China plans to conduct ‘intensive’ military drills amid US tensions

“Our Embassy in Cairo is preparing for an assistance-to-nationals mission to Sudan to facilitate evacuation and provide relief goods to Filipinos there,” DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said.

BusinessMirror spoke with the Philippine Honorary Consulate. They said the conditions are still “very bad.”

“Even if there are Filipinos who want to be evacuated, we cannot do that at the present time. Because all crossings are closed, airports, ports and land roads,” the Consulate said. Germany and Japan are reportedly planning the evacuation of their citizens in Sudan.

Filipinos are advised to get in touch with the Embassy or consulate at these numbers:

Philippine Embassy in Cairo

WhatsApp/Mobile: (+20) 122 743 6472

Facebook/Messenger: PHinEgypt

Email: cairo.pe@dfa.gov.ph

Philippine Consulate in Khartoum

Telephone Number (+249) 91 239 9448

Email: phil.cons@elnefeidigroup.com

CHINA’S military plans to conduct at least five drills in various areas that include waters off its coast and in the South China Sea (SCS), amid simmering tensions with Taiwan and the US.

One of the announced military exercises will be held for three days in waters off the port city of Qingdao, home to a major naval base for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to a statement by China’s Maritime Safety Administration Thursday. Unspecified “major military activities” were conducted in the same area from 9 a.m. till noon Tuesday.

The agency warned mariners against entering waters off the coast of Shandong province, an area that is the site of frequent military drills and well away from the territory of the US’s regional security partners.

China has escalated military and aerospace activities off its coast in recent days amid simmering tensions with Taiwan and the US. Beijing similarly declared an area north of the democratically run island off limits Sunday because of what it said was the risk of falling debris from the launch of a weather satellite.

Tensions over Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be part of China, are especially intense after President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California earlier this month, prompting the Chinese military to conduct drills in the area. Beijing restricted flights and shipping around Taiwan in August as it held military exercises to protest a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The PLA will also hold drills starting 6 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Sunday in the South China Sea, according to a separate statement from the Maritime Safety Administration Wednesday.

This comes before the biggest USPhilippine military exercises, which run through next week—part of the wider push from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to advance the longstanding alliance. The US recently gained expanded access to Philippine military sites, and the two nations are planning joint patrols in the SCS, where Beijing and Manila have a territorial dispute. Bloomberg News

₧180-M fish landing, trading facility to rise in Orani, Bataan

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—A

P180-million fish landing and trading facility that is expected to boost the local fish industry will soon rise in Orani, Bataan.

Governor Jose Enrique Garcia, who led the groundbreaking ceremony in Barangay Pantalan Bago on Thursday, said the facility, one of the biggest in Central Luzon, will benefit some 9,600 residents of the coastal town, particularly stakeholders at the Orani fishing port, such as fisherfolk, fishing brokers/traders, buyers and consumers.

He thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for granting the fund for the construction of the project, the World Bank and the Department of AgriculturePhilippine Rural Development Project.

“We are thankful to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for giving the fund. It is easy to have groundbreaking but it is difficult to implement if there is no fund,” Garcia said in Filipino during the event.

The President personally handed the P180million check to Orani Vice Mayor Emmanuel Roman during his visit to Bataan last March 31.

Orani Mayor Efren Pascual also thanked the Chief Executive for the funding that will pave the way for the establishment of the fish port facility in their coastal town.

“This will provide a big contribution to Orani, to the entire province and to the whole region. Our heartfelt gratitude to our beloved President Bongbong Marcos for the unending support to Orani and to our province,” he said.

Aside from boosting the local fishing industry, Pascual said the soon-to-rise facility will also attract tourists.

“This can be a way so our place will be visited, so complementary,” he added.

Also present at the event were Senator Cynthia A. Villar, Rep. Geraldine Roman and other local officials.

The project is expected to be completed within 422 days. PNA