Philippines reiterates call ASEAN members to take a decisive stand on Spratlys issue

The Philippines reiterated anew its call on the other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take a united and decisive role in the resolution of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) disputes by supporting its proposal that a meeting be held as soon as possible among the claimant states, including China, under the guidance of ASEAN.

"The Philippines calls on all ASEAN Member States to endorse this proposed claimant states' meeting, which the Philippines is ready to host. We would also welcome other ASEAN Member States to host this meeting if they would like to unequivocally express their support for and advance a rules-based approach in the region," Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in his statement at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) Retreat held in Siem Reap, Cambodia on January 11.

"The Philippines eagerly awaits ASEAN's response to this proposed meeting of claimant states," he added. The DFA chief also reiterated that a rules-based approach is the only legitimate way in addressing disputes in the West Philippine Sea and that the dispute settlement mechanism established in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the fundamental principle of the rules-based approach being espoused by the Philippines.

Del Rosario said the rules-based approach under UNCLOS also calls for the resolution of disputes through peaceful means, thus the Philippines proposed to ASEAN the Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship, and Cooperation (ZoPFF/C) as the actionable framework to clarify and segregate the disputed land features from the non-disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea, and in the process, address the issue of the 9-dash line.

The Philippines also has stated that it is considering third party adjudication, arbitration or conciliation, as appropriate, in the context of the dispute settlement mechanism of UNCLOS.

"Thus far, we are pleased that fellow ASEAN Member States support the rules-based approach, which essentially calls for:

(1) Solving the issue peacefully,

(2) In accordance with the rule of law, particularly international law and UNCLOS, and

(3) The multilateral participation of various stakeholders to account for the various perspectives and interests. These principles are the very bedrock of our international order. We have all furthermore agreed that we have to move forward with the Code of Conduct," Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario also stated that as the ASEAN is working on building the ASEAN Community, "it behooves Member States to now play a positive and meaningful role to solve the disputes peacefully in accordance with the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) and reach a stage whereby we are able to help resolve sensitive issues decisively without letting such issues fester and adversely affect the progress of our bilateral or multilateral relations."

He further noted that all are eager to move forward on the Code of Conduct to resolve the issues in the West Philippine Sea and the Philippines is ready to accept a Code of Conduct that calls for the primacy of international law, including UNCLOS, in resolving the disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

"It is ready to accept a Code of Conduct that espouses the concrete and actionable activities to foster cooperation in the West Philippine Sea in the context of international law," Del Rosario said.

He also stressed that the Philippines is willing to commit to a Code of Conduct that addresses the very core of the issue and that is to define, clarify, and segregate the disputed areas from the non-disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea.

"I understand that these elements may require considerable focus to achieve our objective. As I have often expressed, ASEAN is at a critical juncture of playing a momentous role for the resolution of the disputes in the WPS/SCS. We must now muster the will as an ASEAN Community to face these sensitive issues with determination," he said.

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Philippines ranked 8th friendliest paradise in the world -survey

Philippines – It may not always be that "fun" in the Philippines contrary to a widely circulated Department of Tourism (DOT) slogan but we are more than consistent in being warm and friendly as people.

A recent international survey conducted between May and July 2011 involving 3,385 expatriates in 100 countries reinforced this notion, with the Philippines being ranked eighth friendliest.

The top three spots were occupied by New Zealand, Australia, and South America.

According to Lisa Wood, head of marketing for HSBC, which spearheaded the survey, the study was meant to capture important insights into an expat's life.

"As the largest global survey of expats, Expat Explorer allows us to capture invaluable insights into expat life and how it differs from country to country, continent to continent and from an expats' home country of origin," says Wood, via a report on www.forbes.com that published the result of the rankings. "We want to be a business that truly understands its customers so that we can ensure our products and services meet their needs effectively."

To determine the friendliest country, the survey isolated results in four categories: ability to befriend locals, success in learning the local language, capacity for integrating themselves into the community, and ease in which they fit into the new culture.

New York-based expat coach Heather Markel says all of these play into the ability of expats to create a new support structure, which is among the biggest challenges when relocating.

"Because a majority of expats are so focused on closing the life they are leaving, they end up depressed at some point after relocating, because by not focusing on creating their new life before arriving, they end up with 'nothing'—no friends locally, nothing familiar, a feeling of loss," says Markel, via the same report. "Other challenges include learning a new language, experiencing new foods, more or less convenience, how genders might be treated. The sense of loss for what they liked in the culture they left can be a big challenge, as can a changed lifestyle."

Seventy-five percent of respondents living in New Zealand reported that they were integrating well in the local community; in Australia it was 77% and in South Africa 79%.

"New Zealanders as a whole seem like happy people, and that translates into friendly, helpful and kind people," notes American expat Kim Brinster who was also interviewed for the same piece.

Other positive aspects of New Zealand living, she says, include a "pitch-in-and-help mentality," as well as navigable government and health-care systems.

Dov Golan, an Israeli national who choose to live in the Philippines and for 14 years already  -- can't stop gushing about the people of his adopted country.

"They're very friendly and they're very polite they're very easy to talk to and they're warm people," said he in an interview with GMA News.

Golan, who is married to a Filipina, is not planning to leave anytime soon.

The same GMA report said that Malacanang welcomed the result of the HSBC survey hoping that it would help bolster the DOT's campaign to boost tourism in the country.

But which countries landed at the lowermost rung of the survey?

The least friendly country for expats was the United Arab Emirates. And among the countries that expats consider "most challenging" were Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia and India.

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