Alarm at Duterte's 'death squad' plan for Philippines

Rights groups in the Philippines raised fears on Wednesday after the country's President Rodrigo Duterte announced plans to create a "death squad" targeting suspected communist rebels.

The rights groups and activists said it would worsen the "calamity" triggered by his deadly war on drugs.

The Philippines' 50-year fight against communist militants, one of Asia's oldest insurgencies, long pre-dates his anti-narcotics crackdown that has killed thousands and drawn international censure.

Mr Duterte, like previous leaders, initially held peace talks with the communists but shelved negotiations last year over deadly attacks against soldiers and police.

In a speech on Tuesday night, he took aim at the communist rebels' hit squads known as "sparrow units".

"What I lack is my own sparrow. That is where they [communists] have an edge. So I will create my own sparrow, Duterte Death Squad against the sparrow," the president said.

"I will match their talent also for assassinating people."

Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Wednesday that there was a "great danger of abuse", and that his team would study the plan "very closely, who will compose it, who will supervise it, who will be the targets."

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Since negotiations with the rebels broke down, Mr Duterte also formally designated the Communist Party of the Philippines and its 3,800-member armed wing the New People's Army (NPA) as terrorist organisations.

The low-level, simmering insurgency has claimed 30,000 lives by the government's count.

The founder of the Communist Party, Jose Maria Sison, said on Wednesday that "sparrow units" only existed in the 1970s and 1980s at the height of the insurgency.

"He is inventing so many sparrow units to justify his own death squads, which are illegal," Mr Sison told ABS-CBN television.

The president's announcement drew immediate criticism from campaigners, who said the death squad would worsen the already lethal environment encouraged by the drug war.

Police say they have killed nearly 5,000 alleged drug users and dealers, while rights groups said the toll is at least triple that and could amount to crimes against humanity.

"His [Duterte's] statement is a declaration of open season against rebels, leftists, civilians, and critics of the government," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

"This new policy will only worsen the ongoing drug war-fuelled human rights calamity in the Philippines."

Amnesty International also expressed alarm, citing the practice of labelling government critics as communist rebels or sympathisers.

"What is scary is that anyone can be a target," the group's human rights officer Wilnor Papa told the Agence France-Presse.

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The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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7pm: Flood Zone
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8.50pm: Calandogan
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital