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PH forex reserves drop as dollar strengthens

 General
Oct 072014
 
PH forex reserves drop as dollar strengthens

By Paolo G. Montecillo |Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:56 am | Wednesday, October 8th, 2014 MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines’ foreign exchange reserves slipped in September as the dollar strengthened, bringing down the value of foreign currency-denominated assets, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. Despite the decline last month, the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) level remains well above international average and enough to cover several months’ worth of imports—giving the country substantial buffer from external shocks. “The decrease in reserves was due mainly to revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings and other foreign currency-denominated reserves,” the central bank said in a statement. Preliminary data showed that the country’s GIR, held by the BSP, stood at $80.43 billion as of end-September. The BSP said this was lower than the $80.87 billion recorded the month before. The GIR level remains ample as it can cover 10.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income. It is also equivalent to 8.4 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity. Apart from the effects of foreign exchange valuation adjustments, the country’s reserves also declined as a result of payments of maturing foreign exchange obligations of the government. These outflows were partially offset by the foreign exchange operations of the BSP, net foreign currency deposits by the National Treasury and income from the BSP’s investments abroad. Dollar reserves serve as a line of defense to allow the economy to withstand external financial crises that may lead to Read More …

Mideast problems hamper US security pivot to Asia

 News
Oct 052014
 
Mideast problems hamper US security pivot to Asia

Associated Press 3:33 am | Monday, October 6th, 2014 This April 28, 2014, file photo shows US President Barack Obama toasting with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, right, during a state dinner at Malacanang Palace in Manila, following the signing of the Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. The Obama administration is still chipping away at its grand plan for a rebalance to Asia that began within months of Obama taking office in 2009, when the US signed a cooperation treaty with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations. AP PHOTO/FRANCIS R. MALASIG WASHINGTON—A military agreement with the Philippines and easing an arms embargo against Vietnam show the Obama administration wants deeper security ties with Asia, even as turmoil in the Mideast has undermined its hope of making Asia the heart of its foreign policy. The “pivot” was intended to be US President Barack Obama’s signature push in foreign affairs. As the United States disentangled from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would devote more military and diplomatic attention to the Asia-Pacific region and American economic interests there. The world hasn’t turned out as planned. Washington is grappling with the chaotic fallout of the Arab Spring, a growing rivalry with Russia, and the alarming rise of the Islamic State group that is prompting the United States to launch air strikes in Iraq and Syria. Against this chaotic backdrop, the growing tensions in the South and East China Seas and US efforts to counter the rise of an increasingly assertive China appear Read More …

Filipinos going to HK advised to be careful

 General
Oct 042014
 
Filipinos going to HK advised to be careful

An aerial view shows a thinned crowd of pro-democracy student protesters continuing to occupy the streets around the government complex in Hong Kong, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014. Raising the stakes in their standoff with the authorities, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters threatened to occupy key government buildings unless the territory’s top official resigns by the end of the day Thursday. AP MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Saturday advised Filipinos traveling to Hong Kong to be vigilant following a clash between pro-democracy protesters and anti-protester groups. After days of protests by demonstrators moving to occupy large swaths of the city in their call for full free elections, the Philippine government still has to issue a formal travel advisory. “To everyone going there, please be aware of your surroundings, especially because there are some protests in tourist spots,” Palace spokeswoman Abigail Valte said over government-run dzRB radio. “Be mindful of your surroundings.” On Friday, tension grew in two of the city’s shopping districts, after anti-protester groups dismantled barricades and faced off with the demonstrators. They were separated by the police. The demonstrators, known as Occupy Central, had set a Thursday midnight ultimatum for Chief Executive Leung Chunying to resign, and for Beijing to drop proposals that it vet candidates aspiring for the chief executive’s post in 2017. The demonstrators are demanding open nominations, instead of a process wherein mostly pro-Beijing panel will screen candidates for the territory’s first election to choose its leader in 2017. Valte reiterated the Philippine foreign office’s appeal to Filipinos to Read More …

Additional troops deployed to monitor reported ISIS recruitment in Mindanao

 News
Oct 032014
 
Additional troops deployed to monitor reported ISIS recruitment in Mindanao

By Matikas Santos |INQUIRER.net 2:06 pm | Friday, October 3rd, 2014 Philippine military chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang. AP MANILA, Philippines–The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has boosted the number of troops in Mindanao to improve the monitoring of groups there that are reportedly recruiting for the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “We added an additional brigade (around 1,500 soldiers) in Mindanao. They are scattered across Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi,” General Gergorio Catapang, AFP Chief of Staff, said following the budget hearing of the Department of National Defense (DND) in the Senate. He said they will monitor and gather intelligence related to reports that the ISIS was recruiting in the Philippines as well as to “stabilize the situation in Zamboanga city.” “We want people to feel secured especially after one year [since] the Zamboanga incident,” Catapang said. During the hearing presided by Senator Loren Legarda, DND secretary Voltaire Gazmin reiterated that they are taking the ISIS threat “very seriously.” “But at the moment, we have not received and verified the existence of ISIS here in the Philippines. Some groups are using ISIS as propaganda to recruit membership in their terror group, particularly the Abu Sayyaf,” he said. RELATED STORIES Security expert: Claims of ISIS recruitment in PH should be taken seriously Duterte confirms ISIS recruited Filipino rebels Follow Us Other Stories: US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense No Ebola travel ban on Nigeria, POEA says Chinese poachers moved to Palawan prison Gazmin: Chinese ships haven’t bothered PH troops at Ayungin Shoal Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Read More …

US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense

 News
Oct 032014
 
US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense

In this May 7, 2014 file photo released by Vietnam Coast Guard, a Chinese ship, left, shoots water cannon at a Vietnamese vessel, right, while a Chinese Coast Guard ship, center, sails alongside in the South China Sea, off Vietnam’s coast as Chinese ships are ramming at Vietnamese vessels trying to stop Beijing from setting up an oil rig in the sea. AP FILE PHOTO WASHINGTON–In a decision likely to anger China, the US is partly lifting a 40-year ban on arms sales to former foe Vietnam to help boost defenses in the tense South China Sea. The historic easing of the ban in place since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 will only apply to maritime equipment, State Department officials stressed, and comes amid warming ties and as Hanoi makes “modest” improvements to human rights. “What’s driving this is not a sudden desire to transfer military equipment to Vietnam writ large, but a specific need in the region,” said one official, highlighting what he called Vietnam’s lack of capacity in the disputed waters and America’s own national security interests. “It’s useful in trying to deal with the territorial disputes in the South China Sea to bolster the capacity of our friends in the region to maintain a maritime presence in some capacity.” Some 40 percent of the world’s seaborne trade passes through the sea which is claimed in part by Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia, as well as China and the Philippines. ‘Destabilizing actions’ Although the United Read More …

No Ebola travel ban on Nigeria, POEA says

 News
Oct 022014
 
No Ebola travel ban on Nigeria, POEA says

By Eunice Barbara C. Novio |INQUIRER.net 11:35 am | Friday, October 3rd, 2014 Overseas Filipino Workers in Nigeria When Lito Nucum and Bennie Cruz stepped on the plane bound for the Philippines on September 14, they knew it was a gamble. They had a very slim chance of going back to their lucrative jobs at Dantata and Sawoe, Nigeria’s largest locally-owned construction firm. “ I have to go back to the Philippines to settle legal matters,” Nucum said. Cruz came home to celebrate his daughter’s debut on October 4. The OFWs in Nigeria, earlier in September complained about the advisory released by the Philippine Embassy in Abuja that stated “those with existing contracts planning to go back to the Philippines at the time of the implementation of modified alert level 2 will not be allowed to return to affected countries.” The OFW organizations like The Migrants, Pusong Pinoy Association and the Filipino Association in Port Hartcourt as well as the managers of several companies joined in the petitions and bombarded the embassy with phone calls asking to retract the statement. They also sought the assistance of the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA). On September 16, the Department of Foreign Affairs, OUMWA and Ambassador Alex Lamadrid agreed to hold a video conference regarding the issue of advisory modified alert level 2. Nucum and Cruz represented the OFWs in Nigeria during the conference. OUMWA Executive Director Ricardo Endaya clarified that the “modified alert level 2” advisory was from the DFA and sent Read More …

Aquino remembers a pretty woman in Boston neighborhood

 General
Sep 232014
 
Aquino remembers a pretty woman in Boston neighborhood

By Nikko Dizon |Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:11 am | Wednesday, September 24th, 2014 HOME AWAY FROM HOME President Aquino visits the house on Commonwealth Avenue in Newton, Massachusetts, where the Aquino family lived for three years while his father, then opposition leader Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was on exile in the United States. The President returns after 31 years, saying it’s an emotional time for him. EDWIN BACASMAS NEWTON, Massachusetts—He had a pretty neighbor but someone else in a flashy car picked her up one day. And that ended Noynoy Aquino’s plans of asking her out on a date. This was among the fond memories that President Aquino shared with friends who accompanied him to his family’s former home in Newton on Monday morning (late Monday night in Manila). Aquino brought a gift for Ione Malloy, the retired American schoolteacher who had bought the house more than a decade ago. Mah-jongg, informal dinners Dr. Mario Bucal, a good friend of the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in Boston, also joined the President in his nostalgic return to the house that saw a lot of mah-jongg games and informal dinners. The President spent some 30 minutes inside the house with his friends, Doctor Bucal and Malloy. It was a private meeting, which members of the media were not allowed to cover. Coverage of the visit was limited to a photo and video opportunity outside the house. Aquino was overheard by Inquirer photographer Edwin Bacasmas sharing his stories with friends Read More …

Heroes’ welcome awaits Filipino UN peacekeepers

 News
Sep 212014
 
Heroes’ welcome awaits Filipino UN peacekeepers

Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:54 am | Monday, September 22nd, 2014 Philippine Armed Forces Chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, left, salutes to welcome Philippine troops, who were deployed in the Golan Heights as UN peacekeepers and recently battled Syrian rebels, upon arrival late Sunday, Sept 21, 2014 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. President Aquino is expected to lead the welcome party for the Philippine contingent upon his return from his trip to Europe and the United States. AP PHOTO/BULLIT MARQUEZ MANILA, Philippines–A heroes’ welcome awaits the Filipino soldiers who have returned from the Golan Heights after serving in the United Nations peacekeeping mission there. President Aquino is expected to lead the welcome party for the Philippine contingent upon his return from his trip to Europe and the United States. The festive homecoming is tentatively set for Sept. 26 in Malacañang. “The President will lead in welcoming them home. Details are still being worked out but, definitely, they will call on the President,” said Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Public Affairs Office chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The first batch of 244 Filipino soldiers arrived on Friday night at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City as Tropical Storm “Mario” battered the country. Zagala said the second batch of 84 troops was expected to arrive late Sunday night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport via a commercial flight. The military is also planning a motorcade for the soldiers. The country pulled out the 7th Philippine Contingent, led by Lt. Col. Read More …

In Boston, Aquino walks down memory lane

 News
Sep 212014
 
In Boston, Aquino walks down memory lane

By Nikko Dizon |Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:10 am | Monday, September 22nd, 2014 President Aquino is welcomed by Defense and Armed Forces Attache Capt. Elson Aguilar upon his arrival at Boston Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014. RYAN LIM/ Malacanang Photo Bureau SUDBURY, Massachusetts—Dr. Mario Bucal used to tell his late friend Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. that the Filipino opposition leader would one day be the President of the Philippines. Ninoy never made it to Malacañang. He was assassinated as he stepped off a plane on his return in 1983 from three years of self-exile in the United States. Instead it was Ninoy’s wife, Corazon, and son, Noynoy, who both became leaders of the country. On Saturday night, the son arrived in Boston for a four-day personal and working visit in the United States following a four-nation tour of Europe the past week. He will stop by the Bucal home on Sunday. Needless to say, it was an indescribable feeling for Bucal and his wife, Norma, to host a private lunch for President Aquino at their home in Sudbury, 28 kilometers from Boston. A handful of others had been invited to the lunch, which had been kept under wraps because the President wanted to have a private time with his parents’ dear friends while in exile. They included mostly doctors, which led them to tease Ninoy that he had a personal team of physicians who would attend to him while he recuperated from his heart Read More …

Hopes dim for return of Philippine troops to Golan

 News
Sep 212014
 
Hopes dim for return of Philippine troops to Golan

Associated Press 10:24 pm | Sunday, September 21st, 2014 In this handout photo taken on October 2013 and released by Philippine Armed Forces public affairs office (AFP-PAO) on August 29, 2014 shows officers and men of the 7th Philippine peacekeeping force bound for the Golan Heights posing for photos during their send-off ceremony at the army heradquarters in Manila. Heavily armed Philippine peacekeepers defied Syrian rebels on August 29 in a Golan Heights standoff hours after the gunmen disarmed and took hostage 43 Fijian soldiers there, Filipino authorities said. AP MANILA, Philippines — Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said he’s been told security threats on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights are not expected to ease soon, dimming hopes that UN peacekeepers can be deployed back to the region in the near future. A group of 244 Philippine peacekeepers flew back to Manila on Friday after being recalled, while 84 more were due home Sunday, ending a five-year presence in the increasingly volatile Golan. There have been no signs suggesting the Philippines will resume its mission in the Golan. Filipino forces continue to help a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti. Aquino said his government was informed in a letter from the UN assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, Edmond Mulet, that “there is no expectation” that UN peacekeepers could be deployed back to the Syrian side of the Golan “in the short or midterm.” Aquino’s comments, made Friday during a just concluded trip to Germany, were released to the media Read More …

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