The Philippines and China have just restored peace and stability in the areas of the South China Sea contested by the two countries in a July 21, 2024 “de-escalation” deal that aimed at “easing tensions.”
NO to US-BBM War, NO to EDCA Bases!
Blinken-Austin Get Out, Stay Out!
Related:
NO to US-BBM War, NO to EDCA Bases! – Cebu
NO to US-BBM War, NO to EDCA Bases! Blinken-Austin Get Out, Stay Out! Forum Statement
Washington’s Use and Abuse of the Philippines Takes Next Step
The United States has taken yet another step toward shaping the Southeast Asian archipelago nation of the Philippines into an Ukraine-style proxy with which to encircle and contain China, this time in the form of a $500 million military assistance package for Manila.
Washington’s Use and Abuse of the Philippines Takes Next Step
Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish
“We were given a warning order to support the Philippines defense forces in resupplying of the Second Thomas Shoal,” Marine Rotational Force — Darwin commander Col. Brian Mulvihill told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday at an Outback training camp in the Northern Territory.
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The Marines have been monitoring events at the shoal over a drone feed, Mulvihill said.
“We were ready to support the Philippine defense forces,” he said, noting that Marines across the Pacific are also ready to back the U.S. ally.
The rotational force can airlift food and water by pushing pallets out of helicopters, he added.
“We can control airspace and aircraft from many nations,” he said. “We provide a range of options if a host nation, through the embassy, requires assistance.”
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Darwin is an excellent platform for launching forces into Southeast Asia, according to Grant Newsham, a retired Marine colonel and senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.
“It’s good to see Darwin and Northern Territory being used this way … rather than just as a training area for Marines, Air Force, and Australian and other forces,” he said by email Thursday.
The Marines can offer the Philippines fire support coordination. They can help with logistics and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and guard locations that support Philippine forces operating towards the disputed shoal, he said.
“Of course, Marines can deploy aboard Philippine resupply boats alongside [Philippine] personnel,” he said.
Marine engineers could repair the Sierra Madre at the shoal and Marine helicopters could resupply it, Newsham added.
“A U.S. amphibious ship or two with Marines and their aircraft and other hardware aboard deployed to Second Thomas Shoal would be a serious force — and also sending a clear message,” he said. “Deploying Marines in the Philippines with their aviation, long-range rockets, and other hardware has a political significance in itself.”
Related:
Japan Forum for Strategic Studies
South China Sea: Philippines says to solely run Second Thomas Shoal resupply missions
A video capturing a few passionate young Americans confronting a former senior White House official Matthew Pottinger and being forcefully removed from the venue has recently made a splash across social media platforms in China and the US. According to José Vega, the 25-year-old American who was being dragged out of the venue violently, Pottinger made inflammatory remarks accusing China of instigating a potential World War III during his speech at a forum on security issues relating to the Taiwan Straits recently held in New York. Outraged by these false allegations, José and his friends Simon Miller and Robert Castle felt compelled to speak out against Pottinger’s divisive rhetoric.
Young Americans recount moments angrily rebuking anti-China politician at a forum
Previously:
Congress to prioritize EPIRA changes as Senate junks ‘Cha-cha’
THE PHILIPPINE Senate would put proposals to change the 1987 Constitution on the back burner and would instead focus on measures to boost the military amid growing tensions with China, according to the Senate president.
The chamber would also pass bills that seek to boost healthcare and jobs while easing hunger, Senate President Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero said in a speech as Congress resumed sessions on Monday.
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At the weekend, he said they would tackle a proposal to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) amid blackouts.
The Senate will also push changes to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE), particularly lower taxes on domestic and foreign companies.
Mr. Escudero said Congress should go beyond laws that only benefit big business, and find solutions to problems with healthcare, joblessness and poverty.
“We will take peaceful measures to defend our people’s right to sail in our seas and fish in our waters, as what our ancestors had done, and what our children and grandchildren shall do,” he added.
The Senate in December passed a bill that seeks to boost the country’s defense program through investments in local defense equipment manufacturing. The measure will give the Department of National Defense P1 billion in seed funding.
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Also on Monday, Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said the House of Representatives would also seek changes to EPIRA.
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He said changes to EPIRA, which liberalized the power industry, would bring down electricity prices and ease inflation.
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It would now fast-track changes to EPIRA and a bill that seeks to extend the lease period for foreign investors. Other pending measures include amendments to the Agrarian Reform law and another that will modernize national defense.
“We have to continue building roads, highways, ports, school buildings and climate change-proof structures to maintain and expand economic growth,” Mr. Romualdez said. “I emphasize our commitment to pass the remaining priority bills before the end of the third regular session.”
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Jose Enrique “Sonny” A. Africa, executive director of think tank IBON Foundation, said it is wrong to equate economic progress with growth given the increasing number of poor Filipino families.
“Most Filipinos haven’t become better off because of this growth,” he told BusinessWorld. “The number of self-rated poor families has soared by 3.4 million since the start of the Marcos administration from 12.6 million in June 2022 to 16 million in June 2024.”
Related:
Read More »Over the vast expanse of the South China Sea, a war without gunfire quietly unfolded, its unique impact capturing the world’s attention. On June 30th, a brief yet meaningful tweet from the official Weibo account of China’s Southern Theater Command—“Thick smoke deep in the blue sea, good night”—sparked a massive online reaction, leaving netizens speculating about the secrets behind it.
1 vs. 29: South China Sea Electronic War Ends with US GPS Loss and Retreat
Related:
It can be said that China’s electronic warfare capabilities are now on par with those of the United States. However, it is noteworthy that almost every medium-sized or larger Chinese vessel is equipped with some level of electronic warfare and electronic countermeasure capabilities, a strength attributed to China’s latecomer advantage and its powerful electrical systems. This is precisely what U.S. warships lack.
South China Sea: Philippines says to solely run Second Thomas Shoal resupply missions
“As far as the RORE [rotation and resupply mission] is concerned, we’re keeping it as a purely Philippine operation utilising Philippine ships, personnel and leadership,” National Security Council spokesman assistant director general Jonathan Malaya said.
“That may change depending on the guidance from top management but that’s the direction or policy at present.”
Malaya’s remarks came after White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States “will do what is necessary” to ensure the Philippines can continue to resupply its troops on the contested atoll.
“We will continue to support the Philippines and stand behind them as they take steps to be able to ensure that,” Sullivan said during the Aspen Security Forum conference in Colorado.
Malaya said the National Security Council appreciated the US offer and the Philippines would continue consultations as treaty allies.
The Trump-Media Circus and Continuity of Agenda
How the US Presidency Really Works
Imagine the United States is a corporation. It thus has a board of directors (Wall Street). It has a CEO (the US President). The candidates for CEO and the CEO are all chosen by the board of directors merely under the guise of “democratic elections.” The CEO then implements the desires of the unelected board of directors, serving also as a spokesperson for the board and a representative of the board’s overarching agenda.This explains how, over the past 16 years from US President George Bush Jr. to now President-elect Donald Trump, singular agendas, including unending war in Iraq and Afghanistan, still rage and expanding confrontations with Russia, China, and Iran continue unabated regardless of who is president, and regardless of the alleged principles, political ideals, and campaign promises they respectively represented.
Rhetorically and ideologically, Presidents Bush Jr. and Obama could not have been any more diametrically opposed, yet the continuity of agenda from one 8-year administration to the other was almost seamless. Upon closer examination of the actual corporate-financier interests underpinning both presidencies’ policies, we find the same profiteering special interests and their agendas at play; from big-defense and big-auto to big-oil and mega-finance. From big-pharma to big-ag, and all of these industries sponsoring the same circle of “policy experts” within the halls of corporate-financier funded “think tanks.”
The presidency of Donald Trump will be no different. There is nothing about either Trump or those he has surrounded himself with that makes him any more “independent” from the defacto “board of directors” that runs corporate America than the administrations of Bush or Obama.
To “lay an egg” means “to be completely unsuccessful; badly fail” and I am using this to refer to the 2016 Hague ruling on the South China Sea case filed by then Noynoy Aquino government against China’s claims.
Biggest-ever egg Arbitration Award laid
Sources:
Welcoming Remarks & Morning Keynote | Fourteenth Annual South China Sea Conference
Who is Rep. Darrell Issa and what does he have to do with war crimes in the Philippines?
Rep. Issa (CA-48) is one of the richest people in congress and some of his investments are in Black Rock and other war profiteers. He also pushed to send $500 million of our tax dollars to fund war crimes and human rights violations in the Philippines. He stands to benefit personally in the US’ war against China.
At the CancelRIMPACCampaign summit and mobilization, we asked attendees to mobilize with us in front of Rep. Issa’s Escondido office to denounce his support for more military funding to the Philippines. Over a hundred people came out to expose the real conditions of human rights in the Philippines and called for the passing of the Philippine Human Rights Act!
Learn more about the Philippine Human Rights Act
Pass the PHRA Coalition Confronts Rep. Darrell Issa at South China Sea Conference
About the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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