NEWS UPDATE July 9, 2012 (Monday)
‘
Make Or Break’ Dialogue
The Manila Bulletin, page 1
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) – Friction over competing claims in the South China Sea promises to be the hot issue as the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holds talks on Monday.
Manila is leading a push for ASEAN to unite to persuade China to accept a ‘’code of conduct’’ (COC) in the sea, where tensions have flared recently with both Vietnam and the Philippines accusing Beijing of aggressive behavior.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join the ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh on Thursday, where efforts to ease tensions in the South China Sea will dominate the dialogue.
China prefers to deal with the claimants individually as it seeks to extend its writ over the resource- rich and strategically important area. ‘’This is make or break time for ASEAN members,’’ said Carl Thayer, a politics professor and Southeast Asia securities expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
‘’They have set this month as their self-imposed deadline to come up with a draft COC. There could be progress,’’ Thayer said.
China, Taiwan and ASEAN members the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, home to vital shipping lanes and believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits.
China recently angered Vietnam by inviting bids for exploration of oil blocks in contested waters, sparking protests in Hanoi earlier this month, while Beijing and Manila are locked in a tense standoff over a disputed shoal.
At their last summit in April, ASEAN countries were divided over when to include Beijing in discussions about the draft code of conduct, leading to a ‘’big disagreement’’, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said at the time.
But the bloc is still hoping to reach an agreement with China by the end of the year, 10 years after first committing to creating a legally binding framework for resolving disputes.
US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, said late last month he saw momentum on the issue after noticing ‘’an increase in diplomacy’’ between ASEAN and China on a potential code of conduct.
The US recently expanded military relations with the Philippines and Vietnam, and the strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing will be ‘’the elephant in the room’’ this week, according to Ernie Bower of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Amid concerns that the US’s renewed focus on Asia could antagonize China ahead of a leadership transition this year, Clinton is expected ‘’to downplay US-China friction’’, Bower said.
Instead, she will ‘’be at pains to advance US-China cooperation as a main foreign policy objective’’, agreed Thayer.
With that in mind, Clinton may be less outspoken on the South China Sea issue than she was at a regional summit in 2010, when she angered Beijing by saying the US had a ‘’national interest’’ in open access to the sea.
‘’Don’t look for fireworks from Secretary Clinton in Phnom Penh,’’ said Bower.
‘’Look for quiet strength, behind the scenes support for ASEAN positions... but nothing overt or muscle-heavy from the United States.’’
Clinton will also want to reassure Asian counterparts that the US is committed to the region and is not just seeking to counter China.
‘’Secretary Clinton will endeavor to advance a raft of proposals to underscore that the US has much broader interests in Southeast Asian than military rebalancing,’’ said Thayer.
Her efforts will start even before she arrives in Cambodia, with a quick visit to Hanoi, where she will meet with US and Vietnamese business representatives, and a stop-off in Laos, where she will become the first top US diplomat to visit the communist-run country in 57 years.
After the security forum concludes, Clinton will lead a large US delegation to a business forum in Cambodia’s tourist hub of Siem Reap on Friday.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- a grouping of nearly 600 million people from disparate economic and political systems.
Trillanes Joins Nacionalistas
The Manila Bulletin, page 1
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has joined the Nacionalista Party (NP).
Trillanes was sworn in yesterday by Sen. Manny Villar, NP president, in simple ceremonies at the Makati Shangri-La.
Villar described Trillanes as an asset to the party, which is preparing for the 2013 elections.
Trillanes, who spent his first three years as senator in jail, is expected to seek reelection.
His joining the NP came as the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which denied the accreditation of Trillanes’ Magdalo Para sa Pagbabago as a political party.
In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, the court en banc dismissed the Magdalo petition as it upheld the October 26, 2009 and January 4, 2010 resolutions of the Comelec to deny the party accreditation. ,
The group had challenged the Comelec ruling before the Supreme Court, accusing the poll body of grave abuse of discretion.
On July 2, 2009, Magdalo sought to be accredited as a regional political party based in the National Capital Region (NCR) so it could participate in the 2010 elections.
In the petition, Magdalo was represented by Trillanes, its chairman, and Francisco Ashley Acedillo, its secretary general.
On October 26, 2009, the Comelec’s Second Division denied Magdalo’s petition, saying the group, in seizing the Oakwood Premier Apartments in Makati City on July 27, 2003, showed “their purpose in employing violence and using unlawful means to achieve their goals in the process defying the laws of organized societies…”
Magdalo filed an appeal which was denied by the Comelec en banc in 2010.
The Supreme Court said it is aware of the apprehensions of the Comelec on Magdalo’s use of violence.
It said that if the group decides to file another petition for registration, “its officers must individually execute affidavits renouncing the use of violence or other harmful means to achieve the objectives of their organization.”
“Further, it must also be underscored that the membership of Magdalo cannot include military officers and/or enlisted personnel in active service, as this act would run counter to the express provisions of the Constitution…” the court said.
Trillanes’ oath-taking was witnessed by former congresswoman Cynthia Villar, Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Ferdinand “Bong-bong” Marcos, Cavite Rep. Boying Remulla, Las Pinas Rep.
Mark Villar and Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano. –with additional report from Leonard Postrado
Aquino SONA Still ‘Evolving’
By GENALYN D. KABILING The Manila Bulletin, page 1
MANILA, Philippines – With two weeks left before President Benigno S. Aquino III addresses Congress, his State of the Nation Address is still a work in progress.
Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the President’s speech is still in “constant evolution” as he continues to provide inputs and reviews the contents with his speechwriters.
So far, the speech is on its fourth draft and more than 30 pages long, Valte said.
The final speech, which will highlight the administration’s achievements in the past year and his plans for the coming year, will be delivered by the President before a joint session of Congress on July 23.
“We will see a lot of movements, a lot of changes in the way that the President does his SONA in the
next weeks,” Valte said over government radio. “When the President sees something in his daily work that he feels should be included, it will be written in the speech. So the form of the draft will constantly change,” she added.
Valte said the President meticulously goes over his speech and often reviews each paragraph.
“He will give him his thoughts and everyone will listen. It’s just a matter of really taking down what the President is saying and also reordering,” she said.
“Sometimes when a paragraph is already written, the President would suggest some changes.
There’s a lot of reordering that is ongoing but the entire team is closely working with the President on what he wants the final SONA draft to be,” she said.
Among the President’s speechwriters are Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ramon Carandang and his undersecretary Manolo Quezon.
The President usually prefers short speeches and often delivers them in Filipino.
But Valte said she could not yet confirm if the entire SONA will be delivered in Filipino. She said the use of visual aids will be determined a week before the speech is delivered.
Country’s Investment Rating Upgrade Seen
By BEN ROSARIO
The Manila Bulletin, page 6
MANILA, Philippines – Economics expert and Kasangga Party-list Representative Teodorico Haresco is confident the Philippines will be credited with another investment rating upgrade from the Standard and Poors (S and P), saying that its realization would save the country some P110 billion in rates payable to its creditors.
In a statement, Haresco slammed critics of the Aquino government for their efforts in downplaying the recent S and P rating.
He said the S and P decision will trigger further economic improvements that would eventually redound to the poor.
“Finally, the global financial world recognizes the country’s healthy national income accounts philosophically driven by a ‘Straight Path or Daang Matuwid’ of PNoy whose economic and financial managers’ zero-based budgeting has projected to the business community prudent and rational spending,” Haresco said.
Haresco, a respected authority in economics, said that as a result of the recognition, the stock and property markets have become “bullish, earning an average annual of 23 percent since Pnoy took over in 2010.”
However, the Philippines must still work hard to pursue a “double digit momentum.”
“If we examine our national income accounts say exports minus imports, Philippines still is in the negative saved only by the extensive deployment of overseas Filipino workers in some 34 major countries worldwide and the ever growing BPO sector, which is now the world's best surpassing India with USD 18 Billion in four years time,” the party-list solon said.
“Our structural infirmities of low tax to Gross Domestic Product, low income populace and high population growth rate still drags the economy down,” he added.
Flash point heightened by secret diplomacy
By: Amando Doronila
Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 1
The Cabinet meeting on Thursday left the country in suspense over how soon the Aquino
administration will send ships back to Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal to reassert the Philippine claim over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) amid expanding Chinese maritime incursions in the area.
Since President Aquino ordered back home a Coast Guard ship and a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel—both not naval gunboats—and temporarily ended a two-month standoff with a much larger Chinese flotilla, shadow war games have taken place.
A fishing ground of Filipino fishermen, the shoal is a formation of rocks and corals in the West Philippine Sea, 220 kilometers west of Zambales province. It is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, but China has claimed it is part of its hegemonic territory, the South China Sea,
based on old maps, which Filipino law of the sea experts reject as an exuberant claim.
Over the past two months of the standoff, pressure has been mounting on the Aquino
administration to stand up to China’s bullying tactics with its demonstrations of maritime—not necessarily naval—power.
Filipino public opinion has been increasingly affronted by the Chinese show of force of its “soft”
maritime power, riding roughshod over the territorial claims of smaller neighbors in an area believed to be rich in marine resources and lying in strategic trade routes.
Toughest test
The face-off at Panatag Shoal confronts the Aquino administration with its toughest foreign policy test involving relations with China and fueling the region’s hottest source of tensions.
The administration is feeling the heat stemming from the public disquiet over the humiliating imbalance in the status of forces at the shoal.
There appears to be a strong undercurrent to send back the two Philippine ships that have been pulled out of the shoal—a withdrawal that has rankled nationalist sensitivities as an abject surrender to Chinese blandishment and intimidation.
The administration’s response to this clamor is that on Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, a “framework”
on how to deal with the increasing Chinese aggressiveness at the shoal has been drafted, and this remains a “secret.”
Two weeks ago, the President threatened to send back the ships to the shoal unless China withdrew all of its ships. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), China committed to withdraw its vessels.
A reciprocal withdrawal was expected to have ended the confrontation at the shoal, but China withdrew only its fishing boats and kept its maritime vessels for effective control of the area.
As of Friday morning, China had two surveillance ships and one fisheries patrol vessel at the shoal.
No Chinese pullout
On June 27, the DFA reported that Chinese fishing vessels had not left the lagoon of Panatag Shoal and that Chinese government ships continued to patrol the vicinity of the shoal. A Philippine Navy reconnaissance plane reported sighting 23 Chinese fishing boats—six large vessels and 17 dinghies—
in the lagoon.
The Navy plane also sighted five large Chinese government ships—three China maritime surveillance ships and two fisheries law enforcement command vessels—outside the lagoon.
The Philippines has had no vessels in the area to assert its sovereignty after the President ordered the pullout of its two ships.
Hide and seek
The Navy chief, Vice Adm. Alexander Pama, said the Chinese ships came and went, apparently taking turns in some kind of a rotation. The Chinese were playing hide-and-seek with our ships.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the absence of Philippine vessels in the area weakened the country’s claim to sovereignty and said he had recommended sending back the ships. But at the same time, he said “the weather is not good, the waves are huge, our ships may not withstand them.”
Both China and the Philippines have declared fishing bans at the shoal, ostensibly for resource conservation.
Filipino fishermen have stayed away from the shoal since the government declared the ban in mid- May, but there were reports they were driven away by Chinese maritime vessels while Chinese fishermen were under the protective watch of Chinese government vessels.
Bishops start drive vs mining EO
By Gil Cabacungan, Jocelyn R. Uy Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 2
The President is set to announce his administration’s new mining policy Monday but the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has already started a signature campaign calling for a moratorium on its implementation.
The CBCP started gathering signatures from its members over the weekend to also push for the urgent passage of an alternative mining law even as Malacañang appealed to all to “hold off any comment” until the new mining policy is released and digested.
The Palace said President Benigno Aquino’s newly signed executive order (EO) spelling out his administration’s mining policy would be released Monday.
But Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, head of the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action (Nassa), launched the signature campaign to stop the implementation of the EO during a three-day plenary assembly of Catholic bishops that will be concluded Monday.
Pabillo presented to some 100 bishops assembled at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila a position paper calling for the repeal of the current mining policy, the passage of an Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB) by Congress, and the declaration of a moratorium on the implementation of President Aquino’s new EO while the bill is going through the legislative process.
Nassa executive secretary Fr. Edu Gariguez, recently awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his anti-mining advocacy, on Sunday said the passage of a new mining law has become more urgent with Mr. Aquino’s signing of the EO on mining.
“There is a need to push for this AMMB because that EO is not the solution to our problem. The Chamber of Mines is rejoicing already—an indicator that this EO actually favors mining companies,”
he told reporters in an interview.
The AMMB, which its proponents hope will be passed as the Philippine Minerals Resources Act of 2012, stresses the need for fair revenue sharing, environmental protection and the safeguard of human rights.
The mining bill, now being deliberated by a technical working group of the House natural resources committee, is a consolidated version of three House bills (HB 206, 3763 and 4315) and several minor mining-related bills in Congress. A Senate version of the bill has already been filed in February.
Church-led protest
Gariguez said Nassa was confident that the signature campaign and its position on the matter would be supported by the bishops, who had called in 2006 for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995.
Gariguez said Nassa, the Church hierarchy’s social arm, will eventually submit their position paper to the President, Senate and the House of Representatives.
“We will use this to convince our senators and congressmen to support the [AMMB] because if the President’s EO is also a failure and this administration will also favor the mining companies, then we have no hope left,” he said.
The new mining policy is expected to increase government profit from the industry, which has seen a high demand for mineral resources. The EO is also anticipated to exclude more areas from mining to protect the environment.
“Our problem in our mining policy cannot be cured by a mere EO because that’s just palliative. That’s not enough…there’s a need to overhaul our mining policy,” stressed Gariguez.
Palace appeals to public
Malacañang on Sunday appealed to the public to hold their opinions on the EO on mining in check until it is disclosed Monday.
“Let’s just wait a little more time and we will be presenting the mining EO,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte in a radio interview.
“Perhaps it would be better to hold off any comments before seeing the actual EO and seeing what the provisions are,” said Valte amid the early criticisms from Church leaders.
“It aims to give a more comprehensive policy on mining in the country, particularly on the problem of small-scale mining.”
Local execs to sue
The bishops are not the first or only prominent group challenging the mining EO. Earlier, local government executives threatened to contest it before the Supreme Court.
Governor Joey Salceda of Albay had said some 40 governors would go to court to question the much-awaited mining policy, fearing that the measure would “destroy the countryside” that municipal legislation was protecting.
The issue is whether President Aquino can impose national policies that set aside local ordinances.
The President had responded by saying he welcomed a legal challenge, insisting that national laws had primacy over local legislation.
Philippines, Japan to enhance maritime security ties
By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 8
The Philippines and Japan have agreed to enhance their bilateral cooperation on “shared regional strategic concerns,” including maritime security, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Sunday.
The cooperation was forged after Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario met with his Japanese counterpart, Koichiro Gemba, and Deputy Prime Minister Katsura Okada during the DFA head’s official visit to Tokyo last week.
“The two ministers engaged in comprehensive discussions reviewing key aspects of relations and affirmed their respective governments’ commitments to advancing the multifaceted bilateral relations on the two countries’ shared values and long history of cooperation,” the DFA said in a statement.
Their discussion was focused on the refinement of political dialogue, economic cooperation, official development assistance and business-to-business and people-to-people ties, as well as on the furtherance of bilateral cooperation on shared regional strategic concerns, including maritime safety and disaster risk reduction, the DFA added.
The foreign office, however, did not provide details about the two officials’ dialogue on maritime security-related matters.
Del Rosario earlier told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that aside from the United States, three other countries—Japan, South Korea and Australia—were helping the Philippines establish a minimum credible defense posture to complement its diplomatic capacity in dealing with its territorial disputes with China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
12 patrol boats
He disclosed that Tokyo was likely to provide the Philippine Coast Guard with 12 patrol boats.
“They’re considering 10 40-meter boats on official development aid and two larger ones as grants,”
Del Rosario said.
Minister Shinsuke Shimizu, head of the embassy’s chancery, told the Inquirer that Tokyo would continue to help the Coast Guard deal with its maritime safety and law enforcement concerns.
Shimizu clarified, however, that “it is of different nature from establishing the minimum credible defense capabilities” of the Philippines, “nor is it aimed at addressing a specific regional situation,”
referring to the dispute between Manila and Beijing regarding Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.
The diplomat noted that “since 1990, Japan has been helping the Coast Guard in its capacity-building program.”
Before Del Rosario’s three-day trip to Japan, Shimizu said the DFA head would discuss with Gemba
“ways to continue Japanese government cooperation with the Coast Guard.”
“But it is cooperation for the purpose of dealing with various maritime safety and law enforcement issues, such as piracy and search-and-rescue,” Shimizu explained.
Sen. Arroyo: It’s about time to amend Constitution
By Cathy Yamsuan
Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 10
Senator Joker Arroyo on Sunday said he foresees a reexamination of the 25-year old Constitution since the world order has changed dramatically since it was drafted in 1986.
But any effort to amend the Constitution would push through only if it has Malacañang’s blessings, Arroyo added.
“It’s about time we amend or at least modify the Constitution because there are provisions that are already outmoded. However, we must be very careful in identifying which provisions must be changed,” Arroyo pointed out.
The lawmaker said the Constitution ratified in 1987 was “designed to weaken the presidency, especially after the martial law experience.”
“We did not like idea of a very powerful President so to correct this, the Constitutional Commission (Concom) drafted a Charter that diminished the powers of the President,” he explained.
But on the contrary, Arroyo observed that the President has become more powerful than before.
For example, he said any attempt to alter the Constitution would need his imprimatur. Otherwise, the effort would not succeed.
“We have a very centralized government. Things happen at the President’s say-so,” the senator said.
Arroyo noted that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. are set to meet and discuss Charter change (Chacha).
“Can you imagine the Senate President and the Speaker talking and the President does not know about it?” he asked in a radio interview. “The fact is, if Malacañang does not want it, nothing would come out of it.”
The senator, who once represented the Senate in arguments against constitutional change before the Supreme Court, said opposition to all previous attempts at Chacha was bolstered by the
suspicion that the incumbent president wanted to alter provisions that limited the single term of the President.
Report: US staged drone strike in Phl
(The Philippine Star) page 1
MANILA, Philippines - The US military conducted a drone strike in the Philippines in an attempt to kill Indonesian terrorist Umar Patek in 2006, according to an article yesterday in the Sunday magazine of The New York Times.
“The Drone Zone,” written by Mark Mazzetti, reported that a Predator drone fired a “barrage of Hellfire missiles” in the “jungles of the Philippines” to kill Patek.
The same article said the drone strike was reported as a “Philippine military operation.”
The strike failed to kill Patek but killed others in the area. Patek was recently convicted by an Indonesian court and sentenced to 20 years for his role in the nightclub bombings in 2002 in Bali, Indonesia that left 202 people dead.
Defense officials in Manila said last week that the US has offered to provide drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, to help the Philippines monitor its territorial waters amid a maritime dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea.
The New York Times reported that the US has three different drone programs. One is run by the Pentagon operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. The other two are classified programs run separately by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the US military’s Joint Special Operations Command. Both maintain separate lists of people targeted for killing, the article said.
“Over the years, details have trickled out about lethal drone operations in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen and elsewhere. But the drone war has been even more extensive,” the article said.
The New York Times revealed the Pentagon is increasing its fleet of drones by 30 percent and US military leaders estimate that within a year, the unmanned planes could outnumber actual pilots.
The report cited Holloman Air Force Base at New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range, 200 miles south of Albuquerque.
“Many of the pilots at Holloman never get off the ground. The base has been converted into the US Air Force’s primary training center for drone operators, where pilots spend their days in sand- colored trailers near a runway from which their planes take off without them. Inside each trailer, a pilot flies his plane from a padded chair, using a joystick and throttle, as his partner, the ‘sensor operator,’ focuses on the grainy images moving across a video screen, directing missiles to their targets with a laser,” the article said.
The US military has increasingly relied on the use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that prompted them to re-engineer its training program for drone pilots.
“Trainees are now sent to Holloman just months after they join the military, instead of first
undergoing traditional pilot training as they did in the past. The Air Force can now produce certified Predator and Reaper pilots in less than two years,” the article said.
Pilots during the training are having difficulty in landing the unmanned airplane in the runway. As much as the US military has tried to make drone pilots feel as if they are sitting in a cockpit, one veteran pilot said it is “not just playing a video game.”
The “pilots” are stationed in the US but they fly their combat drone missions abroad. The program apparently saved the US Air Force money and their pilots safely out of harm’s way.
Luther (Trey) Turner III, a retired colonel who flew combat missions during the Gulf War before he switched to flying Predators in 2003, said that he doesn’t view his combat experience flying drones as “valorous.”
“My understanding of the term is that you are faced with danger. And, when I am sitting in a ground-
control station thousands of miles away from the battlefield, that’s just not the case,” the article quoted him as saying.
“I firmly believe it takes bravery to fly a UAV
As more than one pilot at Holloman told me, a bit defensively, ‘We’re not just playing video games here,’” the article said.
President Aquino earlier declared the Philippine government is allowing the US drones to conduct reconnaissance flights but not to drop bombs.
Aquino said drone strikes would definitely violate a ban on US troops from participating in combat operations.
Hundreds of American troops have been helping the Philippine military to contain the Abu Sayyaf for a decade.
Aquino stressed the US troops are acting as trainers and military advisers, not to participate in combat operations.
Palace: Mining EO can withstand judicial scrutiny
By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) page 1
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang gave assurances yesterday that President Aquino’s new executive order on mining, described as a comprehensive policy regulating the industry, will be able to
withstand judicial scrutiny.
“We are prepared to defend it. That is usually the case whenever the executive comes out with an executive order or even an AO (administrative order), an MC (memorandum circular), an MO
(memorandum order). We’re ready if this is challenged (in court),” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.
Valte told state-run radio dzRB that critics should wait for the government to release the EO, which she described as a product of multi-level consultations with stakeholders.
She said the new mining EO is a “more comprehensive policy” that will do away with recurring concerns over small-scale miners, where government “took into consideration the voices of the stakeholders” concerned.
Valte’s boss, Edwin Lacierda, confirmed Saturday last week that Aquino signed the EO, which aims to generate more revenues for the government and address mining industry and environmental concerns.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. will release the new mining policy this week.
Lacierda said Environment Secretary Ramon Paje will also hold a press briefing to explain the executive order.
The spokesman stressed that the administration conducted extensive consultations with mining stakeholders before it finalized the new mining policy.
The government crafted the new mining policy that would be beneficial for both the government and mining investors.
With the crafting of the new policy, the Aquino administration hopes to generate more revenues in the face of high demand for metallic resources.
The new EO also aims to balance out concerns on environment protection and economic gains.
Lion’s share
Aquino earlier promised to reduce significantly the 98 percent profit of miners and cut this by as much as 30 points, to as low as 68 percent, and increase the government’s take – by means of taxes – from the measly two percent to 32 percent.
“I think the division of profit is not fair,” Aquino said, adding that the EO will address the issues of all concerned, especially after the series of consultations.
The EO is also expected to list down tourism areas where mining will be banned, or the 78
ecotourism sites. The mining policy guideline also includes provisions on environmental degradation, safety issues, and dislocation of indigenous peoples.
Ochoa said the EO will strike a balance between the interests of the mining industry and the environment because it seeks to harmonize the conflicting national and local laws on mining, especially in terms of approving and handling mining applications.
‘Not the proper solution’
However, Father Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), said the various issues on mining operations in the country could not be totally addressed by a mere executive order.
Gariguez said the passage of Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB) in Congress has become more urgent with President Aquino’s recent signing of the executive order on mining.
“There is a need to push for this AMMB because that EO is not the solution to our problem. The Chamber of Mines rejoicing is already an indicator that this EO actually favors mining companies,” he said in a recent interview. – Helen Flores
UNA willing to adopt administration bets
By Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star) page 1
MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) is open to adoptingsenatorial candidates belonging to political parties set to enter into a coalition with the pro- administrationLiberal Party (LP).
In a television interview, Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, UNA secretary-general, said among them are Senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda of Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV of Nacionalista Party (NP).
UNA appears to have lost many of potential senatorial candidates to the planned coalition among the LP, NPC and NP, he added.
Tiangco said now that the four would apparently run under the pro-administration coalition’s slate, UNA would have to decide whether to adopt them in its senatorial ticket.
He would raise the issue in the next meeting of UNA’s leaders, who include former President Joseph Estrada and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, he added.
Tiangco said he agreed with Estrada, who has accused the planned three-party administration coalition of “pirating” UNA’s candidates.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘pirate,’ he said.
“What I can say is that they have been eyeing, they have been getting our candidates. If they can get Nancy Binay, bilib na ako sa galing nila (then they’re really good).”
Nancy Binay, a daughter of the vice president, will run for senator under UNA.
Another Binay daughter, Abigail, is a Makati lawmaker, while son Junjun is Makati mayor.
Tiangco said if UNA decides to stick to Enrile’s statement against the adoption of common candidates, “we can still complete a 12-member ticket.”
3 Chinese ships still in Panatag
By Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star) page 1
MANILA, Philippines - Chinese fishermen appeared to have left Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, although at least three Chinese government ships have remained as of Friday.
However, some officials monitoring the situation are not discounting the possibility that the Chinese fishing boats would return.
Latest surveillance reports showed that two Chinese maritime surveillance vessels and one Fisheries and Law Enforcement Command ship were still in the shoal. The three Chinese ships were reportedly located two nautical miles east of Panatag.
“No new structures have been observed,” the report said. However, no more Chinese fishing vessels are inside the shoal or its vicinity.
Sources said an aerial surveillance was made last Friday, but the agency was not identified.
A security official who requested anonymity said the Chinese fishing vessels and dinghies might return.
“It is possible that the higher authorities of the two countries are already talking,” the official told The STAR. “But it is also possible that Chinese fishing vessels would return.”
China did not honor an agreement with the Philippines to pull out vessels from the lagoon in Panatag Shoal.
Last June 25, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that the Philippines and China had reached a verbal agreement to pull out from the lagoon but not the wider vicinity of the shoal.
The following day, the Philippine Navy reported that 23 Chinese boats and ships were inside the
lagoon.
Prior to last Friday’s aerial surveillance, at least 25 Chinese fishing vessels and boats were spotted in Panatag Shoal.
Last July, a Navy aircraft saw two Chinese maritime surveillance vessels, a Fisheries and Law Enforcement Command vessel, six fishing boats and 16 dinghies.
The Philippines used to have two vessels facing off with Chinese ships but these have left upon the orders of President Aquino.
Despite the continued presence of Chinese ships in the shoal, Malacañang has yet to decide whether to send back Philippine ships to the shoal.
Filipino fishermen will be allowed to return to the area starting July 15.
Panatag Shoal is 124 nautical miles from the nearest base point in Zambales.
It is within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone as provided by international laws.
A standoff ensued on April 10 after Chinese maritime surveillance ships stopped the Philippine Navy from arresting Chinese fishermen who had engaged in illegal fishing and harvesting of endangered species.
Chinese bombshell
China has dropped a bombshell with the decision to begin “regular, combat-ready patrols” in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), according to American think tank The Heritage Foundation.
Chinese Ministry of Defense spokesman Senior Col. Geng Yansheng announced last June 28 that the People’s Liberation Army had begun regular, combat-ready patrols in what he claims as waters under Chinese jurisdiction.
Dean Cheng, The Heritage Foundation’s research fellow on Chinese political and security affairs, said the implication is clear that the Chinese Navy is now regularly patrolling the waters around the Spratlys and possibly elsewhere in the South China Sea.
“With the decision to begin regular naval patrols, however – and especially ‘combat-ready (zhanbei)’
ones – the potential for escalation is far greater,” he said.
“This is an alarming escalation of China’s efforts to assert sovereignty over the South China Sea region. Until now, the various confrontations and incidents in the area – whether with the
Philippines over Scarborough Shoal; the Vietnamese over oil exploration efforts; or the United States in the separate incidents involving the USNS Impeccable, USNS Victorious, and the USS John S.
McCain III – have had only civilian participants.”
Cheng said it is bewildering that an array of Chinese bureaucracies each assumes responsibility for only a portion of China’s maritime interests, including fisheries, agriculture, and the State Oceanic Administration.
“Even more disturbing is that this measure seems to be part of a larger Chinese effort to exercise full sovereignty over the area,” he said.
A statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs said the State Council or China’s Cabinet approved last June 21 the establishment of the prefectural-level City of Sansha (City of Three Sands) to administer the three island groups of Xisha (Paracels), Zhongsha (Macclesfield bank) islands and Nansha (Spratlys) and their surrounding waters and the government seat will be stationed on Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands.
“The Chinese are evidently establishing the legal and political framework to solidify their claims of sovereignty,” he said.
“And with the announcement of patrols, they appear to be taking their preparations to support those claims to the next logical level: that of defending them.”
On June 23, the China National Offshore Oil Corp. invited bids for oil exploration in blocs well within 200 nautical miles of Vietnam’s coast.
On Wednesday, the DFA summoned China’s ambassador and presented her a diplomatic note in which the Philippines protested Beijng’s establishment of a new “prefectural-level” City of Sansha to administer three disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and future
development of the islands.
Ambassador Ma Keqing was handed the 10th diplomatic note since the beginning of the standoff in April in Panatag Shoal between the Philippines and China.
The DFA said the extent of Sansha City’s jurisdiction violates Philippine territorial sovereignty over
the Kalayaan Island Group (Spratlys) and Bajo de Masinloc (Panatag Shoal or Scarborough Shoal) and infringes on Philippine sovereign rights over the waters and continental shelf of the West Philippine Sea.
The establishment of Sansha City contradicts the spirit of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, the DFA added.
A China Daily report said the Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman told a news conference that the military is studying the setting up of a military body in Sansha.
Zhang Haiwen, China Institute for Marine Affairs deputy director, said some countries claiming sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea might target Sansha.
The report said the officials believed that the military’s presence is needed to safeguard Chinese interests including fishing rights, scientific research and the development of maritime resources.
After Sansha City is established, the Chinese government will launch a series of development plans with protection from the military, Zhang said.
Geng said China will “resolutely oppose any military provocation” following the reported Vietnamese overflights in the skies above Sansha recently.
“Chinese military has already set up a normal, combat-ready patrol system in seas under our control to protect national sovereignty and our security and development interests,” he said.
China’s armed forces have the resolution and will to safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty, sea rights and interests, Geng said.–With Pia Lee-Brago
Protecting passengers' rights won't kill budget travel industry - Roxas
By Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star) page 4
MANILA, Philippines - The multi-government agency effort to address consumer complaints will not kill the highly successful budget air travel that has fueled the growth of the local aviation
industry, theDepartment of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said.
“Let me reiterate to the airline companies that we are not here to ruin their business or cause them to lose money or in any way jeopardize what has been a successful model,” Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II said.
“But this model cannot be successful at the expense of the rights of the innocent passenger, who is a contractual partner in a contract entered into whenever a ticket is sold,” he noted.
Roxas along with Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo presided over a first public hearing on the Passenger Bill of Rights yesterday at the DOTC head office in Mandaluyong City.
Domingo said the hearing was meant to strike a balance between the interest of airline companies and passenger’s rights.
Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez described the hearing as a “historic day” and said that the problem of runway congestion in our airports was brought about by the sudden surge in travel.
“We wouldn’t be in this room today if there wasn’t a sudden surge in travel in our country,” Jimenez said.
The stakeholders were given turn to present their positions and submit their inputs or amendments to the 13-page working draft of the Air Passenger Bill of Rights.
House committee of transportation member Samar Rep. Mel Sarmiento, co-author of the Airline Passenger Fairness Act, extended his support to the administrative order.
Elvira Medina of the National Center for Commuter Safety and Protection made a pitch for the rights of persons with disabilities and the improvement of emergency facilities inside aircraft. Other representatives and private individuals also expressed the sentiments of the senior citizens.
Labor advocate and former labor undersecretary Toots Ople relayed the sentiments of overseas Filipino workers who had been bumped off from their flights on their way to their work destination.
Among the issues raised by airline companies were passengers’ responsibility in arriving at airports three hours before their flight, delayed and cancelled flights due to force majeure, the requirement for a reserved aircraft, and the coverage of inbound and outbound international flights.
They also vowed to follow the administrative order that would create the Passengers Bill of Rights.
Roxas said the Technical Working Group would receive all inputs and proposed amendments until July 16 and the next hearing is tentatively scheduled on July 20.
Roxas said the hearing would rationalize and clarify the rights and obligations of the passengers and the airlines to foster a better relationship between the two sectors.
“The rights and obligations will be more clear both for the passengers and the airline companies.
This will also help in improving their relationship in such a way that the blaming and pointing of fingers can be lessened,” Roxas said in Filipino.
The hearing was attended by several consumer groups, organizations of differently abled persons, senior citizens groups and airline industry representatives.
Also present in the public hearing yesterday were Civil Aeronautics Board executive director Carmelo Arcilla, Manila International Airport Authority general manager Jose Angel Honrado, and newly installed Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director-general William Hotchkiss III.
Among the airline companies who expressed support and presented their views to the joint DOTC- DTI panel were Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, SeaAir, Air Philippines, Zest Air and Sky Airways.
Also present were the National Consumer Affairs Council and other private individuals. Representing the travel agents was the Philippine Travel Agencies Association.
'Cha-cha won't succeed without P-Noy's approval'
By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star) page 5
MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Joker Arroyo believes any effort to amend the Constitution will be futile without support from President Aquino.
“Let’s start from the beginning on Charter change, if this is not supported by President Aquino, then this will not happen even if Senate President (Juan Ponce) Enrile and Speaker (Feliciano) Belmonte (Jr.) are talking about it,” he said over the weekend.
“In the final analysis, if President Aquino will not give his full support… this will not succeed.”
However, Arroyo did not discount the fact that Malacañang may just be playing coy about the moves since Enrile and Belmonte are broaching the idea.
“Maybe, there is a go-signal from Malacañang,” he said.
“I am not saying that there is, maybe there is. Come to think of it, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President will talk about Cha-cha and the President does not know about it.”
Sen. Franklin Drilon, an ally of Aquino, is also vocal about starting Cha-cha moves.
Arroyo said the 25-year-old Constitution should be reviewed because some of its provisions might have been “outmoded.”
“This Constitution… was (completed in) 1987 and ratified,” he said.
Joker lauds Noy's 'quiet diplomacy'
By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star) page 6
MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Joker Arroyo yesterday hailed President Aquino on his decision not to be very vocal in dealing the territorial row with China over the West Philippine Sea.
“Everybody is talking about that. This issue should be dealt with quiet diplomacy,” Arroyo said over radio dzBB.
Arroyo said the late President Corazon Aquino, the President’s mother, was very good at “quiet diplomacy” during her term and the strategy became very successful.
“President Aquino’s announcement about this is a good move. There are many persons who think they know it all and can’t stop talking. We should be very careful,” said Arroyo who served as executive secretary of President Cory Aquino.
“This is a sensitive issue. It would avoid embarrassing anyone. We will not lose anything,” he added.
Arroyo said the President should now start tapping his trusted alter egos to defuse the tension with China.
“They should use formal backchannels using emissaries who have connections to Chinese leaders, and not make public the ugly discussions, only the positive developments,” Arroyo said.
Arroyo noted the US cannot ignore the developments in the region, especially the Philippines because of its strategic location in Southeast Asia.
“The Americans came here, like the late US President Theodore Roosevelt (who) said ‘speak softly but carry a big stick.’ Their presence was like telling China to lay off the region,” Arroyo said.
He said the US will never give up the strategic importance of the region and their strategic role in
Southeast Asia.
Arroyo said the US show of support remains to be seen in how far the Americans will go to help the country.
Even if US sends their ships and soldiers here, Arroyo noted the US’ stand where they “will tell you we’ll respect your position but we won’t be involved with this.”
Arroyo also lauded Aquino’s decision to discuss the issue with members of his cabinet.
Nonetheless, Arroyo recommended that it could have been better if the chief executive convenes the National Security Council.
“When it comes to national security, he should have convened the National Security Council. Why call a Cabinet meeting, do you have a need for the environment or labor secretary when discussing the row with China? Besides, the NSC is composed of the Cabinet, with the secretaries of defense and foreign affairs playing the dominant part,” Arroyo said.
'Jordanian journalist still interviewing Sayyaf leaders' By Roel Pareño (The Philippine Star) page 8
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The safety of Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani and his two Filipino cameramen has not been threatened while they are in Abu Sayyaf hands in the mountains of Sulu, the Sulu Crisis Management Committee (CMC) said yesterday.
Jainab Majid, Sulu CMC spokesperson, said nothing has changed as of yesterday in the situation of Atyani and Filipinos Rolando Letrero and Ramelito Vela.
“The monitoring we have received disclosed that he (Atyani) is still interviewing different leaders of the Abu Sayyaf group,” she said.
“There is nothing new, but we hope he will come out soon so that this issue will be over for them.”
The Sulu CMC’s statement continues to differ from the pronouncement of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo that negotiation is ongoing for the release of Atyani and the Filipinos.
The police and military have not issued a statement due to directives both from the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of National Defense.
However, troops have been placed on standby for possible rescue operations once given the go- signal.
Atyani and the two Filipinos have remained in Abu Sayyaf hands since June 13 when they went to interview the bandits.
Asean urged to ensure HR declaration meets standards (The Philippine Star) page 10
NEW YORK – Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should make a public commitment to ensure that the forthcoming ASEAN Human Rights Declaration will fully comply with international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.
The foreign ministers are meeting with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights in Phnom Penh and receive a draft declaration for their consideration.
Human Rights Watch urged ASEAN to immediately release a current draft of the declaration to civil society organizations.
“ASEAN’s self-proclaimed ‘people’s ASEAN’ that values participation was spurned during the drafting of the Human Rights Declaration, which has been kept secret throughout a wholly inadequate consultation process,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “ASEAN ministers should publicly commit to a declaration that won’t undermine international human rights standards in any way.”
In a letter sent yesterday to the ASEAN foreign ministers, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International, Article 19, International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation for Human Rights, and Dignity International called on the foreign ministers to include a provision explicitly providing that no part of the declaration shall be interpreted or implemented in a manner that is inconsistent with or undermines international human rights standards. The ministers should also remove any reference to “balancing” rights and responsibilities - along a justification to weaken rights protections - and end efforts to limit rights by deferring to national political, economic, or social situations.
ASEAN mandated the commission in 2009 to develop a declaration “with a view to establishing a
framework for human rights cooperation through various ASEAN conventions and other instruments dealing with human rights.”
A drafting committee, with representatives appointed by the commissioners, worked for more than one year but refused to make a copy of the draft declaration public. Only 5 of the 10 commissioners held any sort of national consultation with civil society organizations about the declaration and there was only a single regional consultation, in Kuala Lumpur on June 22.
The commission has given no indication of whether any of the inputs from these sessions were incorporated into the draft.
ASEAN should be extending and broadening the consultation process on the declaration, Human Rights Watch said. That would require genuine consultations based on a draft declaration that has been made public.
A schedule of open national and regional consultations should be held by the commission before the ASEAN leaders’ meeting in Phnom Penh in November.
“The process that the foreign ministers adopt in creating the declaration is a litmus test for ASEAN’s commitment to making the declaration an effective tool for promoting human rights in the region,”
Robertson said.
“The foreign ministers need to choose: will they prove their critics right by ignoring human rights or will they finally agree to support a rights-respecting regional integration process?”
DPWH to get P2.4-billion fund for government flagship projects
By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) page 12
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be receiving an additional P2.4-billion in fresh funding for purposes of boosting the government’s flagship Public- PrivatePartnership (PPP) program and improve more road projects in the country.
“The fund release will enable the DPWH to work out the preliminary requirements for both projects to facilitate quicker and more efficient project execution,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already approved the allocation, which will not only “support road and flood control right-of-way claims across the country” but develop more of President Aquino’s PPP projects that will be rolled out this year.
“The Aquino administration is laying down the proper groundwork for our private sector
engagements so that project implementation will proceed seamlessly,” the cabinet member said.
Out of the P2.4 billion, P543.5 million will be used to cover the necessary preparatory activities for two PPP projects set for implementation this year.
Of the P543.5 million, P259.2 million will be directed to the Daang Hari SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) Link Road Project, while another P284.33 million will be used for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway project.
Under the Daang Hari project, at least P177.3 million will be used for right-of-way claims in affected areas and other related expenses, while P35.2 million will fund the widening of the bridge at the Susana Heights Interchange.
The rest of the funds will be used for individual consultant fees and Advance Improvement Works of Alabang-Sto. Tomas Development Inc., according to Abad.
The Daang Hari SLEX Link Road Project will involve the construction of a four-kilometer, four-lane toll road from the junction of Daang Reyna and Daang Hari in Las Piñas/Bacoor, Cavite to SLEX,
traversing the new Bilibid Prison Reservation in Muntinlupa.
The project will facilitate the efficient flow of existing and future traffic to and from Bacoor, Cavite, and SLEX. It is also a critical segment of the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas (CALA) East-West Road Network linking the provinces of Cavite and Laguna.
The P284.3 million for the development of the NAIA Expressway will cover the initial payment for right-of-way claims for affected lots and properties, informal settlers, as well as the clearing of affected structures.
“The development of the NAIA Expressway will be crucial in improving access to and from NAIA. This is particularly important in view of the administration’s campaign to invigorate
the tourism industry and ultimately, to increase the country’s economic viability and
competitiveness,” Abad said.
The DBM has also released P1.85 billion to support nationwide road and flood control right-of-way claims under the DPWH, chargeable against lump-sum appropriations for payments of right-of-way Claims and Contractual Obligations under the DPWH budget in the 2012 national budget.
“Establishing flood control structures is especially urgent during the rainy season, when typhoons practically guarantee the presence of floods in specific areas and raise the risk for commuters and residents alike,” Abad said.
Government can save P60 million by not electing Miriam's replacement, lawyer says By Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star) page 13
MANILA, Philippines - The government can save at least P60 million by not electing a replacement for Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, an election lawyer said yesterday.
“Our government will save close to P20 million a year or a total of P60 million for three years if we will just maintain a 23-member Senate if Santiago resigns,” lawyer Romulo Macalintal said.
According to the 2010 Commission on Audit (COA) report, each senator spends an average of P20 million annually for “salaries, local and foreign travels, benefits of staff members, meetings, conferences, consultancy fees, supplies, materials, office rental, equipment, and miscellaneous expenses.”
On top of the annual spending, the national budget allocates pork barrel of P200 million per year per senator although some senators reportedly did not avail of this.
Macalintal noted that it is not mandatory and urgent at this time for the government to fill in the seat that Santiago will vacate when she joins the International Criminal Court.
He also pointed out that it would be illegal to proclaim a 13th senator because “it would note have the mandate of the people” since voters were asked to vote only for 12 senators.
Macalintal added that the other proposal to configure the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to accept 13 names and proclaim the 13th senator - after Santiago resigns - is also illegal.
“To proclaim the number 13 candidate as her replacement in the same election is to allow all senatorial candidates to run for two positions - one for the regular election for 12 senators and the other for the special election for the number 13 position. It is devoid of any legal basis and violates Section 73 of the Omnibus Election Code, prohibiting any person from running for more than one elective position,” he explained.
According to Macalintal, the positions to be voted for must be clear and cannot be left to chance or speculation.
“If Santiago decides not to resign, then what will happen to the number 13 senatorial candidate?
And if the number 13 dies or becomes incapacitated when Santiago resigns: who will then assume the number 13 position as her replacement?” he asked.
If Santiago resigns after the deadline for the filing of certificate of candidacy, Macalintal said a special election for her replacement could still be held if it will not affect the Comelec timetable.
“Otherwise, there is no urgent need to elect her replacement since the Senate has proven that it could still function as a legislative body and even as an impeachment court with only 23 senators,”
Macalintal noted.
The current vacancy was created by the election of President Aquino in the May 2010 presidential elections when he was still a senator whose term was to end on June 30, 2013.
