Ambassador grilled at U of T forum

Ambassador grilled at U of T forum

By Mel Catre

TORONTO–Peter Sutherland, Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines was grilled by University professors at U of T forum last Oct. 22, 2004. The lecture was sponsored by Asian Institute at St. Hilda’s College, Rigby room, titled “ A Forum on Current Trends in Politics and the Economy in the Philippines.” This forum was attended mostly by U of T professors, students, Philippine Consul General Alejandro Mosquerra and staff and two Community Workers, Pura Velasco and Mel Catre. Ambassador Sutherland survived heavy questions parlayed by the audience. A lively discussion of current issues in the Philippines was followed by heated exchange of opinions particularly on the Canadian mining initiatives and Live-in Caregiver processing in the Philippines. On the whole, Ambassador Sutherland did an excellent report about the Philippines.

After an exhaustive glossary of accomplishments by President Gloria Macapagal , Ambassador Sutherland painted a positive picture of the Philippines , one that would win “international confidence .“ Pres. Macapagal “wants to increase foreign investments.” He noted that Canada wants to focus on the ASEAN countries particularly because of the strength of China, Japan, India and the rest of the ASEAN members including the Philippines. Prof. Philip Kelly who studied at UP and lived in Cavite, fired the first question. His question was about the “wrinkles in the bilateral agreement between Philippines and Canada” particularly on the abuse, living conditions , processing of applications in the Philippines of Live-in Caregivers and the Canadian mining initiatives in the Philippines. Ambassador Sutherland recognized that there are indeed problems in the Philippines simply because of the great number of applicants and the process of “scrutinizing” and verifying the authenticity of the applicants’ qualifications. He emphasized that as Ambassador he does not have the power to reject or approve applications. This program is mandated by the Ministry of Citizenship and is under review and there could be possible “changes.”

On the question of “responsible mining”, he mentioned that a Canadian company from Vancouver aptly named “ TVI (Toronto Ventures Inc.) secured a permit to operate in Zamboanga del Sur and TVI is working with the government.

One Professor argued that TVI has hired a private army and TVI started to destroy the site against the objections of the Mayor and native people because the site is a sacred mountain worshipped by the Subanon an Indigenous people in that area. The Ambassador asked for the source of the information and was told that his source was from KAIROS a non-profit group based in Toronto composed of “all Canadian Churches” who recently sent an investigator to the Philippines. The Ambassador explained that there are two groups of people in the area. The first group is composed of the greater number of residents who are in favor of the mining because it would provide local employment and the second group is a small group backed by the Mayor who are against the mining because the “Mayor is getting commissions” from them. Most of them are small scale miners.

Consul Gen. Mosquerra asked about the economic impact of the President’s initiatives on the Olongapo and Clark developments for international trade. Ambassador Sutherland is hopeful that the programs introduced by the President will increase economic activities in the area and will encourage foreign companies to do business in the Philippines. He cited the outsourcing of employment in the area related to increased number of companies establishing “Call Centres.” Celestica is building an outfit to supply products going to the ASEAN countries.

When asked about his opinion on the latest news that a top Army General was arrested for graft and corruption and could possibly exacerbate to a Coup, the Ambassador commented that there is no danger of the impending rumor of an Army coup. If you remember, he said, “graft and corruption in the higher ranks in the military was one of the main complaints of the Young Officers’ takeover of the Oakwood Condo last July 2003.” Therefore, this arrest is in effect in line with their concerns.

Ambassador Sutherland also briefly outlined various projects of CIDA ( Canadian International Development Agency) in the Philippines. The budget this year is $25 million Most of the projects are designed to help SME (Small Medium Enterprise) and projects under the supervision of the local governments.