Maniolas

Vietnamese and Philippine troops got together on a disputed island in the South China Sea on Sunday to play soccer and volleyball—as well as drink beer—in a display of unity that will not go unnoticed in Beijing. Philippine naval officials billed the event on the Vietnamese-held island as a chance to show the world there can be harmony in the South China Sea despite a web of overlapping claims to the potentially energy-rich waters. The gathering on Southwest Cay in the Spratly archipelago also symbolizes how once-suspicious neighbours are cooperating in the face of China’s growing assertiveness in disputed waters. About 40 Philippine naval personnel sailed to the island for the day-long event, Philippine naval officials said. Coincidentally, the Philippines occupied Southwest Cay until early 1975, when troops from then South Vietnam seized it after Philippine forces sailed a couple of miles to Northeast Cay, which was under Manila’s control, for a party. The South Vietnamese were soon displaced by the communist forces of a victorious Hanoi. Besides playing soccer and volleyball, the troops held a tug-of-war competition, put on cultural shows involving singing and dancing and shared food and beer, said Philippine naval spokesman, Lieutenant-Commander Gerard Fabic. In a joint statement, the Philippine and Vietnamese navies said the sport and cultural presentations would help foster friendly ties. “This serves as a model of cooperation for other navies to emulate,” said the statement, without naming any other countries. The gathering underscores the growing cooperation between Hanoi and Manila—the two capitals Read More …

MANILA, Philippines—The governments of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have pledged to enhance cooperation in the regional crackdown on the illegal trade in marine turtles taken from the rich waters of the Coral Triangle. Sea Turtle. AFP PHOTO The commitment was made in a marine turtle trade workshop hosted by the Philippine government on June 3-4, according to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Philippines. “With the ongoing issue of poaching of marine turtles, the country recognizes the need for an integrated approach in addressing this challenge,” Theresa Mundita Lim, director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said. “The alarming trend over the past decade justifies the need for neighboring countries to make trans-boundary arrangements and improve the protection of turtles between governments,” Lim said in a WWF news release. “Entire populations of turtles are being wiped out by persistent poaching, both targeted and as by-catch,” Joel Palma, WWF-Philippines vice president for conservation, said. Organized trafficking “As foreign fishing fleets are often involved, such intergovernmental collaboration is essential to strengthen local and trans-boundary law enforcement to prevent marine turtles from being poached and traded for use as food and luxury items,” Palma added. The workshop came on the heels of an incident last month where Philippine authorities arrested Chinese fishermen off the coast of Palawan who had around 500 live and dead turtles in their boat. The involvement of local fishermen in the incident “suggests a higher degree of organized supply and trafficking Read More …

NEW YORK, New York —Anews item recently got my attention. Apparently, in a study of the deadly effects of hurricanes (or typhoons), a group of researchers observed that, in the United States at least, there were more fatalities and more destruction wrought when the hurricane/typhoon had been christened with a female name. Why was this? The researchers’ hypothesis was that those living within the area to be struck by the horrific act of nature didn’t think the typhoon would be as terrible as it would have been had it had a male name, and thus they took fewer precautions than they normally would have. Were the scientists perhaps having a private joke premised on the saying that hell hath no fury like a woman (and typhoon) scorned? I doubt that such theorizing holds any water, no pun intended. In the Philippines, at least, afflicted as we are by an average of 20 typhoons a year, folks take such natural disasters seriously, but as was shown in the case of Hurricane Haiyan/Typhoon Yolanda, the devastation was nevertheless extraordinary. By the way, the typhoons that plague our archipelago are usually named after women.   But while a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, it might be time to rethink this whole business of naming typhoons. If the intent is to make the inhabitants of the endangered area extra alert to the very real dangers of the impending fury, then I suggest the typhoons be named after historical figures Read More …

Former National Security Adviser Jose Almonte (inset) talks about the best solution to the Philippine territorial disputes with China. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—For former National Security Adviser Jose Almonte, a retired Army general, the best strategy for handling the Philippines’ territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea is the “people-to-people approach.” After all, he said, citizen initiatives are “more authentic” and “more enduring,” unlike those of politicians who are “constrained” by personal interests. Also considered the father of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), Almonte, however, did not name any politician in his meeting with several Ateneo de Manila University graduates—called the Ateneo 198—in Greenhills in San Juan City on Thursday. “This nation is still too important to be left to the politicians,” Almonte said, two days before Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is running for the presidency in 2016, was reported to be conducting “back-channel” efforts with top Chinese Embassy officials to lay the groundwork for patching the frayed relations between the Philippines and China. Under the people-to-people strategy, Almonte proposed that the Philippines’ “intellectuals” “connect” with the many intellectuals in China who oppose the Chinese leadership’s policies in the South China Sea. Exploration of possibilities He said “any mode of communication,” such as Facebook, Twitter and other social media, would do. “Maybe some of us can … explore possibilities, maybe China can exploit the exclusive economic zones, but under the laws of the (affected) littoral countries,” he said. Almonte said the Philippines, a littoral Read More …

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has asked the Supreme Court to create at least two special divisions of the Sandiganbayan to “exclusively try and conduct continuous trial” of the cases related to the alleged mulribillion-peso pork barrel fund scam. According to a post on the Ombudsman’s website, Morales has asked Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to consider creating the special divisions due to the “national magnitude of these cases, the complexities of the issues involved, the number of accused and the far-reaching consequences of these cases.” Morales made the request after the Ombudsman on Friday filed before the Sandiganbayan plunder charges against alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, Senate Minority Floor Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. The last time a special division of the anti-graft court was created was in 2001 when former President Joseph Estrada was indicted for plunder. Jinggoy Estrada was also an accused in the earlier plunder case involving proceeds from the illegal numbers game jueteng. The news release said Morales’ letter to Sereno cited Section Five, Article Eight of the Philippine Constitution, which indicates that the Supreme Court has the power to “promulgate rules concerning x x x pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts.” Napoles’ racket involved the diversion of billions of pesos worth of livelihood projects and farm inputs intended for poor farmers to her fake non-government organizations and ghost projects.   Under the scheme, lawmakers and government officials get kickbacks for allowing priority development assistance funds to be Read More …