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Friday, September 19, 2014

International bank proposes Philippine peso ₱ ‘globalization’ like US Dollars $

Paris, FRANCE – President Benigno S. Aquino III passes through Honor Guards upon arrival at the Palais de L’Elysee for the Bilateral Meeting with French President Francois Hollande. RYAN LIM/ Malacañang Photo Bureau


Int’l bank proposes peso ‘globalization’

PARIS—Bouyed by his rockstar welcome, President Aquino announced he also received an equally “shocking” suggestion from an international bank proposing the “globalization” of the Philippine peso.

Breaking the news before a gathering of Filipinos on Wednesday night (1:30 a.m. Thursday in Manila), the President said he had asked Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to study the proposal, which Aquino found surprising by his own standards.

“I thought I was a bit difficult to surprise. But I was shocked when this big bank told me that we should ‘globalize’ the peso,” he said in a speech at the Chapelle Sainte Bernadette.

“Never had I thought that anyone would ever make such a suggestion, believing that the Philippines is in such a good shape that he would be willing to invest in our currency because he believes in the stability of our economy.”

“Internationalizing” the local currency will allow nonresidents to transact in peso and exports can be invoiced in the same currency, reducing foreign exchange costs. Government can also issue peso-denominated debt overseas more competitively.

New profit opportunities

An internationalized currency “offers new profit opportunities to private sector financial institutions, although this benefit may be offset in part by the entry of foreign financial institutions into the domestic financial market, to the extent that the government permits it,” according to the late international economist Peter Kenen.

But it could also “pose new risks to the domestic financial system due to the issuance of foreign debt to a country’s residents.”

Aquino received a rousing welcome from Filipinos when he came by for what was supposedly a relatively short meeting on the sidelines of his two-day trip in Paris. With his compatriots raring for a photo opportunity, the President accommodated them and ended up staying at the Chapelle Sainte Bernadette long after he delivered his speech.

The message, delivered in folksy Filipino, sought to inspire the Filipino community here with stories of what he called “transformation” now happening in their home country since he took office four years ago.

Government cares

He described a government that now “cares” for its people by using public funds properly and that agencies were working for their benefit.

Judging by the crowd reaction, the affair had the feel of a celebrity stopping by for a meet-and-greet, not a politician about to deliver an obligatory speech and was himself mired in controversies back home. People brought out their iPhones, iPads, and selfie sticks, competing for the best available view of Aquino, who was visiting Europe for the first time as President.

“There he is! There he is!” many of them shouted in Filipino, waving small Philippine flags with one hand, the other one pointing to the man forced to waddle along a corridor congested by well-wishers.

Thumbs-up

Outside, a French man driving a sedan got curious about the presence of so many Filipinos, many of them assembled across the chapel and beside the entrance.

“Why so many people?” he asked the Inquirer in broken English then gave a “thumbs-up” sign when told the President was here.

A Filipino woman said she had left work a hour early just to see Aquino. Those who managed to find seats inside the chapel considered themselves lucky, having been allowed to take pictures with their VIP guest.

Besides the serious stuff about how the Philippines had “improved” under his watch, Aquino entertained the crowd with jokes and sardonic remarks about the supposed excesses of his predecessor.

The President was supposed to get a breather Thursday night with a scheduled private tour of the Louvre museum.

Accustomed to criticisms

In his meeting with the Filipino community here, Aquino took the opportunity to unburden himself before his captive audience, saying he had grown accustomed to brickbats from critics.

At home, the President is under fire for flirting with the idea of a second term, a move that would require a constitutional amendment. Earlier this week, he said “nothing is impossible” and it could still be done with less than two years left before the next elections.

In the speech, he made it clear that he had only six years, saying “I will make the most out of every opportunity to deliver benefits to the greater number of Filipinos.”

“Some people are asking: Will the [reforms] still continue? Who will do that?” he said.

“Perhaps they’re asking the wrong question because it’s clear that we were able to do all this because we are all united, we persevered and we paddled toward the same direction.”

“Since that’s the case, all of us Filipinos would be the ones to continue what we have started. This is not dependent on one person or group alone.”

LRT agreements

The President left for a fellowship dinner about an hour later. Filipinos began filing out of the chapel, showing off their precious photos with the man who claims he brought back a government that cared for its people.

On Thursday, Aquino witnessed the ceremonial signing of agreements for the Light Rail Transit Line 1 at a business forum here.

One was a technical services agreement between the Light Rail Consortium and the French transport firm RATP Developpement for operation and maintenance of the Manila LRT 1 Cavite Extension Project.

Another was with French engineering firm Bouygues Publics Travoix, Alstom Transport for the “design and construction” of the LRT 1 Extension Project, which would provide eight more stations spanning 12 kilometers. - Inquirer 

 

 

244 Philippine UN peacekeepers To arrive Manila, Withdrawn After defying order of Rebel Supporter UN Indian General

A UN peacekeeper from the Philippines crosses back from Syria at the Quneitra Crossing between Syria and the Israeli Golan Heights,Thursday, March 7. (photo credit: AP/Ariel Schalit)

Philippines begins withdrawing troops from Golan

 

Filipino ‘warrior peacekeepers’ an outsized global presence, but last month’s firefight with Syrian rebels led to decision to evacuate

 

The Philippine army has begun withdrawing its forces from the Golan Heights two weeks earlier than planned due to the escalating fighting on the Syrian side of the plateau

 

A military spokesman in Manila said 244 Filipino soldiers were evacuated in a UN aircraft, and are slated to arrive Friday in the country’s capital Manila, Israel Radio reports.

 

The remaining 100 soldiers will be evacuated in a week.

 

Last month, Philippine soldiers found themselves surrounded and battling Syrian rebels with ties to Al Qaeda after the rebel group had demanded their surrender.

 

The Philippine government had decided before the incident not to extend the forces’ stay in the Golan beyond next month.

 

The Philippine contingent served five years in the 1,200-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force on the Golan, which has recently relocated to Mount Bental, behind the Israeli defensive line, to avoid further clashes with Syrian armed groups.

 

An outsized global presence


After nearly two decades on the frontlines against Muslim insurgents in the Philippines’ violence-plagued south, Army Captain Teodoro Nicor is looking forward to guarding a war zone abroad.

 

Nicor is training with hundreds of other battle-hardened troops to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission overseas, continuing a tradition that began more than 50 years ago when Filipino soldiers went to the Congo.

 

“We are very excited,” said Nicor, 39. “There is fear, but we have prepared really well for this.”

 

The Philippines participation in the UN’s blue helmet brigades came under the spotlight last month when 75 soldiers fended off an attack by Al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights.

 

While the incident made world headlines and prompted the UN to withdraw its peacekeeping force from the Syrian side of the territory, training for Nicor and his colleagues is very much focused on charm offensives.

 

At a military base dedicated solely to UN peacekeeping training, Nicor last week led a seven-vehicle convoy through a mock war zone to deliver supplies when they were stopped by “civilians” desperate for food.

 

With the rifle slung on his back pointed to the ground, he sought out the group’s leader and offered a handshake while his men in blue helmets and bulletproof vests stood on guard behind him.

 

“My friend, good morning,” a smiling Nicor said.

 

Angry, repeated demands for food ensued, with Nicor slowly defusing the situation through calm negotiations while maintaining a friendly demeanor.

 

Warrior peacekeepers


Colonel Roberto Ancan, commander of the training camp, said Filipinos brought a unique mix to the UN’s peacekeeping missions with their internationally renowned friendliness and battlefield experience.

 

“We wave, we smile, we shake hands, we greet good morning, good afternoon and good evening and in the local language as well,” said Ancan, himself a former peacekeeper in Timor Leste.

 

He said the Filipinos had a term for themselves that reflected their unique qualities: “warrior peacekeepers.”

 

The warrior element was on full display in the Golan Heights stand-off, after the rebels surrounded the Filipinos at their outposts and demanded their weapons.

 

The rebels had just launched a similar assault against 45 Fijian peacekeepers, who surrendered and were taken hostage.

 

In what proved to be a highly controversial move, the Filipinos defied an order from their UN commander, an Indian, to also surrender, and eventually escaped after four days. The Fijians were released after two weeks.

 

The Philippines lodged a formal complaint against the UN commander for issuing the surrender order, as President Benigno Aquino heaped praise on his troops.

 

“Every Filipino soldier there, from the privates to the colonel, showed cleverness and expertise,” Aquino said.

 

The trainees at the base, in the farming community of Capas about three hours’ drive from Manila, said they were not surprised that their compatriots did not surrender.

 

“Our guns are like our wives, we don’t give them up,” Nicor said.

 

Battle hardened


Nicor speaks with the experience of having spent most of his career in the southern Philippines, where Muslim rebels and communist guerrillas have been waging two of Asia’s longest insurgencies.

 

He is the leader of a battalion whose members were selected to join the UN efforts because of their success battling the Muslim rebels, who have been fighting since the 1970s for an independent homeland.

 

Nicor and the other 330 soldiers in training were due to replace the Golan Heights crew next month.

 

However Aquino decided to end the Philippine presence in the Golan, contested by Syria and Israel, due to the rising security threats.

 

The troops were part of the UN force monitoring a 1974 ceasefire in the Golan Heights, where Israel captured 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) in 1967.

 

More than 100 troops serving with a peacekeeping force in Liberia were also recently pulled out because of fears they may contract Ebola.

 

This will leave only about 150 Filipino troops wearing the UN’s blue helmets in Haiti, plus a handful of observers in the Ivory Coast, India and Pakistan.

 

Before Aquino decided to withdraw from the Golan Heights and Liberia, the Philippines had more than 600 troops abroad with the UN, making it one of Asia’s biggest contributors to the global peacekeeping missions.

 

However the government and military chiefs insist the commitment to the UN is as strong as ever, and Filipinos will continue to be deployed overseas for many years to come.

 

“The Philippines remains committed to peacekeeping engagements because we are determined to promote international security and stability,” military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ramon Zagala said.

 

While Nicor and the other training troops will not go to the Golan, they will remain on standby for the next UN appeal to guard a global hotspot, according to Ancan, their commander.

 

Lucrative missions


The soldiers themselves are keen to head overseas, as joining a UN peacekeeping mission can be lucrative and often lead to promotions on return.

 

The Philippines has one of Asia’s poorest and most ill-equipped militaries, with a soldier’s salary ranging from just 16,000 pesos ($364) to 60,000 pesos ($1,365) a month.

 

Peacekeepers get a $900 (39,500-peso) monthly allowance from the UN, on top of their regular salary.

 

One of the trainees at Capas, Corporal Mynald Cartaciano, 33, said he wanted to build a house for his wife and two babies.

 

“I want to save up for my family, for my children,” he said. - The Times of Israel

 

 

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