Philippines welcomes more US forces to counter China



The Philippine Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday a security accord with the United States was legal, allowing more US forces into the former American colony as it seeks to counter Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.

MANILA: The Philippine Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday (Jan 12) a security accord with the United States was legal, allowing more US forces into the former American colony as it seeks to counter Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.

The 10-year agreement, signed in 2014 but not implemented due to legal challenges, will see more US troops and warships rotate through the Philippines, and the hosts will receive help in building military facilities.

Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said the accord was upheld with a 10-4 vote, ruling that President Benigno Aquino's government had the authority to sign the pact and did not need congressional approval. The pact "is a mere implementation of existing laws and treaties", Te said.

Aquino negotiated the accord to help the Philippines improve its military capabilities and draw the United States closer, partly to counter a fast-expanding Chinese presence in disputed parts of the South China Sea.

US President Barack Obama also pushed hard for the Enhanced Defence Co-operation Agreement (EDCA) as part of his so-called strategic "pivot" to Asia that has involved strengthening the American military presence in the region.

However it faced immediate legal challenges from groups opposed to US military involvement in the Philippines, a US colony from 1898 to 1946.

The Philippines hosted two of the largest overseas US military bases until 1992, the year after the Philippine Senate voted to end the leases in the face of strong anti-US sentiment.

Philippine military chief General Hernando Iriberri immediately welcomed Tuesday's ruling, saying the accord would help the country address short-term "capability gaps" and modernise its armed forces.

Iriberri also emphasised the pact would help the Philippines "maintain maritime security", a term commonly used when referring to efforts to contain China's expansion in the sea.

As the court in Manila voted to approve the agreement, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defence Ash Carter met their counterparts Albert del Rosario and Voltaire Gazmin at the State Department.

"Our strategic relationship begins with a very firm pledge that the United States has an ironclad commitment to the security of the Philippines," Kerry said, welcoming the decision. "We will continue to consult and cooperate on all issues affecting regional security, such as territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea," he added.

ANTI-US ANGER

However opponents quickly voiced their concern. "The government may have wantonly surrendered our national sovereignty to the US but the Filipino people will continue to fight for it," said League of Filipino Students chairperson Charisse Banez.

"We will not allow the return of US bases in the country and its reoccupation of the Philippines."

Filipino and US embassy officials declined to give details on Tuesday as to how quickly the pact would be implemented, or specifics such as which bases would be used by the Americans.

But Filipino officials previously said the United States would be offered access to key bases, including those facing the South China Sea that would allow rapid deployment into the waters.

And officials said in Washington that the United States would not reopen its former bases. The Philippines and the United States are already bound by a mutual defence treaty signed in 1951 and a visiting forces agreement signed in 1998.

The Philippines, which has one of Asia's weakest armed forces, has for decades heavily relied on US military aid for weapons and training.

And thousands of American troops pass through the country for regular war games that are authorised under the 1998 agreement. US navy ships also often make port calls.

But in recent years the tensions with China have seen Aquino's government seek even greater US military and diplomatic support. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, despite conflicting claims from the Philippines as well as Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

In April 2012, after a tense stand-off with Philippine ships, Chinese vessels took control of a shoal just 220 kilometres off the main Philippine island of Luzon.

The Philippines has since become the most vocal critic of China's efforts to claim the waters, including its strategy of turning islets into artificial islands that can host military facilities.

With its own armed forces unable to counter China, the Philippines had no choice but to draw in the United States and its allies such as Japan, according to security analyst Rodolfo Mendoza. "Our only option is partnership with the US and other allies," Mendoza told AFP.

- AFP/de

no power? carry the balls of your former master...

8 Malaysian children being groomed as ISIS fighters




KUALA LUMPUR • Eight Malaysian children are being groomed as fighters for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group, according to a senior Malaysian policeman.

He said this yesterday in Kuala Lumpur, after a 16-year-old youth clad in black ISIS attire held a woman at knife-point at a supermarket in Kedah on Monday.

Earlier, there were reports that two more Malaysian suicide bombers fighting for ISIS were killed in Syria and Iraq recently, making it a total of four Malay men who have blown themselves up in the Middle East since 2014.

Speaking about the child soldiers, Malaysia's Special Branch Commissioner Mohamad Fuzi Harun said at a police news conference that the children were being trained at ISIS camps in Syria and Iraq.

"It is not known where they are being placed right now. Maybe some are in Syria and some are in Iraq. These children were brought into the war-torn countries by their parents, who are raising them to be ISIS fighters," he said.

Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi said there are 47 Malaysian ISIS members in Syria and Iraq currently, out of whom 12 are women. He said there were as many as 55 people from Malaysia who went to join ISIS recently, but eight have either returned to the country, been arrested or been charged in court.

Police counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said on Monday that based on intelligence, 26-year-old Mohd Amirul Ahmad Rahim detonated explosives that were strapped to his body and in his car in Raqqa, Syria, on Dec 29, killing 21 people. Another incident involved Mohamad Syazwan Mohd Salim, 31, who took part in a series of suicide bombings in Tikrit, Iraq, on Jan 3 which killed 12 policemen.

The duo's deaths brought the total number of Malaysians who have died in the last 18 months fighting for ISIS to 17.

Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, however, said yesterday that police were waiting for official confirmation on whether the two Malaysians were responsible for the suicide attacks.

At the press conference yesterday, Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi said the families of several Malaysian ISIS members had sought the help of police to "lure" the militants back to the country. "But they have refused to come back. Their ultimate goal is to fight and die as martyrs," he said.

Meanwhile, in the Kedah town of Sungei Petani, a 16-year-old youth held a woman at knife-point at a supermarket on Monday evening.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid said the teen was arrested minutes later.

"Investigations revealed that he was influenced by the ISIS movement through social media and wanted to prove that he was capable of such acts by threatening the woman," Mr Khalid said.

The police chief added: "We need to identify these people. Investigations revealed that he had no intention of hurting the woman but wanted to show that he is a member and that he is able to do what is requested by the people (ISIS)."

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Mind-blowing drone footage of a South Korean armored vehicle parade

A new video released on Friday shows the impressive range of tanks and armored vehicles in the South Korean Army’s 20th division.

The video, taken by a drone in South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province, shows South Korean made K-1 and K2 tanks, as well as armored vehicles, air defense vehicles, and mobile artillery pieces.

South Korea currently has more than 2,300 tanks, 2,600 armored vehicles, and almost 2,000 self-propelled artillery pieces.

To see 340 of these vehicles proudly rolling in formation, view the video below.



Read more at http://www.businessinsider.my/drone-footag...TSaqtmwDT6dw.99