Libyan likes OFW medical practitioners serving the war casualties

LIBYA: A visiting Libyan official urged Filipino workers Monday to return to Libya, saying its capital was peaceful and violence was confined to rebel-controlled areas.

Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the Philippines is maintaining its policy not to deploy workers there.

NATO airstrikes have hit Tripoli and other targets in the five-month operation to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians, but there is a semblance of normalcy in the capital as shops remain open and residents go about normal daily routines.

Abdulhadi Lahweej, Libya's undersecretary for expatriates, immigrants and refugee affairs, met with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario during which he assured him of the safety of Filipinos in Libya.

About 14,000 Filipinos were evacuated from the country in March, shortly after the rebellion began in mid-February. Those who remain are mostly medical workers.

The United States and about a dozen other countries recognize the rebels as Libya's legitimate government. The Philippines is among nations that still recognize the longstanding regime of Moammar Gadhafi.

"We continue to recognize the Libyan government as manifested by the presence of our embassy in Tripoli, which continues to serve over 2,000 of our overseas Filipino workers who remain in Libya," del Rosario said.

About 10 percent of the Philippines' population of 94 million people work abroad. They send home billions of dollars that boost the economy, and the government holds their welfare as a top priority.

Lahweej told a news conference his government is taking care of Filipinos who have remained there "and we are now calling those who left to get back to Libya."

The front-lines of the fighting are miles beyond Libya's capital, but airstrikes rattle the city almost daily. The government alleges the airstrikes have caused many civilian deaths, but there is little evidence of it. Readily visible in Tripoli, however, are the effects of the foreign workers' exodus: uncollected trash, shuttered businesses and abandoned construction projects.

Lahweej said he is visiting various countries to explain the "true story of the Libyan rebellion."

At a news conference, he showed gruesome videos of alleged atrocities by rebels he referred to as Islamic extremists who are using al-Qaida methods. "It's a rebellion, an armed rebellion by criminal groups," he added.

Lahweej criticized NATO for the airstrikes and said Western governments that support the rebels are motivated by their desire for Libya's oil resources.

The statements echo Gadhafi's own descriptions of the rebels and their international supporters. Despite the claim, there is little sign of Islamic extremists among the rebel ranks, which include many soldiers and officers who defected from Gadhafi's military.

Hernandez said Lahweej assured the Philippines that Gadhafi's government will facilitate Filipino workers' remittances home.

He also briefed del Rosario on the current situation in Libya, and del Rosario expressed hopes the situation will be resolved peacefully, Hernandez said.

 

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The Philippines seeks ASEAN unity for Spratlys row of sea

July 29, 2011 - The Philippines said it would seek regional backing for a plan on pursuing joint development of disputed areas in the South China Sea amid China's increasingly robust assertions of its claims.

Legal experts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet in Manila in September to discuss the proposal, foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez told reporters.

He said the aim was to eventually get the 10 ASEAN nations, and later on China, to endorse the proposal to delineate the disputed sections of the strategically located and reputedly resources-rich area.

"If we can define those disputed features then we can have the joint development of those areas," Hernandez said.

Areas not in dispute should be the exclusive preserve of the country that owns them, Hernandez said.

Competing claims to the potentially oil-rich Paracel and Spratly island groups in the South China Sea have caused rising tensions in recent months, with regional neighbours accusing China of behaving aggressively.

These areas, which straddle vital commercial shipping lanes, are subject to a tangle of maritime claims by China, Taiwan, and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

However China maintains it owns all of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of Southeast Asian countries.

ASEAN, which also includes Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, agreed with China at a ministerial meeting last week to a set of guidelines setting a framework for an eventual code of conduct for the sea.

But China has consistently rejected efforts for the disputes to be resolved in a multilateral setting.

It prefers bilateral negotiations, which other countries fear is a divide-and-conquer approach that would weaken their bargaining capabilities with the Asian superpower.

Hernandez said that if the Philippine proposal got traction it would be tabled for discussion by ASEAN senior officials and eventually its foreign ministers.

After that, getting China on board would be the next challenge, he added.

"We are hopeful that China would listen to the voice of the ASEAN, and even the voice of the international community.

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Philippines Azkals 2014 -FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers versus Kuwait for 2-1

If you think the Philippine Azkals is over in the first half, then the team make a magic after they strive to win the game over the Mighty Kuwait for 2-1 score in favor of the Philippines Azkals.

In a  90-minute encounter, it was the experience and poise of Kuwait that prevailed as Al Azraq, despite playing with 10 men in the second half, still found their way to wipe out Phl’s one-goal edge and steal a 2-1 win last night in the 2014 Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers Second Round at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Together with the 3-0 verdict they posted in Kuwait last Saturday, Al Azraq won the two-game series on goal aggregate, 5-1, to earn a berth in the third round and dash the Azkals’ World Cup hopes at least for now.

“This game and the previous game show how bitter and hard football can be,” said Azkals coach Michael Weiss, who’s still a picture of optimism despite failing to scale the Everest-like challenge of Kuwait, the 10-time Gulf champions.

“A team like us that’s been fighting so bravely in the last six months, and even back to the Suzuki Cup last year, can be punished so severely. That’s a hard lesson to learn and take,” he added.

Fuelled by the enthusiastic crowd at the historic venue, the Azkals drew first blood and went into the break ahead, 1-0, enjoying the prospect of pulling a W over the mighty Al Azraq.

Fil-German Stephan Schrock, suspended in the first leg, was all over the place in his return to action. Schrock sent the leather home from 20 yards in the third minute of added time in the first half, setting off pandemonium all around the venue as tunes of Pinoy Ako and Impossible blared.

The Azkals got an added advantage in the 58th when Fahad Al Ebrahim was sent off for a hard tackle on Chieffy Caligdong.

But the personnel disadvantage inside did not dampen Kuwait a little.

Yousef Naser knocked down the equalizer on a long-range shot at the 61st, silencing the Filipino crowd which was then in the mood for celebration.

Al Azraq put the dagger on the stunned Filipinos in the 85th when Waleed Jumah knocked it down on a through ball that had goalkeeper Neil Etheridge rushing out.

“I think the team can take this defeat. We had to take it fairly and also acknowledge that we went up against a tough opponent,” Weiss said. “(Kuwait) Coach Goran (Tufegdzic) sees his team going all the way through the World Cup this year.”

Al Azraq advanced to the third round where Japan, Australia, South Korea, Bahrain and North Korea have been seeded, along with 14 other winners of Round 2.

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