The Philippines and the United States launch their annual joint military exercises

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Thousands of Filipino and American forces begin joint military exercises in the Philippines on Monday, at a time when Beijing’s growing influence in the region raises fears of a conflict.

The annual exercises, called “Balikatan” or “Together” in the Filipino Tagalog language, will be concentrated in the northern and western parts of the archipelago, near disputed sites in the South China Sea and Taiwan.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire area of ​​this sea, and considers Taiwan part of its territory.
Other countries, including the Philippines, claim sovereignty over parts of the sea where the United States conducts regular patrols.
In response to growing Chinese influence, the United States has strengthened its alliances with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Philippines.

Philippine Colonel Michael Logico told reporters before the exercises, “The purpose of the armed forces, and the reason for our existence, is to prepare for war.” He added, “There is no sugarcoating the matter… For us, not being prepared is a disservice to the country.”
The Philippine Coast Guard will join Balikatan for the first time after several encounters between their ships and the Chinese Coast Guard, which patrols coral reefs off the coast of the Philippines.
The Balikatan exercises will include a simulation of regaining control of an island off the western province of Palawan, near the South China Sea.
The maneuvers themselves will be held in the northern provinces of Cagayan and Batanes, both less than 300 kilometers (180 miles) from Taiwan.
Like last year, the exercise will include sinking a ship off the northern province of Ilocos Norte, hundreds of kilometers from Taiwan.
Other training will include information warfare, maritime security, and integrated air and missile defence.
The United States has deployed its Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) guided missiles in the Philippines in preparation for Balikatan, but Logico said that these weapons will not be used in the exercises.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the United States of “inflaming the military confrontation,” calling on the Philippines to “stop sliding down the wrong path.”

President Daniel Noboa received important support for his administration, after Ecuadorians endorsed in a referendum and popular consultation that the Constitution and some regulations be modified to toughen the fight against organized crime.

The majority of Ecuadorians voted “yes” to the 9 questions focused on security and which include allowing the extradition of Ecuadorian criminals – something prohibited until now –, continuing with the deployment of the armed forces on the streets and increasing penalties for some crimes. as terrorism and drug trafficking, according to a quick official count released Sunday night by the electoral authority.

The only two questions for which Ecuadorians voted “no” were one related to submitting differences with international companies to international arbitration and another to modify the labor code to allow hourly contracts for the first time.

The consultation was also seen as a thermometer of the government of Noboa, a 36-year-old millionaire businessman who assumed power in November for a period of just 18 months and who may run for re-election in February.

For some analysts, now the president must show results after receiving people’s support for his security plan.

“This partially gives it vigor,” said Andrea Endara, analyst and professor at Casa Grande University. “If the president does not begin to establish actions that demonstrate that having voted ‘yes’ brings results to reduce insecurity, this support will quickly be diluted.”

Ecuador has been mired in a climate of insecurity since the beginning of 2021, with a record increase in murders that placed the rate of violent deaths at the end of 2023 at 40 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest on the continent. Last year there were more than 7,600 crimes. The authorities attribute it to the action of criminal gangs related to drug trafficking.

Now, for the changes made in the referendum questions to take effect—which imply changes to the Constitution and include the issue of extradition and the armed forces—the Executive must publish the adjustments to the Magna Carta in the official gazette.

For the approved popular consultation questions, the government must send reform projects to the Assembly, which must process them in no more than 60 days, although it may make modifications. In the Legislature, the government does not have a firm majority.

Even before the official results were known, Noboa spoke out on his Instagram account and assured that “now we will have more tools to fight crime and restore peace to Ecuadorian families.”

The voting centers remained under strong police and military guard all day, and entry with bags or backpacks was not allowed for security reasons.

In the afternoon, the police reported the murder of the director of a prison in the city of Portoviejo in the province of Manabí, located 234 kilometers southwest of Quito.

“I voted ‘yes’ 11 times because I want this violence to end, this fear, we cannot live like this with fear of leaving our homes,” said Leonor Sandoval, a 39-year-old housewife, who voted in the morning in a northern area of ​​the capital.

But Jacinto Mena, a 46-year-old primary school teacher, said he rejected all the questions. “The president (Noboa) is convinced that violence will end with violence, that is a mistake that other countries like Colombia and Mexico have made.” He added that what is missing is education, work and money for health.

Voting is mandatory for Ecuadorians between 18 and 64 years old and optional for young people between 16 and 17 years old. Ecuador is a country with 17 million inhabitants.

As part of his strategy to combat violence in the country, Noboa declared Ecuador in internal armed conflict, which allowed the armed forces to carry out joint patrols with the police in the streets and in the country’s prisons, in addition and which identified about twenty criminal gangs as “terrorists”.

The new electoral process also comes with the country immersed in the previous week with electricity rationing of at least six hours a day, which forced the government to suspend the working day for two days. IP Agency

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