The country’s go-between with Taiwan has come under fire for reportedly proposing a joint investigation of the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by Philippine Coast Guard personnel without authorization from President Aquino.
Malacañang is not elated by reports that the country remains the third worst place for journalists. “We will continue our efforts to stop the impunity against journalists, the extralegal killings,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told a briefing in the Palace.
The Philippine government has asked Saudi Arabia to go easy on some 1,000 undocumented Filipino workers stranded in Jeddah who are facing imminent arrest and deportation.
The government is skirting the Sabah conflict – a pestering issue between the Philippines and Malaysia – in next week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ summit in Brunei, officials said on Wednesday.
President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday morning welcomed visiting Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah to Malacañang on his state visit to the country.
Malacañang said on Sunday the possible return of United States military bases to the country as stated by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was a “mere scenario in case of an extreme emergency” arising from the Korean crisis.
Malacañang on Sunday condemned the reported abuses suffered by Filipinos at the hands of Malaysian police in the crackdown on followers of the sultan of Sulu in Sabah.
The Philippine government on Sunday welcomed the release of its 21 UN peacekeepers after they were freed by Syrian rebels and crossed to Jordan, where officials waited to receive them.
The supporters of the sultanate of Sulu must return to the Philippines if they want to pursue talks on their claims to Sabah, a Palace official told Radyo Inquirer 990AM on Monday.
Malacañang was “disturbed’’ by the journey of an armed group from the Sultanate of Sulu to Sabah amid significant developments in the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but it vowed to uphold national interest in the country’s dormant claim to Malaysia’s eastern state.
The Philippines is confident it has a strong case to win the international arbitration case challenging China’s claim to most of the South China Sea.
Malacañang is in no hurry to hold the US Navy accountable for its minesweeper that ran aground in the Tubbataha Reefs, even as a militant group has called for an inspection of the ship.
