Philippines – Page 57

US encourages peaceful resolution of West PHL Sea dispute

News

Aug 302013

US encourages peaceful resolution of West PHL Sea dispute

The United States on Friday encouraged all the countries involved to resolve peacefully the dispute over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). “We encourage nations to peacefully resolve their disputes to internationally accepted mechanism and accordance with international law, including the Law of the Sea and without coercion,” Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel said during a press conference in Malacañang on Friday. He said he supports ASEAN efforts to negotiate the South China Sea Code of Conduct which he said will help peacefully manage disagreements and tensions arising from competing territorial and maritime claims. Hagel also said he “appreciates” the Philippines’ efforts to solve the dispute through peaceful means. The Philippines sought arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) last January to try to declare as “illegal” China’s nine-dash claim, which covers almost all of the South China Sea, including sections that have been declared as the West Philippine Sea. China has resisted Manila’s move to let a U.N. body intervene in the disputes, saying the Philippines’ case was legally infirm and carried unacceptable allegations. China prefers to negotiate one on one with other claimants, which would give it advantage because of its sheer size compared to smaller rivals that have less military force. Hagel, however, said China “clearly understands” that “the world is interconnected and all powers must develop relationships and get along with each other for their own economic development, for stability, security, peace.” “You cannot have growth, development, and possibilities for the Read More …

Too drastic, Egyptian envoy says of Filipinos’ evacuation

News

Aug 292013

Too drastic, Egyptian envoy says of Filipinos’ evacuation

By Tarra Quismundo, Tina G. SantosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:46 am | Friday, August 30th, 2013 Chaotic protests continue in Egypt. AP file photo MANILA, Philippines—While saying an evacuation order was too drastic for the situation, Egypt has expressed its deference to the Philippines’ decision to initiate mandatory repatriation amid continuing violence across the Arab country. In an interview, Egyptian Ambassador to Manila Mahmoud Mostafa Ahmed assured the Philippines that his country would protect Filipinos caught in the violence, emphasizing that the interim government was exerting all efforts to contain what he described to be pockets of violence in his homeland. “We respect what the Philippines issued. Despite that, we think that most Filipinos will not be willing to come back,” Ahmed told reporters at a briefing at the Egyptian Embassy in Makati City yesterday. Emergency visits “The Secretary (Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario) has made two visits in 12 days to Cairo, and he raised the fourth degree [of emergency alert] based on his assessment. Despite that, my point of view is it (the situation) doesn’t deserve it,” he said. Other than the Philippines, only Thailand has ordered a mandatory evacuation of its citizens following clashes between supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and security forces, which has led to the hundreds of deaths and destruction of churches, courts, schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure across Egypt. On Aug. 19, Del Rosario placed Filipinos in Egypt under Crisis Alert Level 4, the highest emergency alert for Filipinos overseas, Read More …

San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee sets up business mission to PH

News

Aug 292013

San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee sets up business mission to PH

By Harvey BarkinINQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 6:21 am | Friday, August 30th, 2013 San Francisco-Manila Sister City briefing on a business mission to the Philippines; (from left) Trade Commissioner Michael Ignacio, SF Mayor’s representative Mark Chandler and Carmen Colet, committee chair. HARVEY BARKIN SAN FRANCISCO–Directed by Mayor Ed Lee to bolster economic and trade relations, the San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee has began setting up a business mission to the Philippines for November 4 to 7 this year, in advance of Lee’s visit in February 2014. Although the Sister City Committee was founded in 1961, this is the first San Francisco-Manila business mission. It comes after Lee’s multicity business trips to China this year. The plan is to make the mayor’s annual visit to the Philippines official. At the helm of the committee is businesswoman and the first Fil-Am Commissioner of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Carmen Colet. She was appointed last year by the mayor to make the mission “not just social and fun but to add business.” Philippine Department of Trade and Industry Commissioner Michael Ignacio hosted the recent briefing for reporters, architects, designers, accountants, insurance agents and other business owners. There was even a Forex service rep offering money transmissions in excess of $10,000. Mark Chandler, director of the Mayor’s Office, represented Mayor Lee, who was on a weeklong vacation. Chandler, who has visited Manila “three or four times,” said, “If you come from San Francisco and go to the Philippines, they roll out the red Read More …

US rushing PH to approve military access agreement, says leftist lawmaker

News

Aug 292013

US rushing PH to approve military access agreement, says leftist lawmaker

By Allan Nawal, Karlos ManlupigInquirer Mindanao 1:06 am | Friday, August 30th, 2013 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. AP FILE PHOTO DAVAO CITY, Philippines—A lawmaker warned the US has been rushing the Philippines into signing an agreement that would allow US military to have access to the country’s military facilities. Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate said US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel flew to the country and met with President Benigno Aquino III to “rush the country into signing the framework agreement on the increased rotational presence of US soldiers and give them wider access to facilities in the Philippines.” “US Secretary Defense Hagel and President Aquino are ramming the access agreement down our throats,” Zarate said. He said the meeting undermined the efforts of the Senate and Congress to review the constitutionality of the agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and glossed over “protests against the increased and permanent presence of US soldiers in the country.” Zarate said the Makabayan bloc has called for the scrapping of the 13-year old Visiting Forces Agreement through House Resolution No.8. He criticized Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario over the latter’s statements that US soldiers might use Philippine military bases should a war break out between North And South Korea. “The Philippine government is freely letting the US government use our country as a staging ground for war against North Korea and China to the detriment of the Filipino people who do not know the real intention of their overdue stay in the Read More …

American convicted of child abuse to be deported by PH immigration bureau

News

Aug 292013

American convicted of child abuse to be deported by PH immigration bureau

By Philip C. TubezaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 11:47 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested an American who was convicted in the United States of abusing a child and then violated his parole by fleeing to the Philippines. Immigration Officer-in-Charge Siegfred Mison said Stephen Rodden, who was convicted by a US court for “continuous sexual abuse of a child,” would be deported upon the issuance by the BI Board of commissioners of an order for his summary deportation. “We will likewise put him in our blacklist so he cannot return here and pose a risk to our Filipino children, or to anyone who could be his next victim,” Mison said in a statement. Mison said his men from the BI Fugitive Search Unit nabbed Rodden, 51, in Makati City on Aug. 31, after he violated his parole in the US by fleeing to the Philippines. The arresting agents reported that Rodden could not present his passport when he was arrested in his home along Mockingbird St., Barangay Rizal, in Makati City, Mison said. The immigration chief added that American was considered as an undocumented alien since his passport had already expired. Mison said Rodden was arrested upon the request of the US Embassy, which informed the bureau about his record as a convicted child molester. The embassy informed the BI that a Board of Parole in California issued a warrant of arrest against Rodden on March 13, 2012. The same board also suspended his Read More …

PORK BY ANY NAME

News

Aug 252013

Whether they come in large or small amounts, pork barrel allocations have generated a lot of controversy since they were first introduced in the Philippines in 1922. In 1925, Senate Minority Leader Juan Sumulong charged that the ruling party had “misused public funds in the form of pork barrel appropriations.” READ FULL STORY

DOE to use part of P4-B budget for projects

Economy

Aug 252013

DOE to use part of P4-B budget for projects

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) will use part of its P4.05 billion budget to finance the department’s continuing activities including the household and sitio electrification program, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said. Petilla earlier said the Aquino administration is aiming to cover 33,000 sitios under the rural electrification program by 2015. Aside from household and sitio electrification, the DOE will allocate portion of the budget for “biofuels blending, renewable energy installation and development of indigenous resources and clean energy technologies,” Petilla said. The Energy chief also said that the department has three ongoing special projects – the high impact solar project, which entails promoting the use of solar energy in the Philippines, the high impact hydro project, which is a joint venture with the Philippine National Oil Company-Renewables Corp., electric cooperatives and the private sector and the electric vehicles (e-trike) project, which is under a loan agreement between the government and the Asian Development Bank. For the e-trike project, the ADB is working with the government to promote the adoption of e-trikes in Metro Manila and soon, throughout the country. Ultimately, ADB and the government hope to see 100,000 electric tricycles on the road by 2016. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The e-trike produces no noise and zero tailpipe emissions and can be charged at night during off-peak electricity hours, according to the ADB.

DBP to redeem of P6.5B notes

Economy

Aug 242013

MANILA, Philippines – State-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will exercise the call option on its unsecured subordinated notes qualifying as Tier 2 capital amounting to P6.5 billion as it prepares for the implementation of Basel 3. The bank said the early notes redemption would lead to interest savings as it implements stricter capital standards and discipline by removing from its qualifying capital notes issued prior to the implementation of Basel 3, a global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems. The notes were issued on Sept. 1, 2008 with coupon rate of 7.75 percent. The call option date is on Sept. 2, 2013. As of the first six months of 2013, DBP’s capital adequacy ratio rose to 23.9 percent from 21.6 percent. DBP said the call option amount will be the face value of the notes plus unpaid and accrued interest based on the initial interest up to but excluding the call option date. “There shall be no more secondary trading of the notes or modifications in the accounts after the book closure date,” the bank said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 DBP is currently the seventh-largest bank in the country in terms of assets, and is the second-largest government-owned bank, next only to the Land Bank of the Philippines. It is also one of the largest government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) in the Philippines.

Business groups welcome PDAF abolition

Economy

Aug 242013

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s business groups welcomed President Aquino’s move to abolish the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and called on the Congress to start adopting new measures in next year’s budget. Business groups such as Alyansa Agrikultura, Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Institute of Corporate Directors, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, People Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. said in a joint statement that reforms in the PDAF need to be put in place as the fund which is supposed to complement national has been tainted with corruption. “In this light, we commend the Aquino administration for taking a bold stance towards greater accountability and transparency. The business community fully supports the abolition of the PDAF, as well as the subsequent establishment of the new mechanism proposed by P-Noy that will address the needs of various localities and sectors,” the groups said. The groups said measures to limit discretion and to open the entire process of allocating development assistance to public scrutiny would lead to a more judicious and transparent management of public funds. The groups likewise called on the Congress to implement the reforms. “We, therefore, urge the respective members of both chambers to adopt the new measures into the 2014 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and beyond,” the groups said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Read More …

US defense chief here next week

News

Aug 242013

By Nikko DizonPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:59 pm | Saturday, August 24th, 2013 U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at a Pentagon news conference in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) MANILA, Philippines – US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will meet with President Benigno Aquino III next week to discuss the ongoing negotiations for increased presence of American soldiers in the Philippines, the US Department of Defense said in a statement released Friday (Saturday in Manila). Hagel will also be meeting with his counterpart, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario during his two day visit on August 29-30. The agreement that would pave the way for more US troops to be stationed in the Philippines and give them access to the military facilities is being presented to Filipinos by the Philippine government as a deterrent to China’s increasing presence in the West Philippine Sea, the part of the South China sea that the Philippines claims to be within its exclusive economic zone. The Philippines and China continue to be locked in a territorial dispute, particularly over Panatag Shoal off Zambales province and the Ayungin Shoal in the Kalayaan Island Group or Spratlys. According to the US statement, Hagel will talk to President Aquino, Gazmin, and Del Rosario “about ongoing negotiations for a framework agreement that would allow US forces to operate on Philippine military bases and in Philippine territory and waters to help build Philippine armed forces capacity in maritime security and maritime domain awareness.” The US had maintained Read More …

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