Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo lifted a week-old state of emergency yesterday, after her security advisers assured her that the threat of a coup had eased.
"I am happy to report that we have dismantled the sabotage efforts," Arroyo said in a nationally televised address. "I strongly believe that law and order has returned."
Arroyo declared the emergency on Feb. 24 to quash a coup plot allegedly involving disgruntled soldiers, communist rebels and civilian backers. On Thursday, the defense, justice and police chiefs said they would recommend lifting the decree because the situation was normalizing.
"It is important for our political opponents and the opportunists to stop this nuisance to our economy and embarrassment to the Philippines caused by these useless charades," Arroyo said.
"I will never tolerate this kind of adventurism. No matter how many times, I will act with steadfastness and determination each time our enemies undermine our nation and the economy," she said.
Former president Fidel Ra-mos, whose support was critical when Arroyo survived a political crisis several months ago, said lifting the decree "would pre-empt further, more serious action on the part of the restive military and police components."
But he warned the situation in the country has not stabilized and the threat against Arroyo's government still remains.
Opposition and civil activists have warned that political freedoms were being eroded under the state of the emergency.
Authorities have filed criminal charges against at least 51 opposition members, military personnel and others for trying to overthrow the president. They include five left-wing lawmakers who sought refuge at the House of Representatives and refused to be interviewed by police.
"Many subversives and some police and soldiers have been arrested," Arroyo said. "Our justice system will deal with them."
Civil libertarians, lawyers, businessmen and media groups have expressed concerns over a string of warrantless arrests, a ban on rallies and a raid on a critical newspaper.
Left-wing Representative Teodoro Casino, one of six lawmakers charged with rebellion, called the end of Arroyo's decree a "cosmetic" move amid all the flak generated by her emergency proclamation. He and four of the other legislators have been holed up in the House of Representatives building to avoid arrest.
"So what? We still cannot go out of Congress, we still have a lousy president and the military and police are still after `the enemies of the state,'" he said.
"She lifted it to escape the snowballing protest against the proclamation. It's cosmetic, but in a way it's a victory, because she was forced to lift it," he said.
US embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop welcomed the end of the state of emergency, saying: "We look forward to continuing to deepen our cooperation on important issues we both face like counterterrorism, regional cooperation, defense reform, economic development and so on."
Arroyo said she had been forced to declare the emergency because "there was a clear and present danger to the republic."
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion