WYD 2013: KLM Airlines denies 2 days “Hold-up” discrimination and boasts Philippine tribe stranded in Malaysian Airport arrived Brazil

World Youth Day 2013: Indigenous Filipino Youth Delegate Earlier Denied Boarding by KLM Airlines Due to Alleged Discrimination Finally Arrives in Brazil

Indigenous Philippine Youth Delegate Denied Boarding by KLM Airlines Finally Arrives in Brazil

 

Arjean Marie Belco, the indigenous Philippine woman who was earlier denied by KLM Airlines to board her flight from Malaysia to Brazil, has finally landed in Rio de Janeiro. Goodxorg, the nonprofit group that organized and sponsored Ms Belco's trip in time for the World Youth Day 2013 festivities, believed its scholar was denied her "right to travel" all because she did not fit KLM's idea of a traveler, thus essentially "a case of discrimination."

 

Despite encountering several difficulties in the beginning of her trip, not to mention getting delayed by two days, the Talaandig lass from Bukidnon, Mindanao Island has finally arrived in Pope Francis' home continent.

 

On Saturday, 18-year-old Ms. Arjean Belco left Manila to Kuala Lumpur for the first leg of her first ever international travel. From there, she was to board a connecting flight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, via Amsterdam. At the KLM check-in counter, she was refused boarding.

 

Ms. Belco called Goodxorg, with offices in Manila, long distance to advise her fate at the Kuala Lumpur airport.

 

According to Ms Belco, based from an assessment made by a certain Mr. Shawa, a KLM employee in Malaysia, she was denied entry because she appeared "not ready to travel." It is not clear if the supposed assessment was part of the airline's regular and mandated routine checks over a paid traveler.

 

Even if the BS Education student handed him her folder full of documentation, proving the authenticity of her person and her travel, Mr. Shawa continued to barrage her with questions - "Why is your passport so new?" "Your ticket is too cheap" "Your ticket was just purchased yesterday" "Why flying through Malaysia if there are flights from the Philippines?" and "How much money you have?"

 

Mr. Shawa allegedly continued on to say "that he was doubtful" about her trip, according to Ms Belco.

 

Goodxorg explained in its Facebook page that along with its partner Cartwheel Foundation.org., they pooled donations from all over the world just to be able to send Ms Belco to attend the Catholic event in Brazil in July.

 

And "for the record, before purchasing the ticket we called KLM reservations and reconfirmed that Philippine National don't need a transit visa in the Netherlands (waiting at the boarding area for 5 hours for her next flight) and that Philippine Citizens need no visa for Brazil for up to 90 days," Goodxorg further said.

 

According to the Netherlands Web site, airport transit visas are required under the following conditions:

 

Nationals of the following countries need an airport transit visa to change aircraft at an airport in a Schengen country:

• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Eritrea, Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Iran
• Iraq
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Somalia
• Sri Lanka

Countries whose citizens are required by the Netherlands to possess an airport transit visa when they are in the international transit area of airports in Dutch territory:

• Angola
• Gambia
• Guinea
• Guinea Bissau
• Nepal
• Sierra Leone
• Sudan
• Syria
• South Sudan

 

"Arjean was denied her right to travel. This could also be perceived as a possible case of discrimination based on appearance, gender, ethnicity, nationality, age or social status," Goodxorg said in its post.

 

It is not clear if Goodxorg will pursue formal and legal charges against KLM and Mr. Shawa.

 

KLM denies discriminating vs. World Youth Day delegate from Talaandig tribe

 

The European airline whose staff  barred an 18-year old indigenous Philippine ethnic member from taking a connecting flight to Brazil to attend the World Youth Day (WYD) said it does not discriminate passengers—even if one of its employees reportedly assessed the delegate as being "not ready for travel" despite having all the necessary documents.

 

On its Twitter account, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said it "does not discriminate and accepts passengers with valid travel documents."

 

The company has been repeatedly posting the statement since Wednesday in response to Twitter users if it is part of the company's policy to discriminate against Philippine passengers.

 

KLM has been the subject of criticism on social networking sites after news broke that its staff in Kuala Lumpur International Airport prevented Arjean Marie Belco from boarding her connecting flight to Rio de Janeiro on July 20.

 

Belco, a WYD delegate from Bukidnon's Talaandig tribe, was supposedly told by KLM employees that she was "not ready to travel" even if she passed through Malaysian immigration smoothly and had a folder with full documentation proving her trip to Brazil.

 

Arjean was stranded in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 2 days before GoodXorg, a non-profit group, was able to rebook her flight to Brazil.

 

In a statement on Thursday, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that Belco arrived in Brazil on Tuesday on board KLM Flight No. KL 705.

 

The DFA said that Arjean was met by Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Eva Betita and other members of the Philippine consulate in Brazil upon her arrival at the Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro.

 

With the help of WYD organizers, the Philippine Embassy in Brazil has set up a secretariat in Rio de Janeiro to provide assistance to Pinoy pilgrims attending WYD 2013. Delegates from São Paulo and nearby cities can also seek consular assistance from the embassy for the duration of the program, DFA said.

 

with reports from International Business Times,  &  GMA News

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With 90% of Spratly Islands is within the 200 NME Economic Zones claimed by China; Philippines so daring to used paper to blind the dragon

TED ALJIBE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES -  US and Philippine navy personnel prepare to launch an unmanned aerial vehicle from a boat off the naval base in Sangley point, west of Manila. The six-day exercises were held last month, close to Scarborough Shoal, which China insists it owns.

 

• The Philippines has a military budget 1 / 40th the size of Beijing
• China's military might? It's not scary! The Philippines doesn't view China exclusively as a threat, officials said
• China's most daring adversary in Southeast Asia that uses papers to fight china's military might
• A risky mission to do what no nation in the region has managed to do: thwart China in its drive to control the vast waters around it.
• Notably by holding off on plans to drill in what could be the nation's richest oil and gas field in Reed Bank off Palawan mainland
• Philippines has suspended or canceled several development deals that depended on China's aid
• Del Rosario called on the Philippines to "take a position of patriotism that what is ours is ours." "It is possible that we may be tested," he said, "and if we are tested, it is possible that everyone would need to make a sacrifice."
• President Aquino called every Philippine Nationals to die to defend the land if needed

 

Philippines pushes back against China

 

China's most daring adversary in Southeast Asia is, by many measurements, ill-suited for a fight. The Philippines has a military budget 1 / 40th the size of Beijing's, and its navy cruises through contested waters with 1970s hand-me-downs from the South Vietnamese.

 

From that shorthanded position, the Philippines has set off on a risky mission to do what no nation in the region has managed to do: thwart China in its drive to control the vast waters around it.

 

Analysts say the Philippines's strategy, in standing up to Asia's powerhouse, is just as likely to backfire as succeed. But it provides a crucial test case as smaller countries debate whether to deal with China as a much-needed economic partner, a dangerous maritime aggressor, or both.

 

The Philippines doesn't view China exclusively as a threat, officials here say, noting that trade between the countries is growing. The Philippines has also used caution at times, most notably by holding off on provocative plans to drill in what could be the nation's richest oil and gas field. But analysts point to a series of steps taken in recent months that suggest Manila is increasingly willing to confront Beijing. They also note that the Philippines has suspended or canceled several development deals that depended on generous Chinese aid.

 

Earlier this year, the Philippines filed a case with the United Nations contesting China's maritime claims. More recently, the Philippines has increased its manpower on disputed islands, approved upgrades to decrepit military equipment and discussed plans that would give the United States expanded access to its air and naval bases. Speaking to his armed forces in May, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the nation needed to protect its maritime territory from "bullies."

 

Battles over territory in Asia go back centuries, but China has made an increasingly aggressive play in recent years to recover land that it says fell wrongly into foreign hands. China is locked in a fierce battle with Japan over an uninhabited island chain in the East China Sea. China also has made a case for ownership of nearly the entire South China Sea, marking its territory with a nine-dash line it submitted to the United Nations in 2009.

 

At least four other countries — Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam — are skirmishing over the tiny islands and the waters within that boundary. They covet sovereignty not just as a matter of national pride but also to claim rich fisheries and underwater oil and gas resources.

 

But they have reason to tread cautiously. China is Malaysia's largest trading partner. Brunei depends on China as a market for its fossil fuel exports. Taiwan's president, Ma Ying-jeou, has fostered a major improvement in relations with Beijing.

 

Comparatively, Vietnam has been more willing to anger China. The two nations have a legacy of centuries of animosity, including a brief border war in 1979 and more recent clashes at sea. But the two are also Communist partners, capable of patching up frayed ties.

 

Some Filipinos say their country is more suited than others in the region to play tough with China. The Philippines has deep ties to Washington, stemming from a U.S. colonial period that ended in 1946. China and the Philippines took opposite sides in the wars in Korea and Vietnam, as well as in the Cold War.

 

Political experts here say the Philippines's strategy on China is being mapped out by its foreign affairs secretary, Albert del Rosario, who attended New York University and served as ambassador in Washington. Aquino is said to be fully on board with the policy.

 

Del Rosario last year called on the Philippines to "take a position of patriotism that what is ours is ours."

 

 "It is possible that we may be tested," he said, "and if we are tested, it is possible that everyone would need to make a sacrifice."

 

Collapse of goodwill

 

Just a few years ago, China tried to make friends with the Philippines — and nearly succeeded. The reason it fell short indicates the limits of soft power — namely, aid and investment deals — at a time when the nation has made a priority of expanding its foreign influence.

 

Under the Philippines's previous president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Beijing showered Manila with more than $2 billion in loans. Some of the money was meant for railroad projects. An additional $330 million was designed to fund a broadband network that would connect 25,000 municipal offices. As the money was flowing, the Philippines signed off on what Arroyo called a "diplomatic breakthrough" — a tripartite deal that allowed China and Vietnam to survey contested maritime territory near Philippine shores, with the hope of joint oil and gas development.

 

The goodwill collapsed in short order. The broadband deal was laced with corruption and kickbacks for Philippine officials, as a congressional investigation revealed. The joint surveying deal came under even fiercer attack, as opposition politicians and many prominent Filipinos said Arroyo had violated the constitution — by essentially giving away territory. Although the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) was never described by Arroyo as a quid pro quo for economic cooperation, it was signed in 2005, when relations with Beijing were at their best.

 

 "In my opinion, it was a sellout," said Rommel Banlaoi, chairman of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research. "The terms of the JMSU were so biased. Only areas of the Philippines were allowed for exploration."

 

Arroyo, under domestic pressure, allowed the initial three-year JMSU contract to lapse in 2008. But the collapse of that deal reopened a decades-long debate between the Philippines and China over the rights to seabed hydrocarbons. The Philippines worked out unilateral deals to prospect for oil and gas. And China, in turn, increased its surveillance of the waters, badgering Philippine vessels in places where they had previously gone unbothered.

 

JMSU found out that the "Reed Bank" few kilometers off Palawan main Island hold the vast and mother deposit of oil and natural gas in the area, later then China intensify its claim in Spratly and escalate to the Reed bank which is not part of the contested Spratly islands endangering the country' biggest Malampaya Gas field.

 

None of the standoffs have turned violent, but in March 2011, Manila accused two Chinese coast guard boats of harassing a Philippines-commissioned oil exploration vessel near Reed Bank, a promising drilling site about 80 nautical miles off the coast of Palawan, the Philippines' westernmost major island. The Philippines has since put the project on hold, citing political tensions.

 

That holdup has proven the most costly repercussion of the row with China. The Philippines had been exploring the Reed Bank for nearly four decades and considered it crucial to the energy security of a nation that imports most of its fossil fuels from the Middle East. Philippine officials said the Reed Bank exploration site, an area just smaller than Connecticut, could become the country's largest source of natural gas. A service contract, awarded to a Philippine-British oil consortium, was recently extended by two years, to 2015, with the hope that exploration can resume by then without conflict.

 

 "This site could be earning $1 billion per year for the Philippines," said Ismael Ocampo, assistant director at the Energy Department in Manila. "So, yes, this holdup is costly."

 

A vocal minority in the Philippines says that Aquino should re-embrace China and again pursue joint development. "Right now, nobody's getting rich," said Jose de Venecia, speaker of the House under Arroyo, who helped broker deals with China. "Here, we are getting zero resources. And not only that, but also a lot of stress and problems."

 

Disputed islands

 

Aside from standoffs between vessels at sea, China and the Philippines have only the most furtive maritime contact, as each monitors the activities of the other around the South China Sea/ West Philippine Sea's tiny islands, reefs and sandbars.

 

China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, have spent recent years establishing settlements on these islands on a first-come basis. The Philippines inhabits just nine of the 53 such rocks or islands that it considers its own, citing a U.N. maritime treaty. The Vietnamese have claimed 22, though without eliciting quite the same scorn from the Philippines as China. Meanwhile, China has placed an estimated 1,000 troops on its seven islands. It has turned one tiny reef into a concrete fortress with a windmill and a basketball court.

 

Philippine officials see little chance that the Chinese will withdraw.

 

 "It's like they have already invaded us," said Eugenio Bito-Onon, mayor of the Philippine-claimed islands, which are an official municipality.

 

Carmela Cruz contributed to this report.

 

With Report from Washington Post 

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