Day: March 16, 2024

MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Saturday said his back-to-back visits to Germany and the Czech Republic opened doors for more opportunies to deepen the Philippines’ cooperation with the two Central European nations.

The plane carrying Marcos and the official Philippine delegation landed at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at around 3:11 p.m.

In his arrival statement, Marcos said the signing of several agreements with the two Central European countries and the support from German and Czech government to resume the negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and the Philippines are among the successful outcomes of his trips.

‘Overall, I am confident that these visits to Germany and the Czech Republic have strengthened our bonds with these two countries in Central Europe and created opportunities for cooperation and prosperity,’ Marcos said.

Marcos said his visit to Berlin was part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Philippines’ bilateral ties
with Germany last year and the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

Marcos met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and they discussed matters of mutual concerns, particularly the upholding of the rule of law and the promotion of a rules-based international order.

Marcos said he and Scholz agreed to enhance cooperation in the areas of peace and development, defense, maritime, trade and investment, renewable energy, climate change and labor.

In Czech Republic, Marcos discussed bilateral relations in separate meetings with President Petr Pavel, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Senate President Miloš Vystrcil, and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová.

‘We discussed ways to further strengthen our bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade and ingestment, defense, agriculture, renewable energy, transport and of course, people-to-people exchanges,’ Marcos said.

Marcos also noted that during his meetings with German and Czech business leaders, he emphasized the Philippines’ remarkable econo
mic performance and invited them to invest in the country.

‘I also met with the German and Czech businessmen. They are keen to expand their ventures to the Philippines,’ he said.

‘And I’m glad to announce that my German visit resulted in business agrements for projects with an aggregate value of USD4 billion in the sectors of renewable energy, manufacturing, healthcare, innovation and start-ups, IT-BPM (Information Technology and Business Process Management), minerals processing, agriculture and aerospace,’ Marcos added.

The Philippines also secured business agreements in Czech Republic in sectors such as semiconductors and IT-BPM, Marcos said, stressing that these underscore the shared commitment to bilateral cooperation.

Marcos said he had directed Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual to make a follow-up on the progress of the FTA discussions at the EU headquarters in Brussels.

Just like in his previous trips, Marcos met with the Filipino communities in Berlin and Prague to reassure them of his administrati
on’s unwavering commitment to creating more job opportunities and improving the Philippine economy.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) will be a big boost to the Philippines when it comes to securing more foreign investments, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has said.

This was after Marcos, during his state visit to the Czech Republic, pushed for the resumption of negotiations for the FTA between the Philippines and the EU.

‘That’s essentially what the trade agreement is about. And so that hopefully, that will provide us a structure to encourage more investment in the Philippines,’ he said in a media interview in Prague on Friday night (Manila time).

‘The FTA will give it a structure, kaya’t (so that) even the private corporations, they hope that it will be finalized already.’

The President said Czech officials are ‘very much in favor’ of the revival of the FTA talks.

During the Philippines-Czech Business Forum at Czernin Palace on Friday, Marcos said the resumption of talks for the FTA would be a ‘big step’ in furthering the Philippines’ trade ties with the EU member-
states, including the Czech Republic.

He also noted that the free trade deal would help establish ‘a stable, predictable, and enabling business environment that promotes inclusive and sustainable growth and development.’

The Philippines and the EU launched exploratory talks on bilateral FTA in 2013.

There were also two negotiations in Brussels in 2016 and in Cebu in 2017 but the talks have been on hiatus until now.

Trade in meat products

Meanwhile, Marcos said he would push for the exploration of trade in meat products during the visit of Czech agriculture officials and business leaders to the Philippines next week.

He said the Czech Republic has an avian flu vaccine and is set to develop a swine flu vaccine that could be procured by the Philippines.

‘Ang interes natin diyan (Our interest there) is, of course, the trade in meat products. Sila, meron silang exportation ng beef (They have beef exportation). They have technologies para ‘yung gamot para pagandahin ang lagay ng mga inaalagaan nilang livesto
ck (for the medicine to improve the condition of their livestock),’ he said.

‘So, those are the kinds of areas that we’re looking at. It’s really in terms of trade dahil (because) we don’t grow the same products, we do not have seasons like they have here in the Czech Republic. But in terms of livestock, I think maraming, marami tayong makukuhang bagong technology (we can acquire a lot of new technologies from them).’

Malacañang on Friday announced that Czech President Petr Pavel would send a business delegation led by Czech Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný to the Philippines next week, in line with Marcos’ bid to expand cooperation with the Czech Republic in terms of food security.

Marcos said he had a ‘productive’ Prague trip where he tried to sell the Philippines as a good investment hub.

‘Of course, we continue to look for investments, we continue to invite people to come into the Philippines and to make serious capital investments,’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Defending champion National University recovered from a third-set loss to beat De La Salle University, 25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, to secure the lead in the first round of eliminations in the UAAP Season 86 men’s volleyball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Saturday.

Leo Aringo Jr. had 18 attacks and two blocks while Jade Alex Disquitado chipped in 19 points to go with 13 receptions as the Bulldogs rolled to their sixth straight win after losing to the University of Santo Tomas Golden Spikers in the season opener.

In the other game, UST grabbed its second straight win after outlasting Adamson University, 18-25, 25-21,19-25, 25-23, 15-13.

Far Eastern University (5-1) will share the lead with NU if it beats Ateneo (3-3) in their 10 a.m. match Sunday, also at Araneta.

“May mga konti pa rin kaming problema in terms of unforced errors. Pero, ang sabi ko nga, nasa timing naman minsan ‘yung mga unforced error namin kaya nama-maximize din namin ang opensa namin (We still have a few pr
oblems in terms of unforced errors. But, as I’ve said, sometimes our unforced errors are in timing so we maximize our offense),” NU coach Dante Alinsunurin said after the one-hour, 55-minute match.

“Sana magtuloy-tuloy lang ang ginagawa namin pagdating sa game and sa practice kung ano yung adjustment na puwede naming gawin pagdating sa ganitong sitwasyon (I hope we can continue what we are doing during games and in practice, what adjustments we can make when it comes to this situation),” he added.

Angelo Nicolas Almendras added 13 points and Congo’s Obed Mukaba contributed 10 points, while Ave Joshua Retamar produced 22 sets for the Bulldogs.

John Mark Ronquillo scored 22 points, 19 on attacks, while Vince Gerard Maglinao added 11 attacks and two blocks for the Green Spikers, who fell to 5-2.

Josh Ybañez paced UST with 24 big points to go along with 26 excellent receptions as the Golden Spikers occupy fourth spot at 4-3.

Adamson is running fifth at 3-4.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Sovereignty must be the cornerstone of all the discussions in the joint exploration and development of resources in the South China Sea (SCS), President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Friday.

Marcos issued the statement after the recent announcement of China’s national oil giant China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) that it made an oilfield discovery with a volume of 100 million tons in the SCS.

Marcos said the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights, and territorial jurisdiction should be taken into account, when asked if he is eyeing the revival of negotiations for a joint exploration deal with China after the reported oil discovery.

‘Well, look, once again, the sovereignty and the sovereign rights and our territorial jurisdiction remain the key in all of these talks, and we cannot, we cannot at any point, somehow compromise the territorial integrity of the Philippines,’ Marcos said in an interview in Prague, Czech Republic on Friday night (Manila time).

‘So that is going to be the main pri
nciple behind any kind of talks that we might have. So, depending on areas that we are talking about, that will come into play. So let me leave it at that. That is the guiding principle that I’m following whenever it comes to all of these things.”

On March 8, the CNOOC announced that through continued exploration, the new reserve was found in the Kaiping South Oilfied, 300 km. off the coast of Guangdong province in the south of China.

The proved in-place volume of the oilfield reached 102 million tons of oil equivalent, the CNOOC said, adding that the exploratory well has been tested to produce an average of approximately 7,680 barrels of crude oil and 0.52 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Not instigating disputes

Meanwhile, Marcos denied that there was an attempt from the Philippines to provoke conflict in the SCS.

This was after Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Thursday called on the Philippines to ‘stop misleading the international community and using the SCS issue to ins
tigate disputes.’

Marcos said he is not aware of any instance when the Philippines ‘has instigated anything, at any point, both verbally, or militarily, or diplomatically.’

‘We did not begin all of these problems. All of these commotions were not caused by the Philippines. So, I don’t know what they are referring to,’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

CALAMBA CITY: Government authorities arrested three wanted individuals in separate operations Friday.

Col. Gauvin , director of the Laguna Provincial Police Office, said in a report Saturday that the first to fall was a kidnapping and homicide suspect identified only as “Romeo.”

He was arrested in Barangay Burol in this city.

On the same day, one “Danilo” who was wanted for murder was apprehended in the same barangay.

The third suspect identified as ‘Ariel,’ a murder suspect, was nabbed in Barangay Lamot 1, Calauan.

The three have standing arrest warrants issued by various regional trial courts in Laguna with no bail recommended.

“With the arrest of these accused, justice will be given to their victims and the Laguna police will not stop conducting such operations to arrest all those hiding from the law,’ Unos said in a statement.

The suspects are currently detained at the Calamba City Police Station and Calauan Municipal Police Station.

On Thursday night, two suspects were scratched off Calabarzon Re
gion’s ‘most wanted’ list — a suspected child rapist and an armed robber nabbed in separate operations in San Pedro City.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday vowed to work harder to uplift the lives of Filipinos, as he welcomed as ‘good news’ the improvement in his public trust and approval scores.

In a media interview in Prague, Czech Republic on Friday night (Manila time), Marcos said he was glad to know that his public trust and approval ratings improved in the fourth quarter of 2023.

‘So good, then we will keep going and work even harder than what we have been before,’ he said.

Marcos expressed elation that his fellow Filipinos are beginning to appreciate the reforms his administration is undertaking to ensure their welfare.

He, however, clarified that he does not create policies based on survey results.

The Filipino people, he said, are starting to feel the actual effects of the structural and fundamental changes of his administration.

‘It is good that because I’ve been talking about this, and since the changes that we wanted, that we’ve been making, have been very structural and fundamental changes. A
nd by their very nature, such structural changes take time to trickle down,’ Marcos said.

‘And for people to feel the actual effects of what we are doing, and I’m just happy that we are beginning to get to that point where people are seeing the wisdom of some of the measures that we’ve undertaken, the policy changes that we’ve made, the legislations that we have requested from the Congress.’

The results of the Dec. 10-14, 2023 ‘Tugon ng Masa’ survey of the OCTA Research Group showed that Marcos scored a 76 percent trust rating and a 71 percent approval rating.

Marcos’ trust score is 3 percentage points higher than the 73 percent recorded in Oct. 2023, while his approval rating is 6 percentage points higher compared to the third quarter’s 65 percent.

The Social Weather Stations (SWS) in its Dec. 8-11, 2023 survey, also found that 65 percent of adult Filipinos are satisfied with Marcos’ performance, while only 18 percent expressed dissatisfaction.

The SWS poll results showed that Marcos yielded a ‘good’ +4
7 net satisfaction rating, higher than the ‘good’ +44 posted in Sept. 2023.

Source: Philippines News Agency