Month: March 2014

Is the Philippines ready for China’s retaliation?

Published by Ellen on March 30, 2014

No ifs and buts about it: the Philippines and China are no longer friends.

That’s a decision that the Philippines made when it hauled China to the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal over the latter’s all -South -China -Sea-encompassing 9-dash line map. As former ambassador to the United Nations Lauro Baja said, “When we filed a case against China at the U.N. that was the end of diplomacy.”

The submission of the Memorial on the case today at the U.N. Court’s headquarters at The Hague further reinforced the hostility.

As a sovereign country, the Philippines has every right to choose who to be friends with and who to take on. The Aquino government has chosen to battle with China. It’s a move applauded by allies who are uncomfortable with the enormous strength of modern China but are hesitant to antagonize the world’s second largest economy.

PH files Memorial in UN case vs China

Published by Ellen on March 30, 2014

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza.

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

The Philippines submitted its Memorial before the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in The Hague, Netherlands in the suit it filed to nullify China’s 9-dash line map, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said today.

China’s reaction: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xwfw/s2510/t1142356.shtml

Del Rosario said the 4,000 page Memorial consisting of 10 volumes “demonstrates that the Arbitral Tribunal has jurisdiction “over the case and that every claim in the Statement of Claim filed on Jan. 22, 2013 “is meritorious.”

China’s 9-dash line map covers almost the whole of South China Sea and encroaches on several parts of Philippine territory.

Discover Antique this summer

Published by Ellen on March 29, 2014

Calachuchi blooms perfume the island of Nogas. Thanks to www.philippinelife.com for the photo.

Looking for places to visit this summer?

Try the not-so-trodden paths. Try the perfumed island of Nogas in Antique.

Located in the northern most part of Antique, Nogas Island is 24 hectares of deep and lush forest. If you want to explore it, better get a guide familiar with the island. It’s easy to lose one’s way exploring the inner part of the islands because of the lack of pathways.

PH ignores China request to delay filing of Memorial vs 9-dash line

Published by Ellen on March 27, 2014

China's 9-dask line — China’s 9-dash line

By Ellen T. Tordesillas, VERA Files

Despite Chinese requests to delay it, the Philippines is filing on March 30 its memorandum challenging before the United Nations China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea.

The memorandum, called a Memorial in international law, will be filed with the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) at The Hague in the Netherlands, contesting China’s 9-dash line territorial rule.

Under the 9-dash line rule, China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea as part of its territory, but the Philippines and three other Southeast Asian nations are staking various claims to parts of the area.

Sources said the Chinese government had asked President Aquino through back channels to wait a little longer before filing the Memorial.

Gym safety

Published by Ellen on March 25, 2014

Lance Raymundo. Photo from ABS-CBN online.

One goes to the gym to become fit and healthy and it’s distressing if one ends up in a hospital like actor-singer Lance Raymundo.

The unfortunate incident with Raymundo last week should be a reminder to gym goers to always be careful.

In Cecile Van Straten’s blog, Lance related what happened Wednesday last week: “There was an 80-lb. barbell on top of me because the workout was a ‘superset’, meaning, right after I do 10 reps with the barbell with the help of my trainer, I rest it back in place and proceed to do the dumbbell fly workout.

“After completing 10 reps of the dumbbell flies, the trainer leaned forward to assist me in lowering the dumbbells, but his body weight accidentally dislodged the barbell, which fell on my face and smashed it.

“This kind of superset workout has been done in many gyms for over 30 years, so it’s not a new workout. But I guess talking to other people while assisting someone can prove to be dangerous.”

Is it ethical for a journalist to also solicit ads?

Published by Ellen on March 23, 2014

Hopefully, this latest controversy involving broadcasters in a government corruption case would result in reforms in the media industry.

A Philippine Daily Inquirer report said three broadcast journalists received payments from National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor), an agency under the Department of Agriculture that was used as conduit for the release of Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) money that went into ghost projects.

The anomalous operations were the handiwork of Janet Napoles in connivance with lawmakers including Senators Juan Ponce-Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bong Revilla.

Based on the affidavits of former Nabcor officials Rhodora Mendoza and Victor Cacal, Inquirer named Erwin Tulfo of TV5 and Carmelo del Prado Magdurulang of GMA7. A third broadcaster who allegedly got P2 million was not named in the report although the name is being mentioned in the media circle.

Hindi Indie

Published by Ellen on March 20, 2014

Villareal with Andrews explaining MTRCB guidelines to Dilson Theater operator.

Listening to MTRCB Chair Eugenio “Toto” Villareal narrate his inspection of moviehouses in Sta. Cruz, Manila, was fun and enlightening.

I learned other meanings of “Indie.”

I have always equated “Indie” films with art films, the kind of movies that are produced by dedicated, passionate film makers like Brillante Mendoza and Aureus Solito. The kind that are shown in Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

After all Indie, comes from the word “Independent” , not controlled by major studios whose primary aim is to make money.

Villareal said as part of their “Matalinong Panood” campaign, he and MTRCB board member Bobby Andrews, went to Sta. Cruz two weeks ago and inspected New Vista, Roben, Dilson, Amigo, and Isetann theaters.

BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin shoal:Test for MDT

Published by Ellen on March 18, 2014

BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal. Photo from New York Times.

The rising tension at the Ayungin shoal, just 21 nautical miles from Mischief Reef where China has built fortifications, could be a test on the usefulness of the 1951 PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty

In its statement issued last Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said: “The BRP Sierra Madre, a commissioned Philippine Naval Vessel, was placed in Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to serve as a permanent Philippine installation in response to China’s illegal occupation of Mischief Reef in 1995. This was prior to the signing of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002. The Philippines reiterates that Ayungin Shoal is part of its continental shelf over which the Philippines has sovereign rights and jurisdiction.”

This is the first time that the Philippine government admitted that the 100 meter-long Sierra Madre, a World War II vintage LST that had served the United States as USS Harnett County during the Vietnam War and acquired by the Philippines in 1976, was deliberately grounded in Ayungin Shoal, 105.77 nautical miles from Palawan. Before, Philippine authorities played coy about the grounding of Sierra Madre in Ayungin shoal, which the Chinese call Ren’ai Reef.

The empowerment of Monique Wilson

Published by Ellen on March 12, 2014

)
By VERA Files

Stage actress Monique Wilson is this year’s Hildegarde Lifetime Achievement awardee.

The Hildegarde Awards is administered by St. Scholastica’s College “to celebrate women’s achievements in the mass media and its allied fields.”

The award ceremonies are held during the International Women’s Month.

St. Scholastica’s program said St. Hildegarde, a German Benidictine nun, “was an accomplished artist who translated her visions into artistic forms that included musical compositions, poetry and paintings.”

Wilson’s acceptance speech:

Pangilinan offers Spratlys to Chinese oil firm in Reed Bank talks

Published by Ellen on March 10, 2014

By Theresa Martelino-Reyes, VERA Files

(Conclusion)

Business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan offered China’s state-owned oil firm access to the Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea over which the Philippines has a territorial claim, although he had no legal capacity to do so.

Pangilinan, chairman and chief executive officer of Philex Petroleum Corp, offered to include in his discussions with officials of the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) the Spratlys Islands, even if his company’s contract with the Philippine government is limited to Reed Bank, which is part of Palawan.

Philex chair Manuel V. Pangilinan and CNOOC President Yang Hua.

In an aide memoire addressed to President Benigno Aquino dated May 7, 2012, Pangilinan reported on his meeting with CNOOC officials led by its president Yang Hua and listed his 11 point proposal which, he said, the Chinese “received positively.”