Eating too much sugar can eat away at your brainpower, according to US scientists who published a study Tuesday showing how a steady diet of high-fructose corn syrup sapped lab rats’ memories.

Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) fed two groups of rats a solution containing high-fructose corn syrup — a common ingredient in processed foods – as drinking water for six weeks. One group of rats was supplemented with brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), while the other group was not.

“The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. ”Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.”

A closer look at the rat brains revealed that those who were not fed DHA supplements had also developed signs of resistance to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar and regulates brain function. In other words, eating too much fructose could interfere with insulin’s ability to regulate how cells use and store sugar, which is necessary for processing thoughts and emotions. High-fructose corn syrup is commonly found in soda, condiments, applesauce, baby food and other processed snacks.

While the study did not say what the equivalent might be for a human to consume as much high-fructose corn syrup as the rats did, researchers said it provides some evidence that metabolic syndrome can affect the mind as well as the body. The study appeared in the Journal of Physiology.

Is your daily sugar consumption healthy? Share your eating habits with us!

US Virginia Class fast attack submarine USS North Carolina (SSN-777)

One of the most modern submarine in the United States (US) Navy, on a current deployment to ensure freedom of navigation in the Western Pacific, surfaced at Subic Bay in Zambales on Sunday.

The arrival of Virginia Class fast attack submarine USS North Carolina (SSN-777) came amid a tense territorial standoff for more than a month now between the Philippines and China in Panatag Shoal, a rock formation 124 nautical miles from mainland Zambales.

"The crew is proud of our recent contributions as part of our country's commitment to maintaining freedom of navigation, peace and stability in the region," said Cmdr. Richard Rhinehart, North Carolina's commanding officer, in a press statement released by the United States-Pacific Command (USPACOM).

USS Carolina is the fourth submarine in the Virginia Class, the Navy's newest class of submarine and the first ship designed for the post Cold-War environment.

The submarine is designed to operate with stealth, agility and endurance in the world's littoral regions, as well as the deep oceans.

Unlike the visits of other US vessels in the country, the docking of USS Carolina at Subic bolstered earlier speculations that the US government, while openly declaring that it will not interfere with any territorial disputes in the region, is also closely watching the prevailing standoff between the Philippines and the China over the ownership of the the Bajo de Masinloc or "Karburo" to the local fishermen.

The Panatag shoal is called Scarborough and also Huangyan Island by the Chinese.

The Philippines and the US are binded by the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which requires both parties to come to defend any of the party in an event of an armed aggression.

While Philippine Navy (PN) officials appeared not to be fully aware of the USS Carolina presence in Subic, high-level sources said the submarine would be staying at former US Naval base for reprovisioning before leaving on May 19.

USS Carolina whose homeport is Pearl Harbor in Hawaii is 350 feet long and weighs more than 7,800 tons when submerged. The vessel is one of the stealthiest, most technologically advance submarines in the world.

"She brings to the region the capability to conduct the full spectrum of potential submarine missions including anti-submarine warfare, naval special warfare involving special operations forces, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and mine warfare," the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) in a press statement said.

US - SSN Virginia Class Cutaway 774 

Relatedly, the Philippine Navy's flagship, BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a second-hand Hamilton Class Cutter acquired from the US, was pulled out from its maritime mission in the West Philippine Sea to undergo maintenance check.

But contrary to reports that the Frigate's weapons systems bogged down at the height of the standoff in Panatag last week, everything is working, the Navy said.

"It's just a scheduled maintenance. She underwent preventive maintenance last week," Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay, said of the Frigate

http://afp.phrepublic.info/?q=node/110

By: Prince Dan We (For Rebuilding for the Better Philippines)

With china's dream to control the South East Asian countries and its oil and gas resource rich water, China asserts all efforts by economic sanction to its rival claimants in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) so everyone will kneel down and pray for their blessings.

Regional economic progress is not the goal of china towards its ASEAN neighbors but just to use them and push them down when the trust building is completed.

As the Philippines flex its muscle and hard stance against the bully of the powerful China in the West Philippines Sea - Scarborough Panatag Shoal's month long stand-off ; China sanctioned the Philippines exports and order a travel ban toward the Philippines.

This is just the beginning. China is determined with its economic power, millions of armed forces and advance but substandard war weapon to bully the Philippines but the US alliance with the Philippines will help the country to stand with 60 year old Mutual Defense Treaty that would be invoke if any external attack to the territory happens.

Unclear china policy and arrogant expansionism attitude escalate the disputes as they are muscle flexing and start invading the shores of the Southeast Asian countries with distance of more than 1,000 kilometers  with a word of revenged sprouted by their communist mouthpiece "Long before we were weak, china is weak and the world are humiliating our people. Now we are strong and powerful – let see how the world will cry when we will humiliate them."

From the beginning of the civilization of the island nation and before the formation of the country "Philippines", China is already a friend and a trading partner passing through the islands in the west Philippines sea as a resting islands in Scarborough and Spratlys or Kalayaan islands which make them name the islands as islands on their way while trading with the island nation now called "The Philippines"

For the revenge of china to the world which they called "humiliated by the world", pity Philippines a long and ancient friend island nation become their enemy and victim of bully.

Never in the history that the Philippines bully its neighbor back to the time when the Philippines is the richest and the second most powerful country next to Japan (1940's – 1960's).

Since china change its tone towards the Philippines it's time for the Philippines to find a new friend to cherish; none betraying friend and a true friend in reality to be a partner in business and progress – the ASEAN neighbors.

Since China is not the only market for the Philippines then the effect of China's sanction toward Philippine products is minimal effect to the country but this is the time for the Philippines to think of; either to allow china invades its territorial waters and let china explore its oil and gas in return of lifting the economic sanction or to make a hard stance with US alliance.

The Philippines would lost its trillion dollar oil and gas deposits leaving the messed and environmental destruction if they will allow china to do it.

The Philippines waters in the West Philippines Sea is a rich resource islands and waters not just for bio diversity and marine products but also for Natural Gas and Oil which will level to the oil deposits in the Arabian gulf.

The Philippines is now a battleground between the power competition of China and USA but the question is who ever will win this battle; still the Philippines will lose not just friendship with Chinese business investors but also the peace and stability of the region.

China could not win a war with a wise country not of their match because it will just ignore it. China is like a roaring lion to a creepy mouse but who will save this lion if it will fall into a lion trap?

The claw of china's dragon might hurt the territory of the mouse size Philippines but they could never own it as the United Nation's Convention on Laws of Seas or UNLCOS is the strongest bases of its ownership.

It's time for the Philippines to look east, west and South friendly BUT wide eyes with anger when looking north because the devil is always came from the North according to a Chinese Feng Shui. Chinese Feng Shui is popularized by China's good-and-bad-luck experts saying that we must be always on the alert because the devil is always came from the north which everyone must beware of it with hard stance to defeat the devil. Feng Shui is also a belief which many Chinese Filipino getting accustom in doing their business rituals.

The business opportunity is not only in the north (china) but also with the East and West or South. Only the Marketing, packaging and product quality standardization is needed for the Philippines agricultural products to be a leading product in the global market without china.

The economic sanction of china could not hardly hit the Philippines in fact the Philippines have higher imports from China than exports.

The Philippines could be self sufficient without the products from China because the china's products is not yet highly sought in the Philippine markets because the Philippines have its own products excepts for Electronics gadgets which are US designed and just manufactured in China such as computer accessories, mobile phones, and other electronic gadgets which could be also available and be replaced with Philippines Made electronic gadgets at a better quality and price.

The advantage of the Philippines is its products are mostly agricultural products which are highly needed for daily consumptions while china's products are mostly electronics and could be manufactured anywhere.

Banning china's made products in the Philippines could be also beneficial to the country as it limits the cause of fire from using substandard china made electrical wirings, and will uplift the Philippines from the rank of the countries with patent and infringement issues as china is the provider of imitation and fake goods to the Philippines for a lower price.

The time has come for a change and for full self sufficiency for the country Philippines.

Email Prince Dan We – at Attn: Prince Dan We – defend@phrepublic.info

http://betterphils.blogspot.com/2012/05/dirty-politics-and-economic-policies.html

Nothing like a leisurely trip to a geopolitical flashpoint to spice up the weekend.

Perhaps most tourists wouldn't think so, but more than 50,000 Chinese netizens responded to a lottery posted over the weekend by group-buying site Meituan for a trip to the Scarborough Shoal, according to a local media report. The area, also known in Chinese as Huangyan Island, has been at the center of a growing dispute between China and the Philippines, with each side confronting the other over the contested territory.

A listing of the contest on another website, showed a picturesque tropical island, and advertised, "A dream come true, Meituan takes you to Panatag Shoal or Huangyan Island for a day."

A link to the original Meituan offer redirected visitors to the company's main website. Contacted about the post, a Meituan representative said "the offer has already finished." But Chinese group buying websites often cross-post offers, and a web search turned up the advertisement on a number of web sites.

The Meituan representative didn't respond to inquiries about whether or how the trip would be carried out. Those could be salient questions. According to an article in China's Oriental Morning Post, an official with Hainan's Sanya city said such a trip would carry "enormous risk," adding that the possibility of reaching the islands would be "incredibly small." The article added that currently only naval ships and approved fishing vessels are allowed to sail to Panatag Shoal.

According to the article, industry experts dumped even more cold water on the plans. Though the purported itinerary for the trip has tourists hopping a speedboat from Hainan — first to the Paracels in six to eight hours, and then to Panatag Shoal (Huangyan Island) in another three to four hours — experts said that a normal journey to Panatag (Huangyan) by sea would take 30 hours from Hainan. And perhaps of greater risk to tourists than any naval confrontation, the article points out typhoon season is just starting up in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).

Given that the original ad has been taken down, the chance for Chinese tourists to go see what their country is beefing about with the Philippines seems slim. But given the likely practical impediments, and the lack of answers about who was making the offer, it's unclear any winner would ever have the chance to collect.

Read in It's More Fun in the Philippines website  

China Maintains Tough Line on Philippines

Anti-China demonstrations in Manila that had alarmed Beijing largely fizzled on Friday, but China continued its rhetoric against the Philippines over a standoff in the South China Sea.

Analysts say that China's tough line is being fueled by domestic politics, and the longer the standoff between Manila and Beijing over disputed islands continues, the more challenging it becomes for both sides to negotiate a face-saving resolution. China's ruling Communist Party is particularly nervous about being seen as weak ahead of its sensitive once-a-decade leadership transition beginning late this year, the analysts say.

Filipinos chanted anti-China slogans as they marched toward the Chinese consulate in Manila's Makati financial district on Friday.

"It means that China is going to be even more assertive on these issues because the leadership can't afford to be seen as weak with its own domestic constituency," particularly the People's Liberation Army, said Alan Dupont, a regional-security expert at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

Only about 200 people took part in a rally at a Chinese consular office in Manila, according to organizers, well below initial expectations. The protesters echoed recent calls by the government of President Benigno Aquino III for China to end its claims of sovereignty over the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal), a collection of reefs, rocks and islands known in Chinese as Huangyan Island.

Chinese and Philippine vessels have for the past month been confronting each other at the island, the latest and most severe in a string of territorial disputes threatening China's wider bilateral relations across the region.

The Philippines relies on Washington for strategic backing and military hardware, though analysts say the U.S. is likely requesting the Philippines not to push China too aggressively. The countries have a mutual-defense treaty, but it remains unclear whether that would be triggered by fighting in disputed territories.

At a press briefing Friday, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government wasn't involved in planning Friday's protests, but declined to discuss specific diplomatic efforts Manila was taking to defuse the situation.

On Thursday, the Chinese government demanded that the Philippines protect Chinese citizens against possible violence from protesters. As tensions rose, several of China's major tour operators announced they were suspending trips to the Philippines.

Chinese officials and state media in recent days have heightened rhetoric against Manila, potentially making it more difficult for Beijing to back down.

Analysts say that China's response is being complicated by the recent ouster of political superstar and Politburo member Bo Xilai, which has created domestic political uncertainty in a leadership transition year. The analysts say that the Chinese military and security forces may seek to use the standoff as they jockey for influence in the transition.

The South China Sea contains important fishing grounds and is also thought to hold vast reserves of oil and natural gas.

The PLA Daily, the main military mouthpiece, on Friday accused the Philippines of "inciting public emotions and seriously damaging the atmosphere of bilateral relations."

"The Philippine government obviously does not understand they are in the process of committing a serious mistake," the newspaper said.

In a separate opinion piece, the newspaper argued that the Obama administration's efforts to bolster U.S. military and strategic presence in Asia had provided the Philippines and others in the region greater strategic maneuvering room when dealing with China.

Recent tensions around the Scarborough Shoal began last month after Chinese vessels blocked Philippine authorities from arresting Chinese fishermen suspected of harvesting coral and poaching sharks in the area. Philippine officials said this week two Philippine government vessels, at least three from China and fishing boats from both sides remain engaged in the standoff.

China Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying said this week she wasn't optimistic about resolving the dispute.

Read More in It's More Fun in the Philippines website

Two-thirds of Filipino children now own a mobile phone, according to a study conducted by leading kids’ channel Cartoon Network.

The study, entitled “New Generations 2012,” revealed that mobile phone ownership among young Filipinos are now at 65 percent, higher than Australia’s 42 percent and Taiwan’s 22 percent.

Last year, BuddeComm, an independent telecommunications research site based in Australia, pegged mobile phone penetration in the country at “approaching 100 percent,” and said that Filipinos send an average of 1.8 billion messages a day.

The biennial New Generations study also showed the Filipino kids are also among the most tech-savvy in the Asia Pacific region.

More than half of kids in urban areas have Internet access at home, 54 percent have access to digital cameras, 20 percent have smartphones, and 16 percent have tablets.

Ninety-nine percent claims to have watched TV—a third, or 38 percent, of them from flat panel screens.

New Generations 2012, the fifth study since 2003, highlighted a “fortified” relationship between kids and technology resulting from a “sharp increase” in access.

While TV remains the top medium of choice for young Filipinos, Internet is fast catching up. According to the survey, 76 percent of children access the Internet, and 82 percent of those with Internet access at home go online at least once a week.

Among Internet activities, online gaming claims the top spot, with 58 percent of Filipino children playing online games daily.

Social media comes in at second, with 52 percent logging on to various social media every day.

Forty-one percent listen to music, 36 percent stream videos, and 23 percent upload and share photos.

But while only 28 percent use the Internet for homework, a surprising seven out of ten respondents claim that they are regular book readers.

Thirteen percent read newspapers and nine percent read magazines.

This, the study notes, shows that “technology doesn’t always win out.”

The New Generations 2012 results were obtained from face-to-face, in-home interviews with 1,000 randomly selected kids from Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao conducted between February 25 and March 26, 2012.

So here we are again. It seems like it’s once a year in Beijing that police and media assemble outside a foreign embassy, waiting for the patriotic crowds to gather and decry the nation that dares question China’s “indisputable sovereignty” over (insert name of disputed territory here).

On Friday, it was the embassy of the Philippines that drew the swarms of police and media. The disputed chunk of rock this time is what most of the world calls the Scarborough Shoal – the Chinese and Filipino governments each have their own name for it – a tiny and uninhabited outcrop more than 800 kilometres southeast of Hong Kong and 220 kilometres off the coast of the main Philippines island of Luzon in the resource-rich South China Sea.

In past years, the angry crowds have gathered in Beijing outside the Japanese embassy to shout about another disputed bunch of rocks, the islands that Japan calls Senkaku and China names Diaoyutai. A few years before that, it was the French embassy targeted, over its alleged support for Tibetan independence. Someday it will be the Vietnamese embassy over the Spratly Islands, in another part of the South China Sea.

(Beijing claims nearly all of the 3.5 million square kilometres of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory, while Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also claim large parts.

To date the dispute between Beijing and Manila has involved a war of words, as well as a parallel, small-scale, buildup of naval forces by both sides. It seemed unlikely to devolve into anything more serious until the state-controlled Chinese media began beating the drums of conflict this week, led by the nationalist Global Times newspaper, which declared “peace will be a miracle” unless Manila backed down fast.

When a dispute has gone on as long as the argument over the Scarborough Shoal has (a helpful Philippine Daily Inquirer graphic traces the shouting back to at least 1965, it’s hard to separate a sudden flare-up from the domestic politics of the countries involved.

In China, the headline-sucking flare-up comes at a time when the central government could use some relief from the relentless speculation over the fall of former Communist Party star Bo Xilai, which has highlighted a political system rife with corruption, as well as a distraction for international media still following the twists and turns of the embarrassing Cheng Guangcheng affair which saw a persecuted blind dissident take refuge inside the U.S. embassy after getting no protection from China’s own legal system.

The Philippines, meanwhile, seems to feel that now is the time to be more assertive towards its larger rival, buoyed by the Obama Administration’s “pivot” towards Asia and a stated confidence that the U.S. Navy has its back.

Stoking nationalism serves both Beijing and Manila for now. But the problem with repeatedly invoking national honour is that the populations can start to believe it, quickly limiting the policy options sober diplomats like to keep open in times like these.

Thus, the Global Times – just two days after declaring we were on the brink of war – proclaimed Friday that “cool heads must prevail.” The newspaper said the dispute did not “merit the attention of the whole nation,” a line many Chinese would have interpreted as advice to keep their “invade the Philippines” placards in the closet for now.

The protest outside the Filipino embassy in Beijing’s Chaoyang district drew only a handful of protesters, who were badly outnumbered by the busloads of police. An anti-Chinese protest in Manila drew 500 people, a number that also fell short of organizers’ expectations. They shouted about Chinese “bullying,” tried to burn a Chinese flag, and left.

So the dispute, for now, can calm, since neither side has an impassioned public currently forcing it into a nationalist corner. But time is running down for a negotiated solution to the standoff. (At last count there were four Chinese surveillance ships and 10 fishing boats in the disputed waters, as well as a Philippine coastguard vessel and a fisheries bureau ship, with larger flotillas nearby.)

Online opinion in both China and the Philippines is disturbingly pro-war, and with China’s ruling Communist Party headed for a once-in-a-decade leadership transition this fall, there’s a danger that incoming president Xi Jinping will feel the need to take a hawkish position in order to shore up support in the People’s Liberation Army.

A shooting war between China and the Philippines seems a longshot now, just as a real war between China and Japan seemed impossible in 2010. But if Asian neighbours keep manufacturing crises for domestic consumption, one day the anger they manufacture will be all too real.

As a dispute over South China Sea territory threatens to boil over, a reporter plants the Chinese flag on the "island" at the centre of the row as Filipino's protest in Manila.

Footage aired by Chinese broadcaster Dragon TV showed Zhang Fan hoisting the flag during his report from Scarborough Panatag Shoal - Huangyan island as he explained the history of the long-standing territorial dispute between China and the Philippines.

Both countries claim the Scarborough Shoal, which is known as Panatag Shoal to Filipinos or Huangyan island to the Chinese.

China's state-controlled media are seething with threats of war against the Philippines in an apparent attempt to divert public and international attention from domestic political tensions.

And although there is little real prospect that the words will become violent deeds, Beijing has also launched trade and tourism embargoes against the Philippines because of the long-standing dispute over the ownership of the rocks and islets making up Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

These appeals to Chinese nationalism come amid rumours that President Hu Jintao may delay a key Communist party congress later this year, which is intended to ratify the selection of a generation of party and governmental leaders.

The rumours that Hu wants to divert attention from domestic political friction stem from the recent expulsion of the ambitious Chongqing party boss, Bo Xilai, from several senior positions and Beijing's embarrassment last week when blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng was able to escape house arrest and seek refuge in the United States embassy. Even so, the potential for accidental conflicts arising from China's claim to own almost all the South China Sea and its disputes with littoral states Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei - as well as the Philippines - was evident on Wednesday when China's first deep water rig began drilling for oil 320 kilometres south-east of Hong Kong.

A raft of belligerent articles and editorials in Chinese news-papers and items on state-run television started earlier this week in response to a new flare-up in the long-running territorial dispute with Manila, which came to a head last month when the Philippine navy discovered eight Chinese fishing boats at Scarborough Shoals.

Manila accused the Chinese of illegal fishing and of harvesting banned products such as coral from the shoals, known as Huangyan by the Chinese, and which are well within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

But the incident rapidly became a dangerous standoff when Beijing dispatched fisheries protection vessels to guard the Chinese against the Philip-pine navy.

The announcement earlier this week that Filipinos intend this weekend to demonstrate outside Chinese embassies in Manila and elsewhere, including Canada, is being interpreted by Beijing as a purposeful ploy by the government of President Benigno Aquino to stir up nationalist sentiments.

China's vice-foreign minister, Fu Ying, on Tuesday called in a senior Philippine diplomat for the third time in this stand-off and warned that China has "made all preparations to respond to any escalation of the situation by the Philippines side." Chinese newspapers have been even more blunt.

On Wednesday the Global Times, a highly nationalistic newspaper owned by the main mouthpiece of the ruling Communist party, People's Daily, commented in an editorial that Fu's "remarks are seen as China sending a sign that it will not rule out the use of force."

"The Philippines needs to be taught a lesson for its aggressive nationalism," blustered the editorial. "For China, the standoff over Huangyan Island is a matter of sovereignty. And now Manila needs to be defeated in this area."

Another state-run news-paper, China Daily, accused the Aquino administration of "pressing us into a corner where there is no other option left but the use of arms."

"Manila is living in a fantasy world if it mistakes our forbearance for timidity."

And the voice of China's military, the People's Liberation Army Daily, weighed in with the comment that China will not stand for the Philippines attempting to grab Huangyan island.

"Not only the Chinese government will not agree, neither will the Chinese people, and the Chinese army will disagree even more."

The tone has been similar on state-controlled television, with one TV station sending a reporter out to one of the islets in the shoal, where he planted a Chinese flag.

Scarborough Shoal is only 230 kilometres off the Philippines' main island of Luzon, but 1,200 kilometres southeast of the nearest undisputed Chinese land mass.

However, with more and more evidence of substantial under-water oil and gas reserves, Beijing has in recent years become ever more assertive in pressing its claim - based on ancient maps - to ownership of most of the South China Sea, stretching south almost to Indonesian territorial waters about 2,000 kilometres from the nearest Chinese landfall.

China's bluster has grown with the ability of its modernized navy to project power throughout the region.

The Philippines has no functioning navy with which to respond. But on Wednesday, the Philippine defence minister Voltaire Gazmin said he was told recently by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, that while Washington will not take sides in the dispute, "they assured the Philip-pines the U.S. would honour a 1951 mutual defence treaty."

Territorial rivalry has escalated over the small rocky outpost during the last month as the Philippines have attempted to scale back an expanding Chinese presence in the potentially oil-rich South China Sea.

Beijing and Manila have been locked in a high seas stand-off since the PLA Navy prevented a Philippine warship from arresting crews of Chinese fishing boats near the Scarborough Shoal on April 8.

Both countries claim the fish rich shoal as their own and protests by Philippine fishermen over their loss of livelihood have drawn mass support in the south-east Asian country.

About 400 activists marched to the Chinese embassy in Manila on Friday to protest against what they call Chinese encroachment on the disputed shoal.

After China warned its Philippine-based citizens to "stay indoors" earlier this week as tensions mounted, Emman Hizon, spokesperson of the Filipino protesters, said the demonstrations should not alarm Chinese residents.

"We reiterate our statement to the Chinese nationals: they have nothing to worry about. This is not a protest action against them; this is a protest action to manifest our indignation against the Chinese government's policy and military still approaching in the Panatag Shoal area," he said.

As a dispute over South China Sea territory threatens to boil over, a reporter plants the Chinese flag on the "island" at the centre of the row as Filipino's protest in Manila.

Footage aired by Chinese broadcaster Dragon TV showed Zhang Fan hoisting the flag during his report from Huangyan island as he explained the history of the long-standing territorial dispute between China and the Philippines.

Both countries claim the Scarborough Shoal, which is known as Panatag Shoal to Filipinos or Huangyan island to the Chinese.

Territorial rivalry has escalated over the small rocky outpost during the last month as the Philippines have attempted to scale back an expanding Chinese presence in the potentially oil-rich South China Sea.

Beijing and Manila have been locked in a high seas stand-off since the PLA Navy prevented a Philippine warship from arresting crews of Chinese fishing boats near the Scarborough Shoal on April 8.

Both countries claim the fish rich shoal as their own and protests by Philippine fishermen over their loss of livelihood have drawn mass support in the south-east Asian country.

About 400 activists marched to the Chinese embassy in Manila on Friday to protest against what they call Chinese encroachment on the disputed shoal.

After China warned its Philippine-based citizens to "stay indoors" earlier this week as tensions mounted, Emman Hizon, spokesperson of the Filipino protesters, said the demonstrations should not alarm Chinese residents.

"We reiterate our statement to the Chinese nationals: they have nothing to worry about. This is not a protest action against them; this is a protest action to manifest our indignation against the Chinese government's policy and military still approaching in the Panatag Shoal area," he said.

Beijing: A day after India voiced concern on the Sino-Philippine standoff in the South China Sea, China on Friday said it would "unswervingly" defend its sovereignty over the disputed region and warned Philippines against taking any action that will escalate the situation.

"The current situation is completely caused by Philippines warships harassing Chinese fishermen," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a media briefing here.

He made the remarks in response to questions on the standoff as well as concerns expressed by India over the increasing tensions over the issue. "We assert that Huangyan Island (called by Philippines as Panatag Shoal) is inherent territory of China," Hong said.

To a specific question on concerns expressed by India over escalating tensions, he said "we have always been stressing the Huangyan island is China's inherent territory."

"China is resolutely safeguarding its sovereignty and this resolve is unswerving. The current situation is unilaterally caused by Philippine warships harassing unnamed Chinese fishing boats and fishermen. The Philippines should be held responsible for the situation," Hong said.

"We have always been stressing that the Chinese side remains committed to solving current situation through diplomatic consultations. The key is that the Philippine side should show sincerity and meet the Chinese side half way and seriously respond to China's concerns and not take actions that complicate the situation," he said.

Asked about the protests held before the Chinese embassy in Manila today, he claimed that the "Philippine side encouraged Filipino people to hold anti-China protests."

"It is their own actions that complicate and magnify the situation. China pays great attention to the safety of Chinese nationals in the Philippines. We have demanded Philippine government to take effective measures to earnestly protect the safety of Chinese nationals and institutions in the Philippines," he said.

"We once again ask the Philippines side to take practical measures to respect territorial sovereignty of China and not to take action that will escalate the situation," he said.

Hundreds of Filipinos demonstrated outside the Chinese embassy in the Philippines on Friday over an escalating territorial row, with the protesters denouncing China's rulers as arrogant bullies.

Waving national flags, the protesters called for Chinese ships to pull away from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea where both nations have had ships stationed for more than a month in an effort to assert their sovereignty.

"Our protest is directed at the overbearing actions and stance of the government in Beijing, which behaves like an arrogant overlord, even in the homes of its neighbors," said rally organizer Loida Nicholas Lewis.

During the peaceful, hour-long rally by about 300 people, the protesters carried placards that read: "China stop bullying the Philippines," "Make Peace Not War," and "China, Stop Poaching in Philippine Waters."

Organizers of the protest in Manila said similar rallies were planned at other Chinese embassies around the world on Friday, including in the United States and Canada.

The territorial row centers on Scarborough Shoal, a tiny rocky outcrop in the South China Sea about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the Philippines main island Luzon.

The Philippines says the shoal is part of its territory because it falls within its exclusive economic zone.

But China claims virtually all of the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop huge oil and gas reserves, as its historical territory, even waters close to the coasts of other Asian countries.

The nearest major Chinese landmass to Scarborough Shoal is 1,200 kilometers northwest of the shoal, according to Filipino navy maps.

Editorials in newspapers controlled by the ruling Communist Party have repeatedly warned that China is prepared to go to war against the Philippines to end the stand-off.

Chinese authorities also this week ordered tour operators to suspend trips to the Philippines, in what Filipinos have widely interpreted as a form of economic blackmail.

Protesters at Friday's Manila rally said China's actions over Scarborough Shoal should send a worrying signal to other Asian countries about their giant neighbor.

"We just want the international community to understand that if, today, they can do it to the Philippines, they can also bully the other claimants too," said one of the co-organizers of the rally, Jackson Gan.

Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia also claim parts of the South China Sea.

The rival claims have for decades made the waters one of Asia's potential military flashpoints.

More than 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed in 1988 when China and Vietnam battled for control of the Spratlys, an archipelago south of Scarborough Shoal.

China's foreign ministry reacted angrily to the Manila protest, accusing the Philippine government of encouraging it.

"It is a wrong action that complicates and magnifies the situation," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in Beijing.

"We once again urge the Philippine side... not to take action that will escalate the situation."

Philippine President Benigno Aquino's spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, told reporters the government did not have a hand in organizing the protest.

"It was a decision taken by private citizens who feel out of patriotism that they have to speak on the issue," Lacierda said, adding they were exercising their constitutional right to free expression and peaceful assembly. —Agence France-Presse

South Korea has intensified a crackdown on the smuggling of capsules from China containing the powdered flesh of dead babies, taken by some as a cure for disease or a way to boost sexual performance, a customs official said Tuesday (May 8, 2012)

The gruesome practice came to light Sunday when Korea Customs said it had uncovered 35 attempts to import a total of 17,451 such capsules since last August.

The pills -- filled with the dried and powdered flesh of foetuses or dead infants -- were intercepted in the mail or in customs searches at airports.

The customs service said that apart from ethical questions the capsules were contaminated with "super bacteria" and other disease-causing organisms.

Most pills were sent from the northeastern Chinese cities of Yanji and Jilin as well as cities including Qingdao and Tianjin at the request of customers in South Korea, it said.

Some were hidden in packages of legitimate drugs to disguise their contents.

Officials now closely monitor flights from "certain Chinese regions" and inspect all the luggage of all passengers far more often than before, Kim Soo-Yeon, a Korea Customs official in charge of customs clearance told AFP.

Bringing in such pills breaches a regulation banning items that "violate social dignity and customs", he said.

No organised attempts to smuggle in the capsules have so far been detected, Kim said, and most offenders were individual travellers. Some claimed they were unaware of what they were carrying.

"It's not just human-flesh pills. We also target other similarly banned but popular items like seal penises and bear gall bladders," said Kim, referring to items favoured by middle-aged men as libido enhancers.

"We have drastically stepped up resources in these efforts...even risking great inconvenience to visitors from these regions," he said.

Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the human-flesh capsules sell for 40,000-50,000 won ($35-44) each at some oriental herbal medicine shops.

Experts say the practice stems from a superstitious belief that eating body parts of young infants will give one special physical strength or cure disease.

"It is a bizarre...practice, just like a belief that eating the penis of actively-mating seals or drinking the bile of strong bears will help your libido," Ha Ji-Hyun, a psychiatrist at Konkuk University medical centre, told Chosun.

Maeil Business Newspaper urged the Chinese government Tuesday to crack down on producers of the human-flesh capsules and impose heavy punishments, calling the practice "truly shocking."

"No government in the world could possibly understand the Chinese government for letting such an inhuman practice go unpunished," it said in an editorial.

It added that desperate cancer patients and construction workers from China undertaking gruelling work were the main customers in the South.

"I'm trembling with shock that people who eat such stuff are my compatriots," one anonymous South Korean Internet user commented. Another called the practice "absolutely hideous".

House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee approved on Wednesday the controversial Malacañang-backed sin-tax reform bill that proposes a unitary tax system for tobacco and liquor products amid opposition from several sectors that find the measure anti-poor and unconstitutional.

With the approval of the controversial bill, Malacañang said also on Wednesday it expects credit-rating agencies to keep their promise to give the Philippines a credit-rating upgrade.

Voting 46-14 with one abstention, the House committee that is dominated by allies of President Aquino reported out for plenary deliberation House Bill (HB) 5727, a move described by legislators from Northern Luzon and members of the minority as a railroading of the bill using the “Luisita Express.”

Luisita Express partly alludes to Hacienda Luisita, a sugar estate in Tarlac owned by members of Mr. Aquino’s family and their relatives. The Supreme Court recently ordered the hacienda owners to distribute hacienda lands to their farmer-beneficiaries.

Malacañang said the credit-rating agencies should keep their promise.

“Based on [the credit-rating agencies’] commitment, that if they see the sin-tax reform bill [is approved], then there should be no reason for them not to give us investment-grade status. We expect them to live up to their promise that they will give us that status if we pass the bill,” according to Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda.

 “It [approval of HB 5727 was railroaded,” House Deputy Minority Leader Milagros Magsaysay of Zambales said, as she protested the committee’s acceptance of Malacañang-introduced revisions without giving panel members the chance to study them or at least deliberate on them.

House Assistant Majority Leader Magtanggol Guinigundo, who described the revisions as “phantom amendments,” warned the people that the local liquor and tobacco industries will surely suffer from higher taxes while their foreign competitors will be paying less taxes upon enactment of the bill into law.

The so-called Solid North failed to stop the alleged railroading after the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) took a party stand to support the measure and its amendments particularly those introduced by the finance department without studying or debating on them.

The voting also came even before congressmen could discuss the newly introduced position of Olivia Limpe-Aw, president of Distilled Spirits Association of the Philippines.

Leaders of the alcoholic-drink industry said while imported wines and spirits will be paying less taxes, the fate of the local industry that employs nearly 5 million Filipinos will hang in the balance as it faces spikes in taxes that will restrict purchase of their products.

“The unitary tax is regressive because it will increase tax on domestic spirits by 1,000 percent on the third year.  On the other hand, imported spirits will enjoy a decreased rate of 1,500 percent on the first year,” Limpe-Aw said.

Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao of Isabela, committee vice chairman, said he and other fellow NPC congressmen had no choice but to support the party stand.

NPC was founded by industrialist and former Ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., chairman of San Miguel Corp., the country’s biggest beer producer.

Liberal Party Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya of Cavite said new provisions in his bill will reduce the projected P60-billion revenues to be collected through the hike in sin taxes but the amount will still boost the universal health-care program of the government.

Abaya agreed to adopt a Department of Finance (DOF) recommendation to shift the original unitary tax to two-tiered system.            

Under the recommendation, the net retail price will dictate the tax rate. Thus, the tax rate for 750 ml distilled spirit with ₱90 NRP will be ₱25. If the price is between ₱90 and ₱150, the tax collected will be ₱80 and if above ₱150, it will be ₱320.

For wines, a tax rate of ₱250 will be imposed on a bottle with NRP of ₱500, while ₱700 tax will be collected for every bottle worth ₱500 and above.

Beer and fermented liquor will be taxed as follows ?

• ₱15.49 for a bottle worth ₱50.60
• ₱20.57 will be imposed for those priced above ₱50.60.

For tobacco,

• a pack of cigarettes with NRP of ₱5 will have a tax rate of ₱2.72,
• those sold between ₱5 and ₱6.50 will be taxed ₱7.56.
• The tax rate for a pack selling for more than ₱6.50 but below ₱11.50 is ₱12.
• For a pack sold above P11.50, the tax rate will be P20.30 next year.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima welcomed the passage of the sin-tax reform bill, saying it “marks a landmark in the history of the Philippine legislature, as it paves the way for a significant restructuring of excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol after more than 15 years.”

“These reforms will enable us to increase the cost of tobacco and alcohol addiction while, at the same time, providing government with additional resources to respond to the public costs of these vices. The restructuring of the tax system will also create a more level playing field in the tobacco market as well as enable us to comply with our WTO [World Trade Organization] commitments,” according to Purisima.

James Lafferty, general manager of British American Tobacco Philippines, also welcomed the approval of HB 5727.

“The proposed two-tier system on tobacco is the best compromise under the circumstances—it will deliver the government’s revenue goals and pave the way for a level playing field in our industry,” he said in a statement also on Wednesday.

China today warned the Philippines not to "misjudge" its resolve over a disputed island in the South China Sea, saying it is "fully prepared" to respond to any move by Manila to escalate the situation.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Fu Ying summoned the Charge D'affaires of the Philippine Embassy here yesterday to lodge a representation over the "current incident" at the Huangyan Island, referred to as Scarborough Shoal by Manila and asked it to remove all its naval ships from there.

This is the third time that China has summoned the Philippine diplomat in less than a month.

"It is hoped that the Philippine side will not misjudge the situation and not escalate tensions without considering the consequences," Fu said.

Because of the continuous provocation by the Philippine side, China's government vessels will continue to be on alert in the sea area around Huangyan Island, she said.

Fu said that China is not optimistic about the situation concerning Huangyan Island and it is fully prepared to respond to anything the Philippines does to escalate the situation, state-run news agency Xinhua quoted an official statement.

During the two previous meetings, Fu said, she asked the Philippine side to remain calm and refrain from taking actions that would escalate or complicate the situation.

"However, it is obvious that the Philippine side has not realised that it is making serious mistakes and, instead, is stepping up efforts to escalate tensions," Fu said, as Manila and Beijing lined up their naval ships near the island in a stand off for over four weeks.

Fu said Philippines continued to send government vessels to the Island lagoon and has repeatedly made erroneous remarks which have misled the Philippine public and the international community and provoked public feelings, thus severely damaging bilateral relations.

"Therefore, it is hard for us to be optimistic about the situation," she said.

China urges the Philippine side to withdraw its vessels in the sea area around island and to never again impede the operations of Chinese fishing vessels or Chinese government vessels performing their duties in accordance with Chinese law, Fu said.

"The Chinese side has also made all preparations to respond to any escalation of the situation by the Philippine side," Fu said.

Fu stated that the Chinese side maintains its position of seeking diplomatic solutions to the current situation, and that China once again urges the Philippine side to seriously respond to China's concerns and properly handle the matter.

Asserting its rights, Philippines said the uninhabited island is a part of its 322-kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone, (EEZ) and geared up to take its case to international court of justice, While China with more than 1000 Kilometers to its closest island in Hainan.

In today' s meeting, Fu stressed that the island belongs to China as it has had control over it for hundreds of years, the report said.

In order to provide a positive environment for Chinese fishermen to operate in their traditional fishing area, China's fishery administration vessels will also provide fishing vessels with services and management in accordance with Chinese law, she said.

READ MORE:ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES – AFP FORUM

A syndicate of local commercial banks can lend up to $1 billion or P42.3 billion to a group of companies bidding for infrastructure projects under the Public-Private Partnership Program (PPP), Teresita Sy-Coson, BDO chairperson, said Wednesday.

In a seminar on PPP as a catalyst for transformation at the 45th annual meeting of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, Coson said the banking industry has so much liquidity.

She added that BDO could talk with other banks on the terms of the loan.

“Perhaps, we could finance a project for 15 years,” she said. “After 15 years, the government could finance it through Official Development Assistance (ODA) from multilateral institutions.”

ODA comes from multilateral institutions like the ADB and the World Bank.

Coson added that banks could agree on a longer loan term of 20 to 25 years with prevailing interest rates.

BDO is the country's largest bank in total revenues, loans and deposits.

In the past, the government's big-ticket infrastructure projects are financed through ODA.

“Now, the government has three options – funding from the national government, ODA or the PPP,” Rogelio Singson, secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways, said in the same seminar.

Singson said the government is pushing for private sector participation in the construction of roads, bridges, airports, seaports and water supply.

Meanwhile, a 100-percent private sector financing has been done in a railway project in Malaysia.

Dato Azhar Abdul Hamid, chief executive officer of MRT Corporation Sdn Bhd, said the 51-kilometer rapid transit system in Malaysia was able to get 100-percent financing from the private sector.

Hamid said the rapid transit system runs from west to southeast of Malaysia and costs 20 billion ringgit for civil works alone.

It is expected to be completed in July 2017.

Hamid added that most infrastructure projects in Malaysia are under the office of the Prime Minister.

But he said the Malaysian government has an executive council to decide on projects. The council is composed of ministers of relevant agencies.

“That cuts the bureaucratic process. Decisions are made on the spot without any letters,” added Hamid.

In the Philippines, projects are approved by the agencies, the National Economic Development Authority and the President, said Singson.

"We have good intentions (to start and complete the projects as soon as possible), but they are not good enough. We have to follow rules," he added.

The government has lined up 20 infrastructure projects under PPP. It bid only one project last year. This year, bidding for two projects are ongoing.

The Asian Development Bank has forged with the Philippines a $650,000 technical assistance grant to improve teaching and learning in colleges that supply information and communications technology graduates to the business process outsourcing industry.

According to the memorandum of understanding signed between Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and ADB country director Neeraj Jain, 900 faculty and 3,000 students will benefit in at least three colleges that will serve as ICT hubs funded by the grant.

“The IT-BPO sector has been one of the sunshine industries in the Philippines and sustaining its performance has been the priority of this government as we believe on its potential to generate jobs and in the process, boost demand and growth in the country,” Purisima said.

While, $500,000 of the grant will come from the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund by the ADB. The Philippine government will provide the remaining $150,000 in the form of “in kind contributions.”

The ADB said it worked out the grant, because “national competitiveness, moving into knowledge-based services, and achieving and maintaining rapid economic progress, would require an educated workforce equipped with skills that meet the demands of high-growth industries.”

According to the MOU, at least three hubs will be established: one each in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Each hub will be ICT-enabled and provide “online training” to teachers and “digitized learning modules and study guides” for students

Implementation will be monitored by a steering committee chaired by the Finance Department and with members from the Commission on Higher Education, National Economic and Development Authority, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, among others.

Citing Board of Investment figures, the ADB said” IT-BPO revenues grew by 24 percent to roughly $11 billion with the industry employing 638,000 people as full-time employees.”

The Aquino administration has set a $25-billion industry revenue goal by 2016.