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Wikitravel:https://wikitravel.org/en/Philippines

The Philippines Part 5

Foreign relations

The Philippines is a founding and active member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), an organization designed to strengthen relations and promote economic and cultural growth among states in the Southeast Asian region. It has hosted several summits and is an active contributor to the direction and policies of the bloc. It is also a member of the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Latin Union, the Group of 24, and the Non-Aligned Movement. The country is also seeking to strengthen relations with Islamic countries by campaigning for observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.The Philippines' international relations are based on trade with other nations and the well-being of the 10 million overseas Filipinos living outside the country. As a founding and active member of the United Nations, the Philippines has been elected several times into the Security Council. Carlos P. Romulo was a former President of the United Nations General Assembly. The country is an active participant in the Human Rights Council as well as in peacekeeping missions, particularly in East Timor.

The Philippines attaches great importance in its relations with China, and has established significant cooperation with the country. It supported the United States during the Cold War and the War on Terror and was a major non-NATO ally, before the major fallback of relationship between the Philippines and United States in favor of China and Russia. In addition, controversies related to the presence of the now former U.S. military bases in Subic Bay and Clark and the current Visiting Forces Agreement have flared up from time to time. Japan, the biggest contributor of official development assistance to the country, is thought of as a friend. Although historical tensions still exist on issues such as the plight of comfort women, much of the animosity inspired by memories of World War II has faded.

Relations with other nations are generally positive. Shared democratic values ease relations with Western and European countries while similar economic concerns help in relations with other developing countries. Historical ties and cultural similarities also serve as a bridge in relations with Spain. Despite issues such as domestic abuse and war affecting overseas Filipino workers, relations with Middle Eastern countries are friendly as seen in the continuous employment of more than two million overseas Filipinos living there.

The Philippines has an ongoing territorial dispute with Spratly Islands with China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam. The country Scarborough Shoal standoff in 2012 deteriorated the country's relation with China, when the shoal was grabbed by the Chinese which has been in Philippine possession until the standoff. Issues involving Taiwan, the Spratly Islands, and concerns of expanding Chinese influence are taken with a degree of caution. Foreign policy has been mostly about economic relations with its Southeast Asian and Asia-Pacific neighbors.

Military

In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the largest separatist organization, the Moro National Liberation Front, is now engaging the government politically. Other more militant groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the communist New People's Army, and the Abu Sayyaf have previously kidnapped foreigners for ransom, particularly on the southern island of Mindanao. Their presence decreased due to successful security provided by the Philippine government. At 1.1 percent of GDP, the Philippines spent less on its military forces than the regional average. As of 2014 Malaysia and Thailand were estimated to spend 1.5%, China 2.1%, Vietnam 2.2% and South Korea 2.6%.The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are responsible for national security and consist of three branches: the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine Army, and the Philippine Navy (includes the Marine Corps). The Armed Forces of the Philippines are a volunteer force. Civilian security is handled by the Philippine National Police under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The Philippines was an ally of the United States from the World War II with a mutual defense treaty between the two countries signed in 1951. The Philippines once supported American policies during the Cold War and participated in the Korean and Vietnam wars. However, the fallback of relationship between the two countries in favor of China and Russia resulted in the Philippines establishing deep defence ties and cooperation with the latter two, abandoning some military ties with the United States while affirming that the country will no longer participate in any US-led war.

Administrative divisions

The Philippines is divided into three island groups: Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. These are further divided into 17 regions, 81 provinces, 146 cities, 1,488 municipalities, and 42,036 barangays. In addition, Section 2 of Republic Act No. 5446 asserts that the definition of the territorial sea around the Philippine archipelago does not affect the claim over the eastern part of Sabah. Regions in the Philippines are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. The Philippines is divided into 17 regions (16 administrative and 1 autonomous). Most government offices are established by region instead of individual provincial offices, usually (but not always) in the city designated as the regional center. As of 2015, Calabarzon was the most populated region while the National Capital Region (NCR) the most densely populated.

Economy

The Philippine economy is the 34th largest in the world, with an estimated 2018 gross domestic product (nominal) of $371.8 billion. Primary exports include semiconductors and electronic products, transport equipment, garments, copper products, petroleum products, coconut oil, and fruits. Major trading partners include the United States, Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Taiwan, and Thailand. Its unit of currency is the Philippine peso (₱ or PHP).

The unemployment rate as of 14 December 2014, stands at 6.0%. Meanwhile, due to lower charges in basic necessities, the inflation rate eases to 3.7% in November. Gross international reserves as of October 2013 are $83.201 billion. The Debt-to-GDP ratio continues to decline to 38.1% as of March 2014 from a record high of 78% in 2004. The country is a net importer but it is also a creditor nation. Manila hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank.A newly industrialized country, the Philippine economy has been transitioning from one based upon agriculture to an economy with more emphasis upon services and manufacturing. Of the country's total labor force of around 40.813 million, the agricultural sector employs 30% of the labor force, and accounts for 14% of GDP. The industrial sector employs around 14% of the workforce and accounts for 30% of GDP. Meanwhile, the 47% of workers involved in the services sector are responsible for 56% of GDP.

The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis affected the economy, resulting in a lingering decline of the value of the peso and falls in the stock market. The extent it was affected initially was not as severe as that of some of its Asian neighbors. This was largely due to the fiscal conservatism of the government, partly as a result of decades of monitoring and fiscal supervision from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in comparison to the massive spending of its neighbors on the rapid acceleration of economic growth. There have been signs of progress since. In 2004, the economy experienced 6.4% GDP growth and 7.1% in 2007, its fastest pace of growth in three decades. Average annual GDP growth per capita for the period 1966–2007 still stands at 1.45% in comparison to an average of 5.96% for the East Asia and the Pacific region as a whole. The daily income for 45% of the population of the Philippines remains less than $2.

The economy is heavily reliant upon remittances from overseas Filipinos, which surpass foreign direct investment as a source of foreign currency. Remittances peaked in 2010 at 10.4% of the national GDP, and were 8.6% in 2012 and in 2014, Philippines total worth of foreign exchange remittances was US$28 billion. Regional development is uneven, with Luzon – Metro Manila in particular – gaining most of the new economic growth at the expense of the other regions, although the government has taken steps to distribute economic growth by promoting investment in other areas of the country. Despite constraints, service industries such as tourism and business process outsourcing have been identified as areas with some of the best opportunities for growth for the country. The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is composed of eight sub-sectors, namely, knowledge process outsourcing and back offices, animation, call centers, software development, game development, engineering design, and medical transcription. The IT-BPO industry plays a major role in the country's growth and development. In 2008, the Philippines was reported as having eclipsed India as the main center of BPO services in the world.

The Department of Science and Technology is the governing agency responsible for the development of coordination of science and technology-related projects in the Philippines. Research organizations in the country include the International Rice Research Institute, an international independent research and training organization established in 1960 with headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, which focuses on the development of new rice varieties and rice crop management techniques.

The Philippines bought its first satellite in 1996. In 2016, the Philippines first micro-satellite, Diwata-1 was launched aboard the US Cygnus spacecraft. The Philippines has a sophisticated cellular phone industry and a high concentration of users. Text messaging is a popular form of communication and, in 2007, the nation sent an average of one billion SMS messages per day. Over five million mobile phone users also use their phones as virtual wallets, making it a leader among developing nations in providing financial transactions over cellular networks. The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company commonly known as PLDT is the leading telecommunications provider. It is also the largest company in the country. The National Telecommunications Commission is the agency responsible for the supervision, adjudication and control over all telecommunications services throughout the country. There are approximately 383 AM and 659 FM radio stations and 297 television and 873 cable television stations. On March 29, 1994, the country was connected to the Internet via a 64 kbit/s connection from a router serviced by PLDT to a Sprint router in California. Estimates for Internet penetration in the Philippines vary widely ranging from a low of 2.5 million to a high of 24 million people. Social networking and watching videos are among the most frequent Internet activities. The Philippine population is the world's top internet user.

The travel and tourism sector is a major contributor to the economy, contributing 7.1% to the Philippine GDP in 2013  and providing 1,226,500 jobs or 3.2 percent of total employment. 2,433,428 international visitors arrived from January to June 2014 up by 2.22% in the same period in 2013. South Korea, China, and Japan accounted for 58.78% while the Americas accounted for 19.28% and Europe 10.64%. The island of Boracay, popular for its beaches, was named as the best island in the world by Travel + Leisure in 2012.[417] The Philippines is also one of the favorite retirement destinations for foreigners due to its warm climate all year round, beaches and low cost of living.