U.S. TELLS PH, CHINA TO SETTLE ROW; U.S. NOT TAKING ANY SIDE
/ PESO FALLS
[PHOTO -US Ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas Jr.
(File Photo)]
MANILA, JUNE 22, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Jerry E. Esplanada -
US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. called on Manila and
Beijing on Thursday to sit down and find a peaceful solution to their
territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Speaking at the US Embassy's first news forum, called "Kapihan sa Embahada,"
Thomas said Washington "has been very clear on our commitment to support a
resolution of these claims in a peaceful manner at the negotiating table."
The United States would like to see a "deescalation [of tensions] and peace,
and this can be negotiated out," Thomas said. "We would not like to see any
nation take untoward action."
Asked if the US was backing the Philippines' bid to bring its Scarborough
Shoal dispute for settlement in a multilateral forum such as the International
Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, Thomas referred the query to Joy Yamamoto, the
embassy's political officer, who said, "We're very consistent in supporting
international law and settling this kind of disputes under international law."
"We would support China and the Philippines settle the issue through
international means," said Yamamoto, also the embassy's deputy head of mission.
Sometime in late April, Beijing rejected Manila's proposal to bring the
Scarborough Shoal dispute to the tribunal, which is based in Hamburg, Germany.
Thomas said the US was not taking any sides in the dispute, but said his
government was "very proud that we're able to partner with President [Benigno]
Aquino [III] and the fact that he has an honest administration."
"That's been extremely important. We're able to tell our Congress repeatedly
that there's an honest administration that allows us to maintain and even
increase the assistance we're giving. We're able to increase US Agency for
International Development assistance and also our Peace Corps assistance, as
well as veterans' affairs. We've been able to tell our Congress that the Aquino
administration is honest in ensuring the funds they provide are going to the
people as intended for," he said.
According to Thomas, "for the past 10 years, the Philippines has been the
largest recipient of US military aid in Southeast Asia."
"The aid is an average of $50 million a year. We're very proud were able to
give that assistance. And we'll always look for ways to assist within our
means," he said, noting that "we stand by our [Philippines-US Mutual Defense
Treaty] commitments."
Thomas denied reports that the US plans to set up once again military bases
in the country.
"We have no intention of having bases here," he said.
On reports the US government was beefing up the capability of the Philippine
National Police in Palawan, Thomas said, "we have given four boats and we plan
to give two more to the police to help them catch smugglers."
He added, "Our interest in Palawan is mainly supporting efforts to protect
the environment."
Peso falls on reduced US growth outlook By:
Michelle V. Remo Philippine Daily Inquirer 11:11 pm | Thursday, June 21st
MANILA, Philippines—The peso fell on Thursday following the move of
the US Federal Reserve to slash its 2012 growth outlook for the world's biggest
economy.
The local currency closed at 42.425 against the US dollar, down by 29.5
centavos from the previous day's finish of 42.13:$1.
Intraday high hit 42.15:$1, while intraday low settled at 42.44:$1. Volume of
trade amounted to $941.1 million from $1 billion previously.
The drop of the peso, which led the drop in other Asian currencies, came
after the release of a less favorable growth outlook for 2012 for the United
States. The US Fed saw the US economy growing between 1.9 and 2.4 percent from
the previous forecast of between 2.4 and 2.9 percent.
The US is one of the biggest export markets for many emerging economies
including the Philippines. Its economic performance thus affects export earnings
and overall economic growth of exporting countries.
The US Fed cut its growth forecast following less-than-expected employment
generation and still sluggish consumer demand in the United States.
Philippine shares decline Philippine
Daily Inquirer 1:59 am | Friday, June 22, 2012
Local share prices on Thursday succumbed to profit-taking after hitting a
four-week high earlier in the week.
The main Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) lost 37.03 points, or 0.72
percent, to close at 5,109.43, while the broader all-shares index fell 0.40
percent.
The index was up by 7.91 points at the end of midday trading and reached a
high of 5,156.92 points. Prior to Thursday, stocks advanced for three
consecutive days to its highest point since mid-May.
There were 72 advancers and 81 decliners, while 49 stocks were unchanged.
Trading volume was at 3.13 billion shares worth P5.1 billion. All subsectoral
indices ended in the red except for mining and oil shares, which rose 0.39
points following President Aquino's pronouncement that new rules on mining would
be released this week.
For the second day, shares of Megaworld Corp. and parent firm Alliance Global
Group Inc. were the two most actively traded shares. The Andrew Tan-led issues
were up 2.88 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively.—Paolo
G. Montecillo
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
PH Headline News Online. Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved