World’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the Mindanao Island claimed 25 dead

Mindanao Island– A landslide buried small miners' bang-houses in a mining area on a southern Philippine island, killing at least 25 people and leaving dozens missing, local disaster and security officials said yesterday.

The incident, the second one in Pantukan town in almost nine months, took place near the Kingking area on the southern island of Mindanao, said to be one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits.

Government officials said there had been cracks in the mountains, caused by earlier landslides, and recent rains could have loosened soil. Last month, Typhoon Washi and the flash floods it caused on Mindanao Island killed more than 1,200 people.

The latest landslide hit before dawn, burying people under soil and boulder, said Lieut-Col Leopoldo Galon, an army spokesman. He added 16 people were pulled out from under rubble and taken to a nearby hospital. Still, about 100 people remained unaccounted for, security and local officials said.

"There was no rain but we were awakened by rocks falling in to the roofs of our house," Saul Pinggoy, a small-scale miner, told radio station dzMM. "It was dark but we decided to move to safer grounds. Hours later, we saw tonnes of soil burying dozens of houses," he said, adding that residents were using shovels and their bare hands to look for missing relatives and friends under debris.

The government's mines bureau has listed the copper-gold and gold mining operations in Kingking as one of its priority investment projects.

But the Philippines last year banned small-scale mining in the area due to safety hazards.

Mr Pinggoy said they had been warned by the government to relocate to safer areas, but many people had continued small-scale mining operations, often illegal and unregulated.

Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster agency, said soldiers were sent to help the rescue and recovery operations while army helicopters airlifted injured miners to hospitals.

In April 2011, about 20 people were killed in the same town of Pantukan in rain-induced mudslides. – (hikot)

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SOUTH CHINA SEA TURMOIL \'Cold War\' heats-up as Obama declares to assert against China

By: SYYED MANSOOR AGHA

In the light of US President Barack Obama's bid to assert against China, SYYED MANSOOR AGHA observes that China's present attitude towards its small neighbors is bound to give excuse to external forces to meddle in the region.

President Barack Obama has set a course for confrontation with Beijing when he declared his intentions to send military aircraft and up to 2,500 Marines to "protect American interests" and to expand U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region. He declared in the Australian Parliament in Canberra on Thursday (Nov 17), "The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay," and "to deter threats to peace" in that part of the world.

Obama's declaration surprised many as the U.S. is facing economic slowdown forced to wind up its war in Afghanistan and Iraq. In an unmistakable message to China he said, "Let there be no doubt: In the Asia Pacific in the 21st century, the United States of America is all in."

Certainly, China has invited U.S. ire by threatening its small neighboring countries. China even threatened Indian navy ships in South China International waters.

For Obama, Asia represents both a security challenge and an economic opportunity. The region is a conduit for more than one-third of the world's seaborne trade and half its traffic in oil and gas, and major petroleum deposits are believed to lie below the seabed. The West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) region also matters importance because here the competing interests of the US and China overlap in Asia.

China reacted sharply to the U.S. assertion as Premier Wen Jiabao on Nov 18, warned against interference by "external forces" in the region. Beijing sees the initiatives as intruding into its own sphere of influence. "The dispute on the South China Sea is a matter that has been going on for years. It should be resolved by the relevant sovereign states through friendly consultation and discussion directly," Wen said in his address in ASEAN summit.

"External forces should not use any excuses to interfere," he added. "China will never seek hegemony and we are against any hegemonic behavior."

 THE DISPUTE

Real cause of fissures in the region is China's claim over the strategic sea extending for more than 1,000km (621 miles) off its southern coast and reaching into what Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei see as their own waters. Beijing says it does want a peaceful solution but continues hard postures. Vietnam and the Philippines say Chinese ships have stepped up harassment of vessels involved in oil exploration and fishing.

China's increasingly assertive behavior over its claimed huge U-shaped maritime area has alarmed its neighbors. They are keen to negotiate with China as a bloc – but China prefers to tackle the issue through bilateral negotiations, and it does not want the US involved at all.

 ON INDIAN INTERESTS

The dispute has also bearing on Indian interest as most of their trades to American Continents are routed through this sea. Beijing also raised objections over oil exploration in two Vietnamese blocks by India's ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL). These blocks are well in maritime limits of Vietnam. In another incident, an Indian Navy warship was also warned by an unknown source over radio transmission set to move out of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).

Recently speaking in a seminar in New Delhi, Navy chief of India Admiral Nirmal Verma mentioned, "We are seeing edginess in relations between countries of this region. The potential for conflict in West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) and instability in Korean Peninsula have heightened awareness of analysts to region's shortcomings in terms of institutional arrangements to resolve potential crises. The South China Sea is an area of significant concern."

"Developments in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) and the outcomes will have major implications not only for countries in the region but for the world at large, as many nations have considerable economic interests in the region," he said.

 WHAT IRKED AMERICA

Immediate cause of U.S. reflex is obviously rooted in Chinese warning to an American oil company ExxonMobil. The company discovered hydrocarbons in August in a well drilled off the coast of central Vietnam under a license from the Vietnamese government to explore offshore blocks 117, 118 and 119; an area within Vietnam's 200-mile exclusive economic zone under international maritime law.

"Any foreign company shall not engage in oil and gas activities in waters under Chinese jurisdiction. This position is clear and consistent," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei warned on Oct 31.

It is estimated that the South China Sea may hold 213 billion barrels of oil (80 per cent of Saudi Arabia's reserves) and 2 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas. That's more than five times the 350.8 trillion cubic feet of gas held in North America as cited in 2008 by the U.S. Energy Information Agency. China, the world's second-largest economy, claims "indisputable sovereignty" over most of the these reserves, including blocks off Vietnam that Exxon Mobil Corp. and Russia's Gazprom OAO and ONGC of India are exploring. How can America let this black gold go inclusively in the hands of its biggest rival?

INDIAN STAND

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed the issue with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday (Nov 18), on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Bali and asserted India's right to explore oil in the South China Sea, which China claims as its exclusive domain. "This matter [South China Sea] did come up in the context of East Asia Summit (EAS) and the PM observed that the issues of sovereignty must be resolved according to international law and practice. And he also mentioned that exploration of oil and gas in South China Sea is purely a commercial activity," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokespersons told reporters.

During their 55 minutes long meeting, Premier Wen Jiabao said he valued the role India displayed in EAS, the MEA said. Wen reportedly said, "India and China must work hand-in-hand to ensure that the 21st century belongs to Asia (and not to Europe and U.S.A.)." Singh told Wen that the two must work together and cooperate with each other as the two biggest economies of Asia.

In the backdrop of heightened tensions by Obama's assertion, India and China maintained that there was enough space for both to flourish. During their exchange of views on important issues, Wen reminded Dr. Singh of his comment that there was enough space for the two countries to grow. To that he added that there "were enough areas in the world where China and India can enhance cooperation".

"It is important for our two countries, the most populous in the world, to achieve modernization and work hand in hand," the Chinese leader said, adding that he was "fully confident that that kind of world will arrive."

It seems that India has resolved the issue with China during the meeting as in New Delhi, it was officially stated that ONGC Videsh Ltd. will continue its activity in the region.

INDIA'S LOOK EAST POLICY

After neglecting the East Asia region for a long time, India has now awakened and started pursuing it "Look East" Policy vigorously. Prime Minister Singh's presence in Bali summit underlines rediscovered importance of the region. U.S. intervention is detrimental for both emerging economic powers of Asia – India and China. That is why both have agreed to work together in the region.

Before this Summit, "India hosted the leaders of Myanmar and Vietnam in early October, underscoring the seriousness with which it is pursuing its Look East policy as it forges close economic and security ties with the two to counter China's penetration. India's policy was explicitly designed to initiate New Delhi's re-engagement with East Asia. This is a time of great turmoil in the Asian strategic landscape and India is trying to make itself relevant to the region's members, observed The Japan Times in a detailed commentary.

"With its political and economic rise, Beijing has started dictating to its neighbors creating tensions. The U S and its allies are re-assessing their regional strategies to counterbalance China's growing power. It is in this broader context that the recent visits by Myanmar and Vietnam's presidents to India assume significance," the Japan Times further said.

RESOLUTION OF DISPUTE

Leaders of Communist Parties of Vietnam and China are engaged in solving this dispute. Two countries also signed a six-point agreement on basic principles to settle maritime issues last month after bilateral talks in Beijing. However, "China is becoming much more confident in the region and there are signs it is becoming giddy with success. It has become much more influential, much more quickly than it expected," says Dr Kerry Brown of the Asia Program at Chatham House in London.

Vietnam and the Philippines in recent months have seen the snarl of a resurgent regional power that is fast losing patience with the gripes of smaller neighbors over maritime borders.

"If these countries do not want to change their ways with China, they will need to prepare for the sound of cannons. It may be the only way for the dispute in the sea to be resolved," said the state run newspaper, the Global Times, in a recent editorial.

"The growth of Chinese military spending is beginning to translate it into hard power," says John Hemmings, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute.

Only magnanimity will help China to infuse confidence in small neighboring countries. Its present attitude is bound to give excuse to external forces to meddle in the region.

[The writer is Gen.Sec, Forum for Civil Rights, email: syyedagha@hotmail.com]

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South Korea Beefs Up Steps to Fight Chinese Illegal Fishing in the Sea

South Korea on Monday (December 26, 2011) said it will bolster efforts to counter illegal Chinese fishing in its waters, including issuing more firearms to coast guard officers and raising penalties against offenders.

The move comes after a South Korean coast guard officer died when he was stabbed by a Chinese fishing-boat captain earlier this month.

Seoul has been under domestic pressure to make a robust response to the incident, which came amid a rise in fishing by Chinese boats in South Korean territorial waters this year. Chinese fishing crews, seeking richer catches outside their regular fishing grounds, have become a flash point in broader territorial tensions involving China and its neighbors.

As well as clashing with countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam over sovereignty in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) in resource-related disputes, China was drawn into a diplomatic spat with Japan when a Chinese fishing boat and a Japanese coast-guard vessel collided in the East China Sea last year.

The Korean government says between 2,000 and 3,000 Chinese fishing boats operate illegally in Korean territory each day during peak season. Between January and November this year, 497 ships were caught, compared with 370 last year. A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said he couldn't immediately comment late Monday.

Korean coast guard officers cite increasingly aggressive behavior by Chinese fishermen trying to avoid arrest. Officers boarding Chinese ships have been attacked with metal pipes and knives, according to the coast guard, while Chinese boats have also been spotted banding together to thwart local authorities. In the past 10 years, 53 Korean officers have been injured while seizing Chinese ships. One officer was killed in 2008.

In its latest response, South Korea said it will start placing ex-special forces personnel into coast guard teams responsible for apprehending fishing boats, improve the coast guard's body armor and increase the number of patrol ships. The fishing equipment of repeat offenders also will be confiscated.

Officers will be allowed to use their firearms when their lives are endangered or there is no other way to subdue the perpetrators, said Yim Jong-yong, head of the South Korean prime minister's office.

Mr. Yim said Seoul will step up diplomatic efforts to get Beijing to cooperate in reining in the illegal fishing activities. Following the incident on Dec. 12 when the coast guard officer was stabbed by a Chinese fisherman, Beijing initially called for Seoul to protect the rights of the fishermen. It subsequently said it would work to educate its fishermen.

The Chinese captain involved in the Dec. 12 incident is currently in the custody of Korean prosecutors.

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Top 17 overjoyed Photos for New year 2012 Celebration

December 31, 2011 – January 1 2012 the break of the year was welcome by a fabulous fireworks and other traditional and cultural celebration around the World.

17 Photos disclosed as the most ecstatic celebration from around the globe that includes top photos from the Philippines, Germany, Russia, London, Macedonia, Austria, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Afghanistan Lithuania, and Ireland as posted on ninemsn.com.au  Australia.

See other photos in hikot album

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Filipinos watch a fireworks and water fountain display at Manila's Rizal Park, Philippines

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Fireworks exploded from the iconic Big Ben in London, UK

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Confetti drops as a Filipino blows his paper horn in Manila, Philippines

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Fireworks go off over the monument of the Aleksandar the Great in  Skopje, Macedonia

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Fireworks light the sky above the Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Isla Stanton, 5, writes with a sparkler in Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Jessica Ong from Singapore starts her new year celebrations early, Singapore

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- New Year 2012 - Worrld Top Photos-  A soldier with the NATO-led forces gets into the spirit in Kabul, Afghanistan

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Partygoers outside the Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Revellers share a New Year's kiss in Berlin, Germany

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Taipei 101, the world's second-tallest building, ushering in the new year, Taiwan

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- The Giant Ferris wheel at the Prater is illuminated as fireworks go off in Vienna, Austria

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- The London Eye was at the centre of a blaze of pyrotechnics , United Kingdom

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- The Quadriga at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin shortly after midnight, Germany

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Thousands of locals gather to see the fireworks display at the Red Square, Moscow, Russia

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos- Visitors are  showered with confetti as they celebrate a light show in China

New Year 2012 - World Top Photos-Beijing's Temple of Heaven is lit up with special light displays, China

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Philippines Stock Exchange hits record high in 2011 rising by 13.6% in 2012

MANILA, Philippines - Capital raised in the equities market reached a record high this year, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said Thursday (December 29, 2011.

In a statement, the PSE said a total of ₱107.50 billion was raised from initial public, follow-on and stock rights offerings as well as private placements in the stock market.

Aside from being the highest generated in a single year, the amount was up 26.6% from what was raised in 2007, the previous record year.

Meanwhile, the main PSE index ended the year on a positive note, edging up 0.8% to close at 4,371.96 points on Dec. 29, the last day of trading. The PSEi was higher by 4.1% from last year's close of 4,201.14 points.

"We are glad to report that despite the uncertainties in the global market that hounded us throughout the year, your local stock market has closed 2011 with yet another set of significant milestones," PSE President & CEO Hans Sicat said.

Five companies debuted in the market in 2011, namely, Megawide Construction Corporation, Puregold Price Club Inc., Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corporation, Calapan Ventures Inc. and Touch Solutions Inc. They raised a total of ₱9.04 billion from the market.  Meanwhile, capital proceeds from private placement, stock rights offerings and follow-on offerings amounted to ₱42.85 billion, ₱40.61 billion and ₱15 billion, respectively.

Total value turnover for 2011 reached ₱1.42 trillion, 17.8% higher than the ₱1.21 billion registered in 2010. The PSE extended its trading hours to 1 p.m. in October this year as part of its efforts to increase liquidity in the market.  On January 2, 2012, trading hours will be further extended up to 3:30 p.m.

The combined market capitalization of listed issues in the PSE at year-end was ₱8.7 trillion.

Preliminary figures also show that foreign investors went into net buying territory in 2011 in the amount of ₱56.52 billion, higher than the net buying figure of ₱35.62 billion in 2009.

In terms of sectoral indices, the mining and oil index emerged as the best performer in 2011, surging 68.5%. This was followed by the holding firms' index, which grew 3.4%.

PSEi seen rising by 13.6% in 2012

Investment group CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets sees the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index surging by about 13.6 percent to end at 4,900 next year.

This was based on expectations that corporate earnings will be aided by resilient domestic consumption, increased government spending and monetary easing.

In a research dated Dec. 9 titled "Looking Good in 2012," which was written by head of research Alfred Dy, CLSA added Robinsons Land Corp. to its list of favored stocks. Other companies in its "conviction picks" are SM Investments, Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific, Cebu Pacific, and Philippine National Bank.

"In spite of a tough global macro backdrop which is expected to continue in 2012, we remain positive on the Philippines. For one, the Philippines is one of the few countries around which has a relatively low export-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio of 25 percent, suggesting that the fortunes of the economy is not really that linked to what is happening in Europe and the United States," Dy said.

Dy said domestic consumption should continue to do well given favorable demographics and $3.245 billion in recurring cash inflows from overseas Filipino remittance, business process outsourcing and tourism.

The government, which has been widely criticized for the fiscal contraction in 2011, should have a better year next year in terms of infrastructure spending, privatization and monetary easing, he said.

"Sectors to watch out for are consumer, banking, infrastructure, construction, and gaming," Dy said.

More PPP projects

Dy expects a couple of public-private partnership contracts to be awarded. Aside from the ₱2-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway, he expects the awarding of the ₱17-billion Connector Road (between North and South Luzon Expressway and the Department of Education's project involving the construction of 10,000 classrooms in regions I, III and IV-A.

"Like the power privatization program in recent years, a couple of awarded contracts could snowball to more contracts in the coming years," he said.

Dy said there would likewise be a couple of property deals given renewed corporate interest in assets like the Food Terminal Inc., Cebu Airport and parcels of land in Fort Bonifacio. "Of course, increased government spending and successful PPP launch should be positive for the construction sector," he said.

Stock picks

RLC was added to CLSA's "conviction picks" given its significant presence in shopping malls, hotels, office, and residential development.

"Among the property companies in our coverage, RLC has the biggest recurring revenue base at 72 percent followed by Filinvest Land at far second at 26 percent. In terms of earnings, RLC also has the biggest recurring earnings base at 80 percent which is followed by Ayala Land at 35 percent," Dy said.

The key drivers seen for RLC's earnings in 2012 were office rentals and hotels which were expected to grow in the mid-teens followed by residential development expected to grow by 10 percent.

Upbeat on RLC

"Given its presence in the shopping mall and hotel industry, RLC is also one of the best ways to play the country's emerging tourism sector where tourist arrivals are expected to double from 3.5 million tourist in 2010 to 7 million tourists by 2017," noting that the property company's stock valuation was likewise very "compelling."

On the banking side, CLSA expects the sector to remain "buoyant" but sees loan growth moderating at 12-14 percent compared with the growth over 20 percent in 2011.  "Unlike in 2011 where we saw net interest margins (NIMs) contracting by 50bps, we expect NIMs to stabilize in 2012," Dy said.

Apart from the Philippine National Bank-Allied Bank merger finally happening by the second half of 2012, CLSA believes that Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is the best positioned among the big three banks in the Philippines to do a major acquisition given its relatively high tier one and capital adequacy ratios. CLSA also noted that Banco De Oro had intimated that it was open to do "bite-size" acquisitions that could add 50 to 100 branches to its existing 750 branch network.

Outside of the banking and property sectors, we expect some M&A (merger and acquisition) action in the ports and mining sectors. For ports, we understand that ICTSI continues to be on the prowl for new ports in the Mediterranean and Africa. In mining, we understand that Philex is open to do some acquisitions," Dy said.

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Philippines lift workers’ Lebanon deployment ban for OFW workers

The Philippines Overseas Employment Administration says it is ready to lift a deployment ban to Lebanon adopted in 2006 when Manila signs a bilateral agreement with Beirut in January but has warned its citizens against travelling to Syria, the Inquirer Global Nation reported Thursday.

The news website quoted Carlos Cao Jr., chief of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), as saying that the ban on household service workers to Lebanon would be lifted when Beirut guarantees the rights of overseas Filipino workers.

"It is a labor cooperation agreement and the final draft is already finished. The signing will be done in Lebanon," Cao told the English-language website.

In 2006, Manila imposed a ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Lebanon over concerns of poor working conditions and reports of abuse against workers, who, according to many rights groups, enjoy little legal protection in the country.

Despite the ban on workers, many Filipinos have reportedly still managed to work in Lebanon by traveling to multiple countries before reaching their destination.

The website also said that reports revealed some Filipino domestic workers in Lebanon and Jordan were treated like "slaves" and were denied their basic rights.

Recent studies estimate that around 40,000 Filipinos work in Lebanon.

The report also said that the country was working on a bilateral agreement with Jordan in a bid to lift the deployment ban in that Arab country.

Under Philippines law, workers are only allowed to be deployed to countries where their rights are ensured and protected by law, something that Lebanon does not yet provide.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has warned its citizens against traveling to Syria and the Philippine Embassy in Damascus is arranging the repatriation of 143 domestic workers.

"Before the end of the year, more than 60 Filipinos in Syria were scheduled to be repatriated to the Philippines. The Philippine Embassy in Damascus is also arranging the repatriation of another 143 OFWs [Oversees Filipino Workers] from that country," Raul Hernandez, a spokesperson at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

He also said that the department had been able to repatriate close to 400 of its citizens so far, adding that the government had begun the repatriation process since April.

Syria has witnessed escalating violence since mid-March, when anti-government protests were being met with a deadly crackdown by security forces. The United Nations has estimated that around 5,000 people have been killed since the uprising began.

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Rapes: BPO in Cebu’s growth 20% of 50,000 workforces annually

By Katlene O. Cacho

The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry will continue to propel Cebu's economy as the province's major economic driver, industry leaders said. The BPO sector is also poised to grow even bigger in the coming years, they said.

"In 2011, BPO companies accounted for 40 percent of positions posted in a jobs listing website. The expansion of BPO operations led to the rise in the demand for office spaces. This year, the region saw property developers putting additional investments in the leasing business," said Cebu Property Ventures Development Corp. (CPVDC) president Francis Monera.

The industry recorded a 20 percent annual growth rate.

CPVDC is the developer of Cebu IT Park. It currently has eight building under construction.

Workforce

Monera said BPO companies are continually drawn to Cebu City with its workforce and healthy fiscal environment. He said Cebu is supported by nine large universities that turn out many workers for IT and BPO companies.

"The BPO industry in Cebu is fast-growing because IT/BPO companies in the US have found a viable destination in Asia where they can relocate after the 2008 global economic crash. The industry will continue to offer a lot of opportunities and will become Cebu's main driver of economic growth," said Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) chairman for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Jerry Rapes.

This year, global outsourcing firm Aegis People Support unveiled its own Aegis Tower Cebu at the Cebu IT Park. The company said their decision to build in Cebu is a sign of their "commitment to and confidence in the country's booming BPO industry and Cebu's workforce."

Monera said they are anticipating an increase of 20 percent in the current 50,000 workforce with the completion of buildings within Cebu Park District.

CPVDC is looking at an estimated 11,000 additional seats with eBlock 2, Skyrise 4 and the Aegis Tower Cebu.

Stream Global, a major outsourcing company, was reported to be hiring between 60 and 70 employees weekly. Convergys, on the other hand, is also expanding with its new office in Cebu, according to Monera.

Some of the firms that expanded in Cebu this year include HP, Fluor Daniels, Dell, Convergys and JP Morgan & Chase.

Non-voice services

"Wide-spread employment is a by-product of these developments with a 35 percent increase in working population for both parks – majority in the BPO industry. (It strengthens) our bid of making Cebu the BPO capital in the Philippines next to Metro Manila," Monera said.

Rapes, meanwhile, said Cebu is not only well-positioned for voice services but also for Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), information technology outsourcing and non-voice services.

He said it is just a matter of preparing Cebu "to get to a higher level," particularly in terms of supplying the industry with skilled, competent and highly qualified workforce.

"There is not always enough people," said Rapes, the president of information technology outsourcing (ITO) company Exist Global.

He said companies now move out from major call center hubs like Metro Manila and open offices in "next wave cities."

Monera, who sits as the chairman of the board for Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (Cedf-it) said the private sector, academe and local government have collaborated to improve the skills of potential workers for increased manpower pool via proficiency/certification, retraining and jobs-skills matching programs. The stakeholders are also intensifying programs that support infrastructure and tourism service to strengthen the investment climate in Cebu.

Scalability

Monera emphasized the need for talent scalability, not only in terms of available quantity of the workforce but also in training to match the skills required by companies.

Cedf-it announced last October it will get part of the P500-million stimulus fund committed by the Aquino government to facilitate "near-hire" training programs of IT-BPO companies. It said about P5 million worth of scholarships from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) will be used to conduct "near-hire" trainings for 1,000 prospective IT-BPO employees here.

Monera also cited Cebu's "big opportunity" in higher level services or KPO. He said although, manpower requirement for this category may not be as high as voice-related jobs, these are high-value services that mean higher average compensation for the Filipino talent.

While there is continued growth ahead in the BPO industry, Rapes said "being complacent" may threaten BPOs' rosy outlook for 2012.

"We need to create more people for the industry rather than compete with each other. We need to produce more skilled workforce for a bigger ecosystem," he said.

Rapes also announced that the outsourcing industry will soon start the second phase of the Cebu IT/BPO roadmap so it could further maximize the potential of IT/BPO services.

What to do

He said the study will "drill down what Cebu needs to get to higher level."

"We have to know where we are going and what to do next now that we know we have the capabilities to do more KPO," Rapes said.

He said that while waiting for the second phase of the study, entrepreneurs should start looking at opportunities in offering KPO services.

He said India has higher revenues than the Philippines because they do difficult services. "But if the Philippines will capitalize on its KPO potential and do its homework, the IT/BPO revenues will grow eventually," Rapes said.

The Business Process Association of the Philippines targets to grow the industry by $25 billion in revenues in 2016 and increase IT/BPO employment to more than one million.

A bill seeking to create a Department of ICT was also filed as a support to the growing industry.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on December 30, 2011.

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Philippines warship arrive advanced Palawan islands where China eyed to drill in January 2012

The Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15), the newest and most modern frigate of the Philippine Navy, arrived in Palawan islands in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) to provide a much needed boost in the maritime defense capabilities in the area.

Philippines' lone modern frigate would face a heavy challenged as china announced to start drilling around Palawan islands beginning January 2012.

In the map disclosed for china's new drilling prospected area remains a thrill as it is showing the area of Mischief reef under the Philippines' territory of 130 Miles from the Mainland Palawan but never mentioned the exact location.

Mischief Reef is under the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines according to the UNCLOS 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone.

China has claimed the islands under the Province of Palawan as their territory "We Owned everything" China quoted in previous comments.

In a local radio interview, Captain Alfred Cruz, Commanding Officer of PF-15, said the ship will conduct maritime security and sovereignty patrols to beef up protection of the country's territorial waters, as well as conduct search and rescue missions in the western front.

PF-15, commissioned as a warship of the Philippine Navy, will also augment naval security to the Philippines biggest investments of natural gas at the Malampaya Natural Gas project and other petroleum service contract areas under the Department of Energy (DOE) in the West Philippine Sea.

Cruz said that the ship is now the Navy's largest and fastest which can run with a speed of 40 knots per agility test. He said that it is equipped with helicopters, the first of which was donated by the Department of Tourism (DOT).

With a compliment of more than a hundred officers and enlisted personnel, the high-endurance Hamilton-class cutter can sustain a month-long mission without re-provisioning.

The home of PF-15 is the Ulugan Bay Naval Station in Barangay Macarascas, located about 45 kms northwest of this city.

PF-15 was acquired through the United Excess Defense Act using the Malampaya Natural Gas proceeds under the DOE. It was used by the United States Coast Guard for law enforcement and search and rescue missions. (DOS/VSM/PIA-Palawan)

China will start to drill oil forcefully in the Philippines Waters – January 2012

China will soon put its first deepwater survey vessel into use in the South China Sea, an official with China Oilfield Services Ltd (COSL) said, part of an effort by the world's top energy consumer to tap its underexplored deep waters.

Ocean Oil 708, with a capacity to work in water depths of 3,000 meters and a drilling depth of 600 meters below the seabed, is one of the deepwater equipment that leading offshore oil and gas developer CNOOC planned to expand its deepwater capability.

The vessel is owned by COSL, a specialized oil service unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC).

The COSL official said the vessel will be used in early-stage exploration works such as geoprospecting, but declined to specify which area of the South China Sea the vessel would be firstly employed in.

CNOOC Ltd, which runs almost all of CNOOC's oil and gas production assets, is preparing to drill its first-ever deepsea well in the northern part of the South China Sea around the beginning of 2012 by using Ocean Oil 981, China's first home-made semi-submersible deepsea rig.

China has so far drilled less than 15 deepsea exploration wells, all of which have been done by CNOOC's foreign partners.

Baoji Oilfield Machinery Co, a unit of top Chinese oil firm CNPC, manufactured the drilling system for the Ocean Oil 708, the China Petroleum Daily reported.

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No water, Now wives - China is dying soon

By: Dr. Philip Neches

Chairman, Foundation Ventures LLC

huffingtonpost.com 

When smart people with very different viewpoints come to similar conclusions, it's wise to take notice. In the Left corner: Dr. Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winning economist, Princeton professor, MSNBC regular, New York Times columnist. In the Right corner: Dr. Jack Wheeler, aide to President Reagan and both Presidents Bush, author, blogger. The Right loathes Krugman as a soft-headed sell out; the Left regards Wheeler as a self-aggrandizing nut. The subject: China.

In a post on his Website To the Point (subscription required, posted October 14, 2011), Wheeler summarized the situation in China tersely, "No water, no wives, no banks -- and a hyper-dangerous military." Wheeler's writing tends towards melodrama and exaggeration for effect. Still, consider each point in turn.

No water: China's population is about three times compared to USA, in a land area about the same as the 48 contiguous states. But almost 80% of China's land area is mountain or desert, unsuited for cities or farms. Try to imagine three times the population of the U.S. living in an area not much larger than the 13 original colonies.

Further, the headwaters of China's great rivers are not actually in China: they're in Nepal, Tibet, and Kashmir. Small wonder China gets touchy about any hint of losing sway in those areas: China would literally die of thirst.

In the U.S. are so abundantly blessed by nature that we find it difficult to imagine what a problem water is too much of the rest of the world. Nonetheless, water supply is the greatest threat to civilization in much of the world, including China. Not energy. Not food. Not land. Water.

No wives. Well, certainly a big shortfall: China has something like 100 million more young men than young women. Wheeler writes ominously of the political and military dangers from 100 million bachelors.

But China has an even bigger demographic problem, as I pointed out in my post "The Sun Also Sets". China constrained their birth rate through social policy only possible in a brutal dictatorship. But they also made the same strides in public health that the Western world made in the early 20th century, dropping their death rate by a factor of three and increasing life expectancy from 40+ to 70+ years in just a generation. With falling births and falling deaths, China's population is aging. China is in a desperate race to get rich before it gets old. They will lose.

No banks. Wheeler points out that the Chinese state banks are technically insolvent. Krugman provides more color and detail in his op-ed piece "Will China Break?" Krugman sees the classic signs of a bubble: rapid growth in credit, surging real estate prices, "shadow banking" systems without government regulation or guarantees, and huge increase in investment without corresponding increase in consumer spending. Even through the murky lens of official Chinese economic data, Krugman sees the bubble bursting.

We had our financial crisis in 2008. Experts agree that we still have a long way to go to recover from it, and that many of the vulnerabilities that caused that crisis persist in our economy. Europe seems to be still going into the depths of their problems. Again, experts expect a prolonged recovery.

Is China the next to fall? If so, they cannot expect much help from the U.S. and Europe. A rise in the Yuan, the likely first consequence of trouble in China, benefits the U.S. and Europe doubly: it makes our debt held by China worth less and easier to repay, and it increases the cost of Chinese goods to our consumers, providing a stimulus to local industry and employment. The trouble in the U.S. already shuttered numerous factories in China. But that could just be a fore-taste of what could come.

If you look at raw unemployment numbers, the current problems in the U.S. and some countries in Europe are almost as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s. But the political and social consequences are no where near the same. The public and private mechanisms put in place since the 1930s feel the strain. But they are holding, in the sense that no one in the US or Europe seriously worries about armed revolution or anarchy, as was the case in the 1930s.

Without similar safeguards in place, China could be a different story. While the economic consequences can be calculated, the political and social results cannot. Speculation and imagination are our only sources of insight.

Dangerous Military. China's military establishment is second only to ours. If one looks at spending alone, it seems no contest: China spends about what Britain and France put together spend, and about 1/6 of what we spend. But China is actually far less militarized than the United States, with 3.4 active, reserve, and paramilitary per 1,000 population, versus 9.5 for us. Most advanced countries spend between 1.8% and 2.8% of GDP on their military. China's military budget is 2.1% of GDP, at the lower end of the pack. Compare that to 4.8% for us.

What is the upshot (pun and all) of these figures? Either the U.S. is spending too much on its military, or China has the capacity to spend a lot more than it currently spends. Maybe both statements are true.

Wheeler speculates on two possible paths for Chinese military adventurism. Asserting more control of the South China Sea represents a reasonably credible scenario, but also one that would quickly unite the maritime world (U.S., Japan, Europe, India, Southeast Asia or ASEAN countries , OPEC, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, etc.) to defend the nearly 50% of the world's shipping that goes through those waters. Wheeler offers a more nightmarish scenario: China invades Siberia to gain water, land, oil, and to divert its 100 million odd excess bachelors.

In the long lens of history, this may not be as far-fetched as it first sounds. Much of Siberia was the Maritime Provinces of China until the expanding Russian Empire seized control around 1860. The Russian Empire expanded from its start around Kiev around 950 AD to the height of the Cold War a thousand years later. Since losing in Afghanistan in 1987, the Russian Empire has been in incredibly rapid retreat, losing its Eastern European satellites and West Asian provinces to independence.

The world is full of danger spots: Pakistan, Iran, North Korea. But when I feel really grim about the prospects for the world, my thoughts turn to China.

Finally, my apologies for spiking your holiday eggnog with a few Sichuan peppercorns.

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