KL insists Kiram followers should lay down their arms first
By Matikas Santos
The only apparent option left for the Sulu “royal army” in Sabah is for them to lay down their arms, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.
The only apparent option left for the Sulu “royal army” in Sabah is for them to lay down their arms, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has sent another note verbale to the Malaysian Embassy Friday morning “strongly requesting” for the Filipino diplomatic team in Sabah to be given full access to the apprehended members of the Sulu “royal army.”
The heirs of the sultan of Sulu and their followers are not going to leave Sabah despite a stern warning from President Aquino, a spokesman said.
The apparent upswing in longstanding relations between the Philippines and the United States is bound to continue in 2013, with both parties hoping to boost ties in the coming year.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has instructed the Philippine Embassy in Beijing to check on China’s reported plan to fortify the newly established Sansha City saying any such move would violate agreed conduct among claimant countries to the Spratly Islands.
The Philippines is keeping its temporary ban on the deployment of new hires to Israel “to protect its citizens,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday, responding to a statement by the Israeli ambassador criticizing the ban and citing an improved security situation amid the ceasefire between Israeli and Hamas forces.
The Philippine ambassador to China may be replaced barely three months after her appointment following a stroke this week, the presidential palace said on Saturday.
Even if both China and the Philippines were faced with “difficult challenges,” Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin believed that both countries share the view that these would not “undermine the overall relationship” of the two countries as they search for a political and diplomatic means to resolve these differences, with international law as common basis and framework.
The Philippines has expressed grave concern over North Korea’s plan to launch an observation satellite into space next month, which the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said was “unacceptable.”
Four US senators, led by former Republican Party presidential candidate John McCain, are scheduled to meet with Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
The Armed Force of the Philippines (AFP) sees no cause for alarm regarding the travel warning issued January 5 by the United States (US) Department of State, an AFP spokesman said Friday.
In a highly symbolic ceremony aboard a guided-missile destroyer Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton underlined America’s military and diplomatic support for the Philippines as the island nation engages in an increasingly tense dispute with China over claims in the resource-rich South China Sea.
