Day: July 27, 2022

WASHINGTON D.C., 27 July 2022 – – In commemoration of its 10th anniversary, the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) held a reunion dinner at the Philippine Embassy Chancery Annex on 22 July 2022. The event was attended by FYLPRO Officers, members, alumni, partners, Embassy officials, FYLPRO mentees, and other supporters.

Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Jaime Ramon T. Ascalon, Jr. congratulated FYLPRO for their milestone achievements and for its positive impact in the Philippines and on the Filipino community in the United States. “I had the privilege of witnessing how FYLPRO evolved from the time of its launching to when its members started addressing existential questions and challenges such as whether or not it should apply for 501(c)3 organization status or encouraging active participation among the alumni. And here you are now, a 501(c)3 organization celebrating its 10th anniversary!”, said Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Ascalon.

IFYLPRO President Leezel Tanglao thanked the Embassy for its continued support for FYLPRO, its programs, and initiatives. She cited that the immersion program of FYLPRO in the Philippines is life changing and made a huge impact on who they are as Filipinos and what it means to be a Filipino American both from the global sense and domestically. Ms. Tanglao also announced the resumption of the FYLPRO Immersion program which is scheduled for November 2022.

Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Ascalon and former FYLPRO President Louella Rose Cabalona concluded the formal turnover of the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Embassy, FYLPRO, and the Ayala Foundation Inc (AFI) extending the partnership until December 2025. The MOU was signed via a virtual ceremony on December 2021.

Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) is a 501(c)3 organization comprising a network of high-performing, next-generation leaders who advance the Philippines and the Filipino people through their advocacy and expertise in various industries. By connecting them to the motherland, they foster collaborative multinational relationships that create innovations and support the socio-economic progress of the global Filipino community. It supports various causes and civic engagement initiatives such as the Caretaker Project, funded by a Booz Allen Foundation Innovation grant, and the Project Ligtas Bata.

FYLPRO has partnered with the Philippine Embassy and the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI) to annually identify outstanding young professionals in the Filipino communities across the United States and provide the delegates with invaluable community, business, and government insights and access to distinguished network captains of industry and government.

The Caretaker Project is intended to connect Filipinos with vital, culturally relevant services; debunk misinformation; and improve collection of data to better serve the community. This project aims to fill gaps in services for the most vulnerable social groups — seniors, frontline workers, and the unemployed. Meanwhile, Project Ligtas Bata, a web-based international campaign to combat the commercial and online sexual exploitation of Filpino children. The aim of this campaign is to promote awareness, prevention, and support for child victims in the Philippines.

Source: Republic of Philippines Department Of Foreign Affairs

BEIRUT 27 July 2022 — The Philippine Embassy in Lebanon sent home a total of 14 distressed OFWs in July 2022 composed of physically abused workers, sheltered runaways, and detained nationals. In coordination with relevant Lebanese authorities, they were cleared from respective immigration liabilities.

Repatriates expressed their gratitude to the Philippine Embassy for extending the much-needed welfare and legal assistance, considering the blow of the economic crisis on vulnerable migrant workers in Lebanon. During the first quarter of 2022, its shelter catered to distressed and undocumented Filipinos almost at full capacity. With the most recent repatriation, shelter occupancy is now down by 98 percent.

Narratives of illegal recruitment bound for Lebanon have been common amid the deployment ban of household service workers to the country since 2007. “Leah”, not her real name, was trafficked into Lebanon in May 2022 after working in three different countries in the region. She was physically abused in just a week of arrival. After immediately reporting it to the Embassy, she was provided with legal and repatriation assistance accordingly. Her story is one of many Filipino migrant workers, documented or not, who continue to brave the socio-economic and labor conditions in Lebanon.

The Embassy also monitors and ensures the welfare of Filipino nationals in various penal facilities in Lebanon. It prioritizes the provision of legal assistance and their earliest possible repatriation while giving basic supplies, as deemed necessary. Following the repatriation flight, the Embassy reduced the number of jailed Filipino workers in Lebanon by 70 percent.

Repatriates will be assisted by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for their quarantine accommodations and onward domestic flights to their respective hometowns.

The Embassy continuously offers individual exit clearance endorsements for undocumented and distressed OFWs. Victims of abuse are also provided with psychosocial and legal assistance.

Source: Republic of Philippines Department Of Foreign Affairs

Calls are mounting for ASEAN to punish Myanmar’s junta for executing four political prisoners, with one analyst proposing that the Southeast Asian bloc undertake the unprecedented move of suspending Naypyidaw as a member.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi echoed her Malaysian counterpart in calling for a special discussion on Myanmar at a ministerial-level meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations scheduled for next week.

On Tuesday, the 10-member association issued its harshest criticism of the Burmese junta to date, calling the executions of the four dissidents “highly reprehensible,” while Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah branded the hangings as a “crime against humanity.”

But political commentators across the region are saying that ASEAN, which operates by consensus, needs to follow up on its tough words by taking stricter action against the military-ruled member-state for violating a five-point consensus struck in April 2021 that included an end to violence in post-coup Myanmar.

The executions of veteran pro-democracy Ko Jimmy and the three other political prisoners “might be the tipping point” for ASEAN, according to Sharon Seah, a scholar at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

“ASEAN needs to rethink seriously its approach to Myanmar, including a form of de facto temporary suspension even though the ASEAN Charter does not explicitly provide for it,” Seah, coordinator of the ASEAN Studies Center and the Climate Change at the institute, wrote on Twitter.

“If ASEAN doesn’t take tougher actions, it will appear weak and lack credibility. Yet, if it does, it risks closing the door on negotiation with the SAC permanently,” she said, referring to the State Administrative Council, the official name for the military regime led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

In its 55-year history, the 10-member ASEAN has never banned or expelled a member. In 1997, when Cambodia’s then co-Prime Minister Hun Sen overthrew Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the country only had “observer status” in ASEAN.

Because of the coup, ASEAN held off on admitting Cambodia, and sent foreign ministers from Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines there to mediate for a peaceful resolution to the crisis, much like it tried to do with the special envoy in Myanmar.

The ASEAN charter says: “In the case of a serious breach of the Charter or non-compliance, the matter will be referred to the ASEAN Summit for decision.”

In the view of Aizat Khairi, a professor at the University of Kuala Lumpur, some form of punishment needs to be meted out for the executions.

“It is likely difficult to expel Myanmar from ASEAN but it is a stand that, if taken, will send a strong message to the junta that ASEAN indeed stands united and does not tolerate crimes against humanity,” he told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service.

Aizat said ASEAN could take junta leaders to the International Court of Justice and impose economic sanctions.

The bloc also needs to start engaging with the opposition National Unity Government (NUG) and National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), a shadow administration outlawed by the junta, he said.

Call for ‘coherent approach’

The Burmese junta put to death Ko Jimmy (whose real name is Kyaw Min Yu), former National League for Democracy lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw, as well as activists Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw – likely on Saturday – but announced their executions on Monday.

A military court had convicted them over “terrorist” acts and they lost appeals against their death sentences. The junta had also rejected the possibility of a pardon for the condemned men.

Their executions have drawn worldwide condemnation.

Seah, of ISEAS, said although Myanmar has been barred from sending political representatives to ASEAN foreign ministerial meetings, it has been allowed to send political representative to other ministerial meetings.

She suggested that Myanmar be stripped of its ASEAN roles and duties.

“ASEAN has no levers in this game of brinksmanship with the SAC. For a start, ASEAN needs to be coherent in its approach,” she said.

In Indonesia, where ASEAN is headquartered, the English-language Jakarta Post called for “tough action against the cold-blooded Myanmar junta.”

“Now President [Joko] Jokowi [Widodo] should show the world that ASEAN cannot tolerate the barbaric acts of Gen. [Min Aung] Hlaing,” the Post said in an editorial that did not hold back.

“ASEAN’s silence would only send the wrong signal that it condoned the brutality,” it said.

The Post urged Retno, Indonesia’s top diplomat, to initiate an emergency meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers “to discuss collective actions against the Myanmar junta for its blatant contempt of the five-point agreement.”

Following criticism of a lack of condemnation from Indonesia, Retno said Wednesday that the executions had dealt a blow to the five-point consensus.

“The president expressed disappointment at the lack of progress in the implementation [of the consensus],” Retno told a press conference.

“I have proposed that the ASEAN ministerial meeting in early August in Phnom Penh specifically discuss the latest development.”

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Good morning everyone, and let me first say on behalf of Singapore that we are delighted (and) we are honoured to be the venue for the Pacific Islands FinTech Innovation Challenge. We would also like to thank Australia for its support for this event. To all our guests from overseas, a very warm welcome to Singapore.

2 Your Excellency Henry Puna, Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum – I hope most of you realise he used to be the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. Apart from all his achievements locally, one key intellectual contribution was to coin the term “large ocean states”. Now, this is important and relevant today. Many people think of the Pacific Islands as far-flung tiny islands scattered across the oceans. For a long while, we used to call ourselves small island developing states. Henry Puna upended that concept and reminded all of us that if you include the Exclusive Economic Zone around the islands, you are in fact, large ocean states. Unfortunately, for Singapore, we remain a small island state.

3 The second point, which is related to this concept of large ocean states, is that with the installation of submarine cables and the application of digital technologies, those far-flung distances collapsed. Therefore, the third point which we need to think about today, is how are you going to convert large ocean states with telescoped distances due to digital technologies into opportunities for all your citizens and to access the rest of the world. This is the larger context for the application of FinTech in the Pacific Island region, and indeed, even to ASEAN, in Singapore, and to Australia and New Zealand.

4 The digital revolution was well under way before the pandemic hit us. But the events of the last two and a half years have reminded us that the pace of change due to digital technologies has increased. In fact, the impact of unequal digital access has been accentuated. Just think about the lockdowns, the fact that people had to go online to engage, to connect, to transact – you realise that COVID-19 in fact underline and emphasise this point.

5 The digital revolution has created new jobs, new economic opportunities. Digital marketplaces have enabled small businesses to reach more customers everywhere. The technology has facilitated trade and cross-border transactions, and it has helped to, in a sense, offset headwinds against globalisation. Digital technologies have of course also been essential for education, and skills training, especially during this time of COVID-19.

6 The robust FinTech solutions offer pathways to a more open, inclusive, and sustainable economy. This is particularly relevant for the Pacific Islands. FinTech enables access to financial services and it bridges gaps for unbanked people. In Southeast Asia, just ASEAN alone, we have a combined population of about 660 million. However, about 40% or 250 million people in ASEAN remain unbanked. Similarly, in the Pacific Island region, I believe the figure is also around 40% of the population, (they) do not have access to formal financial services. We believe digital technology can broaden the reach of financial services and lay the foundation for a more inclusive economy.

7 Payments, in particular cross-border payments, are essential for cross-border trade. Making this cheaper, faster, more secure, accessible, and fairer will significantly boost trade, e-commerce, tourism spending and remittances across the globe. Just to give you one example: think about a black pearl farmer on an island, having access to a market of hundreds of millions, and being able to receive payments within minutes. Think of the impact on jobs and opportunities that creates for Islanders everywhere. Our central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Bank of Thailand have collaborated to look at innovative ways to address this challenge. In 2021, we launched the world’s first retail faster digital payment systems linkage. This allows individuals in Singapore and Thailand to send money to one another. All we need is not a bank account number, but a mobile number. The money is transferred directly from the sender’s bank account to the recipient’s bank account. It literally just takes a few minutes to complete the transaction. It is five times cheaper: I believe it is around 3% of the transfer value compared to the previous 10%-15% via correspondent banking channels. As anyone who has had to remit money across borders would know, this is a big deal for people. Southeast Asia is the world’s fastest growing region for digital wallets. In 2021, some 77 percent of Malaysians, 70 percent of Indonesians, 66 percent of Thailand’s population used a digital wallet at least once a month – the figure is even higher in Singapore. Moving forward, new technologies such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (or CBDCs) are currently being explored and experimented on by many central banks across the globe. The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub is doing extensive technical pilots to explore the potential for wholesale CBDCs to further reduce the cost and to enhance the efficiency of wholesale cross-border transactions.

8 Climate change is another existential challenge for small island states like Singapore, and of course, the large ocean states of the Pacific Islands. We all need to invest in mitigating physical risks whilst transitioning our economies to a low carbon future. We need to incentivise the entry of private sector capital to finance this massive undertaking through green finance. One precondition here – investors will demand accountability that their capital is truly achieving the purported environmental benefits. It is thus in our collective interest to promote Green Fintech – to harness technology and data to enable transparent, trusted and efficient green finance to take off. Singapore has launched Project Greenprint, a collection of initiatives to harness this technology for a data-centric ecosystem that supports the financial sector’s green and sustainability agenda. The Monetary Authority of Singapore will partner the industry to develop interoperable data platforms to drive efficient and trusted collection, and the flow of data for green finance across different stakeholders. This is an area which I will commend the Pacific Islands Forum to study and to ride on these platforms that we are developing.

9 We cannot disregard the headwinds that are being faced by the FinTech sector. It has become more challenging to access capital with rising interest rates, falling valuations, and investors quite rightly emphasise a path to profitability. We have all seen the recent cryptocurrency crashes affecting a large number of digital asset players, and this quite rightly has led to scepticism of emerging technologies. Geopolitical and macro-economic challenges, including higher food and energy prices, and inflationary pressures, have added to this uncertainty.

10 But the potential for FinTech remains strong. Growth is still on an upward trajectory. A record of over US$210 billion in FinTech investments were made last year and another US$108 billion in the first half of 2022. In Singapore, we have more than 1,400 FinTech companies – a marked increase from the 50 FinTech companies that we had in 2015. In 2021, we achieved an all-time high of US$3.9 billion of FinTech investments. More than 40 financial institutions have set up their innovation labs in Singapore to experiment with these emerging technologies and develop appropriate, new products and services that work in Asia – and if I may now add, in the Pacific Islands region too.

11 Singapore looks forward to working with our partners to grow this regional FinTech sector, and to harness FinTech solutions to expand opportunities for your people. The Pacific Islands have always been known for their robust, entrepreneurial people. You are tough people who have to work with the challenges of nature, but also overcome some of the challenges of history, and overcome geography. We believe FinTech solutions will help to uplift the prospects for micro-business owners across the Pacific region. I know that mPaisa QR Pay is a popular payment app in Fiji that is used by businesses of all sizes. For many Fijians, it is the first formal financial service that they have used. Such apps have allowed Fijians to set up their own micro-businesses with little to no transactional cost. The Central banks of six Pacific countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu), as well as Timor-Leste and Seychelles have launched the Pacific Regional Regulatory Sandbox. This allows financial service providers and financial technology firms from across the world to test their products in a live environment, enabling greater access to markets in these eight countries. These remittances also make critical contributions to national incomes in the Pacific Islands and are a key source of foreign exchange.

12 But digital transactions are not yet completely seamless, and the full benefits have not yet been fully realised. We need to build on the foundational digital infrastructures (FDI), which comprise both physical infrastructure as well as policy and rules that govern digital identity, consent, payments and data exchange. These will allow different users, solutions and devices to connect, to interconnect, to interact, and to engage. It will support innovative digital solutions for inclusive participation, establish trust and facilitate scaled economic transactions that go across our borders. These enable digital services, including remittances, to scale up, to reach more people and businesses, at lower cost and greater convenience. Singapore has worked with Brunei, Cambodia, Ghana and Kenya in 2021 on a Report which sets out the core components of FDI. This includes advocating for open-source codes and for collaboration to benefit developing countries. The pitch I am making to the Pacific Islands region is that there are no trade secrets – these are open platforms, open-source. Take a look, examine, kick the tyres, build your own systems, and make sure they interoperate with those that we are developing serving Southeast Asia and beyond.

13 So I am very glad that the Pacific Islands Forum and the UN Capital Development Fund chose Singapore as the venue for the Pacific Islands FinTech Innovation Challenge Bootcamp. Apart from Singapore’s role as a FinTech hub, we also enjoy longstanding relations with the Pacific Islands. I have not tracked the mileage of Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the PIF Mary Seet-Cheng – she has assiduously travelled and engaged across the region over the years. We are very glad we have been able to welcome more than 5,400 officials from the Pacific Islands to participate in the Singapore Cooperation Programme. This includes courses, including digital transformation. Singapore is also deeply honoured to have been admitted as a Dialogue Partner of the PIF in 2021. We look forward, and I give you the assurance that we will be an active and constructive partner to the PIF; and all the more so because we are a small island state, and we are brothers and sisters across the Pacific.

14 So I am optimistic that the Pacific Islands Fintech Innovation Challenge will foster stronger collaboration between ASEAN and the Pacific Islands. I understand that 11 companies will be presenting their solutions to address five areas including improving access to financial products and services, as well as digitising customer services. I look forward to the knowledge sharing. I wish the Bootcamp every success, very intensive sessions, before you retire for drinks at the High Commissioner’s (William Hodgman) house tonight.

15 Thank you all very much.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Singapore

MANILA– The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, revised down to 7, the magnitude, and relocated the epicentre of the earthquake that rattled Abra province in the northern Philippines today.

The institute first reported the magnitude as 7.3, and the epicentre was Lagangilang town. An updated report changed the epicentre to Tayum town.

The revised bulletin also said the quake, which occurred at 8:43 a.m. local time (0043 GMT), hit at a depth of 17 km, about three km north-west of Tayum town.

The tremor was also felt in many areas on the main Luzon Island, including Metro Manila, where high-rise buildings swayed and train transport halted operation. It was also felt in many provinces, including Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, Bulacan, Laguna and Cavite.

Panicked employees in several offices, including the presidential palace, ran out of the buildings.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but a local official told a radio station that, he received information that the quake triggered stone slides in some areas.

A spokesperson for the regional police said, no reports of deaths or injuries so far, saying, they received reports of damages to houses and buildings in Abra and Vigan City in Ilocos Sur.

The tremor damaged century-old structures in Vigan City, a tourist destination known for its preserved Spanish colonial and Asian architecture on the west coast of Luzon island.

La Paz town Mayor, Joseph Bernos of Abra, said, the quake damaged many concrete houses, buildings and infrastructure in the province. “I received reports that there were massive damages in our province,” he told a radio interview.

He said that, some buildings at the University of Abra were also damaged.

A local disaster official of Baguio City, also in the northern Philippines, said, Kennon Road was closed while the damage was being assessed.

Renato Solidum, the institute’s chief, warned the tectonic quake would trigger aftershocks and could cause damage, such as landslides. He urged the people and the local government officials to be vigilant.

“Make sure to inspect the buildings for cracks and watch out for landslides, especially when it rains,” he told a news conference, urging villagers to leave areas prone to landslides.

On Jul 16, 1990, northern Luzon was shaken by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that caused a 125-km-long ground rupture, that stretched from Aurora province to Nueva Vizcaya. The epicentre of the 1990 quake was near Rizal town in Nueva Ecija province. The quake killed around 1,200 people and damaged scores of buildings and houses.

The Philippines has frequent seismic activities, due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The US Federal Reserve delivered a 75-bps increase in interest rates today to help tame persistent inflation.

The action of the US Federal Reserve, along with the tightening of global financial conditions and broadening uncertainty over global growth prospects, could continue to drive exchange rate movements in emerging market economies, including in the Philippines.

In order to manage the spillover effects of such external developments, the BSP is prepared to utilize the full force of available measures in order to address the potential risks to Philippine inflation and inflation expectations arising from an overshooting or excessive depreciation of the Philippine peso. At the same time, the BSP will continue to be guided by its assessment of the domestic and global developments that affect the outlook for inflation and growth.

Looking ahead, the BSP stands ready to take all necessary monetary policy action to bring inflation back toward a target-consistent path over the medium term. Further monetary policy adjustment will be carried out in the coming months commensurate with the primary objective of preventing inflation from becoming further entrenched. The BSP believes the Philippines’ robust economic prospects continue to provide enough room for further tightening of the monetary policy stance. As always, the BSP’s future monetary policy decisions will remain guided by data outcomes for the Philippine economy.

Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)