Philippines Defence Forum

[Fsjal]

PHL Army finishes third in Macau dragon boat race | Sports | GMA News Online

The Philippine Army placed a "close" third behind the national teams of Indonesia and China in the 500-meter Open Standard Dragon Boat Race in the Macau International Dragon Boat Races on Wednesday.

While team manager Maj. Harold Cabunoc said there is no alibi for the third-place finish, he was proud that the Army had proven it "can be in the same league as the best Dragon Boat teams in Asia."

"I wouldn't offer any alibis. We were beaten by the national squads of Dragon Boat powerhouses in Asia... [But] as a club team, the Army has proven that it can be in the same league as the best Dragon Boat teams in Asia," Cabunoc, who heads the 7th Civil Relations Group, said in a post on his blog Thursday.

"As the popular saying goes: 'We did our best but it wasn't good enough,'" he added.

The Army team had logged a time of one minute and 54 seconds, behind the Chinese team's 1:53.65 and champion Indonesia's 1:53.30.

Cabunoc also wished there could be a 200-meter sprint where the Army can strut its stuff.

"Yes, our team is indeed a force to reckon with in the sprints [200m-300m]. How I wish that there was a 200m sprint because the Army will surely show who 'The Flash' is," he said.

For its part, the Army's Dragon Boat Team posted a photo on its Facebook account showing a Philippine Army soldier raising the Philippine flag while receiving a banner recognizing the Philippines' third-place finish.

"It was indeed an honor to compete with the best teams which gave us the rare opportunity to assess our own strengths and weaknesses," Cabunoc addeed. - AMD, GMA News
-----------------
Pppfffffff

Even the army is no match for highly trained Chinese and Indonesian athletes

 

[Malaya]

PH plans to tap Israel for missile launchers

By Florante S. Solmerin | Posted on Jun. 15, 2013

Amid rising tensions over territorial disputes with China in the West Philippine Sea, the government is planning to buy anti-aircraft guided missiles from Israel, reliable sources told the Manila Standard Friday.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the surface-to-air missiles or multiple launch rocket systems were being offered by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. and Israel Military Industries Ltd., both based in Israel.

“SAMs and MLRS are mobile anti-aircraft weapons designed against jet fighters,” the source said, adding that these had been suggested some time ago but had not been taken seriously because the defense establishment had no interest in investing at the time.

“Now, here comes the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea, and at last they’ve opened their eyes,” the source added.

Another source said Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was planning to go to Israel next week to forge an agreement with the prospective suppliers.

“If you have an agreement this would hasten the procurement process, say in three to six months you would already have the weapons. The agreement gives you the leeway to access all the information you want know about a particular weapon you want to procure,” the source said.

Manila Standard tried to reach Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo and spokesman Peter Paul Galvez for confirmation, but both did not return calls or answer text messages.

In his first year in office, President Benigno Aquino III had released P75 billion to fund the upgrading of the military’s capability through the procurement of ships and aircraft.

Gazmin then said they had some 138 big-ticket defense items that were being considered on a government-to-government procurement basis.

Part of this buildup was the recent procurement of the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, a rehabilitated US Coast Guard cutter introduced in the 1960s.

The refurbished cutter, procured for will be the country’s most modern warship and is expected to arrive in July or August.

But Senator Gregorio Honasan seemed unimpressed with the extent of help offered by the United States, and called for a review of the US Visiting Forces Agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty, which he described as useless.

“We are not getting anything out of it. We have many international economic, military and security arrangements with other nations but why did they not say anything while the Scarborough Shoal standoff was heating up?” said the former Army colonel.

Because of this, Honasan said the country should abrogate all treaties that do nothing to help the country.

At the same time, however, he said a joint fishing agreement with Taiwan would be beneficial because it would afford protection to fishermen from both countries.

His remarks follow the May 9 fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by Philippine Coast Guard personnel in the Balintang Channel that soured relations between Taiwan and the Philippines.

Also on Friday, the Foreign Affairs Department said it welcomed the filing of a resolution in the US Senate in support of a peaceful resolution to territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

“We understand that the resolution has yet to undergo the necessary congressional process before it is passed by the US Senate, nonetheless, we extend our appreciation on the mere fact that some US senators have deigned it necessary to express their views on a fundamental issue that affects the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region,” the department said in a statement.

“The Philippines especially appreciates the reaffirmation of the peaceful resolution of disputes, including through arbitration; its condemnation of the use of threat or use of force; its recognition of the significance of the role of ASEAN and of the code of conduct; and its support for the ongoing and deepening efforts of the US in the region relating to ensuring freedom of navigation, maintenance of peace and stability, and respect for universally recognized principles of international law.” With Macon Ramos-Araneta

PH plans to tap Israel for missile launchers - Manila Standard Today

 

[kbd-raaf]

PHL Army finishes third in Macau dragon boat race | Sports | GMA News Online

The Philippine Army placed a "close" third behind the national teams of Indonesia and China in the 500-meter Open Standard Dragon Boat Race in the Macau International Dragon Boat Races on Wednesday.

While team manager Maj. Harold Cabunoc said there is no alibi for the third-place finish, he was proud that the Army had proven it "can be in the same league as the best Dragon Boat teams in Asia."

"I wouldn't offer any alibis. We were beaten by the national squads of Dragon Boat powerhouses in Asia... [But] as a club team, the Army has proven that it can be in the same league as the best Dragon Boat teams in Asia," Cabunoc, who heads the 7th Civil Relations Group, said in a post on his blog Thursday.

"As the popular saying goes: 'We did our best but it wasn't good enough,'" he added.

The Army team had logged a time of one minute and 54 seconds, behind the Chinese team's 1:53.65 and champion Indonesia's 1:53.30.

Cabunoc also wished there could be a 200-meter sprint where the Army can strut its stuff.

"Yes, our team is indeed a force to reckon with in the sprints [200m-300m]. How I wish that there was a 200m sprint because the Army will surely show who 'The Flash' is," he said.

For its part, the Army's Dragon Boat Team posted a photo on its Facebook account showing a Philippine Army soldier raising the Philippine flag while receiving a banner recognizing the Philippines' third-place finish.

"It was indeed an honor to compete with the best teams which gave us the rare opportunity to assess our own strengths and weaknesses," Cabunoc addeed. - AMD, GMA News
-----------------
Pppfffffff

Even the army is no match for highly trained Chinese and Indonesian athletes

Were you born stupid or did your parents drop your on your head?

Are soldiers some sort of superhumans?

The fact that they placed within half a second of the national teams of both China and Indonesia while considering that this isn't their primary occupation is amazing for ANY sport.

 

[Malaya]

Israel commends Filipino peacekeepers
By Frances Mangosing

Friday, June 14th, 2013

MANILA, Philippines—Israel on Friday expressed gratitude to the Filipino peacekeepers “for their courage” and determination to keep peace in the volatile Golan Heights.

“The government of Israel, through its Embassy in Manila, sincerely thanks the brave men and women of the Philippine Army for their courage and adherence to the goals of peace and security,” the Israeli Embassy in Manila posted in its Facebook account.

The embassy tagged the Filipino soldiers as “world class.”

The 341 Filipino members of the United Nations Disengagement Force now comprise the biggest contingent in the Golan Heights after Austria began pulling out its 377 troops amid intense fighting between Syrian troops and rebels.

“The continued contribution and deployment of the Filipino contingency is an asset to international society as we highly respect the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Force. The Filipino soldier is, indeed, world-class,” the embassy said.

Manila has been considering to bring the Filipino troops home soon, after some were briefly kidnapped by Syrian rebels in recent months.

On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino urged the United Nations to provide more security to its depleted peacekeeping force so the Filipino contingent could stay.

Aquino said the peacekeepers’ situation had become more tenuous by the day, after one Filipino peacekeeper was wounded last week by wayward mortar fire amid a fight between Syrian troops and rebels.

Austria started to pull out its peacekeepers from the UN mission on Wednesday due to the worsening security situation in the region. Austria peacekeepers take up about one-third of the UN mission.

When Austria completes the pull out, there will be only 534 peacekeepers left, 341 of which are from the Philippines.
Only contingents from India and Philippines have remained after Canada, Japan and Croatia and Austria as the most recent, decided to quit the peacekeeping mission.

The peacekeepers are part of the UN Disengagement Observer Force. They monitor the buffer zone between Syria and Israel.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a report to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, said that self defense capabilities of the UN peacekeeping mission in the area must be enhanced, and also proposed to increase the force strength of the UN mission to about 1,250 troops. With Agence France-Presse

 

[Fsjal]

Were you born stupid or did your parents drop your on your head?

Are soldiers some sort of superhumans?

The fact that they placed within half a second of the national teams of both China and Indonesia while considering that this isn't their primary occupation is amazing for ANY sport.

Military World Games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heard of that. Looks like you're born stupid.

Anyway, where is India in this list. Where is your army athletes?

 

[Malaya]

Philippines welcomes US Senate move on China dispute

by Jojo Malig, ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 06/14/2013

MANILA - The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday welcomed US senators' condemnation of China's use of threats and force in the Asia-Pacific.

The DFA, in a press statement, thanked US Senator Robert Menendez, Senator Benjamin Cardin, Senator Marco Rubio, and Senator Bob Corker, in filing Senate Resolution 167 that reaffirms Washington's support for the peaceful resolution of territorial disputes in the region.

"We understand that the Resolution has yet to undergo the necessary congressional process before it is passed by the U.S. Senate, nonetheless, we extend our appreciation on the mere fact that some U.S. Senators have deemed it necessary to express their views on a fundamental issue that affects the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region," the DFA said.

"The Philippines especially appreciates the reaffirmation of the peaceful resolution of disputes, including through arbitration; its condemnation of the use of threat or use of force; its recognition of the significance of the role of ASEAN and of the code of conduct; and its support for the ongoing and deepening efforts of the U.S. in the region relating to ensuring freedom of navigation, maintenance of peace and stability, and respect for universally recognized principles of international law," it added.

US Senate Resolution 167, which was filed on Monday, has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

It cited many dangerous incidents involving Chinese actions in the West Philippine Sea and the East China Sea.

These include Chinese vessels cutting the seismic survey cables of a Vietnamese oil exploration ship in May 2011; Chinese vessels barricading the entrance to the Scarborough Reef lagoon in April 2012; China issuing an official map that defines its contested "9-dash line'' as China's national border; and, since May 8, 2013, Chinese naval and marine surveillance ships maintaining a regular presence in waters around the Second Thomas Shoal, located approximately 105 nautical miles northwest of Palawan.

It also cited a Department of State spokesperson expressing concern in 2012 over China's upgrading of the administrative level of Sansha City in the West Philippine Sea and the establishment of a new military garrison in the contested area.

The resolution added that in January 2013, a Chinese naval ship allegedly fixed its weapons-targeting radar on Japanese vessels near the Senkaku islands, and on April 23, 2013, 8 Chinese marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off the Senkaku Islands, further escalating regional tensions.

The senators said Beijing recently took other unilateral steps, including declaring the Senkaku Islands a "core interest", "improperly drawing'' baselines around the Senkaku Islands, and maintaining a military presence around the islands that are under control by Japan.

The resolution is asking the US Senate to condemn "the use of coercion, threats, or force by naval, maritime security, or fishing vessels and military or civilian aircraft in the South China Sea and the East China Sea to assert disputed maritime or territorial claims or alter the status quo."

It urged all parties in the disputed areas to exercise self-restraint to prevent any acts that would escalate tensions.

Philippines welcomes US Senate move on China dispute | ABS-CBN News

 

[Malaya]

Philippines’s shift to external defense seen
Saturday, 15 June 2013

HE Philippines has experienced a number of territorial issues over the last several years. Most of these issues have involved China intruding into territorial waters, and in some regard have resulted in the loss, if not invasion, of Philippine sovereign territories such as the Scarborough Shoal off Zambales.

In the last six months, those issues have further extended to other neighbors such as Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Effectively, the Philippines has no naval or air forces to impede or deny access to its territorial waters, thereby the only recourse has been through diplomatic means, which have yielded very little results.

Over the last several decades, the Philippines has focused on internal security operations (ISO) and has relied on its Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States to tend to its external defenses.

However, given the new global climate wherein the United States has shifted focus to Asia, US alignment has broadened to several other nations, including those involved in current territorial
issues with the Philippines.

This, coupled with the current US financial crisis, has caused the Philippines’s historical treaty partner to step back and away from Philippine territorial issues.

As a result, the reliance on the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States has effectively resulted in the loss of external defenses for the Philippines at a period in history where it is needed most.

The current direction of modernization was conceptualized under different circumstances, limited understanding and obvious misconceptions.

During those times, it was a widely held belief that the United States would continue to support external defense through the US Navy (USN) and aid in modernizing the Philippine Navy (PN) and Air Force (PAF).

However, recent history has shown that Philippine expectations on the political will of the US to support the Philippines’s military modernization plans have been gravely misconceived.

The 1960s era retired Hamilton-class US Coast Guard cutters supplied to the PN clearly demonstrates this misconception. Expected to be a modern combat vessel, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, the fist to be delivered, showed a number of flaws, to include improper ballast system, lack of spare parts, need for restoration and insufficient power generation. Furthermore, the electronics equipment and weapons systems were completely removed and replaced with an antiquated 76mm gun and no longer state-of-the-art fire control systems.

In the case of the PAF, its attempt to obtain the F-16 multirole fighters would have been the next and most appropriate evolution from their F-5 fighters decommissioned in 2005.

Evolution to the F-16 has been the case for many other nations worldwide with full support from the US.

However, in the recent global climate, the political will of the US to support its allies directly in conflict with China have diminished. For the PAF, the supply of F-16 fighters were negated owing to the official US position that maintenance costs were found to be excessive for the Philippines. Although this point could be argued, the larger perspective shows Taiwan also being denied the purchase of F-16 fighters during the same time period. Taiwan already has an F-16 fleet, so some other political issue was used to prevent supply of the fighter plane to Taiwan.

In a broader perspective, other Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries have purchased missiles from the US for their aircraft, but the US has withheld the deliveries, storing them instead in US facilities until the US government determines an appropriate time for their release.

With that, one must consider how a sovereign nation can purchase articles for its own national defense, and yet be at the mercy of another nation’s discretion as to when and if they can use them.

Recent history has demonstrated that the original concept for Philippine military modernization with regards to external defense has been flawed, simply because of a lack of consideration to the changing environment and a misconception of support from the US. This direction would further degrade the sovereignty of the Philippines and allow continued unimpeded access by other countries to its sovereign territories.

Foundation for territorial defense concepts

EXTERNAL defense has traditionally been a concept of preventing invading forces from reaching Philippine soil. However, a new outlook toward Territorial Defense must be taken in order to defend Philippine resources at sea and understand the need to properly modernize and prepare the PN and PAF for combat readiness to defend the Philippine exclusive economic zone.

For an archipelago such as the Philippines, traditional thinking requires massive naval forces to defend its seas and littoral areas. However, military and political history has shown that an arms race, such as that of the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, can be won on the financial front, and not necessarily on the front lines.

Furthermore, conventional warfare can be extremely expensive when an opponent follows a more unconventional, guerrilla doctrine as shown in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Spearheaded by the special operations community, an evolution in warfare has developed into a cost-effective unconventional doctrine that focuses on having greater situational awareness and conducting more precise and effective use of forces.

Learning from these new doctrines, the Philippines can benefit from many of the advantages to include efficient use of resources, rapid employment of new technologies and increased operational readiness

In Photo: Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin (center), Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Lauro Catalino de la Cruz (right) and Sweden’s SAAB Vice President Kaj Rosander in a huddle during the “Air Power” symposium on Thursday held at the SMX building at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City. (Zaff Solmerin)

BusinessMirror - Philippines?s shift to external defense seen

 

[kbd-raaf]

Military World Games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heard of that. Looks like you're born stupid.

Anyway, where is India in this list. Where is your army athletes?

And do you think, those military athletes would ever be able to compete with professional athletes?

a) I'm an Australian, not Indian.

b) Any competition that has North Korea beating most of the world is clearly utter tripe.

 

[Zero_wing]

Were you born stupid or did your parents drop your on your head?

Are soldiers some sort of superhumans?

The fact that they placed within half a second of the national teams of both China and Indonesia while considering that this isn't their primary occupation is amazing for ANY sport.

Hahaha viva pantalones you suck hard boy! see

 

[Fsjal]

Type 056 sinking the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/707/056magazinecover.jpg/

 

[Zero_wing]

Type 056 sinking the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

Nice pick then we can see next is that BRP Ramon Alcaraz sinking it along with the allied fleet and sicking the whole of china's poorly made cheap copies as artificial coral reefs and china being kick out of International community and excommunicated to do business and people all around the world will cheer because no one will steal from them from ideas to resources and Americans and Filipinos can have their jobs back in the end who is the real losers?

 

[Malaya]

PHL seeks to expand trade with Hungary

The Philippines is looking to expand its trading with Hungary, which, according to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), is "focusing in the Southeast Asian region."

In a statement Friday, the PCCI said Hungary is planning to open a trade office in the Philippines as proof of confidence in the country's economic status.

"(Hungary) is focusing in the Southeast Asian region and the Philippines in particular is an attractive destination for Hungarian investors due to its sound business practices," the PCCI said.

PCCI met with the Special Envoy of Hungary to the Philippines Attila Kalimet "to discuss how to enhance trade and economic relations" between the two countries.

The Philippines exports to Hungary electronic microassemblies, parts and accessories of machines, measuring and checking instruments, appliances and machines, transmission apparatus, parts of motor vehicles.

Imports from Hungary, meanwhile, include transmission apparatus, materials for the manufacture of electrical and electronic machinery, parts and accessories of the automatic data processing machines, materials for the manufacture of semiconductor devices and rodenticides, antibiotics, medicaments.

PCCI recently held a forum to share business interests and trade opportunities from both countries.

Data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) show Hungary is the 40th largest trading partner of the Philippines with total bilateral trade of around $156.49 million.

PCCI said it is working with the Hungarian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia "to conduct networking activities between Filipino and Hungarian businessmen." — KBK, GMA News

 

[Malaya]

Manila to become one of world's new aviation megacities by 2021--Airbus
By: Darwin G. Amojelar, InterAksyon.com
June 17, 2013

MANILA - Airbus is now considering the Philippines as one of the key markets in the Asia Pacific region as it is set to host one of the world's aviation megacities in eight years.

"For sure in Asia Pacific generally we see the largest growth. It's a huge market growth for the future," Simon Azar, senior analyst of Airbus Twin Aisle marketing division, said.

"The middle population is able to travel more and that's [a] substantial market for the airline, including the Philippines. That's why you can see a lot of growth in the Philippines in the coming years," Azar added.

The number of domestic passengers in the Philippines rose by 9.6 percent to 20.56 million last year from 18.77 million in 2011. While international passengers rose by 6.8 to 16.74 million in 2012 from 15.67 million the year before.

Alizee Genilloud, Airbus media relations manager for Southeast Asia and Japan, said the Philippines will become one of the eight new aviation megacities worldwide by 2021, with more than 10,000 daily long-haul passengers.

She also said that passenger traffic growth is strongest in Asia, adding that over 600 Airbus aircraft are expected to be delivered this year: 24 percent of which would be sent to Asia Pacific; 14 percent to Europe, 13 percent to China; and 9 percent to North America.

Data from Airbus showed that Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines (PAL) have placed orders of 171 aircraft, 60 of which had been delivered.

Sean Lee, Airbus communications director for Asia, said he expects to deliver these remaining 111 aircraft "in the coming years."

Cebu Pacific had ordered 71 Airbus while rival PAL expects 100.

Since Airbus was founded in 1979, the French aircraft manufacturer delivered 7,800 aircraft out of the 12,800 orders.

Manila to become one of world's new aviation megacities by 2021--Airbus - InterAksyon.com

 

[Malaya]

PHL Navy welcomes Indian Navy officers

The Philippine Navy (PN) welcomes the Indian Navy (IN) ships at South Harbor, Manila, as they arrived for a five-day goodwill visit from June 12-16. Under the command of Rear Admiral Ajit Kumar, are the INS Saptura, a Shivalik-class stealth multi-role frigate, INS Shakti (A57), a Deepak-class fleet tanker, INS Ranvijay (D55), a Rajput class destroyer, and INS Kirch (P62), a Kora class corvette. NPAO

 

[Malaya]

Taiwan, Philippines to have another fishing meeting next month: official

Staff writer, with CNA
Mon, Jun 17, 2013

Taiwan and the Philippines are expected to hold another meeting early next month to continue negotiating on fishing operations in the overlapping waters of their exclusive economic zones, an official said yesterday.

The second preparatory meeting — to pave the way for fishery talks between the two countries — is set to take place in Taipei, said Benjamin Ho (何登&#29004, director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Issues on the agenda are to include establishing regulations on fishing order and defining the areas in which fishermen can operate, Ho said, adding that the meeting would be attended by officials from the two countries’ fishery, foreign affairs and maritime patrol agencies.

“Our goal is to sign a fishery agreement with the Philippines,’ he said. “We will continue to negotiate with the Philippines [on that issue].”

Ho also cited as an example the Taiwan-Japan fishing pact signed in April on fishing rights in disputed waters in the East China Sea. The agreement designates an area in overlapping waters in which fishermen from both sides can operate freely.

A fishery agreement will help prevent a recurrence of the shooting of 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石&#25104 by Philippine Coast Guard personnel on May 9, when his Taiwanese fishing boat was operating in the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries, the ministry said.

Asked about the investigations into the shooting, Ho said that Taiwan and the Philippines have completed their own reports on the incident.

Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永&#27138 said the reports are expected to be released “soon.”

In an effort to pave the way for bilateral fishery talks, officials from Taiwan and the Philippines held their first preparatory meeting on Friday in Manila, during which the two sides reached consensus on four points, including no use of force or violence in policing their fishing grounds.

Both sides also signed the minutes of Friday’s meeting, which the ministry said makes it an official document that is legally binding. Participants in the meeting agreed to jointly work out a mechanism for cooperating on law enforcement in overlapping waters of the two countries’ exclusive economic zones, the ministry said.

According to the minutes, the proposed mechanism will enable each side to notify the other in the event of fishery incidents and ensure that there is no use of force and violence.

The mechanism will also facilitate notification about incidents involving chases, boarding and inspections of each other’s fishing boats or the arrest and detention of each other’s fishermen.


In the wake of the May 9 incident, Taiwan demanded that the Philippines issue a formal apology, compensate Hung’s family, punish those responsible for his death and begin fishery talks to prevent any similar incidents.

Friday’s meeting was the first consultation on cooperation since the shooting and could be seen as a goodwill response from Manila on Taiwan’s demand for fishery talks.