Category: Foreign Affairs

Sanga-sangang problema dahil sa palpak na desisyon sa trahedya ng Agosto 23

Published by Ellen on December 12, 2010

Sinabi ni Pangulong Aquino sa Inquirer na kaya daw yumuko ang Pilipinas sa kagustuhan ng China na boykotin ang awarding ceremonies ng prestihoso na Nobel Peace Prize sa Intsik na aktibista na si Liu Xiaobo ay dahil daw sa limang Pilipino na nasa death row sa China.

Nilalakad kasi ng Pilipinas na salbahin ang limang Pilipino na yun sa kamatayan.

Dalawang rason pa ang sinabi niya: ang Agosto 23 na trahedya at ang girian ng South at North Korea dahil may 50,000 na Pilipino raw sa South Korea.

Hayaan na natin ang away ng South Korea at North Korea. Sobrang malayo na yun sa isyu na ito.

Thank China for the lighthouse

Published by Ellen on December 9, 2010

From Vietnamese website — Subi Reef in 2007, from Vietnamese website

We perfectly understand why the military has to deny VERA Files story about their discovery of a lighthouse that China has constructed on Subi Reef in the hotly-contested Spratly islands.

At this time, when the wound created by the Aug. 23 tragedy has not healed as shown by the rejection by Beijing three times of request of a meeting by President Aquino with either the Chinese premier or the president, the Philippines does not want to ruffle further Chinese feelings.

Just to regain China’s favor, the Philippines has joined the boycott tomorrow of the awarding ceremony for Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo in Oslo, Norway.

China builds lighthouse on PHL-claimed territory in Spratlys

Published by Ellen on December 7, 2010

By Tessa Jamandre
VERA Files

subi-reef1 — Chin aexpands territory with new lighthouse over disputed islets.

China has constructed a lighthouse on Subi Reef in the disputed areas in the South China Sea which Chinese troops are occupying but is being claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam.

Aerial shots taken in October by the Philippine Air Force on routine reconnaissance flights show the 20-by-20-meter structure complemented by parabolic antennas and domes on the reef, which the Philippine government calls “Zamora” and lies only 26 kilometers southwest of Pag-asa that is part of Kalayaan town.

The lighthouse is intended to expand and fortify China’s claim over the hotly contested Spratly group of islands, experts said.

China spurns three times Aquino’s request for one-on-one meeting

Published by Ellen on November 28, 2010

Update from ABS-CBN: Hong Kong will hold a public inquest into the Manila bus hijacking crisis which left eight Hong Kong tourists dead in August, a spokeswoman for the coroner’s court said Wednesday.

The inquest is scheduled to last 25 days starting from February 14, she told AFP, less than a month after Hong Kong police concluded their probe into the poorly-handled fiasco which dented relations between Manila and Hong Kong.

5th East Asia summit, side meeting at 17th Asean in Hanoi — East Asian leaders meeting in Hanoi. China's Wen Jiabao was there but no one-on-one meeting with Aquino

Malacañang last Friday said the planned high-level Philippine delegation to Hongkong and Beijing to present and discuss the Aug 23 tragedy will no longer push through.

The announcement, made by Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda confirmed what had been talked about in the diplomatic circle : the Philippines had been told by China unofficially that they would not welcome the delegation as long as they don’t see anybody being made accountable for the tragedy that killed eight of their people.

Lacierda, who was supposed to be part of the delegation together with Vice President Jejomar Binay and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, said, “The Chinese foreign ministry could not schedule us.”

With Diana’s ring, William and Kate are engaged

Published by Ellen on November 18, 2010

From NBC News

LONDON — Britain’s Prince William will marry his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton, next spring or summer in London, the royal family announced Tuesday. A spokesman for Prince Charles said Prince William gave Kate Middleton the engagement ring that belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana.

The ring is an oval sapphire surrounded by diamonds.

The engagement announcement ends years of rumored splits, reconciliations and will-they, won’t-they speculation. It will be the biggest royal wedding since Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer almost 30 years ago.

Prince Charles’ Clarence House office said the heir to the British throne was “delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton.” It said the couple got engaged last month during a vacation in Kenya.
The statement also said that William had informed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and also sought the permission of Middleton’s father.

Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip “are absolutely delighted for them both,” Buckingham Palace said. According to the U.K. newspaper the Sun, soon after the announcement of the engagement, a tweet appeared on the monarchy’s recently launched Twitter feed reading: “The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are absolutely delighted at the news of Prince William and Catherine Middleton’s engagement.”

A tweet from Prince Charles said: “The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton.”

Nag-aaway,pinag-aaway

Published by Ellen on November 13, 2010

Hindi bago ang nag-aaway na mga grupo sa isang organisasyun. Bawa’t isa sa atin ay magkaiba ang ugali.

Noong panahon ni Pangulong Estrada, iba-ibang bloke rin. Sinabi ni Estrada na “Hayaan mo silang mag-aaway-away. Mabuti yan para magbabantayan. Basta ako lang ang boss nila.”

Ito rin kaya ang stratehiya ni Panguloy Aquino? Sa Manila Economic and Cultural Office, ang nagtatayong embassy ng Pilipinas sa Taiwan, inilagay ni PNoy si dating senador Leticia Shahani na miyembro ng board. Ngunit pinatili rin niya si Rosemay “Baby” Arenas, ang napabalitang “special friend” ni dating Pangulong Ramos.

Ang MECO ay isang opisianang tinatawag na gatasan dahil nag laki ng kinikita dyan ng mieymbro ng board. Daang-daang libong piso ang kinukulekta ng mga miyembro ng board dyan.

Hindi nakakapagtaka si Shahani dahil ang alam ng marami na nagsuporta siya sa kandidatura ni PNoy. Napaka-aktibo ng anak niyang si Lila sa kampanya. At ang pamilyang Ramos ay talagang malapit sa Taiwan. Ang ama nina Shahani, si Narciso Ramos, ay dating ambassador sa Taiwan nang hindi pa tayo “One-China” policy.

Burmese Dissident Is Freed After Long Detention

Published by Ellen on November 13, 2010

By The New York Times

YANGON — Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was freed from seven and a half years of house arrest on Saturday and was greeted at the gate of her compound by thousands of jubilant supporters.

She stood waving and smiling as people cheered, chanted and sang the national anthem in a blur of camera flashes. She held a white handkerchief in one hand.

“Thank you for welcoming me like this,” she said, clutching the iron bars of her gate as she looked out at the cheering crowd. “We haven’t seen each other for so long, I have so much to tell you.”

She said she would speak again on Sunday at the headquarters of her now defunct political party, the National League for Democracy.

Clinton aide shouts at VP Binay, apologizes

Published by Ellen on November 11, 2010

By Sheryll Mundo, ABS-CBN News

A female staff from the Clinton Foundation shouted at Vice-President Jejomar Binay and asked him to leave a VIP area where former US President Bill Clinton was staying before his speech at the Manila Hotel.

Binay said he was shooed away by the staff from the VIP holding area where Clinton would wait before speaking at the Manila Hotel forum entitled “Embracing Our Common Humanity.”

“Sabi ko lang (I said) you’re ordering us to leave the room, but don’t shout. You know I happen to be the Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines,” the vice president recounted saying to the female staff.

Binay said that he obediently exited the VIP room and that the female staff immediately apologized to him.

“Sabi ko OK lang. Kailangan titindig tayo at punahin iyon (I told her it was OK. We should stand up and call their attention to their mistakes also),” the vice president added.

DFA as dumpsite

Published by Ellen on November 2, 2010

It used to be that during cabinet meetings, the secretary of foreign affairs sat next to the president, to his right underlining the importance given to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Nowadays, if you look at the videos and photos of cabinet meetings , the one sitting next to the president is Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa. I’m not sure where Foreign Secretary Romulo sits. In the unspoken language of power, propinquity is an eloquent indication of one’s standing in the exclusive circle.

It is not only in this administration that foreign relations is unappreciated. The decline was evident in the post-Marcos era. The Arroyo administration was notorious in making it the dumpsite of retired military and police and other persons, like former Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide,whom she owed her continued hold to her unelected presidency.

DFA in a mess; two ambassadors refuse to return home

Published by Ellen on October 14, 2010

DFA statement:

On Tiglao:The DFA confirms the non-extension of the tour of duty of Ambassador Tiglao in Greece. He has been notified of it.

On Benedicto:President Aquino signed the nomination of Francisco Benedicto as Philippine ambassador to Beijing. The nomination paper will be submitted to the Commission on Appointment, and he will come home for the confirmation hearing once Congress resumes session.

Update: Yesterday afternoon (Oct. 14) Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo called up Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello and told him that Tiglao will not be retained as ambassador to Greece. Akbayan members in Greece are among those protesting the Romulo’s tolerance of Tiglao in Athens despite lack of legal authority.

While President Aquino expressed concerned over decision of the Supreme Court favoring the midnight appointments of Gloria Arroyo, his secretary of foreign affairs is condoning, even supporting, the illegal stay of Arroyo’s appointees in their foreign posts.

The other day, members of the Filipino community in Greece staged a rally in front of the Philippine Embassy in Athens protesting the continued stay of former ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao in his post.

Francisco Benedicto, also refuses to return to Manila holding on to the appointment signed by Arroyo as basis for his continued stay in Beijing.

It’s a mess out there at the DFA and the foreign secretary either encourages it as in the case of Tiglao or clueless as in the case of Benedicto.

It must be recalled that there was a controversy over the extension of the stay in their posts of 21 political ambassadors appointed by Arroyo after June 30, 2010. Since all political appointees are co-terminus with the appointing power, it goes without saying that when Arroyo’s term ended noon of June 30, 2010, they no longer had any legal authority as of 12:01 of June 30, 2010.