China Naval Fleet Haixun 21, 31, 166 Arriving West Philippines Sea; Warship BRP Alcaraz again delayed

Philippine Warship BRP Ramon Alcaraz

Despite the Philippines' repeated protests and condemnation of China's incursions into the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), a fleet of Chinese surveillance ships has again sailed into the contested waters on "regular patrol missions," Chinese state media reported.

The Maritime Safety Administration of Hainan said the fleet composed of the Haixun 21, the Haixun 31 and the Haixun 166 left the province's Sanya port for patrols in the disputed waters, according to a report in China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

"The missions will strengthen china's maritime law enforcement capacity and test the patrol team's rapid response abilities in the disputed Sea," the report said.

The patrols "will monitor maritime traffic safety, investigate maritime accidents, detect pollution, and carry out search and rescue work," it added.

The patrol is China's second known ship deployment in the West Philippine Sea. It previously dispatched two ships from the city of Guangzhou in southern China.

China earlier announced fishery patrols in the West Philippine Sea, prompting "strong objection" from the Philippines.

The Department of Foreign Affairs did not immediately issue any statement on Saturday but it had many times in the past condemned similar Chinese patrols as violations of the Philippines' established maritime borders.

The Philippine government in January went to a United Nations (UN) arbitral panel to put a stop to China's incursions in the West Philippine Sea. The legal action also seeks to invalidate China's nine-dash line claim, which places almost all of the West Philippine Sea islands within Chinese territory.

China has refused to participate in the compulsory process, a decision that could boost the Philippines' case before the ad hoc tribunal, says a world expert on international law.

"If China does not participate, it will not be able to submit evidence and make legal arguments. So it's really strengthening the Philippines' chances at the tribunal," said Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago.

He conceded, however, that while any UN tribunal decision on the case would be binding, China's compliance would be another matter.

2^nd PHL Warship Again delayed for more sophisticated Trainings for Mk38 Mod 2

The arrival of the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, the second warship acquired by the Philippines from the United States, has been moved to August due to the need to conduct more training for its crew.

Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic said yesterday that the training of Filipino sailors and the refurbishment of the vessel are still ongoing.

"Their trainings are extensive, training in terms of equipment and shipboard evolution. The travel time takes about two months so it will arrive in August," Fabic said in Filipino.

BRP Ramon Alcaraz will have two Mk38 Mod 2 automatic cannon systems and will be among the first ships in the world to be equipped with state-of-the art cannon systems.

The Mk38 Mod 2 is designed to counter high-speed maneuvering surface targets which system would be installed also in almost all US surface ships by 2015.

Defense officials previously said the BRP Alcaraz would arrive in the country by January or February this year. The schedule was pushed back to April, with officials citing the same reason – the need for Navy personnel to undergo training.

Fabic noted that the use of the ship's equipment requires technical knowledge.

"The (pieces of) equipment are sophisticated like those used for navigation, fire control," he said.

RP Alcaraz was acquired from the US Coast Guard, after the acquisition of BRP Gregorio del Pilar in 2011, and was largely used for drug and migrant interdiction, law enforcement and search and rescue.

The acquisition of the naval assets was intended to enhance the military's maritime defense capability.

Security officials bared plans to fast-track the military's upgrade program amid efforts by China to shore up its presence in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). Officials, however, maintain that the upgrade efforts are not directed against any country.

BRP Alcaraz can accommodate up to 180 officers and sailors. The vessel was named after Commodore Ramon Alcaraz, a Navy officer who commanded a patrol boat that shot three Japanese aircraft during World War II.

The government spent more than ₱600 million to acquire the ship.

The defense department plans to acquire two more warships within the first quarter.

Among the countries that are ready to provide defense assets are US, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Israel, Croatia and Australia.

With reports from RFTBP, philSTAR, and INQUIRER

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Philippines’ elite swallow country’s new wealth

Optimism is soaring that the Philippines is finally becoming an Asian tiger economy, but critics caution a tiny elite that has long dominated is amassing most of the new wealth while the poor miss out.

President Benigno Aquino has overseen some of the highest growth rates in the region since he took office in 2010, while the stock market has hovered in record territory, credit ratings have improved and debt ratios have dropped.

"The Philippines is no longer the sick man of East Asia, but the rising tiger," World Bank country director Motoo Konishi told a forum attended by many of Aquino's economic planning chiefs recently.

However economists say that, despite genuine efforts from Aquino's team to create inclusive growth, little progress has been made in changing a structure that for decades has allowed one of Asia's worst rich-poor divides to develop.

"I think it's obvious to everyone that something is structurally wrong. The oligarchy has too much control of the country's resources," Cielito Habito, a respected former economic planning minister, told AFP.

He presented data to the same economic forum at which Konishi spoke, showing that in 2011 the 40 richest families on the Forbes wealth list accounted for 76 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

This was the highest in Asia, compared with Thailand where the top 40 accounted for 33.7 percent of wealth growth, 5.6 percent for Malaysia and just 2.8 percent for Japan, according to Habito.

According to the Forbes 2012 annual rich list, the two wealthiest people in the Philippines, ethnic Chinese magnates Henry Sy and Lucio Tan, were worth a combined $13.6 billion.

This equated to six percent of the entire Philippine economy.

In contrast, about 25 million people, or one quarter of the population, lived on $1 a day or less in 2009, which was little changed from a decade earlier, according to the government's most recent data.

Some of the elite families have dominated since the Spanish colonial era that ended in the late 1800s.

Prominent Spanish names, such as Ayala and Aboitiz, continue to control large chunks of the economy and members of the families are consistent high placers on Forbes' annual top-40 wealth list.

Their business interests range from utilities to property development to banking, telecommunications and the booming business process outsourcing industry.

Many of the ethnic Chinese tycoons, such as Sy and Tan, got their start soon after the country gained post-World War II independence from the United States.

The tendency for the same names to dominate major industries can be partly attributed to government regulations that continue to allow near monopolies and protections for key players.

For decades after independence from the United States in 1946, important sectors such as air transport and telecommunications were under monopoly control, according to a Philippine Institute for Development Studies paper.

Despite wide-ranging reforms since 1981, big chunks of the market remain effective oligopolies or cartels, it said.

Habito said the path to riches for the few is also helped by a political culture that allows personal connections to easily open doors.

The Aquino government's mantra since succeeding graft-tainted Gloria Arroyo's administration has been good governance and inclusive growth, and their efforts have been applauded by the international community.

The government is spending more than $1 billion this year on one of its signature programmes to bridge the rich-poor divide.

The conditional cash transfers programme will see 15 million of the nation's poorest people receive money directly in exchange for going to school and getting proper health care.

However Louie Montemar, a political science professor at Manila's De La Salle University, said little had been done at the top end to impact on the dominance of the elite.

"There's some sense to the argument that we've never had a real democracy because only a few have controlled economic power," Montemar told AFP.

"The country dances to the tune of the tiny elite."

Nevertheless, the government and economists say there are many other reforms that can be taken to bring about inclusive growth.

Analysts said the most direct path out of poverty was improving worker skills, using higher tax revenues to boost spending on infrastructure, and rebuilding the country's manufacturing sector.

To this end, many economists endorse the Aquino government's cash transfer programme as well as reforms to the education system, which include extending the primary and high school system from 10 to 13 years.

But for people such as mother-of-five Remy del Rosario, who earns about 1,500 pesos ($36) a week selling cigarettes on a Manila roadside, talk of structural reform and inclusive growth mean little.

With her bus driver husband out of work, the family has no savings and her income is barely enough to cover food, bus fare, and prescription medicines.

"Other people may be better off now, but we see no improvement in our lives," she said. (http://bit.ly/Ximlsw)

AFP/ INQUIRER Business 

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OFWs urged: Come home more often, join FB, invite all

Rob Schneider- Hollywood Actor said: To be a Filipino, It's just fun anywhere 

Add a few more Facebook friends and earn the title "new tourism ambassadors" in the process.

The catchy campaign come-on was pitched by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., who urged more than 9 million overseas Filipinos to "go into the social network and begin to connect with everyone else in the world."

"No matter how many kinds of Filipinos are in the world today—Filipino-Americans, Filipino-Chinese, Filipino-Italians, Filipino-Japanese, Filipino-Singaporeans, Filipino-French, Filipino-Arabs, Filipino-Germans, Filipino-Canadians and Filipino-Swedes, among others—there will always be only one type of fun. It's called Filipino fun," Jimenez said in a speech during the closing program of the Second Global Summit of Filipinos in the Diaspora on Feb. 27 in a Makati City hotel.

He said that kind of fun comes from an openness, which happens to be a common Filipino trait.

"To build a nation, one can only begin with the most basic of all ingredients—national pride. Your self-esteem, your confidence is what will make people sit up and take notice. They will praise you for your hard work, your perseverance, your intelligence, your discipline," he said.

"But if you are great fun, if you are confident in yourself, they will follow you in the Philippines," he added.

Come home

In his remarks, Jimenez also urged overseas Filipinos to come home to the Philippines more often.

Last year, a record 4.27 million tourists visited the country, a 9.07-percent increase over the 3.92 million visitors in 2011.

Jimenez expressed confidence that the 2012 figures could be surpassed this year with the help of the Filipino diaspora, which he said was "not just a spreading out of Filipinos."

"Because if all we did was to spread out, it could be the beginning of a separation, which is what makes this gathering very crucial, some important and so necessary," he said.

Common view

Jimenez said the tourism slogan "It's more fun in the Philippines" is an invitation to the world that Filipinos share more than a language.

"We share a common view of our world. We remind each other of the things that matter most—family, friendship and God," he added.

For his part, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the government was encouraging the active participation of overseas Filipinos and their involvement in national issues.

"Our foreign service posts are partners of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas  in communicating with and mobilizing overseas Filipinos to participate in various programs," including, among others, the Business Advisory Circle, which assists Philippine nationals abroad in setting up business partnerships in the country; the Alay Dunong program, which systematizes the skills and technology exchange between overseas Filipinos and the Philippines; and the Return and Reintegration Program, which assists balikbayans to successfully reintegrate into local life.

Proactive approach

Del Rosario said the country's embassies and consulates abroad were also taking a proactive approach to urge overseas Filipinos to join the country's overseas absentee voting and dual citizenship programs.

The government also puts the welfare and protection of the rights of Filipinos abroad in its top priorities, he added.

"In cooperation with other government agencies and international organizations, the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) has repatriated a total of 14,203 OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) from areas affected by civil strife or natural disasters, from 2011 up to the present. In particular, a total of 3,457 Filipinos were repatriated from war-torn Syria since the uprising began in 2011. Despite the ongoing crisis in the middle eastern country, the Philippine Embassy in Damascus continues its operations in order to evacuate the OFWs who remain there and ensure their safety and well-being," he reported.

Del Rosario said during the past eight years, 746 Filipino seafarers who fell victims to piracy had been released and repatriated through the joint efforts of the country's embassies abroad, manning agencies and the sailors' principals.

Last year, 122 Filipino victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment were assisted by the DFA, he said.

In 2011, a total of 28 OFWs facing the death penalty were provided legal assistance by the agency. Last year, at least 40 of 130 OFWs with death penalty cases were commuted to life or fixed imprisonment, he said.

To further intensify efforts to promote and protect the rights of Filipino migrant workers, the DFA head said the Philippines had adopted a new qualification framework containing sets of training regulations for Filipinos that prescribe competency standards for various qualifications.

"The country also ratified in August 2012 the International Labor Convention (ILO) No. 189 on decent work for household service workers," said Del Rosario, noting the Philippines was the "first Asian nation to commit itself to the respect and implementation of the new ILO labor standard that was adopted on June 16, 2011, during the ILO conference in Geneva."

INQUIRER Global Nation

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