Duterte allows Xi to take lead on South China Sea issue from VERA Files on Vimeo. By CHARMAINE DEOGRACIAS President Rodrigo Duterte will not initiate and will instead let Chinese President Xi Jinping to take the lead on whether the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration will be discussed in their meeting today. In
By CHARMAINE DEOGRACIAS WHETHER Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk about Scarborough Shoal in their first meeting in Beijing, the specter of the triangular-shaped coral reef 124 nautical miles west of Zambales looms large in this landmark visit that signals the rekindling of relations between the two Asian countries severely
AS the country marks the first 100 days of the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, one of the burning issues under intense scrutiny is: What is our foreign policy vis-à-vis current international issues and how is our diplomacy navigating the complex waters of international relations? These questions need educated answers now as the Philippines heads for
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS PRESIDENT Duterte finally hit the highest target: God. After taking on the holiest of the living figures – Pope Francis; the president of the world’s superpower – U.S. President Barack Obama; and the Secretary General of the United Nations – Ban Ki Moon, he had ran out of adversaries.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is no fan of the United Nations, calling its leader a fool and its experts stupid. During his speech before the Malacañang Press Corps on Sept. 26, Duterte once again slammed the UN for interfering in his drug war. He said the international agency had investigated him on the alleged extrajudicial killings in
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS WE don’t have to enumerate bunglings by the Duterte communication team because Press Secretary Martin Andanar has admitted it. “Tayo naman ay hindi perpekto ‘no, tayo’y nagkakamali din, pero Inaayos natin itong mga pagkakamali na ito (We are not perfect and we make mistakes. We are correcting our mistakes),” Andanar
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS PRESIDENT Duterte at first played coy when asked about his assessment of his debut in the international stage in the 2016 summit of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the 18-country East Asia Summit in Laos last week, saying it would be “self-serving.” But with little prodding he
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS WHATEVER one’s political leaning is, every Filipino wants to be proud of the President when he appears in the world stage. He represents the Filipino people. His success is our success. His embarrassment is our embarrassment. The 2016 Asean summit in Vientiane, Laos was President Duterte’s first official foreign trip.
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS WE condemn the bombing at the Davao night market bombing last Friday which killed 14 people and injured more than 70. We pray for strength for the families of those who died and were injured. We pray for justice for the victims and that includes all of the Filipino people.
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS IN trying to control damage wrought by the President Duterte’s verbal rampage against the United Nations in the early hours Sunday, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr. on Monday chose to put the blame on media. “It was done in the wee hours of the morning and he was very tired,
