The Philippines yesterday rejected demands by Islamic militants threatening to execute a Filipino hostage in Iraq to pull out its small humanitarian contingent from the strife-torn country one month earlier than scheduled.
"In line with our commitment to the free people of Iraq, we reiterate our plan to return our humanitarian contingent as scheduled on Aug. 20, 2004," Foreign Secretary Delia Albert told reporters after an emergency Cabinet meeting.
The kidnappers holding Filipino trucker Angelo dela Cruz meanwhile extended their deadline by nine days, a senior diplomat said late last night.
"I am told that the deadline has been extended by nine days till July 20. This has given us hope that the hostage is alive and the kidnappers are realizing that he has nothing to do with them," the diplomat said.
The militants have warned that if the Philippines did not commit to withdrawing its 51-member contingent in Iraq by July 20, "the hostage will be executed," according to a statement they issued to the Arab television station al-Jazeera.
The Philippine government said it was continuing to work "both through formal and informal" channels to free dela Cruz, a 46-year-old father of eight.
"We continue to do everything we can in order to secure the release of Angelo dela Cruz," Albert said. "We are hopeful that with the continued support and prayers of the people, we will hurdle this crisis."
She said Labor Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas, who erroneously announced late Saturday that dela Cruz had been freed, was accompanying the hostage's wife and brother to Iraq "in order to be closer to the developments on the ground."
"We are extending our utmost support to the family during this very critical time," it added.
The government's decision came despite mounting pressure for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to recall the country's troops in Iraq in order to save dela Cruz. Labor activists warned the government would be committing an "unforgivable mistake" if it would not heed the militants' demand.
They also criticized Arroyo for lying about the fate of dela Cruz on Saturday, when the president reportedly called his wife to tell her that her husband had been freed.
"Government has deceived the family of dela Cruz and the Filipino people," said Connie Regalado, chairwoman of Migrante, an organization representing Filipino overseas workers, referring to the erroneous announcement of his release.
Jubilation had broken out in the hometown of dela Cruz in Pampanga province, 75km north of Manila, when news came in that he had already been released.
Relatives and friends yesterday resumed prayer vigils, while special masses were offered for dela Cruz.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
RSS