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Editorial &
Publishing Consultant
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Murray Hertz |
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President &
Managing Director
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Butch C. Bonsol |
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Editor
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Agnes M. Abrau
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Managing
Editor
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Francesca L. Ortigas
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Associate
Editors
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Carmencita Acosta
C. Jude Defensor
Jacqueline L. Ong
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Writer/Reporter
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Richard A. Ramos (Cebu)
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Account
Executive
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Vicky Araneta-Linsangan
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Credit &
Collection
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Aldi Lozano
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Circulation
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Narciso Lorete |
WHAT’S ON &
EXPAT is published weekly by
Expat Communications, Inc.
Suite 415 Manila Bank Building
6772 Ayala Avenue Makati City
Telephone Nos: (02)840-2996 • 812-0987 Fax No:
840-2988
Email: expat@pldtdsl.net
whatsonexpat@yahoo.com
Cebu Mailing Address: MJ. Cuenco Avenue
cor. C. Mina St., Mabolo, Cebu City
Telefax: (032) 412-8000
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Tourism... from page 1
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Speaking in behalf of DOT Secretary Ace
Durano, Tourism Regional Director Dawnie
Roa expressed full confidence at hitting
the three-million mark of visitor
arrivals by the yearend, saying that the
first six months of the year already
raked in 1.5 million tourists, an
increase of 7.6 percent over the same
period last year.
She also pointed out that the abundance
of long-staying visitors such as the
Koreans and Japanese have resulted in
the sprouting of “English as a Second
Language” schools to cater to their
needs on English literacy and
comprehension.
Likewise, she welcomed the onslaught of
various tourism investments such as the
construction of roads, bridges,
accommodation establishments and ports
as a result of the need to upgrade the
current state of infrastructure,
including the country’s first six-star
resort due to rise in the province of
Marinduque.
In another related topic, Jay Aldeguer,
the new president of the Cebu Visitors
and Convention Bureau, stressed the need
to differentiate Cebu from the rest of
Asia in order to maximize its resources
and concentrate more wholly on a certain
facet. He also called for a
collaboration of the different tourism
sectors in Cebu to synergize and
cooperate in answering the actual needs
and wants of the foreign visitors so as
not to second-guess their perceptions.
“While we are fond of showcasing our old
churches to the Chinese and Japanese, it
was found out that culture and history
were not found in the top five wish list
of these visitors,” he declared.
Aldeguer spoke on “Amazing Cebu” in
reference to the topic “Building up a
Vibrant and Globally Competitive Tourist
Destination.”
In a separate press conference, Tourism
Secretary Ace Durano urged the
stakeholders to start upgrading their
establishments as soon as possible in
order to cater to the upcoming swell of
foreign arrivals due to arrive before
the end of the decade. He hinted unease
with the gestation period as caused by
the prolonged construction of thousands
of new rooms since visitors may transfer
to another destination as they cannot
wait forever for the new rooms to be
finished.
“It is also important to surpass
expectations of the visitors as some of
them are very particular as to the
quality of their accommodations. The
Russians, for example, expect five-star
standards from a four-star
establishment,” he warned. The Japanese
market is another picky category since
they want a room all for themselves and
do not wish to share lodgings with
anyone else.
Durano also mentioned about a paradigm
shift wherein the dilemma four years ago
was that there was not enough business
to go around for the stakeholders. “Now,
they are wondering how to service the
current demand. With the excess market
on hand, it pays to be prepared to start
early and work on improving the room
infrastructure to cope with such
expectations,” he stated. |
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Open UN Door to Taiwan!
Proclaiming once again the determination of
Taiwan’s 23 million people to take their
rightful place in the family of nations,
President Chen Shui-bian submitted an
application for membership in the United Nations
to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on July 18.
In response, a UN Secretariat spokesperson told
the press on July 23 that Taiwan’s application
“could not be received and was, thus, returned”
in keeping with “the one-China policy of the
United Nations” enshrined in General Assembly
Resolution 2758.
This behavior is shocking, both for its
arrogance and its ignorance.
The UN Charter and UN procedural rules
unambiguously stipulate that the
secretary-general shall immediately refer
membership applications to the Security Council.
The Security Council must deliberate the matter
and make a recommendation to the General
Assembly, whose members are to discuss the
matter and vote on it. The UN Secretariat,
however, has co-opted the UN member states’
deliberative and decision-making powers.
The UN chief’s action is disturbing also because
he has grossly misconstrued both the nature of
Taiwan’s membership application and the import
of Resolution 2758. The application in no way
constitutes a challenge to the right of the
government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
to represent China. Nor does the resolution
imply that Taiwan is a part of China.
At a great price in suffering over the course of
38 years of martial law, the people of Taiwan
have created a vibrant democracy, rated Asia’s
freest country by Freedom House in its 700-page
Freedom in the World 2006 report.
Perhaps UN officials have been misled by the
actions of the now-defunct authoritarian
party-state government of the Republic of China
(ROC) led by Chiang Kai-shek that once ruled
Taiwan. The Chiang regime claimed that it was
the sole legitimate government of China.
Unwilling to coexist with the PRC in the UN, it
withdrew from the world body in 1971 just before
Resolution 2758 was passed.
The democratic government of today’s Taiwan
makes no such claim, and it is quite happy to
coexist and cooperate with the PRC government in
every way possible. Although our country is
still saddled with the official “Republic of
China” moniker, the great major |
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ity of us identify ourselves as “Taiwanese” and
call our country “Taiwan”—as, indeed, virtually
everyone else in the world does.
For this reason, and in order to underline the
fact that Taiwan makes no pretense of vying for
the right to govern China, President Chen’s
application requests “the admission of Taiwan as
a member of the United Nations” not of the
“Republic of China.” This follows the
well-established precedent of employing names
for participation in the UN and other
international organizations that are different
from domestically used, constitutional names.
Irrespective of the status of Taiwan, the Taiwan
Strait is indisputably one of the world’s most
dangerous flashpoints. Given that China
threatens to launch a war of annexation, has
deployed a thousand missiles targeted at Taiwan,
and refuses to talk directly with the
democratically elected government in Taipei, it
devolves upon the United Nations to fulfill its
role of international peacekeeper in the region.
At the very least, it should facilitate
communications between all parties who have a
stake in preserving peace in East Asia before a
crisis situation develops.
UN organizations and officials must therefore
cease allowing themselves to be intimidated by
the totalitarian PRC government into making
unwise decisions. In particular, they must stop
kowtowing to its claim that Taiwan is a province
of the People’s Republic of China. Nor is Taiwan
part of a “divided China” comprised of PRC and
ROC segments.
The UN Charter mandates membership for all
states. Taiwan indisputably is a sovereign
state, having for nearly six decades fulfilled
all of the criteria for statehood stipulated in
the 1933 Montevideo Convention. Unlike the PRC,
Taiwan is also a state in which sovereignty
rests in the people, as prescribed by the 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Therefore, all nations that champion rule of
law, freedom, and human rights are morally bound
to support UN membership for Taiwan. We will
never trade freedom for tyranny.
Shieh Jhy-wey
Minister, Government Information Office
Taiwan
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Industries Call for End to War in Mindanao
By Katrina N. Cabanos
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Prosperity and peace go hand in
hand,” Bai Sandra Basar, acting
President of the Muslim Kutawato Chamber
said during a media forum discussing the
impact of the on-going conflict in
Mindanao. She represents Muslim
businessmen who are in accordance in
saying that the government’s declaration
of “all out war” is causing more damage
to the region than the actual skirmishes
of local authorities with the dissident
groups.
The panel was composed of representatives from different sectors of
society in the region including
Representative Mujiv Hataman of the Anak
Mindanao partylist, Chairperson Sheryl
Siao of the Regional Board of
Investments–Autonomous Region of Muslim
Minanao (ARMM), and Executive Director
Francisco Buencamino, of the Tuna
Canners Association of the Philippines.
The panelists all agree that the term “war” is a misnomer. The
armed conflict with the few remaining
members of the rebel groups is generally
isolated to tiny pockets in the island
of Basilan and Sulu. According to Rep.
Hataman the extensive military presence
in the region is unnecessary and reports
are grossly exaggerated. He fears that
it will only worsen the situation not
only because of the bad publicity it
generates, but also because of the known
tactic of the Abu Sayaff rebel group to
attack elsewhere when they are being
cornered. He sited the recent bombing in
Zamboanga City as an example.
It is “business as usual” for the rest of Mindanao, contrary
to one might imagine. “We are on a
roll,” Siao asserted listing the new
investments coming in. Exec.Dir.
Buencamino said that the problems the
tuna canning industry is facing have
little to do with the war. Based largely
in General Santos City in South Cotabato,
they are geographically isolated from
the crossfire. But Basar admited that
they are having difficulties in terms of
marketing the whole ARMM region due to
bad publicity and not because of
insurgency.
When it comes to appropriation of funds and de |
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velopment, Mindanao has taken a backseat
to Luzon and even Visayas. “We are the
food basket of the country,” Basar said,
“and yet how much of what we produce
goes back to us (in Mindanao)?” That
socio-economic exclusion is the bane and
precisely the root source of conflict in
the region. However, the local
government and private sectors are
gradually trying to turn things around.
Both Siao and Basar believe that the
National Government itself is setting
them back with this proclamation all out
war. Hataman further stated that for the
government, the war is one of vengeance
and is not justifiable.
“We are all losers in a war. Our investments and our credibility
suffer,” Hataman said. A sustainable
peace in Mindanao is largely an issue of
better policies for minorities and the
allocation of much needed resources to
the region. Precious taxes are used for
the purchase of guns and bullets instead
of the people’s basic needs. There are
more deaths due to poverty than to
bullets and yet very little attention is
paid to poverty alleviation than to
military offensive. “Peace will never be
achieved through war,” Hataman
concluded.
On a positive note, a recent meeting between representatives from
the government and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), a Muslim
separatist group based in Mindanao,
concluded with a common avowal to move
forward. Both the GRP and the MILF also
agreed to strengthen the role of the
International Monitoring Team (IMT) in
the region. The IMT, composed of
contingents from Malaysia, Brunei and
Libya, is tasked with humanitarian;
rehabilitation and development, and
socio-economic assistance, working with
close coordination with the peace
panels. Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-tawi and
Palawan were only just added to the list
of IMT areas of coverage. Both side
concurred that the IMT is helping
stabilize the ground environment in
Mindanao and is heightening
international confidence on the peace
process. |
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