(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
This directive was contained in Note No. 2021-0592 dated February 5, 2021 addressed to all accredited diplomatic missions in the Philippines.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines presents its compliments to all Diplomatic Missions accredited to the Republic of the Philippines and has the honor to inform the latter that all foreign government funding intended for Philippine non-government organizations (NGOs), regardless of mode of disbursement, transfer or download of funds, shall be coursed through the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines for appropriate clearance,” the department said in the one-page document.
Aside from the NGOs, the DFA also reminded foreign missions donating to the Bangsamoro Region of the existing regulations, specifically for donations related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
Judicial harassment
February 4, 2021
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in The Philippines.
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by Karapatan - the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights - of the judicial harassment of Karapatan National Council member
Daisy ‘Jackie’ Valencia.
On September 25, 2020, the Regional Trial Court Branch 30 in Tagum, Davao del Norte Province, issued an arrest warrant for Daisy ‘Jackie’ Valencia. However, she was only recently made aware through a reliable sourceof the murder charges pressed against her. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, Ms. Valencia had not received any formal notice from the Court.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying s Regular Press Conference on January 18, 2021
2021/01/18
CCTV: The Russian foreign ministry issued a statement on January 15 that the U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty last year significantly upended the balance of interests of signatory states, and that Moscow s proposals to keep the treaty alive after the U.S. exit have been cold-shouldered by Washington s allies. Moscow is now launching domestic procedural moves to withdraw from the pact. Can you comment on this?
Hua Chunying: We read reports on this. As far as I know, the direct cause of Russia starting the procedural moves to exit the Open Skies Treaty is that the United States unilaterally withdrew from the treaty despite international opposition, which has severely undermined military-to-military mutual trust and transparency between relevant countries. Russia made efforts to save the treaty without getting any warm response from the United States and other signatories.
2021-01-13 14:36:15 GMT2021-01-13 22:36:15(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
MANILA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) Twenty-two crew, including 14 Chinese, aboard a cargo vessel have been rescued in a sea mishap off the Philippines, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said on Wednesday.
The Embassy said the cargo vessel Yongfeng encountered a sudden fatal malfunction early on Wednesday morning in the sea about 400 nautical miles east off the Philippines. The boat caught fire and cargo hold was flooded. The life of the 22 crew was at great danger, the Embassy said in a statement.
The embassy appealed for help and got a rapid response from the Philippine government. All the crew have been picked up by a fishing boat operating nearby.