ONE NATION UNDER GOD: US commits P320M

READ: Duterte: ‘Filipinos may sacrifice a little bit if US break ties with PH’.

<b>ARAYAT, PAMPANGA -- President Rodrigo Duterte warned Tuesday the Filipinos that they may sacrifice "a little bit," citing possibilities that the United States may cut its alliance with the Philippines.</b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><b>"I am asking the Filipino in the coming days, 'If the America would really make true of [cutting ties with the Philippines], I'm going to ask you to sacrifice a little bit," Duterte said after he inspected the mega shabu laboratory at the foothill of Mt. Arayat in Pampanga.<br /><br />Duterte made the statement as he hinted that the US may severe ties with the Philippines, following his series of tirades against its officials and latest pronouncement that he might "cross the Rubicon" with the America.<br /><br />The President has lamented that the US seemed to have a lack of support with the Philippines, even though they are allies for a long time.<br /><br />While he clarified that he would not cut ties with the US, Duterte confirmed that he will pursue an alliance with other countries like China and Russia.<br /><br />"By next year, I would have entered an alliance with so many countries," the 71-year-old chief executive said.<br /><br />In a press conference held earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said there was nothing wrong if the Philippine government would accept any assistance from China and Russia.<br /><br />He said the Duterte administration has to entertain all possibilities in pursuit of best interest of the country.<br /><br />"The President is saying -- based on what I understand -- that if there is an offer from other countries, such as China and Russia, insofar as let’s say engaging our country with trade relationship and such other arrangements or assistance that they’re willing to offer, we should not be arrogant to reject it,” Yasay said.<br /><br />“You know, we have to pursue that because this is precisely in pursuance of our national interest,” he added.<br /><br /><br /><br /></b><h3>
<b> SOURCE: <a href="http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2016/09/27/duterte-filipinos-may-sacrifice-little-bit-if-us-break-ties-ph-500192">SUNSTAR</a></b></h3>

READ: Duterte: ‘Filipinos may sacrifice a little bit if US break ties with PH’.

BILATERAL TALKS. US President Barack Obama and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte US break ties with PH US commits P320M US navy warship READ: Duterte: ‘Filipinos may sacrifice a little bit if US break ties with PH’.

ARAYAT, PAMPANGA -- President Rodrigo Duterte warned Tuesday the Filipinos that they may sacrifice "a little bit," citing possibil...

READ: How COA, public can fight corruption using social mediam

9:03:00 PM TodaysUpdatePH 0

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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: magenta;">Commission on Audit Chairman Michael Aguinaldo says the agency is beefing up its use of social media to fight corrupt practices in government</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">SOCIAL MEDIA. The Commission on Audit says it is beefing up its use of social media to fight corrupt practices in government.</span></b></h4>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">MANILA, Philippines – Running after corrupt officials will be more effective if the government, public, and technology come together.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Michael Aguinaldo said this, as he shared how the agency is partnering with people on the ground to fight corruption.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the ways COA does this is through its “citizen participatory audit,” which allows ordinary Filipinos to join auditors on certain audit work. This method could make an audit more credible, he added.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It’s really a transparency mechanism so that when auditors do work in certain types of audit, may mga kasamang (there are) private citizens so they can also see what’s going on.Minsan may sinasabi na binabayaran din auditor para 'di na lang tingnan o ireport (There are allegations that the auditor is being paid just so he or she could no longer investigate or report), so this is one way to address it,” Aguinaldo said during Rappler’s Social Good Summit on Saturday, September 24.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Citing as example, Aguinaldo shared how ordinary citizens and civil society helped the agency check projects under the farm-to-market roads program.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Civil society organizations and in some cases, farmers themselves, they’ve been going out and measuring these roads. They check if the construction is right. They use a stick and walk the entire length of the road and it actually measures the road,” he said.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">These groups and farmers, he said, also use the mobile application called MyTrack to plot road locations and lengths.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Nakikita saan ginawa 'yung kalye. In some cases, bakit kulang ng 200 meters? 'Di naman kakasuhan agad, you have to ask why is it short of 200 meters? How much was paid for it?" he said.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Where the road was built can be seen. In some cases, why is it short of 200 meters? No immediate cases will be filed, you have to ask why is it short of 200 meters? How much was paid for it?)</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">COA also relies on citizens’ reports through Facebook, the most common social media platform in the Philippines. While he admitted that the use of such platform is not yet fully tapped, Aguinaldo encouraged the public to report questionable projects to COA.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Now, here’s what we're working on... Let's say roads built in barangays, or building, bridge, school, any citizen should be able to take a picture of that road, building, bridge, or school, as it’s being built and they can post it in some form of social media so people could see,” Aguinaldo said.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">This, he said, allows people to actually witness and check the progress of construction projects.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Everyone can now see that as of September 24, ito itsura(this is how it looks like), September 30, this is how it looks like. May (There's) progress and people are actually monitoring it," he added.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">He suggested that the Department of Public Works and Highways participate in the planned program. It is the DPWH, after all, that oversees construction of national roads and bridges.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The DPWH, he said, could manage the central Facebook account where complaints are to be sent.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">SOURCE: </span><a href="http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/social-good-summit/982-2016/147218-coa-fighting-corruption-social-media?utm_content=buffer6cd22&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer" style="font-family: inherit;">RAPPLER</a></b></div>
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convicts testifying vs De Lima Equipment for shabu mass-production public can fight corruption using SOCIAL MEDIA The RICE Policy US commits P320M READ: How COA, public can fight corruption using social mediam

Commission on Audit Chairman Michael Aguinaldo says the agency is beefing up its use of social media to fight corrupt practices in governme...

READ: US, Philippines set war games amid Duterte tough talk.

10:36:00 AM TodaysUpdatePH 0

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg55cHvsPbprBCOR6H6_Zf6h5GW99t8831okT8sO-Vi1xSn111o9KniBfrFBP4fHH1fUMigN9cvfRxLo6Dm03CjuXA4GMu1aOv9JF9bJYueUrUI0Joe2oaIebKqeyGiPD2QEqsLvGRoCoc/s1600/Screenshot_36.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg55cHvsPbprBCOR6H6_Zf6h5GW99t8831okT8sO-Vi1xSn111o9KniBfrFBP4fHH1fUMigN9cvfRxLo6Dm03CjuXA4GMu1aOv9JF9bJYueUrUI0Joe2oaIebKqeyGiPD2QEqsLvGRoCoc/s640/Screenshot_36.png" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: magenta;">MANILA - American and Filipino troops have scheduled amphibious drills next month, the US Embassy in Manila said Saturday, even as President Rodrigo Duterte talks tough against Washington.</span></span></h4>
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<b>The annual Philippines Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) will be held from October 4 to 12 in multiple locations in Luzon, including Palawan, which fronts reefs and outcrops that are being contested by Manila and Beijing, according to an embassy statement.</b></div>
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<b>It will be the first war games between the two treaty allies under the new Philippine leader Duterte, who has hit out at the United States for criticizing his bloody war on drugs.</b></div>
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<b>Approximately 1,400 US servicemen based in Okinawa and 500 Filipino soldiers will train "side-by-side to grow capabilities and better prepare to operate together during a natural disaster or armed conflict," according to the statement.</b></div>
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<b>“Exchanging expertise and cultivating our longstanding security alliance provides a cornerstone for security and stability in the region, and has for decades," said said Brigadier General John M. Jansen, commanding general of the US 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.</b></div>
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<b>Aside from live-fire drills, PHIBLEX 33 will also have humanitarian and civic assistance components, the embassy said.</b></div>
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<b>The US will field three amphibious attack and transport ships: USS BHR, USS Green Bay and USS Germantown while the Philippine Navy will deploy its newest strategic sealift vessel, the BRP Tarlac, the embassy said.</b></div>
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<b>Duterte this month said US Special Forces in Mindanao "must go" to give way to the government's peace negotiations with Muslim rebels. He later clarified that Manila needed Washington to defend its interests in the South China Sea.</b></div>
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<b>Angered by American officials' criticism of his anti-narcotics drive, Duterte threatened to curse at US President Barack Obama and raised US wartime abuses during its occupation of the Philippines in the early 1900s.</b></div>
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<b>This week, Duterte said Obama was welcome to join an international investigation on the mounting deaths linked to his war on drugs.</b></div>
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<b>Duterte has also signaled a thaw in ties with China that have been strained a bitter sea row. He appointed ex-President Fidel Ramos as special envoy to Beijing to discuss a United Nations-backed arbitration court's ruling that favored the Philippines.</b></div>
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SOURCE: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/24/16/us-philippines-set-war-games-amid-duterte-tough-talk">ABS:CBN</a></h3>

READ: US, Philippines set war games amid Duterte tough talk.

Philippines (PHIBLEX) Pres. Duterte clarifies his statement against US troop The PRESIDENT Citing words From US Pres. Lincoln US US commits P320M US navy warship READ: US, Philippines set war games amid Duterte tough talk.

MANILA - American and Filipino troops have scheduled amphibious drills next month, the US Embassy in Manila said Saturday, even as Presiden...

READ: US commits P320M for law enforcement in PH.

1:27:00 AM TodaysUpdatePH 0

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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">These funds 'will be used in strict compliance with US legal obligations, and basic international law enforcement and policing standards,' a US official tells Rappler</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: magenta;">TOP OFFICIAL. US Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield listens during a briefing at the Foreign Press Center on February 24, 2015, in Washington, DC. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP</span></span></h3>
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<b>MANILA, Philippines – The United States this week committed around P320 million ($6.7 million) to boost law enforcement in the Philippines, an official of the US State Department told Rappler.</b></div>
<br />William Brownfield, Assistant Secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs of the US State Department, said he approved this contribution "for the support of rule of law and law enforcement."<br /><br />Brownfield said the US sent the Philippines a diplomatic note about this new commitment earlier this week.<br /><br />The exact amount involved is P323.304 million ($6.725 million), according to the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).<br /><br />Speaking to Rappler through a phone call from the US, Brownfield said he hopes to spend this money on programs to:<br />Strengthen the rule of law in the Philippines<br />Provide greater due process in the country's justice system<br />Improve the country’s maritime security<br /><i><br />"Wherever the funds eventually go, these will be used in strict compliance with US legal obligations, and basic international law enforcement and policing standards," Brownfield explained.</i><br /><br />Brownfield once served as US ambassador to Colombia, which is known for a decades-long war on drugs. Before this, he was US ambassador to Venezuela and Chile.<br /><br />He is married to former US ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney, who is now counselor of the US State Department.<br /><br />Brownfield approved this new contribution as the Duterte administration faces two major law enforcement issues:<br />Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, which has killed more than 3,330 people<br />The dispute between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea)<br /><br />Human rights abuses barred<br /><br />On the US' P323.304-million contribution, Brownfield said: "The funding is now available for programs and support in the Philippines. 'Available' means the two governments can now discuss and reach agreement on where and how it would be spent."<br /><br />When is the soonest that the Philippines can get hold of this funding?<br /><br />It depends, for one, on "where we agree to put the funding," he said.<br /><br />If the funds will be used to improve courts or to boost maritime security, the funding "could move fairly swiftly, and we could find that by the end of this year, these programs are actually operational."<br /><br />He said that this is because "no one would criticize efforts to improve due process and access to justice in the Philippines."<br /><br />Brownfield said, too, that "there are no accusations that maritime security and maritime law enforcement are producing any abuses."<br /><br /><i>"On the other hand, if we move into more complicated areas, it could take a very long time, because we obviously have to ensure that the government of the Philippines is comfortable with the program," the US official said.</i><br /><br /><i>"Obviously, any program in the Philippines eventually must be decided by the government of the Philippines, but I also have to be assured that the program would not put us in violation of US law. And if the program is in any sensitive area, this could take a good period of time," he added.</i><br />In his case as US Assistant Secretary of State, Brownfield said US law prohibits him "from providing assistance to any individual or any unit – security force, police, or military – that has engaged in human rights abuses."<br /><br />'Rigorous vetting'<br /><br />The US earlier said it <a href="http://www.rappler.com/nation/141087-john-kerry-duterte-meeting-assistance-law-enforcement">is ready to give the Philippines</a> around P1.54 billion ($32 million) for law enforcement training and services.<br /><br />The INL Bureau of the US State Department said that P224.46 million ($4.665 million) of this larger amount "is set to be transferred soon, via an Interagency Agreement, from INL to the US Coast Guard."<br /><br />This funding aims "to support maritime security in the Philippines."<br /><br /><i>"There is additional money which was previously appropriated by Congress for use in the Philippines, but no decisions have to be made on that funding's use until next year," a spokesperson for the INL Bureau said.</i><br /><br />Duterte earlier said the US' pledge of $32 million for law enforcement was a way of making amends with the Philippines.<br /><br />The US reacted by saying that this "is not new funding, but rather cumulative funding previously appropriated."<br /><br />The US said this funding is subject to "rigorous vetting" as in the case of other forms of security assistance. The US said all of its security assistance, in turn, "promotes human rights."<br /><br />Duterte, however, has chastised the US over human rights.<br /><br />On a planned meeting with US President Barack Obama, which was later aborted, Duterte said that "nobody has the right to lecture" him on human rights.<br /><br />Duterte said he will "answer" Obama if the US president explains America's deadly pacification of Muslims in the southern Philippines at the start of the 20th century.</b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><h4>
<br />SOURCE: <a href="http://www.rappler.com/nation/147196-us-funding-philippines-law-enforcement?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=referral">RAPPLER</a></h4>
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READ: US commits P320M for law enforcement in PH.

Duterte invites Obama Obama 'briefly talk' before ASEAN dinner. The PRESIDENT Citing words From US Pres. Lincoln US commits P320M READ: US commits P320M for law enforcement in PH.

These funds 'will be used in strict compliance with US legal obligations, and basic international law enforcement and policing standard...