Flags at half-mast as nation mourns Marawi heroes, victims

In an advisory, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said flags are flown at half-mast after the high noon tribute “as a symbol of respect and mourning to our fallen men and the civilians who died.”

Malacanang also encouraged the public to pay homage to the fallen soldiers, whose names were flashed on television stations and read over the radio at 12 noon Monday.

“We would likewise remember all the innocent victims who perished as a result of rebel atrocities committed,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

“We enjoin the public to honor these heroes and civilians and pray for them and the families they left behind.”

Government agencies, meanwhile, will begin flying the flag at half-mast starting Tuesday, June 13, the first working day of the week.

“We ask all Filipinos of all faiths and ethnic groups to say a short prayer for our heroes and innocent victims who perished, for the soldiers and the civilians who are still in the battlefield, and for peace and unity for the Philippines,” the AFP said in its advisory.

Fifty-eight members of the police and military have been killed in the fight to retake Marawi City from the Maute group--terrorists who have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law after local terrorist groups Maute and Abu Sayyaf, aided by local and foreign cohorts, laid siege to Marawi in an apparent bid to create an Islamic State province in the country.

The clashes started as government troops were attempting to arrest top Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon. The military said the terrorists were planning to launch an attack during the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, and the arrest was a move to preempt it.

About 1,000 locals, fearing to get caught in the middle of crossfire, are believed to be trapped in their houses as the terrorists held key spots in the city.

The militants are also taking with them scores of hostages who are being used as human shields. This has proved to be a major obstacle for government troops hoping to end the siege soon.

In defiance of the terrorists who continue to hold their ground, government troops in Marawi on Monday raised the Philippine flag in key areas in the city.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

ASEAN silent on China defeat, militarization but mentions UNCLOS

MANILA - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Saturday skipped mention of China's arbitration loss and its militarization and land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea.

The ASEAN Chairman's statement however "reaffirmed the shared commitment to maintaining and promoting peace, security and stability in the region... in accordance with the universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)."

The joint statement, which was issued early Sunday, was silent on China's defeat before the Hague-based arbitration court, which invalidated the basis of Beijing's sweeping claims over the South China Sea.

It also avoided any mention of Beijing's island-building activities in the disputed waters, or of Chinese militarization of these islands.

Several ASEAN leaders had reportedly called for the joint statement to mention the need to avoid "land reclamation and militarization that may further complicate the situation."

ASEAN member-states Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have claims that overlap those of China in the South China Sea.

The Philippines was earlier urged to take advantage of its chairmanship of ASEAN and use its arbitral victory as reference during discussions on a maritime code of conduct.

But 2 ASEAN diplomatic sources earlier on Saturday told Reuters that Chinese embassy representatives in Manila had lobbied the Philippines to keep tacit references to Beijing's island-building and arming of artificial islands out of the statement.

At least 4 drafts on the issue were readied by other ASEAN delegates in case the Philippines opened discussions on the matter, a senior diplomat familiar with the deliberations told ABS-CBN News.

But President Rodrigo Duterte insisted the arbitral ruling was a"non-issue" during the ASEAN meetings this year, a position that apparently prevailed over his peers and frustrated some of them.

The ASEAN joint statement is usually released within just minutes of the conclusion of the summit.

But for the first time in its history, the ASEAN Summit wrapped up without issuing the chairman's statement on the same day as the conclusion of the meetings.

The ASEAN joint statement meanwhile called for the "full and effective implementation" of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea "in its entirety."

It also cited "the progress to complete" a framework document by June this year, a target that would "facilitate the early adoption of the code of conduct."

The statement also said ASEAN leaders "took note of the improving cooperation between ASEAN and China."

-- with a report from Christian Esguerra, ABS-CBN News

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Southeast Asian leaders wrestle over China at summit

MANILA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte faced pushback on Saturday at a regional summit over his efforts to weaken Southeast Asian resistance to Chinese expansionism in the contested South China Sea, diplomats said.

Duterte was due to release a chairman's statement at the end of the one-day Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) leaders meeting that ignored an international tribunal ruling rejecting China's sweeping claims to the strategically vital waterway.

Ahead of the summit, Duterte said the Philippines and other nations were helpless to stop Chinese artificial island building in areas they claimed, so there was no point discussing it at diplomatic events such as Saturday's summit.

But diplomats said other ASEAN nations, unhappy with intense Chinese lobbying of the Philippines, had sought to toughen up the chairman's statement and there were hot debates on the issue leading up to Saturday's summit.

"It can't be seen that ASEAN has totally given in to Chinese pressure," a Southeast Asian diplomat in Manila for the event told AFP.

China has been turning reefs and shoals in areas of the sea claimed by the Philippines and other nations into artificial islands, and installing military facilities there.

The United States has criticized the construction work, warning against militarization in the waterway where $5 trillion in annual trade passes.

ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim parts of the sea, but China insists it has sovereign rights over nearly all of it.

The Philippines, under previous president Benigno Aquino, had lobbied hard at ASEAN summits for the bloc to voice its strong opposition to the Chinese expansionism, and official statements at those events often reflected that.

Aquino also filed a case at a UN-backed tribunal asking it to reject China's claims and artificial island building.

The tribunal last year ruled largely in the Philippines' favor. But the ruling came after Duterte took power.

CHINA WIN

Duterte steadfastly refused to use the verdict to pressure China, instead pursuing warmer relations and billions of dollars' worth of trade and aid.

In a speech to open the summit, Duterte made no reference to the South China Sea.

Duterte's chairman's statement, which is meant to reflect the views of all ASEAN leaders, will voice concern but not mention the ruling nor China directly, according to excerpts of the latest draft on Saturday obtained by AFP.

China, through its ambassador to Manila, had this week been campaigning to weaken it further, delegates and diplomats told AFP.

"The lobbying is quite intense. They (China) want it further watered down," one diplomat told AFP.

China had wanted ASEAN to remove a reference to "respect for legal and diplomatic processes", and it was taken out of the South China Sea section of the latest draft of the chairman's statement.

Filipino diplomats said the phrase was important because "legal and diplomatic processes" encompassed the entire process of the filing of the case in the tribunal until its resolution.

Nevertheless, the new draft statement reintroduced a call for no further "land reclamation and militarization" of the sea.

Diplomats said the reinclusion of the reference to land reclamation and militarization meant that some ASEAN countries were not comfortable with "total acquiescence" to China.

"This has to be reflected in the statement," one diplomat, who did not want to be named, told AFP.

Another diplomat said Vietnam had insisted the references to the land reclamation and militarization be reintroduced.

The chairman's statement was due to be released on Saturday afternoon, after the ASEAN leaders finished their meetings and ahead of an informal dinner.

The summit was also being closely watched for how Duterte, who has shocked with curse-laden tirades against the United States and other critics of his deadly drug war, handles hosting his first major diplomatic event.

Duterte's drug war, which has claimed thousands of lives and led to warnings by rights groups about a possible crime against humanity, has been widely condemned in the West.

But he has enjoyed support from some of his Southeast Asian guests this week, including Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

source: news.abs-cbn.com