METROVANINDEPENDENT.COM
November 2015
3
NEWS
The status of two Canadians kidnapped in Southern Philippines
could mar Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s APEC visit
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Canada listed Abu Sayyaf as a
terrorist group in 2003. While
the group wants to establish
an Islamic state in Southern
Philippines, it “primarily uses
terrorism for profit, kidnapfor-ransom, guerrilla warfare,
mass-casualty bombings, and
beheadings are particularly
favored tactics.”
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Canada listed Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist
group in 2003. While the group wants
to establish an Islamic state in Southern
Philippines, it “primarily uses terrorism for
profit, kidnap-for-ransom, guerrilla warfare,
mass-casualty bombings, and beheadings
are particularly favored tactics,” according
to the Public Safety Canada website.
Canada is now going outside its
borders to prosecute individuals suspected
in certain transnational crimes. The RCMP
charged a Somali national earlier this year
in connection with the 2008 kidnapping
of journalist Amanda Lindhout near
Mogadishu.
At least 11 men armed with pistols
arrived on a motorboat and entered the
Holiday Ocean View Samal Resort before
midnight Monday on Samal Island off
Davao City, military officials said, citing
a security video that captured part of the
kidnapping.
The gunmen attempted to seize an
American and his Japanese companion on
Kidnapped hostages of suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.
one of the yachts docked at the marina,
but the couple resisted and escaped by
jumping off the boat. The two suffered
minor injuries as they struggled to break
free from the kidnappers, police said.
Amid the commotion, Ridsdel, Hall and
Flor rushed out of their yacht and were
taken. Government forces later heard of
the abductions and launched a search.
“Unfortunately, the lead time that
the abductors had and the darkness of
night were able to cover the retreat of
the abductors,” military spokesman Col.
Restituto Padilla told reporters.
Government forces on planes and
helicopters were scouring the waters and
coastal areas in the Davao Gulf, according
to Padilla and the police.
A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs,
Trade and Development Canada in an
email said that the government “is aware
of reports that Canadian citizens were
kidnapped in the Philippines.”
“Canada is pursuing all appropriate
channels to seek further information,” the
department said.
An international arbitral tribunal gives
nod to West Philippine Sea claims
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The United Nations (UN)-backed tribunal issued the ruling on Thursday,
October 29.
China uses the 9-dash line to claim
almost the entire sea without explaining its
legal basis or providing coordinates. The
Philippines is asking the tribunal to strike
down the 9-dash line as inconsistent with
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS), the constitution for seas and
oceans.
“The 9-dash lines are totally ignored.
The tribunal did not consider the 9-dash
line. That is an indication of how they will
rule. The 9-dash line has no meaning at
all, no effect at all,” Carpio said in a media
forum in Quezon City.
Carpio made the statement in reference
to the ruling on the Philippine claim that
one of the features in the sea, Scarborough
Shoal, is merely a rock entitled to a 12
nautical-mile territorial sea, and not an
island with a 200-nautical-mile exclusive
economic zone (EEZ).
This was among 7 out of 15 Philippine
claims where the tribunal ruled that it
has jurisdiction or the power to decide
the case. The tribunal deferred ruling on
7 other claims as these were related to
the merits of the case while it asked the
Philippines to clarify one claim.
Carpio said that the tribunal found
jurisdiction on the Scarborough Shoal claim
because this did not involve sovereignty
or sea boundary delimitation, China's two
main objections.
Interpreting the ruling, the justice said:
“If you look at the map, Scarborough Shoal
is within the 9-dash line but the tribunal
said we have complete jurisdiction. What's
the meaning? The 9-dash lines do not
generate a maritime zone that overlaps with
the Philippine EEZ (Extended Continental
Shelf).”
He added: “This implies that if
Scarborough Shoal is merely a rock, the
Philippines has a full 200 nautical-mile
EEZ in the northern sector, excluding the
territorial sea of Scarborough Shoal. The
9-dashed lines are totally ignored.”
The legal expert said that the initial
ruling provided a “peep into the tribunal's
mind.”
“The existence of a dispute over these
issues is not diminished by the fact that
China has not clarified the meaning of the
9-dash line or elaborated on its claim to
historic rights,” he said.
China seized Scarborough Shoal from
the Philippines in 2012, sparking a standoff
and prompting the Aquino administration
to file the arbitration case against the Asian
superpower in January 2013. The waters
near the shoal are a traditional fishing
ground of Filipino fishermen.