PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia – Hope of finding flight MH370's final resting place is "fading" and the massive three-nation search for the doomed jet will be suspended if nothing turns up in the suspected crash zone, Malaysia, Australia and China said Friday.

With the designated search area due to be fully scanned within weeks, transport ministers from the 3 countries held talks to discuss the future of the unprecedented deep-sea sonar hunt for the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane.

"Ministers acknowledged that despite the best efforts of all involved, the likelihood of finding the aircraft is fading," Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said after the talks in the country's administrative capital Putrajaya.

He was joined by Australia's Darren Chester and China's Yang Chuantang.

Unless "credible new evidence" is found by the current operation, "the search would not end, but be suspended" until solid new information pointing to a crash site emerges, Liow said.

The use of the term "suspended" was an apparent nod to anguished families who have stepped up pressure on authorities not to declare efforts to locate the aircraft completely abandoned.

"The suspension does not mean the termination of the search," the joint ministerial statement said.

"Ministers reiterated that the aspiration to locate MH370 has not been abandoned."

The Boeing 777 vanished for unknown reasons on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard, mostly Chinese nationals. It remains one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

The Australian-led operation is scanning the seafloor at forbidding depths within a 120,000-square-kilometre (46,000-square-mile) area -- nearly the size of Greece.

Search authorities say satellite data indicates the plane went down somewhere in that remote and stormy part of the southern Indian Ocean far off Western Australia.

Only about 10,000 square kilometres are left, and officials say that could be completed in August, weather permitting.

Families welcome statement

Next-of-kin who turned up for the three ministers' appearance told reporters they welcomed the official statement.

"This means authorities are committed to finding answers and not just quitting. This is to be welcomed," said K.S. Narendran, a business consultant in Chennai, India, whose wife Chandrika Sharma was on board.

Many relatives have long questioned whether the right area is being searched and want a thorough reassessment of the data.

Some next-of-kin present on Friday called for the three searching countries to actively seek new angles on the mystery, but the transport ministers did not mention any plans to gather new information or re-examine existing data.

Chester defended the focus on the current search zone, saying expert analysis determined it was the "most probable location for MH370."

"I hope new information will come to light and that the aircraft will be located," he said.

Authorities hope to find a crash site and recover MH370's data recorders for clues into what happened.

Even if located, recovering them would be an operation of unprecedented difficulty in an area of rugged undersea terrain at crushing depths exceeding 4,000 metres (13,000 feet).

Several pieces of debris that apparently drifted thousands of kilometres toward Africa have been identified as definitely or probably from MH370.

But they have shed no light on where exactly the plane went down or why.

Theories include rogue pilot action, terrorism, or catastrophic mechanical failure, but there is no evidence to support any one hypothesis. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Newly-elected Senator Manny Pacquiao returned to the fold of the PDP-Laban on Friday, July 22, making him the second party mate of President Rodrigo Duterte in the Senate.

Pacquiao took his oath before PDP-Laban president and presumptive Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. Presumptive House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was present during his oath taking.

“I was PDP originally. We support the advocacy of the administration,” the world boxing champion said.

In April 2012 Pacquiao was first sworn in as PDP-Laban member. Before that, he was a member of then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s political party, Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) from 2007 to 2009.

He left Arroyo’s party in 2009 to run for congressman in 2010 under the Nacionalista Party, supporting the presidential bid of former Senator Manuel Villar.

After the 2010 elections, he joined President Benigno Aquino III’s Liberal Party (LP) and stayed there until 2012, before moving to PDP-Laban.

In the May 2016 polls, however, he ran under former Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance.

Aside from Pacquiao, other lawmakers who swore allegiance to the administration party are Cavite 3rd District Representative Alex Advincula and Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone, former spokesman of LP. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Veteran lawyer Estelito Mendoza on Friday, July 22, called out Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales for going after former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after the Supreme Court (SC) had just cleared her of plunder.

“What she (Morales) wants to do is that when she (Arroyo) is acquitted and walks free, she will immediately handcuff her and put her to jail again! I do not think there can be anything more oppressive than that, if not cruel,” Mendoza, one of Arroyo's lawyers, told reporters a day after the Pampanga lawmaker was freed.

Voting 11-4, the SC ruled on Tuesday that Arroyo and her co-accused Benigno Aguas did not acquire wealth from more than P365 million worth of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) intelligence funds from 2008 to 2010. 

It was the Ombudsman who charged Arroyo and Aguas for plunder in 2012, leading to her 4-year hospital detention. (TIMELINE: Gloria Arroyo – from plunder to acquittal)

After Arroyo’s acquittal, Morales said they are still conducting a preliminary investigation into another plunder complaint against Arroyo, this time over P57 million in PCSO funds allegedly misappropriated from 2004 to 2007. 

“I think that is very – I will put it a little strongly – very dismaying and if not, shocking. She should read the decision and she has filed the complaint similar to this,” said Mendoza, who served as solicitor general and as justice minister during the Marcos regime.

Lawyer Laurence Arroyo, another legal counsel of the former president, said they already filed a counteraffidavit to the complaint.

“So submitted na ‘yun for decision ano, and we’re hoping the Ombudsman will consider ‘yung aming counter-affidavit, ‘yung mga counter-arguments namin doon at saka ‘yung latest decision ng Korte Suprema na nagsasabi na ‘yung kanyang pagpirma sa request for intelligence funds is not an overt act. In other words, ‘di puwedeng gamiting ebidensiya in a conspiracy,” said the lawyer. 

(That’s already submitted for decision and we’re hoping the Ombudsman will consider our counter-affidavit, counter-arguements, and even the latest decision of the SC saying that Arroyo’s signature in the request for intelligence funds is not an overt act. In other words, it cannot be used as evidence to prove a conspiracy.)– Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – A leading advocate of the Philippines’ case against China cautioned on Friday, July 22, against sending Filipino fishermen to Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). 

In a forum organized by the independent think tank Trident Defense, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio was asked about his views on China’s blocking of Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal despite Manila’s legal victory against Beijing.

Referring to Panatag Shoal, Carpio said, "I think it’s premature to send our fishermen there." 

Carpio pointed out that an arbitral tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that Panatag Shoal "is a common fishing ground."

"So if it’s property for common use, you must have ground rules how to use it. Because if there are no ground rules, there will be problems, you will fight over it," the SC justice said.

Carpio: 'Establish ground rules'

"So I think we have to sit down with China first, establish the ground rules, establish the allowable to catch for each country so there will be no overfishing," Carpio added.

(Watch the entire forum below)

The Philippines’ co-counsel against China, for his part, said China’s blocking of Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal is "clearly a violation of the decision" from The Hague.

US-based lawyer Lawrence Martin told reporters on July 15, "It’s a violation of the rights of the Filipino fishermen to fish in Scarborough Shoal."

Martin added, "In terms of liability, if you’re thinking in domestic terms, there’s no financial liability."

"But it is a clear violation, and again I think what’s important is that the Philippines, together with the rest of the international community, come together and bring political pressure to bear on China to make it realize that it needs to bring itself into conformity with the rule of law," the American lawyer said. – Rappler.com

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Friday, July 22, lodged an appeal against his 40-year jail sentence for genocide, accusing UN judges of "subjecting him to a political trial."

Warcrimes prosecutors also appealed the sentence, asking the court to put Karadzic behind bars for life.

Karadzic, who appealed on 50 grounds before the UN's Yugoslav war crimes court, "was subjected to a political trial that was simply designed to confirm the demonization of him and the Bosnian Serb people," his lawyer Peter Robinson said in a statement.

Once the most powerful Bosnian Serb leader, Karadzic, 71, was sentenced in March for genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and 9 other charges stemming from Bosnia's bloody 3-year war.

More than 100,000 people died and more than 2.2 million others were left homeless in the conflict that followed the break-up of the former Yugoslavia after the fall of communism in the early 1990s.

Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled that Karadzic, the most high-profile figure convicted over the wars that tore the Balkans apart, bore criminal responsibility for murder and persecution during the Bosnian conflict.

'Cryptic conversation'

Almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys were butchered and their bodies dumped in mass graves in Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia in mid-July 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces brushed aside lightly armed UN Dutch peacekeepers protecting a UN safe area.

The massacre was the largest bloodshed on European soil since World War II.

A long-time fugitive from justice until his arrest on a Belgrade bus in 2008, Karadzic was also found guilty of being behind the harrowing 44-month siege of Sarajevo in which 10,000 civilians died in a relentless campaign of sniping and shelling.

He was however found not guilty on a genocide charge relating to killings in seven Bosnian towns and villages two decades ago, with judges saying they did not have enough evidence "beyond reasonable doubt" to convict Karadzic.

Robinson said Karadzic did not receive a fair trial and that UN judges "presumed him guilty and then constructed a judgement to justify its presumption".

Nowhere was this more apparent "than when the trial chamber found him guilty of genocide by inferring that he shared the intent to kill prisoners from Srebrenica based on (the court's) interpretation of a cryptic intercepted conversation," Robinson said.

Karadzic himself called the verdict "injust".

"Having spent eight years in a UN prison and gone through a five-year trial... Karadzic is convinced that international justice is a failed project," Robinson added.

Trial 'errors'

ICTY chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz also filed 4 grounds of appeal including that judges "erred in law and fact" when they failed to find that Karadzic had genocidal intent in the Bosnian municipalities.

"The prosecution requests that the appeals chamber correct the trial chamber's errors and increase Karadzic's sentence to life imprisonment," Brammertz said in a document filed before the court.

The one-time psychiatrist is the highest-ranking official to face judgement at the ICTY, set up in 1993 to prosecute those who committed crimes during the Balkans wars.

Former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic was also on trial, but died in his prison cell in 2006 before the proceedings could be concluded.

Also still on trial is Karadzic's military alter ego Ratko Mladic, who was in charge of the Bosnian Serb troops that overran Srebrenica.

Mladic faces similar charges to Karadzic.

During Karadzic's marathon trial, which ended in October 2014 after an exhausting 497 days in the courtroom, some 115,000 pages of documentary evidence were presented along with 586 witnesses, while court officials recorded some 47,500 pages of transcripts.

Earlier this year Karadzic revealed that on the day of the judgement he was so convinced he would walk free that he had already packed his bags. – Rappler.com

PARIS, France – The Zika virus has been found alive in a man's sperm after a record 93 days, according to a new report that adds to the many unknowns surrounding the foetus-harming germ.

A 27-year-old Frenchman's semen tested positive for Zika in March this year, three months after he experienced symptoms of an infection picked up while travelling in Thailand last October and November.

The case was reported in The Lancet medical journal this week.

The previous longest recorded virus survival in semen was 62 days after the onset of symptoms.

Benign in most people, Zika has been linked to microcephaly – a shrinking of the brain and skull – in babies, and to rare, potentially-fatal adult-onset neurological problems.

It is transmitted mainly though the bites of infected mosquitoes, in rare cases via sex, but also through the placenta to unborn children.

In an outbreak that started last year, about 1.5 million people have been infected with Zika in Brazil, and more than 1,600 babies born with microcephaly, according to the World Health Organization.

The new case highlights that people returning from areas where Zika is non-endemic, such as Thailand, can also be infected, said the report authored by health specialists from Toulouse in southern France.

The possibility of "protracted" virus presence should be kept in mind when people plan to have children, it added.

The existing 6-month period for monitoring virus survival in infected people "should be expanded to patients returning from non-epidemic areas," wrote the team. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte softened in his stance about international climate change agreements.

If previously he said he would not honor agreements which ask the Philippines to limit its carbon emissions, he said on Friday, July 22, that he is willing to talk about the agreement if it takes into consideration the economic plans of the country.

"Mag-usap tayo ulit, mag-usap tayo ulit. (Let's talk again, let's talk again.) You take into account our plans and if it comes to reality within the 6 years that I am President, then that is good," he said on Friday during a visit to a military camp in Maguindanao City.

Duterte said he continues to have "misgivings" about climate deals. This time, he specifically mentioned the Paris Agreement on Climate Change which has been signed by 175 countries.

"Kaya ako doon sa Paris, may misgivings ako," he said. (As for my thoughts on Paris, I have misgivings.)

Duterte's doubts in the agreement lie in what he believes is the intrinsic unfairness of developing countries being asked to limit their carbon emissions as they grow when the First World countries of today were never imposed such limits as they expanded their economy.

He said even if the pledges to reduce carbon emissions are voluntary, as is the pledge of the Philippines under the Paris climate agreement, the arrangement is still unfair. (READ: Environmental groups, advocates to Duterte: ‘Let us talk’)

"Eh kung ang i-ratio nila, pare-pareho lang sa dati maski — even if it is a self-imposed, hindi ka naman maka-impose na 'ito yung aming allotment.' Sabihin, 'hindi, bababa kami, bababa ka rin.' Ang problema nitong mga industrial countries, dumating na sila sa kanilang papatunguhan. They have reached the destination, highly-industrialized na 'yan," he said.

(If they make a ratio like before, even if it is self-imposed, you can't just impose that this is our allotment. They say, 'if we reduce, you have to reduce also.'The problem with these industrial countries is they are already where they want to be. They have reached the destination, they are already highly-industrialized.)

Compare this to the Philippines which, according to Duterte, has no factories.

"Tayo wala naman tayong factory. I travelled the whole — ito wala akong nakita ni isa," Duterte said. (We don't have factories. I travelled the whole – I haven't seen even one.)

He plans to change this state of affairs by promoting industrialization. One of his plans for the economy is to establish "industrial zones" in order to create more jobs and improve skills of Filipino workers.

"We will be starting our industrialization, if we are really true to our promise to serve the Filipino and to serve them good," said Duterte.

He acknowledges that factories tend to pollute but said this is part of the process of industrialization.

To him, it's only fair that developing countries get to pollute this time around.

"Ngayon, pagdating ng mga factory na 'yan, may usok talaga 'yan…Kami, ang bisyo rin namin, dumating rin — in parity, tabla ba," he said. (Now, when it comes to factories, it will really spew smoke…Our time for vices has come — in parity, it's just fair.)

It would be ridiculous for developed countries like the United States to suggest the Philippines can't pollute as the US once did in order to grow their economy, continued Duterte.

"Eh kung ayaw ninyo kaming patablahin kasi nandiyan na kayo, kami nandito eh sabi ko, 'kalokohan yan.' I will not agree to that. How can I industrialize the country if you are putting limits now, even if they say “ah sige, ikaw ang bahala"? Mahiya ka man magsabi na dito kami, hanggang dito lang kami," he said.

(If you can't give us the same chance you had because you are already up there and we are just here, I say, 'That's ridiculous.' I will not agree to that. How can I industrialize the country if you are putting limits now, even if they say, 'it's up to you'? You should be embarrassed to say we can only reach this far.)

Under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Philippines has promised to reduce its carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 with assistance from the international community. This means the country has said it can only achieve its target if developed countries or private sector provide resources like financial aid or technology.

Though the Philippine government has signed the agreement, it needs to be ratified by Congress. – Rappler.com 

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Turkey can hold suspects in detention without charge for up to 30 days under its state of emergency imposed in the wake of the failed coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an official statement said on Saturday, July 23.

The suspects can be held for up to 30 days before being taken to a judge to decide whether to remand them in custody, said an announcement in the official gazette, where all laws and decrees appear when they come into force.

It added 1,043 private schools and 1,229 associations and foundations will be shut down under the state of emergency.

The European Union earlier expressed "concern" over Turkey's decision to impose a state of emergency following the attempted coup, and urged the country to respect human rights and the rule of law. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – There will be no showdown between Senators Aquilino Pimentel III and Alan Cayetano when the 17th Congress opens on Monday, July 25.

Pimentel, who is expected to be elected as the new Senate President, gave the assurance in an interview on radio dzMM, his office said in a statement on Saturday, July 23.

Pimentel said he has ironed out the Senate presidency with Cayetano, his chief rival for the post.

“Nag-usap na kami in Alan (Alan and I talked already). We belong to one camp. Everyone is supportive and protective of the President,” said Pimentel.

Pimentel chairs Duterte's party,  PDP Laban, while Cayetano belongs to the Nacionalista Party. Cayetano was the running mate of President Rodrigo Duterte in the last elections.

As early as June, Senate President Franklin Drilon had said that Pimentel would be his successor. (READ: Koko Pimentel will be next Senate President)

Pimentel said he will push for the Duterte administration's reform agenda topped by the shift to federalism;  the war on crime, drugs and corruption; and the “search for peace” with Muslim and communist rebels.

“We are ready to give this search for peace our legislative support and moral support,” Pimentel said.

He also supports the reimposition of the death penalty for heinous crimes, which is opposed by human rights groups and the Catholic Church.

“This is not only a deterrent but in the words of President Duterte, retribution for the crimes done against the people,” Pimentel said.

Other priorities, he said, are tax reforms, greater infrastructure spending and budget reform that would reflect the President’s priorities. – Rappler.com

BEIJING, China (UPDATED) – Anger erupted on Saturday, July 23, over floods in northern China that left more than 200 people dead or missing, with media and Internet users accusing officials of negligence.

Torrential rain has lashed the north this week, and a flash flood near the town of Xingtai in Hebei province, which left at least 23 dead and 13 missing, has become a focus of the public's dissatisfaction with the government's response to the disaster.

Angry villagers have blamed local officials for failing to warn them of the impending deluge, with Hebei Satellite TV showing one resident saying water had reached chest-level before an alarm was raised.

Residents have also voiced suspicions that the sudden flood, which struck early Wednesday, July 20, while villagers slept, was man-made – the result of a release of water from a local reservoir, rather than the breaking of a levee in a nearby river, as officials have claimed.

Photos and videos of the aftermath showed the small, floating corpses of drowned children being pulled from the muddy floodwaters, as well as telephone poles toppled and homes completely collapsed.

Local deputy Communist Party secretary Wang Qingfei drew ire for earlier comments that there had been "no casualties" in the flood, the Beijing News said.

A video of him kneeling before wailing relatives who lost family members spread on social media, showing 3 distraught women clutching at his arm while asking how many had died.

Other online footage showed locals clashing with phalanxes of police, with one video showing police lining up to form a road blockade that the person filming claimed was intended to stop residents from traveling to Beijing to report the incident.

Public skepticism towards officials is common following disasters in China, as authorities seek to control information and their lack of openness can raise doubts about their trustworthiness.

"Not to notify villagers about the Xingtai flood wasn't just an abandonment of the officials’ duty – it was essentially manslaughter," wrote one incensed user on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblog on Saturday.

As of Saturday afternoon, rainstorms had left 105 dead and 104 missing in Hebei, with nearly 310,000 people relocated and more than 52,000 homes collapsed, the province's civil affairs bureau said on an official social media account.

Flooding is not uncommon during the summer monsoon season in northern China, but rains have been unusually heavy across the country this summer.

Heavy downpours have already wreaked havoc in central and southern China, flooding several major cities and causing over 200 deaths, state media has said. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hinted he is open to setting aside Manila's legal victory against Beijing to resume bilateral talks with China, as suggested by former president Fidel V. Ramos.

Ramos was Duterte's first choice as envoy for talks with China, but the former president cited his age and other commitments as possible reasons for being unable to take on the task. On Friday, July 22, Duterte said he was considering former interior secretary Rafael Alunan III as substitute for Ramos. 

Duterte said that Ramos' suggestion – subject to "the will of the people, especially Congress" – can help enrich the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao. 

"Ramos said that it’s all right if we take out the arbitral judgment from the talks," Duterte said in a speech on Friday, July 22, in Buluan, Maguindanao.

Duterte said that if the Philippines does this, Mindanao can even surpass the rest of the country in terms of progress.

"'Pagka ganoon, and if it’s really the will of the people, especially Congress, baka maunahan natin ang buong Pilipinas (If that’s the case, and it’s really the will of the people, especially Congress, we might be ahead of the rest of the Philippines)," Duterte said.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio of the Philippine Supreme Court, for his part, explained on Friday that negotiations with China can be divided into two parts.

Carpio said the first phase "is to reopen the talks without preconditions." This means the Philippines will not bring up its legal victory, while China will not assert its 9-dash line, the demarcation it uses to claim the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). 

In the first phase, Carpio said, "We just sit down with them and agree: 'How do we proceed?'"

"In the formal negotiations, we have no choice. We have to bring up the ruling because our negotiators cannot negotiate outside of that because of constitutional constraints," Carpio said, citing constitutional provisions that protect the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. 

Duterte: 'China ang may pera'

China earlier said it will refuse negotiations with the Philippines that will be based on an arbitral tribunal’s ruling against Beijing. 

This tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, on July 12 invalidated China’s expansive claim over the West Philippine Sea.

Philippine Solicitor General Jose Calida and Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr, for their part, said the Philippines will have to use the Hague ruling in talks with Beijing.

Despite this ruling, Duterte on Friday explained that the Philippines still wants goodwill from China. 

"If we can just have a settlement with them despite the arbitral judgment, I think that we can get many benefits," he told his audience in Maguindanao.

To cite an example, he said that "we are planning to establish economic zones and farm-to-market roads."

Duterte said, "China ang may pera, hindi Amerika. Walang pera ang Amerika (It’s China that has money, not America. America doesn’t have money)." – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Dared to get the "big fish" in the illegal drug trade, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the brains behind drug syndicates cannot be found in the Philippines. 

Duterte said the "big fish" stay in a country he chooses not to name. He earlier called out China for its nationals' involvement in the illegal drug trade.

In a speech in Maguindanao on Friday, July 22, Duterte said: "Saan ako magkuha ng big fish? Sige, kung magsulat akala mo marurunong. Bakit maliit lang? 'Hoy, I have to invade a country to arrest the drug lords.' Bilyonaryo na yan doon. Hindi mo makuha 'yan."

(Where will I get the big fish? When they write, it’s as if they’re smart. Why just the small ones? 'Hey, I have to invade a country to arrest the drug lords.' They’re billionaires there. You can’t just get them.) 

"I will not name the country but obviously it is known to you," he added. 

'Ang big fish, wala dito'

Duterte earlier said he plans to air his grievances to China about the involvement of Chinese nationals in the illegal drug trade.

This week alone, Philippine airport police detained a 27-year-old Chinese woman who allegedly smuggled 11 packs of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, worth P6.2 million* ($131,530). 

On Friday, Duterte said critics looking for the "big fish" can go with him into the government’s intelligence room. 

"Big fish, big fish. Ang big fish, wala dito. Nandoon sa kanila, sa bahay nila," he said. (Big fish, big fish. The big fish aren’t here. They’re in their places, in their homes.)

Duterte said, "That’s why I intend to talk to China."

China, for its part, said it is willing to work with the Duterte administration to fight illegal drugs.

The Asian giant described illegal drugs as a "common enemy of mankind." – Rappler.com

* $1 = P47.13

VIENTIANE, Laos – Staunch China ally Cambodia is preventing Southeast Asia from reaching a consensus on the South China Sea after an international tribunal rejected Beijing's territorial claims to the waters, a diplomat said Saturday, July 23, 2016.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is meeting in Laos for the first time since the UN-backed tribunal ruled earlier this month that China did not have historic rights to vast swathes of the strategic sea.

The issue is expected to overshadow the summit, with several of the 10 member states also claiming territory in the contested waters.

China invests heavily across ASEAN but is accused of trying to divide the bloc by habitually offering aid, soft loans, and diplomatic support to key allies Laos and Cambodia.

A Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP Saturday that only Cambodia is standing in the way of a joint statement on the waters.

"It's very grave. Cambodia just opposes almost everything, even reference to respect for legal and diplomatic processes which already has been in previous statements," the diplomat said.

A draft of the communique obtained by AFP showed the section titled "South China Sea" currently blank.

Communist-ruled Laos also has close links with Beijing and has been accused of preventing a united front on the South China Sea issue.

But diplomats said as the chair of ASEAN this year Laos is trying to see a statement produced even if it is watered down.

"It does not need to take sides because even if only one country opposes, there is no consensus," the diplomat told AFP.

Another regional diplomat said Friday, July 22, that negotiations appeared to be at a deadlock.

"At this point positions are locked. Cambodia has taken a hard line. Laos is hiding behind its role as ASEAN chairman and not saying anything but at the same time it is careful not to offend China," the diplomat said.

Chinese pressure was blamed last month for a startling show of discord by bloc, with countries swiftly disowning a joint statement released by Malaysia after an ASEAN-China meeting.

That statement had expressed alarm over Beijing's activities in the South China Sea.

The Philippines brought the international arbitration case against China, while fellow ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei also have competing claims to parts of the sea.

In 2012 ASEAN foreign ministers failed to release a joint statement for the first time at the end of their annual gathering, with the Philippines blaming event host Cambodia for blocking criticism of China. – Rappler.com

KABUL, Afghanistan – An explosion ripped through an area of Kabul Saturday, July 23, where hundreds of minority Shiite Hazaras were protesting over a power line, police said, with eyewitnesses reporting a number of casualties.

Ambulances were struggling to reach the scene as authorities had overnight blocked key intersections with stacked shipping containers to prevent protesters from marching on the presidential palace.

The nature of the blast was not immediately clear, Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of Kabul's Criminal Investigation Department, told AFP.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast, but it comes in the middle of the Taliban's annual summer offensive, which the insurgents are ramping up after a brief lull during the recent holy fasting month of Ramadan.

"I was in the crowd of protesters when a loud bang occurred nearby. Many people have been killed or injured – I am in deep shock," protest organizer Jawad Naji told AFP.

The demonstrators had gathered to demand that a multi-million-dollar power line pass through their electricity-starved province of Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan with a large Hazara population.

The 500-kilovolt TUTAP power line, which would connect the Central Asian nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan with electricity-hungry Afghanistan and Pakistan, was originally set to pass through the central province.

But the government re-routed it through the mountainous Salang pass north of Kabul, saying the shorter route would speed up the project and save millions of dollars. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte said he would prioritize the economic development of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat because they have the highest incidence of hunger.

Speaking before local officials, officers and employees of Green Earth EnerSource Corporation (Green Earth) in Buluan, Maguindanao on Friday, July 22, Duterte said, “Alam mo kasi ang priority ko ang itong Maguindanao pati Sultan Kudarat. You know why? Sa statistics, you have the highest incidence of hunger. Kaya ang una ko dito by next month, kapag bababa dito yung mga DSWD, sabi ko, pakisilip nga ang mga taong – nakakaawa eh. Maybe you’d be short of everything but not food. Mahirap yan, gutom.”

(You know my priority is Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat. You know why? Based on statistics, you have the highest incidence of hunger. That’s why my priority here by next month, when DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] comes down here, I said, please take a look at the people who are pitiful. Maybe you’d be short of everything but not food. It’s hard being hungry.)

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is among the poorest regions in the Philippines. The province of Maguindanao, which is part of ARMM, registered as of 2012 a 32.1% poverty incidence rate.

Sultan Kudarat was among the provinces that needed “greater attention” in terms of food security, according to the World Food Programme, based on a survey conducted by Laylo Research Strategies in 2015.

The International Food Policy Research’s 2015 Global Hunger Index said the Philippines faces a “serious” level of hunger.

Duterte was in Maguindanao to attend the symbolic launching of the first commercial biomass power plant there that will be built by Green Earth. The renewable energy plant, according to a press statement by the Presidential Communications Operations Office, will have an installed capacity of 4.5 megawatts. It is expected to generate enough electricity for Buluan and generate local employment.

Duterte also said he was willing to implement the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) if it would end the decades-old Mindanao conflict. The BBL, which would have granted greater fiscal and political powers to a new regional government, was stalled in Congress.

He also said he has plans of putting up industrial zones in Mindanao. “Then ang easy market ko, locators would be China. China ang may pera.” (Then my easy market would be locators from China. China has the money.) – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Two days before the 17th Congress opens, Liberal Party (LP) member and outgoing House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr decided to drop his bid for the House minority leadership. 

“SB (Belmonte) has decided that he will no longer run for minority leader because he decided to set aside his personal desire to lead the opposition, if only to put the interest of the majority of the members ahead of his,” said Marikina 2nd District Representative Miro Quimbo in a phone interview on Saturday, July 23. 

He said the LP, which has about 30 to 35 members, will sign a coalition agreement with President Rodrigo Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) to join the supermajority bloc.

“It is also in consonance with the sentiment of PNoy (former president Benigno Aquino III) to join the majority which he intimated to us two months ago after the elections,” Quimbo said.

Rappler has been trying to reach Belmonte for comment but he has not responded as of posting time.  

Aside from Quimbo, two other LP members confirmed Belmonte’s decision: Albay Representative Edcel Lagman and Ifugao Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat Jr. 

PDP-Laban member and Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Rudy Fariñas, who was part of a meeting with Belmonte on Saturday evening, said, “Yes, magma-majority sila. Tumawag sa akin [si Belmonte] and I’m here in his house now. Marami pa kaming pag-uusapan.” Fariñas is expected to be the next House majority leader. 

(Yes, they’ll join the majority. Belmonte called me and I’m here in his house now. We still have a lot to talk about.)

On July 19, Belmonte said LP is going to fight to lead the House minority bloc, with himself gunning for the minority leadership.

Four days later, he changed his mind, with no other LP member deciding to take his place. Fariñas previously said LP had been “vacillating” on whether to join the majority or the minority.

Apart from 100 PDP-Laban lawmakers, the supermajority is composed of around 50 from the Nacionalista Party, 80 from the Nationalist People's Coalition, 40 from the National Unity Party, and 5 from Lakas-CMD. Thirty-seven party-list representatives are also supporting PDP-Laban.

LP divided?

Belmonte’s latest decision signals a divide among the LP members in the House because there are a handful of them who have already decided to join the minority regardless of the party’s stand. 

“Even if the decision will be for the LP to join the coalition, there are those like me who will remain as LP [but] as independent minority,” said Lagman, who said around 10 others share his sentiments. 

Baguilat is one of them. 

“As a matter of principle and personal belief, I think I’m more free to express my positions and do our role as a fiscalizer in the minority,” said Baguilat.

This latest turn of events means that the United Nationalist Alliance is left to lead the minority, with Quezon 3rd District Representative Danilo Suarez eyeing the minority leadership.  – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – With maternal and child health in mind, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan recently filed a bill that seeks to extend maternity leave in the country from 60 to 150 days.

An amendment to the Social Security Act of 1997, Pangilinan's bill wants to lengthen maternity leave by 150%.

"The current law is below the international labor standard on maternal protection that recommends 14 weeks or 98 days of maternity leave," he said in a statement on Saturday, July 23.

Pangilinan is citing an international labor standard included in the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000, but according to the International Labor Organization, the Philippines has not ratified the said convention. 

The Philippines' Social Security Law only grants mothers 60 days of leave for normal childbirth, and 78 days for caesarean delivery.

But citing Public Health Reports from 2011, Pangilinan said an increase in the length of paid maternity leave can reduce infant mortality by as much as 10%.

According to the same report, paid maternity leave increases the likelihood of a child getting well-baby visits and vaccinations. It also increases the rate and duration of breastfeeding.

"Aside from the mother being able to rest and recover fully from childbirth, this proposed measure will also ensure that the newborn will be well cared for," the senator said.

Pangilinan's bill – among the first 10 bills he filed for the 17th Congress – also allows for an additional 30-day maternity leave without pay, as long as the employer is informed in writing at least 45 days before the employee's original maternity leave ends.

An employee on maternity leave must receive not less than two-thirds of her regular monthly wages – a cash benefit which, Pangilinan said, can help maintain the health and well-being of both mother and child.

The bill also prohibits employers from terminating the employment of a mother on maternity leave, and makes sure she is allowed to return to the same or equivalent position she left, and paid at the same rate.

A similar bill extending maternity leave, but to a shorter 100 days, made it as far as the Senate's third and final reading during the 16th Congress. – Rappler.com

Pregnant woman image from Shutterstock

MANILA, Philippines – It’s going to be a full day at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday, July 25. 

President Rodrigo Duterte is delivering his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on this day, an anticipated event for the nation. Duterte won over 4 other presidential candidates, with 16 million voting for him in May. 

About 3,000 invitations have been sent for the SONA that will be attended by top politicians, diplomats, and former presidents, except former president Benigno Aquino III. (READ: Aquino to skip Duterte's 1st SONA) 

The day will begin early at 8 am with breakfast for members of the House of Representatives and the Senate at the Speaker Nograles Hall.

At 10 am, the lawmakers will proceed to the plenary hall to mark the beginning of the 17th Congress’ session.  

The House Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Deputy Speakers, Secretary General, and Sergeant-at-Arms will be elected at this time. 

Davao del Norte 1st District Representative Pantaleon Alvarez, eyed as the next House Speaker, will host a lunch at the Speaker’s Social Hall at 12 pm.

All guests for the SONA are then expected to start arriving in the early afternoon because they are required to be inside the plenary hall by 3 pm. 

Duterte will then enter the Batasang Pambansa, but he will no longer be welcomed by a large group of lawmakers as per tradition. He will instead be greeted at the entrance by Alvarez and Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, presumptive Senate President.

Also departing from tradition or common practice, guests attending the SONA are expected to come in simple business attire. 

Incoming Senate Majority Floor Leader Senator Vicente Sotto III and House Majority Floor Leader-to-be Rudy Fariñas, also Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative, will escort Duterte inside the plenary hall.

Singer Bayang Barrios will be leading the national anthem.

The President is expected to speak at 4 pm about his war against crime and drugs, his plea for peace, his legislative agenda, and other priorities during the SONA. The event will end with cocktails at 5 pm. – Rappler.com

KABUL, Afghanistan (3rd UPDATE) – Islamic State group jihadists (IS, formerly known as ISIS or the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq) claimed responsibility for twin explosions Saturday, July 23, that ripped through crowds of Shiite Hazaras in Kabul, killing at least 80 people and wounding 231 others in their first major attack in the Afghan capital.

The bombings, apparently aimed at sowing sectarian discord in a country well known for Shia-Sunni harmony, came as thousands of Hazaras gathered to protest over a multi-million-dollar power line.

Charred bodies and dismembered limbs littered the scene of the attack, with ambulances struggling to reach the site as authorities had overnight blocked key intersections with stacked shipping containers to control movement of the protesters. 

"As a result of the attack 80 people were martyred and 231 others were wounded," the interior ministry said in a statement.

"Based on initial information, the attack was carried out by 3 suicide bombers... The 3rd attacker was gunned down by security forces."

The wounded overwhelmed city hospitals, officials said, with reports emerging of blood shortages and urgent appeals for donors circulating on social media.

The Taliban, who are in the middle of their annual summer offensive and are more powerful than ISIS, strongly denied any involvement in the attack.

ISIS claimed the bombings in a statement carried by its affiliated Amaq news agency, calling it an attack on Shiites.

"Two fighters of the Islamic State detonated their explosive belts in a gathering of Shiites in... Kabul," Amaq said.

The attack represents a major escalation for the ISIS group, which so has largely been confined to the eastern province of Nangarhar.

"It's long been a fear about Afghanistan that IS-aligned forces will try to inject a sectarian dimension into a largely non-sectarian conflict," Michael Kugelman, an analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, told Agence France-Presse.

The National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's main intelligence agency, said the attack was masterminded by Abu Ali, an ISIS commander in Nangarhar's volatile Achin district.

'Horrific attack'

The bombings mark the deadliest single attack in the Afghan capital since the Taliban were toppled from power in a 2001 US-led invasion, the interior ministry said.

President Ashraf Ghani vowed "revenge" against the perpetrators of the attack and announced Sunday as a national day of mourning.

The assault came as thousands of demonstrators gathered to demand that a multi-million-dollar power line pass through their electricity-starved province of Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan with a large Hazara population.

"The horrific attack on a group of peaceful protestors in Kabul demonstrates the utter disregard that armed groups have for human life," Amnesty International said in a statement.

"Such attacks are a reminder that the conflict in Afghanistan is not winding down, as some believe, but escalating, with consequences for the human rights situation in the country that should alarm us all."

In a statement, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was "deeply saddened" by the carnage, adding that the casualties included security officials.

"Holding protests is the right of every citizen of Afghanistan... but terrorists entered the protests, and carried out explosions that martyred and wounded a number of citizens including members of security forces," the presidential palace said.

The protest march was largely peaceful before the explosions struck as the demonstrators sought to march on the presidential palace, waving flags and chanting slogans such as "death to discrimination".

The 500-kilovolt TUTAP power line, which would connect the Central Asian nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan with electricity-hungry Afghanistan and Pakistan, was originally set to pass through the central province.

But the government re-routed it through the mountainous Salang pass north of Kabul, saying the shorter route would speed up the project and save millions of dollars.

Hazara leaders in the ethnically divided nation lashed out at the Pashtun president, calling the decision prejudiced against the Hazaras, a community that has suffered a long history of oppression.

The 3 million-strong Hazara community has been persecuted for decades, with thousands killed in the late 1990s by Al-Qaeda and the mainly Pashtun Sunni Taliban. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Will a bill that has languished in the Philippine Congress for years see the light of day in the 17th Congress?

That's what Senator Franklin Drilon is hoping for.

He filed Senate Bill 230 a week before the 17th Congress opens on July 25, and said in a statement Saturday, July 23, he is optimistic that an anti-political dynasty bill "is highly possible" – especially since the last Congress passed the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act.

That legislation, he said, has a "well-praised landmark anti-political dynasty provision".

That provision under the law bars relatives of elected or appointed officials up to the 2nd level of consanguinity from pursuing SK posts. Lawmakers then noted this as the first provision of its kind to be approved in the country.

The latest anti-political dynasty bill, meanwhile, seeks to "level the playing field in the political arena", as Drilon stressed that the 1987 Constitution itself mandates the State to prohibit dynasties "as may be defined by law".

What does Senate Bill 230 say about political dynasties?

According to Drilon's bill, political dynasty exists when the following hold or run for an elective office at the same time as an incumbent elective official within the same city or province, or occupy the same office immediately after an incumbent's term of office:

• spouse of an incumbent elective official
• a relative within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity of an incumbent elective official (whether legitimate or illegitimate, full or half blood)

"The bill also bans any person within the prohibited civil degree of relationship to the incumbent to succeed to the position of the latter," Drilon said in the statement.

If the incumbent elective official's constituency is national in character, Drilon said a spouse or relative will be disqualified from running only within the same province where the incumbent is a registered voter.

"In case where none of the candidates is related to an incumbent elective official within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity, but are related to one another within the said prohibited degree, they, including their spouses, shall be disqualified from holding or running for any local elective office within the same province in the same election," the statement added.

The proposed bill also wants to address the "significant negative effect" of political dynasty on the "upliftment of local living standards".

Citing a study led by former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Drilon said research noted that the lack of real political competition leads to flawed policies at the local level.

Drilon has long pushed for an enabling law that will implement the Constitution's provision prohibiting political dynasties and guaranteeing equal access to opportunities for public service. 

During the 16th Congress, an anti-dynasty bill reached the plenary in the House of Representatives. The measure prohibits two or more relatives (up to the second degree of consanguinity) to hold or run for both national and local office in "successive, simultaneous, or overlapping terms."

Similar bills at the Senate, meanwhile, stayed with the committee on electoral reforms and people's participation. – Rappler.com