MANILA: Philippine opposition senators have demanded President Rodrigo Duterte reveal details of joint energy exploration plans with China, warning such a deal risked affirming Chinese territorial claims that are not recognized under international law.
Early this year, the two countries set up a joint panel to work out how to explore offshore oil and gas in areas that both claim, without addressing the explosive issue of who has the sovereign rights to them.
“Signing the Chinese deal will make the Philippines recognize an unlawful ‘co-ownership’ with China,” the minority senators said in a resolution on the eve of Tuesday’s visit to Manila by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Philippines, which relies heavily on energy imports is racing against time to develop oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea, but to do that needs foreign help, which China has offered.
Though they intend to undertake some projects in waters that are not subject to competing claims, there are concerns among Philippine lawyers and diplomats about teaming up in areas that both countries claim, in particular, the Reed Bank, about 90 miles (167 km) off the Philippines’ Palawan island.
A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in a case filed by Manila clarified, among other issues, that the Philippines had sovereign rights to exploit energy reserves at the Reed Bank.
It also invalidated China’s nine-dash line claim to most of the South China Sea, which the senate resolution said was “unlawful and expansive.”
China refuses to recognize the Hague tribunal’s ruling.
The idea of joint development was first hatched in 1986, but disputes and the complexities of the sovereignty issue have held up the plans.
The senators said any agreement with China would be a violation of the constitution, and an impeachable offense.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said any joint agreement would be constitutional, adding that it was too early to discuss senate scrutiny.
“Any demand for a release of documents ... is premature and could be prejudicial to our country’s interests, given that parties have yet to ink any agreement,” Panelo said.
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Philippine senators ask Duterte to disclose China energy plan
Philippine senators ask Duterte to disclose China energy plan
- The senators said any agreement with China would be a violation of the constitution, and an impeachable offense
- Presidential spokesman said it is too early for senate scrutiny, as “parties have yet to ink any agreement”
Nigerian police deny church attacks as residents insist 168 people are held by armed groups
Kaduna State Police Commissioner Muhammad Rabiu described news reports of the attacks as rumors
It is common for police and locals to have contradicting accounts of attacks in Nigeria’s hard-hit villages
KADUNA, Nigeria: Nigerian police denied reports of simultaneous church attacks in northwestern Kaduna state over the weekend, even as residents shared accounts of kidnappings at the churches in interviews Tuesday.
A state lawmaker, Usman Danlami Stingo, told The Associated Press on Monday that 177 people were abducted by an armed group Sunday. Eleven escaped and 168 are still missing, according to the lawmaker and residents interviewed by AP.
Kaduna State Police Commissioner Muhammad Rabiu described news reports of the attacks as rumors, saying the police visited one of the three churches in the district of Kajuru and “there was no evidence of the attack.”
It is common for police and locals to have contradicting accounts of attacks in Nigeria’s hard-hit villages.
“I am one of the people who escaped from the bandits. We all saw it happen, and anyone who says it didn’t happen is lying,” said Ishaku Dan’azumi, the village head of Kurmin Wali.
Nigeria is struggling with several armed groups that launch attacks across the country, including Boko Haram and Daesh-WAP, which are religiously motivated, and other amorphous groups commonly called “bandits.”
Rights group Amnesty International condemned the “desperate denial” of the attack by the police and government.
“The latest mass abduction clearly shows President Bola Tinubu and his government have no effective plan for ending years of atrocities by armed groups and gunmen that killed thousands of people,” the group said in a statement.
A Kaduna-based Christian group, the Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria, said in a press release that security operatives did not allow its members to visit the sites of the attacks.
“The military officer who stopped the CSWN car said there was a standing order not to allow us in,” Reuben Buhari, the group’s spokesperson, said.
The Chikun/Kajuru Active Citizens Congress, a local advocacy group, published a list of the hostages. The list could not be independently verified by the AP. Police did not respond to a request for questions on the list.
The Christian Association of Nigeria also verified the attacks and has a list of the hostages, according to a senior Christian leader in the state who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of his safety.
“This happened, and our job is to help them. These people came, attacked and picked people from churches,” he said. “But I think they prefer to play the politics of denying, and I don’t think that’s what we want.”
Attacks against religious worship centers are common in Nigeria’s conflict-battered north. They are a part of the country’s complex security crisis that also affects schools, such as in November when hundreds of schoolchildren and their teachers were abducted in another part of Kaduna.
In the past few months, the West African nation has been in the crosshairs of the US government, which has accused the Nigerian government of not protecting Christians in the country, leading to a diplomatic rift. The USlaunched an attack against an alleged Daesh group members on Nigerian territory on Dec. 25, an operation the Nigerian government said it was aware of.
It is common for police and locals to have contradicting accounts of attacks in Nigeria’s hard-hit villages
KADUNA, Nigeria: Nigerian police denied reports of simultaneous church attacks in northwestern Kaduna state over the weekend, even as residents shared accounts of kidnappings at the churches in interviews Tuesday.
A state lawmaker, Usman Danlami Stingo, told The Associated Press on Monday that 177 people were abducted by an armed group Sunday. Eleven escaped and 168 are still missing, according to the lawmaker and residents interviewed by AP.
Kaduna State Police Commissioner Muhammad Rabiu described news reports of the attacks as rumors, saying the police visited one of the three churches in the district of Kajuru and “there was no evidence of the attack.”
It is common for police and locals to have contradicting accounts of attacks in Nigeria’s hard-hit villages.
“I am one of the people who escaped from the bandits. We all saw it happen, and anyone who says it didn’t happen is lying,” said Ishaku Dan’azumi, the village head of Kurmin Wali.
Nigeria is struggling with several armed groups that launch attacks across the country, including Boko Haram and Daesh-WAP, which are religiously motivated, and other amorphous groups commonly called “bandits.”
Rights group Amnesty International condemned the “desperate denial” of the attack by the police and government.
“The latest mass abduction clearly shows President Bola Tinubu and his government have no effective plan for ending years of atrocities by armed groups and gunmen that killed thousands of people,” the group said in a statement.
A Kaduna-based Christian group, the Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria, said in a press release that security operatives did not allow its members to visit the sites of the attacks.
“The military officer who stopped the CSWN car said there was a standing order not to allow us in,” Reuben Buhari, the group’s spokesperson, said.
The Chikun/Kajuru Active Citizens Congress, a local advocacy group, published a list of the hostages. The list could not be independently verified by the AP. Police did not respond to a request for questions on the list.
The Christian Association of Nigeria also verified the attacks and has a list of the hostages, according to a senior Christian leader in the state who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of his safety.
“This happened, and our job is to help them. These people came, attacked and picked people from churches,” he said. “But I think they prefer to play the politics of denying, and I don’t think that’s what we want.”
Attacks against religious worship centers are common in Nigeria’s conflict-battered north. They are a part of the country’s complex security crisis that also affects schools, such as in November when hundreds of schoolchildren and their teachers were abducted in another part of Kaduna.
In the past few months, the West African nation has been in the crosshairs of the US government, which has accused the Nigerian government of not protecting Christians in the country, leading to a diplomatic rift. The USlaunched an attack against an alleged Daesh group members on Nigerian territory on Dec. 25, an operation the Nigerian government said it was aware of.
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