The Award

-

The arbitration court in Luxembourg ruled in favor of the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu awarding them 14.9 billion US Dollars, representing unpaid rent for Sabah. Malaysia has de facto control over Sabah but the court's decision legally established Sabah's ownership, that of the Sultanate. The court issued seizure order against Malaysian assets overseas, including Petronas, a Malaysian state oil firm. The Philippine claim over Sabah is now standing on the less watery ground, eversince the sovereign right over Sabah was assigned to the Philippines by the Sultanate via a 1962 accord.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Transcending Filipinism

-
Image
The term Filipinism by itself is Filipinism. It is uncommon in usage internationally, but somehow it made its way to world dictionaries and may refer to usage resulting from literally translating Tagalog words into English. These are English usage peculiar to and used only by Filipinos. Turn on/ off the lights is spoken as Open/ Close the lights; CR or Comfort Rooms are used instead of Toilets (The word “Toilet” has sensibility issue and considered unhygienic); Napkins are referred to as Tissue; Canteen is used instead of Cafeteria; Colgate means Toothpaste even though it’s a Close-Up; Refrigerator is generally called Frigidaire: Xerox is to photocopy even if the machines in use are UBIX, Brothers, etc. The preceding examples demonstrate that Filipinism is beyond lingual.  It is about tradition, customary practice and generally accepted norms that manifest in  language and its usage. Filipinism is also expressions in actions like; the” boodle fight” to celebrate brotherhood an
Read more

The Philippines, Rich man…Poor man…

-
It is no secret, and history will tell us that the Philippines since the Spanish era has yet to cross the verge from poverty principally due to manipulation and monopoly by foreign and local power of its resources.  Old phrases such as tobacco monopoly, the mining monopoly, the parity rights, the levies and so on had brought undue misery and hardships. The inequality and the disparaging utilization of the Philippine natural resources in favor of foreign power and the elite had precluded genuine progress. And here now comes the present, with the dwindling wealth and resources in the west the powers of the east and west is racing back towards Africa and South-East Asia to renew and introduce a new brand of colonization using the same old but time proven and effective gun boat diplomacy. The Philippines is again stunned, bewildered by the display of might and military power. In the same way their native ancestors had been awed before them. It was because the Philippine’s has failed to
Read more

Why Russia’s BMP3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle is the best option for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

-
Image
Any avenue of approach in a war zone is a kill zone, be it an urban pave-ways or rural settings. The AFP have been sustaining unusually high casualties, resultant of inadequate armor and fire support. Individual infantry men were fully exposed while in marches on unfamiliar terrain towards the insurgent’s lair. Military vehicles have to traverse enemy territories without the security of protective armor (metal plates, chopped tree-trunks mounted on side of vehicles, sand bags, etc.).  Corollary, essential intelligence can easily be obtained in advance through aerial reconnaissance even before convoys proceed towards its destination. While the latter can be provided by available and inexpensive technology like drones, its utilization had remained an exception rather than the rule. Insurgent’s stationery bunkers/ fortifications greatly offset the AFP’s numerical advantage, that otherwise can easily be eliminated by an explosive blast. Sniper behind hard cover, like the inside of buildin
Read more