Coast Guard to acquire 10 patrol ships from Japan

 News
Jul 042013
 
Coast Guard to acquire 10 patrol ships from Japan

By Jerry E. EsplanadaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 1:51 pm | Thursday, July 4th, 2013 This image received from Taiwan’s CNA and taken on September 25, 2012 shows a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat with a (neon) sign reading “Japanese territorial waters” as they monitor a flotilla of Taiwanese fishing boats which are headed to the Diaoyu / Senkaku islands disputed in the East China Sea, in territorial waters. AFP PHOTO/CNA MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard expects to wrap up talks with the Japan International Cooperation Agency within the next few months for the acquisition of 10 brand-new patrol boats from Japan in late 2014 or early 2015. This was disclosed to the Inquirer on Thursday by Cmdr. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson, who said “the talks are ongoing.” Quoting Rear Adm. Rodolfo Isorena, the Coast Guard commandant, Balilo said, “Hopefully, the talks will be completed by the last quarter of the year so that actual construction of the vessels could be started.” “The two sides have agreed that all 10 patrol boats will be 40 meters (131 feet) long. But they are still talking about other specifications,” added  Balilo, chief of the Coast Guard’s public affairs office. The JICA, he said,  proposed that five of the vessels be built in the Philippines and the five others in Japan, but the Coast Guard “prefers that all 10 patrol boats be built in Japan.” Established in 1974, the JICA is the primary Japanese government agency engaged in technical cooperation and other forms of aid Read More …

BRP Alcaraz to arrive in PHL on Aug. 3 — DFA

 News
Jul 032013
 
BRP Alcaraz to arrive in PHL on Aug. 3 — DFA

The BRP Alcaraz, the Philippine Navy’s newest warship, is due to arrive in the Philippines on August 3, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. In an article posted on its website July 3, the DFA mentioned the expected arrival date after the BRP Alcaraz reached San Diego last June 29. “BRP Alcaraz is expected to arrive in the Philippines on August 3, 2013,” it said. Last June 29, the BRP Alcaraz arrived at the 52nd US Naval Base in San Diego, California, while en route to the Philippines. Its crew received a warm welcome from Philippine Consul General to Los Angeles Maria Hellen de la Vega and the Filipino community, the same article said. De la Vega said the BRP Alcaraz is “a fitting acquisition for the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization program.” She added it “will enhance the Philippines’ naval assets, adding the Philippines must attach greater focus and attention to maritime security.” BRP Alcaraz (PF-16) is the Philippine Navy’s second Hamilton-class cutter and sister ship of the BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15). The BRP Alcaraz has 14 officers and 74 crew members led by Capt. Ernesto Baldovino. “(It) is capable of conducting patrols for long periods of time and can withstand heavy weather and rough sea conditions,” the DFA said. BRP Alcaraz was named after Commodore Ramon Alcaraz, a Philippine Navy officer, who commanded a patrol boat that shot down three Japanese aircraft. — RSJ, GMA News

Business leaders write Noy: Overhaul customs, develop ports

 Economy
Jul 032013
 
Business leaders write Noy: Overhaul customs, develop ports

In this June 1 file photo, Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon (left) inpsect three container vans of sugar, misdeclared as engine and aircon parts seized by authorities. The 1,521 bags are estimated at around P5 million. MANILA, Philippines – International and local business leaders drew eight recommendations to President Benigno Aquino III to facilitate inclusive growth within his term, including an overhaul of the Bureau of Customs as well as the country’s gateways. “It is imperative to overhaul the Bureau of Customs and to create an oversight body with private sector representations,” heads of 14 business groups including Makati Business Club president Ramon del Rosario Jr., Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry acting president Antonio Lopa and the American Chamber of Commerce president Rhicke Jennings said in the letter received by the Office of the President last June 21. The letter said that the estimated P100 billion lost from smuggling can instead be used for social programs and infrastructure. “Smuggling continues to derail your efforts on revenue collection and job generation,” it says. The groups also advised Aquino to pass a measure that would ensure that the country’s customs procedures comply with the Revised Kyoto Convention recognized by the international community. The immediate implementation of transportation infrastructure projects was also among the groups’ recommendations, highlighting the need to develop the Ninoy Aquino International Airport among others. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 De-clogging of the Port of Manila at Manila Bay  and the connection project of major highways NLEX Read More …

Approved PEZA investments up 92% to P83.7 B in H1

 Economy
Jul 032013
 
Approved PEZA investments up 92% to P83.7 B in H1

MANILA, Philippines – Investment pledges approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) grew by over 90 percent in the first semester from a year ago as more companies expressed plans to set-up manufacturing facilities in the country. PEZA director general Lilia De Lima told reporters in a chance interview yesterday investments approved by the agency for the January to June period amounted to P83.692 billion, posting a 91.9 percent growth from the P43.611 billion in the same period last year. “The biggest chunk (of approved investments) was for electronics,” she said. She said most of the investments were from Japanese companies. The government is optimistic the country could attract more foreign investments as the Philippines is now being considered as a place to do business by European companies. “What is good is we are now on the radar screen of European investors,” De Lima said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Given the recent visit of high-level European government officials to the Philippines, European Union Ambassador Guy Ledoux told reporters firms from that region are most likely to check out investment opportunities here. Apart from European firms, American companies are likewise looking at the country as an investment destination. De Lima said that during a recent trip to the US, firms engaged in manufacturing and information technology have expressed interest to set-up facilities here. She said the Philippines is being considered as a place to make investments given its skilled and young workforce. With more foreign Read More …

President Aquino cites the Development Academy of the Philippines as agent of permanent change in country’s governance

 Entertainment
Jul 032013
 

MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Benigno S. Aquino III cited the Development Academy of the Philippines for its innovative, technical and relative programs to support the bureaucracy, saying the agency was a partner of government in effecting permanent change in the way it conducts its business of governance. In his speech keynoting the 40th Founding Anniversary […]

PH urges closer US-Asean ties to protect sea lanes

 News
Jul 022013
 
PH urges closer US-Asean ties to protect sea lanes

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:13 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario: Greater engagement between Asean and US, AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Unfazed by China’s accusation that the Philippines was “internationalizing” territorial disputes, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has called for greater engagement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the United States in ensuring maritime security in the region. Speaking at the Asean-US Post-Ministerial Conference in Brunei Darussalam on Monday, Del Rosario also called for compliance to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) as Asean and China were still working on a legally binding Code of Conduct (COC) to govern the disputed waters. The DOC is an agreement between the Asean and China that seeks to deter armed confrontations in the strategic waterway, a critical international trading route where China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan have competing territorial claims. “Fortunately, we have an appropriate mechanism for dialogue and interaction on these matters—the Expanded Asean Maritime Forum —which was inaugurated in Manila in October 2012,” Del Rosario said in his speech, a copy of which was released in Manila by the Department of Foreign Affairs. His remarks followed China’s threat of a “counterstrike” in the disputed waters and pointed criticism of the Philippines’ stance on the regional maritime dispute, particularly blasting its involvement of dialogue partners, including the United States, in discussions toward resolving the dispute. Illegal occupation China also Read More …

Nov. 3 is new deadline for illegals in Saudi

 News
Jul 022013
 
Nov. 3 is new deadline for illegals in Saudi

By Tarra Quismundo and Tina G. SantosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 3:21 am | Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 Foreign illegal laborers wait in a queue at the Saudi immigration offices at al-Isha quarter in al-Khazan district west of Riyadh, on June 30, 2013. Some 1.5 million illegal foreign workers in Saudi Arabia were in a race against time to take advantage of an amnesty ending July 3—but which was extended to Nov. 3—that would allow them to stay or return home without prosecution. AFP PHOTO/FAYEZ NURELDINE MANILA, Philippines—A massive relief for thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who fear expulsion from Saudi Arabia. That was how ordinary Filipinos as well as officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) described the announcement in Riyadh that Saudi Arabia had given foreign workers four months to obtain a legal status in that country. Illegal foreign workers will now have until the end of the Islamic year on Nov. 3 to regularize their status or return home without prosecution, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. According to the Saudi labor ministry, more than 1.5 million illegal foreign workers have come forward so far. Of these, some 180,000 have left the kingdom in addition to more than 200,000 unregistered workers expelled at the start of the year under new regulations to stamp out illegal immigration. The Saudi announcement provides relief for thousands of undocumented Filipinos cramming to fix their Read More …

PH in the dark on exact date, time of Filipina’s execution in China

 News
Jul 022013
 
PH in the dark on exact date, time of Filipina’s execution in China

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 9:18 pm | Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013 DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The deadline is Wednesday (July 3), but the Philippines remains in the dark on the exact time the Filipino drug courier sentenced to death in China will be executed. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday afternoon that the Chinese government had not informed the Philippine government when it would carry out the death penalty on the 35-year-old Filipino woman arrested for drug trafficking in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China in 2011. “We have not yet received any specific date or time for the execution of our kababayan in Hangzhou, but it seems that it is very imminent,” the DFA spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, said in a press briefing on Tuesday. On Monday, the woman’s family, including her mother and son, were granted a 30-minute final visit at the Zhejiang Detention Center in Hangzhou, where she has been jailed for two years now. The family, who was in Shanghai as of Tuesday, has requested that their privacy be respected and asked that their loved one’s name be kept in confidence, Hernandez said. “We don’t know if we will be informed before or after [the execution]. There were cases when we were informed before and there were cases when it happened right after the visit of the family of the accused,” he said. Hernandez said the execution would likely be carried out through lethal Read More …

PH, US end naval exercises near disputed sea

 News
Jul 022013
 
PH, US end naval exercises near disputed sea

By Frances MangosingINQUIRER.net 7:25 pm | Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013 USS Fitzgerald (C). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine-US joint military exercise, Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, concluded on Tuesday after six days of a series of shore-based and at sea events. The ceremony was held on board the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), the United States Embassy said in a statement. Shore-based training events covered several naval competencies, including jungle warfare and marksmanship; tactical combat casualty care; riverine small boat operations; visit, board, search and seizure; and diving and salvage. In the exercises 60 nautical miles east of Panatag, an area claimed both by China and Philippines, the Fitzgerald conducted maneuvering, communications and gunnery exercises with the Philippine Navy flagship BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF 15) and the Philippine coast guard salvage and rescue vessel BRP Edsa (SARV 02). Panatag Shoal, an area contested by Philippines and China, is located 124 nautical miles off Zambales, but is well within the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. The dispute led to a maritime standoff between the Philippines and China last year. The incident prompted Manila to seek the United Nations’ arbitration. Participating ships included the guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) with embarked Commander, Task Group 73.1/ Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7 staff, and the diving and salvage ships, USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50) and USNS Salvor (T-ARS 52). A company of Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment participated in the shore-based events. “It was a Read More …

Lilia de Lima, PEZA’s Powerhouse

 News
Jul 012013
 
Lilia de Lima, PEZA’s Powerhouse

The Brew By Esther Misa Chavez 6:46 am | Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013 PEZA Director General Lilia de Lima at trade briefing in San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO—To doubting Thomases out there—the news is true. Numbers do not lie. The Philippines IS Asia’s rising tiger. A number of global credit rating agencies have upgraded the Philippine’s rank to BBB- (Investment Grade). The New York Times calls the Philippines the “Newest Bright Spot in Asia.” Lilia B. de Lima said as much to a group of businessmen and community leaders at a breakfast briefing held at Dentons Law Offices on Market Street. The director general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and undersecretary of Trade and Industry led the briefing, themed “Business and Investment Opportunities in Philippine Economic Zones as gateways to the 600 Million Strong South East Asian Market” hosted by CalAsia. Joining her was Arlen Chou, president and COO of Rucker & Kolls Inc., an American firm that has been running a full operation in one of the PEZA facilities the past six years. Chou confirmed that his business is thriving inside PEZA. Rucker & Kolls is the original patent holder of the probe card and a leader in providing reliable testing of complicated testing requirements. Leaving no doubt among the attendees that PEZA is indeed the “gateway to the Asean market in a leading global emerging economy,” Dr. de Lima said that of the 86 percent total commodity and service exports from the Philippines, 76 percent comes from Read More …

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