Boracay grabs 3 major Prizes at Travel+Leisure awards in New York

Discovery Shores Boracay was voted Asia's Top Hotel . Spa at the Travel+Leisure Magazine's World's Best . Awards 2012.

1. World's Best Overall Island
2. Asia's Top Island
3. Asia's Top Hotel Spa

The Philippines walked away with three major awards at the Travel+Leisure Magazine's World's Best Awards 2012 held at the newly opened Conrad Flagship Hotel in New York on July 19, 2012.

Chosen by readers of the travel publication, this year's awardees included Boracay Island, which was voted World's Best Overall Island and Asia's Top Island.

One of the top hotels in the island, Discovery Shores, Boracay, meanwhile, was voted Asia's Top Hotel Spa.

The winners were announced earlier by the magazine's editor Nilou Motamed on the US morning TV show, "Today," on July 6, 2012.

Vernie Velarde-Morales, tourism representative of the Department of Tourism (DOT) office in Chicago and concurrent officer-in-charge of the DOT office in New York, and Abigail Yap, the wife of Malay Mayor John Yap received the awards in behalf of Boracay.

Discovery Shores general manager Jose C. Parreño accepted the award for the hotel

The awarding ceremony was also attended by Deputy Consul General Theresa Dizon-de Vega, Filipino Reporter publisher Bert Pelayo, Fairways and Blue Waters Resort, Boracay chairman Wilbur Chan, Discover Suites resident manager David Pardo de Ayala, and Filipino-American entrepreneur and former President of the Aklan Association in the US Northeast Ray Rogan.

Filipino-American special projects editor of Travel+Leisure Irene Edwards was also at the event.

The awards were handed out by Travel+Leisure Magazine editor-in-chief Nancy Novogrod and the magazine's vice president and publisher Jean-Paul Kyrillos

Other major winners included Red Mountain Resort, Ivins, Utah (Top Destination Spa), Singita Grumeti Reserves, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania (Top Hotel), Bangkok (Top City), Singapore Airlines (Top International Airline), and Virgin America (Top Domestic Airline).

The World's Best Awards, now on its 17th year, is an annual tribute to the world destinations, hotels, resorts, tour operators, cruise lines, airlines, and other major tourist services which have been voted by readers of the magazine as being the best in the world.

According to Novogrod, for the 2012 awards, an unprecedented number of the magazine's readers cast their votes for their favorite travel destinations.

She also said the awards for Boracay and Discovery Shores were both well-deserved and speak volumes about the lasting positive impressions made by these Philippine destinations.

Discovery Shores also ranked No. 5 on the list of top 100 hotels in the world and No. 2 among the top resorts in Asia.

"This is an affirmation of our unwavering commitment to giving our guests unmatched service standards complemented by our dedicated staff and our world-class facilities," Parreño said in a statement.

ABS-CBN News

Continue reading

Farmer stumbles across suspected NPA mass graves of 30 skulls in Quezon

Discovered 30 skulls in Luzon

A Philippine farmer unearthed a mass grave with the skeletal remains of up to 30 people believed to be victims of an internal purge by communist rebels in the 1980s, the army said on Sunday.

Rommel Malinao was ploughing his field in a remote village in Quezon province, southeast of Manila, when he made the discovery on Saturday, army spokesman Major Harold Cabunoc said.

The army deployed a team to cordon off the site and with the help of police forensics experts exhumed the skeletons.

"As of last count, there were about 30 human skeletons," Cabunoc told AFP.

"We believe these were victims of the New People's Army (NPA) 'kangaroo courts', which sentenced to death many members they had suspected as government intelligence agents."

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969 -- one of the longest-running communist insurgencies in Asia.

At its peak in the 1980s, NPA numbers were believed to have reached 26,000, but that is now down to only 4,000 fighters due to losses on the battle field.

The government alleges that in the mid-1980s, the NPA set up so-called 'kangaroo courts', which condemned to death hundreds believed to have become agents for the state.

Their bodies were believed to have been dumped in secret mass graves.

Various mass graves have been unearthed by the military since 2009, but Saturday's find was believed to contain the biggest number of skeletons so far, Cabunoc said.

Cabunoc added that villagers interviewed by the army near the site said many of their relatives whom they had suspected of joining the NPA went missing in the 1980s and had not been heard of since.

Some of the skeletons showed the hallmarks of torture, although further verification was needed, he said.

New People's Army (NPA) rebels are seen in 2009. A Philippine farmer unearthed a mass grave with the skeletal remains of up to 30 people believed to be victims of an internal purge by communist rebels in the 1980s, the army said on Sunday.

President Benigno Aquino re-opened peace talks with the communists in February last year but the negotiations have been delayed by the rebels' demand to release detained comrades.

It was not immediately clear how the discovery of the latest mass grave could affect the talks.

Continue reading

China to deploy new military garrison in West Philippine Sea

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, reviews the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Garrison in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), at the Shek Kong barracks in Hong Kong, south China, June 29, 2012. Hu is here to attend the celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the swearing-in ceremony of the fourth-term government of HKSAR.

The People's Liberation Army, China's central military authority, has approved the  deployment of a military garrison in the newly declared Sansha City in the sparsely populated West Philippine Sea, said a report posted on China's Ministry of National Defense website.

China's announcement is just the latest in a series of recent actions that have expanded its physical presence in the vast disputed waters and defied condemnation around the region.

The report said that the military garrison will be "responsible for managing the city's national defense mobilization, military reserves and military operations."

The Chinese defense ministry likewise said that military troops to be sent to the newly established garrison will be under the dual leadership of Hainan province's military sub-command and Sansha City's civilian leaders.

China had envisioned Sansha City as administering the West Philippine Sea including the Spratly Islands.

The announcement came despite a diplomatic protest lodged by the Philippines against China over the establishment of Sansha City.

The Philippine protest said that "the extent of the jurisdiction of the city violates Philippine territorial sovereignty over the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc and infringes on Philippine sovereign rights over the waters and continental shelf of the West Philippine Sea."

Aside from the Spratly Islands, Sansha City—which was established by the Chinese Cabinet last June 21—also claims political sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank.

Portions of these territories are also being claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Kalayaan

On Wednesday, Kalayaan Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon Jr. said Filipinos have been settled in the islands since 1978, whereas China is forming the government of its Sansha City there only now. Kalayaan town, by Chinese reckoning, falls under Sansha's jurisdiction.

"Yung ating local government matagal na, 34 years na. Ako ay Filipino citizen, ang Kalayaan ay part ng Pilipinas, so sa Pilipinas tayo nagre-report," Bito-onon said in an interview on dzBB radio.

He said he is supposed to administer some 95 islands, shoals, reefs and atolls but some areas there have already been occupied by Vietnam, China and Malaysia.

Of the 95 islands, he said only 41 are occupied.

But Bito-onon said he hopes the Philippines and China can come to an "agreement on cooperation and co-existence."

He said that Kalayaan town, a fifth-class municipality, has only one village – Barangay Pag-asa. It has a population of "250-plus," he added.

"(We are) the smallest town in the Philippines," he said.

But he also admitted there is virtually no government office there, although the residents in the town are all Filipinos. He said they are developing fisheries and tourism.

He also said that while some Chinese fishing vessels would stop by the area, they would only ask for water and then leave.

Chinese infrastructure

A separate Reuters report meanwhile said that China is also planning to build structures such as buoy tenders, supply bases, light stations and radio stations in Sansha City.

"We are also planning to cruise regularly in Sansha in the future and set up a daily cruising mechanism when conditions are ready in order to safeguard China's sovereignty and maritime interests," Zhang Wei, head of the ship supervision division of China's Hainan Maritime Safety Administration, said in the report.

Last week, China also began setting up an organizing committee for the legislative body of Sansha, the beginnings of the city's government.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei, however, had earlier said that China will cooperate in the "peaceful resolution of disputes" in the West Philippine Sea.

"The Chinese side is willing to work together with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea comprehensively and effectively," the official said in a report posted on the Chinese government's official web portal.

GMA News 

Continue reading

5000 China Fishing Ships in West Philippines to be armed as Militiamen

A leading Chinese fishing-industry official is urging the Chinese government to provide arms and military training for 100,000 Chinese fishermen to roam the South China Sea and defeat Vietnam and other countries in the region that are challenging China's sweeping claims of sovereignty in those waters.

He Jianbin, chief of the state-run Baosha Fishing Corp., based in Hainan province, urged the Chinese government to make fishermen into Chinese militiamen.

"If we put 5,000 Chinese fishing ships in the South China Sea, there will be 100,000 fishermen," Mr. He stated in a June 28 commentary in the state-controlled Communist Party newspaper the Global Times.

"And if we make all of them militiamen, give them weapons, we will have a military force stronger than all the combined forces of all the countries in the South China Sea," he said.

The fisheries official confidently disclosed that at present, China would have no problem deploying that many fishing ships. "In Hainan province alone, we now have over 23,000 fishing ships, with over 225,000 experienced and mature captains," Mr. He said.

"Every year, between May and August, when fishing activities are in recess, we should train these fishermen/militiamen to gain skills in fishing, production and military operations, making them a reserve force on the sea, and using them to solve our South [China] Sea problems," he continued.

China's government has been using fishing vessels in recent weeks to ratchet up tensions with almost all its maritime neighbors, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines. In several high-profile skirmishes, most noticeably with the Japanese and Philippine maritime vessels, Chinese fishing vessels have played a central role, followed by vessels belonging to the government's China Maritime Surveillance bureau [Haijian] and Bureau of Fishery [Yuzheng].

The People's Liberation Army's Navy is poised in the region but so far has not been directly involved in initial confrontations with several foreign vessels in an apparent effort to avoid direct challenges from the navies of other countries, including Japan, South Korea and possibly the United States.

China, in particular, regards the U.S. Navy as its main obstacle and the most formidable enemy in its South China Sea gambit. By making fishermen a maritime militia force, Mr. He argues, "we can make the PLA Navy our rear echelon for now but not the forward echelon in the South China Sea. This will alleviate our nation's burden, because if we put the PLA Navy at the front line now, we fall right into the trap set up by the U.S. government."

TANKS FOR OIL

China is set to provide $500 million worth of amphibious assault tanks and vehicles to Hugo Chavez's military in exchange for Venezuela's oil exports, according to remarks by the Venezuelan strongman at a promotion ceremony for several generals near Caracas on July 3, 2012.

China has eyed Venezuela's oil exports for years and is eager to cultivate good relations with the leftist regime of Mr. Chavez, who has shown an increasingly strong interest in Chinese-made weapons to arm his military.

China has been highly receptive of Mr. Chavez's efforts to beef up his control over the military. Chinese navy vessels recently visited the country. Additionally, Chinese paratrooper and sniper teams have conducted joint exercises with Mr. Chavez's special operations forces in the South American jungle earlier this year.

In 2008, Mr. Chavez visited Beijing and signed a deal with the PLA to buy 24 Chinese-made K-8 jet trainers. The planes were delivered to Venezuela in 2009.

The main item for the current $500 million deal will be China's ZTD-05 amphibious armored assault vehicles and a few older Type 63A amphibious tanks.

ZTD-05 is China's knockoff version of Russia's BMP-3 armored infantry fighting vehicle. It functions much like a regular amphibious tank with a 106 mm rifled gun that can fire armor-piercing high-explosive anti-tank shells. It has an advanced stabilizing mechanism enabling it to fire accurately while operating in choppy waters.

The ZDT-05 is viewed as one of the fastest and most deadly amphibious assault vehicles in the world

Washington Times

Continue reading

Sweet Spot! Philippine Properties so Affordable now: OFW Chance to Invest

Luxurious houses in the Philippines 

Philippines interest rates have room to fall, keeping stocks and bonds buoyant and making property investment affordable especially for first-time homebuyers, investment experts said on Friday (July 20, 2012).

In a press briefing at the opening of the Money Summit, BPI Family president Teodoro Limcaoco said the Philippines was "nearing the sweet spot" in terms of macroeconomic fundamentals, suggesting that financial literacy was, thus, an imperative for people to achieve their financial goals in this favorable environment for investing.

For 80 percent of Filipinos who have assets, Limcaoco said, bulk of their asset base was in the form of their homes. As such, he urged young people to begin planning early and save money for home acquisition.

"We're optimistic about the property market," Limcaoco said, noting the large backlog of unmet demand as sectors like tourism and business process outsourcing boost people's disposable income. The low-interest rate environment and the "unparalleled" competition among developers, he added, were likewise keeping the property market buoyant.

Rex Mendoza, president of Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co., said prior to the Asian currency crisis of 1997, there were many investors buying property assets with the hope of re-selling them at a profit. But when interest rates shot up, there were no buyers for the properties, he said.

"Today, if you're gonna see where the boom is coming from, it's from the ₱1-million to ₱2-million (per residential unit) price range," Mendoza said, noting this was very affordable especially for households with double income or those led by couples who were both earning.

Mendoza said he would be cautious on the pricing on the higher-end of the property segment.

"We expect interest rates to go down further and will probably stay low for a reasonable period. That said, the bond market will continue to do well because there's some opportunity in capital gains, maybe give 4-6 percent [return] per annum," said BPI senior vice president and head of asset management and trust group Maria Theresa Marcial-Javier.

Under this environment, Javier said prospects remained good for the stock market even if price to earnings (PE) multiples seemed "a little bit on the expensive" side. She noted that the market was now trading at 16 times PE ratio based on 2012 earnings forecasts and a likely growth in average earnings per share of 10-12 percent.

A PE ratio of 16 means that investors are, on a per share basis, paying 16 times the amount of money that the companies will likely make for that year.

"There might be some correction historically. There's this seasonal [market] decline in the 'ghost month' of August but we see a strong support at the 5,000 level," Javier said, referring to the traditional Chinese Hungry Ghosts festival next month.

"We expect this to stay at above 5,000. The downside is minimal so to those investing in stocks expect higher volatility. Be brepared to take on more risk," she said.

Limcaoco said one big overhang for the markets would be the situation in Europe, which a number of debt-strapped states are still grappling with.

"There's worry that this will cause risk aversion," he said.

Cebu Properties

Continue reading

Customs seizes ₱42.5 million worth of rice from Vietnam‏

 

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon inspects the ₱42.5 million worth of smuggled rice from Vietnam seized at Subic Bay Freeport yesterday. EDD GUMBAN . Photo by PhilSTAR

The Bureau of Customs (BoC) seized ₱42.5 million worth of smuggled rice from Vietnam, the biggest haul of illegal agricultural product importation seized by the BOC  under the Aquino administration.

BOC Commissioner Rufino Biazon said the 90 units of 40-footer container vans arrived at the Port of Subic (POS) and were misdeclared as construction materials and gypsum boards.

"This is a large scale attempt to smuggle rice into the country by misdeclaring the illegal shipment. We will vigorously pursue charges against those involved in this attempt," he said.

The shipments arrived in two batches, the first 50 was last June 13, 2012 while the remaining 40 units came in last June 20.

Biazon said they are thinking of turning the seized items to the National Food Authority (NFA) or sell it through auction as additional revenue for the bureau.

However, the shipment would be subjected to tests by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to ensure that it is fit for human consumption before they are disposed off.

The Food and Drug Administration will check the rice to ensure that they are not contaminated with chemicals before they are disposed of.

The shipments were allegedly consigned to Masagana Import Export, Inc., of 2161 P. Paterno St., De La Paz, Binan, Laguna and Oriental Tradelink Express, Inc. of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

A background check will be conducted on the said firms.

The seizure was a joint operation of the Office of the Commissioner's Revenue Enhancements for the Attainment of Collection Targets (REACT) Task Force, Enforcement Group (EG) and the POS District Collector's Office.

Continue reading

₱6.5 Billion Funding linking Roads to Las Vegas, Manila Philippines

Pagcor City is Asia's Las Vegas-like gaming and entertainment complex that PAGCOR proposed to offer on 8 km² of land on the reclamation area of Manila Bay, Philippines. It lies the western side of Roxas Boulevard and south of SM Corporate District (SM Mall of Asia), part of Parañaque City. Investments to the project can reach up to $15 billion US Dollar, which is scaled down from the more recent $20 billion US Dollar budget.

The four companies granted licenses to build, own and operate integrated resorts at the government's Entertainment City are pouring in up to ₱6.5 billion to fund an elevated road project that would link the airport to the 100-hectare Las Vegas-style casino complex.

This was disclosed by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) chairman and chief executive officer Cristino Naguiat Jr.

In an interview with The STAR, Naguiat said the amount would be split among the four investor-groups but to be coursed through Pagcor as the proponent of the Entertainment City.

"Best chance is by next week, we (Pagcor) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will sign an agreement for the (road project)," Naguiat said.

DPWH is the proponent of the ₱15.86-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway Project, which is among the government's infrastructure projects lined up under its Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.

Naguiat said that under the agreement to be signed with the DPWH, Pagcor, through the four licensees of Entertainment City, would bankroll part of the cost of building the road.

The toll operator would then pay Pagcor after 10 years.

"It will be a soft loan to be paid after 10 years with almost no interest," Naguiat said.

The four licensees are: 

• Andrew Tan's Alliance Global 
• Enrique Razon's Bloomberry Resorts 
• Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada 
• Taipan Henry Sy's Belle Corporation.

According to data from the DPWH, the NAIA Expressway project involves the maintenance and improvement of the existing NAIA Expressway Phase I road and the construction of Phase 2 of the NAIA Expressway, which is expected to decongest traffic between the different airport terminals.

"The alignment for Phase 2 involves the construction of a 4.83-kilometer road from the NAIA Expressway Phase 1 following the existing road alignment over Sales Avenue, Andrews Avenue, Domestic Road and NAIA Road, and ends with entry andexit ramps at the Roxas Boulevard and Manila Cavite Toll Expressway, the Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard and Pagcor's Entertainment City," the government's PPP Center said in a separate statement.

The total length of the NAIA Express way is 9.37 kilometers and is expected to ease traffic going to and from the Manila International Airport at the NAIA complex.

Furthermore, it will also provide direct links to passenger terminals 1 and 2, including the International Cargo Terminal.

PhilSTAR

Continue reading

Russia fired and detains 36 Chinese fishermen poaching the East

As the tension of the Philippine Versus China heated up for Chinese poaching the waters of the Philippines; China also faces embarrassment for the same conflict with Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam, and their close ally Russia.

The Russian coast guard seized two Chinese vessels and detained 36 fishermen Tuesday (July 18, 2012) after they were allegedly found fishing in Russian-controlled waters in the Sea of Japan, according to state media.

The consulate said it was notified by the coastal service in Russia's far eastern Primorsky region the two ships were seized because they had entered Russia's exclusive economic zone.

Warning shots were fired at one vessel during a three-hour pursuit by Russian Coast Guard, which eventually rammed the vessel and soldiers fired directly on the ship when sailors resisted being boarded, according to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency, quoting a spokesman for the local border guards services, said a coast guard boat was forced to open fire to stop a poaching fishing vessel in the Sea of Japan. The spokesman said the vessel, flying the flag of China, refused to stop on demand from the coast guards and tried to escape, resulting in a three-hour chase.

The news agency said the vessel carried about 25 tons of squid and quoted the spokesman as saying 17 Chinese nationals failed to present documents allowing them to fish. The report said no one was injured.

One Chinese fisherman fell overboard during the seizure of one of the vessels and is missing, according to Russia's Coast Guard. The other 36 sailors are being detained in Russia.

The two vessels were detained for entering an exclusive economic zone in Russia's far eastern Primorsky region, the Chinese agency Xinhua said.

In a sign that Beijing is taking the incident seriously, conciliatory remarks by a Chinese consular official in the Russian border town of Khabarovsk were swiftly disavowed by Beijing, according to Chinese wire services. He had said that China "would not seek to politicize the incident."

The Chinese foreign ministry said the official who made the comment had been sent home in January and could not have made the remark, according to Interfax.

During Monday's incident one of the Chinese vessels tried to ram the Russian ship according to a Russian Coast Guard spokesman quoted on Russian news agency Interfax.

The Russian ship fired warning shots and then opened fire on the Chinese vessel, though no one was killed or injured from the shelling. The Russian spokesman said the Chinese sailor fell overboard during the collision between the two ships.

He also said that the Chinese sailors at first "resisted" Russian boarding attempts but surrendered after being fired upon.

The two ships were from the city of Weihai in China's eastern Shandong province, Chinese agency Xinhua said.

It was not the first time the Russian Coast Guard had fired on Chinese trawlers and detained them for poaching fish in Russian waters. Earlier incidents put a strain on relations between the two countries, who fought a brief border war in 1969.

Relations between Beijing and Moscow have steadily warmed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 but the two countries maintain an uneasy partnership and Russia fears Chinese attempts to assert regional hegemony.  

Continue reading

Philippines: who you calling "Mongoloid"?

Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a senator and veteran lawmaker in the Philippines..

Photographer: 

 AFP 

"Stop molesting me, you Mongoloids!"

That zinger has forced an apology from a firebrand Philippine senator better known for standing her ground than conceding mistakes. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, whose own bio calls her a "dragon lady," was slamming critics who've urge her to leave the senate, according to the Manila-based Inquirer.

The problem is not so much the molestation but the use of "Mongoloid." Her quip has attracted a new cast of detractors: the Down Syndrome Association of the Philippines. The Philippines' GMA News and other outlets have reported that the association is castigating Miriam for using "insensitive" language.

Just what is a Mongoloid anyway?

The word derives from "Mongols," the ethnic group that conquered vast stretches of Asia during the 13th century. "Mongoloid" was coined by 19th-century European anthropologists who, in a worldview that now seems crude and outdated, used the term to describe every native ethnic group from Mongolia down to Southeast Asia.

The term took a nasty etymological turn in the 1800s when it was used to describe people with Down's Syndrome. Why? Because British doctor John Langdon Down likened the skin folds common in the eyes of those with Down's Syndrome to the folds common in the eyes of North Asians. (Surprise: English guys born in 1828 were not terribly sensitive.)

Unfortunately, the word is also shorthand for "idiot." Despite her rhetorical gifts, Miriam probably did not have the full, foul baggage of "Mongoloid" in mind when she used the word to trash her political enemies.

That's why she apologized.

In apologizing, Miriam at least managed to show off her excellent taste in books. She told ABS-CBN News that she lifted the casual use of "Mongoloid" from the slovenly, self-aggrandizing lead character Ignatius J. Reilly in the cult classic "Confederacy of Dunces," which earned its author a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1981. Though brilliantly composed, Ignatius is probably not the best person to quote on the Philippine senate floor.

==============

The Attack of the Senator (Mongoloid)

July 12, 2012

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Thursday branded her enemies "mongoloids" and challenged them to a fistfight.

"I tell all my enemies who just want to get of me, stop molesting me, you mongoloids!" Santiago said at a regular forum in the Senate.

She added the recent call for her to step down from the Senate in preparation for her taking up post at the International Criminal Court, was masterminded by the same person who she claimed started a black propaganda against her during the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona.

She also claimed that a person, who she did not identify, was also behind this. Santiago said that this person was the same group who filed a petition calling for the revocation of Santiago's appointment to the ICC, citing her alleged "mental instability."

"Hindi pa nga ako nakaka-upo, papaalisin na ako (I haven't taken the appointement and they want me out already)," Santiago said.

Earlier, Commission on Elections Chairperson Sixto Brillantes asked Santiago to resign so they will be able to determine how many vacancies there will be in the Senate in time for the 2013 elections next year.

Santiago said she is friends with Brillantes but said it is possible that the Comelec commissioner is being pressured by her political enemies.

Santiago added some people are calling for her resignation to give way to senatorial wannabes who have a very low chance of winning.

"Kagagawan ito nang mga taong gustong maging senador pero alanganin sila. Gusto nilang umalis ako ng maaga pa (This is a plot of people who aspire to be senator but know they couldn't. They want me to leave early)… I was one of the top winners of the last elections. They want to pick a winner out to give way to these losers," Santiago said.

Fistfight

"Kung gusto nila suntukan na lang, wala naman akong ginagawang masama a (If they want a fistfight, I'll give them what they want)," she added.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile earlier hinted why Santiago should step down saying that there are issues and treaties that need the decision of 24 senators. He cited the last impeachment trial of Corona wherein there were only 23 senators and it was automatically a vote less in favor of the accused.

However, Santiago said that there will be no problems with only having 23 senators since the Senate needs 2/3 vote to make a decision.

She added there is no legal basis for the request for her to step down in office.

Santiago also reiterated that there is no need for her to resign since she is still waiting for the ICC to call her to duty and that she requested she may still be able to finish her term by 2016.

AFP/ Inquirer

Continue reading

Investors Look to Thailand, Philippines as Indonesia Love Affair Fades

 

JAKARTA – As the Indonesia story seems to be souring, countries like Thailand and the Philippines are soaring.

Not long ago, Southeast Asia's largest economy – Indonesia – was considered to be the golden boy of the region, with investors pouring money into the country to capitalize on its recent consumer and commodity-led boom. More recently, investors have been taking some of their money out because they're worried that rising inflation, falling commodity prices and policies seen by foreigners as protectionist could knock the wind out of the archipelago's sails. Foreigners have pulled some $2 billion out of the government bond market and have helped push the Indonesian rupiah down.

As they reconsider Indonesia, though, some investors seem to be rediscovering other parts of the region — especially Thailand and the Philippines, which are generating more business buzz than any time in recent memory.

Over the last 12 months, Indonesia's benchmark index has edged up only 1% in contrast to the close to 20% jump in the Philippine stock market and a 13% rise in Thailand's bellwether index.

"To some extent, the euphoria baton has been passed to Philippines and Thailand and away from Indonesia," said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, the Singapore-based director for Asian economic research at Credit-Suisse. "Foreigners are becoming a little bit more nervous about the Indonesian story."

Investors are excited about the Philippines in part because they believe President Benigno Aquino III is making headway in his campaign to battle corruption, boost efficiency and increase tax revenues – some of the same initiatives that helped get Indonesia on track in recent years. Those initiatives have also helped lead the country to a series of credit-rating upgrades, boosting investor confidence.

In Thailand, meanwhile, investors have been buoyed by a strong rebound in the economy following last year's devastating floods, which temporarily shut down much of the country's industrial production. Thailand is on track to post 5.5% growth this year versus 0.1% last year, according to HSBC.

There also is a lot of interest in Malaysia these days, though mainly from government-backed funds, as investors eagerly follow a series of high-profile initial public offerings there. Those offerings include plantation firm Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd., which raised $3.3 billion on the local stock exchange in June in the world's second-largest IPO this year.

Indonesia's economy, to be sure, is still cruising along at a respectable clip. After expanding 6.5% last year, most economists think it can at least clock another 6% this year even with the persistent problems in Europe.

However, the country has seen a surge in imports – a common phenomenon in countries with fast-growing middle classes getting their first taste of more expensive imported goods. Some analysts fear a trade deficit powered by surging imports could be a sign that Indonesia's economy is overheating as an inability to serve local demand forces more imports.

The country could also be heading towards an inflation problem, economists warn. While inflation is less than 5% currently, analysts fear further growth could eventually trigger hard-to-control price increases as outdated and overstretched infrastructure adds to costs and an increasingly-emboldened labor force demands more raises.

Of course, it's not as if Indonesia's big competitors don't have some problems of their own. Among other issues, the Philippines is still struggling to improve its crumbling and overloaded infrastructure – a key demand of many investors before committing more money to the country. Thailand is grappling with seemingly insoluble — and potentially violent — divisions left over from the 2006 ouster of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is living in exile. And Malaysia is facing an election by early next year that could be the most competitive and divisive in its history.

All of that may serve as a reminder:  There just aren't a lot of super-safe places to park money these days.

Written By Eric Bellman - Wall Street Journal

Continue reading

A Graph of the Laziest Countries in the World – Philippines Not..?..?

To implement effective non-communicable disease prevention programs, policy makers need data for physical activity levels and trends.

In this report, we describe physical activity levels worldwide with data

• For adults (15 years or older) from 122 countries
• For adolescents (13—15-years-old) from 105 countries.

Worldwide, 31·1% (95% CI 30·9—31·2) of adults are physically inactive, with proportions ranging from 17·0% (16·8—17·2) in Southeast Asia (ASEAN) to about 43% in the Americas and the eastern Mediterranean. Inactivity rises with age, is higher in women than in men, and is increased in high-income countries.

The proportion of 13—15-year-olds doing fewer than 60 min of physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity per day is 80·3% (80·1—80·5); boys are more active than are girls.

Continued improvement in monitoring of physical activity would help to guide development of policies and programs to increase activity levels and to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases.

They found that 31% of adults do not get enough physical activity—defined as 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous exercise three days a week, or some combination of the two.

Women tend to get less exercise—34% are inactive, compared with 28% of men—but there are exceptions and regional variations, as the maps below show.

Women in Russia, Croatia, Luxembourg, Greece and Iraq (to name a few) move more than their male counterparts. Malta wins the race for the most slothful nation, with 72% of adults getting too little exercise. Swaziland and Saudi Arabia slouch close behind, with 69%.

In Bangladesh, by contrast, just 5% of adults fail to get enough exercise. Surprisingly, America does not live up to its sluggish reputation. Six in ten Americans are sufficiently active, compared with less than four in ten Britons. These figures are worrying

From country-to-country, inactivity rises with age, is higher in women than in men, and rises in higher-income countries, according to a new study on idleness in "The Lancet". Here's a map of the world's sloth, via "The Economist". Countries in darker colors had greater recorded inactivity or laziness, defined as failing to reach 30 minutes of moderate activity a day.

Inactivity might rise with income, but some of the world's most inactive groups are women in countries with barriers to female employment, such as Libya and Saudi Arabia. Among men, Great Britain and Japan are reportedly among the most slothful or the laziest countries in the world, but Europe collectively reported walking more than any other group in the study.

The survey found a surprising degree of bustle in the typical American's life America, (the alleged king of couch potatoes?). Six in ten Americans were deemed "active," compared with fewer than five in ten Brazilian men, four in ten Japanese, and three in ten Argentineans. We're still a far way from Benin, Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Mongolia, where more than 90 percent of men got at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week.

Other factors that could affect the activity of a person include the following;

• Climate – People will minimize its activity if the weather is too hot like in the African and Middle Eastern Countries. For the tropical climate like the Philippines and other ASEAN countries, higher activity recorded during early morning and the evening and activities would become lesser during noon times.
• Culture – Middle Eastern Women who are restricted in their culture to find jobs would also affects the daily activity.
• Financial Activities – Inactivity might rise with income. The more a person is earning in his business the more he would lost its time to do other jobs than just making business and sitting in their office all the time.

Continue reading

Philippines to acquire 10 new attack helicopters

The Philippines will acquire 10 attack helicopters starting next year in a bid to boost the capabilities of the poorly equipped military, an air force spokesman said Wednesday.

Italy, Britain, France, Russia and South Africa are all being eyed to supply the helicopters, Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Okol said, although he declined to specify which models were being considered.

The brand-new machines will upgrade the fleet of US-made MG-520 light attack helicopters that the air force has been using since the 1990s.

"What we are going to get are armed attack helicopters… that can carry more payload than the MG-520," Okol told AFP.

He declined to specify the cost of the acquisition but said the government had already allocated the required funds.

The new aircraft will be used for "internal security operations, border security and support operations," he said.

The Philippines is battling communist insurgents in rural areas throughout the archipelago, as well as Muslim extremists in the troubled southern regions.

In recent months tensions have also risen with China over conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea, but Okol said the acquisition of the attack helicopters was unrelated.

The tensions with China have highlighted the weakness of the Philippine military, which is one of the most poorly quipped in the region, relying largely on surplus US equipment.

The Philippines has been refurbishing its ageing MG-520 helicopters, other military sources said.

The country has recently been stepping up its modernization efforts and plans to acquire new fighter-trainer jets and attack and transport planes by 2014, the defense secretary said earlier.

Continue reading

Philippines Defense Build-up: Reviving Self-reliant posturing (SRDP)

The Philippines has embarked on a surge in defense spending under President Benigno Aquino III, who, in his first formal address in July 2010, vowed to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for both territorial defense and disaster relief missions.

In his first months as president, Aquino disbursed more than US$395 million on AFP modernization projects compared with an average of only $51 million annually during the previous 15 years. Some 140 procurement projects valued at $1.6 billion were being considered for funding by the end of July. Having acquired decommissioned coast guard cutters from the US and basic trainer aircraft and combat utility helicopters from Italy and Poland, the Department of National Defense (DND) is looking to South Korea, Spain and France as possible suppliers.

This increase in defense spending from 2011 is a big leap from its previous poorly funded status, at just $1.2 billion per year. It is partly driven by the increased effort to eliminate domestic insurgency and in reaction to the threat of China's military buildup. The increased expenditure is also related to the country's robust economic growth, 6.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

Revival Of Self-Reliant Defense Posture of the Philippines

The DND plans to revive the Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) as part of its Capability Upgrade Program, focused on securing indigenous production of weapon systems, platforms and armaments. The SRDP was initiated in 1974 by President Ferdinand Marcos to meet the immediate need for military hardware to support the AFP's mission against the escalating secessionist movement in the southern Philippines and the insurgency by the New People's Army in the 1970s. The SRDP served as the necessary mandate to uphold the sovereignty of the state through non-dependent protection of the national territory. Its underlying mission was to develop a local defense industry to support the material requirements of the AFP.

Although in the early years the program enjoyed some success, with 15 defense corporations supplying military hardware to the AFP, the Philippines later lost its way in ensuring the provision of broad-based security. The country's resilience faced a series of testing challenges including military coups, terrorism and insurgencies, natural disasters, as well as threats to sovereignty such as the Mischief Reef incident.

The Philippines today finds itself as one of the weakest members of ASEAN both military capability and defense expenditure. The Philippines' defense and security sector is one of the worst resourced in Southeast Asia. The AFP is in the ignominious position of scraping together resources to maintain the operationality of its remaining ageing aircraft and warships. The Philippines navy is in a sorry state, with most of its warships of Second World War vintage. As an archipelagic country comprising 7,107 islands, the navy badly needs ships to patrol its vast territorial waters.

After over four decades the SRDP has failed to achieve any of its objectives. Except for some companies like ARMSCOR, most private defense corporations have found it difficult to sustain production, due to insufficient defense acquisition budgets, graft, corruption, inflation and a lack of support from the national leadership.

The malaise in the Philippines defense sector was revealed in a 2003 Joint Defense Assessment Report that examined the performance of the AFP in the long-running battle against the insurgents, as a means of determining the degree and nature of technical assistance, field expertise and funding from the United States.

Stimulus or Drag on Development?

Manila is exploring whether a defense build-up might benefit both the AFP and the country's economic and social development. Research has shown that military spending stimulates economic activity, creating beneficial economic and technological spin-offs to local industry. In essence, successful defense reform requires rapid economic growth, and vice versa.

The challenge for the government is to be more creative in managing its defense resources to ensure a meaningful contribution to broader national security capability. For years, government institutions, the defense department included, have been plagued with corruption and financial mismanagement.

From neighboring countries, two lessons can be learned. One is to encourage technology transfer through acquisition-related offsets. In this regard, Indonesia is currently seeking to implement its first official offset policy, having the potential to leverage acquisition-related investment through Jakarta's strong trading ties with the United States and South Korea.

Second, is to look at Singapore's defense industry and research and development efforts in terms of integrating systems from diverse sources and tailoring them to specific local requirements. If funds are appropriately channeled and properly managed, the SRDP can be developed and enhanced to promote a local defense industry that can offer employment opportunities, improve the woefully low level of Philippine technological expertise, and thus eventually support both defense and development.

Written by Ava Patricia C. Avila - a PhD candidate at Cranfield University, UK, and was formerly an associate research fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Continue reading

At last, Gloria Arroyo has been charged with plunder

GMA and Rosario Uriarte close partnership

By Ellen Tordesillas, Contributor

Commentary

Last Monday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales filed before the Sandiganbayan plunder charges against Gloria Arroyo who is now detained at the V. Luna Medical Center and nine others for allegedly pocketing P365, 997,915 from confidential and intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in several transfers from January 2008 to June 2010.

Charged along with Arroyo were former PCSO Board of Directors chairman Sergio O. Valencia; former PCSO general manager Rosario C. Uriarte; former PCSO directors Manuel L. Morato, Jose R. Taruc V, Raymundo T. Roquero and Ma. Fatima A. S. Valdes; former PCSO budget officer Benigno B. Aguas; former Commission on Audit chairman Reynaldo A. Villar; and former COA-Intelligence Fund Unit head Nilda B. Plaras.

It's good that COA officials have been included for being complicit to the crime. Their job is supposed to fiscalize government expenditures to make sure that government funds are spent  according to the law.

They were remiss in their job and they deserve to be included in the case.

The case was based on the complaint filed by Bayan Muna, Akbayan and Kilusang Makabayang Ekonomiya.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño hailed the filing of the case even if it took more than a year.

"This is good development considering that the Ombudsman struck with our original charge of plunder and we hope that the case can now move faster," he said referring to the plunder case involving the NBN-ZTE deal which the Ombudsman downgraded to graft, which is bailable.

It took the Aquino administration two years to file this first   plunder case.

Carpio-Morales is known to be rigorous and would not be filing half-baked cases that would have a high chance of being dismissed.

Those who want to hold Arroyo accountable for her crimes against the Filipino people can now heave a sigh of relief that even if Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court grants bail to Arroyo or even dismisses the electoral sabotage case on the 2007 election, she still would remain in detention once the Sandiganbayan finds existence of probable cause for plunder and issues an arrest warrant within 10 days after the filing of the case.

Plunder, which is pocketing government funds P50 million and more, is a capital offense and requires mandatory detention for all defendants without bail for the duration of the trial. The penalty is reclusion perpetua which is imprisonment from 20 years and one day to 40 years.

Government prosecutors handling the  electoral sabotage case against Arroyo may now stop bending the law and at the expense of the victims of the Maguindano massacre and other electoral fraud cases just to keep Arroyo in detention.

The 2007 electoral sabotage case has already served the purpose of the Aquino government, which was to keep Arroyo in detention pending the filing of another unbailable case.

But I would still want Arroyo to be accountable what for me is her greatest crime against the Filipino people, which was the stealing of presidency in the 2004 elections. Archbishop Oscar Cruz calls it Arroyo's "original sin."

It would not be electoral sabotage because that became a law only in 2007. There should be a law that she violated. Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act?  Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees?

It should be put on record that she was convicted for stealing the presidency.

Yahoo Philippines 

Continue reading