Team of Philippine Scientists starts Exploring the 14 Million has. "Benham Rise" New Philippine Territory

Benham Rise is a shallow bathymetric feature, east of Luzon, that towers above the adjacent deep ocean floor. The shallowest part, which is Benham Bank, is less than 50 meters deep. NAMRIA image

 

Scientists explore new Philippine territory bigger than Luzon

 

Philippine scientists have started to conduct surveys on the potentially oil-rich Benham Rise, a largely unexplored territory larger than Luzon recently approved by the United Nations as part of the Philippines' continental shelf.

 

The team, led by University of the Philippines (UP) oceanographer Hildie Nacorda of the UP Diliman Marine Science Institute (MSI), left May 3 on board a Philippine research vessel for the first-ever benthic survey of the 13-million hectare area off the eastern coast of Aurora province. The team aims to map the bottom of the ecological region of the sea.

 

Images from the Benham Rise Program, a collaborative research cruise between UP MSI, UPLB and BFAR. 

 

"At anchor at Benham Bank [with] 50-m and 2-knot currents. Trying drop cam[era] to take a peek at bottom. [We're] all okay. A few [are] seasick. Good weather!" the team said on Twitter on Tuesday.

 

On Tuesday afternoon, two of the researchers have touched the lowest part of Benham, reporting "120 percent coral cover." The members of the Benham Rise Program from UP also said they have captured "fascinating" videos of the benthic area.

 

Nacorda's group is expected to conduct surveys for two weeks which can pave the way for further research and exploration in the region, a UP statement said.

 

UP marine law expert Jay Batongbacal said that initial samplings from the undersea plateau point to huge deposits of natural gas and a rich source of manganese nodules. Batongbacal was part of the team that defended the Philippines' claim over Benham Rise before the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea panel, which gave its approval in April 2012.

 

MSI along with foreign research partners and a representative from the Philippine Navy set out for the first oceanographic survey of Benham Rise as part of the Philippines in 2012 following the UN approval. The Philippines was the sole claimant of Benham Rise.

 

The first group, aboard a vessel belonging to Scripps Research Institute,  investigated the effects of Pacific Ocean currents on the productivity of the seas in the eastern Luzon area.

 

Lead investigator Cesar Villanoy from UP said the undersea area is the "least studied of Philippine waters."

 

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources had said that Benham Rise is a potentially oil-rich region that may provide energy for the country and for export.

 

"We own Benham Rise now. This is for future Filipnos," Environment Secretary Ramon Paje had said.

 

Named after American geologist Andrew Benham, the plateau was first mapped in 1933 when it was yet to be acknowledged part of the Philippine shelf. - philSTAR

 

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USA to build-transfer Nuclear Technology to Vietnam, Mindanao Brownout up to 2016 - Plants close jobless rise, Philippines DOE NGA-NGA!..

David Shear, US ambassador to Vietnam (L), and Nguyen Quan, Vietnam’s Minister of Science and Technology clap their hands after signing a civilian nuclear pact in Hanoi on Tuesday. PHOTO COURTESY OF VIETNAMNET

 

Nuclear Power for Mindanao on study for 200 years research- DOST ??

 

Mindanao businessmen have appealed to the government to consider setting up a nuclear power plant in the region, which has been experiencing daily rotating brownouts  since 2010  and expected to last until 2016 or beyond.

 

If renewable are insufficient to meet the economy-driven burgeoning demand for power, we need even to look into nuclear power.  Most countries in the world with cheap electricity have nuclear power.”

 

President Benigno Aquino III has expressed openness to a proposal to use modern nuclear power technology in Mindanao to address the power shortage in the region.

 

Aquino said what is important is to ensure that whatever nuclear power plant is built in Mindanao will conform to international safety standards, citing the radiation case in Fukushima, Japan.

 

"We will study that," Aquino said in a press briefing on Monday.

 

Former lawmaker Mark Cojuangco, during the 2012 power summit in Davao City, has proposed the use of small modular reactors, a relatively new and supposedly safer form of nuclear power, for Mindanao.

 

"There is an ongoing study (on the possible use of nuclear power in Mindanao) by the Department of Science and Technology," the President said. (Interaksyon)

 

Commentary: If the Philippine Government is serious to solve the Blackout in Mindanao which expected to last for more than 6 years, then only Nuclear Power is the answer. USA could grant a build and transfer of nuclear Technology for Mindanao like Vietnam . How long would it takes for DOST to Study? The technology is already there.... then what's the contribution of DOST? To build its own NUCLEAR Plant that would last for 100 or 200 years research? Even Geothermal plant technology are imported then what's the capability of DOST to make its own Nuclear power plant?

 

Noynoy Aquino loves challenge right? yeah we all love challenges so face this Mindanao Problem Mr. President now!. Let the AFP handle the peace and order and DOE to work for Power crisis because majority of the people in Mindanao are living in peace and wants this blackout to end NOW!!

 

Manufacturing plants in Mindanao are keep on shutting down because of the continous black out and lay-off or fired many employees... resulting to continuously rising of JOBLESS in Mindanao. 

 

Mindanao is safe and less prone from earthquake than Luzon. Many parts of Mindanao are "Fault-line Free" which means it's safe to build nuclear plants in those areas .. and DOST knew it.

 

US to tap Vietnam’s nuclear power market under new pact

 

The United States and Vietnam Tuesday signed a deal on civilian nuclear energy that will allow the US to transfer technology and sell its reactors to the Southeast Asian nation.

 

The so-called “123 agreement” was signed by US ambassador to Vietnam David Shear and Vietnam’s Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan in Hanoi, under the authorization of President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

 

“This agreement will create opportunities for Vietnam to access the US modern technology in the nuclear power field, as well as pave the way for US companies to invest in Vietnamese market,” said Nguyen Quan.

 

Meanwhile, David Shear said the pact would build a solid foundation for the cooperation between Vietnam and the US in the civil nuclear sector.

 

Vietnam is pursuing nuclear energy in order to deal with its present shortage of energy. The country hopes nuclear power to provide more than 10 percent of its total power generation needs by 2030.- Thanh Nien News

 

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Philippines debt-to-GDP ratio dropped from 40.6% in 2012 to 39.2 % in 2013

photo: interaksyon.com

 

Philippines - The ratio of government debt to gross domestic product eased further to 39.2 percent last year from 40.6 percent in 2012.

 

In a report, the Department of Finance said the government’s debt to GDP declined to ₱4.53 billion as of the end of December 2013.

 

Government debt to GDP, which peaked at 78.1 percent during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, has been on a downward trend in the past few years as the Aquino administration stepped up efforts to manage the country’s debt.

 

Generally, government debt as a percent of GDP is used by investors to measure a country’s ability to make future payments on its debt, thus affecting its borrowing costs and government bond yields.

 

This continuing trend of decreasing general government debt-to-GDP ratio shows government’s efforts to ensure sustained fiscal space throughout the medium term.

 

The decrease in government debt level was attributed to the ongoing fiscal consolidation with deficit accounting for only 1.3 percent of the country’s total economic output.

Apart from this, the government took advantage of broadly favorable domestic funding conditions in 2013 to redenominate away from foreign currency debt.

 

Of the P554.7-billion gross borrowing for the year, 94 percent came from the domestic market while the remaining six-percent comprised concessional foreign loans from development partners.

 

This helped reduce the foreign debt component of government debt to only ₱1.95 trillion or 34.3 percent of the total outstanding debt.

 

A decrease of local government debt to ₱71 billion from ₱73.4 billion likewise helped trim the ratio.

 

The intra-sector debt holdings of local government also declined to ₱3 billion from ₱3.1 billion.

 

Under the consolidated general government debt, the obligations of the Philippine government, the Central Bank Board of Liquidators, social security institutions (SSIs) and local government units are taken into account.

 

The consolidated debt also nets out public holdings of government securities, including the Bureau of the Treasury’s bond sinking fund (BSF).

 

The combined investment in government securities of the GSIS and the SSS, meanwhile, rose to ₱474.6 billion from ₱453.7 billion in 2012. - PhilSTAR

 

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In 1930's China didn’t know where the Spratlys were

 

In 1933, the French flexed their colonial muscles and annexed nine of the Spratly Islands. When the news spread, the fledgling and troubled Chinese republic faced a basic problem: It didn’t know where the Spratlys were.

 

A year earlier, the French had staked their claim to the Paracel Islands as part of their colony in Vietnam. The second French claim to part of the Spratlys befuddled the Chinese. As the scholar Francois-Xavier Bonnet of Irasec, the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia, noted:

 

“These two claims of the French government confused the minds … not only of the Chinese public and the media, but also the official authorities like the military and the politicians in Guangdong Province and Beijing. In fact, the Chinese believed that the Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands or Xisha were exactly the same group, but that the French had just changed the name as a trick to confuse the Chinese government. To ascertain the position of the Spratly Islands, the Chinese Consul in Manila, Mr. Kwong, went, on July 26, 1933, to the US Coast and Geodetic Survey and discovered, with surprise, that the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands were different and far apart.”

 

I was led to Bonnet’s much-read discussion paper, “Geopolitics of Scarborough Shoal” (something on the order of 100,000 downloads of the PDF version, I understand, since it was first posted in November 2012), by BBC journalist Bill Hayton. I found his map-based lecture on the origins of China’s South China Sea claims last Friday at the University of the Philippines thought-provoking. When I asked Hayton to expand on his point, that in 1933 the Chinese government did not even know where the Spratlys were, he referred me to Bonnet, who happened to be sitting in the audience (right beside Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio).

 

Bonnet and Hayton have since provided me copies of and links to the essential literature. (Hayton’s “South China Sea: Dangerous Ground” is due from Yale University Press later this year; the title is a play on another name for the Spratlys.) They make for fascinating reading; to be sure, much of the information has been readily available online. Even the delicious irony of a Chinese consul consulting the offices of the US colonial administration in Manila to determine the location of the Spratlys has been knocking about in academic circles and on the Internet for at least a decade.

 

In 2004, Bonnet wrote “The Spratlys: A Past Revisited” for World Bulletin, a publication of the UP’s Institute of International Legal Studies. His paper already includes a section on “the Chinese confusion” about the location of the nine annexed islands in the Spratlys.

 

Still, this particular moment in history remains under-known. Some passages from Bonnet’s 2012 paper are perhaps worth repeating.

 

First, the following footnote. “The Consul submitted, on August 1, 1933, his report to the Chinese Foreign Affairs Department, which said: ‘The islands [in the Spratlys which the French annexed] are collectively known as Tizard Bank and are situated at 530 miles from Hainan, 350 miles from the Paracels and 200 miles from Palawan … The reports mentioning that the 9 islands were part of Xisha [the Paracels] are incorrect’.”

 

Second, this quote from a letter written by Wang Gong Da, director of the Peiping News, to the foreign affairs secretary: “Don’t make a diplomatic blunder; these islands are not part of Xisha. Triton Island [in Xisha] is the southernmost part of our territory [this was written before China’s absurd obsession with James Shoal]. South of Triton Island, there is no connection with the Chinese territory. Our so-called experts, geographers, Navy representatives, etc. are a shame to our country.”

 

And third, this passage from a secret report of the Military Council, dated Sept. 1, 1933: “In conclusion, we have only one piece of evidence, our fishermen from Hainan [who are present in parts of the Spratlys], and we have never done anything on these islands. We need to cool down the game with the French, but let our fishermen continue their activities to protect our fishing rights. Our Navy is weak and these nine islands are not useful for us now…”

 

I’ve tried to look for additional information about the 1933 annexation and the Chinese reaction. There is a news story in (of all places) the Salt Lake Tribune, highlighting what was surely the geopolitical reality of the early 1930s. Datelined Manila, the report began: “The occupation by French dispatch boats of nine islets 200 miles west of the Philippines [the report got this fact right] in the South China Sea was the signal for a race between the Japanese and Chinese consulates here to obtain authentic information about the group.”

 

There is an internal memorandum of the US Department of State, which noted that “A press dispatch dated July 28, 1933 from Manila stated that Chinese Consul Kwong was instructed by his government to investigate the occupation of the islands by the French and report as the Chinese government intended to oppose French occupation. The Chinese Consul had already sent a preliminary report.”

 

And who was K. L. Kwong? We learn from a copy of Who’s Who in China (1934) that he was a career diplomat, who once represented China at the League of Nations in Geneva, and who served as Chinese consul-general in the Philippines from November 1930 to June 19, 1934; his next assignment was San Francisco.  INQUIRER

* * * On Twitter: @jnery_newsstand

 

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Australia, Philippines scrambling to boost air forces For China

© Reuters

 

SYDNEY/MANILA -- Australia and the Philippines are scrambling to boost their air forces in a bid to counter China's increasingly aggressive maritime advances into the South China Sea and Indian Ocean.

 

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced on Wednesday that his country will purchase a total of 72 F-35 fighter jets, 58 more than initially planned. The F-35 is a state-of-the-art fighter jet made in the U.S.

 

 

The Philippines will procure 12 South Korean-made FA-50 fighter jets. The Southeast Asian country is also set to conclude a new military pact with the U.S. during U.S. President Barack Obama's visit there later this month.

 

Australia expanding

 

The Australian government has decided to procure an additional 58 F-35 fighter jets. The F-35 is a "fifth-generation" fighter that is difficult to track on radar because of its high stealth capability.

 

Australia plans to procure a total of 72 F-35 fighter jets by 2023. The first 14 are to be delivered in 2018 and go into service in 2020.

 

The F-35 procurement program costs 12.4 billion Australian dollars ($11.6 billion), making it one of Australia's biggest-ever military purchases.

 

Prime Minister Abbott said that the F-35 procurement program will allow his country to maintain its military supremacy in the region over the next few decades.

 

He also expressed the view that buying the F-35s will help strengthen Australia's alliance with the U.S. and boost defense cooperation with countries such as Japan and South Korea.

 

The massive F-35 purchase program has sparked a national controversy as Australia is now facing the challenge of restoring its fiscal health following the end of its resources boom.

 

Abbott said at a press conference on Wednesday that the money for the F-35 fighter jets has already been set aside under a long-term plan and will not come out of any new budgets.

 

Abbott also said that his government has decided to acquire 58 more F-35 fighter jets to prepare for contingencies. He did not elaborate, apparently out of consideration to relations with China, now Australia's largest trading partner.

 

Philippines -- up from zero

 

The Philippine government signed a contract in March to purchase 12 South Korean-made FA-50 fighter jets for 18.9 billion pesos ($422 million).

 

The Philippine military currently possesses no fighter jets.

 

When China hinted last year that it might establish an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea, the Philippines saw exposed its inability to cope with violations of its air space by foreign military planes.

 

The governments of the U.S. and the Philippines are set to conclude a new military pact during Obama's visit to the Southeast Asian country later this month.

 

The U.S. withdrew its military forces from the Philippines by 1992 following the end of the Cold War. The stationing of foreign troops in the Philippines is currently banned under the nation's constitution.

 

The new military pact will allow U.S. forces the joint use of military bases in the Philippines, virtually clearing the way for the U.S. to station its troops there again. - Nikkei Asian Review

 

 

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Barclays: Overseas Pinoy remittances up $3.6 Billion Dollars - 7.5% in February 2014

photo: ph.austronesia.net

 

Philippines - Money sent home by Filipinos abroad could have grown 7.5 percent in February from year-ago levels, UK-based investment bank Barclays said.

 

“Growth in remittances is likely to rebound somewhat after the slowdown in January,” the bank said in a research note.

 

Cash remittances summed up to $1.7 billion in February last year, while personal remittances – cash and non-cash--amounted to $1.881 billion.

 

Official February remittances data will be released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Tuesday, April 15.

 

Latest data from the central bank showed personal remittances rose 6.8 percent to $2.002 billion in January due to the continuous deployment of Filipinos abroad.

 

Cash remittances alone climbed 5.9 percent to $1.799 billion during the first month of the year. These primarily came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan and Canada.

 

The BSP said there were 75,348 approved job orders in January, of which 32.1 percent or 24,187 were processed. The processed job orders were for service, production, and professional, technical, and related jobs in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Kuwait and Qatar.

 

At the same time, expansion of bank and non-bank remittance service providers abroad supported the growth in overseas Filipinos’ remittances.

 

The country’s cash remittances jumped 10 percent to $22.968 billion last year, the highest level ever recorded by the central bank. Personal remittances, meanwhile, rose 8.6 percent to $25.351 billion.

 

Remittances, which supports domestic consumption, made up 8.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product last year which settled at a faster-than-expected 7.2 percent.

 

The BSP hopes to grow cash remittances by five percent this year from the 2013 figure. - philSTAR

 

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Manny Pacquiao Avenges Loss In Dominating Win Over Timothy Bradley

Pacquiao is back on top after defeating Timothy Bradley by unanimous decision. - FORBES

 

Celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Will Ferrell and 50 Cent came out to Las Vegas Saturday night to see if one of the greatest boxers of our generation still could deliver the goods as Manny Pacquiao squared off against Timothy Bradley, Jr. for the WBO title. The Filipino congressman did not disappoint the pro-Pacquiao crowd in a dominating victory over Bradley. The unanimous decision for Pacquiao avenged his June 2012 split decision defeat to Bradley in a bout that almost all observers had Pacquiao winning handily. Pacquiao put the decision in the hands of the judges once again, but they scored it 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112, and we avoided a repeat of what Top Rank CEO Bob Arum called a “death knell for the sport” after the decision for Pacquiao-Bradley I.

 

It was the eighth straight fight for Pacquiao that ended with a decision and not with knockout, but he was more aggressive than he has been in recent bouts. He controlled the second half of the fight winning at least six of the seven final rounds on all three judges’ cards. ”I knew I had to do more in this fight than I did in the last fight,” said Pacquiao after the win.

Pacquiao pocketed $20 million for the fight, down from $26 million for their June 2012 fight. Bradley earned a career best $6 million in his title defense. Pacquiao has earned more than $300 million in his career since he turned pro in 1995.

 

What’s next for Pacquiao? Forget the eternally discussed mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather. The blood feud between Top Rank/HBO and Golden Boy/Showtime/Mayweather is at an all-time high and makes the Hatfields vs. McCoys look quaint. Mayweather and Pacquiao are not crossing party lines to make this happen even it would generate $150 million for the fighters to share.

 

“I think I can fight for two more years,” said Pacquiao after Saturday’s fight. His most likely opponent is the winner of the May 17 matchup between Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado. Arum promotes all three fighters greasing the wheels to an agreement, and the winner of the May fight will be Pacquiao’s mandatory challenger.

 

Marquez is a significant favorite over Alvarado and a fight against Pacquiao would be the fifth in a series between the two warriors that started in 2004. Pacquiao leads the series 2-1 with their first fight ending in a draw. Pacquiao had a 15-fight winning streak before Bradley defeated him under a cloud of controversy in 2012. Marquez knocked out Pacquiao in December 2012 leading many to question if Pacquiao was nearing the end. Pacquiao avenged his Bradley loss and no doubt would like to do the same with Marquez.

 

Money reportedly held up previous negotiations on Pacquiao-Marquez 5, which resulted in Pacquiao in the ring against Bradley Saturday night. But Marquez is coming off a split decision loss to Bradley in October and a showdown with Pacquiao is his chance to score a career high payday. ”I have no problem with fighting Marquez again, but that’s up to my promoter, Bob Arum,” Pacquiao said.

 

Fans have not tired of the rivalry with the last two bouts averaging 1.3 million pay-per-view buys and both among the biggest audiences of Pacquiao’s long, successful PPV career. Look for Arum to make a fifth bout in the stories franchise for later in 2014. - FORBES

 

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Philippines told China "watch your words"

 

China told to be careful in hinting use of force in sea row

 

The Defense Department on Thursday called on China to be circumspect in issuing statements after Beijing had warned that its military could be assembled quickly to win any battle.

 

“They should be more circumspect regarding the giving of statement,” Defense Department Spokesman Peter Galvez told reporters when asked whether China’s statement was acceptable.

 

Galvez said they would continue to support peaceful means to resolve the territorial row in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

 

“What is important is we approach all these things peacefully and the soonest that we approach this peacefully, the sooner the region can expect all the development and growth which is the target and aimed for not just by Filipinos but everyone in the entire Asia Pacific,” he added.

 

Earlier, Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan warned the Philippines and Japan that China would not compromise on its territorial claims. He also hinted that China could use its military to protect its interests.

 

“We will make no compromise, no concession, no trading,” Chang said in a press briefing in Washington last Tuesday.

 

“Not even a tiny bit of violation is allowed,” he added.

 

China claims virtually the entire West Philippine Sea while the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping claims.

 

China is also embroiled in a territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. Japan has vowed to strengthen its security ties with the Philippines and to further cooperate on the defense of remote islands, territorial seas and maritime interests.

 

The Philippines recently filed a memorial or a written argument to the United Nations arbitral tribunal hearing its case against China’s territorial claims.

 

Galvez dodged questions on whether or not Chang’s recent statement would help in maintaining peace and stability in the region.

 

“We will try to achieve what will be necessary to defend the nation,” the defense official said.

 

“We will continue to work within our mandate to defend our country and of course to approach this peacefully,”he added.

 

China has been resorting to aggressive acts to assert its territorial claims, raising concerns about their possible effects on freedom of navigation and freedom of flight in international airspace.

 

Early this year, China established an air defense identification zone above international waters separating China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

 

The move requires all aircraft to report their flight plans and to identify themselves while flying through the zone.

 

China has also announced the enactment of a new law requiring foreign fishing boats to seek its permission before operating in the West Philippine Sea.

 

Phl, US resume base access talks

 

The Philippines and the US on Thursday started the 8th round of negotiations on a deal that would grant American troops greater access to the military’s bases.

 

The negotiating panels did not issue opening statements on their meeting, which was held at the Department of Foreign Affairs office in Pasay.

 

The Defense department is hopeful that negotiators would come up with an agreement that is mutually beneficial to both countries.

 

“What is important is we keep the language and all the negotiations within the Constitution,” Galvez said.

 

He could not say whether the agreement would be signed in time for United States President Barack Obama’s visit to the Philippines this month.

 

 

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China warns Philippines, Japan: Chinese military can quickly to fight and win any battle

WASHINGTON – Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan has warned the Philippines and Japan not to test China’s resolve to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, saying the Chinese military can be assembled quickly to fight and win any battle.

 

The Chinese official raised the warning in a joint press conference in Beijing with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

 

Chang said territorial sovereignty was a core Chinese interest on which “we will make no compromise, no concession, no trading.”

 

“Not even a tiny bit of violation is allowed,” he said.

 

A transcript of the Tuesday conference was released by the Pentagon in Washington.

 

For his part, Hagel, who is on a three-day visit to China, said the Philippines and Japan were long-time allies of the United States.

 

“We have mutual self-defense treaties with each of those two countries and we are fully committed to those treaty obligations,” he said.

 

Chang accused the Philippines and Japan of stirring up troubles for China. He said the Philippines did its math the wrong way.

 

Manila earlier submitted a memorial or written pleading to a United Nations tribunal in The Hague on its territorial disputes with Beijing when “the fact is that it is the Philippines who illegally occupy part of China’s islands and reefs in the South China Sea.”

 

China has made clear on several occasions that it does not accept and will not participate in the international arbitration initiated by the Philippines but stands ready to resolve the issue through bilateral negotiations, Chang said.

 

On the dispute between China and Japan over islands in the East China Sea, Chang said China has indisputable sovereignty over Diaoyu Islands (called Senkaku by Tokyo), Nansha Islands, and their adjacent waters.

 

China created an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea in November 2013, particularly over an area that includes islands at the heart of a bitter dispute with Japan.

 

There are fears in Manila and Washington that Beijing, which claims almost all of the South China Sea at the expense of the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, among others, may be poised to also create a similar ADIZ over the South China Sea.

 

Referring to the ADIZ at the press conference, Hagel said every nation has the right to establish air defense zones, but not unilaterally with no collaboration or consultation.

 

“That adds to tensions, misunderstandings and could eventually add to and eventually get to dangerous conflict,” he said.

 

In later remarks at a the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University in Beijing, Hagel said America’s rebalance in the Asia Pacific was a reaffirmation of its long standing bonds of history, commerce and friendship throughout the region.

 

“That is not – must not be, nor will be – at the exclusion of strengthening our relationship with China,” he said.

 

Referring specifically to the Philippines and Japan, he said both were long-time allies of the United States.

 

“We have treaty obligations with those two nations and we will honor our treaty obligations. But make no mistake that disputes need to be resolved peacefully, diplomatically, within the framework of international order based on international law,” he said.

 

Grateful former enemy

 

At the commemoration of the 1942 Bataan Death March yesterday, the Japanese government yesterday expressed profound gratitude to the US and the Philippines for accepting Japan as friend, 72 years after its brutal conquest of the Philippines.

 

“Japan is grateful to the Filipinos and Americans for building peace within our hearts. We are happy to work with you for the common good of all,” Ambassador Toshinao Urabe said in his speech at the historic Mt. Samat Shrine in Pilar, Bataan.

 

After their surrender to the Japanese Imperial Army on April 9, 1942, thousands of Filipino and US prisoners of war were forced to march from Bataan to Capas in Tarlac in what came to be known as the Bataan Death March. Thousands of prisoners died along the way.

 

“Thanks to the efforts of our predecessors, we are now strategic partners, sharing common values,” he said.

 

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg expressed the same gratitude.

 

“We are thankful that in the end, peace reached our lands – the Philippines, Japan, and the US. Each step we make today toward further peace and prosperity, democracy and the rule of law is a way to honor their footsteps on this soil so long ago,” he said.

 

“It’s remarkable that not just our two nations, but three have forged close and enduring friendships, alliances and strategic partnerships based on democratic values and mutual respect that came from the blood and sacrifice of our reliant soldiers,” Goldberg said.

 

Tokyo, Washington and Manila – which have close military partnership – have been openly castigating China for its expansive claim over large areas in the West Philippine Sea and the East China Sea.

 

President Aquino, for his part, said that while Filipinos should not forget the lessons of the Death March, they should also cherish the blossoming of friendship between former enemies.

 

“It’s clear that we’re now friends – understanding and respecting each other, with our own aspirations and concerns. We understand each other’s thinking, culture and conviction,” Aquino said in a speech delivered in Filipino during the commemoration rites.

 

“We are helping each other to achieve our collective goal of preventing this dark episode in our history from happening again,” he said. - With Delon Porcalla - philSTAR

 

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Germany Gift: A Merkel, a Map, a Message to China over falsified Map massive Sea territorial claim?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel presents Chinese President Xi Jinping with a a map of China from the 18th century at the Chancellor's Office on March 28, 2014, in Berlin - BPA/Getty Images

 

On March 28, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping at a dinner where they exchanged gifts. Merkel presented to Xi a 1735 map of China made by prolific French cartographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville and printed by a German publishing house. According to an antique-maps website, d'Anville's map was based on earlier geographical surveys done by Jesuit missionaries in China and represented the "summation of European knowledge on China in the 18th-century." The map showed, according to its original Latin caption, the so-called "China Proper" -- that is, the Chinese heartland mostly populated by ethnic Han people, without Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia, or Manchuria. The islands of Taiwan and Hainan -- the latter clearly part of modern China, the former very much disputed -- are shown with a different color border.

 

Historical maps are sensitive business in China. Every schoolchild in China learns that Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, and the Diaoyu Islands have been "inalienable parts of China since ancient times." The d'Anville map, at least visually, is a rejection of that narrative. Unsurprisingly, China's official media outlets don't seem to have appreciated Merkel's gift. The People's Daily, which has given meticulous accounts of Xi's European tour, elided any coverage of the offending map. More curiously, when news of the map's presentation reached the Chinese heartland, it had somehow morphed into a completely different one. A map published in many Chinese-language media reports about Merkel's gift-giving shows the Chinese empire at its territorial zenith, including Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia, and large swaths of Siberia. This larger map was the handiwork of British mapmaker John Dower, published in 1844 by Henry Teesdale & Co. in London, and was certainly not the gift from Merkel to Xi. But this mistake was not noted or explained in Chinese reports.

 

Both versions of the Merkel map have made appearances on Chinese social media, eliciting vastly different interpretations. Those who saw the d'Anville map seemed shocked by its limited territories. Hao Qian, a finance reporter, remarked that the map is "quite an awkward gift." Writer Xiao Zheng blasted Merkel for trying to "legitimize the Tibet and Xinjiang independence movements." Architect Liu Kun wrote, "The Germans definitely have ulterior motives." One Internet user asked, "How is this possible? Where is Tibet, Xinjiang, the Northeast? How did Xi react?"

 

 

 

The Dower map, on the other hand, seemed to stoke collective nostalgia for large territories and imperial power. An advertising executive enthused, "Our ancestors are badass." Another Internet user hoped Xi would feel "encouraged" by the map to "realize what a true re-emerge of China means." Some suspected that Merkel tried to send Xi a subtle reminder that Russia had helped Mongolia declare independence from China in the mid-20th century, somewhat like what Russia did in Crimea in March 2014.

 

To be sure, the d'Anville map does not constitute a total contradiction of the Chinese government's version of history. In 1735, the year when the Qianlong Emperor began his six-decade reign, his Qing empire's military prowess was on the ascent. Qianlong quelled a rebellion by Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang, brought the Mongol tribes under closer rule, and appointed officials to oversee affairs in Tibet such as the selection of the Dalai Lama. In other words, Qianlong established the trappings of imperial control over these peripheral territories, which allowed later governments -- the Republic of China, then the current People's Republic of China -- to claim sovereignty. Maps published by Western countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries vary in their presentations of Tibet and Xinjiang, but the Dower map is certainly not alone in showing Xinjiang and Tibet as parts of the Chinese empire.

 

All the cartographic brouhaha may be overblown. One Internet user refused to "overinterpret" the d'Anville map as a message about Tibet or Xinjiang. After all, "You can't use a map of the 13 colonies of the United States made in 1776 to tell Americans that Texas or California is not U.S. territory." - Foreign Policy 

 

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Philippines Infrastructure projects spending jumped ₱16.4 billion to ₱23.8 billion a 45% up in January

As of January, expenditures for infrastructure and other capital outlay surged to ₱23.8 billion, a ₱7.4-billion or 45.1-percent increase from the ₱16.4 billion recorded in the same month last year. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

 

Philippines—Public spending on infrastructure rose by nearly half in January as the government financed reconstruction efforts in areas affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda, documents released on Thursday showed.

 

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) noted that government disbursements accelerated in January despite the absence of election-related spending after last year’s mid-term polls.

 

“What’s particularly notable is that we were able to ramp up expenditures to levels that would have been expected of election season, and we’re definitely a good way off from that,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.

 

As of January, expenditures for infrastructure and other capital outlay surged to ₱23.8 billion, a ₱7.4-billion or 45.1-percent increase from the ₱16.4 billion recorded in the same month last year.

 

Overall, total national government expenditures likewise registered a ₱25.1-billion, or 15.9-percent, increase to ₱183 billion from ₱157.9 billion in January 2013.

 

“Front-loading of expenditures in the first semester fits very well with our goal of sustaining the country’s growth trajectory this year,” Abad said.

 

The DBM said spending for infrastructure and other capital outlay was buoyed by the various projects of the departments of public works and highways and of transportation and communications as well as the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the Department of Health (DOH). - Inquirer

 

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Philippines jumps 8 spots in WEF Enabling Trade index

The Philippines jumped 8 spots in the World Economic Forum's Enabling Trade Index.

 

The Philippines now ranks 64th out of 138 economies, according to the Global Enabling Trade Report 2014. The country has show significant improvements in enabling trade, rising from 92nd place out of 125 economies in 2010 and 72nd out of 132 economies in 2012.

 

Among the ASEAN countries, the Philippines ranked 5th in the index, after Singapore (1st), Malaysia (25th), Thailand (57th), and Indonesia (58th).

 

The Philippines is followed by Vietnam (72nd), Cambodia (93rd), Lao DPR (98th), and Myanmar (121st).

 

"The country does well on the domestic market access (19th) and foreign market access (26th) pillars, but room for improvement remains with respect to the other five pillars of the index. It ranks in the bottom half of the ETI sample in all of them. Border administration (71st) is mired by corruption and red tape, two factors also contributing to weakening the general operating environment (82nd)," the report noted.

 

The Philippines' biggest weakness is the lack of adequate transport infrastructure, placing 96th in this category.

 

"The shortcomings are the most severe in the airport (105th) and port (107th) infrastructure. To make things worse, the availability and quality of associated logistics services remains largely insufficient (84th)," it added.

 

The Enabling Trade Index “assesses the extent to which economies have in place institutions, policies, infrastructures and services facilitating the free flow of goods over borders and to their destination.” The trade-enabling factors are classified under four categories: market access, border administration, infrastructure, and operating environment.

 

Makati Business Club director Peter Perfecto noted that while there are persistent challenges in certain areas, the Philippines enjoys some advantages in 15 areas.

 

"Among the 56 indicators comprising the enabling trade index, the Philippines enjoys competitive advantages in the following 15 areas: specific tariffs, tariffs faced, cost to export, cost to import, tariff dispersion, ease and affordability of shipment, available international airline seats in kilometers per week, customs services index, access to finance, share of duty-free imports, number of distinct tariffs, efficiency of clearance process, tariff rate, number of days to import, and ICT use for business to business transactions," he said.

 

The report also identified the the top five problematic factors for exporting in the Philippines:

 

1. High cost or delays caused by domestic transportation, 
2. access to imported inputs at competitive prices, 
3. technical requirements and standards abroad, 
4. identifying potential markets and buyers, and 
5. difficulties in meeting quality/quantity requirements of buyers.

 

For importing in the Philippines, the top five problematic factors: are:

 

1. burdensome import procedures, 
2. corruption at the border, 
3. tariffs, 
4. high cost or delays caused by domestic transportation, and 
5. high cost or delays caused by international transportation.

 

The Makati Business Club is a partner institute of the World Economic Forum in the Philippines.

 

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WELCOME TO CHINA! | Over SMS and cyberspace Beijing sends a message over Palawan Province

MANILA, Philippines – China appears to be bolstering its claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea, besides regularly deploying sea patrols. In cyberspace and in telecommunications, Beijing seems to have found a subtle way to “virtually” expand Chinese territory.

 

In 2013, a special report by InterAksyon.com showed that on Google Earth, China has outsmarted the Philippines by planting its virtual flags on those various islands that dot the coveted, resource-rich archipelago in the West Philippine Sea (how Manila refers to the South China Sea).

 

A cursory look at photos uploaded by Internet users to the 3D map program Google Earth revealed that citizens from China, Vietnam and Taiwan had “invaded” the islands in question, with a glaring absence of Philippine contributions to the online mapping service.

 

The photos, uploaded through photo-sharing service Panoramio, dot several locations in the highly disputed Spratly Islands — more commonly referred to as the Kalayaan Group of Islands — and Panatag Shoal just West of Luzon island.

 

 

Mobile phone at Ayungin

 

The scramble to tag the islets - at least on the cybermap - as their possession comes to mind amid the furor triggered by journalist Raissa Robles’ posting of a photo in her blog of an SMS that appeared in the mobile phone of a colleague riding a plane that recently flew over the Ayungin Shoal, scene of the March 29 standoff between a Philippine re-supply boat and two Chinese coastguard vessels.

 

The civilian fishing boat was bearing food and other supplies for a Marine contingent on the abandoned BRP Sierra Madre, an old Navy ship placed by the Philippines in a strategic spot on Ayungin Shoal to stake its presence in an area it calls part of its continental shelf. The civilian boat, also carrying some mediamen and soldiers who were to relieve the Marines who had finished a five-month tour on the BRP Sierra Madre, was harassed by the Chinese coastguard but eventually evaded the blockade and got near to the Sierra Madre, completing its mission.

As this was happening on the ground, up in the air Robles’ journalist-friend – a subscriber of Philippine telco Globe - was shocked to see an SMS that began with the surreal greeting, Welcome to China!” flashing on the screen of his mobile phone.

 

Robles wrote: “The plane passengers were monitoring a supply ship that was enroute to bringing provisions to marines guarding Ayungin Shoal from being taken over by China. China claims the Philippines is “illegally” occupying Ayungin. A Chinese coast guard vessel was trying to block the supply ship for hours last Saturday.

 

“In the Globe Telecom statement, the company’s lead lawyer Froilan Castelo, said it is investigating the incident. Castelo went on to say that: ‘Technically speaking, cellular phones are able to pick up a dominant signal in the area where they are. At a certain altitude, cellular signals could be as strong as radio frequencies emitted by cell sites because they are unimpeded by buildings or other on-ground infrastructure. In the case of the Ayungin Shoal, it is quite possible that the mobile phone could pick up the signal of another network since the area is within territorial borders.’

 

But, Robles pointed out, Atty. Castelo, “does not explain whose territorial borders he’s referring to. Also, how come mobile phones can pick up China Mobile’s but not Globe’s network? Why is China Mobile’s signal dominant in an area claimed by the Philippines as part of its territory when China’s nearest land mass is miles and miles away? Where is China Mobile’s signal coming from?”

 

Digital landgrabbing

 

The Ayungin Shoal incident may seem surreal to Filipinos who wonder how territory so near to Palawan’s mainland, and so far from China, could be owned by Beijing; but to those who have tried the Paronamio service on Google Earth, it is not surprising: cyberspace shows numerous islands and islets in the maritime dispute zone littered with “claims”.

 

 In Parola Island, for example, the farthest Philippine-occupied territory in the island chain, the Vietnamese had uploaded a number of photos depicting structures erected by the Vietnamese government in the island they call Dao Song Tu Dong, or the Southwest Cay.

 

Further South, the Vietnamese claim could not be more assertive as users uploaded a photo of Dao Da Nam island, part of the disputed Paracel Islands, with the caption: “Belong to Vietnam.”

 

In Panatag Shoal off Zambales in western Luzon, where Chinese and Philippine governments have been in a standoff since April 2012, the virtual tension is more apparent: while one photo depicting the Philippine flag perched atop one of the rocky atolls in the area is clearly labeled “Panatag Shoal,” another photo — this time a Chinese flag waving atop a small rock — shouts: Huangyan Island – Chinese inherent territory.

 

Chinese and Philippine naval forces were locked in a standoff last year along Panatag Shoal (also referred to as Scarborough Shoal) as the latter accused the emerging superpower of a “de facto occupation” of the disputed shoal after China dispatched government vessels along the area.

The Philippines insists that the shoal is well within the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone as defined by international law, but China has included the shoal as part of the territories it is claiming in almost all of the West Philippine Sea as part of its 9-dash-line claim in the area.

 

Kalayaan islands ours

 

Though Vietnam and China had made their virtual claims to these islands more apparent than the Philippines, not all islands are, so to speak, “reserved” by these nations. In Pag-Asa Island, for example, where the seat of government of the Kalayaan Group of Islands is located, most contributed photos were that of detachment units and structures that were built by Filipinos on the island. Though there were still Chinese and Vietnamese photo uploads on the island, the Philippine-contributed photos clearly outnumber them all.

 

The scarcity of Philippine-uploaded photos on the Google Earth application, however, may not be attributed entirely to a more vigorous claim by other countries. The photos, sourced from Google-owned service Panoramio, are user-generated — which means Filipinos would have to contribute their own photos so that it will show up in the service.

 

The real battle

 

Meanwhile, the real battle unfolds on two fronts: first physically, in the waters where Beijing’s substantially increased maritime fleet has been deployed for regular “patrols” of Chinese-claimed territory, routinely harassing boats of other nations like the Philippines; and second, in the United Nations court, where Manila infuriated Beijing last Sunday (March 30) by proceeding to file, despite warnings, its Memorial or summary of arguments in its complaint against China’s “excessive” nine-dash-line claim.

 

Beyond the physical and legal battle fronts, the war for people’s hearts and minds could also be fairly expected to proceed apace in cyberspace and in telecommunications, underscoring the weird texture of today’s messages: to Filipinos preparing to commemorate in April the worst episodes of their three-year misery under foreign occupiers during World War II, nothing can be as chilling as the short, chirpy phrase: “Welcome to China!”

 

Source: INTERAKSYON

 

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World's biggest money manager "BlackRock" picks Philippines, Indonesia as top share hunting ground

BlackRock, Inc. is a U.S.-headquartered multinational investment management corporation based in New York City

HONG KONG - BlackRock Inc, the world's biggest money manager, said improving economic indicators in Indonesia and consistent corporate earnings in the Philippines make those two countries prime hunting grounds for Southeast Asian stocks.

Indonesia has slashed its current-account deficit and tamed inflation, strengthening its previously ailing currency. In the Philippines, companies have met forecasts more often than the rest of Asia during a period of successive sovereign credit rating upgrades.

Immediate beneficiaries of economic growth include consumer, financial and infrastructure shares. These make up more than half of BlackRock's $244 million ASEAN Leaders Fund which features stocks such as Indonesian state-controlled lender Bank Mandiri Persero Tbk PT and conglomerate Astra International Tbk PT.

Southeast Asian markets saw sharp volatility last year when investors pulled out in anticipation of tighter liquidity as the U.S. Federal Reserve winds down economic stimulus. Interest has since returned, with Indonesia's main stock index .JKSE rising 18 percent in dollar terms this year, the highest in Asia.

"In an environment where we are sort of pulling back on liquidity with (Fed) tapering, there was an initial shock in these countries and currencies," said head of Asian equities Andrew Swan at the Reuters ASEAN Summit in Hong Kong.

"But current account deficits are declining and trade surpluses are increasing. And that's been quite pleasing I think for many people to see that it's actually happened reasonably quickly, and that's why money is coming back."

BlackRock's Indonesian investments amounted to less than its benchmark index for most of last year. Last month, however, Swan raised the proportion of Indonesian securities in BlackRock's ASEAN fund to 20.2 percent, 1.5 percentage points higher than the MSCI South East Asia Index, according to the fund factsheet.

The proportion of Philippine securities was 8.6 percent which, at 2 percentage points higher than the benchmark, was the fund's boldest exposure.

Indonesian and Philippine shares currently trade at nearly 3.5 times and 3 times their book value - or companies' total value - indicating they are the most expensive in Asia. Shares in the rest of the region, excluding Japan, average 1.4 times.

The stock may be expensive, but Swan said earnings per Philippine share so far in 2014 have been similar to earnings over the past two-and-a-half years, whereas elsewhere in Asia ex-Japan earnings on average have been 25 percent lower.

Increased investment in the Philippines, resilient income growth and a current account surplus - indicating more money coming into the country than going out - suggests a chance of future earnings exceeding analyst estimates, Swan said.

In Indonesia, swift economic adjustment came as a surprise, Swan said. The current account deficit is narrowing, suggesting "we are getting through the worst of the adjustment process."

The deficit in the fourth quarter was about 2 percent of gross domestic product. That compared with a record 4.4 percent six months before, and was the narrowest since the second quarter of 2012.

BlackRock's ASEAN Leaders Fund returned 2.2 percent in the first two months of 2014, outperforming a 1.6 percent gain in its benchmark MSCI South East Asia index.

The fund returned 1.7 percent last year when its benchmark was down 4.5 percent and fund peers lost 5.3 percent, according to data compiled by global fund tracker Thomson Reuters Lipper.

Swan's top bets in the fund he co-manages include Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, Keppel Corporation Ltd and Malayan Banking Bhd. - ABS-CBN News

 

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France' Compagnie Française d’Assurance (COFACE) cite Philippines as top emerging economy

The Compagnie Française d'Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur is a globally operating credit insurer, offering companies solutions to protect them against the risk of financial default of their clients, both on the domestic market and for export.

The Philippines is among the top countries with “emerging economies,” a French credit body said in its latest economic publication.

Compagnie Française d’Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur (COFACE) cited the Philippines as a country with high growth potential and the most favorable prospect of increasing production capacity in the years to come.

COFACE said the Philippines is also considered to have the most favorable business climate.

Other countries recognized as top emerging economies include Peru, Indonesia, Colombia and Sri Lanka replacing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The criteria used by COFACE to determine the new emerging economies include intermediate level of per capita income (above that of less advanced economies but below that of advanced economies); higher GDP growth rate than most advanced economies; and major institutional transformations.

“This piece of economic good news comes at the heels of the report that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had raised its 2014 economic growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.5%, up from its January projection of 6.3%. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) also raised its growth projection for the Philippines to 6.6% for 2014,” DFA said in a statement Friday.

The IMF and S&P are leading providers of global credit benchmarks, policy advice and research to foster economic development and growth around the world, while the COFACE is the French credit rating agency which publishes quarterly risk assessments for 160 countries. Inquirer.net

 

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Philippine imports surge 222% in sign of rising growth: govt

Workers unload sacks of rice from a truck at the National Food Authority warehouse in Manila.- Bloomberg

Philippine imports surged 21.8 percent in January, their highest level in nearly three years, with imports of raw materials indicating further upward momentum for one of Asia's fastest growing economies, the government said Tuesday.

 

It was the biggest rise since March 2011, when imports grew by 21.9 percent, National Statistics Office figures showed.

 

The Philippines, formerly an economic laggard, grew by a remarkable 7.2 percent in 2013 despite a series of disasters including the devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan in November. Its growth last year was second in Asia only to China, officials said.

 

Imports surged due to a recovery in Philippine exports such as electronics and garments and increased spending on infrastructure, especially in areas affected by Haiyan, said Rosemarie Edillon, assistant director general of the government's socio-economic planning agency.

 

"The economy is definitely going to grow. A huge chunk of these imports are for production: capital goods and investments for the manufacture of other goods," she told AFP.

 

Imported raw materials are a major input in many of the country's key exports such as electronics and garments so the surging imports mean even higher exports later, she said.

 

"These imports are a leading indicator for exports two or three months down the road. If imports in January increase, we will probably see an increase in exports in March and April," she said.

 

The increase in shipments of steel, metal and chemical products were also an indication of the major construction efforts being undertaken, both to upgrade infrastructure and to rebuild the damage caused by the disasters, she added.

 

Imports in January hit $5.757 billion, up 21.8 percent from the same period last year, the statistics office said.

 

This resulted in a trade deficit of $1.376 billion in January, up 92 percent from the same period in 2013.

 

Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan also said in a statement that "this positive (import) performance may be reflective of the optimistic outlook of businesses on their own operations", in the second quarter of the year.

 

China was the biggest source of imports to the Philippines, accounting for 14.7 percent of the total, with the United States in second with 10.6 percent, the statistics office added. - MSN news

 

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Philippines, Switzerland strengthen economic cooperation

 

The Philippines and Switzerland vowed to intensify bilateral economic and political cooperation and partnership during their recent 6th Bilateral Consultations in Manila. The meeting was co-chaired by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary for Policy Evan P. Garcia and Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant State Secretary for Asia-Pacific, Ambassador Beat Nobs. Participating were DFA Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Maria Zeneida Angara Collinson and Switzerland’s Ambassador to the Philippines Ivo Sieber.

The two parties welcomed the signing of an Agreement on the Establishment of a Joint Economic Commission (JEC). Switzerland has been active in pursuing economic agreements in the Asia-Pacific region, including in the Philippines. With the signing of the Joint Declaration of Cooperation, the Philippines can commence negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), composed of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The Philippines and Switzerland exchanged views on various areas of common concern, including migration, education, and finance. They agreed on the importance of maritime security, freedom of navigation, and the peaceful resolution in international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

 

The Philippines thanked Switzerland for being one of the first countries to respond following super-typhoon Yolanda, with a total combined public and private humanitarian assistance amounting to US$49 million. Switzerland reaffirmed its commitment to co-host the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Manila Conference and Management which will take place in Manila this June. The Conference will be attended by 48 partner countries in the ASEM, the ASEAN Secretariat, and the European Commission. The Philippines agreed to co-host Switzerland’s proposed ASEM on Restitution of Hidden Wealth later this year.

 

Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Switzerland were formally established on August 30, 1957, although Swiss presence in the country has been recorded since the 1800s. In 1862, Switzerland established an honorary consulate in Manila, its first diplomatic outpost in Asia. In 2012, bilateral trade stood at US$657 million while Swiss investments in the Philippines amounted to US$290 million. There are about 60 Swiss companies operating in the Philippines today.

 

The Manila Bulletin, led by its Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Emilio T. Yap, President and Publisher Atty. Hermogenes P. Pobre, Executive Vice President Dr. Emilio C. Yap III, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Cris J. Icban Jr., Business Editor Loreto D. Cabañes, Directors, Officers and Employees, Congratulate the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines headed by Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland headed by Didier Burkhalter, in their efforts in intensifying bilateral economic and political cooperation and partnership of Switzerland  and the Republic of the Philippines. 

 

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Philippines to sign $525 Million Canada and Korea aircraft contracts this March 28, 2014

The Department of National Defense and Armed Forces of the Philippines chose to acquire 12 FA-50 jet fighters made by the Korean Aerospace Industries Ltd. Photo from Korean Aerospace Industries Ltd.

 

The Philippines will award aircraft contracts to South Korean and Canadian companies worth $525.62 million (P23.7 billion), a senior defense official said on Friday, boosting its capability as tension simmers in the South China Sea.

 

The Philippines has embarked on a five-year, 75-billion-peso modernization program to boost its capability to defend its maritime borders against the creeping expansion of China in the South China Sea.

 

"This is significant because we need to give our armed forces the minimum capability to perform its mission and responsibility," Manalo told reporters after completing negotiations with the two companies.

 

Korean Aerospace Industries Ltd. got the contract for the fighter-trainers worth 18.9 billion pesos while Canadian Commercial Corporation, which is licensed to market Bell helicopters, promised to deliver its first craft next year.

 

Last week, China prevented two civilian ships from delivering supplies to troops stationed in the shipwreck in the Second Thomas Shoal.

 

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea's 3.5 million sq. km. (1.35 sq miles) of waters. The sea provides 10 percent of the global fish catch and carries $5 trillion in ship-borne trade each year.

 

Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims to the sea.

 

The Philippines' ill-equipped armed forces are no match for those of China, despite receiving two cutters and coastal radar stations from the United States. The military lost its fighter capability when it mothballed all its F-5A/Bs in the early 2000s.

 

Manalo said the Philippines was also spending 26 billion pesos within the year to acquire two frigates, two strategic sealift and three anti-submarine helicopters.

 

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Friday warned that China was determined to change the status quo in the disputed waters, taking control of the Scarborough Shoal and forcing Manila to remove a transport ship that ran aground in the Second Thomas Shoal.

 

Fernando Manalo, undersecretary of defense for finance, munitions, installations and materiel, said the Philippines would acquire 12 brand-new FA-50 fighter-trainers and eight Bell 412 helicopters under a government-to-government deal.

 

The contracts to be signed on March 28 will include the purchase of 12 FA-50 fighter jets from state-run Korea Aerospace Industries for 18.9 billion pesos ($417.95 million), Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo told reporters.

 

The Bell 412 is a development of the Bell 212 Twin Huey, the main difference being the 412 has a four-blade main rotor. Photo from www.bellhelicopter.com

 

State-owned Canadian Commercial Corp. will meanwhile be contracted to supply eight Bell 412 combat utility helicopters worth 4.8 billion pesos, with the first three helicopters expected to be delivered next year, he added.

 

"This is significant because it will give our armed forces the minimum capability to demonstrate their ability to perform their responsibilities," he added.

 

The Philippines has embarked on a 75-billion-peso effort to upgrade its armed forces, particularly units tasked with patrolling disputed territory in the South China Sea.

 

These units are dwarfed by those of neighboring China, which claims most of the area, including waters and islets much closer to the Philippines.

 

The Philippines has already acquired two refurbished frigates from the US coastguard as part of its military modernization program .

 

China said its coastguard on March 9 blocked two Philippine-flagged vessels approaching Second Thomas Shoal, which is guarded by a small group of Filipino marines but is also claimed by Beijing.

 

The shoal is part of the Spratlys, a chain of islets and reefs that sit near key shipping lanes, are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are also believed to lie atop huge oil and gas reserves.

 

The Philippines has also accused the Chinese coastguard of firing water cannon blasts on January 27 at two Filipino fishing vessels off Scarborough Shoal, a rocky outcrop lies just 220 kilometers off the main Philippine island of Luzon. GMA news/ Reuters 

 

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CHACHA WIN! VOTE: 24-2-1 Economic Charter Change allow foriegn investors to own 100% in the Philippines

House committee  okays cha-cha

 

Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District), a co-author of the bill seeking an amendment to the economic provision of the 1987 Constitution, said it was approved by the Committee on Constitutional Amendments of the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon.

 

The principal author of the bill is House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

 

Voting 24-2-1, the Committee on Constitutional Amendments approved Resolution of Both Houses No. 1 aiming to insert “unless otherwise provided by law” in the economic provision of the Constitution.

 

Davao City Rep. Mylene Garcia-Albano, who chairs the committee, said the approved resolution will be forwarded to the plenary for second reading.

 

Those who voted against the resolution were Bayan Muna party-list Reps. Carlos Isagani Zarate and Neri Colmenares, while Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, abstained from the voting.

 

The resolution aims to amend economic provisions on the 60-40 rule that limits foreign ownership of certain activities in the Philippines.

 

The resolution will include the phrase “unless provided by law” in the foreign-ownership provision of the Constitution, particularly land ownership, public utilities, natural resources, media and advertising industries.

 

Under Article XII of the Constitution, foreign investors are prohibited to own more than 40 percent of real properties and businesses, while they are totally restricted to exploit natural resources and own any company in the media industry.

 

The amendments to the Charter will be approved through separate votings by the both Chambers -- the Senate and the House of Representatives -- with a three-fourth votes required from them.

 

The Cha-cha debate will start after Congress resumes session on May 5 as they are prepared to go on Lenten recess on March 15.

 

Belmonte and Alvarez said the amendments are purely for the economic provisions.

 

Belmonte stressed that he will not allow any member to insert any provision other than what is specified in his resolution.

 

He expressed confidence that his proposal will get the vote of the majority in the Lower Chamber.- CARLA GOMEZ - Visayan Daily Star /*CPG/PNA

 

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Philippines ask Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam to join the case to K.O China from Asean Waters

illustration from voanews.com

 

Philippines asks neighbors to join case against China

 

 The Philippines on Thursday called on Malaysia, Vietnam and other claimants to join its legal challenge to China’s massive territorial claim in the South China Sea.

 

In a bold step, Filipino officials took their territorial disputes with China to international arbitration in January last year after Chinese government ships took control of a disputed shoal off the northwestern Philippines.

 

They asked the tribunal to declare China’s claim to about 80 percent of the strategic waters and Beijing’s seizure of eight South China Sea shoals and reefs illegal. China has ignored the legal challenge but the tribunal has proceeded and asked the Philippines to submit its legal arguments and evidence by March 30.

 

The Philippines chief lawyer, Solicitor-General Francis Jardeleza, said Malaysia, Vietnam and two other governments could either take part in the Philippine case or file their own complaints against China. Smaller countries, he said, can only have a chance to peacefully defend their territories against the Asian superpower in a legal arena.

 

“Where can the weak go?” Jardeleza asked in a Manila forum on the territorial disputes.

 

“We are here to prove that from the point of view of the rule of law, all of the actions and all of the claims of China are ... invalid.”

 

China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims across the busy South China Sea. The disputes have periodically erupted into dangerous confrontations, sparking tensions and straining ties.

 

animation from wix.com

 

Law professor Raul Pangalangan told the forum that the Philippines wanted China to explain the limits and basis of its vast claims. China, Jardeleza said, could still change its mind and join the arbitration, which would take at least two years to conclude.

 

China has asked the other claimants to settle the disputes through one-on-one negotiations, something that would give it advantage because of its sheer size and clout. It has also warned Washington not to get involved.

 

The Philippines may include recent aggressive Chinese acts in its complaint, including what it said was the firing of a water cannon by a Chinese coast guard ship to drive away Filipino fishermen from the disputed Scarborough Shoal on Jan. 27, Jardeleza said.

 

China has controlled the shoal since Philippine vessels backed off from a tense standoff there in 2012. Chinese coast guard and surveillance ships have guarded the territory and chased away Filipino fishermen if they ventured close.

 

After the Philippines raised the Jan. 27 incident publicly, the Chinese Embassy in Manila responded that Beijing “has indisputable sovereignty over South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters,” Scarborough Shoal included. - Arab News

 

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China Fired Cannon to Philippine Fishermen in Palawan Waters

China used water cannon on Philippine fishermen Spratly Islands. Photo: rt.com

 

Philippines says China used water cannon on fishermen in disputed sea

MANILA (Reuters) - A Chinese coastguard ship used a water cannon last month to drive Filipino fishermen out of disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), illustrating aggressive enforcement of new Chinese rules, the head of the Philippine military said on Monday.

 

China has since the beginning of the year required foreign fishing boats to get approval before entering waters that China claims as its own.

 

"The Chinese coastguard tried to drive away fishermen to the extent of using water cannon," Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Emmanuel Bautista told foreign correspondents, referring to a January 27 incident near the Scarborough Shoal.

 

China claims about 90 percent of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea)'s 3.5 million sq km (1.35 million sq mile) waters. The sea provides 10 percent of the global fish catch, carries $5 trillion in ship-borne trade a year and is believed to be rich in energy.

 

Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea.

 

Bautista declined to give more details about the confrontation in the area, about 130 nautical miles west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, saying the military still had to talk to the fishermen.

 

He said the Philippine military would try to avoid confrontation with China but would react if China used violence against Philippine fishermen.

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she was not aware of details of the situation, and repeated that China had sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and its islands.

 

"The relevant Chinese maritime forces carry out normal official patrols in that area," she told a daily news briefing.

 

A senior Philippine navy official said it was the first time China used water cannon in the area.

 

"Our fishermen are used to playing a dangerous cat-and-mouse game but China has become very aggressive," said the navy official who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

 

The Philippines has taken its dispute with China to arbitration under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea but China is refusing to participate in the case.

 

China has rejected challenges to its sovereignty claims and accused the Philippines of illegally occupying Chinese islands in the seas and of provoking tension.

 

This month, the commander of the U.S. Navy said the United States would come to the aid of the Philippines in the event of conflict with China over disputed waters.

 

The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Philip Goldberg, who was attending the same forum as Bautista, urged the Association of South East Asian Nations and China to accelerate negotiations on a code of conduct for the sea to avoid accidents and miscalculations.

 

"We believe that the agreement on the code of conduct is long overdue," Goldberg said, adding that the United States supported Philippine efforts to bring the dispute to international arbitration.

 

(Reporting By Manuel Mogato; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Reuters

 

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$29 Million or ₱1.3 Billion from Marcos' Swiss bank accounts returned to the Philippine Government

An estimated $29 million or ₱1.3 Billion, previously stored in secret Swiss accounts kept by the late President Ferdinand Marcos and family members, have been returned to the Philippine government. 

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) made this announcement on Wednesday, roughly two weeks before the Philippines is set to commemorate the 1986 People Power Revolution that deposed Marcos who, with close family members, relatives, and cronies, sought exile in Hawaii. 

Worth P1.3 billion, the funds were from accounts held in the name of several foundations which were later proven to be "fronts of the [members of the] Marcos family," Andres Bautista, PCGG Chairperson said in a press briefing held on Wednesday morning. 

The funds—which were originally denominated in two currencies including the British pound—were transferred to the national treasury after the PCGG, on the strength of Philippine, Swiss, and Singaporean court decisions, engaged in talks with several financial institutions to recover the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth. 

In 1997, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ordered the funds to be turned over to the Philippine government, Bautista explained. 

"There was enough evidence to convince the Swiss courts particularly the highest court of Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, to say that these are really ill-gotten wealth and that's why they agreed to the repatriation of these funds back to the Philippines," he said during the briefing. 

However, the Swiss court set conditions before the funds be turned over to the Philippine government. 

These conditions were: that the funds were to be invested in a double A bank; that a final decision regarding the matter be issued by the Philippines' Supreme Court; and that the Philippine government should enter an escrow arrangement with another bank. 

As a result of the Swiss court ruling, the money was later placed in West Landesbank in Singapore and the Philippine government arranged to have the money temporarily held by the privately-led Philippine National Bank, which used to be one of the government's depository banks but is now a lender controlled by businessman Lucio Tan, a known associate of the Marcoses. 

In July 2003, the Philippine Supreme Court issued a decision granting the forfeiture of these assets in favor of the government. 

Not long after, a case was filed in Singapore by lawyers of human rights victims during the Marcos dictatorship. The case sought to stake a claim on funds from the Swiss accounts that were, at that time, stored in West Landesbank. 

But in August 2012, a Singapore High Court sustained the claim of the Philippine National Bank, stating that "it holds the legal title as a trustee of the Republic of the Philippines," Bautista explained during the briefing. 

In December 2013, the Singapore Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, paving the way for a meeting between "the PCGG, the PNB, as well as the [Wes Landesbank] which held the funds," regarding the fund turnover, Bautista said. 

And on February 5 and 10, the PCGG was finally able to turn over the funds to the Philippine national treasury, Bautista said. 

A total of P166 billion have been recovered by the PCGG in its 28-year existence, Bautista said.

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Israel offers excess defense radars for ₱2.6 Billion to the Philippines; 1 lent radar to arrive this year

 

Israel offers excess defense articles to Philippines

 

Israel has offered to provide the Philippines with excess defense articles.

 

Department of National Defense spokesman Peter Galvez said Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon discussed the matter during a bilateral meeting in Tel Aviv last week.

 

“Israel also offered assistance in the development of command, control, communications, computers and intelligence capabilities as well as the availability of excess defense articles for Philippine acquisition,” he said.

 

Gazmin and Ya’alon also discussed the prospects of information exchange, particularly on terrorism and technology-sharing.

 

Earlier, The STAR reported that the Philippines would acquire three air search radars from Israel to boost monitoring activities in the West Philippine Sea.

 

The radars will be purchased from state-run Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.-Elta for ₱2.6 billion.

 

Last week, security officials signed an implementation arrangement to pave the way for the purchase.

 

Part of the deal is for Israel to lend one radar for the immediate security needs of the Philippines.

 

The delivery of the three radars is expected within the next two years.

 

The radar to be lent will arrive in a year.  

 

The radars will be used to improve the country’s maritime domain awareness in the West Philippine Sea.

 

Galvez said Gazmin and Ya’alon also discussed the establishment of a working group to examine the security situation in their countries and to explore efforts to address common concerns.

 

“The working group will also come up with available solutions with cost considerations in regard to further enhancing the defense capability build-up of the Philippines,” he said.

 

Upon the invitation of Ya’alon, Gazmin visited Israel en route to his official visit to the Golan Heights - philSTAR

 

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