Manila won’t deal with ICC anymore after decision to continue drug probe

July 20, 2023 | 8:55 pm

police drug raid — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

THE PHILIPPINES would no longer engage with the International Criminal Court (ICC), the solicitor general said on Thursday, days after it rejected a plea to suspend its investigation of the government’s deadly war on drugs.

The decision was approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra told reporters.

“I have discussed this matter personally with President Bongbong Marcos and we have agreed that our appeal to the ICC appeals chamber is the end of our engagement with the ICC,” he said. “We just really waited for the decision that we nearly won, 3-2.”

The ICC on Tuesday rejected a Philippines appeal to suspend its probe of ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s war on drugs, paving the way for its prosecutor to later indict and order the arrest of local officials who aided the campaign.

In a court session in the Hague streamed live on the ICC website, Appeals Chamber Presiding Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut read the decision that said the pre-trial chamber was right in allowing ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad A. Khan to resume his probe of the drug war that had killed thousands.

Magistrates voted 3-2 in favor of the investigation, he added.

In March, the United Nations-backed court based in the Hague denied the government’s request to stop the ICC Pre-Trial chamber from reopening its investigation of Mr. Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

The ICC said its investigation should not prevent the state from continuing its own probe of rogue cops in its deadly drug war.

Mr. Guevarra told reporters in a Viber message on Sunday officials who get indicted would have to hire their own lawyers, noting that his office would only represent the state at the hearings.

He said the Philippines would assert its sovereignty and focus on its own investigation and prosecution of alleged abuses related to the anti-illegal drug campaign.

Last year, Mr. Marcos Jr. said the Philippines would not rejoin the ICC, which political experts said is meant to protect his predecessor from prosecution.

Mr. Duterte canceled the country’s ICC membership in 2018.

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber in January reopened its probe of Mr. Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs, saying it was not satisfied with government efforts to probe human rights abuses.

It was also set to probe vigilante-style killings in Davao City when the former president was still its vice mayor and mayor.

Mr. Marcos should support accountability for grave crimes in the Philippines and uphold the country’s obligation under the ICC’s founding Rome Statute to cooperate with the court, Human Rights Watch said after the decision.

“The ICC Appeals Chamber decision rejects Philippine government claims that the ICC should not investigate in the country,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “President Marcos should back up his stated commitment to human rights by cooperating with the ICC prosecutor’s inquiry.”

‘BEFUDDLED’
Human Rights group Karapatan said it was crucial for international bodies such as the ICC to seek accountability since the local justice system is ineffective.

“It is high time that the ICC investigation proceeds without a hitch so that the victims of Duterte’s bloody anti-drug war can finally tread the road towards justice and accountability,” it said in a statement.

On Feb. 16, Mr. Khan told the ICC the Philippines had not raised new arguments to justify halting the probe, adding that the Duterte government had condoned crimes committed during the drug war.

Mr. Guevarra, who was Mr. Duterte’s Justice secretary, earlier said the country is not legally and morally bound to cooperate with the ICC.

The government estimates that at least 6,117 suspected drug dealers were killed in police operations. Human rights groups say as many as 30,000 suspects died.

Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. defended Mr. Duterte and fellow Senator Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa, who enforced the anti-illegal drug campaign when he was still the national police chief, saying Filipinos credit it for restoring peace and order.

“We won’t allow what is clearly meddling by the ICC with our nation’s affairs,” he said in a statement in Filipino. “We do not need to remind them that we are a free, independent and sovereign nation governed by our laws.”

The lawmaker said he was “befuddled by the ICC’s pursuit of this obvious baseless persecution while legitimate concerns and crimes against humanity are being perpetrated in other parts of the world as speak.”

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri said the chamber would extend protection over members and would not surrender its integrity and independence “especially to foreign interests.”

Ephraim B. Cortez, president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers said that the ICC is not overstepping their boundaries, adding that certain Philippine officials were not being singled out.

“It is also obvious that there was no honest-to-goodness investigation of the killings, and Bato and Duterte have never been investigated, warranting the exercise by the ICC of jurisdiction,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Mr. Cortez also noted that Mr. Revilla was among the senators who voted to ratify the ICC charter in 2011. “He and the other senators who voted with him should know that a sitting or former president, or any official of the Philippine government could be prosecuted before it.”

Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, a political analyst at Philippine BRICS Strategic Studies, said Filipinos would never allow the ICC to meddle in Philippine affairs.

“The fight against illegal drugs during the time of [President Duterte] should never be considered a crime against humanity because it is considered a legitimate police action,” she said in a Viber message. — Norman P. Aquino and Jan Jiminel Cacdac

Marcos orders agencies to improve seaman training

July 20, 2023 | 8:55 pm

Seafarer-oathtaking-MARINA.GOV — SEAFARER OATHTAKING — MARINA.GOV.PH

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Thursday urged state agencies concerned with the maritime industry to bolster ties with the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) to improve local seafarer training and education.

“Facilitate what will make our maritime education even more responsive to the needs of the nation, while ensuring that whatever steps that we take will be in compliance with laws and regulations,” he said at the 200^th commencement exercises of the PMMA in Zambales streamed live on Facebook.

“As your partner in improving the skills and capabilities of our people in the maritime industry, I call on all concerned agencies to coordinate closely with the PMMA.”

He added that support from the private sector would also help modernize the maritime education sector.

Last month, the president urged the Maritime Industry Authority and Commission on Higher Education to work closely with the shipping industry in upskilling and reskilling Filipino seamen.

During his presidential campaign, Mr. Marcos Jr. promised to develop the local maritime sector and make the Philippines a logistics hub.

CHED Chairman Prospero E. De Vera III said in April they would put on hold the introduction of new maritime training programs in the next five years to allow agencies to focus on improving existing courses.

“We have to ensure that all maritime schools have the equipment and competent teachers so we can satisfy the standards of the European Commission (EC),” he told a palace briefing on April 11.

CHED had to close 15 maritime schools in the past year-and-a-half for failing to meet the country’s education standards, Mr. De Vera said.

The European Commission (EC) in April decided to continue recognizing certificates issued by the Philippines to Filipino seafarers, acknowledging state efforts to improve its seafarer training system.

Last year, the commission said almost 50,000 Filipino seafarers working in European vessels could lose their jobs if the Philippines does not address its deficiencies.

Marina Administrator Hernani N. Fabia has said his agency would continue providing upskilling and reskilling programs for Filipino seafarers, adding that the European Commission’s decision gave the country a “clean slate” to improve its training programs.

The European Maritime Safety Agency raised issues about the country’s compliance with European Union standards after an inspection in March 2020.

A year later, the EC warned the Philippine government that it would withdraw recognition of Filipino seafarers’ certificates if it did not address deficiencies in training Filipino seamen.

Sea-based Filipino workers sent home $506 million in May, 2.4% higher than a year earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Monday. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Marcos more concerned about rebranding of family name than policy reforms — analysts

July 20, 2023 | 8:55 pm

THE GOVERNMENT of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. appears more concerned about the rebranding of his family name rather than policy reforms, political analysts said on Thursday.

“There was a failure on his part to address our most urgent issues,” Temario C. Rivera, chairman of think tank Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), told a forum.

Presidential Communications Office chief Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

The president had been “overly fixated on rebranding the family image,” he said, citing the revival of projects associated with his father, the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. Including Masagana 99, Kadiwa Program and Bagong Pilipinas rebranding.

He added that Mr. Marcos Jr. had attempted to “negotiate a careful balance” between his father’s legacy with that of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who played a key role in his landslide victory last year.

CenPEG Director for Policy Studies Bobby M. Tuazon said there was nothing new with the president’s foreign policy. “It is basically a continuation of Philippine foreign policy seen in the last 70 years,” he said, citing its focus on ties with the United States.

Mr. Marcos in February gave the US access to four more military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which was built on the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty and the 1999 visiting forces agreement between the Philippines and US.

Mr. Tuazon said the defense alliance with the US is dragging the Philippines to an unwanted war with China.

Mr. Rivera also cited bureaucratic inefficiency as well as the involvement of police in a P6.7-billion haul of crystal meth. “Without the support of critical institutions, the President can do little,” he added.

He also raised low utilization of funds in most government agencies, “They could have used it for very urgent social needs of the people.”

Maragtas SV Amante, former dean of the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations, noted that while the unemployment rate has eased to 4.3%, job quality leaves a lot to be desired, while many workers have been contractualized.

The jobless rate was 14.2% last year, 15.9% in 2021 and 16.2% in 2020, according to the local statistics agency. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

SC junks lawsuit against local sewerage system

July 20, 2023 | 8:55 pm

Supreme_Court_of_the_Philippines — PHOTO BY MIKE GONZALEZ

THE SUPREME COURT (SC) has affirmed a ruling that dismissed a lawsuit filed by a civic group seeking to protect public health from the supposed operation of a sewerage system by the country’s main water providers.

In a 19-page decision on March 28 and made public on July 20, the tribunal agreed with the Court of Appeals finding that Water for All Refund Movement, Inc. (WARM) had failed to prove that the combined drainage-sewerage system of Manila Water Co., Inc. and Maynilad Water Services, Inc. would damage the environment.

It affirmed the denial of the group’s application for a so-called writ of kalikasan. The High Court said the group had failed to prove the operation of the drainage system.

“WARM then sidestepped its obligation to substantiate its allegations by invoking the precautionary principle, specifically the stringent requirement to prove environmental damage,” according to the ruling penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando.

Based on the court’s Rules of Procedure for environmental cases, the precautionary principle prioritizes the right to a balanced and healthful ecology even if there is no full scientific certainty about a link between human activity and environmental damage.

The tribunal said WARM’s petition had failed to provide both a sewerage system’s link to environmental damage and scientific studies supporting its claim.

It added that implementing the system was not illegal under the Philippine Clean Water Act.

The environmental watchdog group sought the writ over the sewerage system citing the water concessionaires’ failure to secure permits from the Department of Health and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

It said the project could result in environmental damage and could pose a danger to the health of residents of Metropolitan Manila.

WARM argued the combined drainage system could cause raw sewage and rainwater to pollute natural bodies of water.

“WARM only speculates on the environmental damage resulting from the purported discharge of “sewage-contaminated floodwater,” the tribunal said.

“It did not even provide specific scenarios with specific evidence or a survey of references and literature on the subject.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Activists’ properties seized

July 20, 2023 | 8:55 pm

BAGUIO CITY — Authorities have seized the properties of four activists in the Cordillera region in northern Philippines after the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) ordered a freeze on their assets and bank accounts.

The Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) on June 7 labeled four leaders of the left-leaning indigenous group Cordillera Peoples Alliance terrorists.

The activists received the AMLC freeze order on July 12.

AMLC also ordered covered institutions “to submit suspicious transaction reports of all previous transactions of the designated persons,” while warning that people and offices that fail to abide by its order “shall be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The council has labeled 32 people terrorists for their alleged connection to the Maoist group, which it considers a terrorist group.

Karapatan has denounced the labeling, calling it harassment. — Artemio A. Dumlao

ABMAP backs PUV upgrade

July 20, 2023 | 8:55 pm

jeepney-modern-iloilo-BW-FILE-ERSANTIAGUDO — BW FILE PHOTO

THE AUTOMOTIVE Body Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (ABMAP) said the country’s public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program will help benefit commuters and generate jobs for vehicle body makers.

“The ABMAP supports the PUV modernization program because it benefits the economy, creates jobs, improves passenger safety and comfort and reduces emissions,” it said in a statement on Thursday. “The program ensures that drivers have access to social welfare benefits and can afford to pay for their PUVs.”

With more than 80% of modern PUVs in the Philippines locally made, the program also helps generate jobs for body builders and other industries, it added.

ABMAP aid new PUVs are built to international standards and adhere to the Bureau of Philippine Standards-Philippine National Standards, adding that these PUVs are safer and more reliable than the old jeepneys.

Transport groups are expected to hold a three-day strike starting on July 24 to protest the modernization plan. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Mayor hurt in road accident

July 20, 2023 | 8:55 pm

COTABATO CITY — A municipal mayor in Cotabato province was badly hurt in a road accident in Digos City on Wednesday, police said.

Five other people, two of them grade school children, were also injured.

Lieutenant Colonel Hamlet M. Lerios, chief of the Digos City Police Station, told reporters late Wednesday Pigcawayan Mayor Juanito C. Agustin had lost control of the Nissan pick-up truck he was driving, hitting a center island at a stretch of the Cotabato-Digos Highway in the village of Tres de Mayo.

The mayor’s spouse Nancy, 42, their nine-year-old child, and three others, were also hurt in the highway mishap.

The injured mayor was unconscious when policemen rushed him to a hospital, Mr. Lerios said.

He has since regained consciousness, relatives and local government officials told reporters on Thursday. — John Felix M. Unson

Ilocos recycling facility to open

July 20, 2023 | 8:54 pm

BAGUIO CITY — The Plastic Recycling and Materials Recovery Facility, a project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau and the Ilocos Norte provincial government in Marcos, Ilocos Norte will soon start operations.

In a statement, the provincial government said the P25-million project is part of efforts to promote environmental protection, noting that plastic waste contributes to the global environmental crisis.

Ilocos Norte tapped the Environmental Management Bureau to invest in the development of a state-of-the-art facility that uses advanced technology to revolutionize plastic recycling, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Marcos-Manotoc said.

The facility is equipped with a plastic washer and dryer, a shredding machine with conveyor, a pulverizing machine, an extruder for the manufacture of chairs, tables and flowerpots, as well as a plastic melting factory set.

The recycling facility is the province’s “commitment to combating plastic waste and advancing the circular economy by serving as the processing site for the biodegradable and residual wastes generated from some of the towns in Ilocos Norte and turning them into usable products,” he added. — Artemio A. Dumlao

Congressional panel probes US firms’ investments in China

July 20, 2023 | 7:04 pm

US-protest-rally — KUZZAT ALTAY-UNSPLASH

WASHINGTON — A United States (US) House of Representatives committee has launched an investigation into investments by four US venture capital firms into Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor companies.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent letters on Tuesday to GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Walden International and Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of Qualcomm, Inc., asking for information on their investments in China and setting an Aug. 1 deadline for the firms to respond.

In the letters, the committee alleged that investments by US firms directly contribute to China’s human rights abuses, military modernization and its effort to supplant US technological leadership.

The committee said the probe is the first in a series of investigations into the relationship between the investment world and the Chinese Communist Party.

The Biden administration is considering new rules that would restrict the flow of US investments in Chinese companies working on advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

In its letter to GGV, the panel said the firm had invested in Megvii Technology, a Chinese company “which actively supports the surveillance of Uyghurs,” a Muslim minority group.

The US blacklisted Megvii in 2019 over its alleged links to China’s treatment of Uyghurs.

Beijing has denied US allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghurs.

The committee said Walden had invested in Intellifusion, an AI company the US blacklisted in 2020 for allegedly enabling surveillance of Uyghurs.

GSR Ventures, the committee said, has invested in companies linked to the Chinese military, such as Horizon Robotics, which specializes in AI chips.

Qualcomm Ventures invested in SenseTime, a company the US blacklisted in 2019 over its alleged role China’s efforts to profile and track Uyghurs, the committee said.

GGV, Walden, GSR and Qualcomm did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the investigation. — Reuters

Elon Musk optimistic on progress for self-driving software, robots

July 20, 2023 | 7:04 pm

SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk on Wednesday set new targets for artificial intelligence products including self-driving software and using humanoid robots in factories.

The electric vehicle maker is in early talks with a major automaker to license its full self-driving technology, Mr. Musk added.

The value of Tesla vehicles would rise in perhaps “the single biggest step change in history” once regulators approved self-driving, he said at an earnings briefing.

Mr. Musk has also said that Tesla robots, in pilot phase, could become a huge product.

He said they could help out on Tesla’s factory floors as soon as next year, although only about 10 have been built to date.

Rising interest rates and competition from new electric vehicle (EV) makers have forced Tesla to cut vehicle prices to gain market share, hurting margins.

But Mr. Musk said Tesla will keep pushing to expand sales volume at the cost of profit margins, betting on the long-term value from FSD.

“Autonomy will make all of these numbers look silly,” he said.

Tesla’s move to license its technology comes after years of failed promises by many to create software that lets cars drive themselves.

The licensing announcement was not surprising, given industry failures, Ark Invest’s Tasha Keeney said on Twitter.

“Autonomy is hard, it requires vast amounts of data, and I believe many automakers will fail to achieve it on their own.”

Tesla has completed over 300 million miles in the beta version of FSD, over half of which was in the past quarter, according to an earnings presentation.

But Mr. Musk was more cautious than usual.

“People have sort of made fun of me and perhaps quite fairly have made fun of me, my predictions about achieving full self-driving have been optimistic in the past,” he said.

“I’m the boy who cried FSD, but I think we’ll be better than human by the end of this year,” he said. “I’ve been wrong in the past, I may be wrong this time.” — Reuters

Thailand to hold another PM vote next week but Pita’s bid over — speaker

July 20, 2023 | 7:03 pm

BANGKOK — Thailand’s parliament will hold another vote for a prime minister (PM) next week which cannot include the leader of election winners Move Forward, a deputy speaker said on Thursday, after his re-nomination was blocked.

Parliament’s move to deny Pita Limjaroenrat after a marathon debate on his eligibility on Wednesday triggered angry street protests, as a post-election crisis deepens two months after his party trounced military-backed rivals in an election. “A candidate can only be nominated once in each parliamentary session,” Deputy House Speaker Pichet Chuamuangphan told Reuters on Thursday.

The US-educated Mr. Pita, 42, has faced tough resistance from conservative and royalist forces that clash with the party’s anti-establishment policies.

On Wednesday, parliament voted to block his second bid for the premiership and the Constitutional Court suspended him as lawmaker as it investigates a case against him over allegations that he violated election law for holding shares in a media company.

Mr. Pita denies breaking election rules.

Legislative and judicial actions against him have drawn anger from his supporters.

“If we have elections and this is all we get, why don’t you just choose it yourself,” a protestor said late on Wednesday drawing applause from a crowd gathered in central Bangkok wearing black.

A Twitter hashtag from the protest was used at least 2 million times.

Thailand’s main stock index has climbed about 2.6% since July 14, the day after Mr. Pita was first denied by parliament, while the baht has strengthened by 1.7% against the dollar.

Foreign investors bought 15.8 billion baht ($465.53 million)net of Thai shares and bonds during July 14-19.

Next week, it is widely expected that real estate tycoon and political newcomer Srettha Thavisin from the runner-up Pheu Thai party, part of Mr. Pita’s eight-party alliance, will be nominated for premier.

Activists are planning more gatherings and have asked people to wear black to protest what they see as rules stacked against the election winners.

The military-drafted constitution favors conservative parties, requiring any prime ministerial candidate to secure at least 375 votes from a joint sitting of the bicameral legislature including the junta-appointed 249-member senate and an elected 500-member lower house.

Protesters have called on the senators to resign and that Mr. Pita’s eight-party coalition to stick together and uphold election promises. — Reuters

TikTok allows Europe to access research software, with eye on EU online content rules

July 20, 2023 | 7:02 pm

BRUSSELS — Short-video app TikTok on Thursday opened up its research software to researchers in Europe ahead of new European Union (EU) rules requiring Big Tech to do more to police online content.

TikTok, owned by Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance, is one of 19 online platforms and search engines subject to tougher requirements that will kick in from August under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The company said it was still waiting for the European Commission to set out technical conditions for the application programming interface (API) for accessing its data but decided to go ahead anyway.

“TikTok is proactively rolling-out its Research API ahead of further technical guidance and launching a commercial content library ahead of the DSA compliance deadline,” the social media app said in a statement.

“All researchers will need to have their own TikTok for Developers account and be located in the United States or Europe to access our Research API.”

The company released an initial version of its Research API to academic researchers in the United States earlier this year.

TikTok on Thursday also allowed researchers access to its commercial content API.

To comply with DSA rules on transparency on paid advertising, the company opened up its database with information about paid ads and advertisement metadata. — Reuters