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A broader look at today’s business Saturday, May 25, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 221
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FORGING FRIENDSHIP IN SHADOW OF WAR
ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY, STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AND ASSERTING RIGHTS UNDER UNCLOS AMONG PRIORITIES OF PHILIPPINE FOREIGN POLICY, DFA CHIEF ENRIQUE MANALO SAYS AT BUSINESSMIRROR’S ENVOYS&EXPATS NIGHT 2.0
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BM ‘Black Girl Magic’: Bulacan’s Chelsea Manalo wins Miss Universe Philippines 2024
Economic diplomacy ON top of the priorities of Marcos’s foreign policy is to expand and deepen economic partnerships. Since he assumed office until December 2023, Marcos Jr. has secured $72.2 billion (P4.2 billion) worth of investment pledges, said Manalo. Some of these pledges have already been actualized “substantively and tangibly into concrete products.”
Strategic alliances
FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo addresses the heads of mission and other diplomatic row officers, as well as foreign chambers of commerce and expatriate executives, at BusinessMirror’s “Envoys & Expats Night 2.0” on Thursday. BERNARD TESTA
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By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
MIDST the rising tension in the West Philippine Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo briefly chatted with Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian at an event hosted by the BusinessMirror Thursday night. Manalo was the guest of honor and speaker at the “Envoys & Expats Night.” Thirteen heads of missions, including Huang Xilian, also attended the event, as did the officers and representatives of foreign chambers of commerce in the Philippines. Manalo did not say what the Chinese Ambassador raised with him during a brief chat. Huang also declined to be interviewed. Diplomatic relations between Manila and Beijing are “a bit choppy,” Manalo told diplomatic reporters Wednesday after China Coast Guard fired water cannons and harassed Philippine vessels providing supplies at Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. Lately, security officials and Senate leaders have asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to expel the Chinese Embassy official who wiretapped a conversation with a Filipino military commander.
Assert WPS rights IN his speech at the Envoys & Expats Night, Manalo noted how foreign affairs and diplomatic news and developments have become front and center of Philippine media coverage, calling it a welcome development. It signals, he said, how even more challenging the work of diplomats has become. Manalo said the country will continue to assert its sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea. “Our foreign policy shifted into high gears as soon as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office and took the mantle as the chief architect of the Philippine foreign policy in June 2022,” Manalo said. Promoting a rules-based international maritime order is one of the priorities of the Marcos Jr. administration, he added. “Our connectedness in the oceans and seas and our collective stewardship help define our na-
tional identity. “This identity is deeply ingrained in our national consciousness that manifests in our actions and efforts in promoting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or Unclos and the South China Sea Arbitration Award of July 2016, which are twin anchors of the Philippine policy action on maritime issues. “It is through the rule of law that we continue to assert our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” Manalo stressed.
ANOTHER priority of the Marcos Jr. administration is to modernize existing alliances with strategic partners, according to Manalo. “There are few countries with whom the Philippines has reached advance level of diplomatic maturity in terms of breath and depth of relations over the course of time. “This has opened new opportunities such as modernizing alliances such as in defense and related areas, enabling the country to respond to internal and external threats to challenges which will affect our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Manalo said. He did not state which countries the Philippines has forged modern strategic alliances with, but is apparently referring to the US, Australia, Japan and the European Union. These modern defense alliances, he added, also included capacity building to withstand natural and manmade calamities and disasters. “Coming in various forms, defense cooperation has become a prominent feature of our diplomacy with select countries, and this is expected to build a robust national defense capability in the years to come,” he added.
CHELSEA MANALO, Miss Universe Philippines 2024 MISS UNIVERSE PHILIPPINES
By C. Mendez Legazpi
H
ERSTORY was made at the MOA Arena in the early morning of May 23, 2024. For the first time, a Filipina of African descent was crowned Miss Universe Philippines (MUPh). Chelsea Anne Manalo, 22, a tourism graduate, model and advocate of indigenous people, bested 52 delegates from around the country and overseas to earn the right to represent the Philippines at Miss Universe 2024 in Mexico. At the Top 5, Chelsea was asked: “You are beautiful and confident. How would you use these qualities to empower others?” This is her winning reply: “As a woman of color, I have always faced challenges in my life. I was told that beauty has standards. But for me, I have listened to always believe in my mother, to always believe in myself, and uphold the vows that I have. Because of these, I am already influencing a lot of women who are facing me right now. As a transformational woman, I have here 52 other delegates with me who have helped me to become the woman I am.”
Phenomenal Women IN a nail-biting—and bewildering announcement—Taguig’s Christi Lynn McGarry was declared fourth runner-up. Baguio’s Tarah Valencia is third runner-up. Maria Ahtisa Manalo is second runner-up. Cainta’s Stacey Gabriel is first runner-up. The Top 20 included Nueva Ecija’s Maica Martinez, the Miss Bingo Plus; Leyte’s Angel Rose Tambal, the Runway Challenge winner; Hawaii’s Patricia Bianca Tapia, the Swimsuit Challenge winner; Tacloban’s Tamara Ocier, the Casting Commercial Challenge winner; the United Kingdom’s Christina Chalk; Laguna’s Alexandra Mae Rosales; Australia’s Kymberlee Street, Pasig’s Selena Antonio Reyes, Palawan’s Raven Doctor, and Northern California’s Kayla Carter. A fully stacked Top Ten included Cebu’s Kris Tiffany Janson, Pampanga’s Cyrille Payumo, Iloilo’s Alexie Brooks (Up Close and Personal Challenge winner), Bacoor’s Victoria Velasquez Vincent, and Zambales’s Anita Rose Gomez.
New Crowns, New Queens AFTER Chelsea’s coronation, a new set of queens were also declared: • Miss Supranational Philippines 2025 - Tarah Valencia | Baguio FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo chats with Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian at an event hosted by the BusinessMirror Thursday night. MALOU TALOSIG-BARTOLOME
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Typhoon-resilient rice, more competitive NFA key to local food security–Marcos By Samuel P. Medenilla
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RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said securing typhoon-resilient rice varieties and a more competitive National Food Authority (NFA) are among the priorities of his administration to ensure local food security. In an interview with reporters in South Cotabato on Friday, the chief executive disclosed the government initiatives to boost rice production through the distribution of machinery to farmers and developing new rice varieties. “We are improving our pro-
duction. We are looking for new rice varieties, which will be resilient and not easily affected by typhoons,” Marcos said. He said they will also provide farmers with fertilizers, market intelligence, and technical information to enhance their production. To keep the price of rice affordable, he reiterated his support for the ongoing efforts in Congress to amend Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL). Under the proposed legislation, Marcos said he wants the NFA to compete with local rice traders and retailers by restoring its power
to buy, sell and import rice. “We are doing this so we can control the price of rice due to the surge in its price,” Marcos explained. The proposed legislation is pending in Congress. The President also said his administration will continue to prioritize the construction of farmto-market roads to help reduce the logistics costs of farmers in selling their crops. He said they are also mainstreaming contract farming wherein farmers and buyers agree in advance the terms and conditions of
their production and marketing of farm products. “So these systems were dissolved in the last many years. That is why we have to reform them,” Marcos said. He made the remark after leading the distribution of more than 4,000 electronic titles (e-title) and Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) in Region 12 on Friday. Marcos also turned over more than P15 million worth of farming tools and equipment to 15,773 ARBs.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES Q US 58.2150 Q JAPAN 0.3709 Q UK 73.9331 Q HK 7.4554 Q CHINA 8.0383 Q SINGAPORE 43.0775 Q AUSTRALIA 38.4510 Q EU 62.9712 Q KOREA 0.0426 Q SAUDI ARABIA 15.5227 Source: BSP (May 24, 2024)