LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Philippines: U.S
built 644 days ago
The Philippines is a member of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitrage Awards. The ICSID is now involved in the NAIA-3 arbitration. However, Philippine courts have, in several cases involving U.S. and other foreign firms, shown a reluctance to abide by the arbitral process or its resulting decisions. Enforcing an arbitral award in the Philippines can take years.
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Local civil records in many localities in the Philippines have been destroyed due to war and natural calamities. When a specific document is unavailable, it is advisable to obtain a certificate of non-availability from the local civil registrar. Church records, while useful as secondary evidence, they are frequently unavailable for the same reasons. Local parishes usually issue similar certificates of non-availability. In the absence of primary and secondary evidence, substantiated by replies from civil or church authorities, affidavits from two persons who have personal knowledge of the birth, death, or marriage which is in question are generally accepted. Since fraudulent documents can be obtained easily in the Philippines, the consular officer may wish to consider referring suspect documents in doubtful cases to the Anti-Fraud Unit, U.S. Embassy Manila, for investigation.
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The Philippines has a representative democracy modeled on the U.S. system. The 1987 constitution, adopted during the Aquino administration, reestablished a presidential system of government with a bicameral legislature and an independent judiciary. The president is limited to one six-year term. Provision ... was made in the constitution for autonomous regions in Muslim areas of Mindanao and in the Cordillera region of northern Luzon, where many aboriginal tribes still live.
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The U.S. traditionally has been the Philippines' largest foreign investor, with about $6.6 billion in estimated investment as of end-2005 (U.S. Department of Commerce data). Since the late 1980s, the Philippines has committed itself to reforms that encourage foreign investment as a basis for economic development, subject to certain guidelines and restrictions in specified areas. Under President Ramos, the Philippines expanded reforms, opening the power generation and telecommunications sectors to foreign investment, as well as securing ratification of the Uruguay Round agreement and membership in the World Trade Organization. As noted earlier, President Arroyo's administration has generally continued such reforms despite opposition from vested interests and "nationalist" blocs. A major obstacle has been and will continue to be constitutional restrictions on, among others, foreign ownership of land and public utilities, which limits maximum ownership to 40%.
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U.S. administration of the Philippines was always declared to be temporary and aimed to develop institutions that would permit and encourage the eventual establishment of a free and democratic government. Therefore, U.S. officials concentrated on the creation of such practical supports for democratic government as public education, public infrastructure, and a sound legal system.
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The U.S. Trade Representative removed the Philippines from its Special 301 Priority Watchlist in 2006, reflecting improvement in its enforcement of intellectual property rights protection. Potential foreign investors, as well as tourists, continue to be concerned about law and order, inadequate infrastructure, and governance issues. While trade liberalization presents significant opportunities, intensifying global competition and the emergence of low-wage export economies ... pose challenges. Competition from other Southeast Asian countries and from China for investment underlines the need for sustained progress on structural reforms to remove bottlenecks to growth, to lower costs of doing business, and to promote good public and private sector governance. The government has been working to reinvigorate its anti-corruption drive, and the Office of the Ombudsman has reported improved conviction rates. Nevertheless, the Philippines will need to do more to improve international perception of its anti-corruption campaign--an effort that will require strong political will and significantly greater financial and human resources.
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