Low-key departure as pope steps down and hides away

source: www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - Pope Benedict slips quietly from the world stage on Thursday after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life "hidden from the world".

In keeping with his shy and modest ways, there will be no public ceremony to mark the first papal resignation in six centuries and no solemn declaration ending his nearly eight-year reign at the head of the world's largest church.

His last public appearance will be a short greeting to residents and well-wishers at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence south of Rome, in the late afternoon after his 15-minute helicopter hop from the Vatican.

When the resignation becomes official at 8 p.m. Rome time (02.00 p.m. EST), Benedict will be relaxing inside the 17th century palace. Swiss Guards on duty at the main gate to indicate the pope's presence within will simply quit their posts and return to Rome to await their next pontiff.

Avoiding any special ceremony, Benedict used his weekly general audience on Wednesday to bid an emotional farewell to more than 150,000 people who packed St Peter's Square to cheer for him and wave signs of support.

With a slight smile, his often stern-looking face seemed content and relaxed as he acknowledged the loud applause from the crowd.

"Thank you, I am very moved," he said in Italian. His unusually personal remarks included an admission that "there were moments ... when the seas were rough and the wind blew against us and it seemed that the Lord was sleeping".

CARDINALS PREPARE THE FUTURE

Once the chair of St Peter is vacant, cardinals who have assembled from around the world for Benedict's farewell will begin planning the closed-door conclave that will elect his successor.

One of the first questions facing these "princes of the Church" is when the 115 cardinal electors should enter the Sistine Chapel for the voting. They will hold a first meeting on Friday but a decision may not come until next week.

The Vatican seems to be aiming for an election by mid-March so the new pope can be installed in office before Palm Sunday on March 24 and lead the Holy Week services that culminate in Easter on the following Sunday.

In the meantime, the cardinals will hold daily consultations at the Vatican at which they discuss issues facing the Church, get to know each other better and size up potential candidates for the 2,000-year-old post of pope.

There are no official candidates, no open campaigning and no clear front runner for the job. Cardinals tipped as favorites by Vatican watchers include Brazil's Odilo Scherer, Canadian Marc Ouellet, Ghanaian Peter Turkson, Italy's Angelo Scola and Timothy Dolan of the United States.

BENEDICT'S PLANS

Benedict, a bookish man who did not seek the papacy and did not enjoy the global glare it brought, proved to be an energetic teacher of Catholic doctrine but a poor manager of the Curia, the Vatican bureaucracy that became mired in scandal during his reign.

He leaves his successor a top secret report on rivalries and scandals within the Curia, prompted by leaks of internal files last year that documented the problems hidden behind the Vatican's thick walls and the Church's traditional secrecy.

After about two months at Castel Gandolfo, Benedict plans to move into a refurbished convent in the Vatican Gardens, where he will live out his life in prayer and study, "hidden to the world", as he put it.

Having both a retired and a serving pope at the same time proved such a novelty that the Vatican took nearly two weeks to decide his title and form of clerical dress.

He will be known as the "pope emeritus," wear a simple white cassock rather than his white papal clothes and retire his famous red "shoes of the fisherman," a symbol of the blood of the early Christian martyrs, for more pedestrian brown ones.

(Reporting By Tom Heneghan; editing by Philip Pullella and Giles Elgood)

China says U.S. routinely hacks Defense Ministry websites

source: www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - Two major Chinese military websites, including that of the Defense Ministry, were subject to about 144,000 hacking attacks a month last year, almost two-thirds of which came from the United States, the ministry said on Thursday.

This month a U.S. computer security company said that a secretive Chinese military unit was likely behind a series of hacking attacks mostly targeting the United States, setting off a war of words between Washington and Beijing.

China denied the allegations and said it was the victim.

It has now provided some details for the first time of the alleged attacks from the United States.

"The Defense Ministry and China Military Online websites have faced a serious threat from hacking attacks since they were established, and the number of hacks has risen steadily in recent years," said ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng.

"According to the IP addresses, the Defense Ministry and China Military Online websites were, in 2012, hacked on average from overseas 144,000 times a month, of which attacks from the U.S. accounted for 62.9 percent," he said.

The comments were made at a monthly news conference, which foreign reporters are not allowed to attend, and posted on the ministry's website.

Geng said he had noted reports that the United States planned to expand its cyber-warfare capability but that they were unhelpful to increasing international cooperation towards fighting hacking.

"We hope that the U.S. side can explain and clarify this."

The U.S. security company, Mandiant, identified the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely driving force behind the hacking. Mandiant said it believed the unit had carried out "sustained" attacks on a wide range of industries.

The hacking dispute adds to diplomatic tension between China and the United States, already strained by Chinese suspicion about Washington's "pivot" back to Asia and arguments over issues from trade to human rights.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Mindanao power crisis to worsen during summer - DOE

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA, Philippines - Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla confirmed the deficiency in electricity supply in Mindanao will get worse with the onset of the summer months.

This, as several areas in Mindanao have already been experiencing rotating power interruptions since 2012.

Based on data from the Energy department, Mindanao has a dependable capacity of only over 1,600 megawatts of electricity but the demand with acceptable reserve power should be more than 1,700 MW.

Petilla, however, assured Mindanao residents the government has already started a strategy to ensure there is enough power in the days before and after the actual polls.

While there is enough electricity supply for Luzon and Visayas during election day and the summer months, the Energy department is also gearing up for the one-month shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas platform in November 2013.

Petilla says the department can assure ample electricity supply by that time but it will certainly cost more for consumers.

Three major power plants with a total generating capacity of 2,700 MW or around 45-percent of Luzon's electricity requirements run on natural gas.

Gov't, MILF eye final peace deal by April

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

KUALA LUMPUR – The Philippines and a Muslim separatist group hope to finalize a peace agreement ending a decades-old insurgency by April, a government negotiator said Thursday.

Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are working to put the finishing touches to plans for disarmament and wealth- and power-sharing by March, and deliver a final "comprehensive agreement" in April, Miriam Coronel Ferrer said.

"We are confident. There are only a few issues left. We will find a resolution. There is no deal-breaker here," said Coronel Ferrer, the Philippines' lead negotiator.

She spoke at the conclusion of the latest round of three-day talks between the two sides in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

President Benigno Aquino's government agreed in October on a road map with the MILF that aims toward a final peace deal by 2016, following years of talks hosted by Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Coronel Ferrer said a stand-off between Malaysian security forces and a group of Filipinos in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah would not affect the peace process.

Dozens of Filipinos, some reportedly armed, were dispatched there two weeks ago by the self-proclaimed heir to a former southern Philippine sultanate to press its traditional claim to Sabah.

Jamalul Kiram III has refused to call back his men, complaining that he was left out of the peace road map agreed in October.

"The talks are driven by the two parties. The talks pertain to issues that have to be settled between the MILF and the Philippine government," Coronel Ferrer said.

The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting since the 1970s for independence in Mindanao, the southern third of the mainly Catholic Philippines that the country's Muslim minority claim as their ancestral homeland.

An estimated 150,000 people have died in the unrest in the southern Philippines, though a ceasefire in place since 2003 has largely held.

© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

Sabah police won't arrest Pinoys in standoff despite lapsed deadline

source: www.gmanetwork.com

Members of the Royal Army of the Sultanate of Sulu who have been engaged in a three-week standoff with Malaysian authorities will not be arrested despite the lapsing of the deadline set by the Malaysian government, a television report said Thursday.

GMA News' Maki Pulido quoted Superintendent Shamsudin Mat, chief of the Lahad Datu district police in Sabah, as saying that Malaysian authorities will still give the Philippine government the chance to convince the Sulu sultanate's followers to leave the area.

The police official, however, did not say if the Malaysian government already extended the deadline it gave on the surrender of the Filipinos engage in the standoff, the report added.

In a separate television interview, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, leader of the Filipinos engaged in the standoff, meanwhile said that his group will not resort to violence unless provoked by Malaysian authorities.

“Kapag pumasok sila with guns lalaban kami, but if they come peacefully, we will accept them without guns,” Kiram said.

Around 180 of the Sulu sultanate's followers, some reportedly armed, have been in a standoff with Malaysian police in Sabah since early this month to assert their claim on what they call their ancestral territory.

The Islamic sultanate, which is based in Mindanao, once controlled parts of Borneo, including the site of the stand-off. The sultanate's heirs have been receiving a nominal yearly compensation package from Malaysia under a long-standing agreement for possession of Sabah.

On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino III appealed to Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to order his followers to return to the Philippines. The Philippine government has already asked Malaysia to extend its deadline for the surrender of the Sulu sultanate's followers for “several” more days.

Sultan Kiram, however, maintained that his followers will not retreat unless the Philippine government negotiates with him on his group's Sabah claims. — Andreo Calonzo/BM, GMA News

Nation PHL, MILF eye final peace deal by April

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Japan may release data proving Chinese radar incident: media

www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - Japan may release data it says will prove a Chinese naval vessel directed its fire control radar at a Japanese destroyer near disputed islands in the East China Sea, local media reported.

Japan has said a Chinese frigate on January 30 locked its targeting radar on a Japanese destroyer - a step that usually precedes the firing of weapons - but China insists that its vessel used only ordinary surveillance radar.

The incident has added to tensions between the two nations over the disputed islands.

Japan will consider how much normally classified data it can release, the media reports said, citing comments by Japan Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera on local television.

"The government is considering the extent of what can be disclosed," Kyodo news agency quoted Onodera as saying.

China has accused Japan of smearing its name with the accusations, and on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency continued the war of words.

"By spreading false accusations and posing as a poor victim, Japan had intended to tarnish China's image so as to gain sympathy and support, but a lie does not help," it said in an English language commentary.

"China has been exercising maximum restraint and stayed committed to solving the dispute through dialogue and consultation."

Japan and China have been involved in a series of incidents in recent months in the East China Sea where Chinese and Japanese naval vessels regularly shadow each others movements.

Both countries claim a small clusters of islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, believed to be rich in oil and gas. Controlled by Japan, possession of the uninhabited outcrops and the sea surrounding them would provide China with easier access to the Pacific.

Hopes had been rising for an easing in tensions, including a possible summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping. But the radar issue has seen China and Japan engage in a fresh round of invective.

China's Defence Ministry on Thursday said Japan's complaints did not "match the facts". The Chinese ship's radar, it said, had maintained regular alerting and surveillance operations and the ship "did not use fire control radar".

Japan's position against China has hardened since Abe led his conservative party to a landslide election victory in December, promising to beef up the military and stand tough in territorial disputes.

The commander of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific said the squabble between Japan and China underlined the need for rules to prevent such incidents turning into serious conflict.

China also has ongoing territorial disputes with other Asian nations including Vietnam and the Philippines over islands in the South China Sea.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Michael Perry)

Tight budget may force Pentagon to cut forces: general

source: www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - The Pentagon will have to cut the size of U.S. military forces for the second time in as many years if across-the-board spending reductions of $470 billion over 10 years take effect March 1, the top U.S. military officer said on Saturday.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said about a third of the cuts would have to come from forces, with the remaining two-thirds taken from spending on modernization, compensation and readiness.

He noted that the Army had begun to shrink last year toward 490,000 from a high of 570,000, a result of efforts to trim $487 billion over 10 years as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

The Budget Control Act also envisioned the additional across-the-board cuts under a process known as sequestration. If those cuts go into effect, "the Army will have to come down again," Dempsey said.

Speaking to reporters traveling with him to Afghanistan, Dempsey said two recent high-profile examples of belt-tightening were attempts by the Pentagon to adapt to the current challenging budget climate and had nothing to do with sequestration.

The Pentagon said last week it would seek a smaller-than-expected pay increase of 1 percent for military personnel in the 2014 fiscal year budget. Pay increases have generally been pegged to an employment cost index and had been expected to rise 1.7 percent.

"That action is being taken to help us absorb the $487 billion in the Budget Control Act. It has nothing to do with sequestration," Dempsey said.

A defense official said the lower pay increase would save the department about $470 million during the 2014 fiscal year. The savings would amount to $3 billion over five years because future increases would be based on the lower 2014 raise.

Dempsey said the decision this week to delay deployment of the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East was to adjust to funding for the 2013 fiscal year.

Congress has not appropriated funds for the Pentagon for 2013. Instead, it passed a continuing resolution that temporarily extends Pentagon funding until late March at 2012 levels.

"The continuing resolution under which we're operating has more money in the investment account and less money in operations and maintenance and we don't have transfer authority to move it," Dempsey said. "So our operations and maintenance is deteriorating because of the misalignment of funding in the continuing resolution."

Dempsey is due to testify on the impact of sequestration at a hearing next week before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"What we've got to make clear to the Congress next week (is) that it's not just about sequestration. We're trying to absorb the $487 billion Budget Control Act, we're trying to absorb the challenges that were imposed on us by the continuing resolution and we're anticipating absorbing sequestration," Dempsey said.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Crane ship's anchoring problems delay USS Guardian salvage work

source: www.gmanetwork.com

Efforts to remove the US minesweeper USS Guardian from Tubbataha Reef hit another snag Saturday after a crane ship helping in the salvage operations had problems dropping anchor on the seabed.

As of Saturday, the crane ship SMIT Borneo successfully dropped only one of its four anchors, according to a report on "24 Oras."

"Kailangan maganda ang bite ng anchor sa seabed. Nakita nila kung hindi maganda ang bite ng anchor sa seabed... maaring magkaroon ng disgrasya," said Commodore Enrico Evangelista, head of Task Force Tubbataha.

So long as the crane ship is not properly anchored, the salvage operations cannot start, he added.

The task force decided not to continue with the anchoring of the SMIT Borneo for the day.

In the meantime, the task force is also waiting for a second, more powerful crane ship to arrive from Singapore. The report said the ship may arrive in Palawan Feb. 15.

Earlier, the Philippine Coast Guard said it expects the salvage work to be completed in as little as two to three weeks, but only if the weather cooperates.

Meanwhile, the report said the US Navy has estimated the damage to Tubbataha Reef at 4,000 square meters. — LBG, GMA News

DND to purchase P1.7-B worth of body armors

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA - The Department of National Defense (DND) will procure P1.76 billion worth of force protection equipment or body armors to minimize casualties of those in the battlefields.

DND assistant secretary for personnel and concurrent DND-Bids and Awards Committee chairman Efren Fernandez said the 44,080 sets of body armors will be for the use of Army and Marine soldiers, most of whom are deployed in war-torn areas.

A pre-bid conference will be held on Feb. 14 at the DND-BAC conference room in Camp Aguinaldo. The deadline for the submission of bids will be on February 28.

Fernandez said the procurement will be via an open competitive bidding process using a non-discretionary "pass-fail" criterion as specified in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Government Procurement Act.

"Bids received in excess of the ABC (Approved Budget for the Contract) shall be automatically rejected at the bid opening," he explained.

The bidding will be open to all, whether local or foreign firms, he stressed.

The winner will have to deliver the equipment within 365 calendar days from the opening of the letter of credit.

AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said: "This is in line with our thrust to minimize casualties. This is a big development. We value human resources, that's why we put premium to their protection while they conduct security operations.”

China accuses Japan of 'smear' over radar incident

source: www.gmanetwork.com

BEIJING - Beijing accused Tokyo Thursday of mounting a smear campaign after Japan said a Chinese frigate had locked its weapons-targeting radar on a Japanese warship in a "threat of force."

The world's second- and third-largest economies are at loggerheads over uninhabited Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Tokyo and Diaoyu by Beijing, which claims them.

The radar incident, which Japan said happened last week, marked the first time the two nations' navies have locked horns in a dispute that has some commentators warning about a possible armed conflict.

Asked to respond to Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera's description of the radar targeting as a "threat of force," Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "Recently Japan has been hyping up crisis and deliberately creating tension to smear China's image.

"This move is counter to the improvement of relations," she told a regular briefing.

"The current problem is not China being assertive but about Japanese ships' and airplanes' repeated illegal activities in the airspace and waters of the Diaoyu islands, which undermine China's territorial sovereignty."

The long-running row over the islands intensified in September when Tokyo nationalized part of the chain, triggering fury in Beijing and huge anti-Japan demonstrations across China.

Beijing has repeatedly sent ships and aircraft near the islands and both sides have scrambled fighter jets, though there have been no clashes.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday the "window for dialogue" must remain open but reiterated his rebuke to Beijing over the "extremely regrettable" naval confrontation.

"But we will not close the window of dialogue. This is most important," said Abe. "I would like China to return to a more open attitude towards our strategic partnership."

Abe Wednesday had described the Chinese action as "dangerous" and "provocative."

Onodera told parliament on Thursday the Chinese radar lock amounted to a "threat of force," but also called for some mechanism to allow defence authorities to communicate with each other.

"We think this is a threat of force, as defined in the UN Charter.

"But what is most important is to prevent incidents like this from recurring in the future," he said. "I also think it is necessary for Japan and China to have a means of consultation on maritime safety issues."

In Washington, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday urged China to avoid confrontation and seek peaceful dialogue with Japan and other countries over territorial disputes.

Asked about the China-Japan tensions, Panetta voiced concern that "it's the kind of situation where there are territorial claims that could ultimately get out of hand."

He added: "One country or the other could react in a way that could create an even greater crisis."

The US defence chief said China, the United States and other countries should work together to address "common challenges," including piracy, natural disasters and territorial disputes."

China's premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang, meanwhile, urged marine surveillance staff on Thursday to intensify law enforcement in China's sea territories, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

"Supervising and governing seas under the jurisdiction of China is the main responsibility of Chinese marine surveillance staff," Li, who is expected to take over as China's premier next month, was quoted as saying.

It is believed the island chain—which is also claimed by Taiwan—sits atop vast mineral reserves. — Agence France-Presse

PNoy approves US Navy's plan to salvage ship

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III has already approved the United States Navy's plan to extricate the USS Guardian at the Tubbataha Reef, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Thursday.

Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, commander of PCG Palawan District and head of task force Tubbataha, said the President approved last night the salvage operations for the USS Guardian.

In an interview with radio dzMM, PCG commandant Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena said: "Baka po kung maganda ang panahon baka sa Sunday o Monday e makapagsimula na sila, kasi 'yung prepositioning ng barko may take one or two days... and then siguro on the fourth day saka sila mag-start ng actual operations.”

The US Navy earlier said the “sectioning” of the USS Guardian in several parts appeared to be less destructive. Around 4000 square meters of the World Heritage Site has already been flattened.

Separately, Evangelista said the rigging of the four anchors and the pre-positioning of the Smit Borneo, a salvage ship, are still ongoing. He said the rigging might take two days because it has to be precise in order to prevent any further damage to the reef.

Soon after, heavy equipment like blowers, pumps and other tools will be transferred to the USS Guardian. By that time, containment barriers and safety nets will be put into place.

He added the initial ecological assessment before the operation was done yesterday but the PCG is still waiting for the results. Weather in Tubbataha is favorable today.

Representatives from the US coastguard had visited the PCG office to check on the ongoing operations.

Evangelista added the other crane ship, Jascon, is still in Singapore finalizing its contract. – with reports from Gretchen Malalad, ABS-CBN News

Japan scrambles jets after Russian intrusion

source; Reuters through www.gmanetwork.com

TOKYO - Two Russian fighter jets briefly entered Japan's air space near the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, prompting Japan to scramble combat fighters and lodge a protest, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

It was the first such intrusion in five years, a ministry official said. Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is expected to visit Moscow later this month to discuss territorial matters.

Thursday was Japan's "Northern Territories Day", when rallies are traditionally held calling for the return of disputed islands off Hokkaido.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev landed on the remote island chain in July, prompting protests from Tokyo.

Medvedev's trip to the disputed islands in Russia's Far East - known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia but as the Northern Territories in Japan - prompted Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to complain.

Unlike Japan's dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea, which are near potentially vast maritime oil and gas reserves, the feud with Russia has more to do with the legacy of World War Two.

Soviet soldiers seized the islands at the end of the war and the territorial row has weighed on diplomatic relations ever since, precluding a formal peace treaty. — Reuters

Another US warship to visit PHL

source: www.gmanetwork.com

A United States Navy guided missile destroyer will arrive in Subic Bay in Zambales on Tuesday for a routine port visit, the American embassy said Monday.

The USS Stockdale (DDG-106), the third US vessel to visit the Philippines since January, will replenish supplies as well as offer its crew an opportunity for rest and relaxation, the embassy said in a statement.

The Stockdale's routine port call and goodwill visit at Subic Bay — once one of the largest US military installations in the world outside of the American mainland — “is a great opportunity to continue the long-term relationship between the Philippines and the United States,” said ship commanding officer Cdr. Lex Walker.

This will be the Stockdale’s first visit to the Philippines. The visit is part of the ship’s nine-month deployment to the Western Pacific that began in January 2013.

During the visit, Stockdale sailors will also engage in a number of community relations projects including visits to local orphanages, the embassy said.

The USS Stockdale was commissioned on April 18, 2009, and is homeported in San Diego, California. It is named for Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, who was the highest ranking US naval officer to be held as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam.

Walker also spoke about the diversity of his crew. “We have quite a few Filipino –American Sailors among our crew, and I hope that the citizens of the Philippines can look at our ship and see that their people and their culture are well represented and respected in the U.S. Navy.”

Some 15 Filipino-Americans sail aboard the USS Stockdale, among them sailors with family ties to Baguio City, Manila, Marikina City, Orion, Olongapo City, Quezon City, and Santa Monica.

Some, like Geno C. Uy (GSM2) and Ryan Angeles (AM2), were born in the Philippines and immigrated to the US in recent years. Others, including Joel Marsigian (AM2) and Dean Rivera-Villanueva (ADAN), were born in the US but still have relatives in the Philippines.

Many of the Stockdale’s sailors plan to visit family while in port, the embassy said. — Michaela del Callar/KBK, GMA News

PH assures fines over Tubbataha damage

souce: www.abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA - Malacañang said the Philippine government will still impose fines and ask for compensation from the United States government over the damage of Tubbataha Reef even if it has given assistance for coral restoration efforts.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said a final assessment of the damage will be done after the USS Guardian is extricated.

“That’s not compensation, that’s assistance. We still have to determine the amount of fines that are going to be imposed based on a final assessment on the damage caused to the reef and that has not been done yet,” Lacierda said.

“They’re going to do that over and above the fines that we are going to impose based on the law that we have in place. And certainly we have seen their commitment to preserving the reef as part of their ongoing efforts, previous efforts, and certainly these are acknowledgments of the importance of the richness of the biodiversity that is found in Tubbataha Reef.”

The Guardian became grounded on the Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in a remote part of the Sulu Sea, on January 17.

The badly damaged minesweeper will need to be dismantled before it is removed.

The US Navy had previously said the boat, which has a wood and fibreglass hull, was too badly damaged to be towed away.

Thousands of litres of oil on board the Guardian have been removed but the vessel is being battered by huge waves, causing it to gouge a destructive trail along the reef, according to superintendent of the Tubbataha marine park Angelique Songco.

She said dismantling the ship would further damage the reef but letting it remain there longer would lead to even more harm.

The US Navy has repeatedly apologised for the incident but has refused to explain publicly why the Guardian was sailing so close to the reef.

This has fueled anger over the incident in the Philippines, a former American colony and important US ally in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vessels sailing into the marine park need permission, but Philippine authorities said the crew of the Guardian had made no request to enter and had even ignored radio messages from government rangers that it was about to hit the reef. -- with Agence France-Presse

Chinese ships' drills no cause for tension — Palace

source: www.gmanetwork.com

Malacañang on Sunday said it sees no problem with the entry of a Chinese navy fleet into the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) for patrols and drills.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the exercises involving the Chinese ships will be conducted in international waters.

“I understand that the exercises will be conducted on international waters. I’ve also read that report ... and it did say that they were keeping to one of the international sea routes in international waters so it shouldn’t be a problem,” she said on government-run dzRB radio.

Earlier reports said a Chinese navy fleet including three Chinese warships entered the South China Sea Friday for patrols and drills, after passing through the Bashi Channel.

The Bashi Channel is between Taiwan and Luzon, and is an international sea route.

Since April 2012, the Philippines and China have been in a row over a territorial dispute over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

Last year, Philippine forces spotted Chinese fishermen gathering marine species from the area but were blocked by Chinese ships when they tried to make arrests.

Also, the Philippines and China are among six claimants to the Spratly Islands. The other claimants include Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. — LBG, GMA News

Indian navy prepared to deploy to South China Sea

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

NEW DELHI - The Indian navy is prepared to deploy vessels to the South China Sea to protect India's oil interests there, the navy chief said on Monday amid growing international fears over the potential for naval clashes in the disputed region.

India has sparred diplomatically with China in the past over its gas and oil exploration block off the coast of Vietnam. China claims virtually the entire mineral-rich South China Sea and has stepped up its military presence there. Other nations such as Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia have competing claims.

Indian state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has a stake in a gas field in the Nam Con Son basin, off Vietnam's south coast.

Indian Navy Chief Admiral D.K Joshi said while India was not a claimant in the dispute over territorial rights in the South China Sea, it was prepared to act, if necessary, to protect its maritime and economic interests in the region.

"When the requirement is there, for example, in situations where our country's interests are involved, for example ONGC ... we will be required to go there and we are prepared for that," Joshi told a news conference.

"Now, are we preparing for it? Are we having exercises of that nature? The short answer is yes," he said.

He described the modernisation of China's navy as "truly impressive" and acknowledged that it was a source of major concern for India.

Any display of naval assertiveness by India in the South China Sea would likely fuel concern that the navies of the two rapidly growing Asian giants could be on a collision course as they seek to protect trade routes and lock in the supply of coal, minerals and other raw material from foreign sources.

"It is one of the most important international waterways and freedom of navigation there is an issue of utmost concern to India because a large portion of India's trade is through the South China Sea," said Brahma Chellaney, analyst at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.

Chellaney, however, played down Joshi's comments, saying the Indian navy's focus would remain on the Indian Ocean, which the Asian nation views as its strategic backyard.

New rules

In September 2011, an Indian warship sailing in the South China Sea to the Vietnamese port of Haiphong was challenged when a caller identifying himself as an official of the Chinese navy warned the ship on an open radio channel that it was entering Chinese waters.

Nothing happened, the ship sailed on, and both India and China have since played down the incident, with New Delhi saying the vessel was well within international waters in the South China Sea and that there was no confrontation.

China's neighbours are fretting about a recent Chinese media report on new rules that will allow police in the southern Chinese province of Hainan to board and seize control of foreign ships which "illegally enter" its waters from Jan. 1.

The Philippines on Saturday condemned the Chinese plan as illegal and Singapore, home to the world's second-busiest container port, said on Monday it was concerned.

Asked about the report of China's plan to board ships, Joshi said India had the right to self-defence.

Estimates for proven and undiscovered oil reserves in the South China Sea range as high as 213 billion barrels of oil, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a 2008 report. That would surpass every country's proven oil reserves except Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, according to the BP Statistical Review.

Japan 'releases Chinese fishermen'

source: www.news.yahoo.com

Japan on Sunday released the captain and crew of a Chinese boat who had been detained on suspicion of illegal fishing, Chinese state media reported amid a festering territorial row between the neighbours.

The 100-tonne coral fishing boat with a crew of 13 was stopped on Saturday by a Japanese coastguard patrol in waters some 45 kilometres (28 miles) northeast of Miyako island in the southern Okinawan chain.

The skipper and all his crew were released after the Chinese consulate general in Fukuoka submitted a bail guarantee, Xinhua news agency said, quoting the consulate general.

The fishing boat and all its crew departed Miyako for China late on Sunday, it said.

The Japanese coastguard said Saturday that the captain had been arrested on suspicion of fishing in the exclusive maritime zone without permission from Japan.

The incident occurred amid a simmering dispute over the Tokyo-administered Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus.

Miyako is about 210 kilometres (130 miles) off the biggest Senkaku isle.

The arrest was made on the same day that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe toured the southern region of Okinawa near the disputed islands in the East China Sea, where he vowed to defend Japan against "provocations".

Abe's comments came in the same week that his government approved a rise in defence spending for the first time in over a decade, explicitly aimed at beefing up defence of the contested island chain.

Chinese government ships have routinely circled the islands since September, when Tokyo nationalised some of them.

Chinese planes have also sporadically breached the airspace over them, stoking the long-running sovereignty row.

It was the first time that the captain of a Chinese fishing boat was detained in waters in the Okinawa region since September 2010 when Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain after he rammed his vessel against two coastguard patrol boats in waters around the disputed islands, Kyodo news agency said.

The arrest sparked off a fierce diplomatic protest from Beijing and Tokyo released the captain weeks later without prosecuting him.