The little dolphin that could
June 28, 2008 by mlq3
Filed under Daily Dose
The Wall Street Journal (which, editorially, has previously been supportive of the President) greets the President’s arrival in New York with a raspberry: see the op-ed piece, Powering Down the Philippine Economy:
Tomorrow in New York, Ms. Arroyo will woo well-heeled potential investors at a $5,000-a-table luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria, where she is expected to give an upbeat presentation on Philippine infrastructure financing and ongoing privatization efforts.
Ms. Arroyo’s boasts ring hollow, however, given her country’s inhospitable climate for foreign investment… Even worse, Ms. Arroyo and her political allies back in Manila don’t seem to care that they are sending signals that would cause any potential investor to cringe.
Take the most recent bungle: the liberalization of the notoriously inefficient Philippine energy sector. In 2001, a newly sworn-in President Arroyo signed legislation calling for at least 70% of the government-owned National Power Corporation, known as Napocor — long one of the country’s worst symbols of inefficiency and corruption — to be privatized. Even though Ms. Arroyo’s administration has dragged its feet in following through with the reforms, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 is working, albeit slowly.
Today, slightly more than 40% of Napocor is privately owned… By year’s end, the reform act’s goal of privatizing at least 70% of Napocor could be realized.
But will Manila allow that to happen? Last December, the Arroyo administration announced that it wanted to amend the reform act by Christmas, to ensure that the government would retain control of at least 50% of Napocor. Hardly for the first time, the government in Manila was reminding foreign investors that the economic goal posts could be moved in the late innings. In the House of Representatives, the antireform legislation’s chief sponsor is the chairman of the energy committee, Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, the president’s son.
When the heads of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce protested the roll-back of Napocor’s privatization in a May 27 letter to Ms. Arroyo, the president’s allies in the senate exploded in nationalistic outrage…
“My goodness, get out of this country if you can’t live with us,” Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile told Mr. D’Aboville, who has lived in the Philippines for 31 years and is married to a Filipina. Added another presidential ally, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, “You may not continue. You do not determine what you can say or not say. I determine.”
Unembarrassed by such a display of legislative intemperance, Ms. Arroyo has brought Sen. Santiago with her to New York, where the president is lobbying the United Nations to give her a seat on the International Court of Justice. Asked by reporters right after the hearing if the senators’ June 6 bullying of the foreign businessman had been inappropriate, presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said he didn’t think so. A few days later, Ms. Arroyo — possibly having been informed that several European ambassadors were prepared to file a formal diplomatic protest — came out with a statement thanking foreign investors for being part of her country’s “success.”
Ms. Arroyo has argued that government control of power plants is a more efficient way of keeping electricity prices down than private competitors who will compete in the marketplace — surely a strange argument from a woman who has a doctorate in economics. Making matters worse, her administration is engaged in a separate but equally embarrassing power struggle for control of the board of directors of the Philippines’ largest private electricity distributor, the Manila Electric Co. The company is controlled by the powerful Lopez family, one of the Philippines’ most enduring oligarchies. In addition, the Philippine government holds a 30% stake and is represented on the board.
To be sure, there is a case that could be made that Meralco, which controls some 70% of electricity on the big island of Luzon, is a monopoly that should be subjected to the pressures of real market competition. But the political intensity of the Arroyo administration’s personal attacks on the Lopez family suggests — especially to watching foreigners — that an agenda is at work that goes beyond economics. Specifically, the fight between Ms. Arroyo’s family and the Lopez business empire seems to personify the latest example of feuding family clans that have long been a major source of the Philippines’s economic and political fragility. In the early 1960s, when Ms. Arroyo’s father, Diosdado Macapagal, was president, he also tried to wrest control of Meralco from the Lopez family.
Ms. Arroyo needs to understand that when Manila promises to open up major sectors of the economy to reforms that would foster real competition, those promises should not be broken.
Over at Inquirer Current, I pointed out the ratio of Filipino to American congressmen was 5:1. The Inquirer editorial for today points something out I’d observed in my column yesterday:
Is it wrong to criticize the President for not returning to the country immediately?
To answer the question, we must first respond to the image engineering campaign already underway that seeks to paint the President as taking the extra step, as going out of her way, to oversee recovery and rehabilitation efforts in the Philippines. Malacañang has highlighted the fact that she has been conducting videoconferences with the Cabinet and the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). On June 24, the meeting was held at 3 in the morning; the following day, it was held at 1:30 a.m.
Allow us to point out the obvious, which seems to have been buried under the publicity avalanche: While it was very early in the morning here in the Philippines, it was the middle of the day in Washington, D.C. In other words, it was the Cabinet and NDCC officials who went out of their way, to meet the President’s schedule.
We have long noted the President’s extraordinary grasp of detail, and even her many political enemies acknowledge her prodigious capacity for work (in marked contrast to her predecessor), but it seems a cruel joke to force her officials to attend meetings in the wee hours, just so she can be seen to call the shots.
Her main ally in Congress, House Speaker Prospero Nograles, argues that Vice President Noli de Castro was “more than capable†to serve as “caretaker president†(gratuitously adding that this was “precisely why we have him as our vice presidentâ€). But this able-caretaker argument runs directly counter to the President’s idea of government-by-video-conference. If Vice President De Castro is in charge, why doesn’t Ms Arroyo allow him to take charge? Her intervention by “modern communication technology†undermines the vice presidency, at the exact time her allies in the administration coalition seek to build up De Castro’s reputation.
More tellingly, her use of “modern communication technology†undermines her own case for sticking to the original schedule. If there is a pressing need for the President to actively coordinate the work of the Cabinet and the NDCC at this time of shock and grief, what is she still doing in the United States?
Latest figures put death toll from Typhoon ‘Frank’ at 622 with 2.4 million people displaced in 14 regions. And as if things couldn’t get worse, they did: ‘Princess’ dives, retrieval stopped due to chemical shipment. And Sulpicio’s yard yields 7,000 sacks of ‘smuggled’ sugar.
Passenger shipping industry drowns while budget airlines fly high points out, though, that if it had happened in previous years, the casualty list from the capsizing of the Princess of the Stars might have been much higher:
The ill-fated Sulpicio Line ship plying the primary Manila-Cebu route had a capacity of 1,992 passengers, excluding crew members. But when it encountered rough waters during a typhoon and capsized in June 21, it was only carrying over 700 passengers and more than a hundred crew members.
It means the massive 23,824-ton ship was going ahead with an expected business-as-usual day with just about 40 percent load.
Compare that with another ship also owned by Sulpicio Line, the M/V Dona Paz, which sank in 1987 after colliding with a small oil tanker. Its weight was just 2,215-ton, a fraction of M/V Princess of the Stars’.
M/V Dona Paz had a capacity of only 1,518 passengers, but after the tragedy it was found to be carrying more than twice what it was allowed. Investigations following its sinking showed that it was overloaded and up to 4,375 people onboard died. It has gone down in history as the worst maritime disaster during peacetime.
The M/V Dona Paz tragedy, however, occurred during the Christmas holidays, a peak season in the travel industry. M/V Princess of the Stars, on the other hand, was traveling during a traditionally low season…
…Depending on the season and timing of purchase, a round trip plane fare between Manila and Cebu could go as low as P3,000. In the past, round trip boat fares on the same route hovered between P4,000 to P8,000. But even at reduced rates of up to a little over P2,000, the small difference with the cost of flying have enticed some to convert.
The airlines could afford to offer these low fares after they adopted a sophisticated pricing strategy that guided budget carriers in allocating more discounted seats during the lean months of June to October to improve their load factor, or the measure of how full the aircraft is. Thus, even on lean months, Cebu Pacific’s load factor can go as high as 80 percent.
Flying budget airlines is not only more affordable now, it is also more convenient. A Manila-Cebu boat ride, for example, takes almost a day. A plane ride, on the other hand, takes just over an hour…
…According to the Philippine Ports Authority data, in 2005, overall recorded passengers taking sea-based transport grew by only 2.55 percent. It has been downhill since.
In 2006, total sea craft passengers dropped by 8.27 percent. That’s only 42.56 million passengers for the entire year. Data for 2007 is expected to show that passenger counts plunged deeper.
The business decisions of market leader and publicly listed Aboitiz Transport Services in 2007 provided indications on where this industry is headed. The dramatic reduction in their passenger loads cut their revenues up to 30 percent in 2007.
To adapt, they have converted several of their passenger-cargo lines, under the Superferry brand, to accommodate more cargo than passengers.
This means shipping companies such as Aboitiz Transport and Sulpicio lines have joined another competitor—the government-backed roll-on-roll-off (RORO) operations, which resulted in lower operating costs not only for cargo operators but also as another substitute for passengers who still could not afford flying.
Roro is less expensive for those involved in the cargo business because of its multi-port approach. For example, a Roro boat that leaves the Batangas port can pass by various smaller islands, such as Mindoro and a few more islands, which are not traditionally serviced by other big boats because business there used to be not as brisk as, say the likes of Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro, where there are more commercial activities.
Roro, which was launched in 2003, has since led to changes in areas and islands that used to be left behind in terms of economic development. According to Henry Basilio, a transportation export from the University of Asia and the Pacific, cargo traffic for Roro vessels in 2003 was only at 30,000 metric tons. He said this has since increased exponentially to 240,000 metric tons recently.
And the usual gruesome panic: DOH allays fears of fish poisoning. At least here’s some slightly less depressing marine-related news: people have been entranced by the heroic but tragic story of the dolphin that tried to save a fisherman: but both died. See the reactions of Pine for Pine, and view from the sugar island.
The United States gave $100,000 and sent a carrier task force (helicopters from the USS Ronald Reagan are delivering food, water, and generators to Panay; US Navy divers have been helping with efforts at the wreck of the Princess of the Stars); the People’s Republic of China gave $100,000 also, South Korea donated $300,000.
A major fundraising effort’s begun overseas with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent appealing for $8 million for typhoon aid to the Philippines
all these things that i’ve done lists the different ways (direct deposits to bank accounts, credit card and online donations, even donations through SMS) people can make donations to the Philippine National Red Cross.
Individual bloggers have taken to propagating information for those who want to make donations for specific locations. Touched by An Angel has joined an effort to help the children of San Fernando, Sibuyan Island (see Sibuyan mayor cries: We are victims, too). Clothing, books, toys, and food gathered for the kids will be sent through the Red Cross.
Phoenix Portal recounts how a group of animators got together and helped out in relief efforts in Iloilo, with the help of SM Foundation.
Much more needs to be done.
Kalibo residents going hungry, still waiting for relief:
Because of limited supply, the prices of all commodities have gone up. A ganta (2.4 kilos) of commercial rice, which sold at P65 to P70 before the typhoon, now sells at P120 to P150. Fortunately, the National Food Authority loaned the municipal government several sacks of rice. Rebaldo said these have been distributed to the poorest residents of the different barangays. But the supply will not last very long.
“These are all on loan. We don’t have money in the municipal government,” Rebaldo said.
The flashflood also killed most of the livestock of the town. “In one barangay, 200 cows drowned,” the mayor said. Many pigs, chicken and carabaos also died during the typhoon, he said. Water reached a low of 8 feet to a high of 12 feet in the entire town. The waters are gone now but mud is up to one foot high. Kalibo is the catch basin of Aklan. (Aklan means river in English.)
The individual stories are what matter, now, and here they are: Ella’s Virtual Nook has photos of the damage done to New Washington, Aklan, including the wrecking of the blogger’s own home.
In Romblon, JPMonje.net gives a thorough account:
Typhoon Frank’s gusty winds and heavy rains where experienced in Tablas island in Romblon Saturday morning. I thought the storm lashed out through the night until I found out that it hasn’t passed by the island yet. The electricity in our shop in Odiongan, Romblon suffered low voltage problems which started last Friday night. It was difficult to acquire some updates in the Internet about Frank’s projected route since power outage is intermittent. Add to that the mobile carrier signal there drops out every time. In a nearby store, I bought some eggs for our breakfast. Mrs. Norie who man the store informed me that there had been a sea mishap happened near Sibuyan Island. Later that morning, I recieved conflicting reports that all the passengers aboard the ship died. Some said there were a handful of survivors. A tidal wave was reported also in Alcantara, Romblon which I assumed it was a storm surge that hit the area.
My companion and I decided we should close the shop for that day. Since the typhoon signal in Romblon had been raised from 2 to 3, it is better that we call it a day-off to us and for our two secretaries. Since it was pouring that time, we decided to bathe ourselves in the rain and traverse the road leading to the famous “Baywalk†in barangay Tabing-Dagat. I managed to fight the freezing temperatures while gusty winds and rain hit me. It took us 15 minutes to reach the area. Upon seeing the area, debris were scattered everywhere. Stalls and cottages were destroyed and big brown waves came rushing into the shore. This could take days to clean up when the storm’s gone. The government spent more than a million pesos to rehabilitate the baywalk area. Good thing the new light posts like that in the Roxas Boulevard in Manila survived the vicous winds. We roamed the area and went back to the shop 30 minutes later.
Around noon, the power went back and I tuned in to the radio for news about the vessel tragedy. It was confirmed, the vessel “Princess of the Stars†of Sulpicio Lines capsized near Sibuyan Island. I was a horrific tragedy and I felt bad learning that there are few passengers survived. Sibuyan Island’s surrounding waters had been always rough even without a storm based from my experiences travelling there before. With that in mind, I could not imagine how big the waves were at that time of the storm. It was unbelievable that the largest ship in the Philippines could capsize like that.
The storm arrived in Romblon around 5:30 pm and brought strong winds and pouring rain that night. I took my digital camera and recorded a video of the storm inside the shop before dark. I hope I could upload it and post it in my blog. The next morning, only a handful of GI sheets, uprooted trees and trash clutter the streets.
In Roxas City, news reaching chemical rhapsody isn’t good,
Right now, my mother has to travel to Roxas City in search of a photo processing shop so she could have the pictures developed, as well as coordinate with DepEd Capiz. She’s been working closely with concerned agencies and they’re putting together a situational report for an upcoming meeting with the President.
My in-laws, however, said the electricity in Roxas City is still too feeble and could only power lights — not enough output yet to power an establishment. I hope the more-established shops there have their own generators. Otherwise my mother would have to go for Iloilo.
…as confirmed by Bloggy Blog: A College Student in Capiz:
Some parts of roxas city, capiz have no power supply because of the damaged hits by typhoon frank last saturday. According to Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council(PDCC) in the Province of Capiz, the number of Barangay affected by the typhoon frank are 47 brgy in roxas city, 5 were died, 5 were also injured, and 6 persons are still missing. Not only roxas city was affected in this typhoon frank but the other places also in western visayas were affected.
In Iloilo, Barangay OFW reprints an email from a nun, Sister Fidelisa Portillo, who recounts the situation at Aklan and then,
But as far as storms go, this is nothing. The wind was not that strong. Iloilo has experienced typhoons far, far worse than this. Which is why it was an utter shock for me when I turned on the radio at 1 pm nga grabe na gali ang situation in the city and Pavia. By 3-4 pm, a lot of calls were coming in asking to be rescued. We were caught flat-footed and we were really not prepared for this. It was each to his own.
Even the radio reporters felt bad. There really was no way to get to those who needed to be rescued. Just listening made you also feel bad. Each town knew they’re on their own. Roads were under water, bridges had collapsed. The city was able to borrow 10 jet skis, some rubber boats and two pump boats. 7 pm pa lang, naguba na ang pump boats.
The family of Mayor Treñas was rescued out of their house at past 10:30 pm. Big boys are not supposed to cry, but several mayors were crying, their voices breaking! Out of helplessness at the overwhelming cries for help nga wala man sila mahimo.
Vivian called the Disaster Coordinating Center to help her sister in Alta Tierra but she was told that there’s nothing more they can do at the moment.
The sugar central in San Enrique had 10 feet high of water, tunaw ang sugar. The NFA warehouse, flooded ang sacks of rice nga bag-o lang na deliver. For the first time ever, would you believe, the road from SM City up to the Marina had waist-high water? A lot of people, among them, one of George’s med reps spent the night at SM City. It became an evacuation site of sorts sang mga surrounding baranggays.
SM opened their food court area and the canopy and stairs to accommodate people. And they had to close the malls yesterday and today. School will resume on Wednesday. Now, there’s cleaning up. Nagakaubos pala diri. The mud can’t be rid of by just hosing it down. Sobra 1 foot ang thickness sang mud.
Worse, some areas will take 4 to 5 days for power to be back. Ang area Jaro up wala pa water coz the water pipes from Maasin are broken. Wala ni rich or poor subong sa areas affected. All of them are buried in muck.
By way of village idiot savant, the testimony and pictures of Bored Blather: mud, mud, everywhere.
And Bits and Pieces of Roxie provides snippets from typhoon-related stories:
*Gigi and her daughter were trying to save their television, when they saw a snake slither through the water. Plok! Down goes the tv under water, and up they run to the second level of their house.
*Nora spent three days on top their roof. She lived near Jaro CPU area. Saw her yesterday, puffy eyed and dead tired. She was able to save three backpacks of belongings and the rest were stuffed in two plastic bags.
From someone, Nostalgia, on an unidentified island:
Typhoon “Frank” hits our island at around 3 p.m., at first it was just signal number 1, but eventually turned into number 3.Apprehensions flood my mind as the storm brought down heavy downpours and very strong winds. We were covering the windows with heavy blankets just to fend off splashes of water and laid out on the floor rags and old clothes to absorb the rainwater that has finally seeped in.At around 7 p.m. the wind grew stronger and trashings and poundings grew louder and louder. Our house being the tallest in the neighborhood almost had all the beatings of the storm. It lasted until the wee hours of the morning, the longest that I’ve witnessed so far. By the morning, the intensity of the damage spread before our eyes. Whew!
And from a foreign tourist, in Adventures in Asia 2008, tracing their journey from Camiguin to Manila to Taiwan:
The night before we were due to leave for the mainland all the ferries had been cancelled and the part of the beach that wasn’t already under water was constantly beaten by frothing waves. Amazingly, the wind had eased by morning and we felt lucky that we wouldn’t be missing any of our upcoming flights. At the airport, on our way from Cagayan to Manila, I made the mistake of thinking that we had a good chance of experiencing our first on-time departure with Cebu Pacific Air. 7 hours later, freezing from the powerful A/C and braindead from watching the same five horrible commercials on loop in the departure hall (literally a big room with nothing but chairs and said crappy TV) the loudspeaker announced that all passengers should go through security and get ready to board. As if we hadn’t already been ready and waiting for half the day!
The Manila that we landed in was completely different from the sunny place we had left about a month earlier. Palmtrees looked like they would snap in half from the gale force winds and it was difficult to find shelter from the downpour. During the cab ride to our hostel we were in the midst of scenes I’ve only seen on the news before – people wading in knee-deep water surrounded by cars that should have been rowed rather than driven down the street. The disappointment of our flight to Taiwan having been moved forward by a day so as to avoid Frank, who was supposed to have been wreaking havoc in Taipei around the time we were due to land, was tempered by our discovery of Manila’s shopping malls. We were luckier than many people in that the main damage caused by Frank was to our bank accounts!
And it’s inevitable paranormal concerns have been raised, see sweet n sour and the more elaborate theory of Ang Umalohokan on “The Romblon Triangle”:
A lot of folklore surrounds the story behind the Romblon Triangle, from mermaids to cursed seas. Even galleon crews plying the Sibuyan Sea as they follow the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade route are enchanted by the waters of the area. Everytime a galleon enters the waters, special prayers and offerings are performed to appease the spirits haunting the area.
But one well-known legend behind the countless of maritime disasters in Romblon was the legend of a certain Lolo Amang. Lolo Amang is said to be the Flying Dutchman of Romblon, a local version of the famous Cape of Good Hope ghost ship. Lolo Amang is said to frequent the waters of the province aboard a huge golden boat at night. His boat is so beautiful and shiny that seafarers can see it even a mile away. Once lured by the light of his golden boat, eyewitness claim to see a huge party aboard the ship with fair-skinned women, music and food. One eyewitness of the M/V Don Juan tragedy reported seeing Lolo Amang’s ship before it collided with M/V Tacloban. The captain tried to avoid the ghost ship but ended up colliding with the ill-fated cargo vessel.
Lolo Amang is so well known in Romblon that some of his believers even collected taxes from unsuspecting residents. My great-grandfather who was the police chief of Banton Island in Romblon reportedly investigated this scheme and found out that some albularios or quack doctors are taking advantage of the Lolo Amang myth. When interviewed, these herbalists claim that Lolo Amang resides in a secret lair in a certain Barangay Cayatong in Looc or Ferrol town in Tablas Island. Up to this day, such place in Tablas is still shrouded in mystery, with reports of mysterious ships being sighted and late night parties in the middle of coconut groves were heard of.
In the end, there is not concrete evidence to prove the Lolo Amang myth. It could’ve been invited by the crews of the sunken vessels themselves to escape liabilities. It could also be a deliberate hoax to instill panic and fear among the islanders of the archipelago. It is only a matter of circumstances that made the waters of Romblon famous in the history of maritime disasters.
We keep hearing that the sinking of the Dona Paz was the “worst peacetime maritime disaster in history.” So what was the worst wartime maritime disaster? The sinking of the “Strength Through Joy” ocean liner Wilhelm Gustloff in 1945.
Also, here’s another thing to worry about: RP faces corn shortage: Official blames high prices of fertilizers for crisis.
In a consultative meeting Thursday on the commercialization of organic and microbial fertilizers, Dennis Araullo, the head of GMA (Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) Corn Program, said the high prices of inorganic fertilizers are forcing many farmers not to plant corn, or cut their planting of the crop by half. Corn in the Philippines is largely grown for animal feeds.
If the national production of corn does not meet the 7.9-million metric ton target for this year, the country may have to import the grain. This option poses problems, since corn is in short supply worldwide because it is a major biofuel crop…
…The Department of Agriculture has declared a no-corn importation policy for this year, even if about 120,000 metric tons of corn were imported in 2008.
Araullo said a corn shortage will badly hit the domestic livestock and poultry industry, possibly forcing the closure of many firms in that industry.
If that is not enough, people who eat white corn in place of rice will also be affected, and might switch back to eating rice. Based on estimates of local food experts, up to 15 million Filipinos are eating white corn instead of white rice.
Filed away for future reference department: Beyond brain drain: Human capital increasingly votes with its feet in The Economist. Link to Tourism stakeholders: No other way but to train people to replace those who go abroad and New hires in Metro Manila firms replaced those workers who exited from The Business Mirror.
Headaches for America’s allies: In South Korea, US Compromise on Beef Fails to Dent Korean Protest; in India, Nuclear Heat in India. In Japan, note Sino-Japanese oil exploration deal in Breathing Room for Japan’s Fukuda.
Delicious
Facebook
Flickr
LinkedIn
Technorati
Twitter
Loading ...
BrianB on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 12:32 am
My God, unless my parents are lying to me and not a single appliance daw was damaged or we are the luckiest family in Iloilo. Haven’t heard from friends, though, and their phones are either busy or out of coverage.
BrianB on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 12:37 am
Imagine if more people died of starvation and unsanitary conditions? Why is GMA so stupid right now?
d0d0ng on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 1:03 am
Whoa!
The President was demolished thoroughly by the TWSJ on PANHANDLING for foreign investment and its notoriety for BROKEN PROMISES.
“Ms. Arroyo’s boasts ring hollow, however, given her country’s inhospitable climate for foreign investment.”
“Even worse, Ms. Arroyo and her political allies back in Manila don’t seem to care that they are sending signals that would cause any potential investor to cringe.”
“In 2001, a newly sworn-in President Arroyo signed legislation calling for at least 70% of the government-owned Napocor to be privatized. Then December 2007 the Arroyo administration announced that the government would retain control of at least 50% of Napocor.”
“When the heads of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce protested the roll-back of Napocor’s privatization in a May 27 letter to Ms. Arroyo, the president’s allies in the senate exploded in nationalistic outrage.”
“”My goodness, get out of this country if you can’t live with us,” Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile told Mr. D’Aboville, head of JFCC”.
d0d0ng on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 1:08 am
Eto pa sabi ng TWSJ, ang kapal-kapal daw ng mukha ni President Arroyo.
“Added another presidential ally, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, “You may not continue. You do not determine what you can say or not say. I determine.”" -on bullying the head of JFCC.
“Unembarrassed by such a display of legislative intemperance, Ms. Arroyo has brought Sen. Santiago with her to New York, where the president is lobbying the United Nations to give her a seat on the International Court of Justice.”
d0d0ng on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 1:28 am
This is a perfect illustration of PANHANDLING of two-faced President HA HA Arroyo – boasting for growth, luring investors and killing the investment.
Another perfect illustration of PANHANDLING is the other two-faced Senator Santiago who berated earlier the head of foreign investor, and tag along the two-faced President for the seat on UN International Court of Justice.
d0d0ng on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 1:30 am
Ang kapal kapal ano? Ngek.
d0d0ng on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 1:40 am
MLQ3 on, “it’s interesting how the president’s admirers are bothered by her pictures.”
I am not her admirer but I cringed.
d0d0ng on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 2:51 am
This is result of panhandling policy of the President Arroyo versus Vietnam.
1. Philippines attracted $2.5 billion in direct foreign investment compared to Vietnam’s $15 billon in 2007.
2. Philippines attracted 2 million tourists compared to Vietnam’s 5 million tourists in 2007.
3. The country has been importing rice from Vietnam. In newly signed MOA, Philippines will import 1.5 million metric tons of rice from Vietnam annually.
The irony is that the panhandling president has doctorate in economics. Tragic failure.
Sabi ni Mikel, “Malas ang Pilipinas”.
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 2:56 am
The article about a reduced death count because of only a 40% load factor for MV Princess Stars is a minor testimonial to the benefit of competition.
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 3:06 am
to d0d0ng: The Filipino public is not exactly recognized to be a stickler for protocol and decorum, or for being rah-rah backers of foreign publications that complain about the behavior of Filipino senators. Of course, I can be mistaken, but me thinks that the display of insolence by Senators Enrile and Miriam Santiago would have been applauded by nationalist Filipinos as Filipinos just putting these foreigners in their place.
Some things did change after Y-2K.
TheColdKing on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 3:07 am
I hope GMA and FG get AIDS and die.
Bencard on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 3:21 am
rodolfo biazon is doing a myanmar. wants to reject uss ronald reagan’s help in the romblon search and rescue operations because it has nuclear weapons. talk about grandstanding of the worst kind (even his own son disputes him).
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 3:36 am
to ColdKing… that’s one way to go….
But didn’t you consider the possibility
of him/husband shooting her in a fit of rage because he/husband thought she/wife was cheating on him because men are falling over themselves completely overwhelmed and turned-on/ mesmerized / energized (with no need for viagra) by her stunning sexy luscious beauty 
of under 45-years-old looks?!!!!
Just think about it!!! The passion of the embrace and whatever follows. I wonder if he gives her , the President of the Republic, an extra few minutes, or does he take her with her bullet-proof vest on????? Does he salute first?????
Bencard on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 3:43 am
if sen. miriam defensor is elected, u.n.’s gain is our senate’s loss and, therefore, our nation’s. i can count on one third of my fingers the sprinkling of senators who know parliamentary procedures and legislative work, and miriam is definitely one of them. btw, the silence in this blog over the court’s rejection of trillianes’ petition (to be allowed to act as senator while in jail) is deafening.
TheColdKing on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:16 am
Are you being sarcastic, but knowing you, you must be serious. ( sighs ). U.N.s gain?! Whoever gains someone as corrupt, crazy, and controversial as Miriam surely loses BIG-TIME. They lose , and we lose, because it will shame our whole nation before the entire world that someone like that could come from our country. And blame MLQ if he does not cover Trillanes petition , we only respond to topic which he posts.
d0d0ng on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:41 am
UP n Student on, “the display of insolence by Senators Enrile and Miriam Santiago would have been applauded by nationalist Filipinos as Filipinos just putting these foreigners in their place.”
Dishonesty is a big issue. Nationalist Filipinos can sincerely express their sentiments. It is the panhandling of the President luring foreign investors and killing the investment that is tragic in business language.
d0d0ng on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 5:19 am
Senator Santiago is overrated by Filipinos because of her fiery attitude. That was an asset when she was the former judge and the unquestionable queen of her own court.
Today, she is considered a loose cannon with her big mouth:
1. Following her presidential defeat by Fidel Ramos.
2. Berated the justices following rejection by the judicial board to the Supreme Court.
3. Broke diplomatic protocol and accused the Chinese as inventing corruption.
4. Berated, “I determine what you can and cannot say”, the head of foreign investor representing US, Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Her blunder is well known internationally and UN member nations are unlikely to endorse an arrogant and temperamental woman with failed ambitions waiting to explode. She sign off her death warrant.
Diagnosed with anorexia and losing weight, her physical condition limited her work in the Senate. In short, her carreer is over.
DJB Rizalist on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 7:44 am
Much of what passes for “Philippine nationalism” nowadays really is Myanmarism, which is a hypocritical rejection even of what is good for the people motivated entirely by insurgent ideologies dressed up in the False Memory carefully dressed up by certain historians as anti-imperialist history. In that sense there is little difference between GMA and JPE and Joma and Nur Misuari. All represent our failed or wanna-be ruling elites. Indeed much of the so-called progressive Mass Media, in so far as they line up behind one or more of these failed and failing entities, are themselves ludicrously bound up in the Myanmar Syndrome, except they are far more adept than the military junta there at self-explication and aggrandizement.
If the truth about these Right-to-Left geniuses is to be discerned, I would say that JPE had his French d’Aboville while PDI has the USS Ronald Reagan as emblems of their membership in the Burmese Club, both putting words in various mouths to hide their authorship of an essential idiocy.
KG on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:28 am
Bencard,
you are a lawyer ;can you give me a legal opinion if the constitution should be bypassed in times of emergency.
If you ask me an ordinary citizen, I would say;thank god they came to help,but I am asking you as a lawyer.
Article 2:
Declaration of Principles and State Policies
SEC. 8.
The Philippines, consistent with the national interest, adopts and pursues a policy of freedom from nuclear weapons in its territory.
I know this maybe an inanity, thank god they were at hong kong doing R and R and some aid stuff.
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=37950
Ronald Reagan CSG Arrives in Hong Kong
Story Number: NNS080619-09
Release Date: 6/19/2008 3:39:00 PM
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=37985
Carrier Strike Group 7 Departs Hong Kong After Port Visit
Story Number: NNS080623-10
Release Date: 6/23/2008 1:53:00 PM
but if it is the persian gulf or in the sates,would they have come?
now on a son disagreeing with the father,since my father advices biazon even as I type this, I have said my opinion even if it wont change anything.
but who will defend the constitution?Should we just let it pass because of extra ordinary situations? better be damned if defending the constitution is the question.
they are at sulu sea, the last time I checked,it is still RP territory.Should we go chacha for nuclear powered vessels to go here with out criticism?
I guess not,there will always the the nuclear freezone guys and green peace to contend with.
KG on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:35 am
For Bencard again,
Now on trilanes,even if I have mentioned my dad has close ties with him, I have my own opinion. a non lawyer’s opinion.
the only chance for him to legislate is he gets pardoned by the next admin,but to be pardioned he has to be convicted first.
KG on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:39 am
DJB,
you may also want to give an opinion on my queries to Bencard on the nuclear vessels at philippine territory.
no holds barred, I want your opinion ,if you may?.
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:04 am
to KG: On Nuclear…. Pinas Constitution “nuclear” clause is about nuclear weapons, not nuclear-powered vessels.
(1) Presence of USS Reagan on Philippine territory is against Constitution “nuclear clause” if there are nuclear warheads on the carrier.
(2) USS Reagan, in all likelihood, has no nuclear warheads on board.
(2-a) Supporting evidence : that USS Reagan has been welcomed on Japanese territory.
(2-b) USS nuclear warheads are inside US territory or on nuclear submarines.
mang_kiko on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:07 am
KG, Di ba sabi ni Madame Arroyo walang Dala na Nuclear Weapons ang President Ronald Reagan Battle Group? Of course alam natin nanaginip naman itong si Presidente sa manga sinasabi Nya, pero MARAMI naman naniwala na ni Jittison nang Battle Group yong manga Nuclear Weapons nila bagong mag set sails sa bayan natin.
Sana ma-ari ideclare nang Presidente State of Calamity, at puede masuspend yon Section 8 nang constitution duration nang “aid” nang battle group. “no longer as needed” for the purpose…
Bencard on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:11 am
kg, some constitutional scholars might disagree, but i think a declaration of principle and policy in the constitution is not a MANDATE to act one way or another. rather, it is directory and contemplates normal circumstances and conditions. note: the declaration is qualified by the phrase, “consistent with national interest”. i believe, the presence of uss reagan (or any nuclear-armed vessel) for humanitarian purposes and in response to a request for help, is not unconstitutional as biazon suggests.
about trillianes, either he is acquitted or, as you correctly stated, be convicted and pardoned (to have a chance to act as senator).
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:14 am
addendum: there will also probably be 2 or 3 B1 and/or B52-bombers in flight at any time armed with nuclear warheads so US never gets caught flatfooted by a sneak attack.
KG on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:24 am
Thanks ,bencard!
frombelow on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:36 am
To mikel,
seems your “malas ” quote will soon become fashionable.
Malas ba dahil di matanggal si GMA or malas dahil andyan si GMA?
Whatever, thanks for stirring our minds. Although I still could not see the real intention when you made that quote. Either you want to taunt GMA foes, state a fact, or defend GMA. Anyway, Thanks.
frombelow on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:36 am
To mikel,
seems your “malas ” quote will soon become fashionable.
Malas ba dahil di matanggal si GMA or malas dahil andyan si GMA?
Whatever, thanks for stirring our minds. Although I still could not see the real intention when you made that quote. Either you want to taunt GMA foes, state a fact, or defend GMA. Anyway, Thanks.
frombelow on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:41 am
“so US never gets caught flatfooted by a sneak attack.”
Sneak attack ala Pearl Harbor? This is 2008 not 1941.
Modern technology, especially those concerning on defense, precluded that kind of “sneak attcak.”
I agree, though, that there will also probably be 2 or 3 B1 and/or B52-bombers in flight at any time armed with nuclear warheads.
KG on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:03 am
UPN S,
To me when it is called strike group,they might say don’t have nuclear warheads but,who knows? 80 aircrafts with not even one nuke?
Palagay ko even if Japan has gone over the hiroshima nagasaki stigma.
reason is; They had the worst nuclear power plant accident in recent history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashiwazaki-Kariwa_Nuclear_Power_Plant
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant (æŸå´Žåˆˆç¾½åŽŸå力発電所, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa genshiryoku-hatsudensho?, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP) is a large, modern (housing the world’s first ABWR) nuclear power plant on a 4.2 square kilometer site including land in the towns of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa in the Niigata Prefecture, Japan on the coast of the Sea of Japan, from where it gets cooling water. The plant is owned and operated by The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).
It is the largest nuclear generating station in the world by net electrical power rating, and has also been hit by the strongest earthquake to ever occur at a nuclear plant, the July 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake. As of June 2008, the entire plant is still shut down for extensive inspections following the earthquake. A group of concerned scientists and engineers has called for the closure of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant.[1]
Thanks UPN and Mang Kiko!
The Equalizer on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:04 am
the continuing saga of our lil red riding hood and her visit to Uncle george dubya in his white house.
http://mav-equalizer.blogspot.com/2008/06/little-red-riding-hood-went-to-visit.html
PSImeon on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:27 am
“President Arroyo has restricted the USS Ronald Reagan, sent to the country to help in rescue operations for victims of typhoon “Frank,†from actually entering Philippine territorial waters amid warnings that warships in the carrier battle group might be carrying nuclear weapons.” – Philstar
Could have been a good opportunity for Uncle Sam to display its naval prowess and impress upon our Chinese neighbors who is true master of the Pacific, and of the Philippines? (Remember, it was Ambassador Kristine Kenney who first raised howl about the aborted NBN/ZTE deal.)
I had the chance to see one of these aircraft carriers. It was magnificent.
Chabeli on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 3:21 pm
TheColdKing Says:
June 28th, 2008 at 3:07 am
I hope GMA and FG get AIDS and die.
*********************
I’ve been mulling how to get DENGUE-infected mosquitos to Malacanan !
Chabeli on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 3:35 pm
A known woman-supporter was overheard talking on her mobile phone in a Makati parlour (speaking on her cell phone): “Umiwi ka na. Masama na ang press release ninyo dito..and dating, wala kayong pakialam sa hirap dala ng bagyo.”
The person, a beautician, who overheard this, was narrating this to me. Because she could not hear what the other person on the other line was saying, the woman goes on to say: “..ano nanaman yan? Wag ka na sumali sa mga behind the scenes diyan, mapahamak ka pa sa 2010. Come home as fast as you can. I’ll make the arrangements para you’ll get passed the press in the airport”.
When the story was told to me, I wondered what Gloria, FG & their lapdogs are all up to. Could there be another deal in the making similar to ZTE that’s why they can’t seem to make it home ASAP?
KG on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:07 pm
President Arroyo has restricted the USS Ronald Reagan, sent to the country to help in rescue operations for victims of typhoon “Frank,†from actually entering Philippine territorial waters amid warnings that warships in the carrier battle group might be carrying nuclear weapons.†– Philstar
lokohin nya leleng nya
sulu sea is between palawan and panay
kung si bush nag advise na international waters yun ,magsama sila
nash on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:15 pm
Wawa naman si GMA for being snubbed by Barack Obama despite her buzzing around…how apt that Miriam Defensor is with her as both of them became just “anonymous insects”.
Incidentally, write to the UN now and CC your embassy to express how it would be unfair/unjust for the world for Miriam to be an International Court Judge. (Unless you are fond of comedy, then Miriam is a good choice)
Just in case you are lazy to find the address, itich
International Court of Justice
Peace Palace
Carnegieplein 2
2517 KJ The Hague
The Netherlands
tingnan nga natin kung gaano lampas ng comments box ng blog and advocacy ng mga netizens…
PSImeon on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:17 pm
@ KG
From website of USS Ronald Reagan:
“The ships on station in the Sulu Sea include the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76); embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14; the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62); and three ships of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7; the guided-missile destroyers USS Howard (DDG 83) and USS Gridley (DDG 101) and the guided-missile frigate USS Thach (FFG 43).
“Also providing assistance to the AFP in their efforts are the maritime prepositioning ship USNS Gunnery Sgt. Frank Stockham (T-AK 3017) and the rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50), which have been assisting in the recovery operations of the sunken ferry Princess of the Stars.”
KG on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:18 pm
It was ok for me na tumulong ang US, pero ang lokohin tayo at gawin tayong tanga ng presidente natin, di ko na alam kung anong pang masasabi ko don.
Bert on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:18 pm
“When the story was told to me, I wondered what Gloria, FG & their lapdogs are all up to. Could there be another deal in the making similar to ZTE that’s why they can’t seem to make it home ASAP?”-Chabeli
They are still enjoying the Paquiao fight, is all.
frombelow on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:18 pm
Why is GMA so persistent in meeting with Obama?
Could it be that Obama has a very very strong change of getting the US presidency?
So she wanted very much, at this very early tiome, to develop some sort of friendship.
But she is supposed to end her term in 2010, more than a year after the election of new ( Obama) US president. There is really no pressing need to develop relationship between and outgoing and incoming president of the two countries.
Ahem. UNLESS, OF COURSE, SHE IS THINKING OF BEYOND 2010.
Wanna bet?
rego on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:38 pm
Incidentally, write to the UN now and CC your embassy to express how it would be unfair/unjust for the world for Miriam to be an International Court Judge. (Unless you are fond of comedy, then Miriam is a good choice)
Just in case you are lazy to find the address, itich
International Court of Justice
Peace Palace
Carnegieplein 2
2517 KJ The Hague
The Netherlands
================================================
oh wow hanep naman talaga sa pagka utak talangka!!! reminds me of the campaign against Cory for Nobel prize before.
Bakit dahil ba hindi sumasama si Miriam sa opposisiyon? Kalokohan!
cvj on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:50 pm
KG (at 4:07 pm), i may be wrong but i think the United States has not yet ratified the UN Law of the Sea which supports the archipelagic interpretation which is why the Americans don’t consider the present location as part of Philippine waters. If that’s the case, it’s disingeneous for GMA, who represents the interest of the Philippines which has been one of the strong supporters of said Law of the Sea, to agree with the American interpretation.
DJB Rizalist on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 5:14 pm
KG,
Bencard’s explanation is spot on: “consistent with the national interest” is the key qualifier to our policy of “freedom from nuclear weapons” in its territory.
This means we cannot interpret this phrase strictly to mean that nuclear weapons cannot be present in the country under any circumstance, as the Constitution wisely leaves open the possibility that some other greater national interest would prevail, as in this case the availability of a helping hand. It is ludicrous that the CPP NPA and the Left, who seem to be such sticklers for the Constitution and apply Constitutional principles to this issue and the related issue of military personnel from our Allies, are themselves entirely dedicated to the destruction of that Constitution.
You can see their hypocritical use of our democratic freedoms for the destruction of that democracy and those freedoms ever more clearly in contemplating this malevolent hypocrisy. Look who is being made to suffer on the altar of their ideology and politics — the innocent victims and their families. Just like in Myanmar!
mlq3 on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 5:33 pm
djb, dunno why you have such a bee in your bonnet. the president’s great defender chit pedrosa in her column today, says myanmar’s a good example. the president herself accepted the ronnie reagan but told it to keep out of our territorial waters. uncle sam never confirms or denies nukes so, you do have a problem, same way uncle sam got mad at new zealand for insisting on something similar re: us carriers.
but this is all academic because i’d think you know that only the lunatic fringe objects to american help at a time like this.
The Ca t on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 6:16 pm
As if the VIPs are like ordinary mortals who use the regular exits where they can be harassed by the paparazzo.
Even in SF, the lowly senators from the Philippines insist to use the VIP exit.
Ask one lady senator who went ballistic because she was not accorded such VIP treatment.
DJB Rizalist on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 6:31 pm
MLQ3,
DJB Rizalist on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 6:40 pm
MLQ3,
I know that the vast majority of Filipinos adopt the common sense position I advocate. But the Senate, the President, the Left and so called progressive mass media, do not, all for their own reasons. The bee in my bonnet is the knowledge that if we do not push the view of the Silent Majority, we will lose billions in foreign direct investment in the energy and technology sectors, lose the confidence of our allies, earn the continuing wonderment of the world at our attitudes and suffer the wages of a self-destructive “nationalism”. Look at what unites both the administration and the opposition to escape the people’s complete rejection and disdain: that indispensable grievance that others, mainly foreigners, are to blame for our plight. It’s the false pride of failed elites. The Filipino people deserve better.
DJB Rizalist on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 6:45 pm
MLQ3,
this goes deeper than just foreign aid for disasters. it is the same anti-imperialist history, the same blaming of a long-vanished colonialism that allows many to justify or tolerate the insurgencies, as if they had a right to break the law now and seek to destroy the democratic system because we were wronged by the colonial powers. It is that ideological root which feeds the present Myanmarism, which mental illness apparently infects both the Left and the Right!
nash on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 7:02 pm
rego,
before you use your ‘crab’ mentality logic, alamin mo muna anong ibig sabihin non.
nash on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 7:06 pm
and if you know anything about the nobel prize nominations, nominees are kept secret. cory being ‘nominated’ is haka-haka.
my opposition to miriam being an international court judge is based on her inconsistent performance in parliament. naalala mo ba nung nagwala siya dahil sa ‘masamang tingin’ from the audience? or sa kanyang mga bare faced lies “hindi na ulit ako tatakbo”, “tatalon ako sa eroplano”…ayan ba ang gusto mong maging Pinoy international judge? dios mio.
STANDARDS, standards.
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 7:41 pm
The United States — its regular citizens, the navy people of the carrier group, the State Department and White House people — will find “no problem” with the aircraft carrier group staying anchored outside Philippine waters. Of course a few will be annoyed; and surely there will be those who will get angry — but the objective is to provide help, getting divers into the waters, helicopters doing the ferrying and medical- and food-provisions to the flood victims, not to do posturings or to have a picture with the medical staff of a hospital in Fresno or to watch a living hero of the Philippines in a boxing match in Las Vegas
.
The Ca t on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 7:45 pm
I am BOTHERED not for GMA admirers but for GMA haters. When these people calling her almost any derogatory name that they can think of and wish her death and sickness, I worry for their mental health. This is a kind of desperation because they are not successful in unseating GMA.
Para ba yong cartoon ng Coyote at ng roadrunner na lahat ginawa na wala pa ring nangyari.
YOu still have two years folks. After GLoria, who is next?
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 7:50 pm
Now, Uniffor’s comment that the US Navy seals should provide diving help for Princess Stars to make amends for their (the US divers) spending too much time in the destructiveness of warmongering…. illustrates that Pinas has incompetent jokers among its media as there are jerks
in its government service. But I am getting the impression that DJB is ranting against snakes.
The Ca t on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:00 pm
Ang alam ko hindi nagtatravel mag-isa ang mga US carriers and tankers for security reason.
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:02 pm
As for Senator Santiago…. the very few Europeans who have seen the brilliant mind, love of justice and polished language of AdeBrux (Bencard’s blog sparring partner) would have had a sampling of Miriam.
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:07 pm
should someone support Miriam because she is an elitist, or should someone support Miriam because of her language crude as a Singapore sailor?
Newsbreak Online wrote of Senator Santiago:
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:08 pm
Of course, the other option is that people are speaking AGAINST Miriam because she is NOT QUALIFIED>
David on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:15 pm
mlq3, Please don’t get me wrong. I am just puzzled, that is all. Why focus (obsess?) so much on someone whom you assert is a lame duck? And with the next presidential elections less than two years away? I really can’t wait for Gloria’s term to end. She is a lousy president to put it mildly. But right now I am more interested in who may be the next president. But this fixation is starting to appear to be something personal for you…
KG on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:27 pm
Thanks DJB,CVJ, PSimeon.
many thanks!
cvj on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:37 pm
The facts are against you DJB. More foreign investments have gone to Vietnam, which defeated the United States in a nationalist war, than the Philippines.
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 8:44 pm
Side-topic: For people interested in the science of spreading rumors (to an American audience) via the Internet, click here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062703781_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008062703939&pos=
You’ll also learn who was the author of that destructive e-mail against Obama (cost him about 5% during primary voting) that he/Obama is a secret Muslim plus you’ll have a picture of a woman-genius at work (who is not a Chinese musical prodigy).
Bencard on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:10 pm
the “nationalist war” is long over, cvj. the question now is are vietnam’s current “nationalist” policies not inimical to foreign investment (like myanmar’s) or are they business-friendly. you see, investors are not stupid. they usually avoid countries with “self-destructive”, harebrained nationalism.
PSImeon on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:17 pm
“Why focus (obsess?) so much on someone whom you assert is a lame duck?” – David
This blog is about political commentary.
As you said, President Arroyo is still the biggest political personality until 2010. Blogs and comments would naturally focus on her.
rego on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:22 pm
“and if you know anything about the nobel prize nominations, nominees are kept secret. cory being ‘nominated’ is haka-haka.”
————————————————————————————
Huh! Kelan ka pinanganak?
Looks like you are the one who doesn’t know what you are saying at all!
Cory and the Filipino was indeed nominated for nobel Peace Prize the year after People power one. It was n’t even just Cory alone. But all thise marcos loyalists then campaign against it. So Cory and the Filipino peopel lost to teh lesser known President of Spain becuase of that. And I believe the Filipino People desreved to win that year.
Now your impression of Miriam is a personal one. You shoudl just keep to your self and let the panel decide on the qualifications of Mirriam.
I know very well that had Miriram sticked it out with the oppsistion, you and your ilk will be praising her in high heavens for just being nominated in this presitgious court . And then cosider it as sampal kay Gloria.
C’mon nash, dugay na ako sa blog na to noh, kilala ko na ang mga likaw ng mga regualr commenters dito !! Wag ana tayong mag plastikan pa.
Bert on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 9:51 pm
” Last year, Vietnam attracted $15 billion in foreign direct investments, compared to the Philippines’ $2.5 billion. Even worse, Ms. Arroyo and her political allies back in Manila don’t seem to care that they are sending signals that would cause any potential investor to cringe.”-from The Wall Street Journal
“The bee in my bonnet is the knowledge that if we do not push the view of the Silent Majority, we will lose billions in foreign direct investment in the energy and technology sectors, lose the confidence of our allies, earn the continuing wonderment of the world at our attitudes and suffer the wages of a self-destructive “nationalismâ€. -DJB
The ‘bee in the bonnet’ has little to do with it.
As long as the present occupiers of Malacanang continue with their merry ways foreign investments will continue to fly by…not in.
PSImeon on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:13 pm
@ Bert
There are many factors which foreign investors don’t like in the Philippines but which has been with us since ages and cannot be solely attributed to the present adminstration:
1. Too much politics (recent incident of the foreign chambers vs. Enrile and Santiago)
2. Cost of power
3. Lack of Infrastructure
4. Cost of doing business
5. Influence peddling of domestic oligarchs
etc.
leytenian on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:14 pm
FDI will probably be invested mostly on oil as the world is running out of gas. manufacturing companies in India and China will probably get hurt if oil continue to rise.
Philippines must move forward to the production of ethanol to be self sufficient in oil like brazil in the next 10-25 years.
“Tensions rise in energy rich Central Asia”
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/07/news/international/asia_gas/?postversion=2008040810
Oil rises, Mideast tension offsets Saudi pledge
On Friday, the New York Times quoted U.S. officials as saying Israel had carried out a large military exercise, apparently a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities.http://news.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1229997&lang=EN
I will not wonder why USS Reagan was deployed quickly. The presence will have a safety effect and at the same time help our country.
Bert on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:16 pm
“you see, investors are not stupid. they usually avoid countries with “self-destructiveâ€, harebrained nationalism.”-Bencard
Like Enrile and Mirriam! I totally agree with Bencard.
leytenian on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:21 pm
Oil rises, Mideast tension offsets Saudi pledge
http://news.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1229997&lang=EN
EU seriously concerned on Georgia-Russia tension
http://www.neurope.eu/articles/86395.php
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:23 pm
just so it is clear what is among the “…. signals that would cause any potential investor to cringe”, it is the trivialization of agreements, contracts and rule of law even if this trivialization is presented in the guise of nationalistic umbrage. It may have helped if Miriam had presented her melodrama as part of her efforts to “…help the urban poor and the landless farmers”.
cvj on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:32 pm
Bencard, just to clarify i’m not advocating a nationalist war. I’m simply pointing out that other countries did not have to sacrifice their nationalism to attract foreign investments. It’s like self-respect or self-confidence. You tend to respect the other person who projects that quality.
Bert on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:34 pm
@PSImeon
Disagree, Simeon. You have to understand that Gloria is in place for decades already, the last more than 6 years as president.
Just last year Vietnam bagged 15 billions direct foreign investments compared the Philippines 2.5 billions. See?
Can you blame past administrations for that and not this administration?
UP n student on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:35 pm
to leytenian, be careful with this thought that “…Philippines must move forward to the production of ethanol…”. It is happening all over… and has happened already — in big-time fashion in the US — with the shifting of fertile-land (before used to produce corn, wheat, vegetables, even grazing) to the “manufacture of feed” for ethanol plants. The ratios are horrendous. US lost 25% of its corn — gained 1% of “oil-needs”. If instead, the US had forced its car manufacturers for a 10%-increase in miles-per-gallon efficiency, the net-net-gain (“hit” to economy is that car sales go down because cars get a bit more expensive to buy; gain will be energy-security, travel-costs lowered) would have been much better than this ethanol mishap.
—
What can Pinas do? LRT’s, better buses, bike-lanes, better roads. Nuclear.
PSImeon on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:36 pm
@ UP n student
The flip side of the coin for “the greater good for the greatest number” is equally dangerous: “the lesser evil for the few.” That is, the few who are in control.
As you commented in an earlier thread, the “greater good” is quite subjective.
It could be the devil’s alternative!
cvj on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:43 pm
Contrary to what many Filipinos (and Fil-ams think), foreign investors tend to be lagging and not a leading factor in economic growth. China, for example, had more than a decade of domestically-driven fast growth starting in the late 70’s and 80’s before the foreign investments started coming in. Earlier, Taiwan experienced the same thing (as narrated by Amsden & Chu). Once we get our economic act together, then the foreign investors will come to stay (and we get to choose who to invite in). And the way several of our neighbors got their economic acts together were via nationalist (though business-friendly), policies.
PSImeon on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:57 pm
“Can you blame past administrations for that and not this administration?” – Bert
1. Didn’t this administration try to lower the cost of power by ‘talking’ to Meralco?
2. Wasn’t there an effort to imrove infrastructure/interconnection through roll-on/roll-off (RORO) and improvement of telcom bandwidth?
3. Who pissed off the foreign chambers? The senators, right?
etc.
Bert on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:57 pm
“just so it is clear what is among the “…. signals that would cause any potential investor to cringeâ€, it is the trivialization of agreements, contracts and rule of law….”-UP n
such as the PIATCO contract…and ‘hello garci’, etc. right UPn?
The Ca t on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 10:59 pm
the conversion of the reserved prairie forests to corn farms is now being blamed for the flood in Iowa. Gone are the grasses and trees that hold the water in their roots.
cvj on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 11:03 pm
Some supporting info related to foreign investment and economic growth in China:
I also don’t think China had to panhandle as much.
The Ca t on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 11:04 pm
That is a slap in the face of Lee Kuan Yew who admitted that he practically begged for these foreign investors to forward their economy since they don’t have much natural resources.
And i think the state visit of China’s prime minister in the US in the early 90’s was not to have dinner with the US President. Sheesh.
Bert on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 11:07 pm
“3. Who pissed off the foreign chambers? The senators, right?
etc.”-PSImeon
Right, Simeon! Enrile and Mirriam to be exact…both Gloria’s lapdogs.
And Mirriam is presently with Gloria in the USofA enjoying the Paquiao fight.
Bencard on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 11:13 pm
bert, as long as we have those “destructive, hairbrained nationalist policies” we will not attract foreign investors in the quantity that we can only dream of no matter who is the president. add to that, of course, is the seeming culture of lawlessness which our limited resources could not even begin to address, partly due to the borgeoning population that is totally unchecked.
what investor would want to invest in a country where anything that can be hauled is stolen? cables, electric & telephone wires, rails, even manhole covers and bridge guard rails, among other things, are pilfered. broad-daylight kidnappings and carnappings, akyat-bahay robberies and motor-bike assassins and outright land-grabbing are commonplace.
if there’s one thing positive that can be said about the marcos dictatorship, it is that people generally were more disciplined. not good angels but DISCIPLINED.
PSImeon on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 11:15 pm
“Right, Simeon! Enrile and Mirriam to be exact…both Gloria’s lapdogs.” – Bert
You cannot always ascribe the actions of senators, who are seen as pro-administration, as sanctioned by the adminstration. These senators might just be playing the political game. Remember, these senators are all aspiring national leaders a.k.a “presidentiables.”
To be philosophical about it, in this life everyone has an agenda.
Bencard on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 11:20 pm
wrong, bert. “garci tapes” did not prosper BECAUSE of the rule of law.
leytenian on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 11:42 pm
“If instead, the US had forced its car manufacturers for a 10%-increase in miles-per-gallon efficiency, the net-net-gain (â€hit†to economy is that car sales go down because cars get a bit more expensive to buy; gain will be energy-security, travel-costs lowered) would have been much better than this ethanol mishap.”
UP N student… what are you talking about. Ethanol, Biodiesel and Bio Fuels are all alternatives. Here are what the world’s car manufacturer’s doing in terms of Investing in Ethanol.
An Argument for E85 Hybrids
http://www.hybridcars.com/related-technologies/e85-hybrids.html
Toyota: Ethanol Cars in 2008 for the U.S
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=243981
Honda announced it has developed a new flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) system that enables gasoline engine-based power plants to operate on either 100% ethanol or a wide range of ethanol-gasoline fuel mixtures.
http://world.honda.com/Ethanol/
Other automakers — including Chrysler, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan — have also made commitments to flexible fuel vehicles and the ethanol …
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/alternativefuels/articles/109194/article.html
can we grow jathropha?
Bert on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 11:43 pm
“wrong, bert. “garci tapes†did not prosper BECAUSE of the rule of law.-Bencard
hehehehe.
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 12:08 am
The Philippines has the proper laws. Either our current admin don’t have the money to properly enforce a law, or they simply don’t make the effort to enforce it or they are not qualified to understand the ” PROCESS” of enforcing the law.
vic on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 1:21 am
If instead, the US had forced its car manufacturers for a 10%-increase in miles-per-gallon efficiency, the net-net-gain
Agree with you on that UPn. GM just announced the closures of its assembly plants in Ontario for their Gas Guzzlers the F150 Pick Ups and more Big SUVs and has to pay a $45 millions penalty to the Ontario government on incentive “loans” given to GM for creating jobs but instead will be laying off a thousand or more workers and many folds indirect employment lost as a result. Now it is scrambling to find some fuel efficient models to assemble in the “flexible” assembly plants to avoid closing the plants permanently and paying the loans plus penalties as GM is already losing Billions.
mlq3 on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 1:48 am
david, well one reason is that the harm she’s done to the institutions run so deep and are getting more and more entrenched; the other is that if one lets up, she will use the opportunity to try to pull a switcheroo; and because i have a terrible foreboding that what she has unleashed will make it that much more difficult for whoever becomes the next president -a handover i’m not convinced has been an inevitable one, much as the winding down of the clock should make it an inevitability- to govern, and bind the wounds of a divided country.
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 1:49 am
“GM is already losing Billions.”
GM has lost billions..
However: Wagoner announced the moves in response to slumping sales of pickups and SUVs brought on by high oil prices. He said a market shift to smaller vehicles is permanent.
GM shares rose 43 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $17.87 in midday trading.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=111&pid=0&sid=1414372&page=1
“The manufacturing crisis is not going to go away tomorrow, and instead of a laissez-faire approach … we believe in a more active role for government to invest in manufacturing. We’ve committed $1 billion for such investments.”
In the Ontario legislature Thursday, the New Democrats placed blame squarely on the province.
“What the government should have done with their Next Generation Job fund and their auto fund is say to companies like General Motors, ‘We’re prepared to invest, but you’ve got to make a product commitment. These new-generation vehicles have to be built here.”‘
Flaherty has raised the possibility of giving GM money from the government’s $50-million Automotive Innovation Fund to produce another car.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/06/05/5779856-cp.html
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 2:18 am
Who would have thought????
Only over a month ago, closure was “almost there” to Mugabe’s reign in Zimbabwe, what with the opposition having gained control of Parliament, Mugabe being a the loser in their elections, and in fact many of the leaders of Mugabe’s party beginning talks with the opposition about a gracious exit.
Tomorrow or the next day, Zimbabwe will declare that Robert “Confiscation for Land Reform — the End Justifies the Means!!!” Mugabe has won the run-off election between him and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
=====================
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 2:28 am
to david: mlq3 did not say it, but bad governance habits by those in power can be so entrenched that thuggery that much EASIER for the next cabal.
Look back to the previous administrations and it is fearful to observe —- getting entrenched deeper and deeper into Pinas psyche is bad governance habits by those in power.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 2:41 am
So is this a scary thought, or am I way off the mark? Which of the 2 statements below would you be inclined to disagree with?
(1) For the Philippines, it is easy to stay in power even with periodic practice of bad governance.
(2) Bad governance practices by those in power is getting entrenched deeper and deeper into the psyche of both the Pinas citizenry and the Pinas “those-in-power”.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 2:44 am
Ignore it at the peril of your children because …bad governance habits by those in power can be so entrenched that thuggery becomes that much EASIER for the next cabal.
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 2:45 am
Existing bio-ethanol production, however, faces supply limits, as it is produced primarily from sugar and starch of sugarcane and corn feedstock, which are also utilized as food.
there is a demand for ethanol and food. a good employment opportunity to our farmers. imports will not be necessary in the future if our government can agressively implement production shift to cater our own supply problem. the old import policy had hurt our local farmers.
Bencard on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 3:13 am
cvj, who said you are advocating a nationalist war? here you go again, deflecting the issue under discussion by injecting an irrelevant one. re-read the exchange.
cvj on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 3:39 am
Ca t, you’re arguing to the wrong point. If you ask nicely, i’ll explain.
Bencard, follow your own advice.
Bencard on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 4:11 am
cvj, i said investors avoid countries with destructive , harebrained nationalism. does that look like i’m saying you are advocating a nationalist war?
cvj on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 4:26 am
Bencard, you’re first sentence (at 9:10 pm) lends itself to that interpretation so i responded to your comment in that context.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:06 am
Side-topic: Divorce makes sense.
“…..I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, ‘We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.’ So this is what I have done,†she said.
“Whenever I wanted to play in the yard he beat me and asked me to go to the bedroom with him. This lasted for two months,†added Nasser. “He was too tough with me, and whenever I asked him for mercy, he beat me and slapped me and then used me. I just want to have a respectful life and divorce him.â€
==============
She asked for divorce.
For the link pointing to rest of story, do google-search of
Nasser at times wants to play in the yard. She is 8 years old.
cvj on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:25 am
UPn, i hope your objective is not to tar Islam. Catholics also have their share of pedophiles.
d0d0ng on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:51 am
mlq3 on, “the president herself accepted the ronnie reagan but told it to keep out of our territorial waters.”
from below on, “There is really no pressing need to develop relationship between and outgoing (Arroyo) and incoming president (Obama) of the two countries. UNLESS, OF COURSE, SHE IS THINKING OF BEYOND 2010.”
Even with “nuclear” clause, the master planner in President Arroyo has calibrated a defensible position versus the nationalist. This combined with her reaching out to a potential US president, suggest a long term hold to power beyond 2010.
Tuloy ang malas, ani Mikel.
d0d0ng on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 6:03 am
The CAT on, “I worry for their mental health. This is a kind of desperation because they are not successful in unseating GMA.”
Sorry. I am not unseating GMA. She can glued herself to Malacanang Palace and “tuloy ang malas ng Pilipinas”. This does not concern me at all because I am here in the US like you (how is SF?). You are too kind to worry about my mental health. Please don’t because my employer just promoted me.
Rommel on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 6:25 am
I’m tired of Arroyo. Naghihintay na lang ako ng 2010 para mawala na siya sa puwesto. Sa ngayon, nag-aaral lang ako ng mabuti para naman pagdating ng mga panahong matanda na ako ay maging isang useful kong citizen ng Pinas.
Sana lang talaga maging maayos na ang sistema sa Pinas at sana pagpokusan ni Arroyo ang mas mahahalagang bagay bago man siya umalis o mapaalis sa posisyon niya.
Bencard on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 6:41 am
cvj, i was referring to your’s @ 8:37 pm in which you first mentioned “nationalist war” in which u.s. was “defeated” by vietnam. all i said, in effect, was that t’was all water under the bridge. now it looks more like a failure of comprehension.
d0d0ng on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 6:42 am
Bert on, “You have to understand that Gloria is in place for decades already, the last more than 6 years as president.”
Along the same period from Senate through Presidency, the economic doctorate has charted the Philipine dependency on imported rice than any president in the past. Today, the Philippines is proudly the world top rice importer. In her recent US visit, she was proud to get a commitment from US President Bush on rice supply. In addition, she inked a deal with Vietnam to supply 1.5 million metric tons of rice annually in 2008 and beyond. We have a president who relies heavily on importation and little on its farmers and agricultural sector (unlike Vietnam and Thailand) and wanted the Filipinos to be proud of her achievements.
d0d0ng on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 6:56 am
mlq3 on, “i have a terrible foreboding that what she has unleashed will make it that much more difficult for whoever becomes the next president.”
That is what I thought too. Just take the case of the Spratly deal with China it was sealed and details are hard even with Senate investigation (on territorial waters) trying to open it. The only aborted deal was the NBN in which US has greater security interest. Anything signed by the President with soveregn guarantee is binding to the next president.
The Ca t on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 7:07 am
I am not going to waste my time arguing with you, providing the links and explaining what constitute the foreign investment.
You are one person who wants to change economics and math principles just so you can prove your points.
Believe what you want to believe but you can never convince me of whatever you say. Sorry.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 8:02 am
to cvj: There is the 8 year-old girl, divorce, and Yemen, and one more lesson. Parents and grandparents should really get their kids to tell stories of what happens in schools (and in catechism classes) as the kids deal with adults. Listen to the instructions that the kids have received from the adults, especially what the kids have been told. If they are talking about sex-education topics way too mature for their age group, rightfully you should react.
AND WHEN the kids have been told about certain things that are only between the child and the adult and that the child should not tell “the thing” because…. you know…. the adults may not understand, then alarms should ring all over your psyche.
to cvj: This attitude of yours — being afraid of discussing things “…. for fear of being misunderstood” “… or “… don’t bother to share this or that thing with others…. the others are incapable of understanding what is the truth” is one of the greatest covers of pedophiles. Do not let your nieces and nephews be victims because “…. they got embarassed to make kuwento to you this special secret” that is only between them and their teacher.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 8:13 am
cvj: it may get your nieces and nephews a little bit in trouble for being brave to talk about this or talk about that, so teach about being plastic or teach them the art of diplomatic talk. BUT you the adult should be aware of deadly secrets, and especially how vulnerable the youth can be. Do not hush them up too quickly when your nephews and nieces talk about topics that scandalize you. In fact, because their survival may depend on it being so, encourage your nieces and nephews to gab away —- talking to you but especially to their parents or their grandparents about uncomfortable topics or uncomfortable experiences.
KG on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 8:54 am
UPNS
pasensya na pero you have your shares of exchanges of the socety’s ills with cvj directly and indirectly..
I know one mentioned the word first kaya nagkalecheleche ng ganito.
excuse muna at meron din akong gutso sabihin sa kanya.
CVJ,
You seem to be quoting field of dreams: “Build it and they will come”.
you could have been the author of this book:
Social Murder
And Other Shortcomings Of Conservative Economics
By Robert Chernomas and Ian Hudson
Corporate power is one of the strongest forces shaping our world. More than half of the top 100 economic entities today are private corporations. With their immense size comes commensurate influence, to the point where corporations are able to wreak social and environmental destruction with few serious consequences. Yet, amazingly, this subject is essentially absent from the study of economics.
The conservative economic theory that dominates the profession is based on the core belief that as little as possible should interfere with businesses’ pursuit of profit. This approach to economics ignores history, politics, poverty, the natural environment, and social class, among other inconvenient realities. Conservative economics would almost be laughable—were it not for the fact that this way of thinking helps prop up the worst excesses of capitalism.
Social Murder examines the connections between the destructiveness of global capitalism and the professional economists who help keep it that way.
According to the song Crush: Do not over analyze
if you want to over analyze the consider this.
we denationalized retail:nagdagssan ba yung mg retail giants na kinakatakot ng mga against dito .
the wsj article of foot dragging on the privatization of napocor, does mean that power should be nationalized again.
you have mentioned smuggling,with that let me mention tarrifs to protect local producers..
will slapping high tarrifs prevent smuggling,no it is an invitation to it and it becomes more expensive.
sampol mga hinharang na container van containing smuggled chicken from china(sana peking duck na lang.)
we have ship builders it is so expensive to produce sa iba na lang natin ibenta wala kasing pambili ang nenaco,sulpicio at aboiitiz dahil wala silang laban sa airlines.
sa sugar naiinggit satin ang mga neighbors natin nung 1930s dahil me direct access ang production natin sa US,ngayon anong nagyari?
you talk about food sovereignty and the way of the peasant,you talk about de soto,negative income tax and many more.
they only lead back to the chicken and the egg question.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:25 am
and cvj: have you been cowered already? This soon wanting to be quiet?? and you have not even been targetted yet.
In my opinion, you should not do that. Of course they do not know you, but I think they, too, will tell you not to duck your head too fast into the sand, Muslims inside Islam states who talk about atrocities committed in the name of Islam.
cvj… the following would have been of interest to you because it relates to freedom of the press, but maybe you’ll be disinterested because it touches on Islam’s holy book. However, Pinas journalists may want to google-search on
to see the happenings about a journalist who wanted to better spread their faith by translating a holy book into the local dialect.
hvrds on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:07 am
How open is the Philippine economy to trade, investments and labor?
Is it more or less equal to India and China as to openness or what?
Does Big Mike and GMA have to go to the U.S. to spread the word about the Philippine economy to the Big American conglomerates?
The last one is a rhetorical question as the international bankers, credit rating agencies, multilaterals and financial information companies have more data on the Philippine economy than the Philippine government actually has.
Example, the actual appropriations of Congress annually apart from the General Appropriations ACT is the Automatic Appropriations Act that includes the principal payments of loans. It is not mentioned as a defict as we simply borrow again to revolve the loans. This year it is about Php 300B+. It also does not inform the people that the budget deficit is part of the total public sector deficit to include all LGU debts together with debts of GOCC’s. The NFA has a huge deficit and their budget is not reflected in the national budget. Their deficit is growing. If we add up all of this the public sector defcit is actually between 3-4% of GDP. Shhhhhhhhhh… Do not tell anyone as it is a state secret that our bonds are rated junk.
So the government including GMA does not tell the truth to all when they say that their plans are to balance the budget by 2010. The budget only contains the annual appropriations for interest payments.
When Big Mike and GMA go abroad they do so with the country’s debt paper rated as junk (below investment grade).
Vietnams rating is even worse but they pull in more investments. The reason is simple. Borrowings and investments for Vietnam are going into the importation of productive assets and not consumption. The major imports of Vietnam are gold and capital equipment. Also Vietnam does not have a huge debt overhang.
Direct or long term investpors see a general plan for development and building up the productive capacities of the Vietamese economy on top of their food self sufficiency.
Their problem is the absorbtive capacity of their primarily agricultural economy to huge inflows and creation of money. Hence together with the huge surge in oil prices they have the worst inflation in Asia.
The government has responded with high interest rates to stem the surge in money supply. Banks are now paying as high as 18% for deposits.
They have to suffer to fix the excess. But generally being basically agricultural the state will have a smaller probelm in funding safety nets for the urban workers.
So if one were a serious investor which country would one invest in for the lone haul.
hvrds on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:20 am
The three basic conditions for economic development to occur in any country is – Resource Nationalism, Technological Nationalism and Monetary Nationalism.
All three are interlinked and interdependent. But for that to happen the people in a country have to be conscious (self-evident) that they do have a country to develop are are convinced that they have the capacity to do it. And it ain’t God’s will contrary to popular belief. The Americans do not respect the pinoy because he does not have respect for himself. They are more interested in doing business with the guys who had gone to war with them.
Alam nang Kano na halos ng lahat ng mayayaman including Big Mike and GMA park their wealth (ill gotten or not) outside their own country.
The argument over the role of the state and private business (both domestic and foreign) will look after itself only after the collective becomes self aware about their own country and the need to develop.
Where and when in history has the country ever had this basic concepts in operation?
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:24 am
China eyes US$10b Philippine investment in mining, steel.
http://www.intellasia.net/news/articles/resources/111245513.shtml
In Iloilo:
Officials of the Iloilo Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council also said that logging activities should be investigated because the rampaging waters that submerged villages carried logs. But
Floods not caused by mining say Philippine industry leaders.
http://www.intellasia.net/news/articles/resources/111245847.shtml
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:33 am
to KG: That book “Social Murder” is a political book, political in that it wants politics to kick in to get something to happen. It is a book by two Canadian professors — the two professors want Canada to behave in a particular manner. They say “… don’t do it the “evil economists’” way, the evil economists to mean the economists of US-of-A (translation — World bank/IMF) with their platform (of late 80’s but getting modified) for support for the invisible hand of business — less government regulation of businesses is better. The 2 Canadians know about the “good economists”, namely the economists of European Union. [Side-note: Al Gore is a de-facto political economist. American Al Gore (global warming message) is considered a “good economist” by the Canadian economists because Al Gore wants just as intense direct-intervention in business practices as European Union economists want to manage the business-practices of European manufacturers.) So the 2 Canadians are basically saying that Canada should do more of EU-style economics (i.e. their politicians should mimic more the politicians of the EU) and less dependence on what Abe Margallo has written before — “The Washington Consensus”.
——————-
The Canadian authors could have given the book a more appropriate, but boring title — Economic Policies — EU versus Washington Consensus —- but the “murder” blahh-blahh-blahh is packaging to ooommph the hype to get more bookstore shelf space and higher sales.
———
hvrds can explain more about WB/IMF Washington consensus economics. hvrds has an incisive understanding of the strong currents that explains national economics, e.g. “….The Americans do not respect the pinoy because he does not have respect for himself. “
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:39 am
more on FDI’s: Inflow of Money
According to the Philippine Department of Agriculture, Spanish biodiesel firm Bionor Transformacion S.A. is to invest US$200 million to develop at least 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres) of land into jatropha plantations. The company disclosed its plans to invest in the Philippines through a memorandum of agreement signed recently between AME Bionergy Corp. and the country’s Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (PADCC).
http://biopact.com/2007/12/bionor-to-invest-200-million-in.html
“Where and when in history has the country ever had this basic concepts in operation?”
y own simple answer: the world bank and the IMF will not lend us money if we filipinos don’t have the potentials and capacity to develop.
DJB Rizalist on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:43 am
In my opinion the greatest obstacle to our economic progress are the twin insurgencies of the CPP NPA and the MILF/MNLF/ASG. The first is not nationalism at all but the attempt to establish a totalitarian dictatorship — that’s clear to most Filipinos, which accounts for its utter failure except to get a toehold in media and academe, thanks of course to democracy and freedom of speech. The second is certainly a nationalism bred by nationalism, but it is not Filipino nationalism. It is an attempt to re-establish the old Maguindanao Confederacy and the Sulu sultanates through secession, which I aver were political economies based on human trafficking, piracy and slavery from an era when human resources were more important that natural resources (which were relatively abundant), when the basis of wealth was how many people you controlled to produce surpluses that could be traded and appropriated. I oppose both vigorously not only because they are holding back national progress, but if successful would deliver either the entire Filipino people or the Bangsamoro people to theocracies (one in which the CPP would be the deity and the other to Islam).
In some ways we are at the point in time when the Union was fighting the Southern confederacy. Who will be Abe Lincoln?
PSImeon on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:50 am
“But for that to happen the people in a country have to be conscious (self-evident) that they do have a country to develop are are convinced that they have the capacity to do it.” -hvrds
Kinda vicious circle over the decades of Philippine history:
1. The kind of leaders the people elect/put into power.
2. The kind of governance from these leaders
3. The kind of socio-economic conditions created
4. Which make the kind of people who could help develop the country leave
5. Which make the kind who remain more to susceptible to corruption
6. Which make worse the kind of leaders elected
Kinda back to square one, yes?
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:53 am
Rising growth, declining investment : the puzzle of the Philippines
From World Bank:Cut and Paste
The economy of the Philippines is open to trade and capital inflows, and has grown rapidly since 2002. Over the last 10 years, however, domestic investment, while stagnant in real terms, has shrunk as a share of GDP. In an open and growing economy, why the decline? Three reasons explain the puzzle. First, the public sector cannot afford expanding its investment at GDP growth rates. Second, the capital-intensive private sector does not find it convenient to raise investment at the economy’s pace. Third, fast-growing businesses in the service sector do not need to rapidly increase investment to enjoy rising profits. Yet, the economy keeps growing. On the demand-side, massive labor migration results in remittances that fuel consumption-led-growth. On the supply-side, free from rent-capturing regulations, a few non-capital-intensive manufactures and services boost exports. The economic system is in equilibrium at a low level of capital stock, where all economic agents have no incentive to unilaterally increase investment and the first mover bears short-term costs. As a consequence, growth is slower and less inclusive than it could be. To make it speedier and more sustainable, and to reduce unemployment and poverty, the economy needs to move to a “high-capital-stock” equilibrium. This would be attainable through better-performing eco-zones, a competitive exchange rate, greater government revenues, and fewer elite-capturing regulations.
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/04/03/000158349_20080403232837/Rendered/PDF/wps4472.pdf
DJB Rizalist on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:56 am
In short, I believe it is the duty of nationalists in this epoch of history to fight and defeat these twin insurgencies, so we can get on with the further evolutionary step of becoming part of the global republic of the human species.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 11:29 am
to DJB: It is unfortunate Filipinos not fully cognizant of the extremely high friction-costs that CPP/NPA and ASG/MILF have brought.
justice league on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 11:49 am
Congrats Manny!
BrianB on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 12:26 pm
CVJ,
Nationalism and liberalism have been owned by the elite.
And I agree with you, foreign investment i.e. foreign businesses setting up shop contribute to a lagging economy. What we need is foreign capital for local businesses, The problem is local businesses are non-innovative and their main target is the local population. These conglomerates do not have “conquering the world” in their short term or long-term plans. Very parochial in their outlook, parasitic, dependent on OFW money and BPO wages. Retail, restaurants,, etc. Tsk.
frombelow on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 12:54 pm
“Sabularse said Del Monte and Dole only uses small amounts of endosulfan on the pineapples they grow, and by the time the pineapple is ready for harvest, the chemical is no longer detectable.” She supposedly in an interview with dzMM radio.
Small amounts? Why ten tons of that chemical, then?
frombelow on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 1:01 pm
An overeager radio announcer said that there is even rejoicing in Aklan and Panay over the victory of Pacman.
Adding insult to injury.
Pathetic, indeed.
cvj on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 1:34 pm
Brian, regarding your remark on the need for foreign investments to ‘contribute to a lagging economy’, i think i have to clarify. The point of my comment above (at 10:43 pm), is that foreign investments usually arrive after the host country’s economy is already in order, not before. If you think about it, it make sense that a prospective foreign investor wouldn’t want to go to a country where the economic outlook is less than ideal.
I saw that first hand in the MNC that i work for. We sent Filipino expats to the Vietnam subsidiary in the mid-90’s (to grow the business), only after it got it’s house in order (i.e. after its second land reform which dismantled the collective farms in favor of family/household farms). We also re-entered India (after being kicked out in the late 70’s), when it was clear that there was potential as shown by the example of a Tata Consulting Services (a local Indian firm).
grd on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 1:53 pm
right. great boxing clinic.
magdiwang on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 1:55 pm
Its not surprising that a lot of people were dismayed with GMA for the lack of “pakikiramay” or “pagkakaisa” to the victims of typhoon Frank. Its completely understandable since the virtue of “bayanihan” is ingrained on our collective psyche.
While “pakikisama” or “pakikiramay” is a good virtue on its own in emoting to people who are in need. The question is if GMA’s presence is really needed to get this important value come accross to them. It is more sentimentalism which does not give much help except for giving someone a shoulder to cry on. It is the expressiom of solidarity and looking for ways to help that is important and not her physical presence. At a time of modern communication at warp speed, cultural values of “pakikisama” and “pakikiramay” are good but “pagaabot” o “pagtulong” are more important.
cvj on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 4:28 pm
@magdiwang, it goes beyond ’sentimentalism’. Read this Philstar news item (c/o Mon Casiple’s blog):
http://www.moncasiple.wordpress.com/2008/06/28/politics-of-disaster/
The Ca t on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:01 pm
Walang respeto? Tapos na kasi ang parity right. Wala na silang pag-asang makapag-invest para makakuha ng natural resources natin. Kita nila ang Vietnam na malaki pa ang natural resouces na puwedeng idevelop.
mga corrupt din ang mga opisyales.
Ngayon katatapos lang ang high economic summit between US and China para mag-ease out ang China sa mga restricted investment areas nito.
many of commenters here talk about foreign investment as if they are talking about a tree when they are only referring to the branch.
Sa lahat ng bansa, may mga investment policies para protektahan ang mga industriyang nagsisilbi sa mga mamamayan na kung ibibigay sa foreign investors ay maarig mawalan ng control ang gobyerno. Walang kaibahan sa Pilipinas.
kaya nga may sinasabing encouraged investment, restricted investment prohibited investment sa China at sa Vietnam din.
Sa atin ginawang madaling mag-invest dito by increasing foreign equity share from 40 per cent to 60 per cent especially in preferred investment areas.
The Ca t on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:04 pm
What is the difference between the two if we are talking about capital and not loan?
PSImeon on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:21 pm
In addition to Vietnam being a new market, part of its attraction is its location in the continental mainland. Companies who wish to sell or continue serving the Chinese market will choose Vietnam for its lower costs. Its also the reason why a lot Taiwanese firms are going there.
Same reason why Intel is moving out from RP. Of course, of no help is the high cost of power in the Philippines.
cvj on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:35 pm
Distance-wise, in terms of air and sea transport, we are as close to China as Vietnam is.
The Ca t on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:37 pm
dapat sigurong malaman ng mga nagkukumpara sa Vietnam sa Pilipinas, sa Vietnam, lahat ng lupa ay pag-aari ng gobyerno.
Kapag bumili ang mamamayan ng bahay nila, ang bahay ay hindi mapupunta sa kanilang tagpagmana. ito ay pupunta sa gobyerno. kailan lang binago ang batas na ito para makaattract ng mga foreign investors at mapauwi ang mga vietnamese na yumaman na sa Esados unidos.
Bangkarote ang Vietnam. Sino man ang nagsasabing self-sufficient sila bago ang foreign investments inflow ay kailangan kausapin ang mga Vietnamese-americans na kagaya ng Pilipino ay pabalik-balik na rin sa Vietnam mula ng magbago ang gobyerno.
So anong nauna, yong itlog o yong manok?
PSImeon on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 5:40 pm
Hanoi is getting a $1.1 billion loan from ADB to build a new road linking Vietnam and China. Will be completed in 2011.
cvj on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 6:21 pm
Ca t, tama ang sinabi mo na “gobyerno ng Vietnam ang may-ari ng lahat ng lupa”.
The Vietnamese peasants were happier with this arrangement, compared to the previous one where the allocation was to the entire collective.
Any story of Vietnam’s economic growth has to take into account its land reforms as there is a complementary relationship between agricultural emancipation and industrial development. (Naka-dalawang round na sila. Tayo, hindi pa nakukumpleto ang nasimulan noong panahon ni DM.)
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 8:37 pm
to leytenian: hvrds may have already pointed to that World Bank cut-and-paste that you provided, but your version is the first one I saw, so thanks. It really explains a lot, e.g. why the Cojuangcos and the Lucio Tans are happy with the current economy (in short — local businesses are making good profits) and also why they are investing the profits overseas instead of the Philippines —
.
Usually, the first-mover has the advantage, but I guess it is because contracts, intellectual- and other property-rights are low-value in Pinas that the first mover bears short-term costs. So the World Bank pushes for what others in this thread have pushed for — for Pinas to invest to “high-capital”. So less retail as cvj and more projects that require higher-capital-investments, i.e. job-shops and assembly-lines.
The WorldBank (and again, this is red-alert for being non-European-thinking but being WashingtonConsensus thinking)…. the World Bank says:
The last one means “…reliance on the invisible hand”. The second-to-the-last-one is usually implemented as VAT while Bush Millenium DevelopmentFund wants it to be via capturing the smugglers (that KG complained of) and the income-tax evaders.
So the “outsiders” want to set up shop inside Pinas (safer against terrorism by being in an eco-zone). They can bring money AND equipment and 3 or 4 managers and the rest of the workers will be locals.
The script is similar to Buld-Operate-Transfer or investment in another power-generation plant ——- they want a return on investments to be guaranteed in dollar- or euro-denomination.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 8:55 pm
to KG (who conveys himself to me as more “action-oriented” and less the analysis-paralysis blah-blahhhh) the action-items from WB cut-and-paste are:
— eco-zone;
— catch the smugglers, catch the income-tax evaders (and yes, more income revenue from other tax sources if necessary);
— the projects should not be ” toothpick assembly lines ” which are low-capital;
I think the “Washington Consensus”-guidelines will say “yes” to another power plant nuclear or not. So will the european economists.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:12 pm
leytenian: the european economists (who have european businesses talking into their ears) are not interested in projects to parcel out small chunks of land to Pinas farmers. What europe wants (and have gotten already) is access to very large parcels of Philippine land so they can plant… plants to feed a factory, not plants to feed people.
DJB Rizalist on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:12 pm
UP N Student,
The concept of a Bangsamoro, a Moro “nation”, did not even exist before or during Spanish times. The Moro peoples and surrounding lumads were either vassals (endatuan), debt-slaves (ulipun or alipin) or tribute-paying freemen (ransom in installments!). Moro nationalism was a notion stimulated by American colonialism and largely invented AFTER Philippine Independence was restored in 1946. The so called Golden Age of Mindanao was grim, nasty place ruled over by sultans and datus claiming hereditary descent from the Prophet Muhammad based on documents called tarsilas. Yet many writers like Randy David and his imitators, as well as “Muslim scholars” are telling a false history to justify the Moro insurgencies, which will never end because they hate each other more than they hate the Christians. They were never united as three sultanates constantly fought each other for the right to raid the Visayas and Luzon, and stole each other’s slaves as a matter of culture and tradition. No wonder kidnap for ransom is so engrained as their modus operandi. The Moros will always be better off under a democracy than a restored Maguindanao confederacy. They are the equivalent of blacks in the USA.
Support for the “Bangsamoro” homeland idea and the various insurgent groups would be the equivalent of calling for the restoration of the CSA and reversal of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation!
All this hand-wringing over the poor oppressed Moros ignores the fact that other Filipinos are equally poor and oppressed, historically and even in the present.
KG on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:20 pm
Just a reinforcement to investments in vietnam. and below about land reform.
quite an old article (2005) but pwede na.
http://www.business-in-asia.com/vn_industrial.html
Like most of the world, Vietnam is actively competing for foreign investment (FDI). Recently, there is a bad news/good news story on this in Vietnam. Whether the story is good or bad depends on which side of the table you are sitting on. First, any fair observer has to admit that Vietnam has done much over the last several years to improve itself as an attractive location for someone to relocate a factory, open a company or in general invest. When President Clinton lifted the Trade Embargo with Vietnam in 1994, Vietnam was in many ways like the American Wild West in terms of infrastructure, law, regulation and many other factors – that is to say there wasn’t much infrastructure and there wasn’t much meaningful law on business. What law and regulation there was usually turned out to be more applicable to Socialist operations and highly costly and time consuming to investors. Because of the hype on Vietnam as being the next “Asian Tigerâ€, investors were oftentimes too quick to reach for their wallets and the net result was that a lot of money, time and goodwill was lost by most if not all investors.
sa land reform ,tulad ng sinabi ko dati ang daming namatay .it worked pretty well daw pero only in some parts of the country..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform
* Vietnam: In the years after World War II, even before the formal division of Vietnam, land reform was initiated in North Vietnam. This land reform (1953-1956) redistributed land to more than 2 million poor peasants, but at a cost of from tens[18] to hundreds of thousands of lives[19] and was one of the main reason for the mass exodus of 1 million people from the North to the South in 1954. The probable democide for this four year period then totals 283,000 North Vietnamese.[20] South Vietnam made several further attempts in the post-Diem years, the most ambitious being the Land to the Tiller program instituted in 1970 by President Nguyen Van Thieu. This limited individuals to 15 hectares, compensated the owners of expropriated tracts, and extended legal title to peasants who in areas under control of the South Vietnamese government to whom had land had previously been distributed by the Viet Cong. Mark Moyar [1996] asserts that while it was effectively implemented only in some parts of the country, “In the Mekong Delta and the provinces around Saigon, the program worked extremely well… It reduced the percentage of total cropland cultivated by tenants from sixty percent to ten percent in three years.” [4].
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:36 pm
to DJB: Bangsamoro sounds like a slick allusion to an icon with a lot of romantic aura — Palestine.
“But the history of the place does not support you.” “No! Palestine.”
“But there was no … “No! Palestine.”
“But…” “Bangsamoro!!!”
“Let’s…” “No… bangsamoro!!!”
Bert on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:37 pm
Of course the RDCC in Iloilo and other calamity areas will not distribute the rice yet, they are waiting for the Boss to arrive from Las Vegas so the entourage for the photo-ops in the distribution will be more meaningful.
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:49 pm
UP N student:
europe wants larger parcel of land inside the Philippines for factory? why not? they have to follow the rules of foreign investors like the non-phil citizens. the government must calculate cost and effect , the result should be both a win win and establishing close relationship/team building. if employment and manufacturing require many people to generate its production which will result to massive taxes revenue, well maybe it’s time for Philippines to accept that. The concept of OPM ( other people’s money) has long been the strategy of American money system. they borrow money from china, iraq because they are confident that an 8% investment with no initial capital taken from their pocket will return to 25% or even higher. The US government project cost and return to 25 to 50 years. I always invest with no money out of my pocket. my cash is hidden under my pillow for emergency.
I will not oppose Europeans in our country. We will learn from them hands on , not from the book and its business history. I also would love to have new retail for french cuisine around the islands, like the french side of St Marteen. I can picture Philippines with very many French tourist in the long run.
This is another way of understanding HVRDS ? of how open are we to foreign investment?
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:50 pm
to DJB: Amazingly, a lot of people buy this charade:
Ignored is the trivia that the many Maguindanawans who flee the poverty, oppression and lawlessness in their villages migrate to Bicol, Cebu, Leyte, metro-Manila.
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:51 pm
the advantages of having europeans to have large factory with their own money — is the true concept of using other people’s money. let them invest and employ our people. we have nothing to lose.
is this the enrile pointing finger to aboville? if s, then enrile is very stupid.
PSImeon on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 9:52 pm
“Exceptionally high power rates were cited as one reason why Intel Philippines, one of the country’s biggest foreign investors and largest employers, with over 5,000 workers, plans to close down its Philippine operations and divert the company’s investments to lower-cost Vietnam ..”
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JF10Ae01.html
It’s a combination of factors, both macro and micro, including markets and internal rates of return. It’s not just about the business environment, legal framework, incentives, etc..
These businessmen know how to make money
The Ca t on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:15 pm
Prolonged period depends on the government’s need for the land.
land reform was a joke because even though they got the right to the “title”, the State can still expropriate the land anytime a foreign investor is interested to develop the farmland into industrial estates or tourist resorts.
more than 1,500 villagers opposed the government expropriation of their farm lots. Yep there were no news when the military clashed with these people who did not want their lots converted into luxury golf course.
The same thing happnened when a Korean car company got interested in croplands of a group of farmers. The foreign investor paid the corresponding amount for the expropriation but only a very small percentage of went to the farmers.
Same thing in china. When the dam that is being built to ensure adequate supply of water for the idustries were built, several home and lotowners were displaced.
What makes these places attractive investment areas? They can suppress the news. Bloggers are never free like in the Philippines to write negatively about intended projects and human rights violation.
They can always control press releases to project good image to the world (promotion baga) and these press releases in the form of books or articles are linked by the wannabe economists in this blog. Sheesh.
PSImeon on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:15 pm
So don’t take everything that economists in Washington D.C. tell you. They are really not sure of what this new, flat world is all about.
Nor was Greenspan, Bernake, and most central bankers for that matter.
DJB Rizalist on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:21 pm
I doubt very much that many investors would be interested in the up coming Muslim Juridical Entity aka Bangsamorostan, which the President wants to leave as a her “peace legacy”, much as FVR did with ARMM in 1996. Except of course for the Waziristan BOI. It was in the hopes of slipping that in under the radar last year that Jess Dureza and Rodolfo Garcia prevented the service of arrest warrants for those infamous beheadings of 14 Marines on over a hundred MILF/ASG “partners in the peace process.” If you thought 100 billion already sunk into the Nur Misuari Sultanate was grand, wait till you see the 1000-barangay homeland being prepped for Hashim bin Sultan Salamat. Even Joma the Ayatollah can’t figure out how to do this since he’s all tied up in his new Dutch homeland. Arlyn de la Cruz and Loren Legarda can be maharahnees there.
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:30 pm
back to meralco: breakdown of expenses
87% goes to pass thru charges required by the government including the 12% EVAT.
13% goes to meralco for distribution charges..
http://pbbchill.multiply.com/journal/item/19/Important_Truth_behind_Meralco_Current_Issues
why investor leave our country, just like meralco wanted to sell its meralco shares to the goverment… for this main reason… our government do not understand the benefits of short term and long term benefits from big corporation.( bg corporaton comprises of experience, skilled money making people) the government should learn from these people.
in the US… big corporations that generate massive employment are allowed to defer their corporate income tax. ( defer for 5-10 years and pay monthly in smaller increments thus the buden of lump sum payment will not affect the financial health of the big business) this money can be used by the corporation to expand even further to create more employment.
for intel, it’s not only their electric bill, it might be corporate income tax that our government is collecting.
our government leaders do not understand business because most of them are lawyers. lawyers enforce the law , like ” you have to pay taxes” .wrong concept. let the business people invest their own money to our land, the government’s role is to regulate. we have nothing to lose except employing our people.
The Ca t on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:41 pm
Technology nationalism and espionage.
Sabi sa Tsina raw ay hindi tumatatanggap ng paglipat ng teknolohiya. ginagamit nila ang kanilang dinivelop.
ngayon may mga kaso sa estados unidos na nasasangkot ang mga siyentipikong galing sa Tsina na pangungulimbat ng mga sikretong tecknolohiya at pinadadala sa kanilang bansa sa loob ng mga nakaraang taon.
kagaya rin sa Japan noong kapanahunan na pinadadala ang mgq iskolar na hapon sa ibangg bansa upang pag-aralan ang sibilasasyon sa Europa. umuwi silang dala ang mga kailangan nilang kaalaman, isinulat sa hapones upang hindi makuha ng ibang bansa.
UP n student on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:45 pm
to leytenian:leytenian: On willingness to turn over large parcels of land to europeans. “Outsiders” are hoping the powers-that-be in Malacanang and the halls of Pinas congress share your sentiments and will sign the necessary paperwork.
In fact, here is a “OFFER TO LET” advertisement that I guarantee will get lots of response. Remember : Americans want an eco-zone; the Brits will respond to this eco-zone ad; maybe even Russia; and I can practically guarantee that China will be very interested, too.
—- land-size : very large to very very large; can accomodate 3 or 4 runways as well as 3 docks to accomodate 9,000 tonnes; two docks to accomodate 15,000 tonnes.
— 60 years lease; 110-year leases will be considered.
———-
As you can imagine, there will lots of hiring for construction as well as for engineers and technicians (ship repair; electronics; aircraft maintenance).
————-
Basilan or even the bottom-third (or half) of Palawan will be excellent-size.
The Ca t on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 10:48 pm
vic on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 11:08 pm
Ill conceived rush to Ethanol —an analysis:
Price of corn doubles in three years as more of crop is diverted to satisfy questionable biofuels policy
Jun 29, 2008 04:30 AM David Olive
columnist
You may read the part one of the analysis here… Part l of 2:
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/451291
cvj on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 11:23 pm
Karl (at 9:20 pm), i hope you did not get the impression that i’m against attracting foreign investments (which seems to be Ca T’s impression which is why she has been arguing to the wrong point since yesterday).
On land reform, i’m not recommending we replicate Vietnam’s bloodshed, only its policy choice. Let’s try to do it more peacefully.
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 11:35 pm
Vic,
I understand . Here’s not from Corn or sugarcane technology. In Philippines, we have jathropa invested by the europeans.
Farm bill offers big boost for biomass ethanol.
“Federal legislators aren’t the only ones expressing support for stronger biomass ethanol incentives. In a May 11 editorial, the New York Times called on Congress to rethink ethanol standards, placing more emphasis on biomass-derived ethanol, less on corn-based ethanol. As a first step, the Times urged Congress to reorder its subsidy structure to promote “good†forms of biofuels, particularly biomass ethanol.”
http://southeastfarmpress.com/biofuels/biomass-ethanol-0605/
I think in the long run.. the world will learn and will not depend too much on oil. everybody’s talking about hybrid and small cars.
leytenian on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 11:51 pm
in terms of Philippines geographical location, to plant all these jathropha, corn, sugarcane ( new one malungay daw.. yung bunga- maraming ethanol)at marami pang tropical trees and plants ,
the best place with less exposure to typhoon is Mindanao ( sa kabukiran)…
time to use the stick strategy rather than carrots?
BrianB on Sun, 29th Jun 2008 11:58 pm
CVJ,
What I meant was, foreign corporations setting up shop contribute to the “lagging” OF a developing economy. The reason is that foreign corporations’ main objective is not to develop the host country but to earn money. If they could be hacenderos too during the sugar boom, they would’ve been hacienderos here. Right now, they want to go to mining and, of course, to take advantage of the cheap English-speaking people. We need their money, no doubt, but if Filipinos think foreign investment per se always positive, this to me is backward thinking.
justice league on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:01 am
Grd,
Cheers.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:12 am
Brian, ah ok. Thanks for the correction. You are right of course and i’m saying this as someone who has spent half my life inside an MNC.
UP n student on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:15 am
addendum for precision in definitions:
My understanding of the WorldBank item (on using eco-zone, better tax revenue, others … to reduce unemployment and poverty)… the zone is
The most successful Special Economic Zone in China, Shenzhen, has developed from a small village into a city with a population over 10 million within 20 years.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:37 am
UPn, you’re right on the success of the Shenzen Special Economic Zone. However, as i commented before, as per economist Dani Rodrik, that is only one of the successful reforms introduced by Deng, the others being:
- the household responsibility system
- dual-track pricing, and
- township-and-village enterprises
http://www.rodrik.typepad.com/dani_rodriks_weblog/2008/05/re-uniting-development-economics.html
That’s why while the Ecozones were concentrated to China’s coastal provinces, its interior provinces also experienced accelerated economic growth.
If we want to achieve China’s rate of economic growth, we have to consider the totality of their policy implementations.
UP n student on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:37 am
to BrianB: when you say that …. foreign corporations …contribute to the “lagging†OF a developing economy. The reason is that foreign corporations’ main objective is … to earn money.
This is my understanding of how the process works.
Step 1: Foreign corporation identifies a business opportunity in a developing economy which, if the corporation gets entry, then the corporation makes money.
Step 2: Foreign corporation approaches leaders of developing economy to allow it (the foreign corporation) entry. It makes a case (which includes the benefits the developing economy gets when foreigner gets entry).
Step 3: Leaders make counter-offer. Negotiations follow.
The foreign corporation enters only if it can make money. The developing economy should allow entry of the foreign corporation only if there is net-positive benefits to the developing economy (hopefully to two or three or more sectors and not only to three or four clans).
So… it is less that the foreign corporations intend to make money (“less” in that you could have rejected their entry, and “getting rejected” is the risks of being a corporation), the issue is whether you benefited, and if you did not, whether you are happy that this family or that family or this or that sector benefitted, too.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:42 am
UPn (at 12:37 am), that’s more or less how ZTE did it right?
leytenian on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:44 am
it’s not about backward thinking. it’s backward thinking if we don’t understand what OPM from foreign capital flowing in versus capital from loans and borrowing : the employment advantages and disadvantages with regards to our environment and culture that OP and loans have to offer. the negatives can be calculated, risk-manage, predicted and projected ahead of time. this is management planning and forward looking strategies. I like economic zoning as explain by UP N.. There’s plenty of solution. As bush said, there’s a talented cook in his kitchen.
UP n student on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:58 am
to cvj: The process gets bastardized ala the broadband-for-Pinas project. There was a “greater-good” in the picture — broadband to be available in more communities, but there were many crooks who spoiled the broth.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 1:01 am
UPn, which is why i keep saying that we should get rid of our Oligarchs first. They are the ones who are bastardizing the process so that the benefits go to their small group instead of the ‘greater good’.
PSImeon on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 1:19 am
“..which is why i keep saying that we should get rid of our Oligarchs first..” – cvj
The enlightended ones are needed to push the reform agenda. Mang Pandong may not be able to do it by himself.
The bourgeoise contributed to the success of the American and French revolutions, yes?
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 1:21 am
PSImeon, the problem is that (as pointed out by our Host), many of those who claim to be ‘enlightened’ fear the masses more than the Oligarchs.
UP n student on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 1:42 am
cvj: First, you really have to name names as to who are the oligarchs you want to get rid of, then when you want to get rid of them, and how. There always is the chance that you will be unable to displace an oligarch you despise because he/she was able then, and will be able again to get the votes of his/her district.
Having said that, Pinas behaves clumsy. Pinas tries to control “… the invisible hand” clumsily. Filipino bureaucrats become very brave and generous with money that they never earned — my rule-of-thumb is that if the service is provided by commercial companies in other countries, then it should be commercial companies (not the government) that should provide the business in Pinas.
So for broadband-for-the-masses, I would prefer that it was a commercial firm that goes into negotiating with the telephony/internet equipment providers. If a Philippine company can not make a decent profit from providing broadband to Jolo, then tough beans — no broadband for Jolo. And if Saudi wants to “donate the equipment” if Pinas approves ten sites for madrassas espousing Wahhabi, I will open it up for discussions. If warnings from DJB gets ignored by the CBCP, the INC and the public, hey…. it is a democracy.
If a Philippine company says that when it provides broadband to Camiguin, it only makes P50,000-a-year-profit [too low] but if Govt-Pilipinas gives them a P2-million-a-year subsidy for the next 30 years, they will provide the service to Camiguin plus 10 other nearby communities, the deal can be further reviewed because the downside to Pinas is well-documented. P2-million-a-year, even if it goes exclusively to Conrado deQuiros, is a tolerable risk.
UP n student on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 1:45 am
I would love for Conrado deQuiros to run his own business!!!! I think Conrado deQuiros, because he is a populist with a large following, deserves a P2Million-a-year-subsidy for 5 years so he gets an education in what building, then running a business is about.
The Ca t on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 1:56 am
Very idealistic.
You can partition the land and give them to partners but when the government needs the land for some foreigners’ development, you confiscate them.
Haah.
Because that is basically the lad reform in Vietnam, your favorite example.
Even in a democratic country like the Philippines, land reform always bring bloodshed. What country can you cite where land problems did not bring death to thousands if not millions.
Bencard on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 2:07 am
and why not cvj? i’m not an oligarch, by any means, but i would rather have a one-person BENEVOLENT and wise dictator than an in-fighting junta with each member trying to be the big kahuna.
vic on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 2:14 am
Leytenian, Granting that the raw materials for Ethanol and biofuels are derived from non-edibles or non-staples, But they too have to be grown in the same Arable Farm lands where the current Foods for the World’s Fast Growing population also depends their Staples.
Now as the Population grows, the world needs more farmlands and that could also means clearing more forested areas to be converted into farmlands and ranches and that will defeat the “climate change effect” that is one of the purposes of using the cleaner non-fossil energy.
I think Mercedes Benz is leading the innovation in Hybrid Electric which can be charged in ordinary electric outlets with the use of the already invented Lithium ion batteries to power the electric motors. We’ll find out…
grd on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 2:28 am
Justice,
Cheers!
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 2:49 am
Ca t, aside from Vietnam, other countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and even Kerala (in India) had implemented land reform. In those countries, the implementation was more peaceful than in Vietnam because their land reforms were implemented in non-revolutionary situations. We can learn from them as well.
grd on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 2:49 am
Cat-cat, i wanted to ask him how will he implement his plan (modeled after china and vietnam) peacefully. mamadyikin niya siguro?
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 3:10 am
grd, (at 2:49am), i’ve pointed out (at 2:49am) that other countries were able to implement land reform more peacefully. i don’t think they used magic.
grd on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 3:31 am
cvj, did the other countries follow china or vietnam way also? are you advocating now a different way (re we can learn from them as well)… why, you have second thoughts now after Cat-cat shot-down your peaceful land reform advocacy patterned after china or vietnam?
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 3:49 am
grd, i’ve commented about land reform many times before and as you can see in my previous comment below (one among many), i did include South Korea and Taiwan:
http://www.quezon.ph/1465/asian-godfathers/#comment-556647
I’ve also written about the South Korean, Taiwan and Kerala models in my blog:
http://www.cvjugo.blogspot.com/search/label/land%20reform
The message that i’ve been trying to convey is that the successful attempts at economic growth (or human development in the case of Kerala) by these countries was a decisive land reform implementation. That includes both capitalist countries (like South Korea and Taiwan) and Communist states (like China and Vietnam). We can learn from all the above examples so that we can implement the good and avoid the bad (like the violence). I hope that gives you enough background behind what i told Karl that (at 11:23 pm).
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 3:51 am
sorry, the first sentence in the last paragraph above (at 3:49am) should read:
The message that i’ve been trying to convey is that behind the successful attempts at economic growth (or human development in the case of Kerala) by these countries was a decisive land reform implementation.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 4:12 am
grd, the link below points to an even earlier discussion where i pointed to the different models of land reform. please also note commenter bafil’s citing the peaceful land reform in Czechoslovakia:
http://www.quezon.ph/1102/the-charge-of-the-palace-brigade/#comment-297985
The Ca t on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 6:19 am
South Korea land reform
For four years the farmers in Pyeongtaek had been protesting against forcible eviction from their farms to when they refused expropriation of the land to give way to te expansion of the US military base.
In MArch 6, 2006, 500 riot policemen evicted the 200 farmers. Many of them were severely injured and arrested.
Part of land reform of SK is expropriation of lands by the government.
Is this what we should learn from Korea? hah.
KG on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 6:23 am
CVJ,
on fdi I fully understood that you want everything in place first, that’s is why I quoted the field of dreams. the book Social Murder was for your advocacy against the society’s illnesses .
Non violent land reform sa pinas?
sa mga bato lang ang armas mahirap na mag paalis pano pa kaya sa mga may private army.
get another example other than taiwan , korea
land reform in taiwan worked only because the japs who owned the land went home
how could the japs want more violence kakatapos lang ng hiroshima at nagasaki
same in korea they just threw out the japs; and the confiscation of land from the rich koreans was supervised by uncle sam.
The Ca t on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 6:27 am
I think he is talking about agrarian reform and he is using land reform instead which is only redistribution of property ownership thru confiscation or expropriation.
That’s the problem of those people who do not understand what’s the difference between the two.
Land reform can never succeed without agrarian reform.
KG on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 7:10 am
Ako ,I love apples and oranges.
masama pala ipagsabay yun according to Dr. Cathy
bakit ako magmamarunong na alam ko difference ng dalawa (land and agrarian reform)
to prevent comparing ng apples and oranges
alamin ko nga.
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or can refer more broadly to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures, training, land consolidations, etc.
Ben Cousins defines the difference between agrarian reform and land reform as follows:
Land reform… is concerned with rights in land, and their character, strength and distribution, while… [agrarian reform] focuses not only on these but also a broader set of issues: the class character of the relations of production and distribution in farming and related enterprises, and how these connect to the wider class structure. It is thus concerned economic and political power and the relations between them…[1]
Along similar lines, a 2003 World Bank report states,
…A key precondition for land reform to be feasible and effective in improving beneficiaries’ livelihoods is that such programs fit into a broader policy aimed at reducing poverty and establishing a favourable environment for the development of productive smallholder agriculture by beneficiaries.[2]
Examples of other issues include “tenure security” for “farm workers, labour tenants, … farm dwellers… [and] tenant peasants”, which makes these workers and tenants better prospects for receiving private-sector loans;[3] “infrastructure and support services”;[4] government support of “forms of rural enterprise” that are “complementary” to agriculture;[5] and increased community participation in government decisions in rural areas.[6]
Cath pls wag ka mapikon sa apples and oranges ko ng doctor: MD vis-a-vis PHD/DBA
KG on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 7:16 am
Palagay ko alam ni CVJ ang difference.
dahil he cited more than once Food Sovereignty coined by the members of via Campesina.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 9:05 am
Ca t (at 6:19 am), i don’t see how you can use that as an argument against land reform in South Korea since the beneficiary is the US Base. we could choose not to implement that portion. It reminds me of the time you argued against industrial policy ala-South Korea because of the 1998 Financial crisis. These ignore the fact that both land reform and industrial policy nevertheless contributed significantly to that country’s economic development..
Karl (at 7:16am), thanks for pointing that out. yes, i do know that there’s a difference. As to the ‘other example’ that you requested (at 6:23 am), the link (at 4:12 am) mentions the example of Czeckoslovakia. Also, Taiwan had its local landlords as well (as i mentioned in my blog entry). On your concern about the Oligarchs’ private armies, shouldn’t they also be dismantled anyway? What place do private armies have in modern, civilized society?
KG on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 9:22 am
Done scrolling up and I saw the Czechoslovakia example.
private armies should be dismantled,right but look at our elections.
another thing added to the do list of anyone who has the political will to do it.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 9:40 am
Karl, i believe that as ordinary citizens, we can all do our part to give our leaders the courage to summon their political will. Unfortunately, as i told PSimeon above (at 1:21am), the middle class whom i believe usually embodies the values of the nation still chooses to side with the Upper Class (tacitly, if not explicitly). Manolo has repeatedly pointed this out.
KG on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 10:15 am
yes as citizens we can do our part.
etong sampol ko ng private army. di middle class ang mga armed security,active police and active soldiers pero wala silang magawa pag oras na mag aklas sa labas ng mga gate ng mga amo nila.
don’t forget that the lower class also has ties with the upper class like the tenants,the loyal katiwalas,their family
sa city naman mga loyal na katulong. mga skwatter nandyan para sa elction bukod sa harsh reality na wala silang choice.I have worked in Makati and wala silang pakilalam kahit madami nakakita tuwing me rally they give money.Kahit sa ortigas nakakita din ako.
so the blame should not be with us, the middle class. No one is to blame,everyone is a stakeholder in this society!!!!
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 10:26 am
Karl, as you said of the poor, ‘wala silang choice’. The Middle Class, on the other hand, has more room to step back and reflect on these things because we are not as preocuppied with matters of survival (as compared to those in the poorer classes). The problem is that even after being given this opportunity for reflection, a lot of the Middle Class still choose to side with the Upper Class.
BrianB on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:13 am
Let’s stop putting the burden on the poor it’s crazy. I’veheard a lot of well-to-do people complaining that the poor are this and that and that is, to them, the reason why the Philippines is in such a bad state. Bullshit. It’s irrational thinking; it’s the kind of rationalization you only see on children. It’s the people who have money, people in power that are to blame.
PSImeon on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:50 am
“The problem is that even after being given this opportunity for reflection, a lot of the Middle Class still choose to side with the Upper Class.: -cvj
We’ve discussed in an earlier thread.
So, now what happens to the proposition (contained in your model) that because of the onslaught of globalization, the “haves” have less compassion and care for the “have nots”? Didn’t your paradigm even mention this was a natural outgrowth?
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:53 am
Brian, sad to say, blaming the poor seems to be common among the achievers in our society. A recent discussion over at Filipino Voices made me realize that this is because those with a ‘can do’ attitude who have made it, compare their own success with the failure of others and think that ‘if i can do it, why can’t they’, then conclude that the others failed because ‘they must be lazy, or dependent’.
This shows that a ‘can do’ attitude, while good in itself, does have a dark side. What these achievers don’t realize is that their success only means that they have beaten the odds. Believing that a greater proportion can beat the odds without doing something about the odds itself is ridiculous, a bit like when UPn Student brought up the need for swimming lessons in the context of the Sulpicio disaster.
http://www.quezon.ph/1837/junket-of-doom/#comment-840349
leytenian on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:57 am
as far as my province is concerned, agrarian land reform has been working well and peaceful. bloodshed is very negative. it will not help at all. positive comments are much welcome.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:02 pm
PSImeon (at 11:50 am), i believe you are referring to this comment:
http://www.quezon.ph/1850/when-all-you-can-do-is-text/#comment-845684
As i mentioned in this linked comment, the mindset inherent in globalization encourages the idea that…
…which i think goes a long way in why the Middle Class tends to side with the Upper Class.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:10 pm
last sentence above should read goes a long way in explaining why…. sorry.
PSImeon on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:15 pm
@ cvj,,
To my mind, the socio-politcal ills in our society has become a vicious circle. (I mentioned this in an earlier comment above).
Unless a positive feedback is introduced by say, globalization or constitutional change, this cycle would be perpetuated and conditions may degenerate.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:39 pm
Psimeon, referring to your comment (at June 29th, 2008 at 10:50 am) identifying a vicious cycle, i agree but don’t you also see that the underlying constant in all the above that you mentioned over the decades is the dominance of the Oligarchs, i.e. concentration of economic resources and political power among few families? We’ve been through dictatorship, democracy, privatization, liberalization and all that, all the while the concentration of wealth has remained with a few people. Why not address that issue for a change? Isn’t that how our more successful neighbors did it (whether communist or capitalist)?
hvrds on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:48 pm
It is simply amazing that in the midst of “Sic Semper Globalization” most people are clueless to the root cause of the crisis ongoing. It was the 1994 Tequila Crisis in Mexico that saw the first most serious crack in the Washington Consensus and the Argentinian Crisis simply buried it in 2001.
Then we had 9/11 and bursting of the internet bubble then the downturn in the world economy followed by the massive pump priming by the G-7 economies led by Greenspan and the new bubbles in housing and the emergence of new terms that everyone uses today.
Sub Prime, SIV’s, CDO’s. So the U.S. is once again fighting deflation while she creates inflation all over the world.
They said that the emerging markets would decouple from the G-7 economies. Yet stock markets (using the definition of bear markets when markets go down by at least 20% a given year) all over the planet are tanking at the same time.
So oil is now getting tougher to recover and the dollar is being devalued.
When FDR did it in 1933 not much happened except it almost bankrupted the Bank of England.
When Nixon did it again in 1972 the Japs and Germans did not complain.
When Reagan did it in 1985 not so much reaction. Marcos lost his job though.
Then we have the same thing happening today. But the new guys on the block -China, India, Brazil, Russia and the GCC’s countries have other things on their mind.
The Japs and the Germans then needed the U.S. mantle of military protection versus the Commies.
But today there are no commies left.
The U.S. with their die hard allies are trying to raise a new bogeyman – The Islamic Fundamentalist.
But by coincidence most of these crazies are being bred in the countries that are closest to the U.S.- Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Pakistan.
Unfortunately for the U.S. their Nazi like Shah in Iran was tossed out by a bunch of Muslim clerics. The Shah liked the name Iran better than Persia because it is closer to Aryan.
So now we have to market the new enemy of democracy after communism the Islamofacism of Bin Laden.
The U.S. imports 75% of its oil requirements. Of that over 30% is from the M.E. The price of West Texas Intermediate is hitting $140+. Conventional Easy oil from the U.S. land mass is seriously depleted.
The U.S. does not need to invade Canada, Mexico and Venezuela which make up the largest bulk of their oil imports outside the M.E.
“If we continue on our current course – leaving fate to the markets, and leaving governments to compete with each other over scarce oil and food – global growth will slow under the pressures of resource constraints. But if the world cooperates on the research, development, demonstration, and diffusion of resource-saving technologies and renewable energy sources, we will be able to continue to achieve rapid economic progress.” Jeffrey Sachs
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs142
“It is to Spence’s credit that the report manages to avoid both market fundamentalism and institutional fundamentalism. Rather than offering facile answers such as “just let markets work†or “just get governance right,†it rightly emphasizes that each country must devise its own mix of remedies. Foreign economists and aid agencies can supply some of the ingredients, but only the country itself can provide the recipe.”……
“If there is a new Washington consensus, it is that the rulebook must be written at home, not in Washington. And that is real progress.” Dani Rodrick
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rodrik20
Economics have always been trumped by politics. It has always been
“it is the politics stupid” There is no such thing as a global republic. All politics are national in scope.
The Ca t on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 3:46 pm
The Ca t on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 3:49 pm
Because if you are talking about land reform, you know that there should be a provision for land tenure security?
KG on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 4:43 pm
Ok Cat
I know you are not bookish (what we call ourprofessors then if they just read their powerpoint presentations) pag dating sa Q and A ibabalik sa iyo ang tanong or would ask others to answer.
I was told never to ask a woman her age,but I know you have been there long enough to give us practical examples.
But you told us once it is ok if we give you a heads up on new stuff. I guess we don’t have to.
To be credible in a forum, one has to impress that she/he is an authority of what she’s talking about. I do not participate in topics that I know nothing about.
Just like in the discussion of legal issues where one has to quote references and proper terms, I find it necessary to describe a phenomenon using the proper terminology.
I do not care if someone gives me a heads up about some information that I may not be aware of.
====================================
BrianB
I may have set poor as examples, I might have been generalizing but if you ever tell me that it is not happening ,then I would also say BULLSHIT!!!
I have always admired your genuine and sincere concern for the poor but I do not admire your genuine and sincere hatred for the rich.
what happened to you being a humanist?
http://www.quezon.ph/1482/ping-pong/#comment-567714
You make me laugh. Isn’t it obvious? I’m a humanist.
kailan pa hindi naging tao ang mayaman.
you hate spanish bred elites, pero sabi mo parents mo from ispayn
KG on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 5:51 pm
di pala ispayn;e-espayne pala
http://www.quezon.ph/1768/hope-springs-eternal/#comment-783722
Actually, my family is from Bilbao, e-espayne, so I myself, am not of Castillan stock. Heh.
anthony scalia on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 5:59 pm
Kevin Garnett,
hope this will encourage you – blaming the rich will not move a poor guy an inch towards financial independence.
i grew up poor. sa awa ng diyos, nasa lower upper middle class na ako (still striving to go up a notch).
i got to where i am now without blaming the rich.
ito an epekto ng too much fixation on who’s sitting in malacañang – the truth that financial independence is a personal responsibility is eclipsed
BrianB on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 6:15 pm
KG,
If you don’t mind I’d like to point out the obvious. Elite, people in power, the rich are always more responsible than the less fortunate. Even in a family, it is the capable sibling, the father, the mother, the more mature who are responsible. In our case, na brainwash na ata ang Pinoy, brainwashed to blame themselves, especially if they are less fortunate, when something goes wrong.
I never said my parents were from Spain. Where did you get that? Maybe I was merely being sarcastic.
BrianB on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 6:18 pm
I don’t think I am pro-poor or anti-elite. I just find the rationale they spread through media ridiculous. Bilbao spain, as in like the Ayalas… yes, that was sarcasm. My family name is indigenous. It is a Kastila word but we are the only ones in the entire world that have it for a surname.
BrianB on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 6:23 pm
“i got to where i am now without blaming the rich.”
Scalia, why does it always have to be personal. My blaming the rich is not so much that I have been victimized. I didn’t have to be though I was. I could’ve simply played along, make pasip-sip. It was easy. Somehow though, I always keep falling back on my upbringing and my upbringing puts social climbing and sycophantic behavior as one of the evils of society. I am not kidding.
Nothing personal. But compare how we put the burden in this country on the poor instead of those n power. Only media make an effort to demand accountability to people in power. The masses do not really blame the politicians or the businessmen, In fact, their one of the characteristic that distinguishes our masses from those in other countries is our masses’ penchant for begging, i.e. those real live human drama in front of the camera and when the mic s pointed to them you keep seeing on TV.
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 7:07 pm
Ca t (at 3:49 pm), that would mean that what you’re criticizing is the treatment of the 200 South Korean farmer-beneficiaries, which is valid. However that cannot be an argument against land reform per se since that would be like the using the issue raised by the Sumilao farmers as an argument against land reform.
vic on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 7:25 pm
Part Three on the Series on Food –Hungry for Answers:
Jun 30, 2008 04:30 AM Bill Schiller
Asia Bureau
MANILA–Amid the sprawl and stench of this city’s main dump – its air thick with charcoal and fleas – Redentor Escarcha is beaming.
The sinewy 26-year-old, his skin glistening with sweat, is one of thousands who come here every day to mine the Philippines’ capital’s garbage for recyclables: cans, cardboard, copper cables, anything of value.
It’s only 11 a.m. but Escarcha knows that what he has collected in his sack so far is worth more than 200 pesos (about $4.50). Most days this father of four earns about $3.
He knows the precise value of everything here – and he should. Escarcha is a veteran who has worked this dump for 19 years, ever since he was 7 years old.
He was born here.
These are the poorest of the poor,” says Jane Walker, who heads a non-governmental organization working in the community.
“When the price of food rises, this is where it’s felt first.”
In the Philippines the impact of recent increases in the price of food has been profound: 35 million of its 88 million citizens are as poor as the people of Smokey Mountain, surviving on less than $2 per day.
Six months ago, a kilogram of rice in Manila cost just 18 Filipino pesos (about 41 cents).
Today, international rice shortages have driven that price to 34 pesos per kilo (76 cents).
For Escarcha and his wife, Christina, that near doubling in price means even greater hardship and tougher choices.
As rice is the key staple of the Filipino diet, says Christina, no Filipino family can do without it, “and that means having a little less money to buy milk for my children,” she says.
ROBERT ZIEGLER, executive director of the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) warned the world as early as June 9, 2005, in a speech in Ottawa to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
He had only been director a few months when he decided to air his concerns for the first time before a valued donor.
CIDA contributes about $1.5 million per year to IRRI.
Zeigler told CIDA that supply and demand in rice were growing dangerously out of sync, and it was “pretty clear the handwriting was on the wall.”
“I said I was concerned about the future of rice supplies and what it might mean to political stability,” the IRRI director says, sitting in his offices in Los Banos, about 60 kilometres south of Manila. “People looked at me like I was from another planet.”
BUT HERE in intensely Catholic Philippines, there’s another wrinkle to the story: the population explosion is taxing the government’s ability to respond to the crisis.
“No one seems to want to talk about it,” Zeigler says.
The one exception may be Congressman Salvador “Sonny” Escudero, a two-time agriculture minister. He agrees that there are just too many mouths to feed with too little food and that the time for a family planning and birth control policy is now.
“When I was a kid growing up, Thailand and the Philippines both had populations of 53 million,” the congressman says. “Today Thailand has 62 million people. We have 88 million.”
But because of the influence of the Catholic Church, birth control and family planning remain touchy subjects – and on the street, they are foreign concepts.
In the house Redentor and Christina Escarcha call “home,” where 15 people live, there will soon be 18. Three of the female occupants are pregnant.
As an emergency stopgap measure, the Philippines’ government has been making subsidized rice available at government warehouses at 18.5 cents per kilogram.
But it costs time and money to get to the warehouses, and people in Smokey Mountain can ill afford either.
“I think the government should do something to lower the price of rice in the shops,” says Escarcha.
His wife Christina doesn’t ask for much.
“If we eat every day,” she says, “I’m happy.”
For the whole articles and for the other parts of the series:
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/451592
PSImeon on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 9:15 pm
“…all the while the concentration of wealth has remained with a few people. Why not address that issue for a change? Isn’t that how our more successful neighbors did it (whether communist or capitalist)?” -cvj
FYI, our more successful Asian neighbors have their share of very wealthy and politically connected moguls. In South Korea, family-run chaebols dominate business. In Japan, Abe and his LDP cohorts are considered oligarchs. And Thaksin of Thailand.
And who would not remember the robber-barons who built America’s industrial might?.
anthony scalia on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 10:25 pm
B,
“Scalia, why does it always have to be personal.”
to cite a concrete example.
“My blaming the rich is not so much that I have been victimized.”
don’t worry, i didn’t see it that way.
“I didn’t have to be though I was. I could’ve simply played along, make pasip-sip. It was easy. Somehow though, I always keep falling back on my upbringing and my upbringing puts social climbing and sycophantic behavior as one of the evils of society. I am not kidding.”
noted
“Nothing personal. But compare how we put the burden in this country on the poor instead of those n power.”
i would be ‘putting the burden’ on the poor, not in the sense of blaming them, but in the sense of the poor holding the key, because thats the only way for the country to move forward – the poor helping themselves to be part of the middle class, and not wait for doles outs and/or ‘enablements’ from the rich. in short, a proactive self-reliant poor, and not a magnanimous rich, is the key to progress
“Only media make an effort to demand accountability to people in power.”
its funny that media don’t demand that from themselves
“The masses do not really blame the politicians or the businessmen,”
only the enlightened masses don’t blame, enlightened masses like those who don’t vote for the likes of Binay
“In fact, their one of the characteristic that distinguishes our masses from those in other countries is our masses’ penchant for begging, i.e. those real live human drama in front of the camera and when the mic s pointed to them you keep seeing on TV.”
noted
cvj on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:07 pm
PSimeon (at 9:15 pm), as i mentioned in this blog entry far as inequality as a hindrance to GDP growth is concerned, what matters is land inequality:
http://www.cvjugo.blogspot.com/2007/03/land-reform-inequality-and-economic.html
The above findings demonstrate that land inequality is a hindrance to economic growth which accounts for my emphasis on land reform.
anthony scalia on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:21 pm
cvj,
basing from all the info you provided in the past, land reform in South Korea was only useful to the point that it provided ‘investible’ capital. the immediate cause of that country’s progress was the chaebols and the other exporters.
UP n student on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:33 pm
cvj: there are many Filipinos who, like you, believe in the importance of land reform, but why can you folks not get your act together? Filipinos in Pinas have gotten themselves in power espousing land reform, then they turn balimbing. Evidence — Satur. Filipinos already in power who can get land reform accelerated, but Satur Ocampo votes against.
Is it possible there are lots of important sub-issues to the “land reform” grand issue? And is it possible the human-factor — the winners who are still not winners are already tripping all over themselves on how to divide the spoils? Does Satur want something that the farmers of Laguna may not?
Or maybe, just maybe, the sloganeers still have not gotten past the slogans and really do not know how to achieve economic progress.
PSImeon on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:40 pm
“..demonstrate that land inequality is a hindrance to economic growth.”
You meant “landed” oligarchs who only derive income from property rents.
I did also mention in the past that every country needs the functioning capitalists/oligarchs who actually manage enterprises, similar to South Korea’s chaebols and Japan’s zaibatsus, which are both family-run.
UP n student on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 11:43 pm
to cvj: I just saw an article that Satur voted against the latest bill for land reform because SATUR WANTS COLLECTIVIZATION — the state owns the land and to end the practice of son (or daughter) inheriting the farmland that his father worked on.
You agree with Satur, do you not?
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:06 am
Inheritance (and collaterilization for loans) is under the purview of titles and property rights.
State owns the land means son or daughter does not inherit the farmland that his father worked on. Also that the farmer can not collateralize the farmland he is working on. [It makes me wonder how Satur got elected.]
cvj on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:25 am
PSImeon, you’re right on that and if you read my past comments, i think you’ll see that we’re more or less in sync as far as the need for ‘functioning capitalist/oligarchs are concerned’:
http://www.quezon.ph/1823/a-heinous-situation/#comment-833361
Here’s hvrds’ explanation…
http://www.quezon.ph/1687/the-dead-flame-reflections-for-the-weekend/#comment-739687
Anthony (at 11:21 pm), that’s the all important first step which we haven’t taken. The reality is that in order to industrialize, economic concentration [which is by definition anti-egalitarian] is needed to achieve economies of scale and in order to be able to compete in the world market. Paradoxically, embarking on home grown industrialization becomes more feasible in a society where the distribution of income is more equal. Economist Alice Amsden observed that income equality in the nonmanufacturing sector tends to characterize latecomer countries where leading enterprises are nationally owned. Specific to South Korea, she mentioned that:
In short, land reform leads to more equality, which in turn gives us room to pursue the anti-egalitarian policies needed for home-grown industrialization.
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:29 am
to PSimeon: I think either hvrds or cvj has suggested this before as an actionable-proposal, but let me put it in my own words. USER FEES ON LAND.
USER FEES should be reviewed again for equality and used more extensively in Pinas. VAT, of course, is “… the more you spend, the more you pay in taxes”. And INCOME TAX is where the State gets a percent of a person’s income. Rent, because it is part of income, also gets taxed.
USER-FEE is where a person has to provide the state a yearly amount because a person owns (and therefore controls the use of) a parcel of land. If Successful-Benign0 wants to buy 10-thousand hectares of hilly “useless” land and use is as a nature-conservation center ( no farming, no hunting, no logging). benign0 may allow tours (which generates income), or benign0 may declare “no trespassing, no tourists, no visitors, no Afghanis, no Chinese, no Americans, no Cebuanos”. The land becomes totally idle (but “for the greater good” because of the link between humans and birds, animals, plants). There is full respect of the Torrens title and Property Rights. USER-FEE is a disincentive-fee against IDLE LAND by requiring the now-rich-benign0 to pay a per-hectare yearly-fee to the state.
User-fee is also sometimes called community land rent.
Bencard on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:34 am
“only media make an effort to demand accountability to people in power.” brianB
what say you about the court’s dismissal off the media’s complaint in connection with the “arrest” of its members in connection with their “defiant and arrogant” behavior in the manila pen caper?
maybe, mlq3 will make a thread on the subject but, for now, the silence is deafening, as with the dismissal of trillianes’ petition to be allowed to act as a senator.
cvj on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:50 am
UPn, i’m not in favor Collectivization. It’s almost as bad as Corporate farming. In Vietnam, after their first land reform in 1954 to 1956, where land was distributed to the peasants, the Communist Party implemented collectivization. After thirty years, because of falling production and lack of support from the peasants, the Communist Party had to give up and revert to household/family-based farms in 1987 which was widely considered to be Vietnam’s 2nd land reform. Refer to my comment above (at June 29th, 2008, 6:21 pm).
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:53 am
on the dismissal of trillanes’ petition to be allowed to act as a senator.
So does this mean that Trillanes can not act as a senator? Does this mean that he can, or does it mean that he can not, serve his constituency?
Would you think he will resign so that another person can then do — act as senator — what he cannot do?
[But if I were Trillanes, I won't resign.]
PSImeon on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:56 am
Thanks UP n
Or we could re-configure the present real estate tax laws so that idle lands would be slapped a higher rate. In that case, owners not wanting to pay a bigger “ameliar” would do something about it.
It gives additional revenues to the government and make some idle lands active, but it still doesn’t solve cvj’s issue of land equality.
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:59 am
cvj: thanks for quick response.
I believe that “household/family based farming” is the respect for differences in productivity. If farmer-benign0 produces more bushels-of-corn than farmer-Leytenian, then farmer-benign0 gets more yuans so benign0 can provide a better breakfast for his family.
Does “household/family based farming” recognize property rights so that the son or daughter inherits the farmland that his/her father owned and was working on?
cvj on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:02 am
As to State ownership of land, that sounds ok. Here in Singapore, at the start, the State owned most of the land. (I think it still does.) The problem we have right now is that our local rich folk prefer to speculate in land rather than in productive industry so State ownership can be good to discourage this practice. My preference is for limiting land ownership to actually occupied residences.
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:08 am
PSimeon: USER-fee is an action-item — mlq3 had written a similar thought-process on how the powers of England’s landed oligarchy got nulled where first the State/citizenry/population/Parliament waited for death, then they slapped huge inheritance-taxes on the land.
I don’t know if cvj’s acceptable time-table and whether his action-item is “confiscate now”, “confiscate-after-death”, or ?????.
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:12 am
USER-FEE is based on the the citizenry owning the land. [The State will not slap a User-Fee on itself and require itself to pay itself (unless it is making preparations to retire 20 or 30 years from now
)]
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:20 am
household/family based farming IS corporate farming. The owner of the land is the state; the farmers are employees (and the party-leaders are the cacique/bosses).
PSImeon on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:22 am
“The problem we have right now is that our local rich folk prefer to speculate in land…” – cvj
As Mikel says “Malas natin” our family ancestors were not as good visionaries as say the folks of the Ayalas, Madrigals, etc.
But there’s time. There’s still plenty of land in Palawan, etc.
cvj on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:22 am
UPn, throughout Vietnam’s experiment with collectivization, the peasants were allowed a few hundred square meters of land to farm on their own. What they found out that the land that was farmed by the household was about three times more productive than collectively farmed land.
On inheriting the land in Vietnam, as i mentioned above (at June 29th, 2008 at 6:21 pm), households do not own the land but are allowed to use it. Here’s how the Vietnam 1987 land law was implemented. I highlighted in bold the passage that may be relevant to your question:
So the answer is that it depends on the particular locality. Some allocated for population growth while others did not.
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:24 am
so Satur wants State-owned farms … and I believe that Satur sees himself (and his group of friends and kindreds in thinking) not as the farmers but as the farm caciques.
cvj on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:31 am
PSImeon, i prefer to leave the forests of Palawan as part of our natural heritage. I think the whole mindset of getting wealthy from land, instead of producing actual things, is part of the problem, which is why i said we should discourage such behavior. I’d say na malas natin because the Ayalas and Madrigals don’t venture more into industrial development and stick to largely to land and property development, although as far as i know, the Ayala’s do have their Integrated Microelectronics (IMI).
cvj on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:46 am
UPn (at at 1:20 am), i don’t agree that allocating land to household farms is equivalent to having corporate farms (run by the State) since the whole process of farming (from planting, tending through harvesting) is under the management of the individual household, and not the State. About the only principal activity left to be managed collectively outside the household is maintaining irrigation.
By contrast, in a corporate setting, it’s the corporation that manages this process and allocates work to the employees in specialized teams. In this setup, the ownership and management of the process is on the Corporation, and its accountability is to its stockholders, and not the household. That’s why i believe the corporate arrangement has more similarities with Collective farming. You have more in common ground with Satur than you realize.
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 1:57 am
Oh, cvj…. if you only know how much of my soul you tear into when you say that I have a lot of common ground with Satur. The abuse
from the name-calling, how can you, cvj of LaSalle be so callous because it hurts, it hurts, it truly truly hurts. 
Okay… you actually make a good point about work-allocation and efficiencies of corporate-versus State. Noted.
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 2:00 am
and I believe no matter what happens with land reform, Satur will prefer working the hallways of congress (or parliament) as opposed to toiling in a farm. [ I think he'll want to be Ambassador to China or Venezuela, too... but I have no basis other than we are in year 2008 for saying these things.]
cvj on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 2:36 am
Thanks UPn. The comparison with Satur was not meant to be a pejorative. I do believe that the Large Corporation (in where i’ve worked for almost twenty years) and the Communist State have a lot in common. The economist Joseph Schumpeter pointed that out more than fifty years ago.
UP n student on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 2:56 am
Minor clarification…. Satur has always been bright enough not to invoke images of COMMUNISM so he would not have mentioned collectivization. I think Satur does want the State to own the farmland. Satur objected to the last Pinas bill because the bill would have given title to the newly-land reformed lands to the farmers.
I prefer the title be given to the farmers (so the farmers can collateralize the land, plus children can inherit). Farmers-with-titles will mean that malacanang-resident (or one of his/her favorite sons or uncles or political allies) does not become the Executive or the GrandBenefactor over the State-Owned-Farmland.
It worries me, though, that the schema gives the incumbent a huge advantage with regards the farm-vote. Just imagine the voting patterns !!!
Do the Vietnam party bosses say “…. for the greater good” or do they say “…for the survival of the party”, as reason for State-owning-the-farmlands?
KG on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 7:45 am
BrainB
pardon my memory pero here is another one.
you have also mentioned na napagkakamalan ka koreano o intsik nung napaaway ka sa taxi driver
di ko na hahanapin kung saan.On e-espayne, I had the feeling that you were being sarcastic that is why i retained the wrong spelling of spain.
Sabi na nga ba never judge a person based on his comments, pero minsan mahirap eh.Tulad ni benigs di mo malaman kung ganun talaga sya o gusto lang nya palabasin na ganun.
==========================================
Justice Scalia,
Mas na inspire pa ako sa nagyari sa yo dahil ganyan din si erpat.Mas na inspire pa ako,kesa sa depressing episode na napanood ko nung linggo sa rated K sa nag tnt at di nakapunta sa libing ng asawa dahil baka mabulilyaso ang greencard.
madami kami kamag anak sa quezon na mahirap pa din ngayon; iba nga dating npa ,kaya nga di nakauwi si erpat ng 30 years dahil militar sya.
pero walang inggitan tulongan na lang sa mga nakaangat na kamag anak,yung tito ko myaman na ngayon dahil nagconvert sya sa iglesia at sya nagconstruct ng mga bagong sambahan at kinuha nyang mga workers yung mga kamag anak.Yung iba naman ginamit ang connection ni erpat nuon para lang maging seaman o maging enlisted sa navy,madaming nagalit dahil di lahat sila napagbigyan pero tampong kulangot lang.
ay buhay, pasensya na justice ,nakwento ko pa buhay ng mga kamag anak ko sa yo..
Kevin Garnett,second time you called me that pero ok lang mvp naman.
sige justice anthony scalia
BrianB on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 8:55 pm
KG,
Yep, you’re right but my parents are not from Bilbao (though I think it is funny how kastilas distinguish themselves as from Bilbao and not Madrid), though I am very mixed… as it were.
anthony scalia on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 9:06 pm
KG,
“Kevin Garnett,second time you called me that pero ok lang mvp naman.
sige justice anthony scalia”
champion pa! lakers go home!
KG on Wed, 2nd Jul 2008 7:45 pm
Yeah Justice ,Champion pa.
Ok Brian sorry for that.
Ruffy Biazon on Fri, 11th Jul 2008 8:10 am
Bencard said:
“rodolfo biazon is doing a myanmar. wants to reject uss ronald reagan’s help in the romblon search and rescue operations because it has nuclear weapons. talk about grandstanding of the worst kind (even his own son disputes him).”
Allow me to react…
Media reporters asked for my comment regarding criticisms against the deployment of USS Ronald Reagan to help in the rescue and relief efforts for the MV Princess of the Stars tragedy.
My comment was that “we should welcome all available help, including those from the US Navy. Aside from wartime operational capability, they also have peacetime operations capability. It is no different from the Philippine Navy conducting rescue and relief operations during disasters.”
I wasn’t told that it was my father who had issued critical statements. Not that it would have changed my position if I knew it was him. But I would have made a more qualified answer in relation to what he said specifically.
It is erroneous to think that he was doing a Myanmar. One has to listen to what he said specifically than just have a knee jerk reaction to what is reported in the media.
What many people failed to appreciate, which may be due to how his statements were reported, was that he was not rejecting any help from the Americans. When he questioned the sending of the USS Reagan, he followed it up with the statement that the US should have sent their salvage ships. He meant naval assets that are specialized for recovery of sunken vessels.
One colleague of mine commented that “Senator Biazon should have checked his facts. A simple search in Google would show that USS Reagan not only has F-18s but helicopters and other assets as well. He should stop playing admiral and just keep quiet.”
Obviously, that reaction was made without really listening to what that congressperson was reacting to. Senator Biazon retired after 36 years in the military as a FOur Star General and AFP Chief of Staff. he studied Amphibious Warfare in the UNited States and participated in numerous joint exercises between the U.S. and the Philippines. If there is anyone who knows what he is talking about with regard to the military, it is Senator Biazon, not that congressperson.
Senator Biazon knows that the US navy has other assets that would be of greater help to the rescue and relief efforts. That was his point.
Having said that, I still maintain that any form of help should be welcomed.
One of the most common faults of many Filipinos is to react without listening first or verifying what they are supposed to be reacting to.
Bencard on Tue, 15th Jul 2008 1:33 am
thanks, rep. biazon for your reaction. correct me if i’m wrong but i thought the basis of your dad’s objection was the supposed constitutional ban on the presence of nuclear weapon in philippine territory, wasn’t it? i raised the point that the constitutional prohibition is qualified by the phrase “consistent with the national interest”. the question then is: is coming to render aid after a deadly tragedy consistent with the national interest? i see you answered this in the affirmative. thanks again.