Philippines LQ-2011 weaponry upgrade to build traffic monitoring in the West Philippines Sea

Minor and Major arms upgrade of the Philippines as listed; last quarter 2011 – 4 coastal radar stations, Smaller Navy Patrol Vessel, 6 Helicopters and modern military supplies and gadgets. Next semi Major upgrades in the first quarter 2011 – 2 Hamilton Class Navy Warship and be followed with 6 fighter jets trainer depending on the budget.

Written by Denis Somoso for the "All Voices" and "Rebuilding for the Better Philippines".

Minor and Major Defense Weaponry upgrade in the Philippines is on the way!

As announced this 2^nd week of September 2011 by the Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, another minor upgrade for the Philippines Defense weaponry will happen before the end of the year 2011 or within this last quarter of the year.

The ₱ 4.95 Billion pesos ($117 Million US Dollar) of royalties from the Malampaya Gas Field off Palawan would fund the minor military upgrade for the last quarter 2011.

Among the weapon listed for this minor upgrade are:

·        Navy Patrol Vessel

·        6 Helicopters

·        4 Coastal Radar Stations in the Spratlys Islands of the Philippines

·        Various Military assault weapon. ammunitions and supplies

The Philippines will buy helicopters and build 4 radar stations to strengthen its defense of oil and gas assets located near an area of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) also claimed by China.

The Malampaya Gas field that lies 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the coast of the southwestern Philippine island of Palawan, of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) which is also claimed by claimed by China including the Reed Bank nearby fields in the Philippines which supposed to be developed but now are in contested areas of the sea.

The government will fund necessary capability requirements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in its territorial defense operations, including providing a strong security perimeter for the Malampaya Natural Gas and Power Project.

The $4.5 billion Malampaya project, estimated to hold 2.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 65 million barrels of condensate, is operated by Shell Philippine Exploration, Chevron Philippines and state-owned PNOC Exploration Corporation.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims on the sea, which is a key shipping lane and rich fishing waters, and also sits on the 4^th largest oil and gas deposits in the world.

End of July 2011, President Benigno Aquino met the chinese President, Hu Jintao, in Beijing and the two agreed on the need for a binding code of conduct in the sea.

Abad said the fund would allow the air force and navy to purchase six new search-and-rescues and patrol helicopters to guard Malampaya and other oil-and-gas exploration areas in the Reed Bank and Sulu Sea.

In June, the Philippines said it expected to award next year 15 contracts for oil and gas explorations requiring total investments of at least $7.5 billion US Dollars, most of them in the Palawan and Sulu Sea areas

Philippines - Building Traffic Monitoring at Sea

The Philippines Air Force will develop a helicopter base on Palawan province, and the Navy will set up four coastal radar stations to monitor ship traffic and help prevent intrusions into the country's exclusive economic zones, Abad said.

Washington, a long-time ally of the Philippines and wary of China's military build-up, has promised to provide secure communications and surveillance equipment to four coast watch stations that will track surface movements in disputed areas in the sea.

About $10 Million US Dollars had been spent on a Hamilton-class navy frigate acquired from the United States in May 2011, the largest surface vessel in the navy's fleet. Manila may get two more Hamilton-class ships by early 2012.

Department of National Defense will secure the new flashpoint in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) as the area is within the – Philippines territory 200 nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone with a key goal of protecting its largest Natural Gas Project of the Philippines against Chinese invasion.

Other parts of the West Philippine Sea are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, besides the Philippines and China, and the area has for decades been considered one of Asia's potential military flashpoints.

Tensions spiked again this year after the Philippines and Vietnam said that China had become increasingly aggressive in staking its claims to the area, which is believed to hold vast deposits of oil and gas.

The Philippines accused Chinese troops of firing Filipino fishermen in a few kilometer from the Palawan coast, laying buoys and markers in the Philippines' territory and harassing a Philippines oil exploration vessel.

Though President Benigno Aquino and President Hu Jintao committed to solve the dispute peacefully when the Filipino leader visited Beijing last week of July 2011, but the Philippines has also insisted it will not back down against Chinese aggression.

While the new spending announced on Wednesday (September 7, 2011) is miniscule compared with China's military budget, it is significant for the cash-strapped Philippine defense forces and comes on top of other upgrades this year.

The Philippines last July 2011 took delivery of a US coast guard ship to be used to patrol waters within its 200-nautical-mile economic exclusion zone.

Continue reading

Wikileaks - USA Support and Lead the MILF Bangsamoro for Treasure interest in Mindanao

Kristy Kenny and MILF Murad in Mindanao meet.  

Purported secret US Embassy files released by the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks showed that Washington had a direct hand in the ill-fated deal to create a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity in 2008 that critics warned could lead to a dismemberment of the Philippines.

Former Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo said that this “disturbing pattern” of American intervention in the Philippines was apparently triggered by a letter sent by then Moro rebel chief Hashim Salamat to the US President George W. Bush on Jan. 20, 2003.

Salamat’s letter, coursed through then US Ambassador Frank Riccardione in Manila, sought assistance in hammering out an agreement between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the creation of a Moro homeland.

Ocampo said that that US interest was clearly seen from the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which was declared by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in 2008, where the funding for socioeconomic projects in Mindanao would be handed over to the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Memorandum MOA-AD Wikileaked

Ocampo said the Arroyo administration’s peace negotiators apparently were not too keen on the US involvement that they leaked the MOA-AD a few days before it was supposed to be signed in Kuala Lumpur in August 2008 in the presence of then US Ambassador Kristie Kenney.

The chief Philippine negotiator, General Hermogenes Esperon, apparently gave the document to then North Cotabato Governor Manny Piñol because the Arroyo administration felt the United States would be getting too much economic power under the deal, said Ocampo. Piñol later went to the Supreme Court to contest the agreement.

“We are therefore appealing to the basic principle of American fairness and sense of justice to use your good offices in rectifying the error that continues to negate and derogate the Bangsamoro People’s fundamental right to seek decolonization under the United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 1514 (XV) of 1960. For this purpose, we are amenable to inviting and giving you the opportunity to assist in resolving this predicament of the Bangsamoro People,” Salamat wrote to Bush.

Ocampo said that it was no coincidence that two years after Salamat’s plea, the United States held its first official meeting with MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim (as detailed in WikiLeaks 07MANILA3676 cable titled: Muslim Insurgent chairman, Malaysian Facilitator) which was held a year after they met with MILF Vice Chairman for Political Affairs Ghadzali Jafaar (WikiLeaks 06MANILA1747 cable titled: MILF welcomes regular dialogue with US Embassy). Both documents were classified as secret.

US officials have declined comment on the substance or authenticity of the WikiLeaks papers.

Salamat died in 2003 and was replaced by Murad as MILF chief.

Different political and treasure interest in Mindanao

“Hashim Salamat’s letter for George Bush to intervene led initially to the USIP’s (US Institute for Peace) interest in Mindanao and then the US Embassy’s direct intervention a few years later as exposed in the WikiLeaks reports. We knew that the US was getting involved in the peace process and we told them (MILF) to be careful because the US had a different political interest. Nobody had proof then but the WikiLeaks reports confirmed the US hand,” Ocampo said in a phone interview.

First official meeting

Ocampo said Salamat’s letter set the tone for the peace agreement as a way for the United States to rectify its “sins” when it ceded Bangsamoro land in Mindanao to its then Philippine colony.

Based on the 07MANILA3676 cable classified as secret, “the first ever official US government meeting with the leader of the Muslim insurgent organization engaged in peace talks with the government” was held in November 2007 inside Camp Darapanan, near Cotabato City.

Governments’ resistance

In her report, Kenney stated: “Our direct engagement is clearly welcomed by all parties and can help pull the complex peace process toward concrete progress, possibly including step-by-step eradication of terrorists from Mindanao.”

Murad, who was described as “friendly, confident and well-versed” and spoke excellent English, “suggested during the meeting that the US sign a protocol supporting the peace agreement along with other countries because he feared that Congress would not give its approval to the deal without international support,” Kenney said.

The WikiLeaks documents showed persistent questions on the constitutionality of the MOA-AD and resistance from “conservative forces” in the Arroyo Cabinet and Congress.

Kenney reported that the government peace panel secretariat director, Ryan Sullivan [name sounds American but he’s Filipino], reported that the government and the MILF panels were divided on governance (MILF wanted specific terms while the government wanted it kept in general terms), political status (MILF wanted to use freedom in the Bangsamoro which the government objected to), and  natural resources (MILF wanted to  have a firm hand in the exploitation of its petroleum and natural gas reserves).

“The US apparently believes that it can do what it wants with Mindanao’s natural resources by dealing with the MILF in the Bangsamoro rather than with the national government,” Ocampo said. “The US is eyeing with interest the potential of Mindanao for oil and gas.”

Jurisdiction

“Since both parties have different concepts of the meaning of   ‘ownership,’ this term was excluded from the draft territorial agreement. In place of ‘ownership,’ the MILF wants to use the phrase ‘jurisdiction and control,’ while the Cabinet wants to limit the language in the text to the word “control.” The phrase “jurisdiction and control” implies greater authority and a recognized right to control strategic resources within the territorial boundaries of a new Muslim political entity,” Kenney said.

“By limiting the language to the term “control,” Sullivan said the government would grant authority to the new Moro political entity to  develop and exploit strategic resources, though such  authority could be taken away under certain circumstances, such as a national emergency. The MILF is apparently concerned that the government could use a calamity or other event as a pretext to take over strategic resources indefinitely, according to Sullivan.”

Aside from getting the details of the MOA-AD, the US Embassy was also advised about a “two-tier advocacy and public relations campaign to prepare for the congressional action/plebiscite required after a territorial agreement is signed.”

Complex issues

“To ensure that the parties stay focused and push the process forward, Mission officials continue to engage the parties at the most senior levels … making clear that the US  strongly supports a peace agreement that will help bring  prosperity to Mindanao and remove safe havens for terrorists,” the report said.

In her commentary, Kenney said: “The slow, sometimes halting negotiation process reflects the complexity of the issues with which the parties are grappling, as well as the complex politics surrounding them. Our contacts continue to report that government and MILF negotiators are working diligently to craft a territorial agreement that not only meets with Cabinet and MILF approval, but passes constitutional muster.

“We continue to press both sides to come to agreement soon on the significant set of governance, territory, and natural resource issues currently under negotiation. Such an agreement would be a significant milestone and open the field for advocacy and increased attention to security issues in the next stage of negotiations.”

Filipino Mind is under the heart

Even USA or any other country allies could not manipulate the Filipino minds as Filipinos is the most diverse people in the world with races are mixed from Malayan, Indonesian, East Asian, European, Chinese, American and Latin. It’s a Filipino Instinct to be wise and observant. It is also in Filipino culture that the brain is lower than the heart.

The law in the Philippines is already written and law practitioner even sometimes unfair but the love of the country will always persist even in front of tons of diamonds the conscience will always remind that betrayal to the Philippines is the final end of happiness. Who could afford to gain wealth but to lose his citizenship as Filipino and to lose his family?

The history has been written, the whistle blower leaks; now the Philippines must have to know and think who would be his trustworthy friend? How to trust allies, how to put limit, to be a bit reserve and how to use the mind.

No to “Obey first before you complain”.

Continue reading