Author: Ellen

Mocha Uson and Duterte deserve each other

Published by Ellen on May 11, 2017

Why are the non-fans of President Duterte protesting the appointment of dancer – singer Mocha Uson as assistant communications secretary?

They deserve each other perfectly.

Why are they questioning the appointment citing lack of qualification of Uson for the job that pays between P87, 000 and P106, 000 a month?

Uson’s qualification is unassailable: she and her group of sexy dancers campaigned for Duterte.

“Utang na loob ko iyan sa kanila, because they offered their services free at a time na wala akong pera, because they believe in me. Now it’s my time to believe in them,” Duterte said.

Justice Carpio wants to speak to the Chinese people through his eBook

Published by Ellen on May 7, 2017

Justice Carpio's eBook — Justice Carpio’s eBook

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s hope springs eternal.

At the launch of his eBook, “The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” Carpio said the reason why it will soon have a Mandarin version is because, he wants to reach out to the Chinese people to convince them that the nine-dashed line that puts 80 percent of the vast South China Sea under China’s jurisdiction has no legal or historical basis.

“I believe that, like all other peoples of the world, the Chinese people are inherently good, but their government has drilled into their minds that they owned the South Chinese Sea since 2,000 years ago. This is, of course, utterly false and the world will never accept this. Once the Chinese people realize the falsity of the nine-dashed line, they themselves will be too ashamed to press the nine-dashed line claim before the world. That will be the time when the Chinese government can comply with the ruling of the arbitral tribunal,” Carpio said.

Why an eBook and not a physical book?

1734 Murillo Velarde map is back in Manila

Published by Ellen on May 5, 2017

IT businessman Mel Velarde explains to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III the Murillo-Velarde map he bought in a Sotheby auction in London for P12 million two years ago.

Sharing the spotlight at the launching of Senior Justice Antonio T. Carpio’s E-Book, “The South China Sea Dispute:Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea” at the Manila Polo Club Thursday was a glass- encased 1734 Murillo-Velarde map.

This was the map IT businessman Mel Velarde bought in a Sotheby auction on Nov. 4, 2014 for P12 million. A copy of the map was one of the documents used in the case filed by the Philippines against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2013. The Arbitral Court upheld the Philippine position in most of the issue raised in the case.

The map has been kept in a safe in London since its purchase. Last week, Velarde took out the valuable map and hand carried it during the 13-hour flight arriving in Manila last April 29.

ICC investigation would affect Duterte’s foreign travels

Published by Ellen on May 3, 2017

Pres. Duterte boards presidential plance after APEC meeting in Peru.Malacañang photo.

In dismissing the case filed against him at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands last week, President Duterte cited the principle of territoriality.

“The fundamental thing in our Revised Penal Code is territoriality. You can only be prosecuted in the country where you committed the crime, “he said.

Justice Carpio’s E-book on South China Sea dispute

Published by Ellen on May 1, 2017

The political winds have indeed shifted.

On the same day that the China-friendly statement of this year’s chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, President Rodrigo Duterte, was released to media, Philippine and Chinese flags were seen raised on a Chinese warship, Chang Chun (DDG 150) that docked in Davao city pier.

This would have been unthinkable in the past administration.

These developments may cause some to be confused on the issues on South China Sea where we are contesting the almost all-encompassing claim of China. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also overlapping claims with China in the area.

One Belt One Road: Reviving PH-China Silk Road ties

Published by Ellen on April 26, 2017

GUANGZHOU,China –To underscore the ties that deeply bind the people of this bustling city and the Filipinos, Deputy Director General Luo Jun of Guangdong Province Foreign Affairs Office cites that the Manila-Guangzhou flight takes only one hour and 45 minutes, same as Manila-Davao, while Guangzhou to Beijing takes three hours.

The nearness of Manila to Guangzhou and to nearby provinces of Fujian and Shenzhen is very much relevant to the One Belt-One Road initiative, an ambitious project unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 with an initial fund of $40 billion that will re-create the ancient Silk Route that connected China and Europe as far back as 100 B.C.

On May 14 and 15, 28 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Rodrigo Duterte or their representatives will gather in Beijing to provide impetus to the project that is mindboggling in its scope and possibilities.

Recalling JMSU

Published by Ellen on April 25, 2017

The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking, JMSU for short, is back in the news.

It was mentioned by former president Gloria Arroyo and her executive secretary, Eduardo Ermita, to stress that cooperation with China in South China Sea is possible during the launch of the book, “The Ocean Space or the Maritime Area of the Philippines,” a primer on the law of the sea, at the House of Representatives, where Arroyo is a currently a member.

The primer, published by the University of the Philippines, is timely at this time when the Philippines, under President Duterte has reconciled with China, in contrast to the toxic relations during the Aquino administration.
During the press conference Arroyo said, “The language, it was without prejudice to the filing of a protest. And since it was just a research survey, it does not affect the respective positions of the countries on issues related to the claim.”

Duterte, purveyor of fake information

Published by Ellen on April 19, 2017

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte raises his fist as he takes the center stage during a meeting with the Overseas Filipino Workers based in Qatar at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail City, April 15. Malacañang photo by King Rodriguez.

Information empowers. But in the age of fake news which has found a fertile base in social media especially Facebook, lies being passed on as information have become a powerful tool for mass idiotization.

This occurred to us watching President Duterte regal the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia, with falsehoods which the audience lapped it up with gusto.

Before some 6,000 OFWs at the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar last Saturday, Duterte repeated the false stories he had peddled before about Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and his fellow military officers stole utensil and beddings of the Manila Peninsula where they set up their base of resistance against the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo after walked out of a hearing in Makati City Hall on Nov. 29, 2007.

U.S. can invoke MDT for PH support in war with North Korea

Published by Ellen on April 16, 2017

The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific ordered on April 8 the U.S. Navy’s Carl Vinson carrier strike group to change course and head towards the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea’s advancing weapons tests. US Navy photo shows the aircraft carrier in South China Sea in February 2017.

Hopefully, the jostling between U.S President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un will not go beyond strategic positioning of aircraft carriers and troops.

Because in the hopefully- unlikely event of a war between the United States and North Korea, the Philippines will be greatly affected.

Number one, there are more than 60,000 Filipinos in South Korea. Many are married to Koreans while a large number are workers. A displacement of these huge number of Filipinos will mean difficulties not only for the workers and their families but also to the Philippine economy.

Number two, the U.S. can invoke the 1951 RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty that states:

Duterte can’t sell PH land in Spratlys to China

Published by Ellen on April 11, 2017

Now, President Duterte wants to go into real estate business in the Spratlys.

Before he embarked on a state visit to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar, he told reporters that he might sell what the Philippines claim in Spratlys to China.

Assuring China that his orders to install markers and flag to the 10 features in the Spratlys being claimed by the Philippines is not hostile, he said:, “So, for the information of China, we will not place there any offensive weapons, not even one gun. We’re just there to claim the island for us because that is really ours. And I have ordered the Armed Forces to build structures there to signify to all na atin ito at lagyan ng flag and structures. We did not mean no harm to China. We are friends as a matter of fact.”

In fact, he said, ” Maybe when we get rich, very rich, I can sell the land to you for … inyo na when the spectacle of a war is gone and nothing is dangerous to the Philippines.”

Official marker in Pag-asa Island. Photo from the West Philippine Sea primer of the UP Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea.