FRENCH LIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES

A US ambassador noted the “deepening" trade relations between the Philippines and China due to “shared history and ethnic connections" – particularly wealthy Filipino taipans – despite smuggling that “distort economic data," according to a cable released by Wikileaks on Thursday. Francis Ricciardone Jr., who is now the incumbent US ambassador to Turkey, sent the cable to Washington days after the April 2005 state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, which he titled “Embracing the Dragon: The Philippines Deepens Economic Engagement with China". President Benigno Aquino III himself is already set to embark on a five-day state visit to China next week, focusing on getting investments on infrastructure, mining, energy, information and tourism. “As China offers more foreign aid to the Philippines and becomes an increasingly large market for Philippine goods, the relationship between the two countries is likely to deepen economically and may extend to cooperation i...

Changement de tactique, ils font volte face ? Faut-il, comme avec le diable, manger avec une longue cuillère ? Les Américains, l'ONU, l'opinion internationale ? Despite geopolitical tensions brewing over the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), China and the Philippines intend to forge a $60-billion investment program over the next five years. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday the multibillion-dollar investment program is among six agreements Chinese and Filipino officials will forge during President Benigno Aquino III’s five-day state visit to China next week. Aquino will have 200 to 250 Filipino businessmen as part of the Philippine entourage during his state visit. “We always have targets and we won’t have this target kung hindi magiging posible. We will work hard but I think it could be done," DFA Assistant Secretary for Asia and Pacific Affairs Cristina Ortega said of the $60 billion-dol...

The Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group has given a radical commander with hundreds of fighters a final warning to stop a mutiny or face expulsion, which would expose his breakaway force to possible military assaults. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front's central committee plans to issue a resolution declaring that Ameril Umbra Kato is no longer a member unless he returns to its fold, an unlikely prospect since he has rejected earlier calls to rejoin, the group's vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar said Wednesday. Philippine officials have expressed concern over the infighting in the 11,000-strong Moro rebel group, which they say cast doubts on its ability to enforce any future accord in peace talks brokered by Malaysia. The guerrillas have said the uprising by Kato, who used to head one of their largest and most battle-tested commands, was an internal problem they were trying to defuse and asked the military not to attack him while they tried to woo him and his armed ...

BENHAM   …   RISE Thank goodness Benham Rise is found at the coastal region of Isabela and Aurora provinces in the East and not somewhere in the West where China’s nine-dash line lay claim to almost all of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). What am I talking about? Well, Benham Rise is an undersea region that was between 40 and 2000 meters below the waterline when it was discovered in 1933 by an American geologist surnamed Benham. The Philippines is now claiming the area after having proven that it is indeed part and, in fact, an extension of the country’s eastern continental shelf. The UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines the continental shelf as “the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea” up to 370 km (200 nautical miles) from the archipelagic baseline. An extended continental shelf goes farther than 370 km. “We have submitted a claim under (UNCLOS) sometime in late 2008. We got a reply from the UN lat...

VOUS AVEZ DIT  ...  DENGUE ? Amid the rising number of dengue cases in the country, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) urged the public to donate blood for patients suffering from the mosquito-borne disease. PRC secretary-general Gwendolyn Pang said blood bags are most needed in the National Capital Region (NCR), where dengue cases in the past months went up by 40 percent compared to the same period last year. Department of Health (DOH) data show that out of almost 40,000 dengue cases nationwide recorded between January and July this year, over 9,000 patients (or 23 percent) are from Metro Manila. Pang estimates that two out of five dengue patients, or 16,000 patients, will need blood transfusion.She said there is no blood shortage at the moment. However, if the number of dengue cases continues to rise and the blood demand goes up, there may not be enough supply for patients who immediately need blood transfusion. "Dengue is our most immediate need right now," she told GM...

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ILS ATTAQUENT … LA VILLE ! Saturday was a busy day for the Communist New People’s Army (NPA) as the group launched a series of attacks in the southern Philippines, killing at least two people and wounding eight others, police and military officials said. The first attack happened at around 5 a.m. Saturday when about 250 NPA guerrillas stormed the police station of Trento town, in Agusan del Sur province, killing two and wounding three others, including two lawmen, said Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Rafal, regional police chief for Caraga region where Agusan del Sur is located. The fatalities were civilians, Rafal said. Rafal said the rebels attempted to overrun and capture the police station and nearby government buildings at the town proper, but were pushed back as the station' s personnel led by a female police inspector fought back. The rebels arrived onboard three Isuzu Forward trucks. After an hour of firefight, the rebels fled, leaving behind two wounded policeme...

YOU SAID … PEACE ? Talks between Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and the chief of the country's main Muslim rebel group have given a tremendous boost to efforts to end the decades-long insurgency, the guerrillas said Friday. Aquino met with Murad Ibrahim of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in a suburb of Tokyo late Thursday and discussed ways to push the peace process forward, presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles said. It was the first time that a Philippine president has met with the chairman of the rebel group since on-and-off peace talks started 14 years ago. Aquino, who has been in office for a year, has placed a high priority on settling the country's long-running Muslim and communist insurgencies. The rebel group called Aquino's effort to meet Murad a "grand gesture" that gave "a tremendous boost to the peace negotiations." Chief government negotiator Marvic Leonen said Japan was chosen for the meeting for security reason...

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front urged the government over the weekend to end all on-shore and offshore oil and natural gas exploration activities in "Moro ancestral domain." In a July 30 statement, the MILF said that while it is not against economic development, the exploration may violate the spirit of ongoing peace efforts. "The natural resources of the Bangsamoro Homeland belong to the Bangsamoro people. Resources constitute one of the four strands in the Bangsamoro Ancestral Domain issue that is central to the ongoing peace negotiation between the GPH [Government of the Philippines] and MILF," it said in the  statement signed by MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar. Also it said, "...for as long as this issue remains yet to be resolved on the negotiating table, attempts to exploit and utilize these natural resources by foreign corporate entities in partnership with or with the express permission of the GPH would result in de...