News Roundup 07 August 2023
Aug 07, 2023 • 5 min Read
Philippines will ‘never abandon’ Ayungin Shoal — official | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The government will “never abandon” Ayungin Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, an official said Monday after the China Coast Guard blocked and water-cannoned vessels on a resupply mission.
Tensions between Manila and Beijing escalated again Saturday after the CCG blocked and fired water cannons at Philippine boats seeking to deliver food, water, and fuel to troops stationed on BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal. The incident prevented one of the boats from unloading supplies.
The rusty World War II-era ship was intentionally grounded by the Philippine Navy at Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, in 1999. BRP Sierra Madre serves as the country’s outpost in the West Philippine Sea.
“For the record, we will never abandon Ayungin Shoal. We are committed to Ayungin Shoal,” National Security spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a briefing.
“We will do what is necessary to provide supplies and provision for our troops there for as long as it takes,” he added.
China told the Philippines Monday to remove BRP Sierra Madre from the shoal, Reuters reported. Ayungin Shoal is located well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
In response, Col. Medel Aguilar, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said: “Who is the China Coast Guard to tell us what to do?”
Full Story at: Philippines will ‘never abandon’ Ayungin Shoal — official | Philstar.com
Pro-China ‘political elite’ in the Philippines enables Chinese aggression in WPS — expert | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Efforts of the “political elite” in the Philippines to gain greater influence with the Chinese government have contributed to the apparent failure of bilateral talks to deter Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea, a political analyst said.
Political scientist Cleve Arguelles said this is most recently illustrated in China’s water cannon attack on members of the Philippine Coast Guard less than a month after former President Rodrigo Duterte visited Chinese President Xi Jin Ping — a meeting which current President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he was aware of.
Duterte’s fly-by-night visit to the Chinese leader “is just the latest among a series of actions that he took that continues to undermine our national interests in securing our territories and EEZ in the West Philippine Sea,” Arguelles said.
“I see it as a continuation of Duterte’s pivot to China policy in which we heed the call of Xi and the Chinese government to engage in more bilateral talks directly with them rather than bring in the rest of the international community in the conversation,” Arguelles said.
Since taking office in 2022, Marcos has strayed from the China-friendly foreign policy pursued by his predecessor and insisted on strengthening ties with the United States.
Marcos, however, has also said that Duterte’s unannounced visit to the Chinese president did not and should not require his permission.
The Senate, which is dominated by Marcos’ allies, has filed several measures seeking to condemn and end Chinese harassment of Filipino fishermen in the disputed waters.
Full Story at: Pro-China ‘political elite’ in the Philippines enables Chinese aggression in WPS — expert | Philstar.com
2024 budget needs P4 billion daily in borrowings – Recto | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto on Sunday said the proposed national budget of P5.767 trillion for 2024 would translate to an average daily spending of P15.8 billion, of which only P11.7 billion would be supported by revenues with the balance to be covered by borrowings.
“To fully grasp the dimensions of the budget, you have to compute it on a daily basis, to fully appreciate the enormity of both spending and borrowings,” said Recto in a statement.
He added that based on the gap between projected spending and revenues, P4 billion will have to be borrowed “every 24 hours.”
The Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs are projected to respectively collect only P8.3 billion and P2.7 billion daily, or a total of over P11 billion a day.
“If it is based on actual disbursements, P3.7 billion of daily expenditures need to be filled up,” he added.
Recto pointed out that while the “art of budget marketing perfected by all governments” focuses on what will be spent, “what is downplayed is the enormous money required to finance it.”
“Programs that dazzle are highlighted while muting the cost, a great portion of which are paid by debts left to the next generation to pay,” the Batangas lawmaker said, adding that payment for interest alone on the growing public debt would be around P1.8 billion a day next year.
But he observed, “It doesn’t give the whole picture because only the interest payment is included in the national budget. The payment for the principal, the amortization, that’s automatically appropriated and is not in the national budget.”
He pointed out that if the principal amortization requirement of P3.4 billion a day is added to the interest payment of P1.83 billion, the real debt service expenditures would be about P5.2 billion daily.
Full Story at: 2024 budget needs P4 billion daily in borrowings – Recto | Inquirer News
Diesel price up by P4 per liter effective Aug 8 | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Motorists have yet to get a reprieve from weeks of fuel price hikes, as local oil companies announced price increases of as much as P4 per liter—the highest such increase this year—effective on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
In separate advisories, the oil firms said they would increase the price of diesel by P4 per liter and gasoline by 50 centavos per liter. The price of kerosene likewise rose by P2.75 per liter.
Seaoil and Shell will implement the price adjustments by 6 a.m. on Tuesday, followed by CleanFuel at 4:01 p.m.
This is the second consecutive week that hikes in the pump prices of petroleum products breached the P3 mark.
Full Story at: Diesel price up by P4 per liter effective Aug 8 | Inquirer Business
