AKYAT BARKO - OAV in Lisbon Portugal hits 6,171 Filipino Seafarers

Philippine Embassy in Lisbon sets record 6,000 Filipino seafarers registered as OAV period ends

The Philippine Embassy in Lisbon reported that it successfully concluded its registration activities for the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) for the 2013 national elections with a record number of almost 6,000 Filipino seafarers who filed their applications during the Embassy´s six-month long Akyat-Barko campaign.

Inspired by the success during its first ship mobile registration in May this year onboard the cruise ship MS Crystal Symphony and the warm response of the Filipino crew, the Embassy´s OAV team embarked on a series of visits to various ships which called on the ports of Lisbon and Porto in Northern Portugal.

Overcoming the challenges posed by the shortage in manpower, resources, and some technical issues, the Embassy was able to visit 57 ships which had their brief stopovers in  Lisbon and Porto. Among the ships visited by the OAV team belong to Costa Cruises, Aida Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, P&O Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd, Saga, Holland America Lines, Silver Cruises, MSC Cruises, Fred Olsen, Crystal, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and other shipping companies.

Overall, the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon was able to receive and process 6,171 applications for registration, certification and transfer of records for the OAV including those from land-based overseas Filipinos. Philippine Ambassador to Portugal, Philippe J. Lhuillier who assumed his post in Lisbon only in October 8 was the last registrant until the closing hours of the embassy on October 31, the last day of registration.

With the opening of the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon in 2010, Filipinos living in Portugal no longer have to travel to Paris to avail of consular services and to register for the overseas absentee voting. Filipino seafarers, many of whom have not voted for more than 10 years because of their frequent absence from the Philippines during election time, are grateful to the Embassy for bringing the OAV registration closer to them.  

Ambassador Lhuillier praised the OAV team headed by Third Secretary and Vice Consul Rogelio Villanueva Jr. for their exemplary performance and dedication to duty whose members had to sacrifice their weekends and holidays for the OAV including the almost impossible task of boarding of three big cruise ships in a single day. The Ambassador recalled that in the Queen Mary 2 alone, the Embassy was able to register 365 Filipino seafarers.

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Asian Development Bank: British “Don’t miss the train” Invest PPP in the Philippines

Bridge Linking Cebu Airport - The Mactan Cebu International Airport 

British firms being wooed to invest in PPP

British firms are being urged to consider opportunities in the Philippines as the government is rolling out its public-private partnership (PPP) projects and as the country's investment climate is improving.

Speaking at the PPP and Infrastructure Forum and Mission, Asian Development Bank (ADB) country economist Aziz Haydarov said it is time to look at available opportunities in the Philippines as the government is looking for partners for various infrastructure projects.

"Don't miss the train," he said.

For his part, British Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie shared the same view, citing that huge opportunities are available here for British companies as reforms have been undertaken by the Philippine government to improve the business environment through anti-corruption efforts.

He said the reforms undertaken are among the reasons why British companies are keen to be engaged in the country.

"I believe the time is right to take this cooperation to a new level. The commercial opportunities in the Philippines are huge...Investment now can be the platform needed for sustained growth in the years ahead," he said.

Government officials said opportunities are available in the transport and health sectors.

Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said opportunities are in the transport sector such as the extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 to Cavite, the unified ticketing system for all railways, as well as the development of the Mactan-Cebu International airport, among others.

Cebu Airport - The Mactan Cebu International Airport

In the health sector, Health undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa said in the same event that several opportunities are likewise available as the government is looking to modernize hospitals to provide health care.

In particular, Herbosa said, the government is working on the modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center which would involve the construction of a 700-bed capacity hospital within the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City.

The government, he added, is planning to set-up eight cancer centers in the country with cancer being a common cause of death among Filipinos.

"The government owns two cancer centers, one in Tagum in Davao and one in the Lung Center (of the Philippines), but the World Health Organization (WHO) says we need more," he said.

Representatives of some British firms such as healthcare technology solutions provider GE Healthcare, structural, civil and geotechnical solutions provider Tony Gee & Partners, as well as Arup, which offers design, engineering and consultancy services, said they are interested in PPP projects and are looking at how they can participate in these.

Haydarov also said that even as the ADB has already extended technical assistance to the Philippine government for the PPP program, it is still "more than willing to offer assistance" for the undertaking.

"The pipeline has developed. There is much more confirmed or ready to go pipeline. That all catalyses activity," he said.

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Ambassador Esteban Conejos Jr. Appointed to the World Trade Organization (WTO)

Philippine envoy appointed to WTO management board

A Philippine diplomat has been appointed to the Management Board of the Advisory Center on World Trade Organization Law (ACWL), the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

The DFA said Philippine permanent representative to the WTO Esteban Conejos Jr. will have a two-year term and may be reappointed for another two years.

"Conejos succeeded Ambassador Bozkurt Aran of Turkey. His term will be for two years, and he will be eligible for reappointment for a further two years," the DFA said.

ACWL aims to provide developing countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) with the legal capability necessary to enable them to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the WTO.

Conejos was unanimously nominated by the ACWL's Category B member countries to be their representative to the board, the DFA said.

These countries include Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam.

The Philippines has been a member of ACWL since its establishment in 2001.

It has benefited from services such as legal assistance in dispute settlement cases, legal opinions, training courses, and a secondment program for government trade lawyers.

During the past 10 years, ACWL had been involved in 21 percent of all new WTO dispute settlement proceedings.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy earlier said the ACWL helps make sure the legal benefits of the WTO are shared among all members.

Lamy added the ACWL contributes to the effectiveness of the WTO's dispute settlement procedures, and to the realization of the WTO's development objectives.

Management board

The Management Board makes decisions to ensure the efficient and effective operation of the ACWL and reports to the General Assembly.

It has six persons serving in their personal capacities who have been selected on the basis of their professional qualifications in the field of WTO law or international trade relations and development.

Three Board members are nominated by the developing country members, two by the developed country members and one by the LDCs. The Executive Director serves ex officio on the Board.

The DFA said Conejos attended his first Management Board meeting on Nov. 7, and was welcomed by other board members, including ACWL Executive Director Niall Meagher.

At the meeting, they discussed the operational and financial standing of ACWL, as well as the accession of Cuba.

G-33 meet

On behalf of Indonesia, the Philippines through Conejos chaired the G-33 Heads of Delegation meeting on November 7 – a tradition being observed every time the coordinator of the group is not available.

The G-33, previously known as the Alliance for Special Products and Special Safeguard Mechanism, is a coalition of 46 developing countries pressing for S&DT flexibility for developing countries in the agriculture Doha Round of talks for ensuring food security, livelihood security and rural development.

Its key members include Barbados, China, Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Kenya, Korea, the Philippines, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

The G-33 discussed the Indian proposal entitled "Some Elements... for Early Agreement to Address Food Security Issues," which India and the Philippines are seeking for G-33 sponsorship.

The proposal under "Green Box" of the WTO Agreement of Agriculture aims to exempt developing countries from factoring in government support payments for public stock-holding for food security purposes.

It particularly focuses on the procurement from "low-income or resource poor producers" and provision of subsidized food prices for urban and rural poor in their AMS ("trade-distorting subsidy") monetary limits.

The proposal is part of the considered "80 percent agreed and stabilized areas" in the 2008 Chair's agriculture modalities text which India and the Philippines hope to be harvested early during the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali in December 2012, in advance of the full conclusion of the Doha Round.

The proposal may be submitted to the COA-SS Chair John Adank and circulated to all WTO members before the agriculture talks resume on 16 November 2012 in Geneva.

GMA News

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