France - Message to the Philippines - Opening Diplomatic Ties

[Apingdaldal]

President Ramos finally finished his last hole after numerous putt attempts (some of his putts are just a few inches away from the hole but still missed). Everyone are laughing: the presidential staffs, the french guests, the caddies. All had a great entertaining watching both the Philippine President and VP Le-Pen playing. 1 1/2 hour more to go before 7 pm, everyone headed back to the Presidential Mansion to take a quick shower and change into formal attire. Once prepared, everyone will head to the conference room of Malacanang Palace's Executive Building named the "Borloloy Building ". The Borloloy Building is a bullet-proof/blast-proof and highly secured building inside Malacanang Palace; heavily treated with acoustic and electromagnetic insulation.

The entire Malacanang Palace is still cordoned from public view and media. Inside the conference room of Borloloy Building, PSG personnel ensure that the conference room is secured, free from any hidden cameras (apart from the security CCTV cameras installed inside the building), nor any devices that record/stream audio and videos. Once everything is cleared, the meeting finally begins.

Present from the Philippines side President Fidel Ramos, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Robert Barbers, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gen. Renato de Villa (ret.), Director-General of the National Security Council (NSA) Gen. Jose Almonte (ret.), Executive Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr., and Presidential Spokesperson Hector Villanueva. They will be seat in the left side of the conference table facing the French delegation from the other side of the table.

Bottled water, Kapeng Alamid (Civet Coffee), local Philippine tea, biscuits, and candies are served inside the conference room by lady staffs. The lady staff also politely reminded President Ramos and VP Le-Pen not to smoke inside the conference room and pointed at the smoke detectors installed on the ceiling.

@Moe

 

[Moe]

When entering the room and hearing the decree from the female staff VP Le-Pen shrugs his shoulders and smirks. "Well, I guess we can always duck outside during a break, can''t we Mister President?"

VP Le-Pen and Minister DuPont take their seats at the table, waiting for the host to announce the start of the meeting.

"You better be prepared, Minister DuPont. A lot is riding upon your presentation."

Minister DuPont, nods his head and smiles the smile of a confident man.

@Apingdaldal

 

[Apingdaldal]

Presidential Spokesperson Hector Villanueva would greet everyone, signalling the start of the meeting. After the Spokesperson's formalities, everyone starting from Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Robert Barbers, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gen. Renato de Villa (ret.), Director-General of the National Security Council (NSA) Gen. Jose Almonte (ret.), and Executive Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. would make a formal brief introduction of themselves. President Fidel Ramos would then speak:

"It's an honor to have hosted this diplomatic meeting, in fact the first diplomatic meeting made by my administration. Today, we wish to discuss the following, but not limited to: trade which includes the opening of sea and air routes, defense, the welfare of Filipino expats and tourists in France, and overall global outlook. Please don't hesitate to add more into our agenda for tonight."

President Ramos would then politely gesture VP Le-Pen to start of his agenda. In his mind, President Ramos want to hear what the French delegation has in mind and "has to offer" to jump-start the Philippine-France relationship.

@Moe

 

[Apingdaldal]

@Moe

 

[Moe]

"Thank you, Mister President. I believe Minister DuPont has a presentation for your delegation. Minister DuPont, would you care to begin?"

Minister DuPont rises from his chair, exhales deeply and then begins.

"I want to thank you all once again for the hospitality shown to my colleagues and my Vice-President. France is committed to this relationship. And a part of that relationship is French investment in the Philippine economy and infrastructure in a way that will benefit both countries and their citizens.

For starters according to our research, only one automaker has a factory operating in the Phillipines, and this to be honest, is a travesty. French automakers Renault, Peugeot and Citroen are extremely interested in building several factories that will produce cars, motorcycles and scooters built by Filipinos for Filipinos. You should never, ever have to import vehicles again. This project will create tens of thousands of both permanent jobs for factory workers, but also year-long to two-years temporary jobs for construction workers. The boost to both economies will be tremendous."

He pauses to take a sip of water and scans the audience to gauge their interest in his presentation.

"Moreover, the largest French telecom company Orange SA, is interested in building a Science Park in Manila. The Internet is the future, Orange SA, can assist in setting up the network in the Phillipines. Given Filipinos excellent ability in English, the lingua franca of business in the world, Orange SA wants to build a telemarketing industry in the Philippines that would be able to communicate with customers worldwide for French companies.

Orange SA also wants to build the Science Park to conduct research side by side with entrepreneurial and tech savvy Filipinos to push the boundaries of computer software, the internet and even the new cellphone technology."

Minister DuPont pauses. He has more to say, but he feels it is time to field questions from the Filipino delegation.

@Apingdaldal

 

[Apingdaldal]

President Fidel Ramos' team attentively listen to the initial presentations of Interior Minister DuPoint. As Minister DuPoint paused to give the Presidential team for their response, President Ramos and his team discreetly discussed/brainstormed over the proposals. After 1 minute of internal iscussion and consultation , President Ramos reaches for the microphone and replied.

President Ramos: "It is true that we only have one local car manufacturer here, Delta Motors. And to be very honest, their civilian vehicles are not much desired by the Filipino masses whom are, obviously, developed a taste for international automotive standards. Hence thats why Delta Motors is only survived by Department of National Defense for it's military vehicle. Philippines do have numerous factories from both Japanese and American car companies but are all limited to part manufacturing and assembly. And as you said, which has painfully hit the bullseye, Philippines will eventually import cars from Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford, etc. If only the entire car where manufactured directly here then prices would be significantly cheaper and of course jobs would be more compared to mere parts manufacturing. Hence, I fully welcome the idea of the French automobile giants to enter the Philippine market and set up car manufacturing factories here. The Philippines is open to foreign direct investors and will make sure that your business here in the Philippines will be both profitable and sustainable for both Philippines and foreign investors. Our Department of Trade and Industry will make sure French group of companies i.e. Groupe Renault and Groupe PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) will have smooth process in setting up their infrastructure and business in our strategic economic zones. We can also give you better tax incentives over those existing foreign companies here, who just do car parts anyway. for sure that will give them more reason to think of French car makers as their biggest competitor here in the Philippines or even in the entire Southeast Asia."


President Ramos would pause for a bit to drink his bottle water. He would then continue:


"I fully welcome, without second thought, Orange SA here in the Philippines. Currently there is only a telecom duopoly here: PLDT and Globe Telecom. These 2x local telecom giants have been "untouchable" for several decades now. I would welcome any foreign telecom giant to enter the Philippine telco market and challenge these 2 telecom "buwaya" (Tagalog word for crocodile). At the end of the day, all I care about is the Filipino people will enjoy fast and reliable telecom network services at a reasonable price. Now speaking of business process outsourcing (BPO) ventures in the Philippines, thank you for recognizing my countries' potential. We will fully support Orange SA for setting up their BPO offices here, both in the 3x Metro cities of the Philippines: Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao. And yes, we will grant Orange SA the permission to build their Science Park preferrably in Clark, Pampanga to give them near access to Clark International Airport."

@Moe

 

[Moe]

Minister DuPont would clear his throat and turn to a glaring, VP Le-Pen.

"By all means Mister president I apologize for critisizing Delta Motors. In my research, I found only one Japanese manufacturing plant, and I was of course, referring to them."

Minister DuPont pulls a but at his collar before continuing.

"Forgive me, Your Excellency and thank you for pointing out my rather glaring error. And, yes. As you stated this will be a tremendous boon for not only bth economies, but right now we are building a level of cooperation not seen by any two other countries as diverse and as far a distance as one could imagine two countries from being.

But here we are.

I think the first step would to be get representatives from Groupe Renault and Groupe PSA and your Department of Trade and Industry in a room together immediately. I know from their briefings that they are thinking at least 4-6 plants working 3 shifts around the clock producing 300,000 auto, scooters and motorcycles each a year. That would be over 70,000 alone in the manufacturing sector."

Minister DuPont stops. A wide smile on his face. He takes a sip from a bottle of water.

"I am sorry for the large smile. I am just so happy, so blown away with how negotiations are going. Orange SA, from what I have told is all in. And they are itching to get here as well.

They really believe this internet thing and cellphones will really become global. Faster than most governments are prepared for. They want to be the first foot in the door in Asia. They have the personnel, who speak German and Italian, but they prefer the English speakers to come to the Philippines and work with you.

But they made me emphasize, this is not some telemarketing set-up, where if a customer in Ottawa needs help we a TV or cd player they bought at a Carrefour, of yes, they are looking to get footing in the Philippines as well.

There will be those types of jobs, but in the proposed Manila Science park, we want am R&D center as well as a technical college built on site. Filipinos and French working side by side.

The Orange SA CEO, well, he is quite a crazy guy, but in the best way. He believes with this internet technology, technology will reset or, if you will start over every three to five years.

So in a sense, one team will be working on a new cellphone in 1998. The next team will already be working on how to make that cellphone obsolete at the same time for five years down the road when they believe it will be.

My fellow Ministers. President Ramos. Vice-President Le-Pen.

"We are taking the first steps towards making history. And we will do this as two nations. Not as one."

There is a slight pause amongst those in attendance.

With that Vice President Le-Pen rises from his chair. He starts to slowly clap. He keeps going until others rise with him.

He then walks over to President Ramos, shakes his hand and then give him a brotherly hug and whispers, "This. This. This. This is what we need. We'll talk outside afterwards."

He then breaks the short embrace, shakes the President's hand again, motions towards him as if to say, "My honor, Mister President, to let you conclude our first meeting."

@Apingdaldal

 

[Apingdaldal]

President Ramos would shake hands with VP Le-Pen. He would also conclude the meeting and tell his presidential staff that meeting is adjourned, and he'll continue his talks privately with VP Le-Pen.

As the Presidential team walks out from Borloloy Building, media personnel who were waiting patiently outside jostled to get a statement from the Presidential team. The Presidential Spokesperson, Mr. Hector Villanueva, gave a brief public statement for the benefit of the media:

"President Ramos and VP Le-Pen will still discuss a few more things but so far what has been concluded in our meeting, which I myself is excited to say to you, are... more French investments in the Philippines, more jobs for the Filipino people, and you'll see French cars in car showrooms and on the streets. That is all for now. Have a nice day everyone."

= = = =

Back in Borloloy Building, President Ramos and VP Le-Pen went to outside the balcony which has an overlooking view of the Pasig River. He would offer a roll of cigar to VP Le-Pen. Making sure no one is eavesdropping them, we would ask VP Le-Pen:

"Mr. soon-to-be President Le-Pen, may I ask what is the status of the French military? And who are your current defense allies?

@Moe

 

[Moe]

Grabbing his Zippo lighter from his inside coat pocket he extends his hand out to lit President Ramos' cigar before lighting his own. Le-Pen exhales a burst of smoke from his mouth before speaking.

"Well, mister President. As far as allies as of right now...zero. We have made some plans to conduct a joint exercise with the UK, but that is about all for now. As far as other countries, diplomatic talks have proceeded much slower than our own has. And with the French military, we have a large and capable navy, a solid ground force and a growing air force."

@Apingdaldal