Indonesia seeks rules of road for West Philippine Sea

UNITED NATIONS—Indonesia is circulating among Southeast Asian nations a draft code of conduct for the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), hoping for progress before a regional summit in November, its foreign minister said Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has been trying to patch up differences among Association of Southeast Asian Nations members on how to manage the maritime territorial disputes that pit China against several of its neighbors in a region where sea lanes are crucial to world trade, rich fishing grounds and potentially major reserves of natural gas and oil.
He said that the situation in the region — also rattled by a separate island dispute between China and Japan — is very troubling, but countries including China recognize they have much to lose from conflict.
“There’s a recognition that the countries of the region have prospered and have developed precisely because there’s been very benign, stable conditions,” Natalegawa told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders. “This is something we don’t want to be tinkering with. It could become like a Pandora’s box.”
China claims most of the West Philippine Sea. In July it upped the ante in its sharp disagreements with the Philippines and Vietnam over who owns what by establishing a military garrison, which Beijing claims will administer a vast area of sea and tiny islands scattered across it.
Beijing wants to settle conflicting claims with individual nations rather than through a multilateral mechanism that will give the smaller members greater clout in negotiations.
Natelagawa, who met with his Chinese counterpart Tuesday, said there had been some adjustment in China’s position.
He said China recognizes “as much as anyone else” the need for diplomatic progress, including implementing a declaration of conduct — the non-binding agreement that Beijing signed up to with Asean in 2002. The code of conduct on peacefully resolving the West Philippine Sea sovereignty disputes is intended as the mechanism for putting that declaration into practice.
“What we are looking for is a basic rules-of-the-road type of arrangement for the South China Sea,” said Natelagawa, “so that countries behave in a manner that is expected of them in maintaining stability.”
In his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the disputes had been festering for the better part of a century and Asean was engaged in “earnest negotiations” for a legally binding code of conduct.
Natelagawa said “we will begin to test the waters” on the draft code in consultations with Southeast Asian governments this week in New York, hoping for progress before a summit of East Asian leaders to be held in Cambodia in November.
He said that was needed so the disputes don’t run “out of control.”
Indonesia, by far the largest of Asean’s 10 member states, is not itself a claimant in the West Philippine Sea, although as a sprawling island nation it has a major stake in the region’s stability.
In recent years, Jakarta has assumed a more prominent leadership role within the grouping, and remains on good terms with both the US and China, which are increasingly at odds over how to handle the sea disputes.

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S&P raises growth forecast for Philippines

International credit watcher Standard & Poor’s raised its growth forecast for the Philippines for 2012, even as it downgraded its outlook for other economies in Asia and the Pacific, saying the country has the capability to withstand unfavorable developments in the global economy.
In its latest report titled “Asia Pacific Feels the Pressure of Ongoing Global Economic Uncertainty,” S&P said it now expected the Philippine economy to expand by 4.9 percent, instead of the earlier projection of 4.3 percent, this year.
On the contrary, the credit-rating firm lowered its growth projections for several economies and kept its previous forecasts for a few others in the region to take into account the impact of the prolonged debt crisis in the eurozone, the still lackluster growth of the United States and the slowdown of China and India.

S&P said the unfavorable developments in the world’s biggest economies were expected to dampen growth of many Asia-Pacific countries, except for the Philippines.
The growth forecasts have been reduced by one percentage point for Hong Kong and India, which S&P now sees growing by just 1.8 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.
The projections have been cut by about half a percentage point for China to 7.5 percent; Japan, 2 percent; South Korea, 2.5 percent; Singapore, 2.1 percent; and Taiwan, 1.9 percent. For Australia, the growth forecast was cut to 3 percent from 3.2 percent.
“The forecasts for other Asian economies remain unchanged except for the Philippines, which went to 4.9 percent from 4.3 percent, reflecting the ongoing strength of that domestic economy,” S&P said in the report.
The outlook of S&P for the Philippines, however, was still below the government’s official target of between 5 and 6 percent.
The government’s economic officials believed that the official target would be achieved, citing the above-target growth in the first semester of 6.1 percent. This was one of the fastest growth rates in the region.
The growth performance of the country was less affected by unfavorable global developments than those of other emerging Asia-Pacific economies partly because it relied less on exports to fuel economic growth. Export earnings account for about 30 percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product. In some neighboring countries, exports account for more than half of GDP.
The weakness of the economies of the United States and Europe and the slowdown of China and India are weighing down on the growth prospects of many emerging markets because these big economies are major export markets.
Meantime, Philippine government officials credited the boost in public spending, strong household consumption (supported by remittances) and a highly liquid banking sector for the domestic economy’s growth performance.
“S&P’s upward revision of the GDP growth forecast for the Philippines validates our view that home-grown sources of resilience can buffer the economy from the external headwind,” Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas told reporters.

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Storm ‘Lawin’ gains strength

At 5:00 a.m. today, 26 September 2012, the eye of Typhoon "LAWIN" was located based on satellite and surface data at 465 km East of Tuguegarao City (17.3°N,126.6°E).

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JPE says Trillanes’ China trips suspicious, dangerous

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Friday continued to harangue Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on his clandestine meetings with Chinese officials as back-channel negotiator of President Benigno Aquino III.
Speaking to ANC’s Headstart, Enrile said it is the prerogative of the President to appoint anyone as his back-channel negotiator if the official diplomatic channels fail.
However, he labeled Trillanes’ meetings as suspicious and dangerous since there is no written report on what was discussed and accomplished during the trips.
“You cannot fault the president for trying to find a solution to a national problem especially a problem such as we're having with China but the person entrusted by the President with any mission must exercise discretion,” he said.
He added: "The person assigned to those things must know what he is doing. Based on these statements enumerated in the notes of Mrs. Brady, the gentleman involved was ignorant of the nuances of being a representative of the President."
Enrile listed several of Trillanes’ alleged mistakes such as pushing for a bilateral approach in the talks with China as well as accusing Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario of treasonous acts.
He called out the senator for his failure to ask the Senate leadership’s permission to go to China, his failure to inform the Philippine Embassy in Beijing about his visit, and his failure to submit any written report about his meetings with China.
“Every senator leaving the country, whether it is government-funded or privately funded, must seek the permission of the Senate president,” he said.
He expressed doubts that Trillanes had his passport stamped when leaving the country on his secret mission.
Enrile also voiced suspicion on how Trillanes was able to start back-channel talks with the Chinese.
“How did he develop a channel to go to China just like that knocking at the door of the Chinese government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, unless he had a previous contact with them or they contacted him? I do not believe that China contacted him. I imagine he must have contact with some people in China or with the Chinese government beforehand. This is a dangerous thing because we must know this background,” he said.
He also criticized the senator for telling Philippine Ambassador to Beijing Sonia Brady not to take notes during their meeting with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.
‘Secret’ notes
In the interview, Enrile also showed the alleged Brady notes that he referred to in his speech against Trillanes.
The Senate President showed Headstart host Karen Davila the document but refused to give a copy. He also insisted that the notes did not contain state secrets, despite a clear stamp on the documents that said “secret.”
“This is not a confidential matter. This should be known to the people,” he said.
Enrile said another classified document in Filipino was appended to the Brady notes. He refused to say who gave the notes but said it also touched on Trillanes’ trips to China.
President Aquino has confirmed that Trillanes was his backchannel negotiator to China at the height of tensions with Scarborough Shoal.
In the interview, Enrile denied that the allegations against Trillanes were meant to shroud his earlier expose on the Senate President’s alleged support for the gerrymandering of Camarines Sur.
Enrile denied Trillanes’ accusation that he is a lackey of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
He also denied support for the CamSur bill but noted that he would probably vote for it and let the people decide the fate of the province through a plebiscite.

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291 Taiwanese Linked To Cybercrime Deported

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration deported 291 Taiwanese who were arrested in the country for various crimes, including computer fraud.
The 291 deportees are reportedly members of a cybercrime syndicate victimizing nationals from Mainland China. They were arrested by Philippine authorities during dragnet operations in Manila and nearby provinces.
BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the Taiwanese were deported pursuant to a summary deportation order issued by the BI board of commissioners last week based on findings that they were “undocumented, overstaying, and undesirable aliens” and for being “serious threats to the general welfare and public policy.”
They were also placed in the immigration blacklist.
Records show that the deportees were among the 291 Taiwanese and 87 Chinese nationals arrested by joint police, naval, and immigration intelligence operatives in Quezon City, Marikina City, and Antipolo and Cainta in Rizal province.
Also arrested were two suspected financiers of a gang involved in credit card fraud and human smuggling in Taiwan and China.
Lawyer Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, BI acting intelligence chief, said the bureau will deport the 87 Chinese nationals within the week and that there were still 10 Taiwanese who are still detained due to pending cases in court.
She added that a Taiwanese had died of dengue, one is confined in the hospital and a New Zealander, who was among those arrested, has also a pending court case.
Mangrobang explained that the government decided to deport the aliens because their victims are in China and Taiwan, thus they will be prosecuted for their crimes in their country of origin.
However, she disclosed that the two alleged financiers, identified as Chinese Maria Luisa Tan and Taiwanese Jonson Tan Co, were charged with violating the access devices regulation act.
The suspects allegedly used the Internet to call and blackmail their victims in Taiwan and China by representing themselves either as representatives of the police, prosecutor’s office, courts, insurance companies, banks and other financial institutions.
They would falsely inform their unsuspecting victims that their personal bank accounts were under investigation for supposedly being used in money laundering and terrorist activities after which the victims would be told to deposit their money in a bank account provided by the syndicate.
It was learned that the syndicate used the Philippines as their base of operations with their modus operandi involving the suspects posing as police officers and calling Chinese victims informing them that their bank accounts were being used for money laundering and funding terrorist activities. The syndicate would then convince their victims to transfer their monies to an allegedly safe back account that the syndicate will provide. The victims usually agree after being threatened with police action.
Representatives from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office, the Taiwan Police as well as Taiwan Immigration officials were at the NAIA to formally receive the turnover of the suspects.
30 Immigration officers from the Philippines escorted the Taiwanese nationals onboard the flight which was able to depart NAIA at 6:45 a.m.

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78% Trust PNoy

MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno S. Aquino III saw significant improvement in his trust and approval ratings both at 78 percent, based on the third quarter Pulse Asia survey results released on Wednesday.
The latest Ulat ng Bayan survey found that about eight in 10 Filipinos approve of President Aquino's performance (78 percent) and have trust in him (78 percent) in the past three months.
The survey conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 7 among 1,200 respondents showed that the President enjoyed significant gains in his approval and trust ratings, which are higher by 11 and 13 percentage points, respectively from Pulse Asia's second quarter survey results last May.
Only 4 percent of Filipinos disapprove of President Aquino’s performance and have distrust in him.
Malacañang was elated by President Aquino's high approval and trust rating.
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the all-time high approval rating of the President affirmed the “overwhelming support” for the Aquino administration and its relentless reform agenda.
The Palace also expressed optimism that the President’s high trust and approval rating would be a big help in the campaign of the Liberal Party (LP)’s senatorial lineup for the 2013 midterm elections.
Pulse Asia also noted that the percentage of Filipinos who were undecided on whether they have trust or distrust in the President was lower by 7 percentage points previously.
It also pointed out that President Aquino’s approval and trust ratings were almost the same as his first presidential ratings in October 2010 at 79 and 80 percent, respectively.
On the President’s approval and trust ratings in geographic areas National Capital Region, rest of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, President Aquino registered high ratings at 75 to 80 percent and 71 to 80 percent, respectively.
Relatively higher approval and trust ratings were also noted in the poorest Class E than among the upper to middle Class ABC at 83 percent against 72 percent, and 86 percent against 77 percent, respectively.
The results showed that between May and September, President Aquino enjoys double-digit gains in his approval ratings in almost all geographic areas (+11 to +18 percentage points) and every socio-economic grouping ABC, D, and E (+10 to +14 percentage points).
The President’s trust ratings also rose by similar margins in practically all geographic areas (+12 to +16 percentage points) and socio-economic classes (+20 percentage points), except for the rest of Luzon (for approval and trust scores) and Class D (for trust rating).
In the August 2012 survey earlier released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), President Aquino registered an all-time high net satisfaction rating of +67 (77 percent satisfied and 10 percent dissatisfied)

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Trillanes walks out, resigns from Senate majority bloc

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV walks out of the session hall on Wednesday after delivering a privilege speech accusing Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile of being a lackey of Gloria Arroyo. Trillanes also resigned as a member of the Senate majority bloc

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