Tag: Duterte

Ex-hostage tells of terror as friends beheaded in Philippines

  INDANAN, Philippines (AFP) —  A Norwegian former hostage on Sunday described his psychological torture as he heard his friends being beheaded by Islamic militants during a year-long captivity in the southern Philippines.  A heavily bearded and gaunt Kjartan Sekkingstad, who was released on Saturday by the feared Abu Sayyaf group, also said he narrowly survived military attacks against his captors, with a bullet piercing his backpack. “Basically, I’ve been treated like a slave, carrying their stuff […]

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US State Department takes seriously hitman’s charges vs Duterte

  by Ayee Macaraig Agence France Presse MANILA, Philippines  (AFP) — The Philippines faced calls Friday to investigate its firebrand president after a self-confessed hitman alleged Rodrigo Duterte ordered a thousand opponents and suspected criminals murdered when he was a city mayor. Edgar Matobato told a Senate inquiry on Thursday that he and a group of policemen killed some 1,000 people in Davao city on Duterte’s orders from 1988-2013, with the politician himself shooting dead one of […]

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Pimentel rejects Senate protection for hitman

(Eagle News) — Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III refused to place self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato under the Senate’s protection, saying the testimony of the latest witness presented by Senator Leila de Lima was “not even relevant to the resolution being investigated.” “There’s even no showing that his life or safety is threatened. Worse, the witness’ testimony is not even relevant to the resolution being investigated,” Pimentel said in a statement. The resolution he was […]

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“Lies and fabrications”, says DOJ chief on allegations of De Lima’s senate witness

  (Eagle News) — Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II branded as “lies and fabrications”  the allegations made by a witness produced by senator Leila De Lima before the Senate, saying that these were products of a “fertile and coached imagination.” He also branded the presentation by De Lima of witness Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed hired killer, as a “desperate” move meant to divert public attention from allegations of illegal drug connection being hurled against the […]

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De Lima says Liberal Party not involved in surfacing of new senate witness vs Duterte

  (Eagle News) — Senator Leila de Lima defended the presentation of a new witness in the continuation of the hearings on extrajudicial killings, claiming that this had nothing to do with the Liberal Party or any plot to embarrass President Duterte. On Thursday (September 15) , she presented a self-confessed hired assassin and alleged member of a death squad in Davao City who testified before the Senate on alleged extrajudicial killings in Davao City. […]

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Duterte vows to pursue an “independent foreign policy”

  (Eagle News) — Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte vowed to pursue an independent foreign policy in dealing with other countries, as he stressed that he is doing this to protect the interests of the Filipino people. Arriving from his first state visit in Indonesia, the President said that time-honored principles of sovereignty, non-interference and the commitment to a peaceful settlement of disputes will be observed by his administration. “In our relations to the world, the […]

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Indonesia, Philippines vow to tackle sea kidnappings

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) – Indonesia and the Philippines on Friday pledged to ensure security on the high seas after a surge of kidnappings by Islamist militants in the strife-torn southern Philippines. At least 25 Indonesian sailors and a handful of Malaysians have been abducted this year travelling in the Sulu Sea between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Philippine Islamist extremist outfit Abu Sayyaf, notorious for carrying out kidnappings-for-ransom, has been blamed for the abductions. Those […]

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s speech in accepting ASEAN chairmanship for year 2017

  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s speech in accepting ASEAN chairmanship for year 2017 Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, please accept my sincere congratulations on your successful chairmanship of the ASEAN throughout this year. You guided us with the timely motto of “Turning Vision into Reality for Dynamic ASEAN community.” You ably did your part in deepening integration to move us towards the realization of a rules-based people oriented, people-centered ASEAN community. In […]

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President Duterte accepts ASEAN 2017 chairmanship for the Philippines

  (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday (September 8) accepted the Philippine chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit scheduled for next year, 2017, when ASEAN will be celebrating its 50th year. Duterte accepted the symbolical gavel of the ASEAN chairmanship for next year from Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith during the closing ceremony of the ASEAN Summit and handover of the ASEAN chairmanship to the Philippines. ASEAN leaders gathered  in Vientiane for […]

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Duterte meets with Russian Prime Minister Medyedev before ASEAN closing rites

  (Eagle News) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation on the final day of the 28th and 29th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits and Related Summits in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic on September 8, 2016. This was after the gala dinner where Duterte and Medyedev sat beside each other, instead of the earlier announced seating arrangement where Duterte and US President Barack Obama were […]

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Obama urges Duterte to do crime “war” the right way, as Phl president speaks out against US military killings

  VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — US President Barack Obama urged Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte Thursday to conduct his crime war “the right way”, as the pair clashed at an Asian summit over the crackdown that has claimed 3,000 lives. The showdown was a fitting climax to a brutal few days of diplomacy that began with the famously acid-tongued Duterte becoming heated up and making expletives that led the White House to cancel a scheduled bilateral meeting between the two leaders. […]

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