3.

Duterte declares Martial

Law in Mindanao
MANILA (3rd UPDATE) - President Rodrigo Duterte on 10 p.m. Tuesday
declared martial law in the entire Mindanao island amid the ongoing clashes
between government troops and Maute group terrorists in Marawi City,
presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.
Abella, in a briefing in Moscow, said the President ordered him to make the
announcement.
He said martial law in the area will be in effect for 60 days, as stipulated in the
Constitution.
"This is on the grounds of resistance and rebellion based on what is
happening," he said.
"What the President has done is only for Mindanao including Basilan, Sulu,
and Tawi-tawi," added.
Duterte's meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will be
postponed as he will leave Russia at 10 p.m. Moscow time, to return to
Manila, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said.
He said he has spoken to his counterpart in Moscow and Russian officials
understand the situation.
Putin will meet Duterte later Tuesday, rather than Thursday, the Russian
press secretary Dmitry Peskov was quoted as TASS news agency.
"They understand that the President has to return to the Philippines. I will stay
behind to sign agreements. The President feels he is needed in Manila
ASAP," Cayetano said.
3 GOV'T TROOPERS KILLED IN MARAWI CLASHES
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said 2 soldiers and one police officer
were killed, while 12 others were wounded in ongoing clashes in Marawi City.
He said the Maute group still occupies a street and two bridges leading to
Marawi City.
"The whole of Marawi City is blacked out. There is no light and there are
Maute snipers all around so the troops are still on holding and several groups
of element already joined them from other neighboring units," he said.
Lorenzana said more troops will be brought into the city on Wednesday.
He added that the Maute group has torched several facilities: St. Mary’s
Church, the city jail, the Ninoy Aquino School, and Dansalan College.
"No civilians are roaming around, they’re all in their houses but there are
several houses that were burned surrounding the other facilities that were
burned earlier," he said.
The government urged civilians on Mindanao to stay in their homes or flee if it
was safe, and the military said reinforcements of an initial 500 soldiers were
on the way, but were being hamstrung by rebels blocking roads.
The militants belong to the Maute group, which has pledged allegiance to
Islamic State in the Middle East. Previous military offensives against the
Maute, based in Lanao del Sur province, have lasted several days.

 WATCH: What is the Maute terrorist group?

Witnesses told local television that gunfire was clattering sporadically around
the city.

 WATCH: Shots heard amid live interview of Marawi resident

Brigadier General Rolando Bautista, commander of the Philippines' First

Infantry Division, said security forces were trying to locate the militants.
"Based on our assessment right now there are more or less 100 divided into
groups of 10 in different locations," he told ANC.
"Since they are advocating ISIS ideology they have to show ISIS that they are
a force to be reckoned with," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Public Affairs Office chief Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo, in a statement late
Tuesday night, said "the situation in Marawi has stabilized".
“Security forces are in full control of the situation," he said. “The armed men
we are dealing with are not ISIS but members (of a) local terrorist group."
He denied initial reports that the Amai Pakpak Hospital was occupied by
Maute members and the people there were held hostage.
“The Marawi City Hall was not occupied," he said. “The sporadic firefights
heard were harassment actions by terrorist sympathizers that were conducted
as diversionary tactics to divide the attention of the reinforcing AFP
personnel."
“Follow-up operations are ongoing. We cannot reveal other details so as not
to compromise operational security," Arevalo said. “Meanwhile, we fervently
urge our people to refrain from posting in social media information that would
tend exacerbate the situation. Especially of photos and videos on the
movements of our troops and on terrorist propaganda circulating through
social media." - with reports from Greanne Mendoza, ABS-CBN News;
ANC, Reuters
MOSCOW, Russia (4th UPDATE) – President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in
the island of Mindanao following the attack of the Maute Group in Marawi City.

"As of 10 pm Manila time, he has already declared martial law for the entire island of
Mindanao," said Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella.

"This is possible on the grounds of existence of rebellion because of what is happening

in Mindanao," he added. (READ: Martial Law 101: Things you should know)

Abella made this announcement on Tuesday, May 23, in Moscow, Russia at around
6:30 pm (11:30 pm Manila time).

Martial law will last 60 days, Abella pointed out. Asked if there is already an official
document of the declaration, Duterte's spokesman said "details to follow."

"He has full confidence in the AFP and PNP's management of the situation," Abella also
said. (READ: Timeline of Marawi clashes)

Because of the situation in Marawi and his declaration of martial law, Abella added
that Duterte is cutting short his trip to Russia. The Presidential Communications
Operations Office said the President will leave Russia at 5 am on Wednesday, May 24,
Manila time. He is expected to arrive in Manila at 5 pm on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano will stay behind to witness the signing of
agreements with Russian ministers.

"The President does not take lightly the declaration of martial law in any part of the
Philippines," Cayetano said. "The President doesn't take it lightly because he knows
and his Cabinet knows that there are implications, for example in tourism."

"But the priority of the President is the safety, the lives and property of people of
Mindanao. So he cannot sacrifice the lives of people for any amount of money or any
economic reason," he added.

In the same press conference on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana was
asked whether there was a lapse in intelligence that allowed the Maute Group to enter
Marawi.

Lorenzana said the group's presence in the mountainous areas of Marawi City was not
unknown to government forces.

"I don't think there is a lack of intelligence, just appreciation of intelligence that was
lacking there. Baka akala nila kayang kaya (They might have thought it's easy), but...
there's just intelligence there, it's just the appreciation of what the intelligence means
that medyo nagkamali sila (they made a mistake)," he said.

Duterte jokes: Why not

make Philippines a
province of China?
MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte jokingly suggested
to Chinathat it make the Philippines part of its territory, as a province.

"Kung gusto 'nyo, gawin 'nyo na lang kaming province, parang Fujian (If you want, just
make us a province, like Fujian)," said Duterte on Monday, February 19, during the
anniversary of the Chinese Business Club.

"Province of Philippines, Republic of China," he added, to applause from his audience

of Filipino-Chinese businessmen.

Duterte made the joke after saying Chinese President Xi Jinping himself promised not to
build any structures on Scarborough Shoal.

"They assured us they will not build anything there in Scarborough Shoal," said Duterte.

"Maniwala kayo kasi 'yan ang commitment sa akin ni China. Si Xi Jinping mismo
nagsabi and he's a man of honor." (Believe it because that is China's commitment to
me. Xi Jinping himself said it and he's a man of honor.)

Duterte added that negotiations for joint exploration between China and the
Philippinesare underway, even mentioning the possible sharing scheme between the
two nations.

"Kasi 'yung oil, joint (exploration) naman, 'yung pinakamarami. Two-thirds sa amin, one-
third sa inyo," said the President. (Because the oil, it's joint exploration, we will have the
biggest share. Two-thirds will be ours, one-third yours.)

Military bases
Duterte also admitted in his speech that China is building "military bases" in the West
Philippine Sea but said it would be silly for anyone to think China will use such military
assets against the Philippines.

"Military bases, I must admit it, but is it intended for us? You must be joking. It's not
intended for us," he said. (READ: Roque: One day, we'll thank China for artificial
islands)

China is building up its defense capability against just the United States, according to
Duterte.

"It's really intended for those who China thinks will destroy them and that is
America, hindi tayo kasali diyan (we aren't part of that)," said the President.

"There's negotiations for joint exploration. Can you beat that? Hayaan mo missile-
missile diyan, hindi para sa atin 'yan (Just ignore the missiles there, it's not intended for
us)," he added.

Duterte also downplayed China's successful bid to name 5 undersea features in

Philippine Rise (Benham Rise). But he maintained that if the continental shelf is found to
be resource-rich, the Philippines would claim the resources, such as oil. (READ: No bad
faith on part of China in naming PH Rise features – Roque)

"If they say there is a lot of oil there, fine...Remember, that is ours. The whole of the
[South] China Sea, you have already claimed it…but this Philippine Rise is ours," said
Duterte.

He repeated that any future scientific research conducted by a foreign entity in

Philippine Rise will have to be cleared by the military first. (READ: PH can ban China in
Benham, but not other nations – Carpio)

"If the military says it's good, it can be done, I'll give you the permit," said Duterte

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday joked that China could make the Philippines its
province.
“Gusto ninyo gawain na lang ninyo kaming province, [parang] Fujian, pati Philippine
province of China, eh ‘di wala tayong problema. Libre na lahat,” he said in a speech at
the Fiesta Pavilion of the Manila Hotel.
His remarks drew applause from the audience of Chinese-Filipino businessmen –
whose guests included Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua.
It was a joint event – the 10th Biennial National Convention and 20th Founding
Anniversary Celebration of the Chinese Filipino Business Club, Inc. (CFBCI).
Duterte said that Chinese President Xi jinping promised him that China would not
build any structures on the contested Scarborough Shoal.
“Ganoon na lang ang respeto ko kay Xi Jinping. Matakot ka? Sabi nila they will not
build… They assured us, they will not build anything there sa Scarborough Shoal,” he
said.
“Maniwala kayo kasi ‘yan ang commitment sa akin ng China. And galing kay Amba –
si Xi Jinping mismo ang nagsabi and he is a man of honor,” he added.
Duterte also mentioned that negotiations for a joint exploration between the
Philippines and China in the disputed South China Sea were underway.
“Kasi ‘yung joint [exploration] naman. ‘Yung oil mo dito mo ang pinakamarami.
Two-third sa amin, one-third kayo, mayaman naman kayo eh. Sus. At saka probinsya
na kami. Oh, province of Philippines, Republic of China,” he said.
The hotly contested South China Sea is believed to be rich in mineral and oil deposits.
/atm

Duterte jokes that the

Philippines should be made a
Chinese province
“If China were a woman, I’d woo her,” said the
Philippine president

Rodrigo Duterte is apparently not at all worried about China’s

military build-up in the South China Sea, arguing that the armed
island installations are not directed at his country and even joking
that the Philippines might as well be a Chinese province anyway.
“If you want, just make us a province, like Fujian,”
Duerte quipped on Monday at a gathering in Manila of Chinese-
Filipino businessmen that was also attended by Chinese
ambassador Zhao Jianhua.

“Province of Philippines, Republic of China,” Duterte continued,

apparently unaware that this name refers instead to Taiwan. “If
China were a woman, I’d woo her.”

China lays claim to the vast majority of the South China Sea, one
of the world’s most important shipping lanes that is also rich in
resources to boot. In recent years, China’s sweeping claims have
led to territorial disputes with Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan,
Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. In order to strengthen its
claims against its neighbors, China has begun creating artificial
islands from reefs and filling them with soldiers, missiles,
and airplane runways.

However, Durterte apparently thinks that militarized manmade

islands popping up in the sea near his country is a no big deal,
arguing that Beijing obviously isn’t planning to use their military
force against his country, but to counter US power in the region.

“It’s not intended for us. The contending ideological powers of the
world or the geopolitics has greatly changed,” Duterte said. “It’s
really intended against those who the Chinese think would destroy
them and that is America.”

While Washington has no territorial claims in the South China

Sea, it has frequently voiced its objections to Beijing’s claims and
artificial island-building, sending “freedom of navigation”
patrols to sail near the islands, provoking indignation on the
Chinese side.
Before Duterte took office, the Philippines spent years challenging
China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea at an
international arbitration tribunal in the Hague. In July 2016, the
court sided with the Philippines, ruling that China’s claims to
historic and economic rights in the South China had no basis in
law.

However, China refused to accept the verdict and Duterte has

failed to press the point, deciding instead to put the South China
Sea issue on the back burner while focusing on investment and
trade deals with Beijing. “Only China can help us,” Duterte
declared before a trip to the Chinese capital in 2016 during which
he disavowed the US and waxed rhapsodic about his country’s
budding romance with China.

In his speech on Monday, Duterte reiterated that he will go about

solving his country’s territorial disputes with China diplomatically,
because a military path is an impossibility.

“We cannot go there, ride in our whatever, Navy, the gray ships, the
Coast Guard and start waving our rifles. We cannot do that today.
It is unrealistic. It cannot be true,” Duterte said. “Then why would
I go there, bring my Navy, my soldiers, my police and everything
only to be slaughtered?”

“I will not commit the lives of the Filipinos only to die

unnecessarily. I will not go into a battle which I can never win. We
cannot do that today. It is unrealistic,” he continued.

Duterte’s opponents have often accused the fiery, outspoken

president of simply rolling over to China on issues of national
sovereignty and have pointed to his joke about the Philippines
becoming a Chinese province as yet another indication of his
subservience to Beijing.

SunStar Philippines relays some of these critical reactions:

“It is absolutely unacceptable for the President, the top diplomat
of the country, to joke about making the Philippines a province of
China,” Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano said.
“Such irresponsible banter is a slap in the face of the many
Filipinos, including our soldiers stationed in our occupied islands,
who work tirelessly to defend our territorial integrity from
China.”
Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin warned that the such jokes will
negate diplomatic attempts to assert Philippine sovereignty. “It’s
becoming a habit of the President to defer always to the wishes of
China and such joke manifests his willful subservience at the
expense of our sovereignty,” he said.
“With him as President, we will become inutile to assert our
rights even through diplomacy and will be sold to China for a
pittance. The joke is on us if we don’t call him out for such
irresponsible statements,” Villarin added.

During his speech, Duterte also boasted that negotiations were

underway for a joint exploration scheme of his country’s resources
with China in which China would receive one-third of the oil.

“There’s negotiations for joint exploration. Can you beat that? Just
ignore the missiles there, it’s not intended for us,” he said.
Duterte joke on China
shocks lawmakers
FILIPINO-CHINESE TIES President Duterte greets Chinese Ambassador to the
Philippines Zhao Jianhua on the sidelines of the 10th Biennial National Convention and
20th founding anniversary celebration of the Chinese-Filipino Business Club Inc. on
Monday. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

Opposition lawmakers were aghast on Tuesday at President Rodrigo Duterte’s joke

about making the Philippines a province of China, calling the chief executive’s
comment a “slap in the face” of Filipino troops defending the country’s sovereignty in
its territory in the South China Sea.

Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, who helped bring the Philippines’ challenge to
China’s claim to nearly all of the South China Sea before the UN-backed Permanent
Court of Arbitration in The Hague, also slammed Mr. Duterte for the joke, calling it
“unbelievable” and in no way could be considered funny.

Even Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison rejected Mr.
Duterte’s statements to a gathering of Chinese-Filipino businessmen on Monday night,
calling the President “a stupid guy who is a bloody bully to his own poor countrymen
but an abject puppet and a coward to foreign interests.”
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Also incensed by Mr. Duterte’s joke, members of Akbayan party-list marched on the
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday and demanded the Duterte
administration “stop defending China’s interests.”

Warming relations

Malacañang, however, said Mr. Duterte’s joke was just intended to underscore the
Philippines’ warming relations with China.
Speaking at the 10th biennial convention and 20th founding anniversary of the Chinese-
Filipino Business Club Inc. on Monday night, Mr. Duterte took note of criticism that he
was not doing enough to defend the Philippines against China, whose sweeping claim
to the South China Sea was invalidated by the Hague arbitral court in 2016.

He said Chinese President Xi Jinping himself had promised to him that China would
not build anything on Panatag Shoal, a resource-rich fishing ground internationally
known as Scarborough Shoal that China grabbed from the Philippines after a two-
month maritime standoff in 2012, prompting Manila to go to the arbitral court.

Mr. Duterte said people should believe Xi’s promise, as the Chinese leader was a “man
of honor.”

Then he joked that China should turn the Philippines into one of its provinces and leave
Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, alone.

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua was in the audience.

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‘Absolutely unacceptable’

Despite that joke, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday that Mr.
Duterte was quite clear in his assertion of Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine
Sea—waters within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone in the South
China Sea—and in Philippine Rise, a vast undersea plateau off the eastern coast of the
country rich in biodiversity and tuna.

“[H]is joke is, you know, it’s just to emphasize that it’s ours but we’re one with China.
Take it in that spirit,” Roque said.

But Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano found the joke “absolutely unacceptable.”

“Such irresponsible banter is a slap in the face of the many Filipinos who work
tirelessly to defend our territorial integrity [against] China. This only shows how
indifferent and apathetic Duterte is to China’s bastardization of our sovereignty,”
Alejano said.
“It’s unbelievable. There’s no way by which you can consider that joke funny,” said
Hilbay, a member of the Philippine legal team that argued the country’s arbitration case
in the Hague court.

Hilbay said Mr. Duterte’s remark was no laughing matter, especially in the context of
China “consistently disrespecting [the Philippines’] national territory.”

“There is no doubt that a person who is a leader of a country consider his statements—
whether serious or not—would have serious implications, especially on a very serious
matter such as the protection of our national territory,” he said.

Sison, in a statement sent from the Netherlands, said Mr. Duterte’s assertion of
sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea was just “ek-ek” (drama) and accused the
President of being a “dictator and bully” to Filipinos but a “traitor and coward” when it
came to China.

At the DFA gates, the Akbayan protesters issued a statement saying Mr. Duterte’s
“absurd jest” showed that he had “already sold our resources to China.”

Particularly alarming

In the House of Representatives, Alejano said Mr. Duterte’s comment was particularly
alarming in light of China’s increasingly confrontational maneuvers in the West
Philippine Sea.

The former Navy captain cited information from sources he did not identify that a
Philippine Navy ship conducting regular troop rotation and mission in the Spratly island
chain had sighted a Chinese vessel lurking approximately 7 km off the Philippine-
owned Pag-asa Island.

“A few minutes later, two more Chinese vessels were spotted heading toward the first
vessel. Afterward, the Philippine Navy ship monitored a Chinese Coast Guard vessel
and a People’s Liberation Army-Navy warship roughly [9 km] off Pag-asa Island,”
Alejano said.
He said the Chinese vessels proceeded to form a semicircle formation around Pag-asa in
what appeared to be a “cabbage strategy” to control a specific area.

“Meanwhile, the Chinese Coast Guard and Navy vessels closed in and shadowed the
Philippine Navy ship for as close as [4 km] northwest of Pag-asa Island, near the
sandbars,” he said.

“The quick response of Chinese vessels upon the arrival of our Navy ship on Pag-asa
Island suggests that they are permanently stationed nearby,” Alejano said.

“We could infer that the reclaimed areas by China in the West Philippine Sea,
particularly [Zamora] Reef, are being used as forward operating bases. Again,
confirming the militarization in the disputed waters,” he added.

Passive and subservient

“The rapid militarization of the West Philippine Sea, lack of formal and transparent
protests by our government, the reported Chinese-Philippine resource ventures—all of
these point to a passive and subservient strategy by the administration,” he said.

“The President should be reminded that our territorial integrity and sovereignty are
issues that should never be joked about,” he added.

Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin said: “The joke is on us if we don’t call him out for such
irresponsible statements.”

“It’s becoming a habit of the President to defer always to the wishes of China and such
joke manifests his willful subservience at the expense of our sovereignty,” he said.

“With him as President, we will become inutile to assert our rights even through
diplomacy and will be sold to China for a pittance,” he added. —With reports from
Leila B. Salaverria, Jhesset O. Enano, Matthew Reysio-Cruz and Delfin T. Mallari
Jr.

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/164460/duterte-joke-on-china-shocks-

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