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Sa Ulo Ng Mga Nagbabagang Balita (Headlines in this Issue)

1. Tenth Anniversary Commemoration, Third Philippine Olympics Successful

2. URA Signs Cooperation Deal with The North Pacific

3. New Membership Drive Shows Promise As Ariusgrad Builds Ties with the Pacifics

4. Philippines Delegate Voting Power Drops in March with Forces Dispersed for Overseas Missions

5. PDF, PEFToN Leads Kalayaan War Games

6. PCARI Admits Independent Defender as New Member

7. Feature: Filipino Characters in Popular Anime

8. Feature: Filipino Words That Were Probably Loaned From Other Countries

9. Feature: COVID-19 Information Campaign

10. Contact Information

The Philippines as a refounded region traces its history back to January 17, 2011, when founders Puan Puri Naduk and Wolficity facilitated the process. In NationStates as a whole, however, the Philippines goes further back to 2003, with Elvaraland as the first World Assembly (WA) Delegate of the region. The initial population of the Philippines in 2011 was four.

Fast forward to 2021, the Philippines boasted a population of more than 100 members, a figure which had been sustained since last year. To commemorate the occasion, Delegate and President Ariusgrad hosted the 3rd edition of the Philippine Olympics, a tradition which began in July 2013. This year's regional meet, held on February 22 to 23, featured what was perhaps the largest contingent of participants with 12 nations from across the world sending their brave athletes to New Clark City.

As expected, the host nation Ariusgrad garnered the top spot as overall champion with three medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze). It was followed by Lanaograd (1 gold, 1 bronze), Manilenyos (1 gold), Emperio Maharlika (1 silver), Geolagarta (1 silver), and Kalayaan and Sabah Confederacy (1 bronze). Meanwhile, middle-tier nations which also participated so wonderfully despite having won no medals received the Bataan Award as symbolic for their perseverance. The awardees were Fort Ilocandia, Seludong, and United Adaikes.

The following is an excerpt from the host nation's closing remarks:

Ariusgrad wrote:

Sports, as they say, is a great unifier and a harbinger of peace. Despite the competitiveness, we learn that we are all part of a shared community, with a shared history, and a shared affinity for the well-being of all. It is from the sportive tradition that we have derived hardworking heroes and dedicated heroines who represented the virtues of true champions. For as we enter these games in top form, so should we also have satisfaction that we face the best of the best fair and square. May the Philippines continue to be a beacon of liberty and a symbol of freedom, not only in the political sense, but also in every aspect of life as we know it. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang mga atleta ng bayan!

Tenth anniversary celebrations also included remembrance of those who have fallen into inactivity throughout the region's long history, as well as planning for the future. For one, with the success of the Philippine Olympics which extended participation even beyond the region, international meets were eyed to be conducted on a more regular basis. Ariusgrad's emphasis on solidarity, sustainability, and anticipatory governance has also guided forward thinking for the next decade of the Filipino community here. Included in the agenda was raising leaders that will create leaders, as exhibited in the example of Lanaograd, who rose as Vice President of the United Regions Alliance under the active mentorship of Ariusgrad.

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On February 26, 2021, United Regions Alliance (URA) President Suvmia announced that the 30-strong alliance has signed a memorandum of understanding with The North Pacific (TNP). This agreement formalizes ties between the two entities, initiating an exchange of ambassadors and providing a foundation for future cooperation.

Signatories on the URA side were Founder Ellenburg, President Suvmia, and Vice President Lanaograd. Meanwhile, WA Delegate McMasterdonia and Foreign Affairs Minister Praeceps have signed on the side of The North Pacific.

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In line with tenth anniversary future planning, Delegate and President Ariusgrad has initiated renewed recruitment drive with Foreign Relations Minister Emperio Maharlika and Media Relations Minister Kalayaan and Sabah Confederacy being the focal nations for the campaign. Since 2021 began, the average number of entrants to the Philippines was pegged at 20. In the first week of March alone, 8 new entrants were already recorded. However, Regional Affairs Minister Lanaograd noted that while new members were coming in, the region's staying power or the capacity to keep membership remained low.

In the week after Ariusgrad announced its intention to launch the recruitment campaign, average weekly membership was at 111 (February 1 to 7), a slight increase from 110 on January 23 to 30, but this has decreased to 107 last week (February 22-28) despite the successful Philippine Olympics being conducted at this time. Lanaograd, however, expressed hope that the boost of recent regional activity might have been delayed due to factors beyond the control of the regional government. It also added that keeping membership above 100 for so long despite the circumstances can be attributed to the stability provided by the Ariusgrad administration for the Philippines.

Meanwhile, international relations continue to be a priority for Ariusgrad as the embassy count nears 160. In a bid to streamline the process, the Philippines delegate has released two weeks ago an embassy policy for the Philippines. It has provided special exceptions to the criteria for members of the United Regions Alliance (URA) and the Philippine Council of Affiliated Regions and Institutions (PCARI). This was also meant to reinforce the longstanding principle of Ariusgrad that the Philippines is not an embassy collector, but a region actively seeking potential allies.

In relation to this, the Philippines had successfully restored ties with The North Pacific (TNP, which Ariusgrad had informal talks in the period 2012-2013) and The East Pacific (TEP, which maintained embassies with the Philippines in the period 2017-2018). The two regions are the second and third largest regions in the world, respectively, in terms of total number of member nations. The Philippines has also opened formal relations with the West Pacific (TWP), one of the largest regions in the world. While these regions in particular had a history of raiding the Philippines, the circumstances have changed since. In fact, TEP was one of the members of the massive defender coalition which assisted the Philippines in the famed Christmas Invasion, an operation that involved over 70 invader nations.

The Philippines has also expressed its interest to be part of the Partnership for Sovereignty (PFS), a World Assembly voting bloc founded by the region's longtime allies, namely 10000 Islands, the Rejected Realms, and the South Pacific. The PFS aims to "defend the values of self-determination, positive community, and respect for the World Assembly and its processes." While Ariusgrad has yet to hear about their decision, it has stated that the Philippines being a member would be a great boost for the cause of small- and medium-sized regions, which remains to be well represented in the august halls of the World Assembly. The delegate added that since it is a legislative bloc rather than a military organization, it saw that the power of ideals and principles would prevail as an aspect wherein the Philippines could actively contribute.

All of the PFS members currently have a membership of over 250 nations. It has also claimed at least 1,580 WA votes from its delegates, second only to the World Assembly Legislative League (WALL) and its estimated voting power of over 2,000. The URA, which the Philippines has been an active member since last year, registered some 550 votes from its delegates.

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In a delegate voting power ranking released by Augustin Alliance, the Philippines dropped 24 places from 119th last month to 143rd in the world as of March 3. In a statement, Ariusgrad attributed this decline to overseas defense missions which the Philippines had committed to. This included a contingent for the much-watched liberation of The Embassy, the largest embassy collector region in the world prior to being invaded, as well as operators sent for rebuilding efforts of at least two small regions. Meanwhile, the delegate has assured that the region's World Assembly membership campaign remains ongoing as efforts continue to pour for the development of new members.

In a related development, the Philippines retained 100 percent delegate endorsement rate in the past two weeks. The remarkable endorsement levels of the Philippines was attributed to one of Ariusgrad's early defensive principles, that of cross-endorsement. While looked down by the region's members back in Ariusgrad's early years as Delegate (it was first elected in 2012) because it theorized a critical mass of at least 20 percent WA membership in proportion to total population and a minimum of 80 percent delegate endorsement rate, the significance of such best practice was seen in action with high influence levels reinforcing a tally of historic defenses. From 23 members above the influence level of 3,000 last month, the Philippines has now registered 24 members in the same level.

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Through the initiative of Philippine Defense Force (PDF) Teniente Letnan and Philippine Expeditionary Force to the Nations (PEFToN) Commander Fort Ilocandia, the Philippines has conducted military exercises dubbed as the Kalayaan War Games through an external platform. Done in conjunction with the commemoration of the EDSA People Power Revolution from February 22 to 25, the War Games saw the engaging participation of 16 of the PDF and PEFToN members to strengthen the region's defensive capacity, camaraderie, and internal coordination. Approved by Ariusgrad, the PEFToN is the affiliated fortress unit of the PDF dedicated mainly to overseas missions and regional defenses. Before the PDF and PEFToN, local affiliated units reporting to the Philippines Delegate such as the Philippine Army had been conducting both regional and global defense operations.

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Inaugurated on February 8, 2021, the Philippine Council of Affiliated Regions and Institutions (PCARI) was spearheaded by Ariusgrad with the Philippines as lead region to further embrace the growing Filipino community in NationStates. The latest member to join was the defender region The Remiferian Armed Forces, established by Remiferia on October 5, 2020 as a peacekeeping force. This development was seen as affirmation to the mission of PCARI as an inclusive consultative body for Philippine-themed regions and institutions all over the world.

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Barangay 143, aired on local television in 2018, and produced by ASI Animation Studios and TV Asahi, may be considered as the first Filipino-created anime. It featured a Filipino cast and a setting in the Philippines. However, Filipinos have also been featured in Japanese anime for quite some time. The following would be a few of them.

Mari Mutoh of Japan Sinks 2020 hailed from Cebu City. In her younger years, she was a swimmer. Later on, she worked in a resort hotel. Her surname came from her husband, lights engineer Koichiro Mutoh.

The cheerful and gentle Shirley of Fate/Zero was a master's degree holder at the age of 13. She was a resident of Alimango Island, supposedly part of Negros Occidental, where Kiritsugu Emiya was also raised.

From left to right: Eleki Battery was the Filipino junior lightweight champion who fought Tatsuya Kimura to a draw in Hajime No Ippo (locally known in the Philippines as Knockout). Morris West, believed to have been based in real life Filipino boxing world champion Morris East, was the Filipino middleweight champion who lost to Mamoru Takamura in a championship qualifier. Nefuma Ozca was also a Filipino boxer in the junior lightweight division. He was ranked 5th when he lost to Kimura.

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Considering the geographical and strategic place of the Philippines in history, it would not be a wonder how Filipinos managed to incorporate a number of foreign concepts as their own. The variety, however, might be more or less surprising with this feature of loan words that were originally not Filipino (in the order from left to right: English - other foreign language - Filipino).

Spanish (Spain)
airplane - aeroplano - eroplano
window - ventana - bintana
eagle - aguila - agila
ice - hielo - yelo
good fortune - buena suerte - buena mano

Sanskrit (India)
delay - antara - antala
deception - dvaya - daya
poor - dukkha - dukha
fiction - katha - katha
topic - paksha - paksa

Cantonese (China)
vermicelli - bihun - bihon
gold - kimtiau - ginto
mung bean cake - hopia - hopia
celery - khinchai - kintsay
spring rolls - lunpia - lumpia

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As early as January 2020, Philippines Delegate Ariusgrad had been concerned about the spread of COVID-19, still known then as nCov (novel coronavirus). Therefore, it had initiated an extensive awareness and information campaign in the region to help fight the said disease, considering even to this day, there were still variables of the illness which remain beyond human knowledge so far. This space is dedicated for the campaign, featuring a helpful infographic from Statista, utilizing various sources for its data.

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Index of past issues: Issue 1 (February 2021) | Issue 2 (Roleplay Edition)

Feel free to telegram or Discord message the following if you have any questions or comments!

• NS Philippines Discord Server

• Delegate and President Contact Info: Ariusgrad, @Ariusgrad#8167

• Vice Delegate and Vice President Contact Info: Ecnav Enitsuj, @Ecnav Enitsuj#4211

• Regional Affairs Minister and URA Voting Representative Contact Info: Lanaograd, @Lanaograd#0904

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