Where the buoys are
What should buoy Philippine sovereignty, and what should sink it?
Over two hundred kilometers off the Isabela coast in Luzon towards the Pacific Ocean is the 13-million-hectare Philippines Rise (imagine it bigger than the island of Luzon), erstwhile called Benham Rise before President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 25, which declared it a protected food supply zone where mining and oil explorations are prohibited.
The Philippine claim to this underwater plateau is one reward for decades of joint efforts among government agencies, scholars and international technical experts. It sets the record as the country’s first validated claim under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). The rich biodiversity that thrives on this submerged volcanic ridge hosts unexplored marine life and rare ecosystem.
This claim will be marked signifcantly when the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deploys lighted ocean buoys in the Rise. This should help the PCG navigate the area in routine monitoring and safeguard it from unauthorized activities.
Not to be missed in the simplicity of the rite of mooring these buoys in the Philippine Rise is the solemn symbolism of asserting our sovereignty on this side of the archipelago. Almost like a routine gesture it seems, but it’s in the confidence that we exude as we lay claim over what is rightfully ours. Power has always been a construct that thrives on sym bol i sm .
That precisely is crumbles in so what many embarassing ways when you have the leader of the land gushing forth a statement that our Hague victory that defined our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) over the West Philippine Sea is nothing but a “piece of paper.” Never mind the physical losses we have as China fortifies its hold on some of the WPS islands, just don’t devalue in loudest terms a hard-fought document that still commands respect in a community of nations.
The next blow comes after the President plays dirty old trickster over his jet ski campaign rhetoric, another insult against the gravity of the matter on sovereignty. The joke incidentally would cost billions in resources and damages to the WPS marine environment.
During the online ceremony, Manuel extended her sincerest appreciation to the CSC for granting the PRIME-HRM Bronze Award, in recognition of the city’s efforts to better the quality of service to all Angelenos.
“On behalf of the city government, I would like to thank CSC for extending their full support to the local government in its goal of providing a high standard of service to its constituents – one that they truly deserve,” Manuel said, delivering Lazatin’s message.
Angeles City Human Resources Management Officer Rowena Yambao shared that with the Bronze Award, the city reached Level II out of IV based on the CSC maturity indicators of the following four core HRM systems – Recruitment, Selection and Placement; Performance Management; Learning and Development; and Rewards and Recognition.
“With Level 2, it means that our HRM processes are guided by a set of defined and documented standard operating procedures responsive to the agency’s unique needs, and automation is being used to a certain extent,” Yambao said.
As a PRIME-HRM Bronze Awardee, the Angeles city government is granted privileges such as authority to approve appointments, subject to post audit; 20 percent discount for the HRMO or Agency Representative on trainings/ conferences conducted by the Civil Service Institute; endorsement or recommendation for scholarship grant offered by other institutions; nomination to CSC’s Certification Program for HRMOs subject to the guidelines to be issued by the Commission; exclusive membership to community of learners who shall have access to digital learning resources and other developmental opportunities subject to the guidelines to be issued by the Commission; announcement of the agency’s programs/ projects bureaucracy-wide through the CSC website; and, other benefits that the Commission may approve in the future.