Canada enticed Filipino Professional & Baby boomers to migrate

Philippines - Power of Population Growth

The Philippines is now one of the fastest growing populations in the world which ranked 12^th among most populous nation. Aquino administration is worrying of the effect of this fastest growth with average rate of 1.36 % or almost 2 million each year.

Human is power and population boomed is a blessing and wealth of a nation according to former US President Clinton visiting the Philippines last November 2010. He said the Philippines is very rich in natural resources so nothing to worry of the Population boom as it is a blessing.

Highly developed countries like Australia, Canada, and South Korea encountered population growth gap and continues declining population while the Philippines is enjoying much with teeming baby boomers.

According to Koreans, blessed are the Philippines for not just rich in natural and mineral resources but also human resources with profuse of baby boomers. If the Philippines will push for the RH Bill to control the population, Canada, Australia and most particularly - South Korea now is encouraging people to get married and produce more baby and get incentives from the government.

There are bad effect of population boom but for the Philippines with fast forward economy and a very rich land in agriculture, rumored 4^th largest oil & gas deposits in the world in Spratlys, and trillions of dollars minerals around the archipelago, worrying of population boom is not a problem but a blessing to the country.

While the Philippines enjoy the fastest population growth, many other countries suffered from declining population and seeking migrant baby boomer to fill out growth gap.

One of their targets is to build a good relationship to the countries like the Philippines and to invite more baby boomers.

Canada envoy lured Filipino baby boomers and Professionals

The Canada envoy offers more opportunities for Filipinos to migrate and better trade and investment relations with the Philippines.

Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Christopher Thornley said Canada was in need of Filipino Professionals, caregivers, nurses, lawyers, trade people and teachers.

With Canada being a country that relies much on migration to sustain their population and provide steady manpower for various industries, Thornley said during an interview at Radisson Blu Hotel Tuesday (September 6, 2011) that there is an increasing demand for Filipino professionals and skilled workers in Canada.

Thornley said the Philippines has overtaken India and China as the largest ethnic group migrating to Canada.

“To date, there are about 500,000 or half a million Filipinos now in Canada, which is the largest among the ethnic groups there now,” he said.

He said last year 2010 majority of the 250,000 slots for immigrants were given to Filipinos.

“We issued more resident visas to Filipinos last year than all the other nationalities,” he said.

“Filipinos are very well educated who can contribute to many of our manpower requirements. Aside from that, you also speak English well, which makes communication better,” Thornley said.

An analyst said, treating special for Filipino immigrants is not just because Filipino are high caliber professionals but also a good baby boomers that could fill up the population growth gap in Canada.

Canadian investors also were looking into opportunities in the Philippines for mining, agriculture, food, technology, outsourcing and insurance and financial services, he added.

“Most of the investors are very keen on the mining industry here in the Philippines and I think we can work together on this,” he said.

Thornley, however, said that there could have been more investment interests in the country had the policy for foreign investors been made to be more encouraging for them.

“The policies are a challenge but I think the current administration is doing something about it. There could be more (investors) if the policies aren’t that difficult for foreign investors,” he said.

But according also to an expert, the Philippines’ law should not be amended giving more favor to foreign investor to own 100% as it could be another threat to the country. Besides, We have many local investors want to have partnership with foreign investors which business could grow without amending the laws.

Other reason also is the Philippines is a good investment destination in the world and suffering investors in the West would be continuously moving and safeguard their investment in Asia which the Philippines is not just an alternative but a priority of abundant of human resources and also raw materials if investing in a manufacturing sector.

Thornley said,  the government of Canada had gained renewed confidence in the Philippines especially with the current administration’s thrust to eradicate corruption.

“Corruption inhibits investments and trading. The present government’s anti-corruption stand has actually renewed our confidence for the country.”

Other industries that Thornley said that we can partner with Canada includes tourism specifically in leisure and medical tourism.

“Again the Filipinos speak English well and Canadians feel more comfortable traveling to places where people understand and can communicate with them,” he said.

Thornley cited the need to establish more flights to Canada.

“One thing we love about the Philippines is the warm weather. Canadians love to escape the cold winters,” He added.

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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.

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