OFFBEAT MAIL

The Philippines is a beautiful country to live. There is no argument about this claim. Comparatively , it has a tropical climate, white and pristine beaches and warmth smile and hospitality of the Filipinos. But despite these advantages, only a few hundreds Japanese retirees had been attracted to stay in the Philippines. Do we know the reason why only a few of them are eager to invest their fortunes in the Philippines? Mind you, even a grade one pupil can answer this question. Like any developing country, the Philippines is having a hard time dealing with its peace and order problem. For many years, it has been like this and the government seems helpless in curtailing the unrest in Mindanao. But it is not so much in the part of Luzon, but a few basic problems that any visitor or resident would encounter at any given day. Compared to Thailand, which received an estimated 1.2 million Japanese visitors last year, the Philippine got only something like 300 Japanese visitors in that same pe...

If there is anything that the Filipino citizenry should be happy about, it is the latest announcement by the government to cancel its tripartite agreement with China and Vietnam for the joint seismic geographical survey on the portion of the Spratly Group of Islands for energy exploration. Why not? After all these shenanigans in government, nobody is certain what the government's agenda are in dealing with communist governments like China and Vietnam. And what makes matters questionable is that the impending joint seismic survey leans more on the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines, where the Kalayaan Group of islands are now occupied by Philippine Marine soldiers. Some political experts are questioning as to why the present administration has entered into a secret deal with these two communist countries, knowing fully well that there is an Asean bloc agreement that allows first for consultation before any agreement is sealed with countries outside the Asean . Anot...