Here’s a quick roundup of today’s top stories:
China has renewed its call for the pull out of a United States’ mid range capability missile in the country.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made this call in response to a Reuters report which stated that the US deployed its Typhon missile launchers to a new location in the country.
Only the Philippines – and no other country – can decide the deployment of any military asset within its territory, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) asserted Friday.
AFP spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla said, “[t]here is no single entity who can dictate how we would do our deployments in terms of our defenses,” reacting to the remarks of China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, who reiterated Beijing’s opposition to the US Typhon midrange missile capability that has been in the Philippines for several months now.
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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is not blocking the processing of the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, Malacañang said Friday.
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In a press conference in Pasay City, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin refuted the claim of lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives that Marcos’ alleged “interference” was delaying the impeachment proceedings against Duterte.
Palace said that the Philippines’ stance on withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC) remains unchanged, but it will cooperate if the international tribunal makes requests through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
In a press conference on Friday, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin was asked whether the country is changing its position on the ICC after Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla expressed openness to discussing the previous administration’s bloody war on drugs with the ICC.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Friday said Justice chief Jesus Crispin Remulla’s openness to talk with probers of the International Court (ICC) regarding the previous administration’s bloody war on drugs is a silver lining for all victims of extrajudicial killings.
In a statement, Hontiveros said Remulla’s willingness gives “hope that real justice for the thousands of victims” could finally come.
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The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is considering issuing a resolution that would compel candidates to participate in debates.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said Friday that while there is no law mandating candidates to attend debates, the poll body can endorse debates conducted by different media outlets.
