greater if Richard had not eventually told investigators about the murder plot and agreed to cooperate with the authorities.
Ferdy’s case is regarded as the biggest scandal to embroil the police to date and has seized public attention for months. Subsequent public opinion polls following Yosua’s death found plummeting public trust in the police, leading to mounting calls for widespread reforms of the institution.
Ferdy, a two-star police general, was dishonourably discharged in August.
Balloon may be “brazen” China testing US defences, analyst says, as US stumped by latest flying objects
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2023
The United States said on Monday it still does not know the origin or purpose of three aerial objects that its military shot down over the weekend, following the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Feb. 4.
US military fighter jets on Sunday downed an octagonal object over Lake Huron, the Pentagon said. On Friday, an object was shot down over sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska, and a third, cylindrical in shape, was destroyed over Canada‘s Yukon on Saturday.
An analyst who spoke to Reuters speculated that the balloon may have been a “brazen” attempt by China to test US military defences.
And a scholar of aviation who spoke to Reuters, while not drawing conclusions about China’s motives, put the balloon incident in the context of a rich history of militaries testing each other’s capabilities, as the U.S. and Soviet Union did in Cold War.
Since the Chinese spy balloon drifted into US territory and was shot down, US fighter jets have downed three more mysterious objects over North American airspace starting on Friday.
Kari Bingen, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Reuters that the sheer size of the balloon, at around 200 feet tall, and its trip across the United States, was a particularly “brazen” act by China.
China said it had no information about any of the three objects. Washington called the first object, the Chinese craft, a surveillance balloon while China has insisted it was a weather-monitoring vessel blown badly off course.
Bingen, the director of the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS and a former US undersecretary of Defense, speculated that China may be testing the waters with the balloon foray.
“Are they testing our response? Are they testing our military operational response? Are they testing our political response?” she asked.
“In a crisis or conflict would they use balloons, would they launch a barrage of balloons and forced us to figure out, do we target those and expend precious munitions on those or do we focus on the fight in the Indo-Pacific?”
The three objects downed this week, flying at altitudes of between 20,000 and 40,000 feet, were considered a risk to air traffic, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said at a news briefing on Monday, although they did not pose a threat to people on the ground. They also were shot down because US authorities could not rule out that they were spying, he said.
Aviation scholar Michael Hankins of the National Air and Space Museum told Reuters that the kind of tit-for-tat accusations and high-stakes aerial drama of the last few weeks were parred for the course during the Cold war.
“There are some really fascinating stories about this kind of aerial reconnaissance aspect in the Cold War when you’re talking about the Soviet Union, you know, looking at the US and vice versa,” said Hankins, who is Curator of US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps post-World War II Aviation.
The US would send up fake signals to see if Soviet radar would lock onto them or fly drones intentionally into enemy territory, “so they could see, you know, how well do we have to fly, how detectable does our aircraft have to be for the Soviet defences to be able to see us?”
Those tactics were important to gathering information that led to the development of new aircraft like stealth aircraft, he said.
“I’m not going to speculate about what China’s doing, but the history of trying to figure out what the other side’s capabilities are, that’s something militaries have always done throughout time,” Hankins said.
The Chinese balloon triggered an uproar in Washington, shaking up the already contentious relationship between the world’s two biggest economies and prompting US President Joe Biden‘s top diplomat, Antony Blinken, to cancel his scheduled trip to Beijing last week.
China on Monday widened its dispute with the United States over aerial surveillance, claiming that US high-altitude balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since the beginning of 2022. The White House denied the assertion.
World’s first that’s saving Australia’s wildlife one treehole at a time
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2023
As Australia’s wildlife grapples with the loss of habitat created by logging and bushfires, conservation biologist Matt Stephens looks into a tree hollow he carved using the Hollowhog, a game-changing tool he invented to create artificial tree hollows that become new homes for animals
According to Stephens, a natural hollow would take a minimum of 70 to 120 years to start forming. The Wilderness Society estimates that in Australia, 303 native wildlife species rely on hollows to nest and shelter, including 31% of native mammals and 15% of native birds. The Hollowhog can closely replicate nature, but faster.
“The fact that we can rapidly install one of these hollows within less than an hour is, you know, a real game-changer. And to think that then that hollow that we have created may last potentially two or three hundred years into the future, and each year producing another generation of fauna,” Stephens told Reuters on Monday. “It’s a really exciting thing.”
At his property in Blue Mountain’s Sun Valley, Stephens watches as a new hollow is installed by arborist Eamon Dempsey, who now works solely on installing hollows with the Hollowhog tool, rather than cutting down trees or tree branches.
The Hollowhog is a high-speed cutting head with tungsten carbide tips that spins at a rate of around 11,000 rpm to carve into the wood of the tree, creating an entrance hole.
“Through that entrance hole, I can carve down that way, up that way, sideways, so I could get, in this instance, a 90-centimetre tall hollow by 45 by 90 centimetres wide to wide. So, a massive internal cavity for a tiny little entrance,” said Stephens.
While nest boxes were seen as a solution, they remain a static structure. Whereas those created by the Hollowhog are able to grow in size along with the tree as it grows and wraps its tissue around the carved hollow, all the while remaining stable.
The New South WalesNational Parks and Wildlife Service has already started using the Hollowhog to create much-needed habitats for Australia’s wildlife, as well as the Department of Primary Industry, landcare groups and arborists like Dempsey.
“The very first time I ever got my hands on a Hollowhog and actually started carving, it really filled me with hope that my career doesn’t have to be all about cutting trees down, and that there is actually potential there for me to do more environmental, have a more positive environmental impact than a negative one by cutting trees down for my entire career,” said Dempsey having installed over 1,000 hollows himself.
conservation biologist Matt Stephens
After installing a camera opposite one of the Hollowhog hollows, Stephens has seen various animals use it, including parrots like Rainbow Lorikeets, Rosellas, marsupials like Antechinus or gliders, and even a Lace Monitor lizard taking a peek inside.
Stephens hopes the Hollowhog will help Australia’s hollow-dependant wildlife exist past the current rate of extinction.
“I can see the hollow going in, and know that long after I’m gone, maybe 300 years into the future that the hollow that we carved, for example, the hollow that we carved today, will still be operating, it will still be there, potentially as a home for wildlife. Just thinking about that I just think it’s a really exciting thing,” said Stephens.
To date, thousands of hollows carved by Hollowhog tools have been installed around Australia.
US shoots down another flying object, fourth strike in a week
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023
The US Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said on Sunday after a series of shoot-downs of unidentified objects that he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to US intelligence experts.
Asked whether he had ruled out an extraterrestrial origin for three airborne objects shot down by U.S. warplanes in as many days, General Glen VanHerck said: “I’ll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out. I haven’t ruled out anything.”
“At this point, we continue to assess every threat or potential threat, unknown, that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it,” said VanHerck, head of US North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Northern Command.
VanHerck’s comments came during a Pentagon briefing on Sunday after a US F-16 fighter jet shot down an octagonal-shaped object over Lake Huron on the US-Canada border, acting on orders from US President Joe Biden.
It was the third unidentified flying object to be knocked out of the sky by US warplanes since Friday, following the Feb. 4 downing of a suspected Chinese weather balloon that put North American air defences on high alert.
Another US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said separately after the news briefing that the military had seen no evidence suggesting that any of the objects in question were of extraterrestrial origin.
VanHerck told reporters that the military was unable to immediately determine the means by which any of the three latest objects were kept aloft, the means of their propulsion, or where they were coming from.
The incidents come as the Pentagon has undertaken a new push in recent years to investigate military sightings of UFOs – rebranded in official government parlance as “unidentified aerial phenomena,” or UAPs.
However, the government’s effort to investigate anomalous, unidentified objects — whether they are in space, the skies or even underwater — has led to hundreds of reports that are being investigated, senior military leaders have said.
But so far, the Pentagon has not found evidence to indicate Earthly visits from intelligent alien life, those officials have said.
Cambodia’s Hun Sen orders shutdown of independent local news outlet
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the shutdown of one of the last independent local news organizations in the country on Sunday night, saying it had attacked him and his son and hurt the country.
The Voice of Democracy, also known as VOD, will no longer have a license to publish or broadcast from 10am local time on Monday, the prime minister said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page. He ordered Phnom Penh police to “keep order” but not seize property. He said foreign donors to VOD should take back their money and its staff should find new jobs.
“Commentators tried to attack me and my son Hun Manet,” Hun Sen wrote. He said a VOD story published earlier this week had hurt the “dignity and reputation” of the Cambodian government, and he ordered the Ministry of Information to cancel VOD’s license.
VOD on Wednesday (February 8) published a story on Cambodia’s earthquake aid to Turkey. The story quoted government spokesperson Phay Siphan saying the prime minister’s son and presumed successor Hun Manet had signed the aid agreement. Hun Manet is the joint chief of staff and deputy commander for the country’s armed forces, and signing such an agreement appeared to have overstepped the bounds of his position.
Human rights activist, Phil Robertson, said it was just a matter of time’ before VOD was shut down where he deemed this a ‘clean sweep’ on independent critics to pave way for Hun Manet to take the lead of the government in the future.
VOD is not the first media organization to be shut down in Cambodia. The Cambodia Daily was shut down in late 2017 after being given one month to pay millions in back taxes that the publication disputed. The paper had a reputation for breaking news on tough issues and was shut down months ahead of the last general election in 2018. The next general election is due to be held in July.
Anwar’s daughter quits as economic adviser over nepotism accusations
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s eldest daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, has stepped down as his economic adviser just over a month after her controversial appointment, but will co-chair a secretariat advising the Finance Minister instead.
Anwar, who also holds the finance minister post, was accused of nepotism after he appointed Nurul Izzah, 42, who lost her parliamentary seat in the November general election, as his pro bono adviser on economics and finance on Jan 3.
On Feb 7, Anwar announced the setting up of a special advisory panel which reports directly to the Finance Minister and advises on matters related to subsidies, including reviewing and restructuring existing subsidies.
It also advises the Finance Minister on matters related to government-linked companies, including determining their relevance and consolidating them where appropriate, as well as national debt and good governance.
The panel includes national oil firm Petronas’ former chief executive Hassan Marican, Sunway University economics studies director Yeah Kim Leng and Universiti Malaya distinguished professor of economics Rajah Rasiah.
The decision to form a secretariat for the panel was made at the panel’s first meeting last Friday.
“Advisory committee chairman, Hassan Marican, has invited me to join the advisory committee’s secretariat to help in their efforts to strengthen the country’s and the people’s economy,” said Nurul Izzah in a statement.
“I humbly accept this responsibility. With this new role, I will no longer serve as a senior adviser on economics and finance to the Prime Minister.”
Earlier on Sunday, Hassan announced that Nurul Izzah had been invited to co-chair the secretariat together with Petronas senior manager Khairil Anuar Ramli in order to support the committee’s operations.
Despite Anwar insisting that his daughter’s previous short-lived role was an unpaid one, critics said the move reeked of nepotism as Nurul Izzah did not have experience in economics and finance.
He had defended her appointment, saying: “Nepotism is where (a family member) is given a position to abuse power, enrich themselves, obtain contracts and get paid a huge sum. This is not the case.”
Nurul Izzah has a degree in engineering and a second degree in public and social policy from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
She is the vice president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), which is led by her father.
In the last general election, she lost her Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat – a traditional PKR stronghold – to Perikatan Nasional by nearly 6,000 votes, after having won it in 2018 with nearly 16,000 votes.
Some netizens commented online that Ms Nurul Izzah’s two posts did not seem that different.
Facebook user Fadhirul Anuar wrote on TV station Astro Awani’s page: “This is the same thing. He wants his daughter to have a role in his government.”
China harasses Philippine Coast Guard vessel with laser
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has accused a Chinese coast guard ship of directing a “military-grade” laser at one of its vessels, putting the Filipino crew in danger.
The PCG vessel was supporting a rotation and resupply mission of the Philippine Navy in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Feb. 6.
The China Coast Guard (CCG) ship with bow No. 5205 illuminated a green light twice toward the BRP Malapascua, causing temporary blindness to crew members on duty at the bridge or main command centre at past 6 p.m. as the ship reached 19.5 kilometres (10 nautical miles) from the shoal, the PCG said.
“The PCG condemns any actions that harm and jeopardize the safety of everyone regardless of nationality,” PCG commandant Adm. Artemio Abu said.
The Chinese ship crossed the bow of the PCG ship at a distance of 7.4 km (4 nautical miles), as if to warn BRP Malapascua to stop or alter course.
This was followed by “dangerous manoeuvres,” with CCG 5205 at a close distance of about 150 yards from the starboard quarter of the Philippine vessel before the Chinese ship shone its laser.
Radio challenges were exchanged throughout, with the Chinese coast guard warning the Philippine ship that it was “in the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China.”
Ayungin Shoal, a submerged reef 194 km off Palawan province, is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone where the Philippine Navy maintains its presence through the decrepit BRP Sierra Madre.
China, however, claims almost all of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.
The Regional Coordinating Center in Palawan ordered the BRP Malapascua to alter its course and support the BRP Teresa Magbanua for the PCG’s own resupply mission to its substations in the Kalayaan Island Group.
‘Shadowed and harassed’
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG adviser of the commandant for maritime security, told the Inquirer that the temporary blindness of the crew on duty lasted for about 10 to 15 seconds, “but we don’t know if it would cause long-term medical effects.”
It was not the first time that China directed a laser beam at a Philippine ship, he said.
In June last year, the PCG tugboat BRP Habagat, while 10 nautical miles north of the Philippine-occupied Panata (Lankiam Cay) Island, was “shadowed and harassed” by a People’s Liberation Army Navy vessel.
The Chinese navy ship directed its searchlight at BRP Habagat for 20 minutes and flashed “blue-coloured lights with blinkers” at the tugboat’s bridge, which also resulted in momentary blindness and skin itchiness among the crew on duty, Tarriela said.
The reported incidents, disclosed to the public for the first time, follow a pattern of Chinese forces harassing other countries with lasers.
Last year, the Australian government said a Chinese warship aimed its laser at a Royal Australian Air Force jet 105 km from Australia’s northern coast. But China denied this.
Blockade
Beijing has been trying for years to prevent the Philippine Navy’s resupply missions in Ayungin Shoal and has displayed new tactics over the past few months.
Except for the small wooden boats chartered by the Navy, the CCG has been preventing Philippine military and law enforcement vessels from entering the shoal.
Back in August, the same Chinese coast guard ship that struck a laser at the Philippine ship last week, removed the cover of its 70 mm naval gun after BRP Teresa Magbanua— which was providing escort to a Philippine Navy resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal at the time—crossed the blockade created by Chinese vessels.
“We see it as an act of provocation,” Tarriela said.
The PCG ship was approaching 24 km (13 nautical miles) from the BRP Sierra Madre when the Chinese coast guard ship, accompanied by two maritime militia vessels, started blocking its path to prevent it from coming close to the Navy troops.
Tarriela said it became evident that the Chinese militia, which was ostensibly engaged in fishing, was also clearly taking orders from the CCG. The militia vessels even deployed their utility boats to support the blockade and shadowing by the Chinese coast guard, he said.
Sustain our presence
Despite the “dangerous manoeuvres and aggressive actions at sea” by the CCG, Abu said the PCG “will always be in the West Philippine Sea to sustain our presence and assert our sovereign rights.”
The government has been protesting the harassment, but with very little reaction from China.
Since 2016, the Philippines filed 461 diplomatic protests against China over the latter’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
As of Jan. 26, it said there were 262 diplomatic protests lodged from 2016 to 2021, 195 in 2022, and four so far in 2023.
conservation biologist Matt Stephens
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