US solon hails PH handling of China Sea issue

 News
Feb 222013
 
US solon hails PH handling of China Sea issue

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:35 pm | Friday, February 22nd, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—A visiting lawmaker from the United States has lauded the Philippines’ “restraint” in dealing with China over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) issue and he hoped the Chinese side would “understand the need” to settle the long-drawn-out territorial dispute soon. US Rep. Jeff Miller, who leads a five-member delegation of US lawmakers on a three-day visit here, also reiterated his government’s support for a peaceful resolution of the dispute, an issue of keen interest to the US amid its defense pivot to the Asia Pacific. “We appreciate the restraint that the government here has shown in going through the arbitration process. I’m hopeful that China will be able to understand the need to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” Miller told the Inquirer while visiting the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario had briefed the delegation—Miller and fellow US Representatives Gus Bilirakis, Timothy Walz, Michael Michaud and Josiah Bonner—on the West Philippine Sea issue during the group’s courtesy call at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. During the meeting, the Philippine side explained the country’s move to hale China to the United Nations arbitration tribunal in a bid to invalidate the Chinese side’s “nine-dash line” claim over territories in the contested region of the South China Sea, including a portion the Philippines refers to as the West Philippine Sea. The legal action, formally rejected by China Read More …

Visiting solon: US may review rejected benefit claims of PH war vets

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Feb 222013
 
Visiting solon: US may review rejected benefit claims of PH war vets

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:23 pm | Friday, February 22nd, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The United States is open to a review of rejected benefit claims of thousands of aging Filipino World War II veterans as deserving former servicemen should receive the compensation due them, the chair of the US House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs said Friday. Florida lawmaker Jeff Miller, head of a US congressional delegation that visited the Philippines this week, told the Inquirer on Friday that his government was willing to take a second look at claims of Filipino veterans earlier denied by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). Miller quickly pointed out, however, that such review was not a guarantee of a reconsideration, saying the US government is “very careful” in studying and approving claims of Filipinos who served under the US flag more than six decades ago. “We understand that there are other individuals who claim that they have a right to compensation, and I agree that every person should have the opportunity for a full and complete review,” Miller said. “But we have to be careful that only those that have earned the compensation get the compensation,” added the lawmaker, who led four other fellow lawmakers on three-day visit in the Philippines. During a meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario requested Miller’s support as he called for a review of the rejection of claims of  24,385 Filipino veterans under the Filipino Veterans Equity (FVEC). Miller said Read More …

PH immigration awaits travel papers for 9 Myanmar crew

 News
Feb 202013
 
PH immigration awaits travel papers for 9 Myanmar crew

By Tetch Torres INQUIRER.net 9:11 am | Thursday, February 21st, 2013 Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David on Thursday said they were waiting for travel documents from the Myanmar embassy for the repatriation of the nine  surviving crewmen of a Myanmar ship that sunk last week off the coast of Bolinao , Pangasinan. David said the nine crewmen were turned over by the BI to the custody of the Myanmar embassy last Monday. They were identified as Kyi Win, Khin Maung Win, Aung Kyaw Khine, Aung Thu Nyein, Win Saw, Win Min Thein, Aung San Win, Thant Zin Moe, and Cho Aye. Theodore Pascual, BI bay service section acting chief, disclosed that until last Monday the Myanmar nationals have been under the custody of immigration officials in Region 1 since the mishap occurred last February 16. Pascual said the crewmen were initially under the custody of the BI field office in Dagupan before they were turned over to the BI office in San Fernando City , La Union. “They were eventually turned over to the Myanmar embassy which is now processing their travel documents which are required to facilitate their repatriation,” Pascual explained. A crew member died while 14 others went missing when the foreigners’ vessel sank Saturday night. The Philippine Coast Guard said the MV Arita Bauxite encountered engine trouble and sank 17 nautical miles (31 km) northwest of Cape Bolinao at about 11:30 p.m. The nine survivors were reportedly Read More …

PH to press UN case on disputed sea despite China rejection

 News
Feb 202013
 
PH to press UN case on disputed sea despite China rejection

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:38 am | Thursday, February 21st, 2013 DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez: We’ll proceed. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The arbitration proceedings that the Philippines has initiated before the United Nations (UN) against China to nullify the latter’s “excessive” claims in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) will not stop despite Beijing’s rejection of the legal action, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). However, the enforcement of any decision of the UN arbitral tribunal, three or four years down the road, will be “another question,” said DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez. “The arbitration will proceed under Annex VII of Unclos (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the five-member arbitration panel will be formed with or without China,” Hernandez said. “Even if one party does not join or participate, the process will continue until a decision is made,” he said. Article 9 of Unclos’ Annex VII, which stipulates the mechanics of arbitration, states that the “absence of a party or failure of a party to defend its case shall not constitute a bar to the proceedings.” On Jan. 22, the Philippines went to the UN to challenge Beijing’s claim to most of the South China Sea (which the Philippines refers to as the West Philippine Sea) and compel it to respect the Philippines’ right to its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and stop Chinese incursions into areas in the disputed waters claimed by the Philippines. The Philippines initiated the Read More …

Honasan urges PH, Malaysia to hold talks to settle Sabah issue

 News
Feb 182013
 
Honasan urges PH, Malaysia to hold talks to settle Sabah issue

By Bobby Lagsa Inquirer Mindanao 8:37 pm | Monday, February 18th, 2013 Senator Gregorio Honasan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Senator Gregorio Honasan said the Philippines and Malaysia should talk to resolve the entry of 300 Filipino followers of the Sultanate of Sulu in the Sabah region to prevent an international incident involving armed skirmishes. “I think, both governments should sit down, and jointly help diffuse the situation, which if left unattended to, might become more complicated because of an armed confrontation,” Honasan said. Honasan also called on Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to recall his brother, Rajah Mudah, back into the Philippines. Rajah Mudah, in an earlier report, said that he will only follow orders from his older brother. Sultan Kiram III, in an earlier report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said the royal decree that he ordered for his brother was not about war, and that he sent his brother to Sabah as an exercise of their historic, ancestral and sovereign right over Sabah. Honasan said that the Sultan must be made to realize that his order has not been helping the government in its foreign and security policies. “He must be made to realize that these have become more complicated,” Honasan added. “It is time for the government to clarify these with the Sultan of Sulu and if these go out of proportion, it is a problem that we do not need,” said Honasan, who was in the city to join the regional convention Read More …

Vegas judge nixes Mrs. Lapid bid to serve sentence in PH

 News
Feb 072013
 
Vegas judge nixes Mrs. Lapid bid to serve sentence in PH

By Tonette OrejasInquirer Central Luzon 6:03 am | Friday, February 8th, 2013 Marissa Lapid with husband, Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—A judge in Las Vegas, Nevada, has turned down the request of the wife of Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid to live in the Philippines as she serves three years of probation for dollar smuggling and reporting violations, an Inquirer source said. Last Monday’s ruling by United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen denied Marissa Lapid’s request to live in the Philippines while on probation, said the source who was inside the courtroom when the sentence was handed to the senator’s wife. The sentence came more than a year after the Department of Homeland Security found $40,000 in her luggage when she entered Nevada in November 2011. She pleaded guilty in a plea bargain. Probation Aside from the probation that comes with travel restrictions, the sentence includes a five-month home confinement for which she was required to continue wearing an ankle bracelet that electronically tracks her location, according to reports quoting the spokesperson of Nevada US Attorney Daniel Bogden. The source explained this “means she can’t travel and has to report to an officer of the court in a supervised release system for three consecutive years, usually once a month.” The source declined to be named, citing future work in the Philippines. “There is usually a fine and an additional sentence of time served or added as possible total time to serve if they fail to adhere to Read More …

PH draws German backing on sea disputes with China

 News
Feb 072013
 
PH draws German backing on sea disputes with China

By Fat Reyes INQUIRER.net 6:13 pm | Thursday, February 7th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – A German foreign minister on Thursday expressed his country’s support for the Philippine position to solve its sea disputes with China under international law, saying that peaceful resolution was best for the two countries. In a press briefing Thursday, German Federal Foreign Minister Guido Guido Westerwelle AP said that the Philippines’ territorial disputes with China on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) was discussed and that his country remained supportive of peaceful resolution of the disputes. “We appeal to all sides to resolve all the questions in accordance with international law and in a peaceful and cooperative way,” Westerwelle said in a statement. Westerwelle and a 12-man delegation from Germany were in Manila for a two-day visit, the first by Germany’s top diplomat to the Philippines in 12 years. For his part, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said that he conveyed to his foreign counterpart the Philippine initiative to bring the territorial disputes before an arbitral tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) to “clearly establish the county’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its maritime entitlements in the West Philippine Sea.” “I asked him to continue supporting the Philippine effort for a peaceful and durable solution to this dispute,” Del Rosario said in a statement. Westerwelle, when asked by reporters to explain Germany’s support, Del Rosario said that a German professor of international public law was appointed as Read More …

US to compensate PH for damage to Tubbataha Reefs

 News
Feb 042013
 
US to compensate PH for damage to Tubbataha Reefs

By Christine O. Avendaño Philippine Daily Inquirer 1:21 am | Tuesday, February 5th, 2013 PROTEST AT US EMBASSY Activists protest the destruction of Tubbataha Reefs as a result of a US Navy minesweeper getting stuck at the World Heritage Site. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA The US government has apologized and pledged to provide “appropriate compensation” to the Philippines for the damage caused by the grounding of a US warship at the protected Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea. The US compensation will come in a package that includes a joint scientific assessment of the reefs for rehabilitation, a P4.1 million ($100,000) grant for coral restoration on the reefs, and funding for improvements in the communications system within and around the natural park. In a statement released by the US Embassy in Manila on Sunday, the US government said it had been committed over the past decade to help the Philippines protect its marine ecosystems, including coral reefs. “In view of the damage caused by the USS Guardian accident at Tubbataha Reefs, the US has expressed it regrets and is prepared to provide appropriate compensation to the Republic of the Philippines. In addition to compensation, the US government is planning a number of other activities which will underscore its commitment to Tubbataha’s recovery and the protection of the marine resources of the Philippines,” the statement said. No comment was immediately available on Monday from the Tubbataha Protected Area Management, which had been talking about going after the US Navy for the damage Read More …

PH thanks Saudi Arabia for P25M ‘blood money’ to save doomed OFW

 News
Feb 012013
 

By Fat Reyes INQUIRER.net 7:38 pm | Friday, February 1st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine government on Friday thanked the Saudi government for its decision to shoulder nearly P25 million in blood money for jailed Filipino worker Rodelio Celestino Lanuza, saying the act affirmed the strong ties between the two countries. “On behalf of President Aquino, we would like to express our most sincere thanks to His Excellency King Abdullah for his gesture of kindness. This gesture once again affirms the strong ties of friendship and brotherhood between the Philippines and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a statement Friday. The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday that its government had made a directive for the payment of the balance of 2.3 million Saudi Riyals for handing over to the heirs of the victims of Lanuza, who had admitted to stabbing an Arab out of self-defense in June 2000 and was sentenced in 2002 to death by beheading. In February 2011, the Philippine government and the Saudi Reconciliation Committee in Dammam helped him secure forgiveness from the offended family. The family required a diyya or compensation worth P35 million. The embassy noted that the family had filed an appeal to the Saudi government after paying an initial 700,000 riyals (P7.6 million). In his statement, Binay also apologized for being elusive and not readily answering questions regarding the state of Lanuza’s case for the past years, saying that the cases of Lanuza and other Filipinos’ Read More …

Old Spanish maps may yet boost PH claim to Panatag

 News
Jan 312013
 
Old Spanish maps may yet boost PH claim to Panatag

By Jaymee T. Gamil Philippine Daily Inquirer 1:53 am | Friday, February 1st, 2013 Spanish and Filipino delegates to this year’s Tribuna España-Filipinas forum have agreed to embark on a coordinated “archiving program” of historical documents, especially those involving the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines more than 400 years ago. As the sixth edition of the annual multisectoral forum between the two countries drew to a close on Wednesday, an official of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport told the Inquirer that some of the Spanish archives, once catalogued and translated, may even help the Philippines in its claim to the disputed Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal. Luis Enseñat Calderon, director of the ministry’s Ibero-Archivos Program, said Spanish historical archives contained documents and maps on the Spanish colonization of the Philippines from the 16th to 19th century.   Possible proof   “The archives may be important in this way to demonstrate that in the 19th century, the Chinese did not control these group of islands,” Calderon said, when asked how Spanish archives could help the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China over the Scarborough Shoal. He quoted colonial Spanish officials in the 1800s, saying these islands “were controlled, more or less, by the Philippines from Manila.” While these documents are available at the National Historical Archive of Spain, he said it is not yet accessible to the public because his office is still digitizing the documents. “But little by little, we can make progress and publish this on Read More …

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