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PMA valedictorian asks civilians: Respect honor system

March 15, 2014, 6:46 am
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From Rappler (Mar 15): PMA valedictorian asks civilians: Respect honor system

MILITARY MATTER. The class topnotcher of Philippine Military Academy's Siklab Diwa batch hopes the public will accept the decision on Cadet Cudia. File photo by Dave Leprozo Jr/ Rappler

MILITARY MATTER. The class topnotcher of Philippine Military Academy's Siklab Diwa batch hopes the public will accept the decision on Cadet Cudia. File photo by Dave Leprozo Jr/ Rappler

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines– The valedictorian of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Siklab Diwa Class of 2014 is asking civilians to respect the academy's honor system.

"I believe in our honor system. I support our honor system. We respect and support the decision of the honor comittee," Cadet First Class Jheorge Llona on Saturday, March 15, told reporters who sought his comment on the controversial dismissal of his classmate, Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia.

[Video: PMA Honor Code: PMA Valedictorian seeks understanding of outsiders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb0Tur7Sl4w]

Cudia is supposed to graduate No. 3 and top of the Navy class. The honor would have entitled him to be the recipient of the Navy saber. But the PMA on Saturday junked Cudia's new appeal.

The criticism arose from people's lack of understanding of the PMA honor system, Llona said.

"The civilians do not understand the honor system very well. It is probably why that is how they feel over the dismissal of Cadet Cudia," he said. (READ: Fast Facts: The Philippine Military Academy)

The PMA honor code implores cadets not to lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those among them who do so. Cudia was accused of lying about the reason for his coming late to one class.

Llona has a message to the Filipino people: "Sanapo respetuhin po ang decision ng higher command, ng ating mahal na Pangulo. Fully military po siya. Kung ano po ang decision nila, sana po tanggapin ng buong puso," he said.

(Let's please respect the decision of the higher command, of our beloved President. This is a fully military matter. Whatever their decision is, I hope we will accept it whole-heartedly.)

http://www.rappler.com/nation/53092-pma-valedictorian-asks-civilians-respect-honor-system
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2 soldiers killed in North Cotabato clash

March 15, 2014, 6:49 am
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From Rappler (Mar 15): 2 soldiers killed in North Cotabato clash

CLASHES. At least 2 soldiers are killed and 3 wounded in a firefight with rebels.

Two soldiers were killed while 3 others were wounded in a firefight with communist rebels in North Cotabato on Saturday, March 15.

The clash came days after Leftist rebels also attacked a military detachment and the police headquarters in Matanao, Davao del Sur.

Captain Ernest Carolina, spokesperson of the military's 10th Infantry Division, said troops under the 1002nd Brigade were conducting pursuit operations against members of the New People's Army (NPA) who attacked Matanao.

They encountered an undetermined number of rebels in Sitio Timodos, Barangay Manobisa, in the town of Magpet at around 9:55 am.

A fierce firefight ensued and lasted for an hour, Carolina said.

The operating state security forces sustained casualties after several explosives were detonated by the rebels while the soldiers were maneuvering.

The Office of the President has recently condemned the use of explosives by the NPA but the communist movement asserted that they have not violated any international protocols in waging a guerrilla warfare. (READ: Landmines: A poor man's weapon)

http://www.rappler.com/nation/53087-soldiers-killed-north-cotabato-clash
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Live Blog: 2014 PMA Graduation

March 15, 2014, 7:00 am
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From Rappler (Mar 15): Live Blog: 2014 PMA Graduation

LONG GREY LINE. Philippine Military Academy's Siklab Diwa batch graduates on March 16, 2014. Photo from Newsbreak Archives

LONG GREY LINE. Philippine MilitaryAcademy's Siklab Diwa batch graduates on March 16, 2014. Photo from Newsbreak Archives

Rappler Carmela Fonbuena is in Baguio City to cover the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) graduation on Sunday, March 16.
She also follows developments in the appeal of dismissed Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia, who was declared guilty of violating the PMA Honor Code and has not been allowed to graduate.
President Aquino is guest of honor and Speaker on Sunday.
Follow her tweets here:

PMA Graduation
http://www.rappler.com/nation/53061-live-blog-2014-pma-graduation

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It's final: Cudia not graduating March 16

March 15, 2014, 7:05 am
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From Rappler (Mar 15): It's final: Cudia not graduating March 16



It's final: Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia, the honor student who was dismissed for supposedly lying, is not graduating from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) on Sunday, March 16.

"The final recommendation of the CRAB is to deny the appeal of Cadet Cudia. It deliberated on the 3 counts for which his appeal was based upon,"PMA Commandant Colonel Rozzano Briguez announced on Saturday, March 15.

"Cadet Cudia will not march tomorrow. Cadet Cudia will not march tomorrow," Briguez added. "This year, categorically, he cannot graduate."

President Benigno Aquino III has the power to overturn CRAB's decision. But the PMA said that, even if the Commander-in-Chief decides to reinstall Cudia at the PMA, the cadet still won't be allowed to graduate with the Siklab Diwa class tomorrow because he failed to complete his academic requirements even before he was investigated for Honor Code violation.

"Technically, the President may not approve the administrative separation because he is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces fo the Philippines," Briguez said.

As of Saturday, Superintendent Major General Oscar Lopez was finalizing the report that will be submitted to the President. This is the 3rd time that PMA is upholding the dismissal of Cudia after the powerful Honor Committee declared him guilty of lying, a violation of the PMA Honor Code.

Cudia supposedly lied when he claimed that his first class was dismissed late so he came to his next class about two minutes late.

[Video: PMA Commandant Colonel Rozzano Briguez announces ruling on Cadet Jeff Cudia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_njwm9O4iV0]

In his appeal, Cudia presented a new evidence to show alleged mistrial. One of the 9 voting members of the Honor Committee was supposedly forced to change his "not guilty" vote to make it a unanimous 9-0. Navy Commander Junjie Tabuada, head of the naval warfare, executed an affidavit detailing his supposed conversation with a certain Cadet Lagura.

But Briguez said the cadet issued a denial. The CRAB also recommended a separate investigation on Tabuada for "conduct unbecoming of an officer," a violation of the articles of war.

Briguez also explained that there was nothing with the honor committee holding a second vote to change the 8-1 not guilty vote to a 9-0 unanimous guilty vote.

"If you have a voting of 7-2 or 8-1, they go automatically into an executive session which is termed chambering. It is like an additional explanation [to discuss their vote]," said Briguez.

It is apparently a new procedure adopted as early as the 1990s.

He said the Honor Committee also cannot be accused of not getting the side of Costales, the instructor who asked Cudia to wait for the grades of the class and inadvertently caused him to be late in his next class.

A mother's appeal

Cudia's mother, Filipina, is not giving up. Up to the last minute, she appealed to the President to allow her son to graduate on Sunday.

"Mahal na Pangulo, nananawagan po ako sa inyo. Humihingi po kami ng awa na sana po ipagkaloob mo pa ang hustisya sa anak ko. Mahal na Pangulo, wala po talaga siya ginawang kasalanan. 'Yung Honor Committee po ang gumawa ng mali," she said.

(Beloved Presient, I'm appealing to you. We're asking for compassion, for you to extend justice to my son. Beloved President, he really did not do anything wrong. It's the honor committee that committed a mistake.)

"Gusto ko po bukas makasabay niya kaklase niya maka-graduate siya. Pinaghirapan niya 'yun," she added. (My desire is for him to be graduate tomorrow together with his classmates. He worked hard for that.)

Cudia's appeal has led the Armed Forces leadership to order a review of PMA's honor system, and has reached President Benigno Aquino III.

[Video: Cadet Cudia's last minute appeal to President Aquino
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zduxApm1YZY]

Another witness?

Inspite of Lagura's denial, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) released a report on Friday, March 14, recommending that Cudia be allowed to graduate with his classmates on Sunday. (VIDEO: CHR probes PMA cadet dismissal, examines honor systemli)

The CHR spoke of another witness, a member of the Honor Committee, who supported Tabuada's claim. Briguez said this was not in the appeal of Cudia, however.

The Honor Committee is a powerful group inside the academy that is composed entirely of PMA students. They investigate and rule on reports of alleged violations of the PMA Honor Code, which orders cadets not to lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those among them who do.

PMA spokesperson Major Lynette Flores, in an earlier interview on radio, dismissed allegations that the academy was being "harsh" on Cudia for imposing a grave penalty for such a "small" offense. She said Cudia had been investigated twice before this case, on allegations of cheating.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/53068-final-pma-cadet-cudia-not-graduating
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New NDF spokesperson

March 15, 2014, 7:09 am
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From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Mar 15): New NDF spokesperson

CAMARINES SUR, Philippines—Almost a year after its spokesperson in Bicol province died in a clash with government soldiers, the National Democratic Front (NDF)-Bicol formally introduced its new spokesperson in the region on social media and its official blog on Thursday.

The NDF-Bicol new public information officer, a woman this time named Ka Maria Roja Banua, introduced herself on Facebook and the NDF blog to formally start her role as the new voice of the underground organization in Bicol.

Although still unreachable by phone, Banua said in her statement that she would carry on “the late Ka Greg Bañares’ deferred task.”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/585701/new-ndf-spokesperson
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Soldiers prepare for NPA retaliation after bungled attack

March 15, 2014, 7:13 am
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From the Philippine Star (Mar 15): Soldiers prepare for NPA retaliation after bungled attack

The military is bracing up for possible retaliations by the New People’s Army (NPA) following its bungled attack at dawn Thursday of an Army detachment in Tulunan town that left four rebels wounded.

Some 50 NPA members belonging to the Front 72 first surrounded the joint Army-militia detachment in Barangay Paraiso in Tulunan and opened fire with assault rifles, but failed to breach through its fences when soldiers and militiamen returned fire.

The government combatants assigned at the detachment managed to maneuver to the left and right flanks of the attackers, wounding four of them in the ensuing firefight.

Captain Tony Bulao, spokesman of the Army’s 602nd Brigade, said the soldiers and militiamen guarding the detachment had prevented the rebels from closing in using assault rifles and shoulder-fire 40 MM grenades.

Barangay folks have confirmed that four NPA members were wounded in the incident.

Bulao, however, said they do not have actual body count of enemy casualties.

Bulao said units of the 602nd Brigade in areas where the NPA operates have been ordered to guard against possible retaliations by rebel groups.

The bungled attempt by the NPA to take over the detachment in Tulunan came about a week after combatants of the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion seized improvised explosives in a raid at a hideout of rebels fabricating roadside bombs in Barangay New Sebu in President Roxas town, also in North Cotabato.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2014/03/15/1301229/soldiers-prepare-npa-retaliation-after-bungled-attack
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DND: Humanitarian assistance, troop training among boons of PHL-US deal

March 15, 2014, 7:19 am
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From GMA News (Mar 15): DND: Humanitarian assistance, troop training among boons of PHL-US deal

The Philippines stands to gain from a proposed security deal with the US which gives them access to Philippine military bases, the Department of National Defense said Saturday.
 
“Humanitarian assistance and joint exercises are among those we can expect,” DND spokesman Peter Galvez told GMA News Online via text on Saturday.
 
Galvez explained that joint military exercises with US troops would “enhance their (Philippine troops) readiness.”
 
He added the security deal may also bring economic benefits for the Philippines.
 
“A possible example would be the provision of catering services,” Galvez said.
 
Although the government believes the country will benefit from allowing US troops access to Armed Forces of the Philippines facilities, Galvez reiterated that there will be no US bases in the Philippines.
 
Last Friday, the defense department announced that the US and Philippine panels agreed on security arrangements during the sixth round of talks held in Washington last week.
 
The Philippines agreed to allow US access to its military bases amid mounting concern over China's increasing assertiveness in disputed waters in the South China Sea, a part of which the Philippines calls the West Philippine Sea.
 
“The proposed agreement will allow the sharing of defined areas within certain AFP facilities with elements of the US military,” DND Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino said.
 
Batino added that negotiations on the deal are 80 percent done. US military access to the Philippines is currently limited to annual joint exercises and port visits.
 
Both countries hope to finalize the deal before US President Barack Obama visits the Philippines in April.

‘De facto basing agreement’
 
Also on Saturday, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) denounced the proposed agreement, saying giving US troops "unlimited and unqualified use of Philippine bases and facilities" violates the Constitution and Philippine sovereignty.

Bayan scored the proposed agreement for allowing the US to use Philippine military bases and to build their own facilities inside. It also said the agreement will allow an "indefinite number of troops in the country for an indefinite period of time."
 
Although the government has said the agreement will not allow the US to set up its own military bases, Bayan said "the pact has all the features of a de facto basing agreement."

It added the proposed deal will not bring about a "substantial" modernization of the AFP nor will it "help our cause against the incursions made by China."
 
Bayan said it will oppose the agreement through street protests and by petitioning the Supreme Court if the deal is signed. 
 
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Davao favors village watchmen than Alsa Masa vigilantes—gov

March 15, 2014, 2:38 pm
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From the Business Mirror (Mar 15): Davao favors village watchmen than Alsa Masa vigilantes—gov

The plan to organize armed vigilante groups in Davao del Sur was shelved in favor of the more acceptable civilian-headed security task force, the governor said.

Gov. Claude Bautista clarified on Friday that the plan to organize an Alsa Masa-type vigilante group in the villages of the province was actually proposed by the mayor of the town of Matanao, where the New People’s Army (NPA) raided its police station at dawn on Monday and killed two policemen on duty.
 
The proposal was put forward during a supposed closed-door meeting a day after the NPA attack, and was quickly endorsed by Mayor Franco Calida of Hagonoy town.
 
Calida was the brains behind the Alsa Masa vigilante group in Davao City in the middle of the 1980s to counter the increasing presence of the liquidation teams of the NPA assassination squads called Sparrow Units.
 
“The proposal was adapted by the League of Mayors of the province as a probable action to thwart any and further guerrillas attacks on government and military installations in the area,” Bautista said, to clarify reports linking him to the proposal.
 
The proposal was replaced, however, with the activation of Task Force Davao del Sur, and endorsed by the mayors during the same meeting that Bautista convened to address the two NPA operations in a span of one week.
 
The NPA ambushed an Army patrol a week earlier in a mountain village of Bansalan town. The NPA exploded a landmine that night as the Army attempted to retrieve its 11 wounded soldiers. The blast injured civilian rescuers however as they rode on a Red Cross vehicle and a city ambulance in an Army convoy.
 
Bautista said the task force would no longer organize vigilantes and arm them. Instead, he said, the task force would tap the barangay tanod and civilian militia members as the village first line of security.“The task force is headed by the provincial governor and the police and the military units would be placed directly under the authority of the provincial governor,” he said. “It is a civilian organization.”
 
Neither would the existing barangay tanod and militia members be given weapons.“The existing structure in the barangays would remain; only this time, half of these groups in all the areas would be placed directly under orders of the task force,” he said.
 
He said the police and the Army were still doing the inventory of these barangay tanod.
 
Bautista was here in Davao City to witness the opening of a new music radio station which he own. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte also attended the launching, and when interviewed for reaction on the Alsa Masa plan, said he did not favor it. “This would only create animosity among the residents and to pose peace and order problems later,” he said, citing the experience of the city.
 
“As the presence of the NPAs waned, these civilians used their guns and power to create problems when they turned holdupmen, carjackers, robbers and thieves,” he said.
 
“I would suggest that the government talk to the NPAs,” he said.
 
Bautista said the establishment of the task force should not be misunderstood as cutting off communication lines with the NPA. “As we don’t know which unit or who among their leaders and units are responsible for the attack, we have to organize this security task force,” he said.
 
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/news/nation/29005-davao-favors-village-watchmen-than-alsa-masa-vigilantes-gov
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‘Cheap’ ransom for kidnap victims in Jolo worries Moro, civil-society groups

March 15, 2014, 2:46 pm
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From the Business Mirror (Mar 15): ‘Cheap’ ransom for kidnap victims in Jolo worries Moro, civil-society groups

DUE to the news blackout on the “mysterious, alarming, rampant daily kidnapping in Jolo, Sulu,” concerned groups including Moro, civil-society organizations (CSOs) and human-rights bodies called for a news conference on Friday in Davao City, where they bared and condemned  the kidnappings made by yet unknown groups to ordinary civilians since February.
 
“This alarming kidnapping spree started on February 17 with the kidnapping of Salinas couple whose whereabouts are still unknown up to this day. Since their kidnapping, more than 50 persons were already kidnapped in Sulu. In some cases where the victims are ordinary persons, the kidnappers are asking for a ransom of P3,000 only,” said Warina Sushil Jukuy, western Mindanao coordinator of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (Pahra).
 
She said there has been news blackout on “this very alarming, unstoppable kidnapping spree with the armed kidnappers victimizing not only Christians.  Now, the kidnappers in Jolo, Sulu, are victimizing ordinary Muslims. One Samal woman was kidnapped and raped. Ordinary teachers, ordinary Badjaos, Samals are being kidnapped.”
 
“Kidnapping there is like eating your breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s happening three times a day,” Jukuy told reporters.
 
“In the history of Sulu, this is the first time that kidnappings like these are happening. The kidnappers are on a rampage. There’s a complete breakdown of law and order in the province now,” she said.
 
Marie Claire Salinas, 48, and her husband Bonifacio Salinas, 50, were snatched from their house by still-unidentified armed men at around 5:30 a.m. on February 17.
 
“They are longtime residents in Jolo with their families living in the area for about 70 years already,” Jukuy said.
 
She also said on Friday, a group of “1,000 rising” Muslims and people of Jolo themselves held an indignation rally in Jolo to “protest kidnappings and impunity in the province of Sulu.”
 
Phara and about 40 other CSOs led by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus have loudly appealed to President Aquino as commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippine to step in now and stop the rash of kidnappings in Jolo.
 
They also scored what they called the “ineffective posture and inaction” of Gov. Abdusakur Tan of Sulu and police and military officials in the province “for doing nothing and for only guarding officials and not ordinary citizens.”
 
“Is there an unseen hand at work in the sudden rash of kidnappings?” Jukuy asked.
 
The groups demanding for the immediate stop of the kidnappings through strong military and police action said there could be four speculations on the motive of the kidnapping spree: machination by the military, a destabilization project considering the recent Bangsamoro agreement, demonizing of Islam as kidnappers wear tasbih (prayer beads), and made by “drug addicts who abound in Jolo, Sulu.”
 
The groups also castigated the “suspicious release of Abu Sayyaf member Sali Said from the intensive care area of Camp Bagong Diwa” which they called “a classic example of how the provincial government of Sulu protects hardcore Abu Sayyaf kidnappers.”
 
They also hit “the persecution of Sulu’s human-rights defender Cocoy Tulawie” who continues to languish in jail after he was arrested in January 2012 in Davao City on what they called “fabricated charges” on his alleged involvement in the attempt to kill Tan in 2009.
 
The Regional Human Rights Commission (RHRC) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao joined with the groups calling for a stop to the rash of kidnapping and the end of impunity reigning in the province.
 
“The Philippine National Police and the regional and local government units must reassert their authority in Sulu to restore peace and order now. We cannot accept the present situation, we cannot ignore the lawlessness, and we cannot stand the deafening silence of our leaders and authorities,” RHRC said in a statement signed by its Chairman Almagar Latiph.
 
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/news/regions/29015-cheap-ransom-for-kidnap-victims-in-jolo-worries-moro-civil-society-groups
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Gov't troops on high alert against diversionary attacks of communist rebels

March 15, 2014, 2:54 pm
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From the Business World (Mar 14): Gov't troops on high alert against diversionary attacks of communist rebels

KORONADAL -- Government troops remain on high alert for possible diversionary attacks from members of New People’s Army (NPA) following a firefight in Matanao, Davao del Sur and Tulunan, North Cotabato earlier this week.

Last Wednesday, some 40 armed NPA guerillas attacked a military detachment in Barangay Paraiso, Tulunan, North Cotabato, but the outnumbered soldiers of 38th Infantry Battalion were able to defend their camp, said Captain Antonio C. Bulao, spokesperson of 602nd Infantry Brigade.

Earlier on Monday, seven soldiers in Matanao station were killed in an ambush by members of the communist guerrilla group. Two policemen and two civilians were killed too after the firefight.

Mr. Bulao said the rebels used land mines against the responding troops from the 39th Infantry Battalion. The military has been hunting down the rebels in the mountains of Davao del Sur since Monday. The hunt led to the killing of two rebels and the arrest of nine others, Mr. Bulao told local media.

The firefight in Tulunan, North Cotabato lasted 30 minutes with no casualties reported. The incident, according to Mr. Bulao, was an attempt by the rebels to divert the military’s ongoing hunt for rebels in the mountains of Davao del Sur. Tulunan, North Cotabato shares a boundary with Matanao, Davao del Sur.

Mr. Bulao said police stations are the targets of rebel attacks since they cannot take down military detachments which generally have more men. “We have advised police stations to be alert too as we are ready to back them up at all time,” he said.

Ronaldo L. Llanera, chief of the Davao del Sur police, said community police units and barangay peacekeeping forces have been alerted. The whole province is on full alert, he said.

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=Gov't-troops-on-high-alert-against-diversionary-attacks-of-communist-rebels&id=84759
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Groups term US access pact ‘unconstitutional’

March 15, 2014, 2:58 pm
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From the Daily Tribune (Mar 15): Groups term US access pact ‘unconstitutional’

A militant group and a human rights lawyer have branded Manila’s reported deal with Washington which allows American troops access to Philippine military bases as unconstitutional.

“The Philippine government will violate the Constitution and our national sovereignty if it allows the unlimited and unqualified use of Philippine bases and facilities by US forces,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), in a statement, said.

The mode of entering into an access pact through an executive agreement will violate the Constitution, it added.

“The Constitution expressly provides that no military bases will be allowed in the country unless through a treaty ratified by both parties. The route of an executive agreement is meant to fast-track the approval of the pact, skip the rigorous treaty-ratification process, while keeping as much of the details hidden from the public,” the group said.

Bayan said the proposed agreement exposes the so-called Framework Agreement with the US as truly a de facto basing agreement disguised as an access pact.

“The US will gain not only access but also the ability to set up their own facilities within RP facilities. The US forces will also be allowed to preposition weapons and equipment, on top of stationing and indefinite number of troops in the country for an indefinite period of time.”

It also challenged President Aquino to order the full public disclosure of the details of the proposed agreement.

“We will oppose this access agreement in the streets and before the Supreme Court if it is signed. The increase in US troops does not serve national interest. It will not lead to a substantial modernization of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), nor will it help our cause against the incursions made by China.”

Lawyer Edre Olalia, secretary general of National Union of People’s Lawyer’s (NUPL), for his part, noted that the Philippine government’s reported offer of US is presumptively unconstitutional.

The proposed deal “is another shameless circumvention and quickie fix over clear and categorical constitutional injunctions against foreign military troops, bases and facilities in the country. It will condone past and inspire future transgressions of our sovereignty, contempt for our legal processes and jurisdiction,” he said in a phone interview.

There was optimism the pact could be secured ahead of US President Barack Obama’s April visit to Manila.

Olalia also charged that “US troops will be upgraded from covert operations, intelligence gathering and so-called ‘port calls’ to practically overt combat, direct command and virtual basing.”

With its military capabilities dwarfed by China’s the Philippines has been looking for more diplomatic and military support from the United States, its former colonial ruler and longtime ally.

A decades-long dispute over rival claims to parts of the South China Sea has sharply worsened over the past two years, with the Philippines accusing China of bullying and violating international laws.

Among the recent flare-ups, Manila accused the Chinese coastguard of firing a water cannon on January 27 at two Filipino fishing boats near a shoal that is within the Philippine exclusive economic zone.

The Philippines then said Chinese ships blocked Filipino vessels from bringing food to Filipino marines on another shoal within its territory.

Both outcrops lie many hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest Chinese landmass, but China claims most of the sea, even waters approaching the coasts of its neighbors.

American forces were forced to pull out of major military bases in the Philippines in 1992, ending nearly a century of military presence, amid a rental dispute and rising anti-American sentiment.

But since 2002 several hundred Special Forces troops on short term deployments have training Filipino counterparts who are fighting Islamic militants in Mindanao.    

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/groups-term-us-access-pact-unconstitutional
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CPP: CPP denounces Aquino regime for offering US access to military bases

March 15, 2014, 3:08 pm
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From the CPP Website (Mar 15): CPP denounces Aquino regime for offering US access to military bases

Logo.cpp
Communist Party of the Philippines
 
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns the Aquino regime for selling out Philippine sovereignty in forging a new military agreement with the US government that is set to bolster the presence of US troops in the Philippines by officially granting them the privilege of setting up military facilities in the country.

Negotiations between security and military officials of the Obama and Aquino regimes are being rushed to prepare the treaty tentatively known as the Agreement on Enhanced Defense Cooperation in order to have it ready for presentation during the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama in April.

“The new military treaty is bound to be as perfidious and violative of Philippine sovereignty as all previous agreements such as the Mutual Defense Treaty, the Military Bases Agreement and the Visiting Forces Agreement,” said the CPP.

“For over three years now, the Aquino regime has displayed out and out puppetry to the US military and government that so-called negotiations with its imperialist master can only turn out to be farce.”

In news reports today, negotiators of the Aquino regime said the most recent draft of the military agreement will allow the US military to set up facilities within AFP military camps or bases.

“This agreement is a throwback to the era of US military bases, where thousands of US combat troops, their warships, jetfighters, communication facilities, nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction were stationed within the country, and where the bases were used as launching pads for aggression in defense of US interests,” said the CPP.

“The so-called enhanced cooperation will be bringing back the Military Bases Agreement and worse, allow the US military access to facilities practically all over the country,” pointed out the CPP. “Wherever the AFP is, the US military can be also.

Wherever the AFP is not, the US military can finance the AFP to set up or expand its military camps.”

The CPP cited the Aquino regime’s rush to construct and expand facilities within and around the AFP’s naval bases in Oyster and Ulugan Bays, both in Palawan, in order to address the demand for larger and more modern ports to accomodate the increasing number of US warships docking in the Philippines. “Thus, the funds of the AFP modernization program are essentially being used to upgrade facilities to be used by the US military.”

“Aquino’s Amboy officials are fooling the people when they claim that the servant who prepares the best room for his master can and will demand his master to let him enter the room to look around to make sure that the master will follow his house rules,” said the CPP. “The pretentious master can allow his servant to look around to make him feel as if he actually owns his home, but will not actually allow the servant to scrutinize his luggage.”

“How can the Filipino people ever trust the Philippine military and the puppet Philippine government to defend national sovereignty in the face of its obsequiousness to the US military which supplies its weaponry and provides for its “modernization,” training and indoctrination," said the CPP.

“Negotiations between the US military and the Aquino regime have been going on for close to two years now, yet very scant information as to the details of the draft agreement has been made public. Aquino’s defense and military negotiators must be held responsible for keeping the Filipino people in the dark on a matter of crucial importance as one involving the country’s sovereignty.”

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20140315_cpp-denounces-aquino-regime-for-offering-us-access-to-military-bases
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Cudia not joining PMA graduation as PNoy hands probe over to AFP chief

March 16, 2014, 12:09 am
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From InterAksyon (Mar 15): Cudia not joining PMA graduation as PNoy hands probe over to AFP chief

Aldrin Cudia will not be joining the graduation ceremonies of Philippine Military Academy “Sikab Diwa” Class of 2014 on Sunday as President Benigno Aquino III left the fate of the cadet first class hanging, deciding to hand the case back to Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista.

This was the agreement reached between Cudia’s family and Aquino during their meeting in Baguio City Saturday afternoon, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said.

In a statement Saturday evening, Gazmin said he and Aquino had met with Cudia’s family “and heard them out” earlier in the day.

“They had appeals, requests and also raised some issues,” Gazmin said. “We made sure that they were given every opportunity to air their side.”

The Defense chief said that, at the end of the meeting, “we recommended that they (Cudias) formalize their appeals, requests and other concerns in writing.”

“It was agreed that Cadet First Class Cudia will not graduate tomorrow, without prejudice to whatever will be the result of their new appeal, which is now elevated to (Bautista), whom the President directed to investigate,” Gazmin added.

Cudia was supposed to graduate with honors.

However, he was found guilty of violating the PMA Honor Code for allegedly lying about why he was late for a class and was recommended for dismissal by the school’s honors committee.

Cudia and his family have protested the decision, claiming there was an anomaly in the vote of the honors committee. They claimed that the committee had changed the original 8-1 vote to make it unanimous, a requirement for a decision to dismiss a cadet.

The PMA review board upheld the honors committee decision and endorsed this to Bautista who, in turn, submitted this to the Office of the President.

PMA cadets are presidential appointees.

Earlier Saturday, ABS Professionals party-list Representative Catalina Leonen-Pizarro visited Cudia and said the cadet was hopeful Aquino would rule in his favor but that "he would accept whatever the decision would be."

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/82785/cudia-not-joining-pma-graduation-as-pnoy-hands-probe-over-to-afp-chief
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PMA head defends honor code, system

March 16, 2014, 12:19 am
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From Rappler (Mar 16): PMA head defends honor code, system

CLASS 2014. President Aquino presides over the graduatiion ceremony at Fort del Pilar in Baguio City. Screengrab from PTV livestream

CLASS 2014. President Aquino presides over the graduatiion ceremony at Fort del Pilar in BaguioCity. Screengrab from PTV livestream

The superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy on Sunday, March 16, defended its honor system as Class 2014 graduated amid controversies surrounding the Honor Code.

Major General Oscar Lopez, PMA superintendent, told graduating class Siklab Diwa that "honor is an essential part of happiness," and that the academy's rigid honor system and its honor code "are instruments towards this goal."

As of posting, each graduate was getting his diploma. President Benigno Aquino III is expected to deliver a speech in a few minutes.

The class is graduating without one member, cadet Jeff Cudia who was expelled by the PMA Honor Committee, composed entirely of PMA cadets, for lying in his explanation of why he had come late in one class last year. Cudia has appealed the decision, accusing committee members of ganging up on him.

The Cudia case exploded in social media, prompting a reinvestigation that eventually upheld the committee's decision.

In a last-ditch effort to make him graduate, Cudia and his family sought a meeting with President Benigno Aquino III and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin on Saturday, March 15, at The Mansion, the presidential residence in the summer capital.

Aquino could only promise Cudia yet another reinvestigation to be handled this time by Armed Forces chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/53133-pma-defends-honor-system
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DND to acquire 50 metric tons of propellant powder

March 16, 2014, 12:25 am
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From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 16): DND to acquire 50 metric tons of propellant powder

The Department of National Defense (DND) announced that it will be acquiring 50 metric tons of propellant powder for the use of the Government Arsenal in Limay, Bataan.

The above-mentioned material fill the interior of an ammunition cartridge or the chamber of a gun or cannon, leading to the expulsion of a bullet or shell.

The budget for this program is P50 million and will be sourced from the General Appropriations Act of 2014.

Interested bidders must have completed a similar project within the last five years.

And winners must be able to deliver the items within 180 calendar days of the opening of the letter of credit.

Pre-bid conference will be on March 20 at the DND bidding and awards committee conference room, basement, right wing, DND building, CampAguinaldo, Quezon City.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=625901
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DND chief says Cadet Cudia will not graduate Sunday but case to be investigated by AFP chief

March 16, 2014, 12:30 am
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From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 16): DND chief says Cadet Cudia will not graduate Sunday but case to be investigated by AFP chief

Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Voltaire Gazmin on Saturday announced that Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia will not be graduating this Sunday.

Cudia is the cadet who was ordered dismissed from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) after being found guilty of violating the provisions about lying in the school's "Honor Code".

However, Cudia's case was elevated to the Chief-of-Staff Armed Forces of the Philippines (CSAFP).

"The President and I met with the family of Cadet First Class Cudia and heard them out. They had appeals, requests, and also raised some issues. We made sure that they were given the opportunity to air their side. At the end of which, we recommended that they formalize their appeal, requests, and other concerns in writing," Gazmin stressed.

"It was agreed that Cadet First Class Cudia will not graduate Sunday, without prejudice to whatever will be the result of their new appeal, which is now elevated to the CSAFP whom the President directed to investigate," the DND chief added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=625875
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Hamilton-class cutters beefs up PN's helicopter carrying capability

March 16, 2014, 12:40 am
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From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 16): Hamilton-class cutters beefs up PN's helicopter carrying capability

The Philippine Navy (PN)'s capability to deploy and carry helicopters for shipboard service was greatly boosted by the arrival and commissioning of two Hamilton-class cutters.

This was disclosed by PN spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic in an interview with the PNA.

"With the arrival of the our Hamilton-class cutters (BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PF-15) in 2011 and BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PF-16) in 2013, our ability to carry and deploy helicopters for shipboard is greatly boosted," he said in Filipino.

Helicopter carrying capabilities, prior the arrival of the two Hamilton class cutters was confined to the Bacolod City class logistic supports vessels which was commissioned in 1993.

Fabic said that flight decks of the Hamilton-class cutters are very ideal for basing and operating the three AgustaWestland AW-109 "Power" helicopters acquired and commissioned last December.

It is slated to receive two more, the armed versions, by the third quarter of 2014.

Fabic also pointed out that the AW-109s and its pilots are doing very well on their flight deck landing and deck handling exercises.

AW-109 crewmen and flight deck crews of BRP Gregorio Del Pilar are conducting these maneuvers as of this posting.

The PN spokesperson earlier said that that BRP Gregorio Del Pilar and its embarked AW-109 is helping in the search of the Malaysia Airlines plane which went missing last March 8.

"They (pilots and flight crews) are still conducting flight deck landings and training even if they are helping in the search of the missing Malaysian aircraft," he added.

Fabic declined to comment on where the exact location of the Filipino frigate is but stated it is somewhere along the West Philippine Sea.

Fabic said that this is the first time that BRP Gregorio Del Pilar worked with the AW-109 which it is assigned helicopter.

"The BRP Gregorio Del Pilar is operating with BRP Apolinario Mabini (PS-36) and BRP Emilio Jacinto (PS-35) along with one Norman Britten 'Islander' aircraft and the Air Force's Fokker F-27 'Friendship' plane," the PN spokesperson said.

Philippine search efforts for the missing Malaysian aircraft is still ongoing ai this posting.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=625944
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NPA rebels bomb Globe cell site in Masbate City

March 16, 2014, 12:44 am
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From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 16): NPA rebels bomb Globe cell site in Masbate City

CAMP GEN. SIMEON A. OLA, Legazpi City -- New People's Army (NPA) bombed the Globe Telecom Cell Site in Barangay Malinta, Masbate City, at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

Nobody was hurt and no property was damaged, a police report said.

The bombing happened while security guard Artvin Tumbaga was not around.

Barangay tanod (volunteer village watchman) Wero Mondares said he was suddenly awakened by a loud explosion and after several minutes, he heard footsteps of persons hurriedly passing by his residence.

The suspects fled towards the direction of Barangay Sinalongan of the same city.

Police recovered three improvised explosive devices in the scene of the bombing, some 15 meters away from the wall of compound.

Investigators theorized that the rebels were asking for revolutionary tax which the company did not grant, as nobody was injured nor any property damaged inside the compound of the cell site.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=625974
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Army intensifies manhunt vs. NPAs in North Cotabato

March 16, 2014, 12:52 am
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From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 16): Army intensifies manhunt vs. NPAs in North Cotabato

The military in a remote town in North Cotabatohave launched manhunt operations against a band of communist guerrillas who ambush an Army convoy on Saturday that left two soldiers and two rebels killed, the Army here said.

Lt. Colonel Nilo Vinluan, 57th Infantry Battalion, said government troops pursuing members of the New People's Army who attacked an Army detachment in Tulunan, North Cotabato clashed with government forces in Sitio (sub-village) Timodos, Barangay (village) Manobisa, Magpet, also in North Cotabato at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.

Vinluan said the band of NPA guerrillas was part of those who attacked a police station in Matanao, Davao del Sur last Monday.

Another group of NPAs also tried but failed to overrun an Army and para-military base in Barangay Paraiso, Tulunan, North Cotabato.

Undermanned but determined, elements of the 38th Infantry battalion with militiamen foiled the attempt of the rebels after a 30-minute firefight that left two guerrillas wounded and taken by their comrades, Vinluan said.

In the Magpet incident Saturday, the guerillas used land mines to disable Army maneuver operations.

The 1002nd Infantry Brigade has sent reinforcement to North Cotabato to augment Army Special Forces battalion and 57th IB in hunting down the rebels.

Before the skirmishes in Magpet, 57th IB troopers, led by Vinluan, captured an NPA bomb making factory in the adjacent town of President Roxas.

Vinluan said the Army recovered part of the loot amount the NPA took from an Army convoy they ambushed in October last year in Tulunan, North Cotabato.

In that incident, the rebels took P2.1 million cash intended for honorarium of Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit assigned in Tulunan. Nine soldiers were also killed in that incident.

No evacuation of civilians was reported in the Magpet military operation as it was being done in the mountains near Mt.Apowhich is thickly forested.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=625908
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Attackers identify themselves as NPAs - Nueva Ecija police

March 16, 2014, 12:56 am
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From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 15): Attackers identify themselves as NPAs - Nueva Ecija police

The killers of a former rebel who succumbed to 18 gunshot wounds in a shooting on Sunday in Barangay Macabaclay here have identified themselves as New People’s Army (NPA) members, a witness told probers.

The witness who rushed, along with his family to the crime scene after hearing successive gunshots, said two of the suspects on board a single motorcycle told them not to interfere.

“Do not interfere, " the 49 - year-old farm worker quoted one of the suspects as saying. “We are NPAs,” the suspect reportedly added.

The victim, Renato Saddoy, 49, married and a farmer was an NPA member in 1980s and an active member of the militant Alab Katipunan at the time of the assault, police said.

The suspects reportedly used cal. 45 pistols, based on the empty shells lifted from the crime scene by the operatives.

SPO1 Adrian Sioson, investigator said, said the witness first saw the four suspects at about 7:30 a.m. passed by in front of his house riding in tandem on board two motorcycles along the feeder road from Barangay Santor, in this town.

All of the suspects have their faces covered with t-shirts, a normal get-up of onion farmers and traders in the area.

“After few minutes he (witness) and his family left on board their tricycle, passed by and saw the four suspects sitting on their parked motorcycles,” Sioson said.

They have also met on the way the victim, driving a hand tractor, a farm implement, towards the direction of the suspects.

Soon, they heard the gunshots prompting them to return until they found the victims body and were told by the suspects to keep themselves away from the incident.

The victim’s wife Jinky told police she would cooperate in the investigation after the victim is interred.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=625954
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