Les Philippines veulent finalement prolonger leur accord militaire avec les USA sputniknews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sputniknews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Philippines and the US would meet this month to iron out differences over a two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Manila’s top diplomat said, amid renewed concerns in the region over China’s assertive maritime agenda.
The Philippines in November last year suspended its decision to terminate the VFA for a second time to allow it to work with Washington on a long-term mutual defense pact.
“The suspension was intended that we should continue working and I am narrowing down the issues and soon we will meet . and iron out whatever differences we have,” Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin told
Published January 29, 2021, 11:58 AM
Senator Christopher ‘’Bong’’ Go on Friday pressed Congress to pass his bill seeking the establishment of a Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFil) to protect the rights and advance the welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are considered the country’s heroes.
(JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Go, chairman of the Senate Health and Demography Committee, issued the statement following the reported trafficking of some Filipino women forcibly taken to Syria and abused by their employers.
“Bagong bayani kung ituring natin sila na halos sampung porsiyento ng ating populasyon. Sana naman ay suklian natin nang mas maayos at mas mabilis na serbisyo ang kanilang sakripisyo para sa kanilang pamilya at sa bayan,’’ he said. (We consider them as our new heroes who comprise almost ten percent of our population. I hope we could repay them better with faster service for their sacrifices for their families and for the coun
Biden Team Slams China Claims in Swift Calls to Asia Allies Bloomberg 1/28/2021 Isabel Reynolds
(Bloomberg) U.S. President Joe Biden and his team staked out early opposition to Chinese territorial claims in a series of calls to Asian allies, as Beijing warned that trying to contain the country was “mission impossible.”
Biden reaffirmed in a telephone call with the Japanese prime minister the U.S.’s commitment to defend uninhabited islands controlled by Japan and claimed by China that have been a persistent point of contention between the Asian powerhouses. Meanwhile, newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected Chinese territorial claims in a call with his Philippine counterpart and emphasized U.S. alliances in talks with top Australian and Thai officials.
World News Quick Take
Virus found on ice cream
The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was found on ice cream produced in the country’s east, prompting a recall of cartons from the same batch, the government has said. Daqiaodao Food Co in Tianjin, adjacent to Beijing, was sealed and its employees were being tested for the coronavirus, the city government said in a statement. There was no indication anyone had contracted the virus from the ice cream. Most of the 29,000 cartons in the batch had yet to be sold, the government said. It said 390 sold in Tianjin were being tracked down and authorities elsewhere were notified of sales to their areas. The ingredients included New Zealand milk powder and whey powder from Ukraine, the government said.