MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has warned the public against false narratives being spread by China to sow discord among Filipinos, including its “unverifiable” recording of a phone conversation between a ranking Philippine military officer and a Chinese diplomat purportedly on an agreement on a “new model” for managing the situation in Ayungin Shoal.
In the alleged phone conversation, a voice – supposedly of Western Command chief Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos – could be heard expressing his approval of the new model to the one on the other line, reportedly a ranking diplomat in the Chinese embassy.
The BRP Sierra Madre has been grounded on Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal for more than three decades, serving as an outpost for a small contingent of Filipino soldiers.
Beijing is claiming it has a gentleman’s agreement with Manila to allow only deliveries of food and other provisions to Sierra Madre and not construction materials.
In a statement, the DFA said it is cautioning the public “against falling for false narratives” from China.
“Resorting to tactics such as releasing unverifiable recordings of supposed conversations with Philippine officials could demonstrate efforts to sow discord and confusion among Philippine agencies and the Filipino public,” it said.
The DFA said diplomats should strictly adhere to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, particularly Article 41 which states that “…it is the duty of all persons to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State.”
“They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State,” the DFA said.
On Tues day, the DFA made it clear that no Cabinet-level official had approved any Chinese proposal.
The department emphasized that only the Philippine president can approve or authorize agreements entered into by the government with other parties on matters pertaining to the West Philippine Sea.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. dismissed the recorded phone conversation between Carlos and a Chinese diplomat as a product of deep fakes.
“China’s claim of an audio recording allegedly between Vice Admiral Carlos and a Chinese diplomat does not merit significant concern as it appears to be a malign influence effort from the Chinese Communist Party,” Brawner said.
“Transcripts can easily be fabricated, and audio recordings can be manufactured by using deep fakes. These reports only aims to serve as a distraction from the China Coast Guard’s ongoing aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea,” Brawner stressed. He said the AFP would never dignify the claim of the Chinese embassy.
He also advised the media “to handle such reports with care and to avoid spreading unverified information that could further escalate tensions or mislead public opinion.”
Carlos, who is on leave for personal reasons, has not yet issued a statement on the embassy’s allegations.
Philippine Navy spokesman for the WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad taunted China for engaging in “Marites (gossip) warfare.”
“All the false claims of China are designed to sow discord among us Filipinos and should be taken with a gra in of salt,” Trinidad said.
“This is all part of their Cognitive Warfare to shape public perception in their favor,” he added, noting that China’s claims of a gentleman’s agreement and allegations of a “new model” deal are rehashed arguments unmasked as lies by the Philippine government. “I call this Marites (or gossip) warfare. Those statements are better left alone,” Trinidad said.
Other government offices like the Department of National Defense and the National Security Council have been cautioning the public against falling into Beijing’s narrative.
The Department of National Defense, AFP, National Security Council and DFA had long been cautioning the public against China’s spreading of lies to sow discord among Filipinos and justify its illegal actions in Philippine waters.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) yesterday issued another alert for rocket debris after China’s latest rocket launch.
PhilSA confirmed yesterday China’s launch of its Long March 3B/E rocket from its Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan at around 9:50 a.m. (Philippine time).
“Expected debris from the rocket launch was projected to have fallen within the identified drop zones approximately 28 NM (nautical miles) away from Rozul Reef and 38 NM away from Patag Island (which is among the Spratly islands west of Palawan in the West Philippine Sea),” PhilSA said in its advisory.
“There is also a possibility for the debris to float around the area and wash toward nearby coasts. Additionally, the possibility of an uncontrolled re-entry to the atmosphere of the rocket’s upper stages returning from outer space cannot be ruled out at this time,” PhilSA said.
PhilSA also cautioned the public against retrieving or coming in close contact with rocket fragments as they may contain remnants of toxic substances such as rocket fuel. – Rainier Allan Ronda
MANILA, Philippines — The e-Travel System will be implemented today at international airports nationwide by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
The unified and simplified digital data collection platform will provide each passenger with one QR code for seamless travel clearance.
The QR code will be presented, upon arrival or before departure, to a Customs officer for clearance, and passports will be presented to immigration officers for e-Travel registration confirmation.
Inbound and outbound passengers can fill out the electronic Customs Baggage Declaration Form (e-CBDF) and electronic Currencies Declaration Form (e-CDF) on the e-Travel website or by downloading the eGovPH application within 72 hours before arrival or departure.
The e-CBDF must be filled out by arriving passengers while the e-CDF must be filled out by passengers bringing into or taking out local or foreign currencies beyond the allowed threshold.
The BOC will strictly implement rules on the cross-border transfer of currencies, wherein persons bringing into or taking out of the Philippines foreign currency more than $10,000 or equivalent are required to declare the whole amount in the e-CDF.
For Philippine currency, persons may bring into or take out an amount not exceeding P50,000.
Beyond the P50,000 limit, passengers are required to present written authorization from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and declare the whole amount in the e-CDF.
The BSP allows the cross-border transfer of local currency above the limit only for testing, calibration, or configuration of money counting or sorting machines, numismatics or collection of currency and currency awareness.
Violation of rules shall result in confiscation by Customs authorities.
Passengers are reminded that the BSP does not issue a written authorization upon arrival or after confiscation of the excess peso.
MANILA, Philippines — The Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. has filed a criminal complaint against Dioscoro Esteban Jr., officer-in-charge of the state-owned firm PEA Tollway Corp. (PEATC) over the alleged unauthorized filing of a petition seeking to remove CIC’s right to manage and operate the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX).
In a 35-page complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on May 6, CIC Legal Services head Criselda Funelas, representing the corporation, charged Esteban with violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act as well as of perjury, usurpation of authority and slander as defined and penalized under Articles 183, 177 and 358 of the Revised Penal Code, respectively.
The complaint stemmed from Estaban’s filing of a petition for a writ of mandamus dated March 15, 2024 before the Court of Appeals praying for the full transfer of the operation and maintenance as well as the collection of toll in CAVITEX to PEATC from the CIC.
Esteban, in his petition, also prayed to the court to require the CIC to transfer to PEATC all other contract services related to CAVITEX operations such as the CIC’s utility contracts with Meralco, Maynilad, PLDT and Smart.
The CIC, a subsidiary of the Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., holds the concession to operate and maintain CAVITEX through a joint venture agreement (JVA) entered with the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and its unit, PEATC in December 1994.
In the petition, Esteban, representing the PEATC, said the CIC’s authority to operate the CAVITEX has already expired and that the government is bound to lose billions of pesos in revenues if the CIC is allowed to continue to operate the tollway.
Esteban, in the petition, added that the government had lost around P2.4 billion in 2023 to CIC.
In its complaint, however, the CIC said Esteban filed the petition for writ of mandamus without the approval of the PEATC’s parent agency, the PRA and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).
The CIC said OGCC, which must represent the legal interests of state-owned firms like the PEATC in court proceedings, in fact “vehemently objected” with the filing of the petition.
“Respondent (Esteban), under the pretense of official position, acted without proper legal authority in: (a) filing the Petition; (b) purporting to terminate the legal services of OGCC; (c) engaging private legal counsel to represent PEATC in the Petition without the written conformity of both OGCC and COA (Commission on Audit,” the CIC’s complaint read.
The CIC said Esteban’s statement in the petition as well as his recent interviews with the media, were also slanderous, imputing corruption on the part of the CIC without any evidence.
“In this case, CIC is being accused of rampant corruption in its operations, without any basis or evidence whatsoever. The fact that it is PEATC employees who are the ones collecting cash militates against Respondent’s accusation,” the complaint read.
The CIC also slammed the PEATC’s demand to shift from the current 90 percent–10 percent revenue sharing in favor of the CIC to 90 percent–10 percent in favor of the PEATC in connection with the CAVITEX operation.
The CIC said the demand lacked any legal basis as Clause 3.2 of the JVA states that the 90 percent–10 percent revenue sharing scheme shall only take effect upon the completion of Phase 1 of the CAVITEX project and the repayment in full of the loans, interest costs, advance costs and capital investments of both the CIC and PRA.
“However, these conditions have not been met. Phase 1 of the Project has yet to be completed as the C-5 Link remains unfinished,” the CIC’s complaint read.
“Further, PEATC has not presented any proof whatsoever that CIC has already recouped its investments in the Project, which is why it engaged in a fishing expedition through its demand letter dated 7 February 2024 wherein it required CIC to produce and submit the financial statements of the Project,” it added.
Meanwhile, in a statement sent to reporters, PEATC spokesperson Ariel Inton said their office has yet to receive a copy of the complaint, though they are ready to defend their acting chief from any “malicious and unfounded” allegations.
“At the outset, this criminal complaint is just a useless attempt on the part of CIC to divert the real issue, and that is to recover the operation and collection of fees that rightfully belongs to PEA Toll Corporation,” Inton said.
BOCA RATON – Americans Harold Terens and Jeanne Swerlin promise their courtship is “better than Romeo and Juliet” – he is 100, she’s 96, and they marry next month in France, where the groom-to-be served during World War II.
US Air Force veteran Terens will be honored on June 6 at a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, the historic Allied operation that changed the course of the war.
Two days later Harold and Jeanne will exchange vows in Carentan-les-Marais, close to the beaches where thousands of soldiers waded ashore – and many died – that day in 1944. The town’s mayor will preside over the ceremony.
“It’s a love story like you’ve never heard before,” Terens assures Agence France-Presse.
During an interview at Swerlin’s home in Boca Raton, Florida, they exchange glances, hold hands and smooch like teenagers.
“He’s an unbelievable guy, I love everything about him,” Swerlin says of her fiance. “He’s handsome –and he’s a good kisser.”
The youthful centenarian is also cheerful, witty, and gifted with a prodigious and vivid memory, recalling dates and locations and events without hesitation – a living history book of sorts.
Shortly after Terens turned 18, Japan bombed the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor. He, like many young American men, was keen to enlist.
By age 20 he was an expert in Morse code and aboard a ship bound for England, where he was assigned to a squadron of four P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. Terens was responsible for their ground-to-air communication.
“We were losing the war by losing a lot of planes and a lot of pilots… These pilots became friends and they got killed,” he laments. “They were all young kids.”
His company lost half of its 60 planes during the Normandy operation. Soon after, Terens volunteered to travel to that region of northern France to help transport German prisoners of war and liberated Allied troops to England.
After the war he returned stateside and married Thelma, his wife of 70 years with whom he raised three children.
Terens worked for a British multinational, and when he and Thelma retired, they settled in Florida.
Her death in 2018 sank Terens, and he endured “three years of feeling sorry for myself and mourning my wife,” he recalls.
But life offered him a fresh start. In 2021, a friend introduced him to Jeanne Swerlin, a charismatic woman who had also been widowed.
Sparks did not fly. On their first meeting Terens could barely look at Swerlin.
But persistence paid off. A second date changed everything, and they haven’t been apart since.
“She lights up my life, she makes everything beautiful,” he says. “She makes life worth living.”