Philippine Urged to Lift Bank Secrecy Law

By Danessa O. Rivera (The Philippine Star) 

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The Philippines needs to put in place a legal mechanism by lifting the bank secrecy law that will allow the exchange of information necessary in transparency, OECD Center for Tax Policy and Administration head of global relations Richard Parry said. File photo

MANILA, Philippines - The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is urging the Philippines to lift its bank secrecy law to strengthen the country’s tax system and fight tax evasion while meeting global standards in tracking tax  fraud.

The Philippines needs to put in place a legal mechanism by lifting the bank secrecy law that will allow the exchange of information necessary in transparency, OECD Center for Tax Policy and Administration head of global relations Richard Parry said in a briefing during the two-day Workshop on Fiscal Management through Transparency and Reforms in Bagac, Bataan.

“It is possible to do it. The political will is needed for the Philippines to meet international standards in that area,” he said.

The bank secrecy law is a special legislation that requires banks and financial institutions to protect and keep confidential customer information from third parties even if these are government or tax authorities, unless the client relieves the bank of its duty.

Any violator will be convicted to an imprisonment of not more than five years or a monetary fine, or both, depending on the court’s decision.

Parry said the key challenge for tax administrators globally in dealing with money launderers and tax evaders is having enough information to detect law breakers.

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In 2009, G20 – an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies-declared that bank secrecy is approaching the end of its life in accordance with international standards.

That is why the OECD is introducing a new global standard for the automatic exchange of information between and among tax authorities to make it difficult for people to funnel investments outside of their country of residence, Parry said.

This will be set more broadly by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information, a multilateral framework with 126 members including the Philippines.

“It is important for the Philippines to change its legislation in that issue in order to meet international obligations with regard to the exchange of information,” Parry said.

The OECD official said the Philippines’ commitment in upholding international standards would result in strides in holding violators accountable.

“That would lead to significant gain with regard to legitimate tax charges in Philippines. What it does is provide Philippines with revenue and resources it needs for social programs and deal with issues,” Parry added.

In March 2014, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) commissioner Kim Henares urged lawmakers to lift the bank secrecy law amid renewed calls for greater exchange of information and increased transparency globally.

Foreign Ownership Limits Hinder Philippines' Growth Potential

By Danessa O. Rivera (The Philippine Star) 

Under Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution, foreign investors are prohibited to own more than 40 percent of real properties and businesses, while they are totally restricted to exploit natural resources and own any company in the media industry. File photo

MANILA, Philippines - Restrictions in foreign ownership of land and uneven investments in public infrastructure continue to prevent the country from realizing its full economic potential, according to a former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief.

University of the Philippines economist Dr. Gerardo P. Sicat, the first director general of NEDA, underscored the implications of these policy issues that hinder national development in his recent visit to the NEDA Regional Office in Northern Mindanao.

These include restricting foreign nationals to own land, investing in public infrastructure, and prohibiting them to utilize the country’s natural resources.

“More restrictions on policies such as disallowing foreign capital in public utilities made us unable to exactly generate the kind of activities that need to happen,” Sicat said.

The former NEDA chief stressed that foreign investors have greater capacity and capability to contribute to the country’s development.

Under Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution, foreign investors are prohibited to own more than 40 percent of real properties and businesses, while they are totally restricted to exploit natural resources and own any company in the media industry.

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The House of Representatives is eyeing to approve the economic Charter change resolution authored by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. within the week.

The resolution seeks to insert the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in the pertinent provisions of the Constitution that limit foreign ownership of certain businesses and land.

Meanwhile, the Senate is open to debates on the economic resolution once the Lower House passes the measure.

In terms of infrastructure, Sicat said most of these such as roads have greatly improved, but there are also areas that depict persistent poverty.

He noted that there is a need to continually improve roads for industries to come in and generate employment.

“Planning is not only a work of NEDA but of all important institutions integrated into one,” he added.

Sicat is currently undertaking a study on how the Philippines has improved and the bottlenecks that impede regional developments.

Tindog Comval! Walang Iwanan!

Photo captions:

(adopt pantukan)
Comval LGU’s 6th Adopt a Child Program kicks off with 91 malnourished children supported by government employees for 120 days in coordination with the barangay and municipal LGUs. Kick-off ceremonies were held on May 18 with Mabini having 15 children and Pantukan with 38 children “adopted.” (r. renoblas/ids comval)


(maco heights)
Comval’s “Barangay Walang Iwanan” program invites volunteers to help in the construction of a 1 room building for Musical Instrument in Maco Heights Elementary  School on May 26. The work of passing construction materials made easy despite the inclined slope with “bayanihan” applied. (r. renoblas/ids comval)

(vet)
As Comval celebrates the Farmers and Fisherfolks Month, the Veterinarian’s Office conducts series of “Serbisyo Beterinaryo Caravan” where animals such as carabao, cattle  and dogs are administered with vaccine, dewormed, treated and vitamin supplemented.   The team recently went to Brgy. Naboc, Monkayo on May 28.   (r. renoblas/ids comval)


(amorcruz laak)
Under Comval’s “Barangay Walang Iwanan” program, another classroom building is constructed through “bayanihan” with the active participation of the government employees, school and barangay in Amorcruz, Laak. (r. renoblas/ids comval)

Bacolod Mayor Denied Visa to Attend FIFA Congress amid Graft Charges

A Philippine FIFA official facing corruption charges has been banned from flying to Switzerland to attend the organisation's congress, a local court said Friday.

Monico Puentevella, a board member of FIFA's marketing and television committee, is out on bail after being charged in 2013 with misusing more than $500,000 in state funds when he was a member of parliament.

A clerk at the court hearing the case told AFP the 68-year-old, now the mayor of the central city of Bacolod, had asked for permission to visit Switzerland for "almost three weeks" for the congress, but this was denied.

Puentevella had successfully delayed the start of his trial, scheduled for May 14, by submitting a doctor's report claiming he was in hospital with "stress-related hypertension", according to the court's ruling.

But he later submitted a different doctor's report stating he was fit to travel to Switzerland for the FIFA congress, said the verdict, which was delivered this week and released to AFP on Friday.

The Manila court, which handles only corruption cases, described Puentevella's varying medical conditions as "incongruous" and "not acceptable", according to the verdict.

State prosecutors allege Puentevella illegally rigged a government contract worth about 26 million pesos ($583,000) meant to provide computers to state-run schools in his district.

Puentevella held the city's seat for three terms between 2001 and 2010. He is one of dozens of politicians who have been charged in recent years over similar scams, in which they are accused of stealing vast sums of money.

The ruling was handed down as Swiss police raided a Zurich hotel and arrested seven high-ranking FIFA officials this week at the request of the United States on racketeering conspiracy and corruption charges.

The US indictments, made against 14 defendants, pertained to tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks the FIFA officials allegedly took for lucrative television broadcasting rights for football tournaments.

The FIFA website said the board of which Puentevella is a member "shall advise the Executive Committee with regard to drafting and implementing contracts between FIFA and its various marketing/television partners".

Puentevella's chief aide said the mayor, also a former chairman of the Philippine Olympic Committee, was not in his office Friday and declined to comment on the case against him.

"I can't answer on behalf of the mayor," his executive assistant, Maya Fe Tresfuentes, told AFP.

Philippine Football Federation spokeswoman Virgie de Guzman also declined to comment, adding Puentevella did not hold any post in the national federation. -- Agence France-Presse

Flood Risks in Davao City

DAVAO CITY -- Six areas here have been identified by the city government as having high risks of flooding during the wet season, including the neighborhood where the Indonesian Consulate is located.

“We will be ready by June when the rainy season comes, but there are areas which will be prone to flooding, so we are constantly monitoring them,” said Yusop Ahmad Jimlani, chief of the Drainage Management Unit (DMU).

The six areas that concern the DMU are those along the Magsaysay Boulevard, even if most sections of the road, one of the main highways in the city, have now been elevated. Five other areas are Torres Street, Bajada, parts of Agdao, those within the vicinity of Savemore in Matina, and the part of Ecoland where the Indonesian Consulate is.

Mr. Jimlani said the special group Task Force Drainage organized by the local government is set to discuss possible solutions to minimize the flooding risk.

Mr. Jimlani said potential flooding in these areas, especially around the Indonesian Consulate and Savemore, is due to the high concentration of informal settlers in the vicinity, some of whom have built structures that block the drainage outlets leading to the rivers.

The local official said the city government is considering the demolition of these illegal structures.

Currently, DMU workers are working around the clock to clear drainage pipes of debris.

Mr. Jimlani said the city has been accumulating too much waste and garbage disposal management needs to be improved with their team collecting up to 16 cubic meters of waste daily from canals and drainage pipes.

A study on the Business Risk Assessment and Management of Climate Change Impacts of 16 cities from 2011 to 2013 conducted by the World Wide Fund (WWF) shows that even if Davao City is located in a typhoon-free zone, it is susceptible to dangerous floods in areas adjacent to the city’s rivers.

There are several rivers that run through the city and drain into the Davao Gulf. The largest of these waterways are the Davao and Talomo Rivers where thousands of residents are most likely to be affected in case of flooding.

“Unless and until this rainfall trend reverses itself, it is likely that Davao’s growing economy will have to manage increased rainfall, river flow and flooding,” the WWF-Philippines said, adding that the city’s population has been on the rise due mainly to migration.

In the past 20 years, the city logged over 692,000 new inhabitants and registered the highest population growth rate of 2.88% compared to other cities, based on the WWF study.

Nonetheless, the study placed the city as the least vulnerable to climate change given that it still has significant land area for building “new livable satellite developments” and has time to plan and implement strategies such as “climate smart” zoning. -- 

By Carmencita A. Carillo, Businessworld Online Manila.

ComVal: 7th Provincial Summer Sports Fest 2015

Compostela Valley Province - Gisugdan na ang dakong engkwentro sa paugnat sa kusog nga gihimo sa pinili ug hinashasang mga atleta gikan sa mga kalungsuran atol sa tulo ka adlawng  “7th Provincial Summer Sports Fest 2015.”

                                                                    

Gidula sa tulo ka adlawng paugnat sa kusog niadtong Mayo 20-23, 2015 ang mga Sports Events nga Basketball, Volley Ball, Soft Ball, Base Ball, Soccer/Football,  Athletics, Sepak Takraw, Chess, Badminton, Table Tennis, ug Lawn Tennis.

Ang “7th Provincial Summer Sports Fest 2015” gisugdan sa usa ka dakong Motorcade niadtong Mayo 20 sa buntag sugod sa kapitolyo paingon ug pabalik sa Poblacion Nabunturan nga diin miapil niini ang mga players, coaches, ang mga dagkong opisyal sa lungsod ug sa probinsiya, ug ang uban pang mga katawhan sa Comval nga mahiligon sa Sports.

Human sa Motorcade ang Opening Program nga gipanguluhan nila Provincial Sports Coordinator Francis Secuya ug Provincial Sports Consultant Senior Board Member Tyron Uy ug mga kauban nga sila SP Member Raul Timogtimog, SP Member Macario Humol, SP Member Joseph Jaoud, Education Supervisor Ruben Reponte, Municipal Sports Coordinators, ug si Executive Assistant Isabelo Melendres nga maoy mihatag sa Welcome Message ni Gov. Arturo “Chiongkee” Uy.

Mihatag sad sa iyang inspiring message ang taga Comval nga “2015 Palarong Pambansa Taekwondo Gold Medalist” nga si John Paul T. Canillo sa Maragusan, ug sa iyang mensahe iyang gipasabot nga base sa iyang kasinatian makab-ot gyod sa usa ka maayong atleta ang dakong kalampusan sa iyang mga pangandoy ug tinguha kon siya duol kanunay sa Ginoo, 100% nga focus sa training, ug nga duna siyay hugot ug lig-ong  pagsalig sa iyang kaugalingong katakos (self confidence) nga modaug sa dula.

Ang dula gisugdan human ang mensahe ug declaration of the Opening sa “7th Summer Sports Festival 2015” nga gihimo ni Senior Board Member Tyron Uy, ug matud pa niya nga gawas sa competition labing mahinungdanon sad sa gihimong indigay sa paugnat sa kusog nga mapromotar ang panagsuod ug panaghigalaay sa tanang mga atleta ug sports enthusiasts sa tibuok Comval Province. (Gilbert Cabahug/ IDS Comval)

Photo captions:

An action-packed day as Compostela Valley opens its 7th Provincial Sports fest on May 20 spearheaded by the Physical Fitness and Sports Development Council. Games such as Badminton, Soccer, Billiards, Chess, Sepak takraw, Volleyball, among others are played by young athletes from the 11 municipalities.  (a. dayao/ IDS Comval)

The Breakdown of The Philippines

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, Philippine Star Manila

Government no longer is working. Services have broken down. Neglected by the irresponsible political class, Filipinos are demoralized.

Most visibly collapsed is transportation. Metro Manila’s main commuter railway is so rundown it fields only eight three-coach trains during rush hour instead of the contracted 20. Yet the transport secretary continues since 2012 to pay the maintenance contractors, his political party mates, P67 million a month for non-work. The two other light commuter rails are falling apart too. Fares have been raised, but riders have no choice but to go on jostling for rides. To complainers the press secretary had this advice: go take the bus.

Meanwhile, the Luzon railway has been stopped after a derailment the other week caused by missing track links. So inept is the manager, the secret partner of one of the metro rail contractors, that he can’t guard his turf against scrap-metal thieves.

Drivers’ licensing has become a racket for bogus optometrists, and vehicle registration for emission testers and plate-release fixers. Land transport franchising now takes longer; time delay is the easiest source of grease money. Regulators have failed to wipe out monopolies in port handling and shipping.

Airports are decrepit. At the Manila international gateway, planes line up for hours because two runways remain unpaved to augment the existing mere two. Contents of passengers’ checked luggage are stolen at unloading, and all the general manager does is blame them for carrying valuables. Cabbies mulct passengers openly because airport cops own the taxis. Long contracted is the erection of a new passenger terminal at the international airport in Cebu. Yet the transport chief merely has refurbished the old one. All other international and domestic airports stink; overseers have not seen fit to ensure working toilets and air-cons at arrival-departure lounges.

Most felt by the poor are rising food prices. Agriculture officials continue to collude with hoarders to smuggle in veggies and depress buying prices from farmers. Thus are they able to buy cheap and sell up to 32 times higher. Forsaken more than ever are rice and coconut farmers. Department racketeers have made billions in kickbacks from overpriced rice imports and cargo handling. Yet they’ve ignored the coco scale insect infestation in Southern Tagalog because there was no money to be made from it. The secretary has failed on his promise to make the country self-sufficient in rice by 2013. So dismal is his performance that even former colleagues in Congress are asking him to resign. He refuses, on grounds that only his appointer-friend, the President, can make him do so. After which, he sets him up with another one of those blind dates.

 The Ombudsman long ago should have indicted the two secretaries. Documents and witnesses abound of their plundering. But they escape prosecution under the time-honored Philippine political tradition of “what are we in power for.”

Other basic services have vanished. Mindanao and Mindoro Occidental continue to suffer six- to 12-hour blackouts daily. Natural resources and local officials give away nickel, iron, and black sand mines to tax-evading, polluting Chinese nationals who use the metals to fashion weapons and spy systems against the Philippines. Nationwide agrarian reform should have been completed five years ago, but continues to idle along. Social welfare has gone the “Imeldific” way of hiding street children and beggars in beach resorts during major international conferences in Manila or Cebu. By the dozens, Filipinos still are dying of dengue epidemics, but health authorities hide it by trumpeting discoveries of more and more HIV-AIDS sufferers.

Captured by the very importers it regulates, Customs has become a haven of smugglers and influence peddlers. Internal revenue agents have the temerity to tell investigated taxpayers to legally pay just a third of what they owe the government, and hand over the balance under the table. Regulatory capture plagues as well the water and power sectors. That’s why water rates rise arbitrarily, and electricity in the Philippines is the costliest in Asia-Pacific. Meanwhile, the budget chief keeps busy thinking up new presidential pork barrels.

Peace and order have become mere buzzwords. Porch climbing, kidnapping for ransom, and street assassinations have become so rampant. Yet police higher-ups are preoccupied with gunrunning and kickbacks from the purchase of patrol jeeps and defective grenades. Jail wardens take commissions even from daily food allowances of detainees. Fire officers continue to sell inspection clearances along with homemade extinguishers.

Justice? There’s none when prosecutors sell cases to rich litigants, or convicts stay in VIP cottages from where they manufacture and sell methamphetamines. None when immigration agents let criminal aliens into the country for million-peso fees, and land registrars resist computerization in order to continue counterfeiting land titles.

National Defense? That term has come to mean the purchase of defective helicopters and night-vision goggles, overpriced armored personnel carriers and cannon shells, and fake bulletproof vests and helmets. And like in agriculture, they make excuses to avoid work from which no kickback can be made. Like, the foreign office has given diplomatic clearance to repave the airstrip of faraway Kalayaan municipality in the Spratlys, part of Palawan. Yet yellow defense officials say such act might provoke war with China.

Speaking of which, the government cannot even be imaginative enough to involve local officials and the citizenry in defending against Chinese invasions. It stopped an ex-Navy lieutenant in 2012 from leading a 2,000-boat flotilla of coastal dwellers to protest Beijing’s grabbing of their traditional fishing ground Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal). It has not harnessed the 11 million overseas Filipino workers, or even just the 400,000 seafarers who man every merchant ship in the world, to denounce Beijing before their employers.

Malacañang has limited itself to “paper protests,” as an ex-senator says. The one time it thought of back channeling, it sent a pro-Beijing traitor senator, who promptly lambasted the foreign secretary and Philippine ambassadress. That enabled China to seal off Bajo de Masinloc from Filipinos.

To all this, Malacañang spokesmen can only lie about the moment. Like, one day they say that the Executive has no influence over the coequal Legislature, then the next bamboozling Congress to create a Bangsamoro sub-state or else start counting body bags.

Public Storm Warning for The Philippines

Sleepy Nueva Ecija Town Wakes up for Mary Jane Veloso Drama

Sleepy Nueva Ecija town wakes up for Mary Jane Veloso drama

College grads energize PH rice farming

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Sleepy Nueva Ecija town wakes up for Mary Jane Veloso drama

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Organic farming is one of the means of livelihood for native folks in Talavera town in Nueva Ecija seen here in the Inquirer file photo. ARMAND GALANG/Inquirer Central Luzon

TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija—Whether through online searches or accounts on television and in newspapers, this sleepy town 161 kilometers north of Manila has drawn unexpected attention for the simple reason that migrant worker Mary Jane Veloso once called Esguerra village here her home.

Talavera has become part of the media landscape because it is also home to Maria Kristina Sergio and her partner, Julius Lacanilao, who are facing charges for their suspected role in sending Veloso to Malaysia in 2010, which eventually led to her arrest and conviction for smuggling heroin into Indonesia.

READ: Suspected recruiter emerges; may have saved Veloso

“We have been lending support for the cause of Mary Jane since [news about her conviction and scheduled execution emerged],” Mayor Nerivi Santos-Martinez said.

She said the local government had given relatives of Veloso financial assistance so they could travel to Manila and get support for her.

She said Veloso’s relatives also sought help from the local government when close family members, including her children, flew to Indonesia last week to be with her before her execution by firing squad.

At the municipal building here, a tarpaulin streamer announces the town’s plea to save Veloso from death row.

The streamer reads: “Save Mary Jane. The town of Talavera is praying for her deliverance.”

Unwanted attention

The town has seen how this unwanted attention has played out for Sergio and Lacanilao, who have sought police protection for fear of reprisal after news reports took them to task over Veloso’s predicament.

The two have been charged with human trafficking, illegal recruitment and fraud by the National Bureau of Investigation.

They have been ordered to appear in the Department of Justice for their preliminary investigation on May 8 and 21.

Sergio said the threats came from Veloso’s relatives.

But Imelda Magday, Veloso’s aunt, denied that the threats came from them, adding that these were most likely coming from members of an illegal drug syndicate.

“We cannot help but laugh at her statements. If indeed there are threats, these must have been coming from members of an illegal drug syndicate,” she said.

Veloso’s grandmother, Milagros Fiesta, also belied Sergio’s claims. “How can that happen? My children and other relatives are not here,” she said.

Sergio, in an earlier interview with the Inquirer, said she just helped Veloso find a job abroad, and did not set her up as a drug mule by forcing her to fly to Indonesia carrying a bag concealing illegal drugs.

Veloso became acquainted with Sergio, a native of Naga City, through Lacanilao.

Sergio, who described herself as a freelance marketing consultant for a realty company, said she helped Veloso enter Malaysia as a tourist so she could find a job after an offer in Dubai hit a snag.

Anti-Sergio rallies not allowed

Esguerra village chair Jimmy Dumaguit said life had never been the same for the community since Veloso blamed the couple for her woes.

“We have joined prayer vigils in Cabanatuan City for Veloso. However, we have not allowed anyone from holding rallies against Sergio and Lacanilao,” Dumaguit said.

“Sergio and Lacanilao are also our townmates. They have not approached us for assistance but if they need our support, we are ready to give them whatever we can,” Martinez said.

“We can’t dismiss them if they come. Let the court decide if they are guilty or not,” she said.

Dumaguit said Veloso and her parents used to own a house in the village, but they sold the property and relocated to Barangay Caudillo in Cabanatuan City.

Veloso married Michael Candelaria and they lived in a house adjacent to the home of Candelaria’s parents, he said.

Martinez said Veloso’s situation had drawn the town’s sympathy. With a report from Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon

How the Filipino Could be Proud Before the World

By: Thelma Sioson San Juan, Philippine Daily Inquirer

  

The Madrid Fusion Manila that runs until Sunday is a welcome, think-out-of-the-box idea that makes the world sit up and listen (or eat).

It’s not the run-of-the-mill promotion of Filipino cuisine, indeed of the Philippines.

“People have always asked me, ‘How do we promote Filipino cuisine?’” Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez told us at the Malacañang Palace grounds last Thursday, before the cocktail reception for the foreign and local chefs participating in the event.

This is the first time that this world-famous gathering is held outside of Spain.

“I’ve always said it’s the people, our chefs [who can best promote Filipino cuisine],” said Jimenez.

At sundown, guests entered the Palace grounds to the upbeat music of the Makiling Ensemble—energizing sounds emanating from traditional and ethnic instruments played by young artists (from the Philippine High School for the Arts in Makiling, Laguna, we presume) which included, we were told, Diwa de Leon, son of our good friends Anna Sarabia and NCCA head Felipe de Leon Jr.

The Diwa we last saw ages ago was a kid so we couldn’t recognize that young man with a hat on.

The music wasn’t rustic or stereotypical native. It was hip and cool—perfect for this innovative event.

The tourism secretary was as upbeat as the music. According to him, the country earned some P4 billion this year from the influx of foreign tourists.

Apart from that, however, what really gladdens his heart is how local tourism has grown by leaps and bounds—to a trillion pesos. That’s how much Filipinos are spending to travel around the country these days.

We were not surprised at all by that revelation.

Years ago, dining out became the new element in the Filipino lifestyle. But recently, the Filipino lifestyle has been marked by more and more leisure travel. Never have Filipinos been traveling so much than they do now.

It seems this travel frenzy began with the annual trips to Boracay. Next came exploring Palawan, Bohol, Cebu, on top of the weekend road trips to Tagaytay and Batangas.

Pinoys have even rediscovered Baguio more recently. The Lenten holidays the past two years in the summer capital have seen overflow crowds—and humongous traffic jams.

Filipinos are becoming more and more like Americans or even Europeans, who plan their vacations way ahead of time and make them the highlights of their year.

For instance, I have some friends who have booked their destinations for Christmas.

And many have travel plans for the long May 1 Labor Day weekend.

Whichever way you look at it, this must be a sign that Filipinos are somehow feeling secure in their own country, not the least of which is its economy.

Jimenez noted how, today, “there’s not a single province” in the country which doesn’t have tourism in its agenda. Indeed, provinces are recognizing the pivotal role tourism plays in their growth. It could be a viable revenue source, a way out of poverty.

This is why he’s proud of the fact that Filipinos themselves are becoming the No. 1 tourists in the Philippines.

But while there are those who bemoan another fact, that there are Filipinos who’d rather go on foreign trips than explore their own country, Jimenez feels that this could also be a good thing.

“The more my countrymen travel, the more sophisticated they become and learn to appreciate their country,” he explained.

Later that night in the Palace, in his brief speech, President Aquino noted why “eating is indeed more fun in the Philippines.”

He began by recalling how, at one time, before he became President, he and his aide were left to their own devices and attempted to cook—with dire results. They almost burned the soup.

That ice-breaker brought him closer to an audience not typical of Palace gatherings— consisting mainly of culinary professionals and restaurateurs, not the usual businessmen or politicians.

This must have been one of the rare occasions that a Palace event was held for the culinary arts industry.

Top Filipino chefs as well as visiting foreign chefs (“rock stars” of the era) were around. This was the eve of the series of activities of Madrid Fusion Manila, to be held the next day at SMX Convention Center.

From April 24 to 26, there would be lectures, demonstrations—and, of course, food tasting—by these culinary stalwarts, a “palate conversation” of sorts.

That Thursday night at the Palace, the “conversation” between Filipinos and their Spanish counterparts had somewhat started.

Margarita Fores, who helped Madrid Fusion Manila become a reality, prepared the cocktail buffet. By now she’s an expert in sourcing food from all over the country.

Mingling with the guests, Mr. Aquino would stop by the buffet once in a while, curious about the spread. He stood before the deck of pastillas and wondered aloud if we should explain to the guests a brief background of the sweets.

As it turned out, there was no need for that. The foreign culinary personalities feasted on the pastillas, longganisa and other native fare. No questions asked.