Taiwanese cry foul vs SBMA
Philippine Star
Wednesday, July 4, 2007

President Arroyo was asked yesterday to intervene in the eviction case against a group of Taiwanese businessmen holding a 50-year lease on a 105-hectare property occupied by the Subic Bay Golf and Country Club (SBGCC). Last June 8, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) took over the SBGCC after its officials failed to pay back rent amounting to P17 million.

In a letter to Mrs. Arroyo, the Subic Bay Taiwan Chamber of Commerce (SBCC) protested the action of SBMA administrator Armand Arreza to seize a large portion of SBGCC, which was operated by the Universal International Group Development Corp. (UIGDC). "The takeover violated every basic law of diplomacy," read the letter signed by 21 members of SBTCC. "We are afraid the same thing may be done to us."

The Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office in Manila, Taiwan's unofficial embassy, headed by Dr. Hsin-Hsing Wu, also made a separate appeal to Mrs. Arroyo through Trade Secretary Peter Favila. In a letter, dated June 14. Wu appealed for Favila's "kind intercession for the early resolution of the case as we continue to pursue our commitment to make Subic Bay Freeport as an investment haven for Taiwanese and other foreign locators."

SBGCC vice president Jack Hu said they entered into a 50-year lease contract with the SBMA during the Ramos administration in 1995 to develop the 105-hectare property inside the former US naval base into an 18-hole golf course. The UIGDC, one of the pioneer investors in Subic Bay, has invested P2 billion in the property, he added.

Hu said in December 2006, Arreza issued a demand letter to SBGCC and UIGDC to settle their debts or face closure. The SBGCC and UIGDC sought relief from the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court branch 71, which stopped eviction and ordered SBMA to seek an amicable settlement of the debts, he added. Last June 8, SBMA security personnel took over the golf club, Hu said.

Meanwhile, the lawyer of the Taiwanese investors said yesterday they will file criminal and administrative charges against the SBMA officials for taking over the SBGCCl. Speaking to reporters at Sulo hotel in Quezon City, Vic Millora said SBGCC officials Susan Ho and Jack Hu will file charges of theft, grave threats, grave coercion and violation of the anti-graft law.

"We will be filing the charges at the Office of the Ombudsman," he said. Nonpayment of rental is not a valid ground for the forcible takeover of their facility, he added.

On the other hand, SBMA officials said yesterday the agency's takeover of the SBGCC last June 8 was simply a case of a lessor exercising its right to terminate a lease contract after the lessee failed to fulfill its obligations. Speaking to reporters, SBMA Chairman Feliciano G. Salonga and SBMA Administrator and Chief Executive Offier Armand Arreza said the takeover did defy any court order.

The takeover came after a lengthy process and after the SBMA had given the company "a lot of concessions" to be able to settle its obligations, the officials said. Salonga said contrary to several media reports there's nothing illegal about the takeover of the SBGCC.

"What we did was pre-terminate the lease and development agreement (LDA) of the Universal International Group because it has failed to pay its debts and honor its commitments under its development contract," he said. Arreza said the SBMA "only protected the interest of the government" in implementing the takeover. "It would be a gross mismanagement on our part if we let the previous management continue operating while it was not paying rentals due the government," he said.

Flight frequencies up at Clark Airport
By Marianne V. Go
Monday, July 2, 2007

The development of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) is beginning to speed up with more and more airlines increasing their flight frequencies and the country's flag carriers formally expressing their interest in eventually operating out of the former US airbase. According to Victor Luciano, president of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), Asiana Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines and Thai Airlines are increasing their flight frequencies to the DMIA, while Cebu Pacific has decided to make Clark a hub for its regional flights to Korea, Taipei and possibly even to Japan.

Even Philippine Airlines, Luciano said, is planning to make Clark its base for its regional flights to China where PAL is eyeing more destinations. At the welcoming ceremonies for the DMIA's one millionth passenger arrival Friday evening (June 29), Luciano announced that Asiana Airlines is increasing its current five times a week flights to daily flights starting in July.

Asiana, Luciano said, may also start using bigger aircraft from its current Boeing 767 and Airbus A321 to the Boeing 747 for its daily flights. The Boeing 767 accommodates 230 passengers, while the A321 carries up to 180 passengers only. The Boeing 747 carries up to 433 passengers. Apart from increasing its passenger load, Luciano said, Asiana is also looking at more cargo business as well.

Asiana is investing $2 million in the Philippines alone for new equipment and has already spent $5 million in Korea for promotion and marketing of its flights to Clark, Luciano said. Asiana, which currently arrives at night in the Philippines, will start daytime flights that will allow connections to its destinations in the United States and Europe, Luciano said.

Hong Kong Airlines is also increasing its current once a day flights to twice daily by September. Cebu Pacific will also start flying in September to five regional cities out of Clark. In October, Luciano said, Thai Airlines will start flying from Bangkok to Clark. Construction for the expansion of the existing terminal is scheduled to start next week and work is projected to be completed by December this year. Construction of a second terminal will commence by December and is expected to be completed by December 2008. Expansion of the DMIA, Luciano said, would further convince PAL to start operating out of Clark to China.

Subic builds biggest ship in the world
By Joyce Pangco Pañares
With Elaine Ruzul S. Ramos

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said yesterday the biggest tanker in the world, a $150-million floating mammoth, is now being built in Subic by the Korean firm Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co.  “They are now building the biggest boat in the world right here in Subic,” said Mrs. Arroyo who visited Hanjin’s shipyard in the free port zone to check on the first 12 container vessels being built there.

“Indeed, this shipyard of Hanjin will transform Subic into one of the four largest shipbuilding facilities in the whole world,” she said.  Hanjin officials declined to give more details on the tanker, but sources said it would be bigger than the 260,851-ton Seawise Giant that was built by the Japan-based Sumitomo Oppama Shipyard and measures 1,604 ft. long and 226 ft. wide.

Hanjin’s shipyard in Subic cost $1 billion, and it made South Korea the single biggest source of foreign direct investment in the Philippines last year.  Mrs. Arroyo also opened the P653-million Subic-Cawag-Balaybay access road to the Hanjin Group’s shipbuilding facilities, which stretches for 16.15 kms. and is expected to create more jobs for the residents of Subic, Zambales and Olongapo City.

Hanjin is expected to gross $3.6 billion from its shipyard, which can make 60 ships worth $60 million each every year.  The Korean firm has also opened a $40-million training center for shipyard workers and hired 2,400 Filipinos to build its dry dock. It is expected to hire 30,000 more Filipinos in the next five years.

Floating dry dock back in Subic Port
June 12th, 2007

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT ZONE, Philippines -- Fifteen years after it was towed out following the dismantling of the US naval base here, the floating dry dock that used to handle repairs of US Navy ships arrived here last week and will be operational in two months, its operator said. This time, the facility will be used for commercial purposes, said Subic Drydock, a subsidiary of the US-based ship repair service provider Cabras Marine Corp.

The company said the arrival of the AFDM-5 floating dry dock would revive operations of the defunct Ship Repair Facilities (SRF) here. Negotiations for the AFDM-5's return started in May 2004 when the head of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) at the time, Felicito Payumo, met officials of Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp.

Malayan Towage, a sister company of Cabras Marine Corp., bought the AFDM-5 dry dock from Guam. In October 2005, SBMA Chairman Feliciano Salonga and SNMS Administrator Armand Arreza signed a long-term lease contract with Subic Drydock president and chief executive Catalino Bondoc on setting up a P275-million ship repair facility.

The return of the dry dock will open more job opportunities, Salonga said. The company said the floating dock, which was commissioned strictly for military use, would now serve inter-island ships, ferries and other vessels. Another dry dock is to arrive in two months to augment company operations.

Malayan Towage chairman Donald Marshall said that when the negotiations for the return of AFDM-5 began, the company zeroed in on Subic because it was one of the country's top economic zones and because the AFDM-5 had been stationed there. "It's like bringing back something that meant a lot to the former base workers," he said.

Kodak Closes Operations In Philippines, Employees Will Now Work With Replacement Firm Tech Trends Corp.
May 23, 2007 7:19 a.m. EST
Komfie Manalo - AHN Correspondent

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - Kodak will no longer be taking pictures in the Philippines beginning June 1 as the world famous brand closed shop in Manila. However, sacked employees of the firm have set up Tech Trends Corporation, a distribution firm that will take over the company's operations in the Philippines. Raymond Albert, president and CEO of Tech Trends said the new firm will be conducting its affairs in the old Kodak office in Makati City, but Kodak will no longer hold sales office in the Philippines.

Albert was the former country general manager for Kodak Philippines. Albert said, "We've retained the status quo. Almost nothing has changed because all the functions of Kodak Philippines will be taken over by Tech Trends, including sales, marketing, training, advertising and distribution of products." He said all local business partners and retail firms have been notified of the new set-up and the response was "positive," he adds.

At least 80 percent of Kodak employees have been absorbed by Tech Trends and they will continue doing their old job.  Tech Trends will also directly deal with Eastman Kodak's Southeast Asian regional office in Singapore. The new firm will also handle the management of over 400 Kodak Express photo developing shops and Kodak-branded digital printing kiosks.

Chip Plant in Philippines Marks Challenge to China
By JAMES HOOKWAY
Wall Street Journal
May 4, 2007

The Philippines' success in beating out China for the site of Texas Instruments Inc.'s new $1 billion assembly plant highlights the country's economic revival and challenges the conventional view that China is Asia's most cost-effective factory floor. The semiconductor giant's investment also is a vote of confidence in the Philippines' recent financial stability. And shows how international companies are now looking at alternatives to investing in China.

Texas Instruments' executives visiting Manila Thursday said the highly skilled workers at its existing chip plant in the Philippines persuaded the company to open a second plant there, despite intense competition to attract Texas Instruments' investment from other Asian nations. While China continues to be a major draw for technology companies -- Intel Corp. in March said it was planning a $2.5 billion chip-wafer manufacturing facility there -- Texas Instruments' decision to build another semiconductor testing and assembly plant in the Philippines may also reflect how rising costs in China are encouraging investors to consider other locations.

Land prices on China's industrial coastal belt are rising, and wages have been seeing double-digit growth for several years -- bringing them closer to, and in some cases, higher than -- the cost of hiring skilled workers in countries such as the Philippines. Intel is also increasing its investments outside China, partially to secure its global supply chains in case of disruptions from any one location. Intel announced plans earlier this year to build a $1 billion chip-testing and assembly plant in Vietnam, and has also increased its investments in Malaysia.

"It seems that for some companies, the cost differences aren't enough to justify going to China," says Luz Lorenzo, an economist with ATR-Kim Eng Securities Inc. in Manila. Texas Instruments' existing Philippines plant, high in the rugged mountain town of Baguio, accounts for 40% of the semiconductor company's global output of assembled chips. It is considered a success, despite persistent concerns about the cost and reliability of the electrical power supply in the Philippines and, for years, higher average wage costs than China. As recently as 2005, officials at the Baguio plant were concerned about how they would be able to compete effectively with Texas Instruments' other assembly and testing plants around the world because of decaying infrastructure in the Philippines.

On Thursday, Kevin Ritchie, Texas Instruments' senior vice president of technology, said the Philippines' pool of educated, English-speaking workers tipped the company's decision. The new plant is expected to provide jobs for around 3,000 people. It isn't clear what tax breaks or other incentives the Philippine government may have offered Texas Instruments. The new facility, however, will be located in a special economic zone, which typically does provide investment incentives.

Norberto "Bing" Viera, managing director of Philippine operations for Texas Instruments, said the new plant will be sited in the Clark Freeport Zone, 100 kilometers north of Manila, and that he expects it will become "a flagship for the company in terms of quality and output." The new investment comes as the Philippines is experiencing an economic resurgence of sorts after years in the doldrums. Buoyed by remittances from more than 10 million Philippine workers overseas and by tax legislation that has eased concerns about the country's financial stability, business is thriving.

The Philippine government forecasts gross domestic product will grow in a range of 6.1% to 6.7% this year, compared with 5.4% growth in 2006. That compares with growth rates as low as 3.3% in 2001. An influx of new business-processing, call centers and other outsourced business services have also fueled the country's revival. That has helped make the Manila stock market one of Asia's best performers last year; it is up 9.7% so far this year.

Economic analysts say Texas Instruments' decision to pump $1 billion into a second Philippines plant could help encourage other manufacturing industries to follow, just as Intel's $1 billion commitment to build a semiconductor packaging plant in Vietnam unleashed a flow of new investments to that country.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told reporters in Manila that "competition for this investment was fierce among the different possible sites in Asia, all wanting Texas Instruments to put their $1 billion in their places." She described the company's decision to come to the Philippines as "a sign of continuing confidence" among investors in the country's recent economic uptick.

Texas Instruments had considered other locations for its new plant, including sites in Thailand, Vietnam and China. China and the Philippines comprised the final shortlist. Company officials said the new factory at Clark Freeport Zone -- a former U.S. air base that has been transformed into a sprawling industrial park with its own international airport -- will soon have its own dedicated power-generation plant, reducing its dependence on the shaky Philippine power grid.

The factory will also feature new technologies developed in the U.S. to reduce water and energy consumption. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year. "I think Texas Instruments' investment is an indication of how much investors -- and not just portfolio investors, but foreign direct investors -- now view the country more positively," said Ms. Lorenzo at ATR-Kim Eng Securities. "It's been a long time since we've seen something this big coming to the Philippines in preference to China."

Taiwan losing control of Subic Bay to South Korea, China
Apr 25, 2007, 7:15 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan, the main player in developing the Subic Bay Export Processing Zone of the Philippines, is losing its competitiveness to South Korea and China, a newspaper said on Wednesday.  The China Times said that while Taiwan helped launch the Subic Bay free zone and made huge investment, it is now being edged out by later comers, especially South Korea and China.

'A South Korean hotel is being built in front of Taiwan's Wistro Corp and China's Jingniu glass company will start building a 320-million-dollar glass factory in May,' the daily said.  South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industry and Construction Co is building a 1.4-billion-dollar shipyard across the bay from the Taiwan Industrial Zone.  'Hanjin said it will hire 20,000-30,000 workers by 2010. It will certainly look like a Korea Town,' the paper quoted Wistro Manager More Chuang as saying.

The paper said the biggest threat was that the competition could eventually drive out Taiwan, whose investment has been dwindling. Subic Bay, 110 kilometres north of Manila, used to be a US naval base but was returned to the Philippines in 1992. Taiwan moved into Subic Bay in 1994 by forming a joint venture with the Philippines to develop it into a free port, agreeing to develop 300 hectares in three stages.

The project was politically motivated because former president Lee Teng-hui wanted to develop unofficial ties with the Southeast Asian nations and was encouraging Taiwan manufacturers to invest in Southeast Asia under the 'Go South Policy.' However, due to changes in Taiwan's policies and the difficulty in attracting Taiwanese manufacturers to open plants in Subic Bay, Taiwan's development reached only the second phase, and the number of Taiwan factories has dropped from 300 to 50.

'China's investment in Subic Bay has strategic considerations. But the Subic Bay is close to Taiwan and is our gateway to ASEAN countries. Taiwan should have a more open-minded view when considering investing in the Subic Bay,' the paper quoted Wu Hsin-hsing, Taiwan's trade representative to the Philippines, as saying.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Dell to expand Philippine call center operations; opens second facility
By Cecilia E. Yap
Last Update: 5:38 AM ET Mar 1, 2007

Thursday Dell opened its second customer support center in the Philippines and said it has plans to substantially expand its workforce in the country. Dick Hunter, Dell's vice president for customer experience, told a press conference that the company intends to hire about 1,000 more people in the Philippines to bring its projected employment to about 2,600 people.

"We're growing quite rapidly," Hunter said at the press conference. He added the company is hiring about 100 people per month until it reaches the target. "Our expansion is evidence of the quality and talent of professionals here in the Philippines." Dell has customer contact facilities in more than 25 locations globally.

Company officials declined to discuss details of its investments in the country, although Trade Secretary Peter Favila said Dell has invested PHP466 million for the second call center. In 2006, Dell poured in PHP366 million for its first facility, located in Pasay City in metropolitan Manila.

Dell's Philippine units provide both technical and customer support. Its first customer support facility now employs 1,400 workers from just 100 when Dell launched Philippine operations in January 2006. Its new contact center in Quezon City, also in metropolitan Manila, will employ more than 1,200 people.

The call center industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the Philippines. Industry estimates show the sector will be hiring over 506,000 and generating around $7.3 billion in revenue by 2010.

Dell Opens Second Call Center In Philippines
March 1, 2007 5:28 a.m. EST
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Correspondent

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - Computer giant Dell on Thursday opened its second call center facility in Eastwood Cyberpark in Quezon City, Philippines with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as guest of honor at the launch. Richard Hunter, Dell Customer Experience and Support Team vice president said the opening of the second call center is part of the company's global expansion of customer support centers to keep up with Dell's growth.

The new call center in Eastwood is expected to generate a total of 1,200 new jobs which would bring the total number of Dell's workforce employed in the region to 2,600. The facility currently employs 200 agents and Dell plans to hire 1,000 more employees this year. Dell's other call center facility is located at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City and was opened in February 2006. The facility provides service and technical support to Dell consumer customers in the United States.

Dell operates facilities in 25 locations, including the Philippines and India. Asked how Dell's call center operations locally compare with India, he replied, "We are also growing rapidly in other locations. But in terms of percentage basis, growth in the Philippines is higher than anywhere else in our global network." Hunter declined to divulge how much Dell has invested so far in its Philippine operations.

Texas-based Dell Inc. is one of the world's largest computer companies. In a statement, Dell said the company selected the Philippines for its customer contact centers "because of the strong language and communication skills of its high-quality workforce."  "With its English-savvy population, about 100 similar facilities in place and 650,000 students, the Philippines is fast becoming the contact center location of choice in Southeast Asia," the company said.

US Navy Subic Bay Visit
Feb 23, 2007

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT ­ The USS Juneau (LPD 10), an Austin-class amphibious transport ship, will be arriving here today (Feb. 23) for a scheduled port visit and a series of goodwill activities in Olongapo City and the rest of Zambales province. Capt. Burrell Parmer, public affairs officer of the United States Marines’ 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, said more than 600 American sailors and marines will participate in civil-military projects like free medical and dental clinics for indigent patients.

"The visiting servicemen will also deliver Project Handclasp materials and items donated by US Marine and Navy families in Okinawa, Japan," Parmer told The STAR. The visit, Burrell also said, is being made possible by the cooperation of the US Navy’s 7th Fleet and the US Embassy in Manila.

The arrival of the USS Juneau will be marked by the appearance of marines and sailors manning the rails in full dress uniform. Parmer said this "has not been done in a long time." "I believe it would be something interesting for your audiences to see," he added. The USS Juneau will pull into dock at 9:30 a.m.

today at the Alava Pier of the Subic Bay Freeport to implement "Project Friendship," which is part of ongoing humanitarian programs by the US 7th Fleet covering community relations projects for and with schools, orphanages and barangays. While in Subic, the crew of the USS Juneau and Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit

(MEU) will participate in two-day community refurbishment projects ­ including the painting and cleaning of a local school, donating goods for charity organizations, and hosting a basketball clinic for local children. Project Handclasp is a US charity that collects donations that are loaded aboard Navy ships for worldwide delivery.

After arrival, the senior officers on board the USS Juneau will conduct a media briefing at 11 a.m., followed by a ship tour for schoolchildren at 12 noon. Parmer said the schoolchildren will be allowed to see a static display of the equipment aboard the ship, an amphibious transport dock ship under the US Navy’s Task Force 76.

U.S. Allows Nursing License Exams in the Philippines
Feb 16, 2007
MANILA, Philippines, AP

Thousands of Filipino nurses hoping to work in the United States will no longer have to travel abroad to take licensing exams after winning approval to sit the tests in their home country, the government announced Thursday. "This is very good news for Filipino nurses, nursing students and the nursing profession," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said in a statement. "This is a landmark in the history of the Filipino nursing profession."

Bunye said approval from the U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing to hold its licensing exams in Manila, would mean "huge savings and great convenience" for Filipino nurses hoping to land a job in the U.S. Nurses from the Philippines -- the largest source of foreign-registered nurses in U.S. hospitals and healthcare facilities -- have to travel to Hong Kong or other Asian cities to take the exams, Bunye said.

The top six countries that employ Filipino nurses are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, Taiwan, Ireland and the United States. Jennifer Gonzales, deputy executive director of the Council for Overseas Filipinos, said the first exams would likely be held in six months.

About 25,518 Filipino nurses holding combined immigrant visas and work permits traveled to the United States to work between 1988 and May 2006, according to the council. Adding those holding only working visas would push the number much higher, Gonzales said. An earlier plan to allow Filipinos to take the exams at home was aborted following a cheating scandal in the local nursing board exams last year, in which questions from two of five test subjects were leaked.

More than 17,000 of the over 42,000 who took the exams in June passed, but the Court of Appeals ordered 1,600 to retake the tests in December, said Leonor Rosero, head of the Professional Regulation Commission. Only 1,200 took the exams again and about 1,000 passed, she said. At least 19 people -- two nursing board examiners and 17 officers of test review centers -- are facing criminal charges in connection with the leaks, said Elfren Meneses, chief of the anti-fraud and computer crimes division of the National Bureau of Investigation.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration reported 7,768 nurses went abroad to work in 2005, down from 12,822 in 2001.

Opposition Growing Against Coal Plant In Pristine Subic Bay
February 6, 2007

SUBIC BAY -- Opposition is growing to the construction of a 300 megawatt coal power plant on the pristine beaches of Subic Bay, one of the Philippines' top tourist destinations. The power plant, being built by Taiwan Cogen, a subsidiary of Taiwan Power Corp., primarily to serve the needs of Korean shipbuilder Hanjin, will bring the controversial form of power generation to one of the country's most diverse environments.

Subic Bay is home to more than 70 species of fish, including important varieties of reef fish. The world's rare and endangered Olive Ridley turtle and Hawksbill dwell still survive in Subic Bay. The area is also blanketed by a 9,000 hectare virgin triple-canopy rainforest that provides the area with some of the highest air quality in the region.

Under the current proposal, this spectacular natural setting will be host to one of the most polluting types of energy production available. According to the environmental group, Greenpeace, coal is a form of energy that pollutes comprehensively, from the time the coal is extracted, to its transportation across the sea or land, to the pollutants it pumps into the atmosphere.

"Fly ash samples taken from coal fired power plants in the Philippines and Thailand over the course of the last three years have shown the presence of hazardous substances such as mercury and arsenic," the group said in a statement. "Laboratory and technical analysis indicate that a far greater amount of these toxins is likely being released to the environment and thus pose huge risks to population centers."

"Mercury is capable of causing severe brain damage in developing fatueses, tremors, mental disorders and death," the group continued. "It is so toxic that it takes only 1/70th of a teaspoon to contaminate a 10.11 hectare lake to the point that fish caught in the lake are considered unfit for human consumption."

Business groups and resort owners in the area have reacted with outrage to the proposal to bring such a facility into an area that counts tourism as its lifeblood. The Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce, the Subic Bay Resorts Association, as well as other groups have said that the plant's operation would cause irreversible damage to the area.

"It will pollute the air, the land and the water, removing the key ingredients in Subic Bay's prime assets--clean air, clean water and the proximity to nature," the groups said in a statement.

Only 400 U.S. Service Members will go to Balikatan 2007
By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, January 26, 2007

About 400 U.S. servicemembers, mostly from Hawaii and Japan, will take part in this year’s scaled-down, Feb. 18-March 4 Balikatan exercise in the Philippines, according to a U.S. Army spokesman. Lt. Col. Mark Zimmer, Balikatan public affairs officer, said Wednesday from Hawaii that U.S. participation would consist mostly of sailors and Marines from Hawaii and the III Marine Expeditionary Force.

They’ll team with about 300 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to conduct civic action projects in the Philippines’ volatile southern region. The troops will focus efforts on Jolo Island, where two of the country’s most-wanted terror suspects recently were killed in a months-long, U.S.-backed offensive. The annual war games typically involve from 3,000 to 5,000 U.S. troops, but the field-training portion was canceled for this year. The entire exercise initially was called off amid a custody dispute in 2006 about convicted rapist Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith. But after the Philippine government intervened and authorized transferring Smith in late December to the U.S. Embassy, the 23rd annual Balikatan was back on.

The field training requires a lot of planning, Zimmer said, and once the exercise was canceled, “we basically had to turn it (the field portion) off.” Balikatan’s opening ceremony will be Feb. 19 in Manila. Also planned is a tabletop exercise in Manila with military planners from both countries, U.S. Navy ship visits and a joint/combined exchange training exercise in several locations. Civic action projects include road improvement and medical clinics on Jolo Island, in Zamboanga City and in other towns and villages in the greater Mindanao area, Zimmer said.

The projects will complement similar activities carried out during Balikatan 2006 in the Sulu region, as well as ongoing operations by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, according to a U.S. Pacific Command press release. The medical clinics will include both Philippine and U.S. military medical personnel treating the local population — and in some cases, pets and livestock — for minor ailments, while handing out medicine and preventive health information.

The projects’ objective is the same as it’s always been, Zimmer said: Improving both militaries’ ability to work with each other in providing humanitarian aid. But that these projects are held in the same region where the Philippine military conducts most of its anti-terrorism work is no accident, Zimmer said. One way to deny sanctuary to terrorists is to get local residents on your side, he said. Adm. William J. Fallon, new Central Command head, decided while still PACOM commander that “he wanted to do these projects in the south for these types of reasons,” Zimmer said. “There’s 7,000 islands in the Philippines … a lot of places to hide.”

Manila Court finds U.S. Marine Guilty of Rape
By Manny Mogato Mon Dec 4, 6:54 AM ET

MANILA (Reuters) - A Philippine court found one of four U.S. Marines guilty of raping a Filipino woman inside a van at a former U.S. navy base last year, sentencing the 21-year-old sailor to life in prison for "bestial acts."  The three other Marines were acquitted on Monday after a seven-month trial, which had prompted small protests against U.S.-Philippine military ties and intense local media interest.

The Philippine government hailed the result but said the verdict would do nothing to harm close relations with the United States, which provides funding, equipment and training to Filipino troops fighting Muslim and communist rebel groups. "The court is morally convinced that Lance Corporal Daniel Smith committed the crime charged," a clerk said, reading the decision of Judge Benjamin Pozon to a hushed, packed courtroom.

The verdict, which included an order for Smith to pay 100,000 pesos ($2,000) in damages to the victim and her family, will automatically go to a higher court for review. Less than two hours after the ruling, a U.S. navy plane whisked the three acquitted Marines out of the Philippines to rejoin their unit in Okinawa, Japan. "This has been a difficult and emotional matter for all involved, and for their families and friends," the U.S. embassy, which had kept custody of the four Marines during the case, said in a statement.

Smith did not flinch when the verdict was read out but a quick volley of applause broke out inside the court. The victim, a 23-year-old management accounting graduate given the pseudonym "Nicole," burst into tears and said "Thank God." "I am saddened the three got acquitted," the woman said, adding she was "willing to endure everything" in what was likely to be a prolonged legal battle during Smith's appeal.

QUESTION OF CUSTODY

The judge ordered Smith to be temporarily held at a jail in Manila while the two governments, bound by a Visiting Forces Agreement, resolve where he should serve his sentence. Before sun down, local police brought Smith to the Makati City jail where he will spend the night while his lawyers petition a higher court to reverse Pozon's order. Citing the Visiting Forces Agreement, U.S. embassy officials argued that Smith could remain under U.S. custody until after a final decision was made by the Supreme Court, which will review the lower court's ruling.

On the streets outside the court, 300 protesters, mainly women, cheered and punched the air triumphantly. Placards read "Jail the Rapists" and "U.S. troops out now." During the controversial case, critics argued the Visiting Forces Agreement gives U.S. soldiers too much protection. But the executive director of the agreement, Zosimo Paredes, said the verdict -- the first legal test of the seven-year-old pact -- could actually strengthen security and diplomatic ties between the United States and its only former colony in Asia.

"I think this decision works on both sides," Paredes told reporters, adding it would serve as a warning to U.S. troops coming to the Philippines to uphold local laws. "The chance of this incident happening again is reduced." From 1981 to 1988, when the United States had two huge military bases in the Philippines, at least 82 cases of sexual abuse of women by U.S. troops were recorded but none of the accused was punished because the complaints were dismissed.

The woman accused Smith and the other Marines of raping her in November 2005 after she drank with them at a bar while the sailors were on shore leave at the end of two weeks of military exercises with Filipino soldiers.  The Marines said only Smith had sex with her and that it was consensual. They claimed the woman was being manipulated to incriminate them. Pozon said Smith knew the woman was drunk and could not have consented to sex.

Armed Civilians
International Herald Tribune
Oct 30, 2006
MANILA

The idea sounds simple. The Philippines needs more people to fight Islamic terrorists and the country's longstanding communist insurgency. To supplement the armed forces, why not recruit civilians who live in areas where such threats are present, arm them and form them into militias?

To the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, civilian militias make perfect sense. These "force multipliers," as Arroyo calls them, are central to an ambitious plan to cut the strength of the Communist New People's Army, still waging an armed struggle in the countryside, in half by 2010, and to keep a smoldering Islamic insurrection in check.

Not everyone in the Philippines is convinced. Armed civilian militias have existed here before, most notably during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos. Human rights groups say the militias were responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the era.

Others suspect the militias are part of a plan by the Arroyo administration to influence the elections scheduled for next year. In the Philippines, politics is still dominated by the "three G's" - guns, gold and goons. During the Marcos period, critics say, the militias often served as local muscle for the regime and its regional benefactors.

Reviving the civilian militias was the brainchild of Ronaldo Puno, the secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which supervises the national police and local government officials. Puno is also seen as one of Arroyo's most trusted political strategists and analysts say he is responsible for coordinating political support for the president around the country. Puno persuaded the president to sign an executive order this year that calls for the police to fight the communist and Islamic insurgencies alongside the military. The order, signed by Arroyo in July but the details of which surfaced only recently, also authorized the deputization of civilian volunteers - local residents in the villages who were already helping the police and military.

Armed with nightsticks and flashlights, they patrol the streets at night and sometimes staff military checkpoints. Most of them are farmers or jobless Filipinos untrained in military or police work. Under the new plan, these civilians would be given firearms and would help in gathering intelligence against enemies of the state, although funding would come from municipal and provincial governments.

Officials said their presence would augment the police and the military to defeat the New People's Army and the terrorist groups Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah. These village "security officers," Arroyo said this month, "are called to alert as force multipliers in the implementation of our public safety.

Fields Closed to Traffic
Oct 17, 2006

ANGELES CITY — The tourist district along Fields Avenue were closed to traffic yesterday amid fears of terrorist car bombings that could occur for the duration of the US-RP Talon Vision exercises at the nearby Clark special economic zone and Crow Valley in Capas, Tarlac. Scores of heavily armed, uniformed members of the regional mobile group (RMG) from Camp Olivas have taken over security in the tourist district, which used to be known as a red light district frequented by US servicemen before the US Air Force abandoned Clark in 1991.

Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan said some two kilometers of the avenue, flanked by restaurants and nightclubs, were closed to traffic starting Thursday upon the request of Mayor Carmelo Lazatin. Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command spokesman Maj. Ferdinand Casalan cited reports that though members of the Balik Islam movement "are not (terrorist) suspects but could be contacted and used by extremists."

Rafanan, however, downplayed threats from the Balik Islam movement, saying that it has already been wiped out years ago by police operatives and it’s organizers arrested in Tarlac. Casalan said the military has always been on alert for possible terrorist operations, especially in densely populated areas such as markets, malls and churches.

Lazatin could not be immediately contacted, but Angeles police director Senior Superintendent Policarpio Segubre said he received verbal instructions "from higher authorities" to close the street but declined to elaborate.

Efren "Bata" Reyes wins 2006 World Open 8-Ball Championship
Reno, Nevada
Sept 12, 2006

FILIPINO BILLIARDS ace Efren "Bata" Reyes won the biggest prize in his sport on Sunday, earning $500,000 (P25.5 million) after ruling the International Pool Tour 2006 World Open 8-Ball championship at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada. The 52-year-old former World 9-Ball champion from Angeles City beat American Rodney "Rocket" Morris, 8-6, in a showdown between two survivors from a starting field of 200 players representing 27 countries.

Trailing 2-4 at the start, the man known in the world of pool as "The Magician" elevated his game to win six of the last eight racks. He avenged his 8-7 loss to Morris a day earlier in the Final 6 stage of the $3-million tournament. Reyes, who made it to the title duel as No. 2 in the Final 6 behind the American, reached the hill at 7-6 as he cleaned up after Morris scratched on the break.

He clinched it with a run-out after the No. 15 ball sent the No. 2 ball flying into the right pocket on the break. The explosive victory came two weeks after Reyes and his close friend, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, captured the inaugural staging of the World Cup of Pool over Morris and his American partner, Earl Strickland, in New South Wales.

Reyes and Bustamante split the $60,000 first prize in the World Cup. Reyes also picked up $65,000 in July by placing fourth in the IPT North American Open. This time, Reyes captured a prize surpassed only by the purses of world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. Was it the money or the title that was most important, Reyes was asked during the awarding ceremony. "Both the money and the title. They're expecting us to win in our country," was Reyes' reply.

The IPT website account said Reyes, who was inducted into the Billiards Congress of America Hall of Fame in 2003, talked about the break as posing plenty of challenge for both players during the title match. "I missed two No. 8 balls, I think, but they were both corner pockets. It made me feel nervous when I was shooting that, I was shaking a little. That's why I missed the eights," he said.

Neither of the finalists pocketed a ball on the break in the first four frames. Morris snapped the trend with a run-out on the fifth to lead, 4-2. But luck was on the side of the Filipino as Morris scratched on the break three times -- the last when Reyes reached the hill. Morris, who won the US Open in 1996 at the expense of Reyes, settled for the runner-up prize of $150,000 and thanked the organizers for holding "a great event."

"Everything was top of the line, from the masseuse to the food to the venue, everything was top-class, and I'm really happy that I'm alive to play for this much money in this event," the Honolulu-born Morris said. The victory also underscored Reyes' uncanny knack for dominating inaugural tournaments.

Reyes won the World 9-Ball Pool championship when it was finally handled by Matchroom Sports and aired internationally in 1996. He ruled the first staging of the International Billiards Championship in Japan where he pocketed $150,000, and topped the first tournament of the IPT dubbed "King of the Hill" to win $200,000 last year.

Reyes, who also successfully represented the country in the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games, emerged overall champion of the first year of the SMB-Asian 9-Ball Tour three years ago. The win was a big improvement over the runner-up finish of Marlon Manalo in the North America Open, the first of six tournaments in the IPT schedule this year.

Dennis Orcollo, one of 13 Filipinos in the starting field who placed third to Reyes in the North America Open, wound up fifth this time to win $66,000. Mika Immonen of Finland finished third, which was worth $92,000, Oliver Ortmann of Germany was fourth for $80,000, and American Corey Deuel brought up the rear of the Final 6 to bag $50,000.