Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has defended National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Vice Chairman and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. after the latter was warned by the management of Facebook over a social media post tha
ALLIES. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (right) shakes the hands of his counterpart, US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III during their meeting at the Pentagon in Washington DC on Tuesday (April 19, 2022). The two secretaries discussed ways to further improve the alliance between the United States and the Philippines. (Photo from the Facebook page of Secretary Lorenzana) MANILA - Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and his US counterpart, Lloyd J. Austin III, met at the Pentagon in Washington DC on Tuesday (Philippine time) for another bilateral meeting to enhance the two nations' alliance. Lorenzana said his latest meeting with Austin would also be his farewell call as he ends his term as defense chief in 72 days. "At the Pentagon with US Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III for another bilateral meeting to discuss ways to continue to deepen cooperation under the US-Philippines alliance," he said on his Facebook page Tuesday night. It was the th
MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): “It’s a game of chicken and we’re losing,” maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said on Monday (April 18) after the Department of Energy (DOE) ordered the suspension of oil exploration activities in the West Philippine Sea on April 6.
(PNA file photo) MANILA-Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Ano on Tuesday dismissed a report issued by the US State Department that Philippine security forces are involved in human rights violations. "The DILG denounces the US State Department's 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices released recently on the alleged abuses by security forces in the Philippines as the Report is sweeping, rhetorical, and unfounded," he said. Ano said the US report is only a "mere repetition of unsubstantiated accusations against Philippine security forces that were loosely picked up from the traditional and social media", which depicts a very grim picture of the country's peace and order situation that is so far removed from the realities on the ground. "The operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) down to the grassroots level have led to dramatic improvement of the general pe
MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): A China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel tailed two ships hired by a Philippine-based firm to do a seismic survey in the West Philippine Sea earlier this month, Vietnamese maritime observer Duan Dang wrote last week in his newsletter South China Sea Brief.