Monthly Archives: June 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte is proving to be a hindrance to the country's most urgent political and socio-economic reforms

Published 8:30 PM, June 30, 2017

Updated 11:04 PM, June 30, 2017

After a year in office, the first self-proclaimed Leftist and Socialist president of the Philippines has become more rightist and fascist than ever.

Swept to office last year on the promise of sweeping changes, President Rodrigo Duterte and his government are proving to be a hindrance to the country's most urgent political and socio-economic reforms.

Worse, with the recent declaration of martial law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao and possibly elsewhere, he is threatening to bring the country back to the Marcosian days of martial rule.

Human rights catastrophe

If there is any accomplishment that President Duterte can rightly claim his own, it's the deaths of more than 8,000 suspected drug users and pushers at the hands of the police, police assets and police-backed vigilante death squads. This was his campaign promise, and he is doing it with flair.

The unbelievable frequency and impunity by which these extrajudicial killings (i.e. summary executions at the hands of state security forces) are committed have become the hallmark of his war on drugs. It is targeted mainly at the poor, who neither have the clout nor the resources to defend themselves from such an onslaught by the very government that is supposed to protect their rights.

The drug-related killings have earned widespread condemnation from human rights advocates here and abroad. And by comparing himself to Hitler, Duterte has singlehandedly cemented his image on the world stage as a proponent of genocide and mass murder.

Just like the EJKs of petty criminals in Davao City when he was then mayor, the killings due to the drug war cannot be directly attributed to President Duterte. He has never pulled the trigger or ordered the killing of specific individuals.

But by giving his men the go-ahead to shoot drug suspects, repeatedly condoning the killings and assuring those involved of protection and even a presidential pardon, and with authorities under him failing or refusing to investigate or prosecute numerous cases of EJKs, then he becomes accountable.

It's not only the poor drug users and pushers that get killed. In the last year, human rights groups have documented at least 55 extrajudicial killings of peasants and indigenous peoples suspected of being members or sympathizers of the New People's Army (NPA). Almost all victims were involved in land disputes involving large plantations or in campaigns to stop large-scale mining in their communities. Independent investigations almost always point to government soldiers or members of military-backed paramilitary groups as perpetrators.

Whether drug related or counterinsurgency related, whether one or 8,000, such killings target the poor and are utterly condemnable. It represents the darkest side of the Duterte presidency.

Peace talks on the brink

In contrast, the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) can be considered the Duterte presidency's silver lining. His appointment of 3 NDFP nominees to his cabinet, the release of NDFP consultants involved in the negotiations, and his commitment to honor all previously signed agreements between the two parties have established much confidence and goodwill in the talks.

The peace talks with the NDFP are key to his campaign promise of bringing peace to the whole country. The talks are meant to address the root causes of the 50-year old armed conflict. It's agenda includes the entire gamut of economic, social, cultural, political and constitutional reforms. Moreover, Duterte's background as a Kabataang Makabayan activist and claims of being a leftist and socialist endears him well to the NDFP.

There have been four rounds of formal talks in the last year, the most number of any administration. Major gains have been achieved in forging a substatial agreement on social and economic reforms, including a consensus on free land distribution as the key principle in agrarian reform. Drafts have been exchanged on political and constitutional reforms, and discussions started on the eventual cessation of hostilities and disposition of forces.

Unfortunately, Duterte's insistence, on the prodding of his military and defense officials, on a bilateral ceasefire prior to any substantial agreement has snagged the talks. At this stage in the negotiations where no substantial agreement has yet been signed, the NDFP considers such a bilateral ceasefire agreeement as a virtual document of surrender and capitulation.

As in previous regimes, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) want the rebels to enter into a ceasefire but insists on its right to operate in NPA strongholds and areas where the rebels operate. The rebels know that this is to their disadvantage and so insists that the talks proceed even as both sides fight it out in the battlefield.

In previous negotiations, substantial agreements between the two parties like the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) were negotiated and signed despite the absence of a ceasefire.

As a compromise, the NDFP has agreed to entering such a ceasefire simultaneous with the signing of an agreement on social and economic reforms, hopefully within the year. But the security cluster led by former generals National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon and Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana is against this. This was what basically caused the collapse of the 5th round of negotiations scheduled last May.

But it is the issue of martial law that has put the peace talks in a most precarious situation. On the day that martial law was declared in Mindanao, Sec. Lorenzana identified the NPA as among the targets. This compelled the Communist Party to order the NPA to fight back through intensified offensives. Later, after the 5th round of talks had collapsed, Duterte said that he would order the arrest of NDFP consultants and negotiators.

Although Lorenzana has recalled his statement and military officials insist that martial law is intended only to address the threat of ISIS-inspired groups, the National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission held in Mindanao last June 13-17 reported that under martial law, military operations and aerial bombings have increased in NPA strongholds and mass bases in the island.

If martial law is extended and leads to massive human rights violations and the curtailment of civil and political rights, and if Duterte makes good his threat to arrest the NDFP officials, the talks might just reach a dead end. Rappler.com

Teddy Casio served as the party-list representative of Bayan Muna for 3 terms, from 2004 to 2013. Prior to his stint in Congress, he was secretary-general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and a columnist for BusinessWorld.

Read the original post:

After one year, Duterte veers ever more to the right - Rappler

Korean cuisine to be taught at Vietnamese University

The Korean Cultural Center will support the cost of inviting Korean lecturers and curriculum and some ingredients of dishes during the course.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on June 27 between the Korean Cultural Center, the Thang Long University, the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. and the local foodstuff firm K-Market.

Accordingly, Thang Long University will be the first Vietnamese university offering a Korean cuisine course. As the MoU says, this course will be taught as an optional subject for tourism students, under the guidance of Korean teachers, at the elementary level, intermediate level and advanced level.

The Korean Cultural Center will support the cost of inviting Korean lecturers and curriculum and some ingredients of dishes during the course.

The Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. will also partly offer free teaching materials (ingredients of dishes), organize typical Korean cooking events as well as Korean culinary promotion events. In addition, K-market will provide ingredients at preferential prices.

Mr. Lee Dae Joong - Director of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam hoped that this programme will provide more opportunities for people of the two countries to exchange, cooperate and develop bilateral relations.

National conference addresses child, early marriage Foreign experts and representatives from governmental agencies and local authorities gathered in Hanoi on June 29 to discuss experiences, effective strategies and interventions and policy recommendations for Vietnam in a conference to address child and early marriage.

The national conference on Preventing and ending child and early marriage: Learning from promising strategies and good practices was held by the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and the Irish Aid.

Opening the event, Vice Chairman of CEMA Ha Hung said that underage marriage limits girls opportunities for education and leads to early pregnancy before their bodies have matured, severely affecting their mental and physical development.

Early marriage also put them at greater risk of domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence. Overall, it directly affects socio-economic development, resulting in a vicious cycle of poverty among ethnic minority groups, Hung noted, adding that it is behind the decline in quality of human resources and sustainable development of ethnic minority communities.

Shoko Ishikawa, Country Representative of UN Women in Vietnam, highlighted that the key to breaking the cycle of child and early marriage lies in empowering and investing in girls and women.

Every girl and woman at risk of or affected by child and early marriage must have access to quality services in education and training, legal and healthcare counselling, including for sexual and reproductive health, housing and others, the UN official stated.

This requires all state bodies to ensure that planning, budgeting, policymaking and monitoring reflects the needs of girls and boys, and that investment in girls empowerment is prioritised in all aspects and areas, she added.

In Vietnam, despite the Law on Marriage and Family setting the minimum legal age for marriage at 18 for women and 20 for men, 11 percent of women aged 20-49 years were married or in a union before the age of 18, most of whom come from disadvantaged regions and ethnic minority groups.

The first socio-economic survey of the countrys 53 ethnic minority groups conducted by the CEMA and the General Statistics Office in 2015 found that the prevalence of child marriage among these groups was 26.6 percent; some groups even reported rates of 50 70 percent.

During the conference, delegates discussed the main barriers to preventing and putting an end to early marriage and outlined opportunities for multi-sector cooperation in coping with the issue. They also looked into integrating child marriage interventions into Vietnams development projects and socio-economic programmes, especially those exclusively for ethnic minority areas.

Sinkhole appears in Lai Chu Province after rain At least five households in Sng Ch Hamlet, Nm Long Commune, in northern Lai Chu Province, were evacuated on Thursday after a sinkhole with area of some 600sq.m appeared nearby.

The sinkhole caused cracks to develop in their house walls.

The sinkhole may have been caused by the collapse of underground karst caves as heavy rain has poured down in the city in the last few days. Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the breakdown of layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite, by the percolation of water.

Vice chairman of the city Peoples Committee L B Anh said relevant agencies were closely monitoring the situation and taking measures to minimise the impact of the sinkhole.

Work, including filling the sinkhole, if it is possible, will be completed within 30 days if the weather is conducive, he said.

According to the committee, Nm Long Commune has karst topography, which affects a 5,000sq.m area and earlier destroyed a road leading to a school.

In the past three days, torrential rainfall has caused losses worth VN2 billion to Lai Chu City, inundated over 260 houses and led to 10 households being evacuated to avoid landslides.

HCM City: more than 35 billion VND for rural worker training Ho Chi Minh City authorities have launched a plan worth 35 billion VND ($1.54 million) to provide vocational training to 12,000 rural workers in 2017.

Courses under three months will be provided to 11,300 rural workers, disabled and poor people. Of which, about 8,000 people will be trained in non-agricultural sectors. Meanwhile, 700 labourers will attend college and vocational schools.

The city aims to have more than 80 percent of trainees employed after trainings. It will support the procurement of equipment for four public vocational training facilities in Binh Chanh, Can Gio, Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts.

Le Thanh Liem, Vice Standing Chairman of the HCM City Peoples Committee said the plan aims to enhance vocational training in the city and generate jobs for rural labourers, especially poor and near poor households, disabled and ethnic minority people.

The city will also review rural workers demand for vocational training in line with its agriculture restructuring and economic transition, he added.

HCM City has recently focused on sustainable and hi-tech urban agriculture in combination with tourism development, along with the supporting industry.

Documentary on Vietnamese AO victim screened at US Senate

A 35-minute documentary about a Vietnamese teenage victim of Agent Orange (AO) was screened at the US Senate headquarters in Washington DC on June 28.

The event was held by the War Legacies Project (WLP), US Senate and the Vietnamese Embassy in the US.

Senator Patrick Leahy affirmed he will continue to endorse two countries relations, including cooperation to recover war and AO consequences in Vietnam. By mobilising support from the US Senate, he hoped Vietnamese AO victims will receive more attention from the US public.

For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh thanked Leahy and his colleagues for backing Vietnam and helping Vietnamese war victims.

He also expressed his gratitude to the director, Courtney Marsh, for spending eight years making such a touching documentary, which was nominated for the 88th edition of the Oscars in the short documentary category.

The film conveys a humanitarian message and calls for the US and international organisations to offer more assistances to Vietnamese AO victims, Vinh said.

Meanwhile, Marsh said that the her documentary project was extended from one week to eight years, filming Vietnamese teenagers who were born with birth defects due to Agent Orange.

She pledged to call for further support for the victims and hoped to return to Vietnam soon. Chau, beyond the lines focuses on the life of Le Minh Chau, an AO victim. It depicts the teenagers struggle in realising his dream to become a professional artist and clothing designer.

Despite being told that his ambitions were unrealistic, Chau was determined to live an independent and productive life.

Nine years ago, Marsh, who was in her final year at university, arrived in Vietnam to make a documentary about street children in Ho Chi Minh City. Later, she was introduced to the Peace Village where AO victims being cared for. After that she decided to change the topic of her documentary.

Chau was no ordinary 15 year-old, forced to walk on his knees after being born with debilitating birth defects that resulted from the lingering effects of the herbicide that was widely used during wars in Vietnam.

Marsh found him to be extraordinary, specifically his persistence in his desire to become an artist.

One quarter of HCMC families yet to own private houses More than 476,000 out of some two million families in HCMC own no private houses, accounting for nearly 24% of the total.

These include 300,000 families as migrants from other provinces, 156,000 low-income families affected by urban development projects, and 20,000 families of State employees.

According to a report of the HCMC Department of Construction, the city has approved 56 social housing projects with a total of 48,000 apartments from 2006 to 2016. Social housing refers to low-cost condos partially subsidized by the Government.

However, only 14 social housing projects with some 5,100 apartments have been completed, including six projects funded by the State budget and eight others financed by private sources.

The department said that an additional 12 social housing projects will be implemented in 2017 with about 9,500 apartments, plus 16 projects with 28,500 apartments to be developed in 2018-2020. These projects will use both State and private funds.

In the past five years, preferential policies and a home credit package worth VND30 trillion (US$1.32 billion) have been provided to support enterprises to build social houses. However, the huge demand for housing in the city has not been satisfied.

The construction agency pointed out many problems hindering social housing development, such as the limited number of social housing types, the shortage of resources, late payment of site clearance compensation, slow progress of many projects and complicated investment procedures.

To speed up the progress of projects, the department proposed reducing red tape to facilitate investors, raising housing development funds and offering loans to low-income residents.

Ceremony marks Vietnam-Moldova diplomatic ties

The Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine and Moldova held a ceremony in Moldovas capital of Chisinau to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Moldova (June 11, 1992-2017).

Attending the ceremony was General Secretary of Moldovas Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Anatol Vangheli, ambassadors of countries and representatives of international organisations in Chisinau as well as the Vietnamese community in the country.

Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador in Ukraine and Moldova Nguyen Minh Tri said that the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Moldova 25 years ago showed the determination of leaders and people of both sides in fostering and promoting bilateral ties in all fields when Moldova became an independent country.

He expressed his hope that with joint efforts of leaders and people of both sides, the two countries will continue tapping their cooperation potential to expand and deepen bilateral collaboration.

For his part, Anatol Vangheli noted that Moldova and Vietnam have shared a long-standing friendship. Moldova recognised Vietnams market economy in 2015, while the two sides have supported each other at international forums.

He stressed that Moldova always wishes to further bolster cooperation with Vietnam, especially in education and training, economy-trade. The two sides should also coordinate with and support each other at multilateral forums.

On the occasion, Moldovas Central Post Office has announced the publication of envelops and stamp collection with Vietnam and Moldovas symbols.

Fourth bridge to Thu Thiem in the offing The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is working with HCMC, the Ministry of Transport and other relevant agencies over a project to build a fourth bridge to Thu Thiem Peninsula which will be developed into a modern financial and commercial center.

According to a document issued by the Government Office, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has assigned the MPI to take charge of coordinating with HCMC, the Ministry of Transport and others to evaluate the project and pass it to the Prime Minister for approval.

The 2.16-kilometer bridge would connect District 2 where Thu Thiem is located and District 7, and require a total of VND5.2 trillion (US$230 million).

Last year, HCMC sought to award a no-bid contract to an investor to construct the bridge under BT (build-operate) form in which the investor would be allocated land in exchange for the bridge it builds and transfers to the city.

The bridge will connect Saigon South and Thu Thiem New Urban Area, thus reducing traffic congestion on the roads from Binh Thanh and Thu Duc districts to districts 7, 8, Binh Chanh and Nha Be as well as in the city center.

The city plans to have four bridges to Thu Thiem by 2020. Thu Thiem 1 Bridge is now in use while the second is under construction. Thu Thiem 3 and 4 and a pedestrian bridge connecting District 1 and Thu Thiem have not got off the ground.

Before work on Thu Thiem 2 Bridge began, experts said Thu Thiem 1 Bridge and Thu Thiem Tunnel were enough to ensure smooth traffic between Thu Thiem and the rest of the city, so no new bridges would be needed.

However, the HCMC Department of Transport said the city would need four bridges to Thu Thiem New Urban Area and a pedestrian bridge to facilitate movements of 120,000 future residents and about 350,000 other people who would work in Thu Thiem.

In related news, two branches of Nguyen Van Cu Bridge will be opened to traffic on July 29, said the Saigon River Tunnel Management Center, the investor of the project.

The VND168-billion project will help facilitate traffic between districts 1 and 5 and districts 4, 7 and 8. The N1 branch connecting Vo Van Kiet Avenue in Binh Chanh District and Nguyen Van Cu Bridge is 167 meters long and 6.5 meters wide while the N2 branch with a length of 142 meters will link to Vo Van Kiet Boulevard in District 1.

The two branches of Nguyen Van Cu Bridge are complete five months earlier than expected.

Nguyen Van Cu Bridge over Ben Nghe Canal links downtown HCMC and southern urban areas.

As the bridge has no exits to Vo Van Kiet Avenue, vehicles from districts 4 and 8 must pass through Tran Hung Dao-Nguyen Van Cu Intersection to enter the avenue, thus causing traffic congestion.

IBM Institute, UBIS University cooperate in management training The Institute of International Business Management (IBM Institute) and the University of Business and International Studies (UBIS University) of Switzerland have signed a cooperation agreement on leadership and management training.

IBM Institute director Pham Quang Vinh said UBIS University will transfer European training know-how to the institute and send professors to Vietnam to provide training and advice for trainees at the institute.

Local trainees can also come to UBIS campuses in more than 40 countries for study and exchange.

The cooperation will help develop human resources for HCMC and other parts of the country, especially finance and banking managers.

The two will also jointly hold seminars on business administration, strategies and leadership, training courses on finance and banking, and enterprise management training programs, Vinh added.

Established by the HCMC Association of Science for Economy and Management and the HCMC Department of Science and Technology, IBM Institute specializes in business administration, management training and technology transfer.

The institute has trained numerous leaders for domestic and international corporations and State agencies. The institute has also teamed up with foreign partners to hold short training courses on leadership and management and those at the request of businesses.

HCMC to replace old fleets by eco-friendly buses The Public Transport Management and Operation Center will replace old buses with the CNG-powered vehicles, said center deputy director Ha Le An yesterday.

To improve the vehicle quality, 26 eco-friendly vehicles will be added to replace dilapidated ones from July 1; accordingly, the center will adjust the bus fleets which have shuttled between the Western Bus Station to Ga Crossroad Station.

The new fleets will travel from 4AM to 7PM every day.

As per the municipal Department of Transport, as of the time, 173 CNG-powered bus fleets travel in the metropolis.

For next years, the program will replace 1,680 new CNG-powered buses with gradually 3,000 old ones.

The new bus fleets will run in the route from Ben Thanh Market to Cho Lon Bus Station.

Khmer people to receive more support Khmer ethnic people in southern Vietnam are set to benefit from more support in educational, training, cultural, medical and religious affairs in the future.

The Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region and the Governments Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs held a workshop in Can Tho city on June 28 to review and set plans for Khmer-related works in the southern region until 2020. The event was attended by officials of the boards of ethnic minority affairs in Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, An Giang and Kien Giang provinces, Can Tho city and Ho Chi Minh City.

Huynh Thi Somaly, an official from the Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee said there are about 1.3 million Khmer people in the south, accounting for 7 percent of the regions population.

The Party and State have issued several policies supporting the development of the ethnic group. They include Directive 68-CT/TW on works in Khmer ethnic areas issued by the Party Central Committee Secretariat in 1991, which resulted in improvements in local economic, social, security and defence issues, she noted.

However, she also admitted shortcomings such as unsustainable poverty reduction, poor cultural and communication activities in the Khmer language and difficulties in vocational training and job provision.

At the workshop, officials said Khmer-related works should focus on solutions to develop socio-economic infrastructure, improve both material and spiritual life of Khmer people and raise the quality of cultural, educational and medical activities. They need to sustainably eliminate poverty so as to reduce the Khmer household poverty rate in the south by between 50 70 percent by 2020.

They said authorities in the southern region should promote teaching and learning quality, provide incentives for Khmer students and teachers in Khmer communities and reduce or exempt tuition fees. They also need to maintain teaching of the Khmer language at schools in areas with large Khmer populations.

Vocational schools should be built across southern localities while local residents should be given financial support to enroll in vocational training.

Provinces and cities need to raise the number and quality of Khmer-language media outlets, facilitate mass cultural and sports activities in the ethnic group and protect traditional cultural values and craft villages, participants said.

Medical services and health-related communications should be expanded in Khmer communities, they noted, underlining the necessity to maintain traditional religions, restore Khmer Buddhist pagodas, visit religious dignitaries during traditional festivals and help Khmer monks study in Vietnam and overseas.-

JICA helps build circulars on water environment management Experts from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have assisted the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) in building circulars on water environment management in river basins.

JICA and VEA co-organised a technical consultation workshop in Hanoi on June 29 to discuss the building of circulars defining the rivers loading capacity and waste discharge quota.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of the Department of Waste Management and Environment Promotion, said socio-economic development activities in key economic regions and urban areas in the lower parts of big river basins or coastal estuaries have resulted in pollution and degradation of the water environment.

He cited the serious environmental contamination on rivers flowing through urban and industrial areas and craft villages in the basins of Cau, Nhue, Day and Dong Nai rivers.

Here is the original post:

Social News 30/6 - VietNamNet Bridge