Philippines Rejects China's Demands for President Aquino’s Visit in the Expo “inimical to our national interest”

Nanning International Exposition Center

Philippine President Benigno Aquino rejected conditions China set for him to attend an expo in the country, adding to strains over territory in the South China Sea that both claim.

"The president stood firm in the defense of the country's national interest," Raul Hernandez, spokesman for the Philippines foreign affairs department, said in an e-mail. He didn't provide details of the demand, saying he didn't want to embarrass China.

The dispute over the invitation to the China-ASEAN expo in Nanning, where the Philippines is the country of honor this year, is the latest irritant to repairing ties as the two sides refuse to budge over their territorial dispute. The Philippines wants the United Nations to arbitrate the dueling claims, an idea that China rejects.

Citing two Philippine officials it didn't identify, the Associated Press reported yesterday that China had demanded the Philippines withdraw its arbitration request for Aquino's visit to go ahead.

Hernandez called China's demands "absolutely inimical to our national interest." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei refused to comment on the issue at a briefing yesterday, referring reporters to Foreign Ministry statements last week.

On Aug. 29, the Chinese Foreign Ministry urged the Philippines to work with China "to restore healthy and stable development of bilateral ties," the official Xinhua News Agency reported at the time.

Following is  DFA's full Q & A on the CAEXPO

Was the President invited?

The annual China-ASEAN Exposition (CAEXPO) is an ASEAN-China cooperative event and the usual practice is for the leader of the country of honor to be present. ASEAN countries had strongly urged the Philippines to send the country's highest official to highlight the 10th anniversary of the ASEAN-China strategic partnership this year. Although the President does not need to be specifically invited, the documents we have on the DFA website will show that he was, in fact, invited.

Were there any concerns and conditions from China for the President's attendance?

There were subsequent concerns and conditions to the President's attendance and such conditions were absolutely inimical to our national interest. To avoid embarrassment on the Chinese side, we will not state these conditions but you may wish to address this specific question to H.E. Ambassador Ma Keqing.

Under what circumstances were these conditions conveyed?

These concerns and conditions were delivered by at least three Chinese Foreign Ministry sources. We were advised that these conditions (1) should not be made public and (2) should not be discussed at Ministerial level.

Given the unusual request and the importance of the issue involving our President, it was necessary for the conditions to be confirmed by the two Foreign Ministers at their meeting in Beijing last Wednesday, 28 August 2013.

Did the President accept these conditions?

The President stood firm in the defense of the country's national interest.

Was the President given appropriate and timely advice on the issue?

As in all matters of foreign policy importance, the President is regularly advised in a timely and confidential manner.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for "true.")

With report from Bloomberg and Yahoo News

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Agriculture Dept to build 6 Coconut processing facilities; 2 Factories to be started this year

The Department of Agriculture is pushing to build the first two of six integrated coconut-processing facilities this year for coco oil, water and other products.

Plans are afoot and the department is trying to make the final blueprint for the factories.

"I think we have to try one or two within this year... And then next year we will establish four additional plants," Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala told reporters on Monday."If ever the money from the coco levy will be released, then maybe we can use some for expansion," he added.

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has allotted P50 million for each processing plant, and PCA Deputy Administrator Carlos Carpio said in a separate interview that Capiz and Agusan were being eyed as sites for the processing plants.  

"There are a lot of mining companies there and they are using coconut to rehabilitate some portions of the mined areas," Carpio said. "We still have to see because putting up this kind of facility is not that easy as there are a lot of products," he added.  

Government data showed Philippine coconut exports rose 14.98 percent to $746.3 million in the first five months of the year from $649 million a year earlier, largely boosted by higher demand for coco oil.

In volume terms, coco exports totaled 1.023 million metric tons (MT) from 570,000 MT in the same comparable period.

GMA news

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ERDB Philippines discovered a “mycorrhiza” natural fungus fertilizer that survives the plant in droughts to replace Chemical Fertilizers

This mycorrhiza includes a fungus of the genus Amanita (Photo source Wikipedia)

It's the right time to imagine that the Philippine denuded mountains will be covered again with forever green grass and trees.

"It's a silent miracle worker and, best of all, it's organic,"

It may hurt the chemical fertilizers business but it would benefit the Mother Nature and the earth as it helps the farmers to have abundant harvest.

"mycorrhiza" is not expensive compared to chemical fertilizer and maybe soon accessible by the farmers to replace the commonly used chemical fertilizer.

Mycorrhiza in the Know

According to Wikipedia, a mycorrhiza (Gk. μυκός, mykós, "fungus" and ριζα, riza, "roots",pl. mycorrhizae or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic (generally mutualistic, but occasionally weakly pathogenic) association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant.

In a mycorrhizal association, the fungus colonizes the host plant's roots, either intracellularly as in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF or AM), or extracellularly as in ectomycorrhizal fungi. They are an important component of soil life and soil chemistry.

Philippines banks on fungus to plant 1.5 billion trees

Fungus converts previously useless earth around it into healthy soil

To help it achieve the goal of planting 1.5 billion trees by 2016, the government is counting an unlikely ally — a rare fungus that converts previously useless earth around it into healthy soil.

According to Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje, the government has found a partner in "mycorrhiza" a fungus which the official said would not just help the country plant more trees, but will also wean away Filipino farmers from dependence on non-organic fertilizers.

Mycorrhiza, being a fungus, is inexpensive and can be grown anywhere, he said. It is also safe in comparison to chemical fertilizers that can harm the environment and humans.

"It's a silent miracle worker and, best of all, it's organic," Paje said, adding that the Philippine government had adopted a policy on the wide use of mycorrhiza in agricultural and forestry applications.

"This policy on the use of mycorrhiza has in effect boosted government efforts to encourage the use of organic fertilizers to wean away farmers from chemical fertilizers in order to improve the health of soil throughout the country," he said.

The depletion of the country's forest cover had been largely blamed for calamities such as flash floods that occur in the Philippines with increasing regularity.

According to experts, the country has lost as much as 80 per cent of its natural forest cover.

Based on the 2001-2003 satellite imagery, the Philippines' remaining forest cover is estimated at 7.168 million hectares, or 24.27 per cent of the total land area. The remaining eight million hectares are unproductive, open, denuded or degraded.

In a bid to rehabilitate and restore the country's forest cover, the government of President Benigno Aquino launched the National Greening Program (NGP). Part of this scheme is promoting a new approach to reforestation where the mycorrhiza plays a big role.

Paje explains that other than serving as a fertilizer for trees, mycorrhiza can be used on other crops.

"Aside from trees, mycorrhiza can even be applied on a variety of crops, including sugarcane, onions, garlic and vegetables. It's cost-effective. The cost of adding mycorrhiza is lower than the savings from reduction in chemical fertilizer use. The yield gains add to the profits,'' he said,

Mycorrhiza promotes plan growth by enhancing a plant's uptake of water even in arid or acidic soils. At the same time, it also releases powerful enzymes into the soil that dissolve hard-to-capture nutrients such as organic nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and other "tightly bound" soil nutrients.

According to experts, mycorrhizal fungus possesses "symbiotic ties with plants".

"It attaches itself either on or inside the plant roots to tap into the sugars and carbohydrates present in the leaves for its sustenance. In turn, the fungal hyphae (filaments) grow out from the roots and bring water and soil nutrients back into the plant host," the DENR said.

The Philippines' studies on the workings of this wonder fungus were the result of the efforts of Dr Evangeline T. Castillo of the Ecosystems and Research Development Bureau (ERDB).

"Through her work, ERDB has produced pure inoculants of endomycorrhiza which now have two approved patents from the Bureau of Patents of the Intellectual Property Office-Philippines," said the DENR.

With report from the Gulf News

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