Aquino enjoys strong support from Filipino
community in Cambodia, Philippine envoy to Cambodia says
(PHNOM
PENH, Cambodia) President Benigno S. Aquino III and his administration have
tremendous support from Filipinos working or living in Cambodia particularly
because of his reform initiatives and anti-corruption agenda, Philippine
Ambassador to Cambodia Noe Wong said.
“The Filipinos here have high admiration to the
Philippine government under President Aquino in his fight against corruption as
well as in the government’s effort to improve the economic situation in the
country. I am very confident about it,” Wong told the Radio TV Malacanang
(RTVM) in an interview at the Philippine Embassy here on Thursday.
Filipinos here in Cambodia are gainfully
employed, Wong said. Most of them are working in the garments and textile
sector, as well as academic institutions. Many are professionals working as
teachers, consultants, engineers, and tutors. These professionals could be
around 700 or 800, Wong said adding that their edge over other nationalities is
their fluency in speaking English.
Wong said that other jobs are in hotels and
restaurants, casinos and gambling establishments, civil society organizations,
non-government organizations, and volunteer works in missionary organizations.
“So we are really proud that we Filipinos are
much better here (compared to those in other countries),” he stressed.
Wong said that officially, there are 3,497
Filipinos in Cambodia adding that these are the Filipinos who registered in the
consular office or in the Philippine embassy. Including those who are
undocumented, the figure could be between 5,000 to 6,000, he noted.
President
Aquino is set to arrive here on Saturday to participate in the 21st Association
of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and Other Related Summits. Leaders
participating in the event will meet November from 18 to 20. PND (as)
Philippines, Cambodia to sign agreement to
combat transnational crime, terrorism
(PHNOM
PENH, Cambodia) The Philippines and Cambodia will sign an agreement to combat
transnational crime and terrorism, the Philippine ambassador to Cambodia said
on Thursday.
Philippine Ambassador to Cambodia Noe Wong told
Radio TV Malacanang in an interview Thursday that the Philippines and Cambodia
have finished the draft review of the Memorandum of Agreement on Combating
Transnational Crime and Terrorism and the two countries are ready to sign it
after the 21st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit here in
Phnom Penh.
“Both countries, Cambodia and the Philippines
have completed the review of that draft and both parties agreed on that draft.
What is left is the formal signing of that MOA," Wong said.
While both countries are working out on the
venue of the signing, whether it would be in Phnom Penh or in Manila, Wong said
that the agreement might be signed by December this year or by the first
quarter of 2013.
According to the Philippine envoy, Cambodia has
shown an inclination to sign the MOA in the Philippines.
The Philippines and Cambodia have been working
together to strengthen their bilateral relations particularly through the Joint
Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC). Under JCBC, the two countries
review all the agreements agreed in the past several years to track the
implementation.
Among them is the initiative to combat
transnational crimes within their borders.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the
Cambodian National Police will work together once the MOA is signed to fight
transnational crimes and terrorism.
Organized crime rings in Asia and Africa are
real menace in the region. They are involved in everything from prostitution
and human and drug trafficking, as well as pornography, financial scams,
computer crimes, genocide and terrorism.
Most of
these organized gangsters have ties to South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines,
Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
Wong noted that aside from fighting crime and
terrorism, the Philippines and Cambodia are also working closely together for
enhanced cultural, agricultural and educational relations.
President Benigno S. Aquino III is set to arrive
here in Phnom Penh on Saturday to join fellow leaders of the ASEAN as well as
their other dialogue partners for the 21st Asean Summit and Other Related
Summits. PND (as)
ASEAN posts significant gains in 2012, says
Ambassador Wong
(PHNOM
PENH, Cambodia) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has made
progress in attaining regional stability and stronger cooperation despite some
challenges that comes its way particularly the West Philippine Sea issue, the
Philippine Ambassador to Cambodia here said on Thursday.
In an interview with Radio TV Malacanang at the
Philippine Embassy here, Ambassador Noe Wong said that the ASEAN has made
significant gains in attaining one community by 2015.
“There are contentious issues. But overall, I
could say that positively we are making progress towards attaining a single
community. The contentious issues are only part of the so many issues that we
are going to consider," Ambassador Wong said.
According to ambassador Wong, despite some roadblocks,
ASEAN, as a regional organization, posted gains in several areas such as human
rights, disaster risk management, connectivity, tourism, culture, pandemics and
many others.
“Overall, I could safely say that the ASEAN has
a group whichever is the chair is progressing toward this goal of establishing
one community by 2015,” he said.
So far, the ASEAN as an organization has made
progress in the three pillars of the ASEAN community that include the ASEAN
political security community, economic community, and the socio-cultural
community, Wong explained. Cambodia, this year’s chairman, adopted the summit
theme “One Community, One Destiny.”
Commenting on Cambodia’s chairmanship this year,
Wong said that with Cambodia success in leading this year’s regional event
would be the success of every ASEAN-member country.
He noted that ASEAN is one of the cornerstones
of Philippine foreign policy and the Philippines will actively participate take
part in whatever endeavor to attain the single ASEAN community by 2015.
President Benigno S. Aquino III is arriving here
in Cambodia on Saturday to join fellow ASEAN leaders in the 21st ASEAN Summit.
He and other leaders of ASEAN are also expected to meet their dialogue partners
in other related summits.
The President is expected to push for a stronger
maritime security and cooperation, protection and welfare of migrant workers,
as well as human rights when he participates in the summit. PND (as)
Passage of Reproductive Health Bill to help
country achieve health-related targets in Millennium Development Goals,
Malacanang says
The
passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill will help the Philippines achieve
its health-related targets in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a Palace
official said on Friday.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte
issued the statement during the regular press briefing in Malacanang following
reports that the country's five biggest business groups called on the Senate
and the House of Representatives to “pass into law without further delay 'The
Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act
of 2011,' as embodied in House Bill 4244 and Senate Bill 2865.”
In a joint statement, the Employers
Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Financial Executives Institute of the
Philippines (FINEX), Makati Business Club (MBC), Management Association of the
Philippines (MAP), and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI)
said they “strongly believe that government must encourage responsible
parenthood and promote family planning as a direct strategy for poverty
reduction and maternal and child healthcare."
"That will depend on the congressmen on how
they will take that push from the big companies that have already banded
together," Valte said when asked to comment on the business groups' joint
statement.
While various groups underscored the need to
pass the RH bill to help the government reduce poverty levels and increase GDP
(Gross Domestic Product), Valte stressed that the bill is important for the
Philippines to achieve its health-related targets in the Millennium Development
Goals, like maternal health and infant mortality. PND (js)
IMF Managing Director cites Philippines and
other emerging markets’ role to global growth
International
Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde cited the “critical role”
played by the Philippines and other emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region
in driving global growth which she said has helped stabilize the economies of
this part of the world.
Lagarde,
who is on a two-day visit to the Philippines, told reporters in a press
briefing in Malacañang on Friday that this critical role could be used and
reviewed by other economies as a way to stabilize theirs from the effects of an
economic crisis sweeping the globe.
“Emerging
Asia countries such as the Philippines have been playing a critical role in the
last few years. When you look at their contribution to global growth, it’s very
significant particularly in the tough years that we have just gone through,”
Lagarde said.
“Second,
countries that have gone through crisis particularly in the Asia-Pacific can
certainly teach lessons and share their experience of how to pull out of the
crisis,” she added.
She
pointed out that the Philippines, despite global turmoil swirling around and
bringing down economies of bigger countries, have been able to post positive
growth in the last couple of years.
She said
that the administration of President Beningo S. Aquino III and the fiscal
reforms implemented in the last two years are the main reason for the robust
economic growth being experienced by the country.
“This is
due in no little part to the excellent policy mix deployed both by the
Secretary of Finance and the Central Bank of the Philippines, and the
combination of sound fiscal policy as well as sound monetary policy,” Lagarde
said.
President
Aquino has expressed confidence the Philippines will be able to attain its
growth target of between 5 and 6 percent this year, 6 and 7 percent in 2013,
and at least 7 percent in the succeeding years. PND (rck)
International Monetary Fund Managing Director
Christine Lagarde lauds country's resiliency in achieving economic progress
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing
Director Christine Lagarde lauded the Philippines for achieving economic
progress amids the global economic uncertainty.
"I
congratulate the Filipino authorities for their excellent economic stewardship
during difficult times. Credit is also due to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
for containing inflation and ensuring financial stability," Lagarde said
during the press briefing in Malacanang on Friday.
The
Philippines is the only country that the IMF raised its growth forecast for
this year, Lagarde said.
"In
the last decade, the Philippines has managed to have an average growth of about
five percent. This year 2012, at a very difficult time because of the financial
crisis in other parts of the world, the Philippines is probably the only
country of which we have increased the growth forecast as opposed to other
places in the world where we actually decreased our forecast," she said.
Lagarde
also noted that the Philippines managed to achieve resilient and inclusive
growth due to its good policies and reforms.
"Thanks to these good policies and
reforms, the Philippines has become a vibrant emerging market that is
approaching investment-grade status," she said.
"Looking ahead, we share the government's
view that growth must benefit a broader section of the population. This means
continuing to improve governance, upgrade infrastructure and boost spending on
education and social safety nets. It will also be necessary to deepen reforms
to improve the investment climate," she said
The
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Lagarde's visit to the country solidifies the
country's partnership with the IMF in pursuing a stable monetary and financial
system of the country. Lagarde arrived in the Philippines last Thursday.
The
Philippines, through the BSP, will continue to be supportive of regional and
international initiatives in pursuit of sustainable and equitable economic
development. PND (js)
