Philippines golfers' paradise and Longest White Beach spend shines

Golfers in Clark

The Philippines, a popular destination for Korean golfers, is taking part in the country's largest golf trade show here to promote its golf courses and other leisure facilities as part of efforts to attract 1 million Korean visitors this year.

The Korean office of the Philippines Department of Tourism said it has set up 10 exhibition booths at the Korea Golf Fair 2012, the country's largest golf convention. The fair, which began Thursday and will last through Sunday, is being held at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.

The Philippines tourism office said it has and will award visitors to its booths with free airline tickets and other rewards through a prize draw.

``To attract more than 1 million tourists from Korea, we will take full advantage of the ongoing golf exhibition,'' said Maricon Basco-Ebron, director of the Philippines Department of Tourism Office in Korea. ``There are many world-class but affordable golf courses throughout the Philippines. We will make more efforts to promote those in Manila and Clark, which have been extremely popular with Korean golfers.''

She also said during the four-day trade fair, the Southeast Asian country will showcase a number of attractive tourism assets in Palawan, which was designated as one of the New7 Wonders of Nature.

``At our exhibition booths, we will hand out brochures and other tourism-related materials to visitors free of charge. They can also win prizes if they participate in a range of our promotional events,'' the director said.

For instance, those who play on a mini-golf course set up inside the exhibition hall and score above average will be given dried mango and other souvenirs from the Southeast Asian nation. Among visitors that enter for an event, one individual will be selected through a draw and awarded with two complimentary round-trip tickets for the Incheon-Manila route. Another will be given two free round-trip tickets between Incheon and Cebu.

On the last day of the trade show, the winners will be announced. They will be individually notified by the Philippines tourism office.

``There are so many beautiful and distinguished golf courses in Manila and Clark. Restaurants and other amenities at golf courses are ready to serve Korean golfers,'' The director said. ``We strongly encourage golfers to visit the ongoing golf fair and obtain valuable travel information on the Philippines, as well as win various prizes by taking part in our promotional events.''

The country's bid to attract more tourists through the "It's more fun in the Philippines" slogan has started to bear fruit by perking up foreign onshore spending, global payments firm Visa said.

A boost in tourism in the next five years is expected by government officials in San Vicente, Palawan, where the longest white sand beach in the country is

Longest White beach in the Philippines…

The town of San Vicente is a three-hour trip from Puerto Princesa.

Its stretch of white sand beach is about 14-kilometers long, three times longer than the shores of Boracay island.

There are still no resorts built in the area but local officials expect establishments to be set up as soon as the construction of the town's airport is completed.  

Officials said over 50 investors have already bought properties along the white beach.  

San Vicente Mayor Ma. Carmela Alvarez believes that the town will soon be a prime tourist location.

For now, most tourists stay in the San Vicente town proper or in the coastal town of Port Barton.

Businesses, which will be set up along the white beach, are also expected to provide thousands of jobs for residents of San Vicente

VISA spenders up for "It's more fun in the Philippines"

In a press briefing, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam Iain Jamieson said this recent surge in inbound spending was complementing the robust growth of business from cardholders in the Philippines, where Visa cards have reached seven million. Of those cards, 4.5 million are debit and prepaid cards and 2.5 million are credit cards. Total payment volume in this market hit around $4 billion in 2011, he said.

Jamieson said the number of Visa cardholders had increased by 17 percent in this market in 2011 alongside a 12 percent rise in payment volume and 16-percent growth in e-commerce transactions. He also noted a 27 percent rise in spending on international transactions as more Philippine residents travel overseas for shopping, sightseeing or business or make online purchases from overseas merchants.

The Visa chief also noted that inbound spending by foreign cardholders have surged by double-digit levels since November last year and has so far been sustained.

"When we look at inbound market, half of amount spent is coming on cards. When we see double-digit growth from inbound customers, then that has positive ramification for the country," Jamieson said.

He reported that there was a sudden flip to double-digit level growth in inbound spending by foreigners since November of last year hitting 12-13 percent or about double the 6-7 percent growth in 2010.

"The new national tourism campaign has some parts to play in this," Jamieson said, adding that people now had more reasons to see great places in the Philippines.

The new tourism slogan was unveiled before Christmas last year. "It just rings. It has a nice ring to it," Jamieson said.

The Visa country chief said he initially thought this spike in foreign spending would tail off by February as westerners come back from their tropical holidays but this hadn't happened.

As of February, Visa's top 10 largest foreign spenders are from the following countries:

1. United States;
2. Korea;
3. Australia;
4. United Kingdom;
5. Japan;
6. Canada;
7. Norway;
8. Singapore;
9. Sweden;
10. Germany.

Based on recent trends, he added that Australians have been increasingly looking at the Philippines, which Jamieson attributed to direct flights from Qantas.

For Visa, he said it's crucial to look at these trends. "We have beautiful places and destinations to visit and we just want to ensure that we get to the right people in the right countries," he said. Visa, likewise, has launched a campaign to encourage foreign visitors to get local currency from the automated teller machines using their Visa cards as they hit the ground.

Meanwhile, Jamieson noted that 16 percent of payment volume from Philippine cardholders has been coming from e-commerce, mostly from the booking of airline tickets such as with Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines. This ratio has doubled over the last five years.

This year, Visa expects payment volume continuing to grow by mid-teens in percentage while issued cards are seen expanding by over 17 percent.

Average transaction value per usage of Visa cards is currently at around $75 while the amount is even half or less for debit and prepaid cards. Jamieson said the average value would likely further decline as consumers would be more comfortable using cards for the littlest transactions and as people who otherwise cannot get credit cards are able to access debit and prepaid cards.

Sources: ABS-CBN News, Korea Times, & Philippine Daily Inquirer

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China is invading gas rich South Korean Ieo Island, Spratlys of the Philippines, Senkaku Japan

By: Denis Somoso (OFW/ Independent writer)

China's communist hegemony hits Japan, Korea, Philippines and other 4 ASEAN Nations (Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia).

The Philippines, Royal Sultanate State of Sulu and China's dream Empire

Conflict in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) flare-up recently between China and the Philippines after china fired the Filipino fishermen in their waters claiming the waters surrounding Palawan Island of the Philippines as China's territory. Vietnam also protested as China sabotaged the Vietnam Exploration vessel in their sea. Not only Vietnam and the Philippines hit by China's hegemony but also it is expanding both East to South Seas creating disputes and challenging each country affected to build up their navies that includes  the powerful Japan and South Korea.

Though it is still far for the other countries to be controlled by China's communist hegemony; the Philippines' Old sultanate state of Sulu is hardly affected as China claimed the whole Spratlys archipelago which was owned and under the territory of the old Sultanate State of Sulu during the 1400 years or prior to the Spanish invasion to the Philippines.

Sultanate of Sulu - Sultan Kiram turned over his territorial and proprietary rights of the Sultanate of Sulu to the Republic of the Philippines in 1960s and the Philippine Government officially recognized the continued existence of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu under its regime.

Spratlys Archipelago become a core of interest of china as it stored the huge untapped deposit of oil and Gas in line with Saudi Arabia and the gulf countries that could sustain china's dependents in oil if they could control the whole archipelago. The Archipelago is not just rich in untapped oil and gas reserves but also a rich in marine resources and an important sea route for commerce.

The Benham Rise of the Philippines could be the next China Rise?

This year 2012, the Philippines is waiting for the approval from the United Nations for an official declaration that Benham as under Philippines's territory but china is now eyeing the seas in the Philippines Sea that includes Benham Rise facing the waters of Guam of the United States of America to be included in its communist hegemony.

Benham Rise is a Benham Plateau (with coordinates: 17°N 125°ECoordinates: 17°N 125°E) a seismically active undersea region and extinct volcanic ridge east of the Philippines, in the Philippine Sea.

Under the Philippine Sea lies a number of Basins including the West Philippine Basin (WPB) of which inside the Basin is located the Central Basin Fault (CBF). The Benham Plateau is located in the CBF and its basement probably represents a micro-continent.

Several scientific surveys have been made on the feature to study its nature and its impact on tectonic subduction, including one about its effects on the 1990 Luzon earthquake, which devastated the northern city of Baguio. The area is currently claimed, as part of its continental shelf, by the Republic of the Philippines, which has lodged a claim with the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on April 8, 2009.

This future new Philippines territory could face another challenge like the Spratlys Archipelago if china will continue it expansionism attitude to its surrounding waters which give a hint to the Philippines to continue building up their coast guards and navy capabilities for deterrence.

South Korean Ieo Island and Senkaku Japan - new China's territory

China has included South Korea's Ieo-do (Ee-yoo-do Island) on the list of regular monitoring by maritime surveillance vessels and planes, claiming that the island is inside Chinese territorial waters. Ieo is an underwater rock 149 kilometers southwest of Korea's southernmost island of Mara. Ieo-do is located where South Korean and Chinese economic exclusive zones overlap but is closer to South Korean waters. The closest Chinese island is Sheshan at 287 kilometers from Ieo. South Korea set up a maritime research center on the island in 2003 and Korean researchers live there. The island belongs to South Korea but China is trying to flex its hegemonistic agenda based on its economic and military power.

Beijing has begun shifting the focus of its defense strategies from land to sea and building up its naval power. By dividing its maritime defense boundary lines into two -- one from Okinawa and Taiwan to the Philippines and the other from Saipan and Guam to Indonesia -- China apparently seeks to control the Pacific. A case in point is China's first aircraft carrier Varyag, which will go into commission this year. China announced last year its intent to enter the East Sea separating South Korea and Japan by sending two military vessels there for the first time in 15 years.

To brace for China`s claim to South Korea's sovereign waters, the planned naval base on Jeju Island is a must. China is locking horns with Southeast Asian countries over the South China Sea and with Japan over the Senkaku Islands, or Diaoyu in Chinese. If disputes arise over Ieo, the South Korean Navy should respond to them. It will take 23 hours for the South Korean Navy to reach the island from Busan, but the Chinese east fleet in Ningbo can get there in just 18 hours. If the Jeju base is established, the South Korean Navy can make it in just eight hours. Response time is a critical factor that determines the outcome of a military operation.

The naval base is also essential to protecting the Jeju sea route, where more than 90 percent of inbound and outbound maritime freight passes. Up to 100 billion barrels of oil and 7.2 billion tons of natural gas are also presumed to be buried underwater near Ieo as well. Such an ample volume of natural resources is another reason behind Beijing's dispatch of a naval vessel in July last year to waters near Ieo and its territorial claim to the island.

Like the Philippines, Korean government still encountered China's supporters from South Koreans using the environment activist groups. South Korean Government Supporters called the anti government to reunite. "Those in South Korea opposed to the construction of the Jeju base present themselves as peacekeepers and environmentalists, but are eventually helping China and North Korea. Therefore, they must stop hindering the project. Going against the construction of the naval base is tantamount to giving up national security and interest".

 

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Taiwan protests over Philippine plan for Spratlys – PHL Draft 4 Strategic Actions

Taiwan protested Tuesday over a Philippine plan to explore oil and gas in disputed waters in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) where Taipei claims sovereignty.

"The Reed Bank is part of the Spratly islands... and we reject any claim or occupation by any means of the islands and the surrounding waters," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It is already pronounced by the Philippines President Aquino that Reed bank is not part of the Spratlys and must be excluded from the disputes.

Recto Bank is 92.60 KM or 57.539 Miles distance from Palawan main Island, Province of the Philippines.

Philippines ownership of the Reedbank and 80% of the whole Spratlys archipelago is based on the UNCLOS international Laws of sea that guaranteed of 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone or 230.156 Miles (370.40 Kilometers)

[to compute the and convert the distance is 1 Nautical Miles (NM) = 1.8520000 Kilometers (KM) = 1.1507794 Miles(M)]

According to the ministry, the Philippines is planning to accept bidding to explore and drill for oil and gas in the Reed Bank.

Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim all or part of the Spratlys, which could lie on top of large oil reserves.

All claimants except Brunei have troops based on the archipelago of more than 100 islets, reefs and atolls, which have a total land mass of less than five square kilometers (two square miles).

The Taiwanese coastguard currently has a 130-strong garrison on Taiping, the biggest island in the Spratlys archipelago.

Taiwan's security chief has called for Taipei to commit more military resources in the Spratlys, reacting to reports that rival claimants to the disputed waters are building up their armed presence.

Spratlys Archipelago is part of the territory of the old Sultanate State of Sulu which is currently under the Philippines government.

80% of the Whole Spratlys Archipelago is within 200 Nautical Mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

Military's chief spy pushes security policy for Spratlys

A SENIOR military official has recommended the crafting of a national security policy that would address the issues involving the Spratly Group of Islands and reinforce the country's claim over the disputed islands on the South China Sea.

In a paper, titled "Strategy of Indirect Pressure: A National Security Strategy on the West Philippine Sea [Spratlys]," Maj. Gen. Francisco Cruz, Armed Forces deputy chief of staff for intelligence (J-2), lamented that despite the existence of the long- standing dispute among the five claimant countries and China's aggressiveness, the National Security Council has not drafted a national security strategy that would directly address the Spratlys issue.

"In July 1999, four years after the discovery of  Chinese structures on Mischief Reef [located within the country's exclusive economic zone], the task of formulating the strategy was delegated to the Cabinet Committee on Maritime and Oceanic Affairs (Cabcom-MOA) chaired by the secretary of foreign affairs.

"Today, the government is still bereft of a coordinated strategy that would employ the country's elements of national power to assert sovereignty and protect its interest in the West Philippine Sea [Spratlys]," Cruz said.

He, however, noted President Aquino's declaration of "what is ours, is ours" in relation to the country's claimed territory on the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).

4 strategic actions

CRUZ recommended four strategic actions that would counter China's aggressiveness and "gunboat diplomacy," and fortify the country's foothold on the South China Sea.

These are psychological ploys, diplomatic maneuvers, intelligence support and interagency cooperation through the creation of a National Maritime Enforcement Agency that he recommended to be headed by a senior Navy officer who would have the priority in the use of military assets.

In the same paper, Cruz said he believed that China will not attack other claimants just to enforce its claim, because it would be isolated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and will have to face two fronts: the Taiwan Strait and the Spratlys.

Presence of US forces in the Philippines

Cruz said the country has a security policy on the disputed territory, but this was only during the time of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos. It, however, disappeared with the exit of American forces when the former Clark Air Base and the Subic Naval Base were closed.

He noted that in April 1983, then- Prime Minister Cesar Virata warned all claimants that any attempt to reclaim the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratly group would be considered as "an assault against the Republic of the Philippines and would receive appropriate response."

"Such policy was reasonable at that time because of the Philippines's close security relationship with the United States, [as] greatly evidenced by the presence of the latter's military bases in the country," he said.

Cruz said that in 1978, Marcos even issued Presidential Decree 1596 that officially declared the Kalayaan Island Group as part of the country's territory by reason of "history, indispensable need and effective control and occupation."

In view of the policy, the Armed Forces Western Command (Wescom) was even activated in 1976 or two years earlier before the presidential decree was issued to keep the occupation of the KIG and defend existing oil explorations in the area.

At present, while the country lacks a national security policy governing the Spratlys, it was anchoring its claim on four policy foundations and these are the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 1992 Manila Declaration, the 1995 RP-China Code of Conduct and 2002 Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Under Unclos, 80 percent of the KIG and its surrounding maritime areas fall within the country's exclusive economic zone.

China's incursions

CRUZ said the lack of a national security policy may have abetted Beijing's ongoing act of transforming the Spratlys into a "Chinese lake," noting the repeated violations of China of the country's EEZ.

These are the occupation of Mischief Reef in 1995; the March 2, 2011 Reed Bank incident which is located 144 nautical miles west of Palawan; the harassment of four Filipino fishing vessels by a Chinese warship at the Quirino Atoll which is located 180 nautical miles off Palawan; the construction of a tide staff at the Amy Douglas Bank on May 29, 2011 and at Rajah Soliman Reef on June 5, 2011; the sightings of unidentified fighter jets over Amy Douglas and Investigator Shoal on May 5 and June 4, 2011, and the presence of People's Liberation Army Navy vessels near Amy Douglas on May 24, also last year.

Cruz said that in the Quirino Atoll incident, the Chinese frigate even told the Filipinos over the radio: "This is Chinese warship 560. You are in the Chinese territory, leave the area immediately."

Other than the absence of security policy, Beijing's intrusions into the country's territory were also negated by the lack of assets by the Western Command to ward off such violations.

"The operational strategy dictates the military's Western Command to guard against foreign intrusions within the country's EEZ and protect oil exploration, through naval patrols, intelligence and aerial reconnaissance," Cruz said.

But he also added, "Today, Wescom is still burdened by the inadequacy of air and sea power assets since its activation in 1976."

Cruz noted that the laxity of assets puts into question the capability of the Wescom to protect the country's interest in the Spratlys and demonstrate military deterrence.

He said until President Aquino's decision to modernize the military through Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, the long-standing dispute has not accelerated the modernization of the Armed Forces.

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