Philex rep denies Trillanes claim that Del Rosario favored MVP in West PHL Sea issue

MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB, GMA NEWS September 20, 2012 6:56pm


The spokesperson of Manny Pangilinan’s mining company rejected Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s accusations that Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario favored Pangilinan's businesses.

“Hindi totoo ‘yung sinasabi ni Trillanes na pinapaboran ni Del Rosario ang mga negosyo ni MVP,” Mike Toledo of the Philex Mining Corp. told GMA News Online Thursday.

Philex Mining Corp. is the parent firm of Philex Petroleum Corp., which was awarded a contract to explore oil deposits in Recto Bank (Reed Bank), another disputed area in the West Philippine Sea.

Del Rosario used to work for Pangilinan in several of the businessman's companies, including a stint at Philex as director.

Senate saw a heated exchange between Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Trillanes on Wednesday. Enrile accused Trillanes of siding with China on the dispute for Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, while Trillanes defended himself, saying that he was assigned as a “backdoor negotiator” by President Aquino.

Reading the notes given to him by ambassador to China Sonia Brady, Enrile said Trillanes accused Pangilinan of asking favors from Del Rosario — for one, that Pangilinan with the help of Del Rosario allegedly “asked the Chinese group not to release the findings” that the oil deposits in Recto bank “were not substantial.”

According to Brady’s notes, "[Trillanes] was accusing these two [Pangilinan and Del Rosario] of manipulating a war condition to divert attention from the Reed Bank."

This would effectively give “time [for Pangilinan]” to “sell [its rights in Recto Bank] to another buyer… to ensure that they can recover their investment,” Brady’s notes continued.

For his part, Toledo said the findings Trillanes was referring regarding the quantity of deposits in Recto Bank “is still an on-going study.”

“The [claim that the Recto bank is bigger than Malampaya] is only an estimate,” the spokesperson said.

As for Trillanes’ claims that the Pangilinan group is eyeing to sell its rights in Recto Bank, Toledo said he has not heard of such plans.

“As of now wala kaming alam na plano,” Toledo said, but he refused to further comment on the matter.

However, Toledo has confirmed one claim by Trillanes: that the senator asked Pangilinan to advise Del Rosario to “to quiet down” about China.

The spokesperson noted, though, that Pangilinan did not “dictate” to Del Rosario about foreign affairs.

“We can approach [Del Rosario]. But we cannot dictate [to] him,” Toledo said. — BM, GMA News

Cambodian PM targets 7 million tourists by 2020

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Prime Minister Hun Sen says Cambodia can earn $5 billion a year from tourists by more than doubling foreign visitors to 7 million by 2020.

Hun Sen told a tourism seminar Thursday that Cambodia would need to improve the quality of services and infrastructure for tourists and strengthen laws safeguarding them to achieve the goal.

He also said police must crack down on the use of guns in public places, especially those frequented by foreigners.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said Cambodia earned nearly $2 billion from 2.88 million foreign tourists last year, and expects 3.2 million foreign visitors this year.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Function 8, one of the organisers of the rally against the Internal Security Act

Function 8 calls on Archbishop to publish letters

Updated 07:23 PM Sep 20, 2012

Function 8, one of the organisers of the rally against the Internal Security Act, has issued a press statement in response to Archbishop Nicholas Chia's comments on a blog post written by Mr Alex Au. Mr Au, in his post published on Tuesday, had suggested that the Archbishop was pressured by the Government into retracting a letter he had sent to the rally organisers expressing his support.



Here is Function 8's press statement in full:

"We are deeply saddened by the comments of Archbishop Nicholas Chia reported in The Straits Times of 20th September 2012. He made three unsubstantiated remarks:

1. That Mr Au's account (in Yawningbread) could only have come from Function 8, with whom he had communicated in private.

2. That he decided to withdraw his letter of support "because if the letter were to be used in a manner that I (Archbishop) did not intend, it may inadvertently harm the social harmony in Singapore."

3. That Mr Au's article appearing now, months later, "confirms the correctness of my (Archbishop's) earlier decision to withdraw the letter so as not to inadvertently embroil the Catholic Church and the office of the Archbishop in a political event which was being staged by the group."

Our response is as follows:

1. Archbishop Nicholas Chia's initial letter to us, and the subsequent one withdrawing the first letter, were not marked "private and/or confidential". Indeed, in discussing his first letter, members of Function 8 concluded that it was intended to be made public on 2 June 2012, the 25th anniversary of Operation Spectrum. The retraction of the first letter made us cancel the plan. The organisers of the 2 June event subsequently decided that we would try to have a private dialogue with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

2. Archbishop Nicholas Chia assumed that Mr Au could only have obtained an account of what he wrote in his article from Function 8. Has His Grace forgotten that his second letter was cc to a third party and that his staff and others within the Church may also have sight of the letters?

3. What was his initial letter intended for and what are the unintended manners in which it could possibly be used to 'harm the social harmony in Singapore'?

4. Finally, we do not understand how His Grace can draw the conclusion that the disclosure of his own letter can "inadvertently harm the social harmony in Singapore" and that the fact that Mr Au has now written an article confirms the correctness of his earlier decision to withdraw the letter.

In the midst of a national conversation called by the prime minister, we believe there is no room for whispered meetings on the issues above. We request Archbishop Nicholas Chia to publish his first and second letters and advise on what transpired between the time his first letter was written and his second letter so that the public can judge for themselves whether the actions or inaction of Function 8 and Mr Au were "irresponsible and regrettable". For clarity, His Grace should also make known to members of the public if his first letter to the organisers of the 2 June event was solicited or unsolicited."