Malaysia summons Philippines, Sultanate of Sulu claimed Sabah. Bangsamoro betrayed Philippines for Malaysia

(North Borneo) Sabah is ours, Malaysia tells the Philippines - Image from Malaysiakini.com

Malaysia summons Philippine Charge d' Affaires over claims on Sabah

Malaysia summons Philippine Charge d' Affaires over claims on Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 (Xinhua)-- Malaysian Foreign Ministry summoned the Philippine Charge d'Affaires on May 19 over recent remarks made by Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III on the Philippines'claim on Sabah, according to a statement of Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman on Sunday.

It said that Medardo G. Macaraig, the Philippine Charge d' Affaires, was summoned on May 19 over Aquino's remarks on the Philippines'claim on Sabah in an interview with Philippines journalist Raissa on May 15.

During the interview, Aquino said that he would not drop the Philippine claim to Sabah. "The government of Malaysia reiterates its position that Malaysia does not recognize and will not entertain any claims by any party on Sabah,"Anifah said in the statement, adding that Sabah is recognized by the UN and international community as part of Malaysia since Sept. 16, 1963.

The Philippines has made a territorial claim over the eastern part of Sabah, claiming that the territory, via the heritage of the Sultanate of Sulu, was only leased to the North Borneo Chartered Company in 1878 with the Sultanate's sovereignty never being relinquished.

The question was posed to Aquino amid growing speculation that Manila would drop the Sabah claim in exchange for Malaysia’s support for a Bangsamoro government in southern Philippines.

Bangsamoro promised to Malaysia not to claim Sabah North Borneo but to support and strengthen Malaysia's position over Sabah in return for their support on the ongoing Bangsamoro sub state negotiation with the Manila government.

Malaysia, however, considers this dispute as a"non-issue,"as it interprets the 1878 agreement as that of cession and it deems that the residents of Sabah had exercised their right to self- determination when they joined to form the Malaysian federation in 1963. -  with sources from Global Post and Xinhua News Agency

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Philippine Economy is the Strongest in the World - Findings of Washington USA Think Tank

Philippines has most resilient economy – study

(CNN Philippines) — Should an economic crisis akin to last decade's Great Recession happen again, the Philippines would be the most "resilient" country and be able withstand it, despite its status as an emerging-market economy.

That's the assessment of Center for Global Development (CGD), a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

It's not that hard to imagine another financial crisis happening: Growth in China — the world's second largest economy — has slowed, the United States' bull market hasn't had a correction since 2011, and in the Eurozone, debt-ridden Greece has yet to strike a deal with its creditors.

Economist Liliana Rojas-Suarez of the CGD recently created a "resilience indicator" that measures the vulnerability of an economy to future financial shocks.

Her metric looks into several economic indicators that fall under two categories:

• a country's ability to withstand external shocks 
• government's ability to "rapidly" implement policies that counteract the effects of such shocks 

"I compare the values of the identified variables in 2007 (the preglobal financial crisis year) with the respective values at the end of 2014," she said.

Rojas-Suarez explained: "A country is said to be highly resilient to adverse external shocks if the event does not result in a sharp contractions of economic growth, a severe decline in the rate of growth of real credit and/or the emergence of deep instabilities in the financial sector."

Of the 21 countries she studied, Rojas-Suarez ranked the Philippines as the most resilient economy, ahead of South Korea and China, which fall at second and third, respectively.

Rojas-Suarez found that the Philippines posted a strong improvement in its indebtedness. The debt indicators had substantial influence over the country's ranking.

For example, she points out that the country cut in half its external debt to GDP ratio "from around 40 percent in 2007 to around 20 percent in 2014." This figure stands in stark contrast with most whose ratios are "without significant changes" within that same time period.

She also cites the country's lower government debt to GDP ratio which stood above 40% in 2007, and subsequently shrank to below that figure in 2014.

Likewise, the country also stood out because of its improved inflation performance in 2014 relative to 2007. Rojas-Suarez pointed out that inflation rates have been within the government's targets.

Latin American countries did not do well in the study: "Four of the six Latin American countries in the sample have deteriorated their positions in the ranking. This includes Argentina, which now holds the last position. "

Apart from "bad luck in terms of unfavorable trade," Rojas-Suarez explained that such countries ranked lower because of "the squandering of opportunity to implement needed reforms in the good post-crisis years."

Her study ultimately affirms a long-running cliché: An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

"Policy decisions taken in the precrisis period played a major role in explaining a country's macroeconomic performance during the global economic crisis (of last decade)," explained Rojas-Suarez.

"[I]nitial conditions at the onset of a severe adverse external shock matter a lot. The good news is that, besides the commodity price shock, the most feared external shock: a sudden rise in interest rates in the US has not (yet) materialized. Time is still on the side of emerging markets’ authorities." - CNN

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AFP chief: Defense spending should be 1% of Phl budget

MANILA, Philippines - Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. is pushing for greater military spending, saying this would enable the country to defend its territory.

Catapang said military expenditures should be increased to 1 percent of the national budget to enable the government to buy more equipment for territorial defense.

“What is important now is for our country to become prosperous because our argument is maybe at least we increase our expenditure for our defense and military,” Catapang said in a press briefing on Monday.

“What I’m proposing is that at least 1 percent of the approved national budget will go to the improvement of the capabilities of our defense and military units, to include the Office of Civil Defense,” he added. 

Catapang made the statement when asked what Filipinos can do to counter China’s aggressive expansion in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The Asian superpower has been occupying disputed areas to assert its expansive territorial claim, including some areas that are well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The 2015 national budget stands at P2.6 trillion. In 2012, President Aquino signed a law that allotted P75 billion for the military’s modernization program from 2013 to 2017.

The modernization program will be given P15-billion each year from the national budget. The annual outlay of P15 billion is equivalent only to about 0.57 percent of the 2015 budget.

Because of its poorly equipped military, the Philippines cannot stop China’s construction activities in its West Philippine Sea territories namely Mabini (Johnson South) Reef, Calderon (Cuarteron) Reef, Burgos (Gaven) Reef, Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef, Kennan (Hughes) Reef, Zamora (Subi) Reef and Panganiban (Mischief) Reef.

When reminded that China would have been finished with its construction projects by the time the Philippines becomes a prosperous country, Catapang merely stressed the need to boost territorial defense capabilities.

“Reclaiming the areas is one side of the story but putting up a strong credible deterrence for our country, ensuring that our territory will be defended from any foreign country that intends to harm us, will be a very big boost to our territorial defense,” the military chief said.

 “I don’t know the intention of China for doing this, but what is important is we are prepared to defend the country,” he added. -philSTAR

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