The Manila Times


A 2


ANOI: Strained US-China military Korean peninsula


news FRIDAY July 23, 2010


Strained US-Sino ties loom at Asia security H


During a visit to South Korea this


relations will be the elephant in the room as Asia’s largest


security forum meets in Vietnam on Friday amid tensions over North Korea, Taiwan and the South China Sea.


A US-South Korea naval drill in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) next week is exacerbating tensions ahead of the Hanoi meet, to be attended by US Sec- retary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. Analysts said the 27-member As- sociation of Southeast Asian Na- tions (Asean) Regional Forum was unlikely to bring about a thaw in bi- lateral military ties, which Beijing froze in January over US weapons sales to Taiwan. “It’s the worst it’s been in a long


■ FOLDER FROM A1 Melo hides folder report


to the media and other interested parties after ten days from submis- sion or earlier as the commission en banc may authorize,” the docu- ment stated. “Copies of this investigation re- port shall be furnished by the Com- mission en banc to interested par- ties like the media, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Government Pro- curement Policy Board, the Presi- dential anti-Graft and Corruption Office, the Civil Service Commis- sion, Transparency and Accountabil- ity Network, Procurement Watch, PPCRV, etc. as it may deem proper and necessary within 10 days from submission,” it added. The report was dated June 28, 2010. A Comelec lawyer told The Ma- nila Times on condition of anonym- ity that Melo and the poll body commissioners fear the disclosure of the report to the media since it dis- cusses a possible impeachment move against them. Rafanan is a known independent- minded official in the Comelec, which the poll body’s commission- ers reported could not sway. Besides Rafanan, the other mem- bers of the panel were lawyer Adolfo Ibañez of the Comelec Personnel Department and lawyer Divina Blas- Perez of the Election and Barangay Affairs Department. Rafanan said that he sought author- ity from the Comelec en banc two


■ INVESTMENTS FROM A1 RP lags in investments says UNCTAD


remained at the bottom in attract- ing FDIs compared to other coun- tries in the Southeast Asia region. FDI inflows in Thailand was valued at $5.95 billion; Vietnam, $4.5 bil- lion; Indonesia, $4.88 billion; and Singapore, $16.81 billion. The Philippines, however, is bet- ter compared to Malaysia’s total FDI of $1.38 billion. Josef Yap, president of the Phil- ippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said that the coun- try’s investment rates to gross do- mestic product (GDP) has deterio- rated since 1994.


GDP represents the amount of goods and services produced locally, and is a proxy for a country’s eco- nomic performance. Last year, the country’s invest- ment to GDP ratio stood at 14 per- cent, lower from 15.2 percent in 2008 and 15.4 percent in 2007. In 1994, the Philippines’ invest- ment to GDP was 24.1 percent.


■ FASHIONABLE FROM A1 Vampires fashionable For a pastime with dark, anti-


religious overtones vampire fashion is itself becoming oddly like an organized religion. There are rules, priests, private gatherings and large- scale celebrations. Hundreds of “vampires” attend balls


every few months, with the next vampire ball taking place in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania on July 31. Believers in this sect-like lifestyle


range from teenage devotees of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight to adults who got hooked on Ann Rice’s Vampire Diaries in the 1970s. Rice is the author credited with turning the European model vam- pire—exemplified by Dracula, the horrific character at the center of Bram Stoker’s 19th century novel set in Transylvania—into a more user-


friendly American version. In the very un-Transylvanian setting of New Jersey, O’Dalley keeps her apartment well curtained from the sun and decorates with bat motifs. “It’s like a religion. There are houses, and pageants, and clans, and kind of presidents, ministers,” she added. Still, this is an age of kinder, gentler


vampires. O’Dalley actually enjoys garlic, the traditional weapon against vampires and her blood consumption is modest, to say the least. “Every once in a while I drink blood. I


make a prick on my finger and take the blood,” she said. And there’s no chance of leaving


nasty marks on her neighbors’ necks. “We don’t bite. That should never be done. Everything should be consen- sual,” she cautioned.


“We have to address this low in-


vestment rate . . . The private sector should start investing again. The private sector has to get together,” Yap said.


The National Economic and De-


velopment Authority (NEDA) said the Aquino administration plans to raise investments to a range of 25 percent to 28 percent of GDP for the period 2011 to 2016, from the cur- rent 14 percent. To achieve this, NEDA said that


the government will increase spending on public infrastruc- ture through greater private sec- tor participation. NEDA said that the government aims to modernize the transporta- tion sector and the logistics system for efficient movement of goods and people. The UNCTAD report said the prospects for FDI this year are “cau- tiously optimistic.” In 2012, the UNCTAD said FDIs


are expected to recover to its 2008 level, with a range estimated from $1.6 trillion to $2 trillion. However, this is still below the $2.1-trillion peak of 2007. “The gradual improvement in macroeconomic conditions, cor- porate profits and stock market valuations observed in 2010 is ex- pected to continue over the next few years, supporting renewed business confidence,” UNCTAD report said.


the


The UN body added that inten- tions of transnational corporations to pursue foreign expansion appear more robust for 2011 and 2012. “The recovery of FDI is likely to take place primarily through cross- border M&As,” UNCTAD said. M&As or mergers and acquisi- tions rose by 36 percent in the first five months of 2010. Globally, FDI inflows plummeted


by 37 percent to $1.1 trillion in 2009 from $1.18 trillion in 2008.


Fixated on vampire Joaquin Latina, who claims to be 2,744


years old, even if his passport puts him at 35, said he’s been fixated on vampires since childhood. He’s read all the literature on the


subject and never misses an episode of True Blood, which he rates far above the more anemic Twilight. “Vampires are not monsters as such,


they are more beautiful than the average persons, and they are immortal. It’s a dark ideal of mankind. Today they are more like rock stars,” Latina said. The only problem in this thriving


vampire environment, Latina said, is that New York City has become too clean and law-abiding over the last decade. The best scene, he said, is in Philadelphia now. “New York is too safe now for vampires.” Sociology professor Robert Thomson,


who teaches at University of Syracuse in upstate New York, said “the vampire culture has been around for a long time,


weeks ago to release the report but his request has not yet been acted upon.


Protection for whistleblowers


The report also stated that the whistleblowers of the alleged folder scam—lawyer Melchor Magdamo and Dr. Arwin Serrano—be placed under the government’s witness pro- tection program for security reasons. Magdamo was a former employee of Melo at the Supreme Court and worked for other High Court justices including Cancio Garcia and Ruben Reyes. But Magdamo was tapped by Melo after the latter was appointed Comelec chairman by then Presi- dent Gloria Arroyo.


The respondents in the controver- sial folder deal are Comelec Execu- tive Director Jose Tolentino, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Chairman lawyer Ma. Leah Alarkon and members Allen Francis Abaya, Maria Norina Tangaro-Casingal and Martin Niedo who are all lawyers, and Antonio Santella. The private respondents were from One Time Carbon (OTC) Pa- per Supply namely Henry Young and Willy Young. OTC Paper Sup- ply won the bid to supply the fold- ers priced at P380 each.


Relieve Tolentino and BAC members


The panel report recommended that


Tolentino and the BAC officials be relieved from their positions pend- ing investigation. But Rafanan said that until now


Tolentino and the BAC members are holding the documents on the con- troversial folder deal and it is just proper to relive them to protect the vital documents.


He added that they cannot use the


word preventive suspension in the report because they have no author- ity to do that. Rafanan earlier stated that


Tolentino and the BAC members were not cooperative in providing them with the folder deal docu- ments despite the Comelec en banc’s giving him the authority to investigate the matter.


The report said that the poll body must tackle the controver- sial folder deal in such a way that the Comelec’s image will not suf- fer further. “May this investigation be con-


structive and fruitful, so that the Commission on Elections, long lan- guishing from lack of credibility, shall continue to arise, and the citizenry having become so desper- ate may see a beacon of hope in government,” it pointed out. The report even quoted Su- preme Chief Justice Renato Co- rona to “let justice be done through the heavens fall, even if this should require my turning back the tide” and a verse from the Book of Proverbs that stated “the wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice.”


time. US-Sino relations are not in a good place right now,” said Ian Sto- rey, a fellow of the Institute of South- east Asian Studies in Singapore. “Particularly significant is that


the two militaries aren’t talking and there are a lot of issues that they have to discuss.”


China suspended military relations in January after Washington unveiled a $6.4-billion arms package for Tai- wan. In May, China rebuffed a planned visit to Beijing by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.


US and South Korean plans to hold a series of naval drills from Sunday in re- sponse to North Korea’s alleged torpe- doing of a South Korean warship in March are the latest source of bad blood between Beijing and Washington. The drills off the Korean penin-


sula—relocated from the Yellow Sea because of Chinese objections—are designed as a warning to nuclear- armed North Korea over the sinking of the warship with the loss of 46 lives, Gates said. Pyongyang denies involvement and Beijing has refused to blame its communist ally. “We resolutely oppose foreign military ships and planes coming to the Yellow Sea and other waters near China to engage in activities that af- fect China’s security interests,” Chi- nese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.


week, Gates acknowledged he was “disappointed” at China’s rebuff of his scheduled visit in June but said he was willing to move forward. “I remain open to rebuilding and strengthening military-to-military dialogue between the United States and China because I think it can play an important role in prevent- ing miscalculations and misunder- standings,” he said.


Chinese buildup Even so, top US commanders have


made it clear they are watching Chi- na’s military buildup, particularly its naval reach into disputed territories in the resource-rich South China Sea. Speaking to US troops in South


Korea on Wednesday, top US officer Admiral Mike Mullen said China’s military had made “a fairly signifi- cant investment in high-end equip-


■ INCREASES FROM A1 ANGAT WATER RISES


will address the water problem not only in Metro Manila but in the en- tire country as well. The Public works official said that in a Cabinet meeting with President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Wednesday, he proposed to have a water supply sector program or roadmap since similar water shortages are being ex- perienced in most urban centers in the Philippines. “There is an overall plan that we


are working on, this has been pre- pared. There is a roadmap for the water sector and this does not include only the water supply but waste wa- ter [also],” he said. “I fully believe that the best pro- gram for poverty alleviation is giving everyone access to potable water.” Singson noted that in some areas, residents have no water connection and they have to buy water per drum, making it more expensive for them. He also maintained that human er-


ror was to blame for the water shortage. The Public works official said


that water from the Angat dam had been misused for electricity genera- tion this year even when water sup- ply shortages were becoming a concern, while years of neglect in not building more dams was a longer-term issue.


No state of calamity During the press briefing at


Malacañang, the mayors of some ar- eas affected by the water shortage, particularly Manila, Quezon City and Navotas City, all agreed that there is no cause for alarm. Mayor Alfredo Lim of Manila re- ported that he directed police pre- cincts throughout the city on Thurs- day to locate areas that had no wa- ter. To his surprise reports that some areas in Manila had no water turned out to be “negative” or “incorrect.” “Nagpapunta kami ng water tank, wala namang nangangailangan ng tubig doon [We sent water tanks but no one needed the water there after all],” Lim said. “We always reserve water tanks. But unfortunately wala kaming mabigyan ng tubig dahil may mga tubig naman yung mga bahay [we could not distrib- ute the water because the households already have water],” he added. But Lim admitted that the water pressure is not that strong as it used to be which has resulted in lesser wa- ter coming out from the taps. Mayor Herbert Bautista of Quezon City said that there are only about 22 barangays affected by the water short- age as opposed to the 28 barangays reported by Singson. “We decided to create the Quezon City Water Crisis Manage- ment Task Force . . . [the] function [is] to determine affected areas, pro- vide water supply to the affected areas and devise a system and


long before Twilight and True Blood.” However, Twilight has completely domesticated it. It got rid of the Eastern European monster.” According to Thomson, vampires are surprisingly marketable. They are “mysterious, dark, very, very attractive and erotic,” he added. “The vampire movement is a style, an


attitude, there’s a sense of belonging to a community. It can also be a branding.” There’s no shortage of branding out


there. A modern vampire going to the Philadelphia ball could, for example, get kitted out at Vampire Freaks boutique in New York’s East Village neighborhood, and purchase custom- made resin fangs for $138 at another vampire-friendly business. If that wasn’t enough, there’s always


the vampire tour of Central Park run by a man, or vampire, who goes by the name John Seward—the character in Dracula who attends patients at the psychiatric asylum.


schedule for the distribution in af- fected areas,” Bautista added. He said that the city government has started to coordinate closely with Maynilad Water Services Inc. for the additional supply of water trucks to augment the fire trucks being de- ployed in Quezon City. Maynilad is the company providing water services in Quezon City.


But Bautista noted that there are some affected areas in Quezon City where water supply has been restored. “There is no need to declare a state of calamity,” he added. Mayor John Rey Tiangco of Navotas City said that the water shortage situa- tion in his city is “manageable.” He added that Maynilad’s infor- mation dissemination on water ra- tioning schedule and water truck deployment helped in addressing the complaints from residents who reported that their faucets had no flowing water.


Singson also agreed that there is no cause for alarm. “Unless the state of calamity can


give us more water in Angat, I would go for it,” he added.


Volunteerism Malacañang is also seeking the help


of the private sector and the public to help alleviate the water shortage in affected areas.


Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that they are asking the private sector to donate bottled wa- ter or to sponsor water trucks. “In the spirit of volunteerism, ito


po ay problema po ng bawat mama- mayan [this is the problem of every citizen] and we are asking their help, the private sector. It’s a pub- lic and private sector partnership,” he added. Malacañang also reiterated that the short-term measures to address the water shortage have already been identified and will be put into place. According to Malacañang, among the short-term measures is the forg- ing of a sharing arrangement where Manila Water Co. Inc. will supply an additional 40 million liters per day (MLD) to an estimated 100,000 Maynilad customers. Manila Water is the other water concessionaire for Metro Manila and its outlying areas.


Also, cloud seeding operations


over Angat will be conducted with Maynilad and Manila Water ini- tially chipping in P3.1 million for the effort that will be spearheaded by the Bureau of Soils and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture. Malacañang added that the capac- ity of the water treatment plant in Pututan in Muntinlupa will be in- creased to 50 MLD from the current 25 MLD.


ment” including satellites, aircraft, anti-ship missiles and a planned air- craft carrier group. He called the move a “strategic shift, where they are moving from a focus on their ground forces to focus on their navy and their maritime forces and their air force.” US officials worry that China’s more assertive stance in the Pacific Ocean and its anti-ship missile arse- nal, capable of striking aircraft carri- ers, could undercut America’s long- dominant naval power in the region. Shi Yinhong, an expert on Sino- US military ties at Renmin Univer- sity in Beijing, said the relocation of the US-South Korea naval drills from the Yellow Sea would not be enough to re-build trust. “That alone will not help Sino-US relations and the resumption of mili- tary ties,” he said. “The opportunity to fully resume


military exchanges has been lost due to the military exercises.”


Disputed islands Analysts said Asean member states


would be looking on in horror as their immediate concerns—such as territo- rial claims to islands in the South China Sea—are drowned out by the noise of Sino-US tensions. Beijing lays claim to the entire sea, but Asean members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have claims to the Spratly archipelago, along with Taiwan. Vietnam also claims the more northerly Paracels. The United States meanwhile de- mands unfettered access to vital sea lanes in the area. “The current chill in Sino-US mili- tary relations is quite unwelcome at the Asean Regional Forum,” Center for Strategic and International Stud- ies analyst Ernie Bower said.


AFP


AFP ready to assist The Armed Forces of the Philippines


(AFP) is also ready to deploy two battalions, or some 1,000 soldiers in areas gripped by the water shortage to provide security for water tankers and fire trucks, and to help in the orderly distribution of water. “We are in coordination with the Department of Public Work and Highways. We are waiting for specif- ics on what places they [soldiers] will be deployed. We are ready, “ the Armed Forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr., said Thursday. According to Mabanta, soldiers


were used in the past for similar tasks upon the request of water concession- aries Maynilad and Manila Water, add- ing that the Armed Forces is always ready to take over when the Philippine National Police (PNP) are too pre-oc- cupied with other concerns. “At times the Philippine National


Police are involved in so many tasks [and] the Armed forces of the Philip- pines is readily available to fill in the gap,” he added. “We will just be involved in security probably to see to it that the people in the area will not push each other.” Mabanta also gave his assurance that their operations of the Armed Forces will not be affected and that the military is always flexible in case of emergencies. The PNP, for its part, also said yes-


terday that it is ready to provide logistical support in the water distri- bution effort of various government agencies.


Senior Supt. Agremiro Cruz, the PNP spokesman, said that they have available standby fire trucks that could be used to deliver water to communi- ties experiencing a water shortage.


Wawa River potential Meanwhile, the water developer of


the Wawa River has offered their services to the government by using their watershed to help solve the water shortage.


Oscar Violago, the president of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Water Develop- ment Corp., said that 1,500 MLD of water can be sourced from the Wawa River watershed if it will be converted into a dam.


He added that they have been pro- posing that the Wawa River be tapped to augment the water supply for Metro Manila.


The Metropolitan Waterworks and


Sewerage System (MWSS) said the Wawa River project is feasible but cer- tain issues should be considered. Among the issues is the Wawa


River watershed is located along the fault line, which can cause a dam to be built in the area to break in case of an earthquake. The water at Wawa River is also not also not fit for human use because it is very near a huge piggery farm and many people live near it.


FRITZ DACPANO, WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO AND XINHUA »In The Manila Times July 23, 1946


July 23, 1968 Why they remain unsolved AS serious as the problem of unreported crimes is the appallingly low rate of solved crimes. In a confidential report submitted by President Ferdinand Marcos some time ago, he reported: “The percentage of cases solved from 1962 to 1966 ranged from 72 percent with a yearly average of 74 percent. There is noted a low percentage for robbery and theft, 30 percent and 50 percent, respectively.”


Cabinet tackles purchase of Church estates for tenants THE acquisition of several Church estates by the government for resale to tenants will be taken up during the Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet is expected to back President Manuel Roxas’ plan of acquiring as soon as possible several landed estates, such as the Buenavista, Dinalupihan, Lian, Baclaran, San Pedro Tunasan, and Nuestra Señora de Guta landholdings.


AFP


July 23, 1904 Sultan of Sulu calls on Ayuntamiento THE Sultan of Sulu, Muhamad Jamalul Kiram, called at the Ayuntamiento yesterday. The meeting was to take up his role as sultan under the United States government.


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