The Philippines yesterday reiterated its "strong commitment" to the global fight against terrorism in a bid to appease allies who criticized its decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq to save a Filipino hostage held by militants.
"We will maintain our strong stand against terrorism in the face of this isolated event," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said, referring to the hostage crisis involving truck driver Angelo dela Cruz, who was freed on Tuesday. However, he then acknowledged that the Philippines had agreed to the militants' demands.
"The release of Angelo was based on negotiations and on meeting the conditions [of the his captors]," he said.
Bunye said he did not foresee any long-term damage to US-Philippine ties.
"We will consider the United States as our big brother in the security arena," Bunye added. "Our long-standing and maturing relations with the United States will survive this hostage crisis."
Dela Cruz, a 46-year-old father of eight, was released unharmed a day after the Philippines pulled out.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has said she does not regret her decision to withdraw the country's 51-member contingent in Iraq.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
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