14 Amendments of Fabio Massimo CASTALDO related to 2015/2234(INI)
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Philippine Government agreed on a Mindanao peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in March 2014, which involves setting up an autonomous Bangsamoro region in the Muslim south but does not include other militia groups who oppose the peace process, including the Islamic extremist group Abu Sayyaf and the Communist-inspired New People's Army;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the Philippines and the United States signed the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) in April 2015 and US military aid to Manila has increased by 90% since 2011; whereas President Aquino had already stated in 2012 that he wanted to increase the Philippines' defence budget, raising it to USD 1 billion by 2018;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas Sino-Philippine relations have experienced a gradual deterioration since the 2008 corruption allegations regarding Chinese assistance, and more importantly following China’s growing assertiveness regarding its territorial claims in the South China Sea; whereas approximately 90% of global trade passes through the South China Sea, over some 80% of which Beijing is claiming sovereignty, laying claim to economic zones in the territorial waters of Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Indonesia;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the Philippines initiated an arbitration case at the International Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in January 2013, calling for the invalidation of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea; whereas China has absolutely no intention of moving within multilateral frameworks, in keeping with its interpretation of UNCLOS, preferring to conduct bilateral negotiations, in which to assert its supremacy; whereas as long ago as 2012 China set up the administrative authority of Sansha to have jurisdiction over the Spratlys and Paracels islands;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the Philippines has announced that it will open new navy and air base facilities with extensive access to the South China Sea and will make these facilities available to US, Japanese and Vietnamese ships; whereas this attitude is likely to heighten tensions with Beijing; whereas the US has recently sent combat ships to the South China Sea, to which China has responded by sending secret patrols to the disputed waters;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the EU granted the Philippines GSP+ status in December 2014, it being the first ASEAN country to enjoy such trade preferences, despite Manila's dubious respect for democratic standards and human rights and the numerous cases of arbitrary detention and torture reported by NGOs and groups of activists;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the conclusion of the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation with the Philippines; stresses, however, that the Partnership should be subject to the proviso that Manila has to respect human rights, democratic standards and the principles of the rule of law;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines the importance of the Mindanao peace process, while recalling, however, the presence on Philippine territory not only of the Islamic separatist group MILF, involved in the Mindanao agreements, but also of other Islamic extremist organisations such as Abu Sayyaf; points to the contribution given to the Mindanao agreements by the International Contact Group, made up of international organisations including 'Muhammaddiyah', an Indonesian Islamic reformist organisation; specifies that Communist-inspired fighter fringe groups such as the New People's Army (NPA) are active on the ground in the Philippines; recalls that the NPA recently carried out a death sentence, issued by one of its revolutionary people's courts, against Dario Otaza, Mayor of the town of Loreto, in the province of Agusa del Sur;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for the EU and its Member States to engage with the Philippines to exchange intelligence, cooperate and provide support to the government’s capacity building in the international fight against terrorism and extremism; believes that counter-terrorism support for the Philippines should, as a priority, address the root causes of terrorism, in particular poverty and social inequalities;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that the Philippines are strategically located in the proximity of major international shipping and air traffic routes in the South China Sea, where tensions are being exacerbated by the rivalry between the USA and China for influence in the region;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls its serious concerns over the tension in the South China Sea; urges all parties in the disputed area to refrain from unilateral and provocative actions and to resolve the disputes peacefully based on international law, in particular the UNCLOS, and with impartial international mediation and arbitration; supports efforts for the parties to agree on a code of conduct and encourages measures to be taken on confidence building; points out that, on the basis of its interpretation of the UNCLOS, China is claiming the right to extend its own exclusive economic zone up to 200 nautical miles around artificial atolls in the South China Sea, such as Scarborough Shoal;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Philippines, as one of the countries having been granted GSP+ status by the EU, to ratify and implement all the core international conventions relating to human and labour rights, the environment and good governance, as listed in Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, and draws attention the fact that the Philippines is still failing to observe democratic standards and human rights in a number of areas (torture, arbitrary detentions, disappearances and abductions and the armed forces' central role in the government); points out that asylum seekers on the islands of Nauru and Manus are the subject of readmission negotiations initiated by Australia and that the President of the Philippines, Mr Aquino, has stated that his country is not in a position to accept any refugees;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Encourages the Philippines to continue improving the investment climate by increasing transparency and good governance and further developing infrastructure, where appropriate through public-private partnershipsithout deepening the country's already alarming social disparities; points out that in its 2015 Doing Business report the World Bank downgraded the Philippines in the 'ease of doing business' rankings, despite the fact that over recent years economic numbers for the country have been more encouraging than those for other countries in the region;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Looks favourably uponNotes the scoping procedure on a future Free Trade Agreement with the Philippines; welcomes the recent decision by the Philippine Department of Energy to invest in renewable energy sources;