Amid persistent talk about Manila’s contingency plan in case of a full-scale war in the Korean Peninsula, Korean Embassy officials said Wednesday that there is “no reason for alarm” as tension between Pyongyang and Seoul is starting to subside.
The Chinese crew of a fishing boat that ran aground on Tubbataha Reef last week could have been checking to see if the Americans had installed “military equipment” in the protected marine sanctuary where a US Navy minesweeper got stuck on an atoll nearly three months ago, a Philippine military officer said Sunday.
Malaysian security forces on Monday stopped a boat carrying 32 armed Filipinos who were trying to join a two-month-old incursion into the disputed territory of Sabah, police said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has criticized China for allegedly undermining the rule of law.
After over a month of military operation against Agbimuddin Kiram and his men, Malaysian authorities had declared the crisis in Sabah “under control,’’ Philippine officials said on Sunday.
President Aquino pitched for peace in resolving the Sabah conflict on Sunday, saying his administration prefers to talk things out.
“Aggressive diplomacy” is the only viable option for the Philippines to end the crisis in Sabah that left at least 60 dead and sent hundreds of others residing in the disputed island fleeing for safety, according to Cabinet officials.
Philippine armed intruders shot dead a Malaysian soldier Tuesday, the first military fatality since security forces launched an assault one week ago to crush the Islamist gunmen.
Malaysian police said Monday they had cleared a remote village at the heart of a month-long incursion by Filipino Islamists as another gunman was killed, raising the toll in the crisis to 63.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development on Monday said it was looking for the Filipinos who claimed they were harassed by Malaysian authorities in Sabah.
The bodies of another 22 Sulu gunmen had been hauled to hospitals in Tawau and Lahad Datu after these were stumbled upon by Malaysian security forces in three areas of Semporna and Lahad Datu, Sabah Police Commissioner Hamza Taib said Monday during an interview with a Sabah-based radio station.
More than 400 individuals from Sabah have been stranded on Taganak Island (Turtle Island) in Tawi-Tawi province since Saturday night, waiting to be rescued by the government, a Philippine Navy official said on Sunday.
