DFA: NINOY AQUINO BETRAYED the Philippines- SOLD SABAH to Malaysia for POWER Ambition

Former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.

'Ninoy vowed to drop Sabah claim to get KL support vs Marcos'

 Former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. had promised Malaysia in 1983 that the Philippines would drop its claim over Sabah in exchange for its support in the move to oust strongman Ferdinand Marcos, a former foreign affairs official revealed yesterday.

Hermes Dorado, former national territory division head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said Aquino met with then Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammad Mahathir before he went back to the Philippines and was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983.

Dorado said there were no official records of the supposed meeting between Aquino and Mahathir, but said he "became privy to this bit of intelligence" from former ambassador and retired general Rafael Ileto.

"General Ileto indirectly confirmed that Ninoy Aquino asked for help from Mahathir in exchange for dropping the Sabah claim when he gains power," Dorado told a forum at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.

Dorado said Ileto was the person assigned to monitor Aquino's movement on his journey back to Manila.

"There was a commitment to help oust Marcos," he added. "That is the reason why the government today is somehow reluctant to support the Sabah claim."

"Our hands are tied today because the leadership up to this day is committed to drop the Philippine claim of Sabah," he said.

According to Dorado, the clearest proof of Ninoy's supposed pledge to Malaysia will be found in the 1987 Constitution, which was written during the presidency of his widow Corazon Aquino.

Dorado said the 1987 Constitution amended the first article of the 1973 Constitution and removed the phrase, "and all other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title."

The 1987 Constitution revised the definition of Philippine territory and "deleted Sabah as a historic claim backed up by the legal title pertaining to the sultanate of Sulu," he added.

Dorado said Mrs. Aquino had no choice but to honor Ninoy's commitment to Mahathir because she needed support from ASEAN nations to legitimize her ascendancy to the presidency through the people power revolution.

"Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir adamantly refused to attend the ASEAN Summit in Manila until President Cory made a firm commitment to amend Article 1 of the 1973 Constitution," Dorado pointed out.

"Malaysian hard-ball diplomatic and guerrilla war maneuverings, backed by shrewd use of economic leverage, sourced from huge revenues from oil extracted in Sabah, were completed by 1987," he added.

"They succeeded in forcing the Constitutional Commission to drop the Philippine Sabah claim, hands down."

Dorado said the amended Baselines Law approved in March 2009 resulted in the exclusion of Sabah from the Philippine territory.

He said the amended law removed Section 2 of the 1968 law that included the phrase, "…the territory of Sabah, situated in North Borneo, over which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and sovereignty."

"Removal of the specific reference to Sabah represented a disastrous outcome to the claims of the sultanate of Sulu," Dorado said.

He claimed the results of the supposed "Ninoy-Mahathir pact" have destroyed all peaceful possibilities of pursuing the country's claims.

Proprietary rights

Reacting to Dorado's presentation, Princess Jacel Kiram – daughter of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III – maintained that Filipinos have proprietary rights in Sabah.

"We have so much wealth in Sabah na dapat tayo ang nakikinabang (we should be the ones benefitting)," Jacel said.

She said the lease agreement over North Borneo expired in 1978.

She accused the Aquino administration of protecting the interests of the Malaysian prime minister rather than the interest of the Filipino people.

"I would prefer to be another (nationality) rather than a Filipino citizen under our current set of leaders," she said.

During the forum, Jacel confirmed the meeting between her uncle Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram II and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II.

"This is the first official talk from our side and from the side of the government," she said, declining to provide additional information as she was not privy to what was discussed in the meeting.

Jacel said the development was a "good gesture" on the part of the government, and that its intention was for the benefit of the Filipino people.

Citing latest information from Sabah, Jacel said Agbimuddin Kiram and his people are safe but a lot of Filipinos have become victims of excessive force by Malaysian security forces. – With Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Marvin Sy.

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Philippines cited as Standout - 74% led over all ASEAN countries

Philippines cited as standout

THE PHILIPPINES is poised to be the standout in Southeast Asia yet again, leading the pack in terms of economic growth and investor confidence, Standard Chartered Bank has projected.

In a survey of more than 900 investors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Manila emerged as the frontrunner among other key cities in the region, the British banking giant said in a report yesterday.

"The Philippines was the standout country in terms of the strength of on-the-ground sentiment… We expect the Philippines to see stronger investment growth this year, sustaining the strong momentum from 2012," Standard Chartered said.

Some 74% of investor-respondents in Manila expect to see better business prospects in 2013 compared to the year before, dwarfing scores in Jakarta (46%), Bangkok (44%), Singapore (44%) and Kuala Lumpur (41%).

The survey also found that investors in Manila are most worried about the European, American and Chinese markets this year. No one cited the Philippines as a concern. In comparison, 47% of investors in Kuala Lumpur said their own country worried them, followed by 43% in Singapore, 35% in Jakarta and 19% in Bangkok.

The peso is expected to get stronger, with 86% of investors in Manila saying they expect to see their currency appreciating against the dollar in 2013. Only 67% of investors in Bangkok, 52% in Kuala Lumpur, 50% in Singapore and 35% in Jakarta thought the same.

"We are optimistic that the Philippines will outperform the region and enjoy another year of strong growth momentum in 2013," Standard Chartered said.

It forecast that the country could grow by 5.8% this year and 6.1% next year, beating its 10-year average of 5.2%. The estimates, however, fall below the government targets of 6-7% and 6.5-7.5%, respectively. This follows the banner performance in 2012 when the gross domestic product (GDP) growth hit a stunning 6.6%, beating market expectations and the official goal of 5-6%.

According to Standard Chartered, the economy will likely be driven by domestic consumption yet again. Public and private investment should pick up too but exports could remain weak, acting as a "negative but limited drag on growth."

It also expected further progress in the public-private partnership (PPP) program, after eight projects -- mainly in infrastructure, transport and power -- were rolled out last year and others lined up for launch this year.

PEACE TO PROVIDE LIFT

Another upside to growth is the peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, it added. Citing its studies, the peace deal could add 0.1 percentage point to GDP in its first year of implementation, increasing to 0.3 percentage point by the fifth.

Standard Chartered also expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep policy rates on hold for now, then raise it by as much as 50 basis points by yearend. Rates could then be kept steady at that level next year.

Policy rates -- the benchmark for interest rates -- are at record lows of 3.5% and 5.5% for overnight borrowing and lending, respectively.

The rate hike could be prompted by an increase in the pace of inflation, it said. Higher energy and food prices, robust consumer spending and base effects could combine to push up inflation rate to 3.6% this year and 4% in 2014. These are well within the BSP target of 3-5% but much higher than the forecast full-year averages of 3% and 3.2% for 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The peso should remain strong, the bank said, underpinned by strong economic fundamentals. The local currency could climb to P39 against the dollar this year and P38 the year after.

The peso appreciated by some 6.8% against the greenback in 2012 -- one of the strongest performers in the region -- closing at P41.05 on the last trading day. So far this year, it has traded within the P40-to-a-dollar territory, much stronger than the P42-45 exchange rate assumed by the BSP.

Lastly, Standard Chartered said that reduction of the fiscal deficit is on track, especially with the recent increase in excise taxes on liquor and cigarettes, propelling the Philippines to bag its first ever investment grade credit rating.

The bank anticipates the deficit to fall to 1.8% of GDP in 2013 and 1.6% in 2014 -- against the cap of 2% for both years -- roughly equivalent to P238 billion and P266.2 billion, respectively.

"We expect at least two of the three main credit rating agencies to upgrade the Philippines to investment grade by end-2013…" it said.

"The case for investment grade is supported by a number of factors, including a resilient economy, a current account surplus, stable fiscal policy and the narrowing of the budget deficit."

The Philippines currently stands at one notch below investment grade with the three major credit rating agencies. It has a Ba1 rating with Moody's Investors Service and a BB+ rating with Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's. –

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