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Month: June 2011

China tries a fast one on PH again in the Spratlys

While Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie was making a “goodwill visit” in Manila less than two weeks ago, his people were attempting to set up structures in an island, 126 nautical miles away from Palawan.

The Philippines has protested the constructions which is a clear violation of the 2002 Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea that no new structures should be built in disputed areas in the South China Sea.

Photo from Philippine Star
By Victor Reyes
Malaya

The military has monitored new intrusions by China at a Philippine-claimed island in the disputed Spratlys group of islands, where the Chinese put up buoys and posts that were subsequently dismantled by Filipino fishermen.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin he would bring up the matter before the 2011 Asian Security Forum or the Shangri-la Dialogue to be held in Singapore this weekend, which will be attended by defense chiefs in Asian region.

Gazmin said the first intrusion occurred on May 21 when Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and his party arrived Manila for a goodwill visit.

The second intrusion occurred on May 24 or a day after Gazmin and Liang met in Camp Aguinaldo where the two defense chiefs vowed not to take steps to affect stability in Spratlys, also known as the Kalayaan Island Group.

Lack of disembarkation cards: unnecessary inconvenience

Can't we learn a lesson how others do it efficiently? At Bangkok's Suvarnabhum airport.
Last Sunday, while we were approaching Manila from Bangkok aboard Thai Airways, we realized that we have not been given Disembarkation and Customs Declaration cards for us to fill up for submission to airport authorities upon arrival.
We asked the flight stewardess about it and she said there were no cards.

Upon our arrival, someone distributed the cards as we exited the tube to the NAIA 1 terminal. As expected, we all had to stop and fill out the cards.

A slight delay, actually, but an unnecessary inconvenience.