{"id":153865,"date":"2018-02-22T20:46:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T01:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=153865"},"modified":"2018-02-22T20:46:34","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T01:46:34","slug":"dfa-urged-to-file-diplomatic-protest-over-us-intel-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/02\/22\/dfa-urged-to-file-diplomatic-protest-over-us-intel-report\/","title":{"rendered":"DFA urged to file diplomatic protest over US intel report"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alvarez<\/a>
Alvarez said it is the US who undermines the sovereignty of many nations because of its meddling in other countries’ internal affairs in order to ensure its dominance and promote its interests.(Photo:<\/a> Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez\/Facebook)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez wants the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to file a diplomatic protest against the United States over its intelligence report claiming President Rodrigo Duterte is a threat to democracy and human rights.<\/p>\n

Alvarez said it is the US who undermines the sovereignty of many nations because of its meddling in other countries’ internal affairs in order to ensure its dominance and promote its interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnang-una, mag-ano ng protesta yung<\/em>\u00a0DFA\u00a0kasi, anong pakialam nila sa atin, di ba? Sila nga itong maraming kalokohan sa iba\u2019t ibang bansa<\/em>\u00a0(First of all, the DFA should file a protest because what do they care about us, right? They are the ones who did a lot of mischief in other countries),\u201d Alvarez said in a radio interview.<\/p>\n

According to the US Intelligence Community in its Worldwide Threat Assessment report, Duterte is among the “regional threats” to US national security in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

“In the Philippines, President Duterte will continue to wage his signature campaign against drugs, corruption, and crime,” the US Intelligence Community said.<\/p>\n

“Duterte has suggested he could suspend the Constitution, declare a ‘revolutionary government’, and impose nationwide martial law. His declaration of martial law in Mindanao, responding to the ISIS-inspired siege of Marawi City, has been extended through the end of 2018,” the US Intelligence Community added.<\/p>\n

Alvarez called on the Filipino people to unite and protect the sovereignty of the Philippines from undue interference by the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatagal na silang nakikialam sa atin. Dapat ngayon ipakita natin na hindi dapat nila pakialaman yung ating<\/em>\u00a0sovereignty (They have long meddled with our own affairs. Now, we should show them that they should not trample upon our sovereignty),\u201d Alvarez said.<\/p>\n

US intel report merely based on headlines<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, dismissed the US report, saying\u00a0that it seemed to be merely based on the headlines of international media outfits.<\/p>\n

According to the US Intelligence Community in its Worldwide Threat Assessment report, Duterte is among the “regional threats” to US national security in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

“In the Philippines, President Duterte will continue to wage his signature campaign against drugs, corruption, and crime,” the US Intelligence Community said.<\/p>\n

“Duterte has suggested he could suspend the Constitution, declare a ‘revolutionary government,’ and impose nationwide martial law. His declaration of martial law in Mindanao, responding to the ISIS-inspired siege of Marawi City, has been extended through the end of 2018,” it added.<\/p>\n

Gatchalian pointed out, that most of what was written in the report missed the point and was far from the reality on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually,\u00a0binasa ko ang report na yun<\/em>\u00a0(I read that report) and it’s really a three-sentence mention of the Philippines.\u00a0Ang<\/em>\u00a0analysis\u00a0ko, yung<\/em>sentence\u00a0na yun ay<\/em>\u00a0based on headlines\u00a0na nababasa nila sa<\/em>\u00a0international papers o international media outfits (My analysis is that sentence is based on headlines that they read in international papers or international media outfits,\u201d the lawmaker said during the regular Kapihan sa Senado forum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat analysis (report) is based on the things that they read in the headlines. But if you go deeper into details, especially to the actions of the President,\u00a0hindi naman ganoon ang ginagawa niya<\/em>,\u201d Gatchalian said.<\/p>\n

While President Duterte did say in the past that he might be \u201ctempted\u201d to suspend the Constitution and impose nationwide martial law, Gatchalian noted the Chief Executive\u2019s penchant for exaggeration and said that the Filipino people \u201care all used to that exaggeration.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that for him, \u201cactions speak louder than words\u201d and the President\u2019s actions were far from what the US intelligence report was implying.<\/p>\n

\u201cSabi doon sa<\/em>\u00a0report, isu-suspend\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a0(The report said there will be a suspension of the) Constitution but there is no way\u00a0na masu<\/em>-suspend\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a0(to suspend the) Constitution because we have a Constitution in the Senate that will prevent that from happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNasabi doon na papalaganapin ng<\/em>\u00a0President\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a0martial law (It was stated there that the President will expand martial law), but the President went to Congress to seek advice and to seek permission to expand martial law in Mindanao,\u00a0at in<\/em>-affirm\u00a0naman ito ng<\/em>\u00a0Supreme Court (and it was affirmed by the Supreme Court). So makikita natin (as we can see) we have mechanism in place para hindi mangyari ang mga sinasabi niya,\u201d Gatchalian stressed.<\/p>\n

Duterte placed the entire Mindanao under martial law after Islamic State-inspired terrorists attacked Marawi last May 23, 2017.<\/p>\n

On his request, lawmakers extended martial law until December 31, 2017.<\/p>\n

Due to the continued threat of terrorism, Congress approved anew Duterte\u2019s request to further extend martial law in Mindanao for another year, or until the end of 2018.<\/p>\n

On all counts, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of martial law in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree sentences cannot describe what is happening in our country.\u00a0Mas maraming<\/em>\u00a0(There are more) discussions\u00a0ang dapat gawin upang malaman ang totoong nangyayari sa ating bansa<\/em>\u00a0(that must be done to know what is really happening in our country) and I believe our institutions are working,\u201d Gatchalian said.\u00a0(PNA)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez wants the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to file a diplomatic protest against the United States …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":132702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[9396,12230],"class_list":["post-153865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-department-of-foreign-affairs","tag-pantaleon-alvarez","mauthors-filane-mikee-cervantes","mauthors-jose-cielito-reganit","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}