Benigno Aquino News

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Thursday accused China of breaking a U.S.-brokered deal between the two nations on the Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited rocky outcrop in the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim the waterway, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne goods pass every year. Beijing seized control of Scarborough Shoal, near the main Philippine island of Luzon, in June 2012, following a three-month standoff after a Philippine Navy vessel tried to arrest Chinese fishermen found illegally hauling giant clams there.

The Philippines has been discussing coordinated naval patrols on its southern maritime borders with Indonesia and Malaysia to protect shipping after attacks and kidnappings by Islamist militants, its foreign minister said on Thursday. Indonesia is trying to free about 14 of its citizens seized from tugboats by Abu Sayyaf rebels from the southern Philippines and has called for joint patrols. Four Malaysians seamen are also being held. The Islamist rebels, who are raking in tens of millions of dollars in ransom, decapitated a Canadian on Monday and are still holding 23 hostages. Citizens of the Netherlands, Japan, Norway and the Philippines are among them.

Philippines government is looking into forming a submarine force to strengthen maritime defense amid China's expansive claims over the South China Sea. President Benigno Aquino III said his country will invest in its first-ever submarine fleet to help protect its territory. "Philippines is practically losing its west coast due to China's nine-dash line claim. We might have to undergo various aspects of our own military capabilities that have never been part of our needs," Aquino said. He was  explaining how Philippine policies have been affected by China’s massive reclamation and military build-up in the West Philippine Sea under its 9-dash-line principle. “We’ve had to accelerate the modernization of our armed forces for self-defense needs,” President said.

China came under renewed criticism over its rising profile in the South China Sea at Asia-Pacific summit when Philippines  President Benigno Aquino III  warned China that “the world is watching” you, reports Reuters. Whether China would behave as a responsible power in the simmering standoff over maritime territory, is the question in this context. "The world is watching and expects no less from a responsible global leader," Aquino said. "We are hopeful that China would honour its word and respect the rule of law," Aquino said. His comment referred specifically to a dispute with China over maritime territory, which Manila is bringing before an international court.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may consider a request from the Philippines for large coastguard ships to patrol the disputed South China Sea, after the two allies reached a deal on defence equipment and technology. China has overlapping claims with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines is the Southeast Asian nation most at odds with China over the South China Sea. Tokyo has no claims in the waterway, but worries about China's growing military reach into sea lanes through which much of Japan's ship-borne trade passes.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday China must stop land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea and reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the defense and security of the Philippines, one of the parties to the dispute.   Obama, speaking after a meeting with Philippine President Benigno Aquino on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Manila, said he looked forward to working with all claimants to the waterway to resolve their disputes.   On Tuesday, Obama visited an American-donated coast guard cutter now owned by the Philippines, one its closest allies in the region.     (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed close to China's man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, drawing an angry rebuke from Beijing, which said it warned and followed the American vessel. The patrol by the USS Lassen was the most significant U.S. challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limits China asserts around the islands in the Spratly archipelago and could ratchet up tension in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. One U.S. defense official said the USS Lassen sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef.

Philippine authorities cancelled flights and urged residents and tourists to move to safer ground on Saturday as a powerful typhoon approached northeastern parts of the main island of Luzon. With winds of up to 160 kph (99 mph), typhoon Koppu is about 300 km (185 miles) east of Baler in Aurora province, moving west and due to make landfall in the next 12 to 18 hours. Disaster agency officials said about 300 hundred people living in vulnerable coastal or low-lying areas had already sought shelter due to the risk of floods, landslides and storm surges of up to 2 metres (6.5 ft). "We are asking 2,000 foreign and local tourists, most of them surfers, to abandon seaside resorts and go to safer areas," Gabriel Llave, a Baler municipal disaster official, told radio station dzMM.

Japan called on China on Tuesday to halt construction of oil-and-gas exploration platforms in the East China Sea close to waters claimed by both nations, concerned that Chinese drills could tap reservoirs that extend into Japanese territory. Japan's Defense Ministry added the demand to its annual defense review after hawkish members of the ruling party complained that its original draft was too soft on China, a ministry official said. China resumed exploration in the East China Sea two years ago, the report said. In 2012, Japan's government had angered Beijing and purchased a disputed island chain there. Before then, Beijing had curtailed activities under an agreement with Japan to jointly develop undersea resources in disputed areas.

The U.S. and Japan are conducting separate military drills with the Philippines near disputed islands in the South China Sea, says a report in Reuters. The naval exercises is not far from the disputed Spratly archipelago, where China's rapid creation of seven island outposts is stoking regional tensions. Japan will dispatch a P-3C patrol aircraft to the South China Sea, to join a military exercise with the Philippines navy. Japanese media quoted Tomohisa Takei, chief of staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, as saying that the exercise will take place in high seas north of the Philippines' Palawan Island from Sunday until June 27th. The AFP media agency says that the Philippines will hold a joint military exercise with the US and Japan.

The overlapping territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam have recently been moving from bad to worse. Vietnam is seeking to upgrade its air defences by acquiring western fighter jets and drones, a move which would further militarize a dispute with Beijing over territorial claims in the South China Sea. Taiwan's coast guard has commissioned its biggest ships for duty in the form of two 3,000-ton patrol vessels, as the island boosts defenses amid concerns about China's growing footprint in the disputed South China Sea, says a report in the Reuters. The new vessels will be able to dock at a new port being constructed on Taiping Island…

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Philippine President Benigno Aquino agreed on Thursday to start negotiations on an accord for the transfer of defense equipment and technology, as the two nations bolster security ties amid heightened concerns over Beijing’s increasing assertiveness at sea, reports Reuters. The two leaders also shared “serious concern on unilateral actions to change the status quo in the South China Sea,” according to a joint declaration they issued after their summit talks, with China’s recent rapid and massive reclamation work in mind. China has become increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, building artificial islands in areas over which the Philippines and other countries have rival claims.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino, in remarks that follow Chinese warnings against Philippine flights over the South China Sea, said on Friday it was important to uphold the right to fly in that area. "It is in our interest to uphold the freedom of navigation and overflight in South China Sea, a region that is of vital importance not only to Southeast Asia but also to the rest of the global community," Aquino, who was visiting Canada, said during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. A day earlier, a Philippine military commander said in Manila that China had warned Philippine air force and navy planes at least six times to leave areas around the disputed South China Sea.

China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it was "extremely concerned" after leaders of Southeast Asian countries expressed worry about land reclamation and navigational freedom in the disputed South China Sea. China's reclamation work in the South China Sea has become the latest source of tension with some of its smaller neighbours, several of whom have competing territorial claims in the waters. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said after a summit this week in Kuala Lumpur that reclamation work had "eroded trust and confidence and may undermine peace, security and stability in the South China Sea". Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that China was "extremely concerned" that the closing statement addressed the South China Sea issue…

Southeast Asian leaders edged closer to open criticism of China's land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea at a regional summit on Monday, as the Philippines drew the ire of Beijing which called its objections to the work "unreasonable". The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, which was supposed to showcase the 10-member bloc's progress towards economic integration, was overshadowed by the long-running maritime territorial dispute. ASEAN's renowned "consensus" approach has been tested over the South China Sea, with several members including host Malaysia reluctant to antagonise China, but diplomatic sources said Kuala Lumpur would eventually give in to pressure from some neighbours and address the reclamation issue at the meeting.

Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay, considered a front-runner for the presidency in 2016, said on Thursday he would welcome a joint venture with China to explore for oil and gas in disputed areas of the South China Sea. Binay's stance is in contrast to President Benigno Aquino, who has opposed business partnerships with China in territory claimed by both countries. China claims most of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea, and its recent rapid land reclamation around seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago has alarmed the Philippines, Vietnam and other claimants.

Filipino activists denounced China's coast guard on Tuesday for turning water cannon on Philippine fishing boats in disputed waters, near where hundreds of Filipino and American Marines landed on a beach in a mock assault. The presidential palace in Manila said China's coast guard used water cannon on Monday to drive away a group of Filipino fishermen at Scarborough Shoal, damaging some of their wooden boats. Chinese ships rammed a fishing boat in the area a few months ago. China in 2012 took control of Scarborough Shoal, about 130 miles (210 km) west of a former U.S. naval base northwest of Manila, preventing Filipino fishermen from getting near the rich fishing grounds.

Filipino activists denounced China's coast guard on Tuesday for turning water cannon on Philippine fishing boats in disputed waters, near where hundreds of Filipino and American Marines landed on a beach in a mock assault. The presidential palace in Manila said China's coast guard used water cannon on Monday to drive away a group of Filipino fishermen at Scarborough Shoal, damaging some of their wooden boats. Chinese ships rammed a fishing boat in the area a few months back. China in 2012 took control of Scarborough Shoal, about 130 miles west of a former U.S. naval base northwest of Manila, preventing Filipino fishermen from getting near the rich fishing grounds.

Rammasun hits eastern Rapu-Rapu island, heads towards Manila; Strongest storm after last year's Haiyan. Thousands evacuated from coastal villages. Thousands of people in the Philippines fled from their homes on Tuesday as the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year made landfall, toppling trees and cutting power as it made its way straight towards the capital, Manila. Parts of the Philippines are still recovering from Typhoon Haiyan, one of the biggest cyclones known to have made landfall anywhere, which killed more than 6,100 people last year, many in tsunami-like sea surges, and left millions homeless. Typhoon Rammasun, with gusts of up to 160 kph (99 mph) and sustained winds of 130 kph (81 mph) near its centre…

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said two Chinese survey vessels had been sighted in a gas-rich area of its exclusive economic zone, raising concerns of heightened tensions in the disputed South China Sea. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to be rich in deposits of oil and gas resources. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim the sea where $5 trillion of ship-borne goods pass every year. "Recently, we got a report from the armed forces that there were two hydrographic ships in Recto Bank, about 80 nautical miles off Palawan, clearly within our exclusive economic zone," Aquino told a television interview aired on Sunday. Recto Bank is also known as Reed Bank. "What are they doing there? What kind of studies are they conducting?

China rejected Philippine complaints on Wednesday about Chinese survey vessels operating in a gas-rich area of Manila's exclusive economic zone, and has lodged a separate complaint about the detention of Chinese workers, as tensions persist. Philippine President Benigno Aquino said over the weekend that two Chinese survey vessels had been sighted in part of the disputed South China Sea also claimed by the Philippines called Reed Bank. In a statement faxed to Reuters, China's Foreign Ministry said that Reed Bank was Chinese territory. "Survey activities being carried out by Chinese survey ships are appropriate, legal and beyond reproach," the ministry said. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to be rich in deposits of oil and gas resources.

Philippine furniture maker Betiscrafts Inc should have delivered a shipment of custom-made chairs to Middle East customers last month. But a cargo from China of imported fabric needed for the upholstery has been held up by severe congestion at Manila's main port, where containers have piled up since February when a daytime ban on trucks plying the city roads came into effect. Worried about the hit to the economy, the government intervened on Sept. 13 to end the 7-month long ban…

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Friday gave authorities the go-ahead to offer for tender 165.6 billion pesos ($3.7 billion) worth of new infrastructure projects under his flagship Public-Private Partnership program in line with efforts to upgrade ageing roads, airports and ports. The country needs private funds to upgrade and modernise its dilapidated infrastructure as it aims to lift its growth rate upwards to 8 percent so it can catch up with its richer Southeast Asian neighbours. To be included in the pipeline of projects that could be offered to investors soon under a PPP scheme are the following: operation and maintenance of the Puerto Princesa Airport (5.23 billion pesos…