Hot pursuit

Last Tuesday, we participated in a roundtable discussion with Assistant US Trade Representative for Asia and the Pacific Barbara Weisel at the US Embassy on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement or the TPP. The US has been aggressive in expanding the TPP with particular interest on Asia which has emerged as an economic powerhouse, as even the IMF has acknowledged. Definitely, the US is concerned at the growing political and economic role China is playing not only in the region but on a global scale, which is probably why US President Barack Obama is on a hot pursuit of countries to join the TPP. The once obscure pact after all can serve as a potential platform of economic integration, with member countries becoming the hub for trade and investment.

During last month’s East-West Center Senior Policy Seminar in Hawaii attended by influential policy makers, government officials, academic experts and private sector leaders, Weisel said the US needed to boost trade and investment with Asia-Pacific countries to create new market access for US companies. The huge Asia-Pacific market accounts for almost half of global trade and about 60 percent of world GDP – which offer great opportunities for increased US exports that in turn would create jobs for Americans. The TPP has all the makings of a free trade agreement, covering a lot of areas from rules of origin to sanitary issues, trade barriers, procurement and even competition policy. Its major aim is to reduce trade tariffs to zero by 2015. During his trip to New York, President Noynoy Aquino signified the Philippines’ interest in becoming a member of the TPP and engage the US in joint trade initiatives that would serve as mutual building blocks of economic progress.

Hewlett’s bigger presence

Despite militant groups’ protests that President Noy’s US trip, which produced $2.4 billion in new investments and the 43,000 jobs committed by American companies would only bring false hopes, many Filipinos are heartened at the prospect of better job opportunities. One of the American companies that has given solid assurances is Hewlett Packard which has signed a Letter of Intent with the government to explore ways to expand HP’s presence and investments in the Philippines, considered as a strong emerging market and valued for its strategic location in the Asia-Pacific region, one of its top executives disclosed. Not many also know that HP is also a leading global BPO company that has maintained its service operations in the Philippines since 1994.  

Dirty Harry

US Ambassador Harry Thomas may well be called “Dirty Harry” (a reference to the crime busting movie character played by Clint Eastwood) when he turns over a $1.1-million US donation to the Philippine National Police tomorrow in simple rites at the PNP headquarters. The donation according to the good Ambassador aims to help our police force acquire new equipment and give additional training to our SWAT teams. The PNP is in dire need of a lot of funding for new equipment and training in the light of what happened last Aug. 23. The US donation is just the beginning of what Ambassador Thomas describes as the continuing effort by the Obama administration to do what it can to help the Philippine government fight crime. Ambassador Harry has been summoned to Washington, DC ostensibly for consultations and a post mortem meeting on P-Noy’s successful trip to the United States. The Ambassador is leaving on Oct. 7. He will be away for three weeks.

Spy tidbits

 –– Everyone’s idol, legendary musician and DZRJ radio station founder Ramon “RJ” Jacinto, is set to launch a radio format featuring select columnists from The Philippine Star for commentaries, with a whole range of topics from business to politics to society to current events. This columnist has been invited by RJ to do a radio version of our Spy Bits column.

 –– After our friend Ricky Carandang’s candid remark at the congressional hearing about his boss accidentally leaving his cell phone behind during his US trip, an avalanche of cynical remarks came crashing in through blogs, column articles, etc. A Malacañang insider however confided to us that the real reason why P-Noy left his cell phone at home was because he did not want to pay the exorbitant roaming charges. According to the insider, the President made it clear from the very start that he will not make the Filipino taxpayer pay for his personal phone bills.

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