US strikes ‘obliterated' Iran's nuclear ambitions, Pentagon chief says
WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that US military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities were an incredible and overwhelming success that have obliterated Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The US strikes included 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft, in an operation the top US general, General Dan Caine, said was named "Operation Midnight."
The operation pushes the Middle East to the brink of a major new conflagration in a region already aflame for more than 20 months with wars in Gaza and Lebanon and a toppled dictator in Syria.
"Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated," Hegseth told reporters in a briefing, adding that said the strikes did not target Iranian troops or people.
"The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back. When this president speaks, the world should listen," Hegseth said. — Reuters
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GMA Network
8 hours ago
- GMA Network
Concessions in trade deal with US won't result in 'significant damage to local industries'
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. meets with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2025. REUTERS/ Kent Nishimura The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI), an umbrella organization of 48 various agriculture industry groups, on Friday welcomed the government's move not to give zero duties for American agri-fisheries entering the country following the recent tariff negotiations between President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and United States President Donald Trump. 'We commend the government's trade negotiators for protecting critical local agriculture industries in the negotiations,' PCAFI said in a statement. 'Secretary [Frederick] Go clearly stated that vital agricultural industries like sugar, corn, rice, chicken, pork, and seafood were not part of the concessions, thus keeping their current protection in the form of tariffs and other measures,' the agribusiness group said. Go, Marcos' special assistant for investment and economic affairs, announced that the Philippines did not include key agricultural commodities in the concessions it gave out when it negotiated to lower the reciprocal tariff for the country's exports to the US. Early morning on Wednesday (Philippine time), Trump announced a new 19% tariff rate for Philippine goods entering America. This is lower than the 20% announced in a letter earlier this month but higher than the 17% rate announced last April on what the US president referred to as Liberation Day. Trump initially said the Philippines was going "open market" with the US with zero tariffs, while the Philippines would pay a 19% tariff. Marcos, however, has since clarified that the zero tariffs on US products would only apply to certain markets, such as automobiles. The President also committed to increasing imports of soy, wheat, and pharmaceuticals from the US. 'The two clear concessions that the Philippines made—wheat and soy products—will not result in significant damage to local industries but may even yield positive results in the form of cheaper animal feed products,' PCAFI said. 'It is also worthy to note that these two products are not produced locally and are already among the top agricultural imports of the country from the United States,' it added. The agribusiness group said it hopes the government will continue to protect the interests of local farmers and fisherfolk 'who remain as the lifeblood of our country's food security.' 'We will remain vigilant in the ongoing bilateral negotiations since the final trade deal has yet to be finalized,' it said. On the reduction of the tariff rate the US will charge on goods from the Philippines from 20% to 19%, PCAFI said it is still a 'positive development' but expressed 'hope that the US tariffs can be reduced further for the benefit of our agricultural exporters.' 'The silver lining of the recent developments is the fact that the Philippines has the second-lowest tariff rate among Southeast Asian countries, giving us a tariff advantage against neighboring countries that produce and export almost the same agricultural products as ours,' the group said. 'They were able to lower the tariff rate at minimal costs to the country compared to other countries like Vietnam and Indonesia that had to sacrifice a lot, as what Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go mentioned,' it added. —VBL, GMA Integrated News


GMA Network
16 hours ago
- GMA Network
Cerberus eyes P15-B new investments in PH
Cerberus' investment announcement came following the meeting between President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Jr. and US President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. early this week. American alternative investment firm Cerberus Capital Management is investing an additional P15 billion ($250 million) for new projects in the Philippines over the next 12 months. Cerberus' investment announcement came following the meeting between President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Jr. and US President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. early this week. The investment firm said its planned investments in the Philippines include further upgrades to the Agila Subic Shipyard, as well as new projects in logistics, energy, and transport infrastructure. 'We're encouraged by the progress we've seen and by the strong support from the Philippine government,' said Cerberus Managing Director Alexander Benard. 'We believe the Philippines holds significant long-term potential as a regional hub for industrial and logistics activity. We look forward to building on this momentum and supporting the development of our key strategic assets in the Philippines,' said Bernard. Cerburus recalled that in 2022 it made a landmark investment in the Philippines by acquiring and revitalizing the former Hanjin Shipyard in Subic Bay — now known as the Agila Subic Shipyard. The investment firm acquired the Hanjin Shipyard for $300 million. The shipyard now hosts major tenants including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries — the world's largest shipbuilder — SubCom, a global leader in subsea cable systems, V2X, a publicly listed logistics firm, and the Philippine Navy, which operates a portion of the facility. Cerberus said that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, originally slated to begin shipbuilding operations in January 2026, is now set to commence ahead of schedule, with a steel-cutting ceremony planned for the last quarter of 2025. Beyond Subic, the company said it is pursuing additional investments in critical infrastructure and logistics projects across the country. — BAP, GMA Integrated News

GMA Network
2 days ago
- GMA Network
No zero tariff for US agri products after Trump-Marcos meet — Go
US President Donald Trump welcomes President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., at the White House in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2025. REUTERS/ Kent Nishimura Agricultural products, which are considered "sensitive" commodities for the Philippines' agri-fisheries sector, are not included in the zero tariff scheme for American exports entering the country following the recently concluded tariff talks between President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and United States President Donald Trump. "Rice, sugar, corn, fisheries, pork, chicken – hindi po natin tinanggal ang taripa ng mga iyan (we did not remove the tariffs for those)," Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs of the Philippines Frederick Go said at a Palace briefing on Thursday. "[These] are not included in the concessions that we gave out," he said. Early morning on Wednesday (Philippine time), Trump announced a new 19% tariff rate for Philippine goods entering America. This is lower than the 20% announced in a letter earlier this month, but higher than the 17% rate announced last April on what the US president referred to as Liberation Day. The US chief executive initially said the Philippines is going "open market" with the United States with zero tariffs, while the Philippines would pay a 19% tariff. Marcos, however, has since clarified that the zero tariffs on US products would only apply to certain markets such as automobiles. The President also committed to increase imports of soy, wheat, and pharmaceuticals from the US. Go said the Philippine government considered the type of goods, which the country is a "significant market producer," in the concessions it granted to negotiate a reduction on Trump's reciprocal tariff from 20% to 19% slapped on Philippine exports. "Talagang binusisi po namin iyan, ng DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), ano iyong mga produktong kailangan nating protektahan, ano iyong mga farmers natin na kailangan nating protektahan; at prinotektahan natin lahat po iyan," the special assistant to the President said. (Together with the DTI, we really studied carefully which products should be protected… what do our farmers need to protect. We made sure to protect those.) Automobiles, soy, wheat, pharmaceuticals On agreeing for zero tariff for American automobiles entering the country, Go said the Philippines is not a major producer of cars "so, by opening the automotive or car sector to the US, wala po tayong sinaktan dito sa atin (so, by opening the automotive or car sector to the US, we are not hurting the local industry)." With regard to concessions for pharmaceuticals, the investment czar said the main consideration of the government was to lower the price of medicines locally. "Kapag tariff-free po ang gamot, makakababa po iyan ng presyo ng gamot sa ating bansa (If the medicines are tariff-free, it will help in lower its price in our country)," Go said. For soy and wheat, Go said the Philippines only produces the commodities at a "very little quantity." "Iyong mga pinapapasok natin na walang taripa, ang purpose po noon ay ibaba ang presyo ng bilihin sa Pilipinas (Those that enter the country without tariff, the purpose of that is to lower the prices of goods in the Philippines)," he said. Talks not yet over Go also clarified that trade negotiations between the US and the Philippines are not yet over. He echoed Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez's announcement that bilateral talks will take place in Manila "in the next couple of days" to finalize a trade deal between the two nations. "Our technical working groups will continue to work with their counterparts from America to finalize the details of this arrangement," Go said. — VDV, GMA Integrated News