Skip to main content

DFA welcomes Maute group’s inclusion on US list of foreign terror groups

DFA Undersecretary for Strategic Communication and Research Ernesto Abella tells reporters on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, that the Philippines will question the undersea features in Benham Rise submitted by China to the Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names of the International Hydrographic Organization and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. Danny Pata © Danny Pata DFA Undersecretary for Strategic Communication and Research Ernesto Abella tells reporters on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, that the Philippines will question the undersea features in Benham Rise submitted by China to the Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names of the International Hydrographic Organization and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. Danny Pata

The Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday welcomed the US government’s move to include ISIS-inspired Maute Group and ISIS Philippines on its watch list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The Maute Group is one of the groups responsible for the five-month siege that laid to waste Marawi City in the latter half og 2017.

“Terrorism is a global and regional challenge, and cooperation with key allies is critical in averting terrorist operations,” DFA Undersecretary for Strategic Communication and Research Ernesto Abella said at a news conference.

“The Philippines welcomes the US designation of ISIS Philippines and the Maute group as foreign terrorist organizations, and specially designated as global terrorists,” he added.

The Philippine military successfully eradicated and liberated Marawi from the ISIS-linked groups, who staged attacks on the city last May 23.

Nearly 1,000 people, including many militants, were killed in months of fighting, while thousands have been displaced from the city.

President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law in Mindanao to address the militant takeover in the predominantly Muslim city.

US special forces have assisted the Armed Forces of the Philippines end the siege by providing technical assistance and enemy surveillance to Filipino troops battling the militants in Marawi.

“While we have concluded a successful campaign in Marawi against the Maute group, countering terrorism continues to be a priority of this administration. We are profoundly committed to preventing ISIS from gaining foothold in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia, and we should continue working together on this objective,” Abella said. —NB, GMA News

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

You can pay at a restaurant by smiling at a camera

© Provided by Engadget As easy as it is to make purchases in the era of tap-to-pay services , it's about to get easier still. Alipay (which handles purchases for Chinese shopping giant Alibaba) has launched what it says is the first payment system that uses facial recognition to complete the sale. If you visit one of KFC's KPRO restaurants in Hangzhou, China, you can pay for your panini or salad by smiling at a camera-equipped kiosk -- you need to verify the purchase on your phone, but you don't have to punch in digits or bring your phone up to an NFC reader. The system (Smile to Pay) is purportedly resistant to spoofing with photos and other tricks. It relies on both depth-sensing cameras and a "likeness detection algorithm" to make sure it's really you. Reportedly, the technology is good enough that it can accurately identify people even when they're disguising themselves through makeup or wigs. You shouldn't have to worry about someone buying ...
Read more

Cimatu warns miners: Don’t befoul watersheds, forests, aquatic resources

© Provided by Mediamerge Corporation Newly-appointed Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu poses for a photo before being sworn into office by President Rodrigo Duterte ahead of the 15th Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on Monday, May 7, 2017. Robinson Niñal/PPD Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu on Tuesday warned mining firms to observe responsible mining and avoid destructive practices or face sanctions His pronouncement came in response to President Rodrigo Duterte's second State of the Nation Address, in which the chief executive emphasized mining's impact on the environment. "I know for a fact that in a number of cases, weak and irresponsible mining practices result [in] environmental destruction—contaminating farmlands and poisoning our rivers and seas," Cimatu said in a statement. "Miners better refrain from despoiling our watersheds, forests and aquatic resources," he added. Cimatu said the Department of Environment and Natural Res...
Read more

Tesla cloud account hacked to mine cryptocurrency

© Provided by The Hill An unidentified outside hacker infiltrated Tesla's Amazon cloud account and used its systems to quietly mine for cryptocurrencies, a cybersecurity firm announced Tuesday. The hack also potentially exposed the electric car company's data. Researchers for RedLock found that Tesla's credentials on an IT administrative console were not password protected. They made the discovery while trying to track down which organizations had left their Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials openly exposed on the internet last month. The hackers quietly hijacked the console and began running scripts to generate virtual currency like bitcoin, the latest in a series of "cryptojacking" attacks. The researchers also found the hackers used "sophisticated evasion measures" to go undetected. A spokesperson for Tesla said the company learned about the breach in a company-sanctioned bug bounty program that pays outside hackers to discover vulnerabilitie...
Read more