Binay warned on joint development with China in Spratlys

Vice President Jejomar Binay

Vice President Jejomar Binay

While in Jakarta last week representing President Aquino in the 60th anniversary of the Asia-Africa Conference, Vice President Jejomar Binay articulated what could be a foreign policy shift for the country if he succeeds in his ambition to become president.

“China has all the capital and we have the property so why don’t we try and develop that property as a joint venture?”he said.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio

Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio

This is not actually new. Binay disclosed this in an interview with Manila Times’ Efren Danao last year.
Amid concerns expressed by President Aquino and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario over massive reclamations being done by China around their occupied reefs in the disputed Spratlys in South China Sea, Binay further said: “Personally, my feeling is we will continue to insist (on) our sovereignty over those properties but at the same time we hope we can create a situation where we can improve bilateral relations with China.”

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who has been conducting a series of lectures on the South China Sea dispute, said in his lecture last April 27 with judges and justices that joint development of the Spratlys with China is not possible without violating the Constitution.

Carpio said, “China’s offer of joint development in the Spratlys has one pre-condition – that the other state concedes to China indisputable sovereignty over the Spratlys. No claimant state has accepted, or will ever accept, China’s offer because acceptance means the accepting state must immediately vacate any island it occupies in the Spratlys since that is the consequence of admitting China’s sovereignty over the Spratlys.”

Carpio pointed out that the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) is part of Philippine national territory as defined in the Philippine Baselines Law (RA No. 3046, as amended by RA No. 5446 and RA No. 9522) and in Article 1 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution on the National Territory.

“Any President who concedes sovereignty over the KIG to China culpably violates the Constitution and commits an impeachable act,” he said.

Carpio also underscored Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution that mandates the “State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its xxx exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.”

“Conceding to China sovereignty over the Spratlys, whose surrounding waters facing Palawan form part of the Philippines’ EEZ, or even just allowing China to use and enjoy the Philippines’ marine wealth in these waters, violates Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution. Any President who violates this constitutional provision commits an impeachable act,” he said.

This idea of setting aside the issue of sovereignty for a joint development by claimant countries in the disputed waters of South China Sea was tried in 2004 by the administration of Gloria Arroyo.

The Philippines, China and Vietnam undertook the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) over a large portion of the Spratlys. Findings in that “seismic undertaking” would be used in the next phase of the cooperation which was joint development.

Even in the JMSU, they had to refrain from using the word “exploration” which foreigners are banned from undertaking in Philippine territory.

SECTION 2, Article XII of the Constitution cited by Carpio also states that, “The exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State. The State may directly undertake such activities, or it may enter into co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens.”

Another problem with the JMSU was, the area explored was all within the 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines. No EEZ of China and Vietnam was explored. It even covered Philippine territory that are undisputed.

Results of that exploration masked as “seismic undertaking” have not been made public but sources said data on the disputed Reed Bank provided by the Chinese to the Philippines was vague.

In 2008, Bayan Muna partylist questioned the JMSU’s legality before the Supreme Court, and the case remains unresolved.

At least, this early, Binay or anybody who wins in the 2016 elections is forewarned.

Night Terrors: an augmented reality horror game for smartphones

There are lots of horror games for smartphones and tablets right now but only a few can give you a really frightening experience. One good example is Night Terrors – an augmented reality survival horror game for mobile devices.

Night Terrors is a game that utilizes your mobile device’s hardware, augmented reality, and environment mapping for a truly immersive experience. The game involves you in the storyline and uses your entire house as the location of the game. All you need to do is turn off the lights, put on your headphones, and run the app. Watch the video below:

Night Terrors is made by Novum Analytics and is slated to be launched first on iOS (iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, 6+) followed by Android and Windows Phone. It is currently being crowdfunded on Indiegogo with a goal of US$70,000. If you want to help the developers, hit the source link below to make your contribution.

source: Indiegogo Night Terrors

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Alcatel Flash Plus to sell for Php6,490 on May 15

We’ve finally gotten final word about the release date and the suggested retail price of the Alcatel One Touch Flash Plus. This, after several inquiries and follow-up with the vendor in the last several weeks.

While our original release stated a target date of May 1, 2015 and a suggested retail price of Php6,990, nothing is really final until all things are cleared from different stakeholders (customs, NTC, distributor, vendor).

As such, the original plan was revised.

The release date is now scheduled for May 15. Lazada will still have exclusive distribution rights (for the first 3 months) so there will be no inventory in shops and kiosks until after August 15, 2015.

Lazada will formally announce the sale on May 12 during a media release.

The final SRP is pegged at Php6,490 for the 16GB model. Only the slate color will be released on the first batch.

You can read about our first impressions and benchmark results here.

Author’s Note: We were consulted by Alcatel as to the SRP of the Flash Plus and we gave 3 price points, Php6,990 being the highest SRP of all 3 suggestions. They gave us permission to report the Php6,990 price. This is the reason why we published Php6,990 in our previous stories — and, in case they changed their minds afterwards after we repeatedly urged them to go lower, the final SRP will still be below what we reported.

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Oppo to launch three new smartphones next month

We just received an invite for Oppo’s upcoming event and it looks like the company is set to unveil three new smartphones for the Philippine market next month.

Details remain undisclosed and only teased the “New Trio” on the invite but we’ll surely learn more about these new devices when they launch on May 12, 2015 so stay tuned.

How about you guys? Any guesses what Oppo phones will launch next month? Share it in the comments field below.

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Android Lollipop for ASUS ZenFone 5 (A500KL) now available

ASUS has released the Android Lollipop upgrade for the ZenFone 5 (A500KL). Other ZenFones to follow in May.

The upgrade has a software version of TW_V12.4.5.21. ASUS notes that users should update first to software version V11.4.6.94 before upgrading to the latest version.

ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE (A500KL) specs:
5-inch IPS LCD display, 1280 x 720 @294ppi
1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8926 quad-core processor
Adreno 305 GPU
2GB RAM
Expandable 16GB internal storage
64GB via microSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
LTE
Bluetooth
8MP BSI rear camera w/ LED flash
1080p video recording @30fps
2MP front-facing camera
2110mAh battery
Android 4.3
148.2 x 72.8 x 10.3 mm
145 grams

The firmware is 819.44MB in size and can be downloaded here. Follow instructions carefully to avoid bricking your device.

As for other ZenFones including the PadFone S, an Administrator at ASUS ZenTalk forums has posted the estimated OTA schedule for Android Lollipop. See below:

source: ASUS ZenTalk

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