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SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2017 Adelle Chua, Editor
Opinion
Joyce Pangco Pañares, Issue Editor
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PESO: ASIA’S UGLY DUCKLING OF THE YEAR
EDITORIAL
SPECTACLE
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By Ditas Lopez and Cecilia Yap SPARE a thought for the Philippine peso. While other Asian currencies have strengthened against the dollar this year, the peso has hit a more than 10-year low and remains locked out of the party. Some analysts say that’s because investors are spooked by simmering allegations that President Rodrigo Duterte was involved in unlawful killings and corruption in his former post, which he denies. Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a text message Friday that the moves in the exchange rate have been driven by expectations the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. The peso is down 1.3 percent this year, while the Korean won leads the pack of Asian currency gainers, rising 4.5 percent. It could get worse for the peso before it gets better. Technical indicators suggest its decline will continue after it breached a support level of 50 versus the dollar last month. The peso touched 50.395 on Friday, its weakest since September 2006. Overseas funds have sold net $122.1 million of Philippine equities this year, wiping out the $83.4 million inflow seen through 2016, exchange data compiled by Bloomberg show. “You have a whole bunch of political developments recently that when you put it all together, people outside will probably say ‘wait, let’s be cautious here,’” said Joey Cuyegkeng, a Manila-based senior economist at ING Groep NV. “I expect some recovery in sentiment once all these political concerns are addressed, but it will take a while.” Further pressure could build in the coming days, with the Senate due on March 6 to open an inquiry into fresh allegations by a retired policeman that Duterte headed a group that carried out extrajudicial killings when he was mayor of the southern city Davao. The 71-year-old president has also been accused of illegally amassing 2 billion pesos ($40 million), and political opponents say he is attempting to quash dissent after Leila de Lima, a senator critical of Duterte, was arrested on drug-trafficking charges. The now suspended war on drugs launched after he came to power last year has also drawn international condemnation and claimed thousands of lives. Duterte has retained a high popularity rating domestically. Since he enjoys immunity as president, any allegations into illegal wealth and disclosure failures would need to be raised at an impeachment trial in Congress, which is controlled by his allies. “There’s clearly some concern,” said Gareth Leather, a senior economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London, referring to the political developments. The deterioration in the current account over the past year may have undermined the peso as well, he said by phone. “There’s more than just politics at play here.” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Director Zeno Abenoja in December said the current-account surplus is forecast to narrow to $800 million this year from
incident clearly amounted to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners. Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, said international standards prohibited searches that intimidated or unnecessarily intruded upon a prisoner’s privacy. Where, then, do we draw the line between enforcing order and protecting people’s—even prisoners’—basic human rights? The sight of rows upon rows of naked prisoners conjured ugly thoughts of concentration camps where prisoners were no more than bodies, worse, numbers. Nobody denies the need to curb the drug menace, specifically when it breeds corruption in places that are supposed to rehabilitate people who have violated the law. But there must be a more decent way. This latest stunt is an apt metaphor for what is going on in the country: People are naked, helpless and vulnerable, completely under the control of state agents who do whatever they please, in the name of some so-called good but through methods that are tyrannical, questionable, and just plain wrong.
OT long ago, inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center became known the world over. They had a series of viral videos—with several million views— showing them dancing to popular tunes. It was refreshing to see prisoners making good use of their time. There were healthy, worthwhile things to do in jail, and learning choreographed dance steps was one of them. The same prison facility is in the spotlight again these days—but for reasons less upbeat. Circulating on the internet are photos of prisoners of the CPDRC sitting cross-legged and naked on the floor of the prison gymnasium. The inmates were ordered to take their clothes off before being gathered and made to sit on the concrete floor. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency conducted the search in its attempt to look for drugs and other contraband in the compound. PDEA Region 7 director Yogi Ruiz said they decided to use this search method because he did not want to risk his agents’ safety in the event inmates hid weapons or started riots. The PDEA spokesman in fact said the stripping was upon the orders of the provincial governor. And indeed the search turned up 80 cellphone units, laptops, bladed weapons, P90,000 cash, and 19 sachets of suspected shabu from the cells of over 3,000 inmates. The warden has been sacked after the discovery of these items. Human rights groups protest. Amnesty International said the
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DISCO MUSIC: ANTHEM OF THE LIBERAL MOVEMENT POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE
IT FLOURISHED in the 1970’s until the early ‘80s, got a bad rap that’s totally fabricated and unjustified, and should be revived to bring a troubled world back on its boogie feet. I’m talking about disco, the music that brings to mind lighted dance floors,
mirror balls, and slicked-back hair. With roots steeped in funk, soul, pop, and salsa, disco grew to become one of most popular genres of the ‘70s, along with R&B and funk. The music conquered the world, giving rise to Euro disco, Italo disco, and
other variants. In the Philippines, it merged with Filipino folk music, kundiman, pop, and light jazz to create “Manila sound.” The Hotdogs led the way with “Manila” (the theme song of balikbayans), “Bongga Ka ‘Day,” and “Annie Batungbakal”— “sa
disco siya ang reyna!” Meanwhile, no party or school program is complete without VST and Company and their “Disco Fever,” “Awitin Mo Isasayaw Ko,” “Tayo’y Magsayawan,” and “Rock Baby Rock.” The Boyfriends contributed Turn to B2
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SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
UNDERMINING DEMOCRACY OUTSIDE THE US
ASTRONOMY IN POP SONGS
By Francis Wilkinson PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s approach to democracy, conflicted at best, is settling into a familiar groove. Attacks on the news media, the scapegoating of vulnerable minorities and periodic assaults on the concept of truth, as well as on specific facts, have become hallmarks of his administration.
Donald Trump
At the same time, democracy has gotten a few licks in as well. Trump obediently retreated from his Muslim ban at the direction of the courts, and his White House has been leaky, a boon to the free flow of information. But it remains unclear whether the Republican Congress and other key US institutions have the resiliency and will to repel Trump’s attacks, including the continuing stonewalling on we-don’t-knowwhat-exactly regarding Russia. (Trump’s sudden aura of competence after his speech to Congress was undermined a day later by a welltimed leak on how Attorney-General Jeff Sessions appeared to mislead the Senate under oath about his Russia contacts.) The effect of Trump on societies with weaker democratic institutions is also unknown. But the very existence of a would-be authoritarian thrashing around the American government, forever threatening to break free of institutional constraints, sends a jarring message around the world. The New York Times published a story on Wednesday about “antiSoros” forces in Europe being emboldened by Trump’s election. Substitute the word “democracy” for the name of the financier and opensociety enthusiast George Soros, and the story still holds. In Soros’s native Hungary, the Trumpian prime minister, Viktor Orban, has for years been undermining democratic norms and institutions, badgering opponents and bludgeoning the independence of the news media. He is using this hour of authoritarian ascendance to step up his attacks on groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as “foreign agents financed by foreign money.” Last week in Hungary, an Amnesty spokesman told EUObserver, “The government accused Amnesty of producing fake reports and of inciting migrants to break laws.” “Fake” reports and law-breaking immigrants. There’s something vaguely familiar about those themes, isn’t there? In a speech earlier this week, Orban said Hungary’s economic success depends on the nation’s “ethnic homogeneity.” Hungary’s tide of “illiberal democracy” long preceded Trump’s election. Orban’s most recent reign atop Hungarian politics—he’s been there before—began in 2010. “What we’ve seen is a weakening of democratic institutions around that part of the world for maybe a decade now,” said Jan Surotchak, Europe director of the International
By Pecier Decierdo BACK IN 2005, British singer-songwriter Katie Melua released the single “Nine Million Bicycles.” In the second stanza of the song, Melua uses a reference to a cosmological fact to drive her point home: “We are 12 billion light years from the edge/ That’s a guess, no one can ever say it’s true/ But I know that I will always be with you.” It was a lovely song, and to no one’s surprise it reached the top of the charts in the UK. But its popularity was the reason why many scientists took issue with the fact that the science was wrong. One British cosmologist, Simon Singh, even wrote an op-ed in no less than The Guardian to criticized what he called Melua’s “bad science.” In the op-ed, Singh pointed out that scientists in fact know how old the universe is—it’s 13.7 billion years old. Furthermore, that number is not just a guess but an estimate that was derived from the careful methods of science. Singh reminded the reader that while there are many things about the universe that still remain a mystery to us and are yet to be solved by scientists, the age of the universe is not one of them. The science writer said it’s regrettable that such a lovely and popular song contains a misconception that can spread to the public. To her credit, Melua’s response to Singh’s criticism was one of convivial apology for the error. With the help of Singh, Melua re-recorded the song so that the lines in question ended up being: “We are 13.7 billion
DISCO... From A1 “Sumayaw Sumunod,” “Araw-araw Oras-Oras,” and “Dance With Me.” As a genre, disco is inclusive, open, and explorative. Sexuality is a common theme, and the freedom of expression it fostered in its heyday made it a favorite of the male gay community in the US. Dr. Tim Lawrence, who teaches at the University of East London, calls disco a “phenomenon” in a 2013 journal article. Lawrence says the culture that arose around the music was “commonly ridiculed, yet [it] was often progressive and continues to inform the contemporary, thanks to its innovations within DJing, remixing, social dance, and sound system practices.” He points to disco’s “queer potential— or its potential to enable an affective and social experience of the body that exceeded normative conceptions of straight and gay sexuality.” He notes that “the social dances that preceded disco—most notably the waltz, the foxtrot, the Lindy Hop (or jitterbug), the Texas Tommy, and the Twist—were, to varying degrees, patriarchal and heterosexist” because dance partners were supposed to be of opposite sexes and men were expected to take the lead. Disco also spoke of race equality and feminism. The genre’s musicians were primarily black. Many of the songs were performed and written by women, with lyrics that empowered and uplifted women, such as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (1978).
Republican Institute, a Washingtonbased NGO that promotes democracy worldwide. Kenneth Wollack, president of the National Democratic Institute, a kind of Washington doppelganger of Surotchak’s IRI, has been in the business of promoting democracy worldwide for more than three decades. He isn’t convinced that this US president represents a democratic departure. “I think it’s way too early for people to be making judgments,” Wollack said in a telephone interview. Wollack points out that concerns about President George W. Bush’s commitment to global democracy movements—as a candidate Bush had disparaged “nation-building”— were quickly rendered moot after Bush launched full-scale wars under the banner of democracy. Trump’s evolution could similarly surprise. Democracy promotion, Wollack said, is now deeply woven
light years from the edge of the observable universe/ That’s an estimate with well-defined error bars/ And with the available information/ I predict that I will always be with you.” By re-recording the song, Melua and Singh not only got great publicity, they also educated the UK public about the true age of the universe and the methods of science. Astronomy is a favorite source of references for writers, poets, and songwriters. There is no surprise there. Anyone who has looked up into a starry sky or has stared at the loveliness of a full moon can relate to the urge to wax poetic in the face of such grandeur. Furthermore, anyone who has studied even a bit of astronomy knows that the goings on in outer space can be such a treasure trove of metaphors for poetry and songwriting. Nowadays, there is no shortage of pop songs talking about celestial objects. However, most of them simply use the words ‘star’ or ‘moon’ for a quick rhyme or trivial metaphor. Those songs themselves might be lovely, like Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me To The Moon” or Ed Sheeran’s “All Of The Stars,” but as songs about astronomy they are not interesting. More interesting are songs that find a way to use facts about the heavens in order to express a facet of human experience. For example, in Liannne La Havas’ soothing song “Unstoppable,” the singer compares the long range of the gravitational force on satellites to the long reach of the love between her and her loved one. In “Bless The Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts, the singer compares the people who broke his heart to northern stars that
lead him to the person he’s meant to be with. Filipino artist Reese Lansangan has a cute song entitled “A Song About Space” that is, well, all about space. One of my absolute favorite is by the folk singer-songwriter Peter Mayer, whose discography is a constellation of excellent scientific references sung to folksy hymns. In “Blue Boat Home,” he compares the Earth to a boat in space, and we humans voyagers in space. The entire song is simply beautiful, but one line in particular reveals Mayer’s grasp of the science: “Sun my sail and moon my rudder/ As I ply the starry sea / Leaning over the edge in wonder / Casting questions into the deep.” In the first line, Mayer does two things. First, he reinforces the sailing metaphor by comparing the Sun and Moon to parts of a boat. Second, he expresses scientific facts in a poetic way. As a ship’s sail allows it to be pushed forward, the Sun’s gravitational force is what makes the Earth “ply the starry sea.” As a boat’s rudder allows it to be steered and gives it stability, the Moon is thought to make the Earth’s orbit and rotation more stable. So my challenge to all of the artists and creative people reading this: The next time you want to come up with a metaphor to express some aspect of human drama, try to learn a bit of astronomy. Not only can it make your composition more beautiful, it might even give you a metaphor you might not find elsewhere.
Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” (1975), with its simulated orgasmic moans, is credited as being the first expression of female sexual desire in music. Disco, then, was a groovy tool in the arsenal of social justice warriors fighting for equality of all kinds in line with the hippie values of love, peace, and freedom. Some surmise that it was this liberalness of the music and its culture, and its associations with excessive fashions, drugs, and promiscuity that led to the infamous disco backlash ushering in the genre’s abrupt decline. On July 12, 1979, an estimated 55,000 people gathered in Chicago’s Comiskey Park for “Disco Demolition Night” an anti-disco demonstration led by a couple of rock-station DJs. Thousands of record albums, brought in by spectators in return for a discount on entrance tickets, were piled on a baseball pitch and burned. By Sept. 22, there were no disco tunes in the US Top Ten Chart. That event is now called “the night disco died.” But disco didn’t die. Though most of disco’s proponents remain the older generations who remember its glory days, today’s music fans are rediscovering it. This is especially true in the Philippines, where disco is a staple of oldies parties and school programs. Erika, an 18-year-old centennial (another term for Generation Z) appreciates disco, although she says, “It’s not my not favorite genre.” She remembers performing school dances to disco numbers when she was in a Makati City elementary school. It’s a far cry from the kind of music she
prefers, but she says, “I can’t hate on it. How can you hate on something whose sole purpose is happiness, to bring people together, to make them dance? That’s why it exists in the first place.” Quite a few musicians and music fans must feel the same way, because megahit “Uptown Funk” (2014) by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars is totally disco. Officially it is under the funk genre, with a nod to EDM and the Minneapolis sound, but its electrofunk flavor owes a lot to early ‘80s dance music that overlaps the disco era. “Get Lucky” (2013) by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell and Nile Rodgers is so disco it wears glitter and rhinestones. In its music video, guitarist Rodgers wears dreadlocks that look like Rick James’ mop ‘do in his video for “Super Freak” (1981). References to disco have also been popping up more frequently in popular culture. In The Martian (2011), the book written by Andy Weir and turned into a successful film in 2015 starring Matt Damon, astronaut Mark Watney bewails the fact that he is stranded on the planet Mars with only his captain’s disco music archive to entertain him. It’s a laugh at the expense of the genre, but any publicity, even the bad kind, is still good. A good music genre can’t be kept down. Even when ridiculed and mocked, disco loves all, embraces all, and will always keep our souls funky and movin’ to the beat.
Democrats around the world can’t help but take note that the pillar of democracy has gone wobbly. Aspiring dictators have no doubt noticed, too. into the fabric of international relations, especially for the US. “Every US embassy around the world has democracy as part of its agenda,” he said. Incubating and sustaining democratic institutions is a tough task, however. Democracy doesn’t always take. And it doesn’t always thrive even when it does take. Hungary is one of many examples
Decierdo is resident astronomer and physicist for The Mind Museum.
Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer. Follow her on Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @jensdecember
of democratic backsliding. Certainly the regime of Russia’s Vladimir Putin qualifies. Nowhere is democracy so firmly rooted as in the US, which has been a wellspring for democratic impulses around the world. Perhaps the confidence of Wollack and others is well-founded. But Trump represents a concussive break from a democratic pattern that has not only flourished in the US but reverberated, to the benefit of Americans and others, around the world. US commitment to foreign engagement can vary with the demands and resources of the era. But questions about the US’ commitment to its own democracy are something strange and new. Democrats around the world can’t help but take note that the pillar of democracy has gone wobbly. Aspiring dictators have no doubt noticed, too. Bloomberg
PESO:...
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the $2.5 billion estimated for 2016 because imports are growing. Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said on Friday the peso’s decline isn’t a cause for alarm, and that a weaker currency benefits families of overseas workers, exporters and outsourcing companies. “Our central bank is doing a great job in managing the currency and managing the sharp fluctuations,” Pernia said. The peso will be 50.6 to the dollar by the end of September, according to the median estimate in Bloomberg surveys of analysts. Bank of the Philippine Islands, the country’s second-largest lender by assets, forecasts the slide to continue to 52.50 by the end of the year. Political developments “might be the catalyst to drive the dollar-peso higher,” said Alan Cayetano, Manila-based head of foreign-exchange trading at the bank. “For now, market sentiment seems negative.” Bloomberg
World SECRET UBER SOFTWARE STEERS DRIVERS FROM STINGS SAN FRANCISCO, United States—Uber on Friday acknowledged the use of a secret software program to steer drivers away from trouble, including sting operations by local authorities to catch lawbreakers. In the latest in a streak of damaging news for the ridesharing giant, Uber came forward about its “Greyball” software after a New York Times report which said the program aimed to deceive authorities in markets around the world. According to an Uber statement, the tool was used in cities where it was not banned from operating, and the main intent was to protect drivers from disruption by competitors using the smartphone application to interfere instead of summon legitimate rides. “This program denies ride requests to fraudulent users who are violating our terms of service,” an Uber spokesperson said in an email reply to an AFP inquiry. “Whether that’s people aiming to physically harm drivers, competitors looking to disrupt our operations, or opponents who collude with officials on secret ‘stings’ meant to entrap drivers.” Uber said the program was used in locations where drivers feared for their safety, and “rarely” to avoid law enforcement. The New York Times report, which said Greyball was used in several countries, cited interviews with current and former employees whose names were cloaked. According to the report, the program raised ethical and potential concerns, and had been a closely guarded secret in Uber’s toolbox as it expanded around the world, clashing with regulators and traditional taxi groups. AFP
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SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
TRUMP DEFIANT AMID NEW RUSSIA TIES W
ashington—An avalanche of new revelations about ties between Donald Trump’s aides and Russia forced the White House back on the offensive Friday, overshadowing a presidential weekend trip to Florida and his well-received major speech. Before arriving at his Mar-a-Lago resort for the fourth time in five weeks, Trump accused his political foes of conducting “a total witch hunt” into links with Moscow, which he denies. The angry accusation came as Attorney-General Jeff Sessions—a close Trump confidant and the US government’s top law enforcement official—was forced to recuse himself from any Russia-related inquiries. After Sessions told senators under oath that “I didn’t have—did
not have communications with the Russians,” journalists uncovered he had actually met the Russian ambassador twice in the months before taking office. The meetings have raised red flags for Democrats, who have called for Sessions to resign and be investigated for perjury. Trump said he had “total” confidence in Sessions, who “could have stated his response more accurately” but “did not say anything wrong.” Trump lashed out at leading Sen-
ate Democrat Chuck Schumer. Trump tweeted an old picture of the senator with Russian President Vladimir Putin along with the caption: “We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite!” He later demanded a “second investigation” into House Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Since US intelligence took the unprecedented step of publicly accusing Russia of trying to swing the November election in Trump’s favor, questions have swirled about whether some in Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow. Trump has repeatedly denied any personal ties to the Kremlin, and his aides have variously denied or played down contacts with Russian officials. But it has now emerged that a slew
of associates aside from Sessions and already fired national security advisor Michael Flynn met Moscow’s envoy to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, before Trump took office. US media reported that advisors JD Gordon and Carter Page met Kislyak and, separately, that Flynn and Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House aide Jared Kushner met Kislyak at Trump Tower in New York last December. Sessions’ own meetings with the envoy took place much earlier, in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were mounting, according to The Washington Post. According to officials, US intelligence agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation continue to investigate just how and how much Moscow intruded into US politics. AFP
EAST LIBYA STRONGMAN LOSES OIL EXPORT TERMINAL BENGHAZI, Libya—The forces of eastern Libya’s military strongman Khalifa Haftar have lost control of a key oil export terminal they had seized last year, a spokesman conceded on Saturday. Col. Ahmad al-Mismari said rival forces had overrun the main airfield in the oil port of Ras Lanuf and identified them as Islamists of the Benghazi Defence Brigades. An array of forces, most of them loyal to the UN-backed government in Tripoli, have been involved in efforts to oust Haftar from the oil ports, whose seizure enabled him to pose a major challenge to its authority. But the Tripoli government denied any involvement in the renewed offensive on the oil ports, condemning it as a “military escalation.” The forces involved in the latest assault are a mixture of Islamist militias, eastern tribes opposed to Haftar and members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard which controlled the ports before Haftar’s takeover. “The attackers were armed with modern tanks and a radar to neutralise our air force,” Mismari said. “But the battle is ongoing. The situation in the Oil Crescent remains under control.” AFP
FRANCE’S FILLON SUFFERS NEW BLOWS PARIS—French presidential candidate Francois Fillon suffered new blows to his scandal-hit campaign Friday, while veteran conservative Alain Juppe stood ready to replace him in the race. Fillon’s spokesman and campaign manager quit and the leader of a small centrist party confirmed it was withdrawing its backing over an expenses scandal. Pressure has been building on the rightwing former prime minister, who turned 63 on Saturday, since he revealed this week that he is to be charged over allegations he paid his wife Penelope hundreds of thousands of euros for fake parliamentary jobs. The 71-year-old Juppe, also an ex-premier and a one-time foreign minister, was beaten by Fillon in the conservative primary in November after beginning the contest as a clear favourite. Juppe has kept a low profile since. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen has taken the lead in opinion polls and centrist Emmanuel Macron has also benefited from Fillon’s woes. AFP
Policemen with dogs take part in a parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the Belarusian police in Minsk on March 4. AFP
JACKMAN SLICES AND DICES ONE LAST TIME AS WOLVERINE LOS ANGELES, United States—After eight movies over 17 years, Hugh Jackman has returned for his final hurrah as Wolverine in “Logan,” an edgier, darker take on everyone’s favorite hairy, metal-clawed mutant anti-hero. Jackman, 48, had agreed with director James Mangold that if he was going to reprise his iconic role as the cigar-chomping loner one last time,
it should be the first R-rated outing in the “X-Men” franchise aimed at a more adult audience. “Hugh and I didn’t want to do it if we couldn’t do something very different,” Mangold said at a preview in Los Angeles of Twentieth Century Fox’s 2017 slate. “We both felt like we had made the last movie and we also felt like... there’s a slew of comic book-themed films, su-
perhero movies—whatever you want to call them—and I, for one, am feeling kind of an exhaustion watching them, generally.” “Logan,” which takes place more than 50 years after the events of “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014), sees Wolverine/Logan aging, weary and vulnerable. Sporting an unkempt gray beard, he drinks his days away on the Mexican
border, picking up black market drugs to treat the dying Professor X, played for a seventh—and also final—time by acclaimed British thespian Patrick Stewart. Logan is snapped abruptly out of his torpor when a mysterious woman begs him to protect a young girl – a stunning debut by English-Spanish newcomer Dafne Keen, 11 – who has powers remarkably like his own and is being pursued by dark forces. More of a blood-spattered road movie than a traditional superhero film, the latest installment earned its R rating mainly because of the unrelenting, visceral violence which plays out from the opening scene. It is expected to take $65 million over the weekend to top the domestic box office and $170 million worldwide. Jackman, a versatile Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning performer as comfortable in stage musicals as blockbusters, has long been open about the fact that “Logan” would be his last Wolverine movie. “He’s a warrior. He’s billed as a weapon, a killing machine, really. But as we say in the movie—it’s a quote from ‘Shane’—there’s no living with a killing. There’s a cost to violence,” Jackman told journalists at a screening in New York. AFP
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SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2017 Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor
World
/ Joyce Pangco-Pañares, Issue Editor
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CHINA HIKES DEFENSE SPENDING BY 7% B
EIJING—China will raise defense spending “around seven percent” this year as it guards against “outside meddling” in its disputed regional territorial claims, a top official said Saturday, in an apparent reference to Washington.
Just days after US President Donald Trump outlined plans to raise American military spending by around 10 percent, a spokeswoman for China’s parliament told reporters that future Chinese expenditures will depend on US actions in the region. “We call for a peaceful settlement through dialogue and consultation (of the territorial disputes). At the same time we need the ability to safeguard our sovereignty and interests and rights,” spokeswoman Fu Ying said at a press conference ahead of the rubber-stamp parliament session. “In particular, we need to guard against outside meddling in the disputes.” The annual press briefing came a day ahead of Sunday’s opening of the National People’s Congress (NPC). Fu did not specify what “meddling” she was referring to, but Beijing’s increasingly assertive stance towards its claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea have stirred alarm in the region and prompted criticism from Washington. The planned spending increase is in line with last year, when the government said 2016 outlays would increase by 6.57.0 percent. The 2016 figure marked the first time in six years that spending growth did not rise into double figures. China is engaged in a decades-long build up and modernization of its oncebackward armed forces as it seeks military clout commensurate with its economic might. But its military capabilities remain modest compared to the United States, Fu said, adding that concerns about the country’s military buildup are unwarranted. “China has never caused harm to anyone, to any country,” she said. But recent reports that Beijing may be militarizing artificial islands in the South China Sea have raised concerns in Washington, which has long argued China’s activities in the region threaten freedom of navigation through the strategically vital waterways, sending ships and aircraft to pass close to the growing islands. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan have contested Beijing’s claims. Recent satellite imagery indicates China is completing structures intended to house surface-to-air missiles on a series of such artificial landmasses, the Washington think-tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said last week. AFP
THAI KING’S AIDE JAILED FOR ROYAL DEFAMATION BANGKOK—A senior aide to Thailand’s new King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been jailed for five and a half years for royal defamation and other offenses, police said, the latest secrecy-shrouded downfall of a palace official. The verdict, handed down by a military court on Friday, comes less than two weeks after the palace sacked the king’s deputy chief of staff Chitpong Thongkum for behaving “in a way that brought about distrust and caused severe damage to the royal family.” Palace affairs are often difficult to penetrate in Thailand, where harsh defamation laws shield the royal family from scrutiny and make any discussion of the monarchy extremely sensitive. Media must heavily self-censor when reporting on the royal family. In addition to violating the royal insult law, Chitpong was also convicted of “committing theft in state offices” and breaching medical and cosmetic laws, according to a police statement. AFP
NOKOR HITS POSSIBLE US TERROR LISTING SEOUL—North Korea warned Saturday the US will “pay dearly” if it puts Pyongyang on a terror list over the killing of its leader’s half-brother, as a suspect in the murder claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy. Kim Jong-Nam, 45, was poisoned in Malaysia last month with VX, a nerve agent so deadly that it is classed as a weapon of mass destruction. The dramatic killing at Kuala Lumpur airport prompted an international probe, lurid stories of North Korea’s Cold War-style tradecraft and a bitter war of words between Malaysia and Pyongyang. South Korean and Japanese media, citing diplomatic sources, have since reported that the US has been mulling placing the North back on its terror list, which includes Iran and Syria. “The US will keenly realise how dearly it has to pay for its groundless accusations against the dignified” North if it puts it back on the terror list, the regime’s foreign ministry spokesman told state-run newswire KCNA. AFP
Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are greeted as they walk through the Ngo Mon Gate in the central city of Hue, Vietnam’s former imperial city, on March 4. Akihito and his wife are on their first visit to Vietnam, the latest in a series of trips to former battlegrounds. AFP
UK CINEMA-GOERS ASKED TO BECOME REAL-LIFE 007S LONDON—British film icon James Bond has entertained audiences for over five decades, but now the country’s foreign intelligence agency is asking cinema-goers to become spies themselves. MI6 on Friday unveiled a 58-second advertisement—entitled “But She Could”—that will be shown in cinemas from Monday as part of a recruitment drive to attract budding spies from diverse backgrounds. “I want everyone to know that, regardless of background, if you have the skills we need and share our val-
ues, there is a future for you in MI6,” said agency chief Alex Younger as he unveiled the advertisement. “I want people to see our advert and know there is a place for them in our team,” Younger added. Younger has previously blamed Bond for creating a stereotyped image of a British spy, and is keen to employ more female agents. He said the fictional spy gave a “misleading portrayal” of MI6, and that Bond would “have to change his ways” to survive in the modern agency. AFP
JORDAN HANGS 15 CONVICTS AT DAWN AMMAN—Jordan hanged 15 death row prisoners at dawn on Saturday, its information minister said, in a further break with the moratorium on executions it had observed between 2006 and 2014. Ten of those put to death had been convicted of terrorism offences and five of “heinous” crimes including rape, Mahmud al-Momani told the official Petra news agency. All were Jordanians and they were hanged in Suaga prison south of the capital Amman. King Abdullah II had said in 2005 that Jordan aimed to become the first Middle Eastern country to halt executions in line with most European countries. Courts continued to hand down death sentences but they were not carried out. But public opinion blamed a rise in crime on the policy and in December 2014, Jordan hanged 11 men convicted of murder, drawing criticism from human rights groups. AFP