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AP Exclusive: Philippines scraps Russian chopper deal

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government has scrapped a deal to purchase 16 Russian military transport helicopters due to fears of possible U.S. sanctions, Philippine officials said.

Former Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday night he canceled the 12.7-billion-peso ($227 million) deal to acquire the Mi-17 helicopters in a decision last month that was approved by then-President Rodrigo Duterte before their terms in office ended on June 30.

“We could face sanctions,” Lorenzana told The Associated Press, describing ways Washington could express its displeasure if the Philippines proceeded with the deal due to America’s worsening conflict with Russia.

American security officials were aware of Manila’s decision and could offer similar heavy-lift helicopters for Philippine military use, he said.

After serving as defense chief under Duterte, Lorenzana has been appointed by new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to head a government agency in charge of transforming former military bases into business hubs.

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez told The AP that the deal was canceled because Manila could face possible sanctions under a U.S. federal law called the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act if the helicopter deal went through.

A Philippine military official said the helicopter deal would undergo a “termination process” after the decision to cancel it was made since a contract has already been signed. The Russians can appeal but there is little room for the Philippine government to reconsider, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to publicly discuss the issue.

Under the helicopter purchase agreement, which was signed in November, the first batch of the multi-purpose helicopters would have been scheduled for delivery by Russia’s Sovtechnoexport in about two years.

Asked in March if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would affect the purchase, Lorenzana told reporters: “We do not see any likelihood of it being scrapped as of this moment” and added that “only time can tell.”

Lorenzana at the time said an initial payment had been made by the Philippines in January. It was not immediately clear what would happen to the payment after the Philippines’ decision to back out of the deal.

The Russian-made helicopters could have been used for combat, search and rescue operations, and medical evacuations in the Southeast Asian archipelago, which is often lashed by typhoons and other natural disasters, Philippine officials said.

In March, the Philippines voted “yes” on a U.N. General Assembly resolution that demanded an immediate halt to Moscow’s attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops. It condemned the invasion and echoed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s appeal for respect of humanitarian principles to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

Duterte has expressed concern over the global impact of the Russian invasion but has not personally condemned it. When he was in office, he nurtured close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he once called his “idol,” and Chinese leader Xi Jinping while frequently criticizing U.S. security policies.

The Philippines is a treaty ally of Washington, which has imposed heavy sanctions aimed at pressuring Moscow to pull back from Ukraine.

The deal to acquire the Russian helicopters was among several weapons purchase agreements signed during Duterte’s final months in office.

Last February, Lorenzana signed a 32-billion-peso ($571 million) deal to acquire 32 S-70i Black Hawk helicopters from Poland-based aerospace manufacturer PZL Mielec. It was the largest military aircraft acquisition contract signed under Duterte, Philippine defense officials said..

Due to financial constraints, the Philippines has struggled for years to modernize its military, one of the most underfunded in Asia, to deal with decades-long Muslim and communist insurgencies and to defend its territories in the disputed South China Sea.

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Marcos presidency complicates US efforts to counter China

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s apparent landslide victory in the Philippine presidential election is giving rise to immediate concerns about a further erosion of democracy in the region, and could complicate American efforts to blunt growing Chinese influence and power in the Pacific.

Marcos, the son and namesake of longtime dictator Ferdinand Marcos, captured more than 30.8 million votes in Monday’s election according to an unofficial count, more than double those of his closest challenger.

If the results stand, he will take office at the end of June for a six-year term with Sara Duterte, the daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, as his vice president.

Duterte — who leaves office with a 67% approval rating — nurtured closer ties with China and Russia, while at times railing against the United States.

He has walked back on many of his threats against Washington, however, including a move to abrogate a defense pact between the two countries, and the luster of China’s promise of infrastructure investment has dulled, with much failing to materialize.

Whether the recent trend in relations with the U.S. will continue has a lot to do with how President Joe Biden’s administration responds to the return of a Marcos to power in the Philippines, said Manila-based political scientist Andrea Chloe Wong, a former researcher in the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.

“On the one hand you have Biden regarding the geostrategic interests in the Philippines, and on the other hand he has to balance promoting American democratic ideals and human rights,” she said.

“If he chooses to do that, he might have to isolate the Marcos administration, so this will definitely be a delicate balancing act for the Philippines, and Marcos’ approach to the U.S. will highly depend on how Biden will engage with him.”

His election comes at a time when the U.S. has been increasingly focused on the region, embarking on a strategy unveiled in February to considerably broaden U.S. engagement by strengthening a web of security alliances and partnerships, with an emphasis on addressing China’s growing influence and ambitions.

Thousands of American and Filipino forces recently wrapped up one of their largest combat exercises in years, which showcased U.S. firepower in the northern Philippines near its sea border with Taiwan.

Marcos has been short on specifics about foreign policy, but in interviews he said he wanted to pursue closer ties with China, including possibly setting aside a 2016 ruling by a tribunal in The Hague that invalidated almost all of China’s historical claims to the South China Sea.

China has refused to recognize the ruling, and Marcos said it won’t help settle disputes with Beijing, “so that option is not available to us.”

Allowing the U.S. to play a role in trying to settle territorial spats with China will be a “recipe for disaster,” Marcos said in an interview with DZRH radio in January. He said Duterte’s policy of diplomatic engagement with China is “really our only option.”

Marcos has also said he would maintain his nation’s alliance with the U.S., but the relationship is complicated by American backing of the administrations that took power after his father was deposed, and a 2011 U.S. District Court ruling in Hawaii finding him and his mother in contempt of an order to furnish information on assets in connection with a 1995 human rights class action suit against Marcos Sr.

The court fined them $353.6 million, which has never been paid and could complicate the possibility of him visiting the U.S. in the future.

The U.S. has a long history with the Philippines, which was an American colony for most of the first half of the last century before it was granted independence in 1946.

The U.S. closed its last military bases on the Philippines in 1992, but the country’s location on the South China Sea means it remains strategically important, and under a 1951 collective defense treaty the U.S. guarantees its support if the Philippines is attacked.

Even though the Biden administration may have preferred to work with Marcos’ leading opponent, Leni Robredo, the “U.S.-Philippines alliance is vital to both nations’ security and prosperity, especially in the new era of competition with China,” said Gregory B. Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“Unlike Leni, with her coherent platform for good governance and development at home and standing up to China abroad, Marcos is a policy cipher,” Poling said in a research note. “He has avoided presidential debates, shunned interviews, and has been silent on most issues.”

Marcos has been clear, however, that he would like to try again to improve ties with Beijing, Poling said.

“But when it comes to foreign policy, Marcos will not have the same space for maneuver that Duterte did,” he said. “The Philippines tried an outstretched hand and China bit it. That is why the Duterte government has re-embraced the U.S. alliance and gotten tougher on Beijing over the last two years.”

Marcos Sr. was ousted in 1986 after millions of people took to the streets, forcing an end to his corrupt dictatorship and a return to democracy. But the election of Duterte as president in 2016 brought a return to a strongman-type leader, which voters have now doubled-down on with Marcos Jr.

Domestically, Marcos, who goes by his childhood nickname “Bongbong,” is widely expected to pick up where Duterte left off, stifling a free press and cracking down on dissent with less of the outgoing leader’s crude and brash style, while putting an end to ongoing attempts to recover some of the billions of dollars his father pilfered from the state coffers.

But a return to the hard-line rule of his father, who declared martial law for much of his rule, is not likely, said Julio Teehankee, a political science professor at Manila’s De La Salle University.

“He does not have the courage or the brilliance, or even the ruthlessness to become a dictator, so I think what we will see is a form of authoritarian-lite or Marcos-lite,” Teehankee said.

The new Marcos government will not mean the end of Philippine democracy, Poling said, “though it may accelerate its decay.”

“The country’s democratic institutions have already been battered by six years of the Duterte presidency and the rise of online disinformation, alongside the decades-long corrosives of oligarchy, graft, and poor governance,” he said.

“The United States would be better served by engagement rather than criticism of the democratic headwinds buffeting the Philippines.”

Marcos’ approach at home could have a spillover effect in other countries in the region, where democratic freedoms are being increasingly eroded in many places and the Philippines had been seen as a positive influence, Wong said.

“This will have an impact on Philippine foreign policy when it comes to promoting its democratic values, freedoms and human rights, particularly in Southeast Asia,” she said. “The Philippines is regarded as a bastion of democracy in the region, with a strong civil society and a noisy media, and with Bongbong Marcos as president, we will have less credibility.”

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Rising reported from Bangkok.

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Dictator’s son far ahead in Philippine presidential vote

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The son and namesake of ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos took a commanding lead in an unofficial vote count in Monday’s presidential election in the deeply divided Asian democracy.

With 80% of the votes tabulated, Marcos Jr. had 25.9 million, far ahead of his closest challenger, current Vice President Leni Robredo, a champion of human rights, who had 12.3 million.

The election winner will take office on June 30 for a single, six-year term as leader of a Southeast Asian nation hit hard by two years of COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns.

Still more challenging problems include deeper poverty and unemployment and decades-long Muslim and communist insurgencies. The next president is also likely to hear demands to prosecute outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte for thousands of killings during his anti-drug crackdown — deaths already under investigation by the International Criminal Court.

Duterte’s daughter, southern Davao city Mayor Sara Duterte, is Marcos Jr.’s vice presidential running mate in an alliance of the scions of two authoritarian leaders who concern human rights groups. The tie-up has combined the voting power of their separate northern and southern political strongholds, boosting their chances but compounding worries of human rights activists.

Sara Duterte also had a formidable lead with 25.8 million votes for vice president in the unofficial count from the Commission on Elections server. The president and vice president are elected separately in the Philippines.

“History may repeat itself if they win,” said Myles Sanchez, a 42-year-old human rights worker. “There may be a repeat of martial law and the drug killings that happened under their parents.”

In a late-night video statement, Marcos Jr. did not claim victory but thanked his supporters for accompanying him on “this sometimes very difficult journey” and urged them to keep up their guard until the vote count is completed.

“Let us keep watch on the vote,” he said. “If we’ll be fortunate, I’ll expect that your help will not wane, your trust will not wane because we have a lot of things to do in the times ahead.”

Marcos Jr., whose father was ousted in a 1986 army-backed “People Power” uprising, held a wide lead in pre-election surveys. But Robredo tapped into shock and outrage over the prospect of a Marcos recapturing the seat of power and harnessed a network of campaign volunteers to underpin her candidacy.

Officials said the election was relatively peaceful despite pockets of violence in the country’s volatile south. Thousands of police and military personnel were deployed to secure election precincts, especially in rural regions with a history of violent political rivalries.

Filipinos stood in long lines to cast their ballots, with the start of voting delayed by a few hours in a few areas due to malfunctioning vote machines, power outages, bad weather and other problems.

Eight others were in the presidential race, including former boxing star Manny Pacquiao, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and former national police chief Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Sanchez said the violence and abuses that marked the martial-law era under Marcos and Duterte’s drug war more than three decades later victimized loved ones from two generations of her family. Her grandmother was sexually abused and her grandfather tortured by counterinsurgency troops under Marcos in the early 1980s in their impoverished farming village in Southern Leyte province.

Under Duterte’s crackdown, Sanchez’s brother, a sister and a sister-in-law were wrongfully linked to illegal drugs and separately killed, she told The Associated Press in an interview. She described the killings of her siblings as “a nightmare that has caused unspeakable pain.”

She begged Filipinos not to vote for politicians who either openly defended the widespread killings or conveniently looked away.

Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte avoided such volatile issues in the campaign and steadfastly stuck instead to a battle cry of national unity, even though their fathers’ presidencies opened some of the Philippines’ most turbulent divisions.

“I have learned in our campaign not to retaliate,” Sara Duterte told followers Saturday night on the final day of campaigning, where she and Marcos Jr. thanked a huge crowd in a night of rap music, dance shows and fireworks near Manila Bay.

At her own rally, Robredo thanked her supporters who jammed her star-studded sorties and waged a house-to-house battle to endorse her brand of clean and hands-on politics. She asked them to fight for patriotic ideals beyond the elections.

“We’ve learned that those who have awoken will never close their eyes again,” Robredo told a crowd that filled the main avenue in the capital’s Makati financial district. “It’s our right to have a future with dignity and it’s our responsibility to fight for it.”

In Maguindanao province, a security hotspot in the south, three village guards were killed by gunmen outside an elections center in Buluan town, briefly disrupting voting. Nine would-be voters and their companions were wounded separately Sunday night when unidentified men fired five rifle grenades in the Datu Unsay town hall, police said.

Aside from the presidency, more than 18,000 government posts are being contested, including half of the 24-member Senate, more than 300 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as provincial and local offices across the archipelago of more than 109 million Filipinos.

More than 67 million people were registered to vote, including about 1.6 million Filipinos overseas.

In the 2016 contest, Duterte emerged as the clear winner within a few hours after polls closed and his key challengers quickly conceded. The vice presidential race that year was won narrowly by Robredo over Marcos Jr., and the outcome was slower to become known.

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Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan, Aaron Favila and Cecilia Forbes in Manila, Philippines, and Kiko Rosario in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Philippine President Duterte’s China pivot hasn’t reduced South China Sea tensions

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in April, 2019 in Beijing, China.

Kenzaburo Fukuhara | Kyodo News | Getty Images

More than five years on, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s Beijing-friendly postures have not tamed China’s assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea — and the next Philippine leader should be bolder in challenging Beijing, said a political and risk analyst.

The Philippines will hold general elections to vote for a new president in May as Duterte’s six-year term comes to an end. Duterte has sought closer ties with Beijing and declared that he was willing to set aside his country’s territorial contest with China in the South China Sea.  

China and its Southeast Asian neighbors including the Philippines have been embroiled in territorial disputes in the South China Sea for decades.

China claims almost the entire waterway. In the last few years, China built artificial islands in the sea, while Chinese fishing fleets and maritime militia vessels swarmed areas internationally recognized as belonging to other countries.    

“The most favorable scenario for the Philippines would be a change in the mindset of the elected leader in May 2022,” said Peaches Lauren Vergara, head of the strategic intelligence practice at Amador Research Services, a research and advisory firm.

The next Philippine president should steer away from “the defeatist attitude displayed by the current leadership,” and more firmly challenge China’s claims, Vergara wrote in a December report published by the Asia Society Policy Institute.

CNBC has reached out to the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Chinese embassies in Singapore and the Philippines, for comment on the report. None have replied at the time of publication.

Tensions with China

With just months left in Duterte’s presidential term, China’s promised infrastructure investments to the Philippines have fallen short of expectations, while tensions between Manila and Beijing are rising again in the South China Sea, according to a December report by think tank International Crisis Group.

“Many in the Philippines are increasingly sceptical of rapprochement with China if it entails giving up claims to various disputed maritime features,” read the report.

The South China Sea, a resource-rich waterway, contributes around 27% of the Philippines’ total fisheries production, said Vergara in the Asia Society Policy Institute report. A group of scientists have reportedly warned that Chinese activities in the disputed waters threaten the fishing industry.

Meanwhile, tensions with China have hindered Philippine oil exploration efforts in the sea.

“This has serious repercussions for the country’s ability to achieve energy security as its main source of natural gas for electricity supply — Malampaya — nears depletion,” Vergara said.

Some in the Duterte government have more vocally protested the presence of Chinese vessels in parts of the South China Sea that were internationally recognized as belonging to the Philippines.

In May, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. directed an unusually aggressive tweet at Beijing as the two countries clashed over the South China Sea. Locsin Jr. accused China of straining its “friendship” with the Philippines.   

Philippine presidential race

China’s growing assertiveness and Duterte’s “subservience” to Beijing have propelled issues surrounding the South China Sea into the public limelight in the Philippines, said Vergara.

Some analysts said Philippine presidential candidates that appear pro-China could face opposition from the public.  

Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, speaks to the media after filing his candidacy to join the 2022 presidential race, at Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent on October 06, 2021 in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Rouelle Umali | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. — son and namesake of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos — led the latest opinion poll on the presidential race. In a December survey by independent pollster Pulse Asia, 53% of respondents picked Marcos Jr. as their favored presidential candidate.

Compared with Duterte, Marcos Jr. would seek “more balanced ties” with the U.S. and China if he’s elected, said Peter Mumford, practice head for South and Southeast Asia at risk consultancy Eurasia Group, in a report last month.

Navigating U.S.-China competition

The South China Sea is one of the contentious issues in the geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has called out China’s “unlawful” claims and “bullying” in the sea.

The Philippines is in a challenging position in that contest. The Southeast Asian country has a defense treaty with the U.S., while China is its largest neighbor and top economic partner.

“A crucial question remains whether the Philippines can navigate between China and the U.S. without an armed confrontation compelling it to choose sides,” said the International Crisis Group.

“For now, Manila is hedging well. But its balancing act may soon become untenable as Beijing seeks to assert its regional ambitions and Washington pushes back,” it added.

The think tank said the Philippines cannot resolve the South China Sea dispute on its own. The country should work with its neighbors on issues of common concern, such as fisheries management and law enforcement, to manage their territorial disputes.  

The Philippines should also push to finalize a “code of conduct” between Southeast Asian countries and China to manage maritime tensions, while keeping a diplomatic channel with Beijing open to reduce misunderstandings, said the International Crisis Group.

“None of these steps will resolve the increasingly entrenched maritime dispute, but they could help keep the risk low that incidents at sea will escalate toward conflict.”

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Boxer Manny Pacquiao announces run for Philippines president

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Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao on Sunday announced that he is running to be the next president of the Philippines.

Pacquiao was nominated by a faction of the ruling PDP-Laban party, which is also the party of the incumbent president, Rodrigo Duterte, Reuters reported. 

“I am a fighter, and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring,” said Pacquiao, who currently serves as a Philippines senator. “I am accepting your nomination as candidate for president of the Republic of the Philippines.”

His nomination comes just days after a rival faction within the PDP-Laban party nominated Duterte’s chosen successor, Christopher “Bong” Go.

The same faction nominated Duterte as vice president, which critics lambasted as a thinly veiled attempt for him to hold on to power and possibly avoid prosecution for his bloody war on drugs. Under the country’s constitution, Duterte can no longer run for president but can run as vice president, as the positions are elected separately. Go ultimately declined the nomination.

Pacquiao, 42, has previously hinted that he would run for the presidency, though when he first entered politics, he was too young to be eligible. In the Philippines, presidential candidates must be at least 40 years old.

Reuters noted that Pacquiao, who served as president of the PDP-Laban party until July of this year, trails more promising front-runners in recent polling despite his popularity in the Philippines.

Pacquiao was once close allies with Duterte but has since become one of his most vocal adversaries, attacking him for his close relationship with China and accusing him of being soft on corruption.

Back in June, Duterte took shots at Pacquiao for this apparent about-face.

“You didn’t tell me anything all these years, you’re all praises and praises for me and now you’ll say corrupt,” Duterte said of Pacquiao’s criticisms. “I will hound you every day. I will expose you as a liar.”

Pacquiao has been a member of the Filipino congress since 2010, when he was elected to the House of Representatives. In 2016, he was elected to the Senate. As a politician, Pacquiao is known for holding conservative views aligning with his evangelical Christian beliefs.



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Boxer-senator Manny Pacquiao to run for Philippine president

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine boxing icon and senator Manny Pacquiao says he will run for president in the 2022 elections.

Pacquiao accepted the nomination of his PDP-Laban party at its national convention on Sunday, saying that the Filipino people have been waiting for a change of government.

“I am a fighter, and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring,” Pacquiao, 42, said in his speech.

“I wholeheartedly, bravely, and humbly hope for your support,” he added.

Pacquiao is the president of the PDP-Laban faction led by him and Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.

Another faction of the same party earlier this month nominated President Rodrigo Duterte to be its vice presidential candidate, and Duterte’s former aide, Sen. Bong Go, as its presidential nominee.

Duterte, who is forbidden by the constitution from seeking a second six-year term, has accepted the nomination, but Go has declined to run for president.

Duterte has led a brutal campaign against illegal drugs, and said last week he would rather “die first” before facing an international tribunal, the day after the International Criminal Court announced it would investigate allegations of crimes against humanity linked to the crackdown that has left thousands dead.

Pacquiao has accused the administration of Durterte, his former ally, of making corruption worse in the Philippines.

To critics who question his qualifications, the former boxer has said his personal experience of poverty will better equip him to lead the nation. He added that he will fight poverty and corruption.

“In my whole life, I have not backed down on any fight,” Pacquiao said.

He warned politicians that he holds responsible for corruption “will soon end in jail together.”

The rival party faction supporting Duterte earlier said it will petition the Commission on Elections to declare Pacquiao and his allies illegitimate officers of the ruling party.

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Philippine leader recalls decision to void US security pact

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has retracted a decision to end a key defense pact with the United States, allowing large-scale combat exercises between U.S. and Philippine forces that at times have alarmed China to proceed.

Duterte’s decision was announced Friday by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in a joint news conference with visiting U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin in Manila. It was a step back from the Philippine leader’s stunning vow early in his term to distance himself from Washington as he tried to rebuild frayed ties with China over territorial rifts in the South China Sea.

“The president decided to recall or retract the termination letter for the VFA,” Lorenzana told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Austin, referring to the Visiting Forces Agreement. “There is no termination letter pending and we are back on track.”

Austin thanked Duterte for the decision, which he said would further bolster the two nations’ 70-year treaty alliance.

“Our countries face a range of challenges, from the climate crises to the pandemic and, as we do, a strong, resilient US-Philippine alliance will remain vital to the security, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific,” Austin said. “A fully restored VFA will help us achieve that goal together.”

Terminating the pact would have been a major blow to America’s oldest alliance in Asia, as Washington squares with Beijing on a range of issues, including trade, human rights and China’s behavior in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

The U.S. military presence in the region is seen as a counterbalance to China, which has used force to assert claims to vast areas of the disputed South China Sea, including the construction of artificial islands equipped with airstrips and military installations. China has ignored a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its historic basis.

China, the Philippines, Vietnam and three other governments have been locked in the territorial standoff for decades. The U.S. doesn’t take sides and insists on freedom of navigation in international waters, and doesn’t recognize China’s claims.

In a speech in Singapore on Tuesday, Austin said that Beijing’s claim to the South China Sea “has no basis in international law” and “treads on the sovereignty of states in the region.” He said the U.S. supports the region’s coastal states in upholding their rights under international law, and is committed to its defense treaty obligations with Japan and the Philippines.

Duterte notified the U.S. government in February 2020 year that the Philippines intended to abrogate the 1998 agreement, which allows large numbers of American forces to join combat training with Philippine troops and sets legal terms for their temporary stay.

U.S. and Philippine forces engage in about 300 activities each year, including the Balikatan, or shoulder-to-shoulder, exercises, which involve thousands of troops in land, sea and air drills that often included live-fire exercises. They’ve often sparked China’s concerns when they were held on the periphery of the sea Beijing claims as its own.

The pact’s termination would have taken effect after 180 days, but Duterte has repeatedly delayed the decision. While it was pending, the U.S. and Philippine militaries proceeded with plans for combat and disaster-response exercises but canceled larger drills last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Balikatan exercises resumed last April but were considerably scaled down due to continuing COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns.

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Filipino leader says unvaccinated may be shut in

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MANILA, Philippines — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is warning that Filipinos who refuse to get vaccinated against the coronavirus will not be allowed to leave their homes as a safeguard against the more contagious delta variant.

Duterte said in televised remarks Wednesday night that there is no law mandating such a restriction but added he is ready to face lawsuits to keep people who are “throwing viruses left and right” off the streets.

The brash-talking president adds that for people who don’t want to be vaccinated, “well, for all I care, you can die anytime.”

However, more than public hesitance, the Philippines has been grappling with vaccine shortages.

Nearly 7 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated and more than 11 million others have received their first dose. That is a fraction of the government’s target of 60 million to 70 million people.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— U.S. states, businesses reconsider masks amid surge

— NY to require state employees to get vaccines or get tested

— Google delays return to office, mandates vaccines

— England, Scotland end quarantine for vaccinated from US, EU

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— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

ATLANTA — The mayor of Atlanta has decreed that face masks must be worn in all indoor public spaces including private businesses in Georgia’s largest city.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms also is ordering that city buildings remain closed to the public. Atlanta City Hall has been closed to non-employees since the start of the coronavirus pandemic but had been scheduled to fully reopen Aug. 9.

Bottoms says in a statement released Wednesday that “public health experts overwhelmingly agree, and data has proved, that wearing a face covering helps slow the spread of this deadly virus.”

The mayor’s move came hours after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reiterated that he will not impose a statewide mask mandate or curb business and public activities.

The mayor of Savannah issued a looser mask order Monday. At least 15 Georgia public school districts are ordering students and staff to wear masks, covering more than 30% of students statewide.

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NEW YORK — New York Gov Andrew Cuomo says state employees must get vaccinated against the coronavirus by Labor Day or undergo weekly virus tests.

Cuomo said Wednesday that “it’s smart, it’s fair and it’s in everyone’s interest.”

The governor is following on the heels of California, New York City and other jurisdictions that have announced similar policies this week.

Cuomo is calling on local governments across New York to follow suit and mandate either shots or frequent testing for government workers,

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TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is imposing a mask mandate for state government workers and visitors to state buildings amid a surge in new coronavirus cases fueled by the more contagious delta variant.

Kelly’s announcement Wednesday came after a central Kansas school district ordered mask use in its building and public health officials in two of the state’s most populous counties recommended that even vaccinated people wear masks in at least some indoor public spaces.

Those moves were a day after the CDC recommended that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas where the coronavirus is surging. That would apply to 84 of Kansas’ 105 counties.

Kelly’s mask mandate takes effect Monday and applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. It covers almost 39,000 government workers, according to legislative researchers.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — All the 4,200 nonunion employees of Orange County in Florida will be required to get their first coronavirus vaccine shot by the end of August and the second by the end of September.

Mayor Jerry Demings issued the order Wednesday. He also ordered all county employees to wear masks at indoor county facilities when in the presence of others.

County officials are negotiating with unions to extend the vaccine requirement to the county’s more than 3,000 unionized workers.

The county is home to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, and the mayor is urging all private employers in the county to require their employees to get vaccinated and to their workers and patrons customers masks indoors.

Demings acknowledged that he can’t mandate such things under laws passed by the Florida Legislature.

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JACKSON, MISS. — Mississippi health officials say a teenager in the state has died of complications related to the coronavirus, marking the fourth death of a child since the start of the pandemic.

The state health officer said Wednesday that the teen had a common underlying health condition. Dr. Thomas Dobbs noted COVID-19 deaths among children are unusual, saying: “It is a rare thing, but it’s a tragedy.”

The Department of Health is not releasing further information on the teen, citing privacy laws.

Gov. Tate Reeves says he does not plan to require the use of masks in schools though the coronavirus vaccination rate in Mississippi remains among the lowest in the nation. Health official say they will echo CDC guidance and recommend that all teachers, students and visitors at schools wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota health and education officials are calling for all students, teachers and staff to wear masks in schools this fall regardless of whether or not they are vaccinated against the coronavirus, but they won’t require mask use.

The recommendation issued Wednesday follows new guidance from the CDC that everyone including those vaccinated should use face coverings in indoor spaces if they are in areas where virus cases are rising.

Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says the 625 newly confirmed virus cases tallied Wednesday is the highest since May 20. The state has recorded just under 2,800 new cases in the last week, — a 72% increase over the week before. Hospitalizations are also growing at concerning rates, she said.

The commissioner also recommends that everyone age 12 and older get vaccinated against the coronavirus before returning to in-person schooling, sports or other activities.

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MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Alabama public health officials are recommending that all students and teachers wear masks in the classroom because of a surge in coronavirus infections.

The Department of Public Health said Wednesday that schools can choose to follow the recommendation or not, but says that “these guidelines represent the best evidence available to protect students, teachers, and staff by reducing the transmission of COVID-19, along with disease, potential hospitalization, and risk of death from this virus.”

Some Alabama school systems have announced they will require students and teachers to wear masks indoors following new CDC recommendation that masks be worn by everyone in indoor spaces regardless of vaccination status.

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LANSING, Mich. — Two of Michigan’s largest health systems are requiring all employees, volunteers and medical providers at their hospitals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Spectrum Health, a 14-hospital network in western Michigan, and eight-hospital Beaumont Health on the other side of the state announced the mandates Wednesday. At least four hospital systems in the state now have announced the requirement.

Grand Rapids-based Spectrum has 31,000 employees. Beaumont is headquartered in Royal Oak and has more than 33,000 employees. They join the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and Livonia-based Trinity Health in requiring vaccinations.

A spokesperson says about 70% of Spectrum’s onsite staff are vaccinated.

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ANKARA, Turkey — The number of new coronavirus cases in Turkey climbed above the 20,000 mark Wednesday, reaching a level previously seen in early May.

The country reported 22,291 infections in the past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry figures. It also recorded 76 deaths — the highest number of daily fatalities since mid-June.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a televised address that 87% of all active cases and 95% of hospitalized patients consisted of people who were not fully vaccinated, and renewed a call for people to get their shots.

Only about 30 percent of the country’s 84 million people have been fully vaccinated, using China’s Sinovac and the Pfizer vaccines.

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CHICAGO — The hordes of people expected to descend on Chicago’s Grant Park for the Lollapalooza music festival this week will be required to show proof that they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 or tested negative for the disease within the last three days.

The four-day festival starts Thursday and is expected to be back at full capacity, with roughly 100,000 daily attendees. After missing last summer because of the threat of the coronavirus, it will easily be Chicago’s largest gathering since the pandemic started, and one of the country’s.

This year’s festival will look very different than in the past. To gain entry, attendees will have to present their vaccination cards or a printed copy of a negative COVID-19 test that is no more than 72 hours old. That means that anyone with a four-day pass who isn’t vaccinated will have to get tested twice. Furthermore, anyone who isn’t vaccinated will have to wear a mask.

Public health officials and others have raised concerns that such a large gathering, even outdoors, risks turning into a super-spreader event. Officials in the Netherlands were shocked after a much smaller music festival attended by 20,000 people over two days early this month led to nearly 1,000 cases of COVID-19, CNBC reported. That festival had similar safeguards to Lollapalooza’s.

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WASHINGTON – The State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met the head of the World Health Organization to press for additional studies into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic in China.

Blinken and WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus met Wednesday in Kuwait City, Kuwait, where Blinken is wrapping up an overseas trip.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken told Tedros that any follow-up probe into the COVID-19 outbreak must be “be timely, evidence-based, transparent, expert-led, and free from interference.”

Blinken also stressed the importance of international unity in order to understand the pandemic and to prevent future ones, Price said in a statement. He added that Blinken and Tedros had both committed to work together with all members of the WHO to “make meaningful, concrete progress in strengthening global health security to prevent, detect, and respond to future pandemics and health threats.”

The meeting, which had not been previously announced, came after China rejected WHO calls for a second investigation into the virus.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor announced Wednesday that all public employees must be vaccinated against the coronavirus starting next month as the U.S. territory reports a new rise in cases.

The executive order goes into effect Aug. 16 with few exceptions. Those who refuse to get inoculated will be required to submit a negative virus test weekly. If an employee refuses to get tested, they will be forced to use their vacation days and eventually may not be paid, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said.

“To finish defeating the pandemic, this is the step to follow,” he said. “Vaccination is the solution.”

Some 27,000 government employees are affected by the order, which comes a day after Pierluisi ordered that masks once again be worn indoors.

The island of 3.3 million people has reported more than 124,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 2,500 deaths related to COVID-19. More than 76% of the population has received at least a first vaccine dose.

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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was defiant Wednesday as he criticized the new CDC guidance about mask-wearing indoors and in schools.

“I think it’s very important we say, unequivocally, ‘No to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions, no to mandates,’” he said in Salt Lake City during a gathering of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that pushes conservative policies in Republican-controlled state legislatures.

His address prompted enthusiastic applause from a mostly mask-less crowd of about 1,400.

Florida leads the nation in the rate of new COVID-19 cases and deaths over the past 14 days, driven by the delta variant and a full reopening of the state. Just 48 percent of the state’s population is fully vaccinated.

Health experts say masks are an important tool in reducing transmission of the virus, especially among children who are too young to be vaccinated.

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TOPEKA, Kan. — A central Kansas school district is requiring masks in its buildings and public health officials in two of the state’s most populous counties are recommending that even vaccinated residents wear masks in at least some indoor public spaces.

The developments in the Salina school district and Shawnee and Douglas counties in northeast Kansas came quickly after a surge in new COVID-19 cases tied to the faster-spreading delta variant prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its guidance on masks.

The Salina school district appears to be the first in Kansas outside the Kansas City area to impose a mask mandate. Douglas and Shawnee counties are only recommending masks and not requiring them.

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World

Philippines says 200 Chinese vessels in Filipino EEZ

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Chinese fishing boats set sail into the South China Sea, here seen on August 16, 2020.

VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

The Philippine government expressed concern after spotting more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels it believed were crewed by militias at a reef claimed by both countries in the South China Sea, but it did not immediately lodge a protest.

A government body overseeing the disputed region said late Saturday that about 220 Chinese vessels were seen moored at Whitsun Reef on March 7. It released pictures of the vessels lying side by side in one of the most hotly contested areas of the strategic waterway.

The reef, which Manila calls Julian Felipe, is a boomerang-shaped and shallow coral region about 175 nautical miles (324 kilometers) west of Bataraza town in the western Philippine province of Palawan. It’s well within the country’s exclusive economic zone, over which the Philippines “enjoys the exclusive right to exploit or conserve any resources,” the agency said in a statement.

The large numbers of Chinese boats are “a concern due to the possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to safety of navigation,” it said, although it added that the vessels were not fishing when sighted.

When asked if the Philippines would file a protest, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted, “only if the generals tell me.”

Chinese Embassy officials did not immediately issue any comment. China, the Philippines and four other governments have been locked in a tense territorial standoff over the resource-rich and busy waterway for decades.

If I send my marines to drive away the Chinese fishermen, I guarantee you not one of them will come home alive.

Rodrigo Duterte

President of the Philippines

Critics have repeatedly called out President Rodrigo Duterte, who has nurtured friendly ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016, for not standing up to China’s aggressive behavior and deciding not to immediately seek Chinese compliance with an international arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s historic claims to virtually the entire sea. China has refused to recognize the 2016 ruling and continues to defy it.

The arbitration body also ruled that China had breached its duty to respect the traditional fishing rights of Filipinos when Chinese forces blocked them from Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines in 2012. The Philippines, however, could also not deny Chinese fishermen access to Scarborough, according to the ruling. The decision did not specify any other traditional fishing areas within the Philippines’ exclusive zone where fishermen from China and other countries could be allowed to fish.

“When Xi says ‘I will fish,’ who can prevent him?” Duterte said two years ago as he defended his nonconfrontational approach, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“If I send my marines to drive away the Chinese fishermen, I guarantee you not one of them will come home alive,” Duterte said then, adding that diplomatic talks with Beijing allowed the return of Filipinos to disputed fishing grounds where Chinese forces had previously shooed them away.

Duterte has sought infrastructure funds, trade and investments from China, which has also donated and pledged to deliver more Covid-19 vaccines as the Philippines faces an alarming spike in coronavirus infections.

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