LEADERS OF a human rights commission in the US Congress have written a letter to US President Donald J. Trump urging him to discuss the human rights situation in the Philippines when he meets with its president, Rodrigo R. Duterte, at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Manila next week.

“During your upcoming visit to the Philippines for meetings with regional leaders at the ASEAN summit in Manila, including Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, we urge you to impress upon President Duterte the United States’ profound concern over reported extrajudicial killings associated with the Philippine government’s ‘war on drugs,’” read the Nov. 2 letter to Mr. Trump sent by the bipartisan-led Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the US House of Representatives.

The commission is co-chaired by Randall Mark Hultgren (R-Illinois) and James Patrick McGovern (D-Massachusetts).

The letter, as sent to the media by Human Rights Watch, cited among other sources a Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2016 by the US State Department, as well as a hearing by the commission on July 20 where “we were distressed to learn that police have killed 7,000 alleged drug dealers and users without charges or trial since the Philippine government launched its campaign against illicit drugs,” Messrs. Hultgren and McGovern said.

Testimonies at the said hearing were by witnesses Ellecer Carlos of iDEFEND, Philippines; Senior Crisis Advisor Matthew Wells of Amnesty International; and Deputy Director Phelim Kine of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. Also submitted for the record at that hearing were correspondence by the Embassy of the Philippines in Washington, D.C., and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines, as well as statements by various groups such as the Ecumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines and Katarungan.

The letter noted further that “Human rights are fundamental,” that “Every government should afford their citizens the protection and due process of the law,” that “The Philippines is a valuable ally of the United States and major recipient of US aid,” and, “For these reasons, it is paramount that human rights violations not be the consequences of the Philippines’ ‘war on drugs.’”

Apart from the ASEAN summit next week, Mr. Duterte is expected to meet Mr. Trump and other state leaders at this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

Philippine officials hinted at a “possible pull-aside” between the two leaders at APEC. “(B)oth Presidents are looking very much forward to personally meeting each other,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Manuel A.J. Teehankee said on Thursday afternoon, when Mr. Duterte addressed the APEC CEO Summit in Da Nang.

It was earlier reported that Mr. Trump will take up human rights with Mr. Duterte, and this possibility was also raised by US Ambassador to the Philippine Sung Y. Kim.

A meeting with then US President Barack H. Obama, Jr. was canceled at last year’s APEC after Mr. Duterte, in a profanity-accented tirade, lashed out at Mr. Obama’s reported agenda to discuss human rights with him.

On Wednesday’s departure remarks this time, Mr. Duterte said of his expected meeting with Mr. Trump, “I will not go there as a subservient lackey of anyone including what you would like to hear from me but which you cannot ask maybe or later on about human rights.”

“Lay off. That’s not your business. That is my business,” he also said in part. — Rosemarie A. Zamora

GLOBALIZATION HAS pressed the brightest workers from poor Southeast Asian countries to move overseas in a brain drain that must be reversed if real development is to be achieved, Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte said Thursday.

In an impassioned appeal by a leader better known for expletive-flecked outbursts, Mr. Duterte said the efforts of poorer countries to rise up the value chain are being undercut by mass migration of skilled workers.

“Globalization to a certain extent has really damaged poor economies,” he said in a speech to CEOs gathered in Da Nang, Vietnam, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

By way of example he said, “the best of our young (Filipinos)… tend to go to the places where the economy is thriving,” such as the United States.

More than 10 million Filipinos work overseas, around 10% of the population, remitting billions of dollars back to the country each year.

He acknowledged Donald J. Trump’s complaints that globalization has also sent American manufacturing jobs to cheaper countries such as China.

But Mr. Duterte said poorer nations faced the hardest edge of global commerce as they are stripped of labor and raw materials to fuel a world economy they cannot compete in.

He urged ASEAN — the 10-member Southeast Asian bloc of nations — to speed up economic integration to power the region up the manufacturing chain, retain its skilled workers and educate those “left behind.”

“We only provide the raw materials” which are then sent back by richer manufacturing countries for “four times the price”, he said, adding, “That is globalization.”

He vowed to “forcefully” carry the message of unity to the ASEAN summit which he is hosting in Manila from Monday.

Globalization and the rules of trade are under the microscope in Vietnam this week, where world leaders including Mr. Trump, China’s Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are set to converge on Friday for the APEC summit. — AFP

THE MAKATI City government in a statement on Thursday, Nov. 9, said its Business Permit and License Office (BPLO) had closed down a transport firm engaged in a “habal-habal” type (motorcycle) of transportation service for operating without a valid business permit from the city government.

BPLO chief Maribert Q. Pagente said an Order of Desistance/Closure was issued on Thursday to Angkas Training Center located at Natividad Building along Chino Roces Avenue in Makati.

BPLO inspectors, in coordination with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Land Transformation Office, and Highway Patrol Group, conducted an actual inspection of the said establishment that failed to present a valid business permit.

The inspection and subsequent closure of Angkas arose from a request by the LTFRB for the Makati City mayor’s office to provide assistance in apprehending the establishment, which the Makati City government said was reportedly involved in a number of traffic accidents.

In a statement e-mailed to the media on Thursday, Angkas confirmed LTFRB Board Member Aileen Lizada’s visit Thursday morning, saying it “regrets not being able to welcome and dialogue with Board Member Lizada as key managers were out of office.”

“We look forward to discussing the Board’s concerns with Angkas and find a way towards regulation for this space,” the statement also said.

Angkas also said it “has always been open to regulation.”

The statement noted further: “There are thousands of habal-habal riders operating in Metro Manila and other cities in the country. The growth of habal-habal motorcycles is unabated due to the growing need for faster travel in congested tight city streets.”

“If left unregulated, habal-habal and other informal motorcycle-taxi operations will continue to flourish without the benefit of safety processes, training standards and insurance coverage.”

“That is what Angkas wants to change.”

“We ask our good Secretary of Transportation, Secretary Arthur Tugade, through the LTFRB Board, to respectfully consider an amendment to department order 2015-011 to allow two-wheeled vehicles under the TNVS category. Doing so will firmly put Angkas and all motorcycle-taxis officially under the jurisdiction of the LTFRB.”