HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER TO YOU ALL!

Fighting Corruption is Not Enough….Once Again

I was scanning the INQUIRER today and came across another piece of from favorite economist from the “progressive left”. What I read tempted me to post an “In the News” article. But, I figured, this is much too delicious to treat like a news story. Ok, ’nuff said. The good news – Walden Bello agrees with AP that fighting corruption is not enough. Walden points out that – Corruption, however, is unlikely to be the main cause of poverty. Wrongheaded policies are, and clean-cut technocrats have been responsible for more poverty than corrupt politicians. Which is what I have been asserting all along, last Jan 2010, in Noynoy: Wrong on Corruption – administrative reforms are not enough and need to be partnered with a social empowerment component.

However, where Bello prescribes protectionism, I advocate a free market. But first, let’s go through what the eminent economist from the left wrote:

Afterthoughts
Why Fighting Corruption is not Enough

By Walden Bello
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 05:02:00 03/22/2010

After nine years of witnessing increasing poverty among the masses and spiraling corruption in high places, it is understandable that Filipinos see a strong correlation between corruption and poverty. And the judgment of many is probably correct that the candidates that are free of the taint of corruption stand the best chance of turning this country around. Moral leadership may not be a sufficient condition for successful leadership but it certainly has become a necessary condition in a country that has been so deprived of exemplary public figures like the Philippines.

Corruption, however, has become the explanation for all our ills, and this brings with it the danger that, after the elections, campaign rhetoric might substitute for hard analysis on the causes of poverty, leading to wrong, ineffectual prescriptions for dealing with the country’s number one problem.

Let me be more explicit: Corruption must be condemned and corrupt officials must be prosecuted because being a violation of public trust, corruption undermines faith in government and leads to an erosion of the moral bonds among citizens that serve as the foundation of good governance. Corruption, however, is unlikely to be the main cause of poverty. Wrongheaded policies are, and clean-cut technocrats have been responsible for more poverty than corrupt politicians.

The complex of policies that have pushed the Philippines into the economic quagmire over the last 30 years might be summed up in that formidable term: structural adjustment. Also known as neoliberal restructuring, it involved prioritization of debt repayment; conservative macroeconomic management that involving huge cutbacks in government spending; trade and financial liberalization; privatization and deregulation; and export-oriented production. Structural adjustment came to the Philippines courtesy of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization, but it was internalized and disseminated as doctrine by local technocrats and economists as doctrine.

Prioritizing Debt Repayment

Corazon Aquino was personally honest and her contribution to the reestablishment of democracy was indispensable, but her submitting to the International Monetary Fund’s demand to prioritize debt repayment over development brought about a decade of stagnation and continuing poverty. Interest payments as a percentage of total government expenditures went from 7 percent in 1980 to 28 percent in 1994. Capital expenditures, on the other hand, plunged from 26 percent to 16 percent. Since government is the biggest investor in the Philippines—indeed in any economy—the radical stripping away of capital expenditures goes a long way toward explaining the stagnant one percent average yearly growth in gross domestic product in the 1980’s and the 2.3 per cent rate in the first half of the 1990’s.

In contrast, our Southeast Asian neighbors ignored the IMF’s prescriptions. They limited debt servicing while ramping up government capital expenditures in support of growth. Not surprisingly, they grew by 6 to 10 percent from 1985 to 1995, attracting massive Japanese investment while the Philippines barely grew and gained the reputation of a depressed market that repelled investors.

Trade and Financial Liberalization

When Fidel Ramos came to power in 1992, the main agenda of his technocrats was to bring down all tariffs to 0 to 5 percent and bring the Philippines into the World Trade Organization and the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), moves that were intended to make trade liberalization irreversible. A pick-up in the growth rate in the early years of Ramos sparked hope, but the green shoots were more apparent than real, and they were, at any rate, crushed as a result of another neoliberal policy: financial liberalization. The elimination of foreign exchange controls and restrictions of speculative investment attracted billions of dollars in the period 1993-1997. But this also meant that when panic hit the ranks of foreign investors in Asia in the summer of 1997, the same lack of capital controls facilitated the stampede of billions of dollars from the country in a few short weeks in mid-1997. This pushed the economy into recession and stagnation in the next few years.

The Estrada administration did not reverse course, and under the presidency of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, neoliberal policies continued to reign. New liberalization initiatives in the next few years were initiated on the trade front, with the government negotiating free trade agreements with Japan and China. These pacts were entered into despite clear evidence that trade liberalization was destroying the two pillars of the economy, industry and agriculture.

Radical unilateral trade liberalization severely destabilized our manufacturing sector, with textile and garments firms, for instance, being drastically reduced from 200 in 1970 to 10 in recent years. As one of Arroyo’s finance secretaries admitted, “there’s an uneven implementation of trade liberalization, which was to our disadvantage.” While he speculated that consumers might have benefited from the tariff liberalization, he acknowledged that “it has killed so many local industries.”

As for agriculture, the liberalization of our agricultural trade after we joined the World Trade Organization in 1995 transformed the Philippines from a net food exporting country and consolidated it into a net food importing country after the mid-1990’s. The year 2010 is the year that the China ASEAN Trade Agreement (CAFTA) negotiated by the Arroyo administration goes into effect, and the prospect of cheap Chinese produce flooding our markets has made our vegetable farmers fatalistic about their survival.

Depressive Fiscal Policy

What likewise became clear during the long Arroyo reign were the stifling effects of the debt repayment-oriented macroeconomic management policy that came with structural adjustment. With 20-25 percent of the national budget reserved for debt service payments owing to the draconian Automatic Appropriations Law, government finances were in a state of permanent and widening deficit, which the administration tried to solve by contracting more loans. Indeed, the Arroyo administration contracted more loans than the previous three administrations combined.

When the deficit reached gargantuan proportions, the government refused to take the necessary steps to contain the key factor acting as the main drain on expenditures; that is, it refused to declare a debt moratorium or at least renegotiate the terms of debt repayment to make them less punitive. At the same time, the administration did not have the political will to force the rich to take the brunt of bridging the deficit by increasing taxes on their income and improving their collection. Under pressure from the IMF, the government levied this burden on the poor and the middle class via the adoption of the expanded value added tax (EVAT) of 12 percent on purchases. The tax was passed on to poor and middle class consumers by commercial establishments, forcing them to cut back on consumption, which then boomeranged back on small merchants and entrepreneurs in the form of reduced profits, forcing many out of business.

Facing the Policy Challenge

The straitjacket of conservative macroeconomic management, trade and financial liberalization, and a subservient debt policy kept the economy from expanding significantly, resulting in the percentage of the population living in poverty, according to the World Bank, increasing from 30 to 33 percent between 2003 and 2006. By 2006, there were more poor people in the Philippines than at any other time in the country’s history.

The country’s plight under the lash of wrong policies over the last four administrations becomes even clearer in a comparative perspective. According to the United Nations Development Program Human Development Report, the Philippines registered the second lowest average yearly growth rate, 1.6 percent, in Southeast Asia in the period 1990 to 2005 —lower than that of Vietnam (5.9 percent), Cambodia (5.5 percent), and Burma (6.6 percent). The only country registering average growth below that of the Philippines was Brunei, which, being an oil-rich high-income country, could afford not to grow.

So yes, we must wage an unrelenting campaign against corruption because it destroys faith in government and weakens the moral fiber of the country. And yes, let us by all means punish corrupt officials and elect morally unquestionable people to power. But let us not mistake corruption as the principal cause of poverty and believe that anti-corruption crusades provide the main response to the country’s economic ills. The main source of our lack of economic dynamics is a wrong policy paradigm that we have allowed ourselves to be straitjacketed into.

It is disturbing that the policy errors that have led to our present state are hardly mentioned in the presidential debates. It is unfortunate that we are not taking advantage of the current international economic crisis that has dragged down our local economy to debate the wisdom of the policies of globalization and liberalization that have brought us to this impasse. Yes, the issues of corruption, management experience, and bureaucratic reform that dominate these debates are vital, but unless the winning team has the courage to reverse 30 years of failed neoliberal economic policies, the country will remain in the economic doldrums, unable to take off, with poverty possibly rising to the point of no return.

Having gone through that, these are the key points when dealing when the left’s raises the issues of protectionism and liberalization:

Bello raises the myth that high tariffs and import restrictions save Filipino jobs – nothing can be further from the truth

Tariffs are tools that can be used to further national policy – thus tariff can promote or dampen trade. Given a competitive environment, the “progressive left” has the option of not lowering the tariffs. When there is no trade due to high tariffs, will the left step up to the plate and use their intellect to create products and innovate? Thus, far the “progressive left” has yet to show a flash of brilliance of what it means to be progressive. Instead of innovating, being creative, being competitive – the “progressive left” would rather have the Philippines remain a perpetual infant..

High tariff and import restrictions destroy Filipino jobs. Opening up the economy moves jobs from high relative cost sectors of an economy (that cannot compete) to low relative cost sectors (that can compete). This happens because imports undermine high-cost domestic activities. However, since imports are paid for with dollars, when those dollars are spent by foreigners in the Philippines, they increase employment in exporting sectors. While it is true that when there is protection, there will be more people employed in the protected activities, but this will be offset by the cost of fewer people employed elsewhere in the economy. For short, with protectionism there is a net job loss instead of gain.

Temporary protection does create higher returns in activities under competitive pressure, BUT it also reduces the incentives for adjustment. If there are technologies or organizational changes that will make an industry competitive, the expected profits will provide the necessary capital for such investments, regardless of protectionist barriers. If, on the other hand, no technology or organizational change will make an industry more competitive, then the increased income that temporary protection creates will not be reinvested by a rational manager but will be devoted to other activities (quite pronounced in our protected companies like PLDT, BAYANTEL, MAYNILAD, MERALCO, GLOBE, SM, BPI, RFM, etc.). Consequently, the evidence indicates that once protection is granted, productivity and unit costs generally deteriorate even further relative to other industries.

It is no surprise that the Philippines domestic industries have enjoyed a lot of protection for the past 30 years without notable recovery or that protectionist policies have not returned the Philippines to its once dominant position in Asia. The protectionist clauses of the more-or-less permanent Philippine constitution that restricts foreign equity and foreign ownership of real estate have also given new meaning to the word temporary.

Foreign Direct Investments generate revenue that accelerate repayment of foreign debt AND/OR pay for public services

By restricting foreign equity and foreign ownership of real estate – the Philippines was not able to match the environment provided by the more foreign investor-friendly policy regimes of Thailand and Indonesia, despite matching the tariff rates of said competitors. Given all things being equal – tariff, productivity, labor policy, fiscal incentives – our competitors had a competitive advantage – they were not as deeply protectionist as the Philippines explicit Constitutional limits – they found a legal pathway for foreign investors to own real estate – something one which they can construct their office, their buildings, and their houses. Compared to the Philippines, you either had to get dual citizenship, renounce your previous nationality, or resort to bribery, dummies, and other fraudulent activities. As you see, Matilda, foreign investors would rather go to where there’s a lesser headache – tadada.. Indonesia and Thailand. The investor goes to the Philippines as a last alternative – in ASEAN.

While it is true that “government is the biggest investor in the Philippines—indeed in any economy” – it does not have to be the only investor, it does not have to do it alone. It can have foreign investors getting engaged in various BOT agreements. The thing is – no matter how beautifully written the BOT law is – the Constitution’s protectionist claused on foreign equity is a major turn off – the Philippines might as well have placed the sign – FOREIGN INVESTORS ARE NOT WELCOME IN THE PHILIPPINES. It’s not a depressed market that scared investors away, it’s a market that scared investors away with the protectionist clauses, thereby depressing the market..

Half Baked Financial and Trade Liberalization will not yield Spectacular Results

Liberalization of the Financial and Trade sectors without the accompanying liberalization in the Property ownership regime will negate competitive advantages. The “progressive left” keeps on pointing to the debt repayment factor as a hindrance. Perhaps, the “left needs to be reminded” that due to the liberalization measures pushed by FVR the Philippines was able to repay a significant portion of its debt and emerge from IMF supervision. The next logical step to unleash the full potential would have been to complete the liberalization of the economy and remove the protectionist clauses of the Constitution which placed a cap on foreign equity and foreign ownership of real estate. Meanwhile, our neighbors in ASEAN refined their legislation to allow foreigners to own land while providing for their national interests.

While we were debating the merits and demerits of liberalization and protectionism – our neighbors were reaping the benefits of liberalization. So by the time we take a breather from our incessant chatter, our neighbors just flash their mullah – and we just head to their embassy and apply for jobs in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

The policy challenge boils down to this – amend the constitution to remove the protectionist clauses of the constitution; allow foreigners to own land on which they will build their business and residence – and investments in schools, hospitals, and playgrounds; large scale plantation type operations can be restructured into grower-type arrangements thus causing the economic benefits to rush down to the Filipino who does the actual tilling of the soil.

Epilogue

I agree with Walden Bello that fighting corruption is not enough. However, I disagree that liberalization is the culprit.

I assert the contrary position, pursuing liberalization policies halfheartedly within a protectionist constitution is a catastrophe that has already happened – it’s called “the Philippines”.

About Bong:
A self-described "mutt" having ancestors of diverse origins - Maranao, Ilonggo, Butuanon, and Ilocano. Born and raised in Southern Mindanao's Davao City, now living in the East Coast's Sunshine State.

INSPIRATION

18 RULES OF FRIENDSHIP

THE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS CONTINUES

Jose Sison Luzadas, KGOR
Scarborough Chapter
CANADA

TO UNDERSTAND THE DESTINY OF THE PEOPLE, IT IS NECESSARY TO OPEN THE BOOK OF ITS PAST”. Excerpt from Dr Jose Rizal’s “The Philippines, A Century Hence” printed in the La Solidaridad.

SPEAKING OF THE PAST, THERE IS STILL A LINGERING QUESTION THAT IS BUGGING ME: WHERE WERE THE MEN AND WOMEN IN PUGAD LAWIN WHO ON AUGUST 26, 1898 WERE SHOUTING “MABUHAY SI DR RIZAL, MABUHAY ANG ATING BAYAN” MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS!” WHERE THEY ON THE NIGHT OF DECEMBER, 29, 1896 TO RESCUE DR. JOSE RIZAL?

You will be surprised like me when you open the combined two novels in one book edition of Rizal’s NOLI-FILI translated by Leon Ma Guerrero where there is an appended essay by Professor George Fabros of UP, titled “A NOLI Reader”

Fabros’ article focused on the hot and heated debate in the passage of the Rizal Bill that when it became LAW it mandated that all high school and college students to take as academic subject, Rizal's NOLI ME TANGERE and EL FILIBUSTERISIMO so as to encourage them “to learn deeper on the life, works and writings of our national hero”.

The year I956 was a showdown between those who espoused NATIONALISM led by Recto and Laurel on one camp and those who vehemently opposed it in the name of RELIGIOUS FREEDOM passionately defended by Senator Francisco “SOC’ Rodrigo, Mariano Jesus Cuenco and Senator Decoroso Rosales of Cebu. By the way, “SOC”, is not short for Socrates but stands for “SOLDIER OF CHRIST”.

Each camp mobilized all resources to outwit each other as they both engaged in all-out war seeking public support and sympathy.

What is striking in Fabros article was the active representation and strong contingent from "The Knights of Columbus", "The Catholic Action of the Philippines", "Congregation of Missions", "The Catholic Teachers Guilds" and other Catholic Groups, who trooped to Congress lobbying to defeat the bill.

A list of backers who threw solid support behind Recto and Laurel according to the article were "The Spirit of 1896", "Alagad Ni Rizal", Freemasons and "Booklovers Society".

If this is really true what are the valid reasons why there were no Knights of Rizal, the Kababaihang Rizalista, “Pangarap Ni Rizal”, or the “KAGUNARI” 1956 RIZAL Bill Senate proceedings to show support as Don Claro M. Recto and Senator Jose P. Laurel waged a fiery debate that finally turned back the tide of strong Catholic opposition in the passage of the Rizal Bill.

Well, after endless partisan discussions and debates in Congress, the Rizal Bill was approved on June 12, 1956 and became Republic Act 1425 known as the Rizal Law.

Perhaps it was the cunning leadership if not statesmanship of Don Claro M. Recto, who with a fellow Batangas senator Jose Laurel Sr. sponsored and maneuvered the passage of Rizal Bill.

In sponsoring the Rizal Bill, Senator Recto was echoing the national hero’s motive why he wrote the NOLI, ”to remove the veil that has kept his countrymen 300 years of ignorance and superstition”. Even with the best of intentions of Recto and Laurel, how many who went to university ‘compelled’ to take Rizal course learned and appreciated the literary talent and patriotic motives of Rizal?

Reading the NOLI and FILI just to satisfy passing an academic subject is one thing, to emulate Rizal is another.

Apolinario Mabini while on exile in Guam confided as shown in the written notes at the back of the cover of his copy of the of NOLI that he cannot be a Rizal but he will try to follow his teachings without fanfare meaning avoiding occasions where celebrating “Rizal Day” is like “circus in fiestas and carnivals” and pouting nothing but patriotic expressions!

PERHAPS OUR SUPREME COUNCIL PURSUIVANT MAY HAVE THE ANSWER TO ENLIGHTEN YOU AND ME.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sir Joe,

You questioned where were the Knights of Rizal during the crucial vote for the Rizal Bill?

I believe they were nowhere to be found as they were all opposed to the bill.

You see, the leaders of the Knights of Rizal felt that this new law requiring the teaching of Rizal in schools had the effect of superceding the Republic Act passed bestowing the duty on the Order of the Knights of Rizal to enlighten the citizenry about Rizal .

Now, all of a sudden the onus was to be passed on to the teachers, who may not be as passionate about our national hero as the Knights of Rizal, and may even take the hostile attitude for adding another load to their already heavy schedule.

The second reason is that by making it mandatory, the reverse effect happened in that the students now hate that particular subject and though unintended also our national hero.

Imagine if one did not graduate because he failed the Rizal course. I assure you that student will hate Rizal for the rest of his life.

I don't think I'd blame the Order of the Knights of Rizal for not showing up.

Sir Manny Bade

Source: http://groups.google.com/group/kor-world/msg/ae843fb245ec7656?pli=1

Who is REALLY in Charge?‏

Colonoscopy:

All the organs of the body held a meeting, to decide who should be in overall charge.

"I should be in charge" said the brain; "because I run all the body's systems, so without me nothing would happen."

"I should be in charge" said the heart; "because I circulate oxygen all over the body, so without me you'd all waste away."

"I should be in charge" said the stomach; "because I process all the food and give you all energy."

"I should be in charge" said the legs; "because I carry the body wherever it needs to go."

"I should be in charge" said the eyes; "because I permit the body to see where it needs to go."

"I should be in charge" said the rectum; "because I'm responsible for all waste removal."

The other body parts all laughed loudly at this and insulted the rectum so, in a huff, he shut down completely.

Within a few days the brain had a terrible headache, the stomach became bloated, the legs became wobbly, the eyes became watery and the blood
began to become toxic.

All the other organs began to panic, so they decided that they should make the rectum boss . . .

The Moral of this story ?

Even though others do all the work . . .

The asshole is usually in charge !

If you don't send this to at least 4 people . . . . who gives a Poop !

A good President does not make a great nation, but people do

Posted by benign0 on 3/28/10 • Categorized as Development, Elections

Philippine politics is like the same badly-written script being played by different actors every year. An actor could play different roles over a number of runs. Different roles could put an actor at different vantage points and require him or her to apply a different internalisation routine to play the part well. The trouble with being just an actor, though, is that the script remains an absolutely inaccessible aspect of the production. No matter what part an actor plays, the outcome the plot yields will ultimately always be the same. The similarity between the theatre and Philippine politics ends there. In Philippine politics where all of us are mere actors, we can, unlike the actor in that metaphorical play, influence the script and the outcome of the plot. We just need to be able to think beyond the actor’s frame of mind.

I was recently in an email exchange with a good friend of mine. We were discussing an acquaintance of mine who I shall call Kevin. Despite having converted from being a supporter of Noynoy Aquino to another presidential candidate, Kevin still took offense at the way we in AntiPinoy.com continued highlighting some unsavory cultural traits of the Filipino — traits which explain Noynoy’s enduring appeal to the typical Pinoy. And all the while I was under the impression that a glimmer of enlightenment in Kevin’s mind had sparked his miraculous conversion away from a candidate who is primitivism embodied!

It did not seem to occur to Kevin that it is precisely these cultural traits that we keep bagging here in AntiPinoy.com and our other associated sites that predispose many of us to support a no-substance candidate like Noynoy Aquino. That good friend of mine wrote the following insightful paragraph in the course of discussing Kevin. I thought I’d share it because it so succinctly captured an important observation about the way Filipinos position themselves in their politics:

When one limits one’s own power of critical thought to give undue reverence to one’s own culture, exempting it from questioning, deifying its authority, and excusing its weaknesses, then whatever edifice you try to erect over said culture could not be sustained considerably, especially given the onslaught of adversity to which every culture and civilization is subject. Trying to erect a system [in an environment] without critically considering [said environment's] culture is like trying to build a tower over a weak foundation–no matter how strong and straight you try to make the tower as, it will lean or may even crumble.

After reading the above passage quoted above, it kind of hit me that perhaps even if Kevin had seen at some level the stupidity in supporting a presidential candidate such as Noynoy, the rationale he had applied in his converting to another candidate did not run as deeply as I had foolishly expected in people who defect from the Noynoy camp. Indeed, today just happens to be a day that an election campaign is on-going in the Philippines. Regardless of whether there was an on-going election campaign or not, we’d still be writing about the issues through the lens of Filipino cultural dysfunction. If there was no election that happened to be on-going right now, somebody or something else would serve as the posterboy or embodiment that we’d use as a baseline against which we could measure what Filipinos could rise up from. Efren Penaflorida happened to fill that role for us at some point not too long ago, for example. So did Erap back in the late 90’s. It is not only people that serve as convenient whipping boys for illustrating our insights. Things like jeepneys, ocho-ocho revolutions, and other artifacts of Da Pinoy Condition were also used as symbols of what make Filipinos so world-class at failing. Indeed, there are many noted people and things in our society and culture that are each able to encapsulate the awful As Is State that we need to aspire to transition away from in order to advance.

Today we are at the homestretch of an election campaign going on in the Philippines right now — and Noynoy Aquino, poor sod that he is, happens to be the current artifact we are using as a convenient example of what we Filipinos should rise up from. Tough luck, sir. Ikaw ang taya. Noynoy Aquino represents a breed of politician that so fully reflects the As Is State of Philippine politics. We need to transition from that kind of politics in order for us to become the sort of democratic society we aspire to be — fair, transparent, intelligent, mature, and results-oriented.

Kevin is an example of a person who changed his fashion sense but failed to become fashionable in a deeper sense. By shifting to another candidate without having a deep enough rationale for doing so, he built a tower on shaky ground. The Presidency can be seen as a tower we are building on our society. But we as a people need to work on the foundation of this tower. We need to be better at seeing how our very character as a people and a society can easily undermine the Presidency no matter who happens to be dispensing its services. We did the same thing on a macro level when we adopted American-style “democracy” as our form of government. We may conduct the elections and have the institutions — in short, go through the motions — but can anyone say with a straight face today that we are in a profound sense a truly democratic people?

Seeing Noynoy Aquino for the mistake that he is comprises only the first step in what is really a long journey that our nation needs to take in order for it to take its place among the truly great democracies of our world. Much of the rest of the journey involves us learning to see beyond the politics for solutions. The solutions do not lie in our politics nor the actors who play different roles in it. The solution lies in the nature of the script — the very codification of our the DNA of our society, our culture. If we do not develop our solutions from the ground-up starting with our culture, no Philippine Presidency will ever stand tall.

About benign0:
benign0 is the webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.

'RP never learned from Flor Contemplacion experience'

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has not learned from the case of Flor Contemplacion, the Filipino maid who was executed in Singapore 14 years ago, a Hong Kong-based migrants rights advocates said on Tuesday.

Contemplacion was executed by hanging in Singapore in 1995 after she was found by the courts guilty of killing fellow Filipino maid and friend Delia Maga and Maga's 4-year-old Singaporean ward.

The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) said that while the outrage sparked by Contemplacion’s death spurred the enactment of the Overseas Filipino Migrant Workers Act of 1995, the government continues to pay lip service to the problems of its contract workers abroad.

Ramon Bultron, APPM managing director, said the government keeps coming up with policies without consulting with stakeholders in the industry.

These include the OWWA Omnibus Policies, the scrapped MC41 and its revival on the ban on direct hiring; and the POEA guidelines on domestic workers which now require training and have two non-enforceable provisions namely the no placement fee and the US$400 minimum wage, Bultron said.

At the same time, anti-migrant policies imposed by host governments and accepted by Philippine authorities sometimes through bilateral agreements are justified by the latter by saying that they must respect the laws and policies of host governments, he added.

Among these include the implementing guidelines of the UAE Employment Agreement for Domestic Workers and Sponsors issued out by the POEA as an advisory in 2007. This stipulates that any legitimate grievance by the worker would be considered null and void if one absconds from her employer.

Another is the Special Hiring Program for Taiwan (SHPT), whigh the protesters said was an indirect admission by the government that the Balik Manggagawa program of the POEA in Taiwan especially for rehires is not applicable.

Furthermore, migrant workers continue to be executed and are in death row for contentious issues and the Philippine government continues its policy of asking merely for the commutation especially those of the latter. In effect they have accepted that these Philippine nationals are guilty of their crimes.

APMM said during these times of global recession, the Philippine government allegedly doctored the number of those retrenched and those newly hired. It gives lower figures for those who lost their jobs abroad and cites higher figures for new hires because it now includes in its counting for this category those rehired by their former employers.

APMM also slammed the government for accepting onerous terms for migrants retrenched like paying for their airfare back home. And for migrants who continue to work by tolerating the practice of lowering their wages and benefits through labor flexibility measures and outright wage cuts.

"It is not surprising that other governments view the Philippine government as a model for migration. This led the Philippines in hosting the last Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and helped prepare the just concluded Transatlantic Forum on Migration and Integration meeting in Washington DC," Bultron said.

These governments are either labor exporting countries like the Philippine or are importing ones. Both benefit from the remittances and cheap and docile labor respectively. It would be sure that Flor Contemplacion would turn over in her grave, he added. - D'Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV

MODERN DAY SLAVES

SAN JOSE, Calif. - (Business Wire) Overseas foreign workers, numbering in the millions, leave their home country to find work in other parts of the world, and often find themselves trapped in a slave-like existence, abused and forgotten by both their home country and host country, according to filmmaker Ted Unarce. Third world governments support this slave-labor trade, akin to human trafficking, as it brings in billions of dollars by way of remittances. The Philippine government, for example, accrued nearly 18 billion dollars in remittances in 2008 and openly encourages its citizens to become overseas foreign workers.

MODERN DAY SLAVES is a social issue feature film documentary intended to bring awareness to the human rights abuse phenomenon that is prevalent worldwide yet sadly undisclosed, regarding OFW's (Overseas Foreign Workers). The documentary which has just completed production is currently in negotiations for network cable, TV and home video distribution. Filmmaker Ted Unarce's mission is to bring this issue to light so that it is openly discussed in the media, academia and the American public.

GTC Films’ filmmaker and humanitarian, Ted Unarce, exposes these injustices in the documentary MODERN DAY SLAVES and follows the lives of four Filipino overseas foreign workers from different social-economic backgrounds. The stories depict rape, severe physical and psychological torture and even a beheading, to outline how human rights are violated and to illustrate the horrific consequence of human trafficking. Says Unarce, "While such problems of the Third World are daunting and perhaps uncomfortable to watch, it is critical for those of us in the First World to look at them with eyes wide open. With the recent financial collapse worldwide, more Americans are fleeing the United States to find work elsewhere. The film ‘Modern Day Slaves’ is a cautionary tale."

Ted Unarce's goal as a documentary filmmaker is to create a series of films portraying human rights abuse in third world countries. With this film, the intent is to bring forward the social issue of human trafficking and human rights abuse. Unarce is available for interviews on this subject matter as are the academic and political experts featured in the film. More information at www.moderndayslavesmovie.com

IndieMarketing
Tracy Balsz, 323-428-9075
tracy@indiemarketing.com

Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/the-undisclosed-plight-of-third,1025256.shtml#ixzz0jPccRBml

Pagbitay sa OFW na si Flor Contemplacion ginunita

MANILA – Nagsagawa ng protesta sa Mendiola, Maynila ang grupo ng mga migranteng manggagawa nitong Miyerkules upang gunitain ang ika-15 taong pagbitay sa overseas Filipino worker na si Flor Contemplacion sa Singapore.

Si Contemplacion ay binitay noong Marso 17, 1995 matapos hatulang nagkasala sa pagpatay sa kababayang si Delia Maga at sa inaalagaan nitong Singaporean na si Nicholas Huang, apat-na-taong gulang.

Pinangunahan ng grupong Migrante International, kasama ang mga OFW at mga kamag-anak nito ang isinagawang protesta sa Mendiola (malapit sa Malacanang) upang ipaabot ang pagkadismaya kay Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo dahil sa pagpapabaya umano sa kapakanan ng mga migranteng manggagawa.

“Fifteen years after the nation was galvanized into protest action by the hanging of a Filipina domestic helper in Singapore, the plight of OFWs has turned for the worse. Under the Arroyo government, appalling stories of abuse in foreign lands and the government’s neglectful response have become everyday stories," batikos ni Garry Martinez, tagapangulo ng Migrante.

Kasama sa protesta ang mga caregiver na galing sa Middle East at nagprotesta kamakailan sa harapan ng Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) upang ireklamo ang kanilang sinapit sa kumpanyang kumuha sa kanila.

Ayon kay Martinez, sa ilalim ng siyam na taong panunungkulan ni Arroyo ay umabot sa anim na OFW ang nabitay sa ibang bansa dahil sa kabiguan umano ng gobyerno na mailaban ang kanilang mga kaso.


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

Aabot din umano sa 26 na OFWs ang nasa death row sa Middle East pa lamang, at daan-daan ang nakapiit sa iba’t-ibang bansa.

Kasabay nito, hinamon ng grupo ang mga tumatakbong pangulo sa darating na halalan sa Mayo na ibasura ang OWWA Omnibus Policies na nabuo sa ilalim ng liderato ni Arroyo.

“The OWWA Omnibus Policies, enacted two years after Arroyo was seated, made OFWs into virtual milking cows. These policies drastically limited the assistance that they can receive, for instance only providing for repatriation in case of emergencies, wars or disasters," ayon kay Martinez.

Tinataya ni Martinez na aabot sa P63 milyon bawat araw ang kinikita ng pamahalaan sa mga umaalis na OFW dahil sa ibat-ibang sinisingil. Kabilang na rito ang mandatory $25 OWWA fee para sa mga dokumentadong OFW na nagtatrabaho sa ibang bansa.

Umaabot umano sa 4,500 (kabilang na ang mga hindi dokumentado) ang bilang ng mga OFW na lumalabas ng Pilipinas araw-araw. Noong nakaraang taon, halos 2 milyong OFWs umano ang naipadala sa ibang bansa, ayon sa Migrante.

“For those aiming to become the next president, heed our call; only long term-domestic job generation based on genuine agrarian reform and development of local industries is the only way out of the vicious cycle of exploitation caused by the labor export program," panawagan ni Martinez. - GMANews.TV

PHILIPPINE CORRUPTION

Amoral people hold all positions of power in The Philippine Islands. They will kill, or give orders to kill, anyone they see as a threat, not losing sleep ..... no worries about any hereafter. In their eyes, God has allowed them to do this. They see themselves as the ultimate good.

They must be the better, else why are they ruling the serfs? Proof of their ultimate good is when the sissy running the U. S. embassy pays homage to them.

For obvious personal health reasons, and to not cause embarrassment to our organization, all sites are uploaded from Germany

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The Philippines is a rich country, with bountiful land, water and human resources. But the Philipino people are poor and groveling in poverty, working, if possible, in great hardship, raising their families in misery, sleeping in squalor and suffering state police oppression. The elite of these murderous police were trained by the CIA!

For centuries, the social wealth created by the Philipino toiling people has been unjustly appropriated, first by foreign colonizers and then by foreign capital and their local agents, always through a combination of force and deceit, and with the collaboration and help of the P. I. elite.

Those local elite are the rulers of the country now. They compromised in World War Two with the Japanese, but McArthur forgave them after they ponied up the bribes for him. In the Philippine Islands only money and bullets talk. Nothing else matters.

More than a few amateur attempts have been made to infect our computer system.

We have spin-off websites, one being Central Luzon Corruption. This Central Luzon Corruption web site has come to be the most read of our sites and has garnered the most attention from corrupt police and politicians whom we name.

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What you read next will stop 15 to 20 % of the criminal police extortion activities against you while living in The Philippine Islands.

What To Do If Any Philippine Police Want To Search Where You Live Or Are Staying.

Remember, You are Seen As Rich And Are A Special Target Of Every Scam Artist, Hooker, Criminal, Thief And, The Chief Criminals Of All Of The Philippine Islands, The Police.

Once You Are In The Judicial System The Other Criminals Come Into Play, i.e., Attorneys Such As Abelardo Cariaga Estrada (isn't that the middle name for a girl?) Of Baguio City, and All Judges. This Includes The Whole Country. We know one attorney that we can say is some, but not completely, honest.

This information was borrowed from Margarita Station. We recommend you visit their site to see what is going on in Angeles City.

THE POLICE ARRIVE WITH A SEARCH WARRANT

a. Do not allow them to enter the house, politely informing them to comply with the warrant.

b. Carefully read the warrant.

c. Inform them of the name and address of your barangay representative and a known local resident.

d. Inform the police that entry will be granted once theses witnesses are present.

e. Once the witnesses arrive, ask the supervising officer who he has nominated to carry out the search, then request that your witnesses are allowed to search that person.

f. If the supervising officer nominates two searchers, then politely point out that the warrant is addressed to any police officer in the singular, therefore the intent is that two witnesses are with the searcher at all times. Should the supervising officer argue this point, you may quote Section 7 of Rule 126 of the Rules of Court whereby you must also witness the search, and you can only be in one place at one time.

g. Insist that the nominated searcher wear gloves and that any incriminating material discovered be tested for your fingerprints

h. Once this has been sorted out, grant entry to the nominated searcher plus the witnesses. Inform the supervising police officer that in order for them to comply with the warrant, all others must remain outside until the search has been completed.

i. Note what item(s) are nominated on the search warrant. No other item may be seized other than that for which the warrant is issued.

j. Should a prohibited drug be found, telephone a very good attorney. The police have only discovered evidence of a possible crime, and have not witnessed a crime in progress, therefore you are not obliged to go with them at that moment. You could request to wait for your attorney and use the time to put your affairs in order. The police have to complete a lot of paperwork, then appear before a judge to obtain a warrant of arrest.

Woman accuses MPD cop of taking P30,000 from her (Sept. 2008)

MANILA, Philippines – A 28-year-old woman accused Manila cop taking away P30,000 from her that she was supposed to have used to pay for her hospitalization, allegedly because she was a snatching suspect.

Alicia Sigua, a native of Tarlac and resident of G. Puyat Street in Quiapo, filed her complaint on Monday against Police Officer 2 Victor Canda the crime.

The cop is assigned to Station 4 of the Manila Police District (MPD), where Sigua tried to file her complaint. But on the way in she saw the cop on board his motorcycle. She tried to flag down him down, but the cop sped off.

Sigua decided to go to the MPD headquarters on United Nations Avenue in Ermita instead and file her complaint with Police Officer 3 Reginald de los Reye at the General Assignment Section.

She said the cop took the money from her last Saturday. She had just withdrawn the cash from a Western Union Branch on Morayta Street in Sampaloc at around noontime.

She said that the money had been deposited by her relatives to be used in her hospitalization.

She on her way home when Canda accosted her and told her that she was suspect in a snatching case. The cop then frisked the woman and took the money, including the receipt from the Western Union.

MPD probers had already invited the policeman to explain the incident. If he fails to present himself before the authorities on or before Tuesday, the MPD will file administrative and criminal charges against him.

When they get to the policeman, that abused his authority to steal the woman's money, all they will do is take 25,000 pesos of it from him and protect him.

Corruption Jacking Up Electricity Cost -- ADB Study

By Doris C. Dumlao

First posted 04:29am (Mla time) Oct 28, 2005

Inquirer News Service [Page A5 of the Oct. 28, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer]

You wonder why your electricity bill is so high? It’s because of corruption, says the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

A new study by the bank warns that “deeply rooted” corruption is jacking up costs of power projects in the Philippines, delaying their implementation and providing Philipino households and businesses with expensive and unreliable electricity services.

“If unmitigated, the growing negative perception will adversely affect the inflow of investments into the sector,” the ADB said in a study assessing its assistance to the local power sector as a lead development partner over the last 30 years.

It acknowledged that the bank’s assistance program had failed in helping to provide the country with reliable and affordable electricity as well as a financially viable power sector and pledged to do better.

The bank lamented that corruption existed even in ADB-supported power projects, putting the multilateral lender’s own reputation at risk.

“ADB’s support of sector reforms and privatization exposes ADB to corruption-related risks, which highlights the need to carry out such reforms and privatization openly and transparently,” the study said.

Nevertheless, the study said the ADB should continue to support the sector, particularly its transformation to a well-regulated, competitive sector that is financially viable.

The ADB study, which devoted a 13-page appendix on corruption using inputs from Transparency International, said corruption was contributing directly to higher costs of electricity.

It noted that household electricity rates in the Philippines were the third highest after Japan and Hong Kong and were two to three times more expensive than in most other countries.

It said corruption was involved in almost all phases of a project, from tendering and bidding to operation and maintenance as well as privatization and awarding of independent power producing contracts.

“The relatively large number of alleged corruption incidences at the stage of privatization implementation might have been driven partly by some special interest groups opposed to the privatization of the power sector or commercial competitors,” it said.

The efforts to circumvent procedures designed to prevent corruption by some individuals within executing agencies, financing agencies, government and contractors also lead to project delays, the study added.

The bank said the country’s corruption problem must be solved. Business and residential customers, particularly the poor, should not pay for corruption through higher electricity rates and taxes.

The relatively low conviction rates in corruption cases in the Philippines provide little deterrence to potential offenders, the study said.

It cited as an example the case of the mothballed $2.3-billion Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was riddled with corruption charges and subjected to the arbitration and civil suits but still without major convictions.

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Place a hundred phone calls or so to the criminals, listed immediately below, giving them a piece of your mind.

PNP: PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE

The PNP 24-HOUR HOTLINE: (632) 722-2353 & 722-9587

PNP National Headquarters Trunk Line Connecting all Departments: (632) 723-0401 to 20

If you have the information concerning our police, their smuggling of guns and/or drugs, please inform us by calling (632) 724-8712. All information will be kept strictly confidential until someone pays us enough for your address.

NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION-NCR: Metro-Manila

• REGION II : CAGAYAN VALLEY

• REGION IV-A & B: CALABARZON & MIMAROPA

• REGION VI : WESTERN VISAYAS

• REGION VIII: EASTERN VISAYAS

• REGION X: NORTHERN MINDANAO

• REGION XII : CENTRAL MINDANAO

• ARMM: AUTONOMOUS REGION - MUSLIM MINDANAO

• REGION I : ILOCOS REGION

• REGION V: BICOL REGION

• REGION III : CENTRAL LUZON

• REGION VII: VISAYAS

• REGION IX : WESTERN MINDANAO

• REGION XI : SOUTHERN MINDANAO

• REGION XIII: CARAGA

• CAR: CORDILLERA ADMINISTRATIVE REGION PNP

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We are a group of people who have banded together in an attempt to free our national hostages being held by a corrupt Philippine Islands' justice system. Some are charged, some are jailed and some have been murdered. In all of the situations listed here, the foreigners are innocent.

We daily work with information that can be helpful to our kidnapped citizens and see a need to present some of that information here for public viewing to slowly constrict some of the Philipino officials who prey on foreign nationals as well as their own people as department of state reports: U. S. Government Report on Police and Military death-squads in The Philippine Islands

At the link you can read "Corruption is a problem in all the institutions making up the criminal justice system, including police, prosecutorial, and judicial organs."

It is going to be impossible to gain the freedom of foreign nationals without exposing the seedy corruption of many ranking members of Philippine society. We will expose many crimes committed by these leaders against their own people as well.

The Philippine Islands Foreign Secretary, Alberto Romulo, said in July 2007, that his government, "would strongly push for the creation of a commission on human rights for Asia to give ASEAN more credibility in the international community."

We, who know, believe this is going to be a very difficult thing to pull off. The American Indian would say, "He speaks with a forked tongue." Whatever most officials say you can just believe the opposite. It is like Attorney Abelardo Estrada giving a speech In Baguio to a country wide attorneys' meeting telling them how they need to work "pro bono" for people being denied their human rights. While he denied human rights to his own foreign clients while he misrepresented them and falsified evidence so he could fleece them.

While the corrupt government of The Philippine Islands is pushing for a commission to help insure human rights for all of Asia, the Philippine Islands' government has a very dismal human rights record indeed. During the current administration more than 130 people have been disappeared, completely. More than 870 have been murdered by military types who have formed into "death squads with high officials' approval."

The President of the country gave the military two years to deal a death-blow to the New Peoples Army. The NPA can never and will never be stamped out by killing people associated with it or the murdering of innocents and opposition politicians, as is occurring from 2001 to present.

The NPA is a result of a corrupt government and The Philippine Islands will always have an insurgency. The government refuses to deal with corruption at every level of Philippine society. Instead of jailing and prosecuting criminals like this certain Lauro C. Reyes for brutality, they are simply reassigned. This is only one of thousands of reasons why there will always be an insurgency in The Philippine Islands. Injustices like this keep the insurgency fueled with new recruits. There are thousands of people yearly whom actively seek out the N.P.A. so they can enlist and get vengeance upon the officials whom murdered their dads, moms or took their lands through bribing judges.

The hypocrisy of the current U. S. Embassy (Run by the Department of State) is easily seen. The "Americans offered to investigate", but we already know who is behind the murders. On top of this the citizens from all other countries are left to become casualties as they are literally kidnapped by the Philippine Islands' judicial system. The Philippine Islands' government has the U. S. government and other governments between a rock and a hard place and will not ease up the pressure. U. S. officials so-want to deal a death-blow to the Moslem extremist there that they allow themselves to be pulled and pushed into deserting all U. S. citizens!

While Fox News' Philipina reporter (Maria Ressa) in The Philippine Islands reported "leftist demonstrations", in 2007, the truth is kept from the world. These demonstrations are not leftist or communist inspired, but are people who have had their lands taken from them by the rich who bribe the judges and/or their relatives arrested and "disappeared" for complaining of the injustices perpetrated upon them by the rich and powerful who stay in power by buying votes and manipulating elections

There is not a single judge that does not have a price and when in cases between Philipinos that price is usually only one to two hundreds dollars. The demonstrators only want justice, but the U. S. embassy and the C.I.A. does not care about justice. "The Company" (our colleagues) wants and enjoys a dictatorship where they only have to control and influence one or a few people to rule a country.

The young Philipina reporter (Maria Ressa) can never, and will never, report the truth or she will disappear like others before her. She is used by Fox and CNN. She lied and she knew it. She feels so intimidated that she lied saying "leftist" were demonstrating in Cebu earlier in 2007. More news-paper people were murdered in 2006 in The Philippine Islands than in Palestine and Iraq combined, during the same time. Philipinos are now starving (and have been for years and years) and The Philippine Islands is the world's largest importer of rice. She would never report the truth and accordingly has moved up the ladder of success in the P.i. receiving the blessing of the murderous politicians who run the place.

More than 250,000 children are living homeless in the cities towns and cities. Manila alone having more than 70,000. The ones who do not starve are beggars and thieves and will one day be the hit men for the police and other crime gangs they end up joining. The street children near "police station four" in Angeles City end up being recruited to work the police run scams against foreigners and set-ups and the same goes for the police in Manila.

For fifty dollars most anyone can buy a reporter to write up something against someone else. Corruption at its worst.

The Philippine Islands' National Police (PNP) frequently labels cases “solved” when a suspect has been identified and charges have been filed before the prosecutor or the court, even if the evidence and allegations are so uncertain as to raise significant doubts that a viable case could ever be pursued. Many times the alleged perpetrator is not in custody and in many cases is not even capable of being apprehended.

Philippine justice is meted out with favor and money talks. Any white man or other Asian foreign national is given much harsher sentences than a Philipino who has committed the same crime.

All foreigners are special targets for planting drugs or set-up involving sex. They are then given a choice of pay or being jailed for years. Angeles City N.B. I., and police are famous for this. Orders were sent out from the chief of all police in The Philippine Islands in late 2007 ordering the police in the Angeles City and Manila areas purposely target foreigners and send a reasonable portion of the extorted monies up the hierarchy.

Families told Human Rights Watch that they received little or no information from the police about the state of investigations, and that the police showed almost no concern as to whether the victim’s family still has unanswered questions or concerns. One widow said: “We’ve had no contact (with the police) since the killing .... That’s why we don’t trust them. Because it’s been almost two months, and the investigation doesn't’ seem resolved.”

Why does the U. S. government continue to give aid and train these government sponsored terrorists? We are helping an illegitimate government, that came to power in a coup, stay in power. We are so very tired of the useless C.I.A. "workshops on terrorism" given at Clarkfield and other places. "Building bridges" with the Philipino is nothing more than allowing them to latch their hands onto American taxpayers' money. The bridge is one way all headed in their direction, nothing coming back from the hustlers. They are using us now just as they did when we owned Clark airfield. United States government aid went into their private coffers then and now as they use the "War on Terrorism" as their gold mine, while keeping the giant American corporations free from worry about strikes by killing anyone wanting pay above slave wages. Shame on you large corporations using the downtrodden slaves to build your riches.

Remember what happened when United Fruit (a fruit producing company in Guatemala) decided to get rid of the Guatamalan President, Arbenzin, 1953? Dole and DelMonte (located in The Philippine Islands) has connections through wall street right into the C.I.A. and could do something similar, but with better results than the 1953 nervous-wreck situation. If not for one man pushing on we would have not been able to replace Arbenzin.

Henry Cabot Lodge was known as "the Senator from United Fruit" and old Beedle Smith (Behind his back he was called Beetle) fancied himself working for United Fruit after his retirement(And he was given a board place with salary after retiring). You State Department boys, and young new-guy C.I.A. smarties, will need to brush up on your C.I.A. - State Department history to understand this. Some of the old hands are still around. Seek them out and ask them.

The Philipino people (Not all, but most) are very insecure due to being ruled over for 450 years by outside powers. They are sensitive, greedy, extremely racist, and manipulative, but are humble workers and learn fast if they have enough incentive ($$$). They tower over the Saudis in their racism and hatred of outsiders. Hard lives and the tough centuries have taught the average Philipino how to adapt to survive under the harsh rule of the Spanish and the harsh rule of their own rulers. Their elected officials have all of the bad traits mentioned in this paragraph. The poor Philipino became as crafty as their leadership or they suffered and died.

Most embassies allow the corrupt Philippine Islands' police, attorneys, judges, and court systems to hold hundreds and hundreds of foreigners for ransom. The embassies are afraid to help these poor unfortunates because they must worry about the paid demonstrators of 10 to 30 people standing in front of the embassies holding posters, etc. There is a common joke among the various embassy staffers. The demonstrators hold up signs saying, "YANKEE GO HOME", but on the other side what you do not see are the words, "And take me with you." The Philipinos have a saying, "I am getting out of this country no matter what it takes or which other country I will go to. I am just getting out!"More than 75% cannot possible acquire enough money to ever get out.

While receiving reports and complaints against these police and attorneys and other officials, the embassy allows these kidnappers free entry at any time into America. We are all in agreement that enough is enough!

What we see and are ordered to do would surprise most. Some of us do have some morals left and we are going to start freeing foreigners that have been denied human rights, proper hearings, and framed for non-existent crimes in the normal, and very corrupt, Philippine Islands' injustice system where money and power (usually both) decides all cases. To be convicted in The Philippine Islands is to be convicted not of a crime, but of having no influence, as Seagraves has so eloquently pointed out.

When will the ambassadors in the mould of former ambassador Byroade, but a huge mixture of a caring human with the likes of Ms. Patt Durian be stationed in Manila, instead of the sissy we have now? We are tired of "business-as-usual" being conducted by our government while Americans and other nationalities rot in Philippine jails with false charges leveled against them whose sole design was to get money or "payback" for some unintentional slight.

Life in The Philippine Islands not idyllic, nice, or easy. The usual tourist sees only this side when he/she visits, they never see the real Philippine Islands. To see what the actual situations are in The Philippines Islands you must live there for two years or more. Only then do you see a little of what is going on behind the brown smiles and promises of good "Philippine hospitality" for your stay the foreigners always see and hear. You begin to hear of the late night murders by police and soldiers, the police-run scams and protection rackets, the bribery, the leadership sending out murder lists, etc.

The country is run by criminals from the top to the lowest village official. Their faces can be seen posted during Christmas times (thanking the people whom they have made serfs) and during election times.

The police and officials (criminals) keep the Philipino people terrorized! Many times police-justice is meted out on the streets from a 9mm, and many times the murdered one was the wrong one or someone who would not pay the police "their" part of the illegal enterprise for police-run "protection".

Evidence the police recovers is commonly appropriated and used by these very police or just sold and the money stashed away into a bank account listed under another name.

Police run "protection" rackets in every city, but noteworthy are Manila, Angeles City and Baguio City, where Col. Isagani Neres used to be the unofficial crime-boss. Now this Isagani Neres ("Gani" Neres) is pocketing plunder in a neighboring province.

Whereas in most cities the police take protection money for operations they know are illegal, Col. Isagani Neres murdered the leadership of all crime gangs in Baguio City, but one. He then fused the leaderless members with the remaining crime gang with him as the head. He sends so much ill-gotten (and unreported to the tax bureau) money up to higher police officials that he is considered "Bullet proof" with no one daring to touch him. We will not only touch him, but will slap his greedy face.

Suddenly, and we know why, with the Americans becoming more involved in the war on terror" in The Philippine Islands, there has been a vast increase in government (Philippine Army death squads) sponsored murder. We can provide hundreds of cases and will provide some at a later date.

The ultimate height of hypocrisy was when the American embassy (the old foggy-bottom boys as usual) offered to help the Philippine Islands' government find out who is behind these political murders by death squads! Everyone in Intel at every embassy knows that the lists are drawn up at the Presidential Palace (their White House equivalent) in Manila. These lists are given to special units or units already in place that murder the ones on the lists. Many of these units have the words "Task force", "Special operations group" or "Special Task force" in their unit designation.

Usually the murdered ones are called the old Bogey word, "communists", but in fact they were mostly just citizens who are tired of the richer buying judges and stealing their lands! Like the demonstrators in early 2008 in Cebu were called "leftists". They were only normal citizens who are tired of the corruption and being brutalized by their elected officials using the police-types and military.

The Philippine Islands does not have a jury system like normal democracies. One judge decides all cases. This places all judges in positions of having tremendous power to extort large bribes in large cases, especially when a bank with millions of dollars on deposit decides to not allow some of the more wealthy depositors to withdraw their monies.

The few richer depositors go to court, but the judge has been bribed to rule in the favor of the bank and the bank makes 3 million and the judge gets paid 1 million and the few depositors are left with injustice. Due to this injustice many elect to join the New People's Army to get revenge. Some of the NPA groups have leaders who are communists, some are bandits and some are neither - all these NPA groups claim to seek justice with the bullet. No matter which flavor each particular NPA group is, most of the people in the NPA are only citizens who have been cheated of their monies, homes and lands and are not communists at all. They do not care about communist dogma, only in seeking justice and revenge against a system that is stacked against them.

(Updated December 28, 2008) Bankers who currently have stolen whole deposits from pool Philipinos and manipulated ($$$$) the court system are Christine Wangdali (A bull dyke) and C.P.A. attorney, Carmenilo Pensacola (Who has been convicted of other crimes since becoming a C.P.A. attorney).

The word on the street is that a "hit" has been ordered for both these thieves. Before 2009 is out they will be charged with money laundering. The word on the street at the end of 2008 is that a hit is still out on both of them and is slated for sometime in 2009. (Updated December 28, 2008)

The American embassy and all other embassies know this and that their own citizens are targets! Any foreign citizen in The Philippine Islands has a target on his back and is a target to anyone with power or any woman who wants to claim rape as a means to make money from the poor unfortunate.

The poor foreigner is then ganged up on by attorneys, prosecutors, police, and judges and they all split what is stolen or monies taken from clients they misrepresent (in the case of Abelardo Estrada of Baguio city, Philippine Islands misrepresenting the religious worker from America.). They call this "milking." The victim is called a "milking cow".

The ones who prey on these foreigner are attorneys, police-run kidnap gangs and police set-ups. Of course if the man is too stupid to ask how much they want then he is convicted of a false crime with his own attorney working with prosecutors and police to convict the innocent man and split the attorneys' fees later!

The American embassy knows this! They sometimes blame their own citizens for being so stupid for not paying a bribe. Most embassies keep quiet because of three things:

A. If they try to rightfully influence the courts to let the innocent go then the judges and attorneys put people in the street holding signs saying that America or whomever, is trying to" interfere with the internal affairs of The Philippine Islands." Usually the crowds never amount to more than 20 people, but the cameraman will be instructed to pan-in to not show such a pitifully small crowd. Typical racial slanting of the news. The Philipino is an expert at using the "R" word.

B. The war on terror is deemed so important that nothing should get in the way, even citizens that the embassies are to actually represent! Again the United States embassy is the number one offender against its own citizens and is very easily controlled by the Government-run Philippine Islands' press screaming "Racism" and "interfering". Americans cannot stand to be called racists. Americans will sacrifice their own citizens so they will not be called "Racists".

C. Large companies like DelMonte pineapple, coke, and oil companies pressure the American State Department officials at the embassy level and in America to "not rock the boat" while they makes tons of money off of cheap labor keeping their workers pay at the subsistence level. Naturally they have direct links through wall street into the Agency (C.I.A., aka "The good guys")

The best embassy to help its citizens there is the Australian.

The purpose of this "slow constriction" is to make the guilty men and women who have the power of life and death, squirm, be embarrassed, loose face, and eventually become such an international embarrassment to their bosses that they are moved to lower jobs, or fired, and possibly charged or executed by their corrupt and more powerful higher-ups.

Every foreign national has provided us with all the related court papers and passed at least two polygraph tests (some four).

The two men from Holland (In November of 2005) were arrested, shackled and handcuffed, yet murdered "While attempting to escape" when they would not pay more!.

Justice for them is soon coming. But first we are going to set examples in smaller areas first and allow you, in larger cities, to have uneasy feelings because the constriction has started now.

We hand carry our info and upload. We keep many copies in many places. We have much more we can upload, if necessary. We are serving warning to one and all, stay out of our op.

What we are going to do is what most embassies are afraid to do, i.e., help their citizens!

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The worst criminals in The Philippine Islands are the elected officials, attorneys, accountants and all police-types. Not a single team member has met one of these that we can say are honest.

We have never met one that we can say is not a criminal.

Table of corruption.

Zero is the best possible score.

1: Singapore, 1.13 (1.20)
2: Hong Kong, 1.80 (1.87)
3: Japan, 2.25 (2.10)
4: Macau, 3.30 (5.18)
5. South Korea, 5.65 (6.30)
6. Malaysia, 6.37 (6.25)
7. Taiwan, 6.55 (6.23)
8. India, 7.25 (6.67)
9. Vietnam, 7.75 (7.54)
10. China, 7.98 (6.29)
10. Indonesia, 7.98 (8.03)
11. Thailand, 8.00 (8.03)
12. Philippines, 9.00 (9.40)

The Philippines is a sad case when it comes to corruption, the consultancy said in a summary report made available to AFP.

The Philippine situation is probably no worse than in places like Indonesia and Thailand, but corruption has become politicized and is openly discussed in the media, unlike in authoritarian countries like China and Vietnam, it said.

The Philippines scored 9.0 out of a possible 10 points under a grading system used by PERC under which zero is the best score and 10 the worst.

In 2006 The Philippine Islands ranked as the eighth most corrupt nation shared by: Swaziland, Guyana, Rwanda, Gambia, Benin, Honduras, Russia and Nepal.

Haiti was the most corrupt nation.

The most honest countries are, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden. Switzerland, Norway, Austria & Luxembourg

Singapore at 1.13 (1.20)was rated as the fourth most honest country in the world.

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Southeast Asian countries who were trailing the Philippines by a mile in terms of economic development in the 1950’s are now miles ahead of the Philippines on same score.

The Philippines was then the second best economy in the whole of Asia next to Japan. But same countries which once envied the Philippines then are now the cause of envy by the latter.

Lately, China and Vietnam, formerly socialist and war torn countries, and also India joined the league of progressive nations in Asia with the Philippines relegated to the group of the least progressive nations in Asia that include the likes Bangladesh, Pakistan, Laos and Sri Lanka.

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The growth and development of any nation lies in the hard work of peasants, fisher folk, workers, indigenous peoples, women and their communities. But when these very people face intense poverty, hunger, un- employment, landlessness and loss of all resources, then development is meaningless because life itself is threatened and communities are destroyed. This is the hard reality of the Philippines.

A third of the Philippine population of 90 million lives on a dollar a day or less, according to a report issued May 12, 2008.

Of the 90 million there are 12 million who are not living in The Philippine Islands. They have immigrated or working overseas and are sending money back in to help their poverty-stricken relatives.

7 out of 10 Philipino farmers are landless. The farmers face extremely high rates of land rents and usury is so high that it ranges from 100%-400% per cropping season.

Husbands, wives and children are separated for years at a time, their marriages destroyed. All due to the endemic nature of their ruling elite, their tendency for corruption and intrigue.

An exodus of around 3,700 workers every day to find a living or better work abroad, not including hundreds or possibly thousands more leaving the country as trafficked or undocumented workers facilitated by un- scrupulous recruiters who have proliferated as a result of deregulation implemented by the Arroyo government.

There are around 12 million overseas Philipino workers abroad who have the tremendous capacity to remit the amount of US$13.3 billion every year besides an estimated additional US$3-4 billion remitted through informal channels.

Due to the feminization of poverty, more than 70% of the workers who go abroad for land based work are women. Many end up being little more than prostitutes while back home in manila there are over 500,000 prostitutes in the capitol, Manila. 18 year old women marrying men 70 years old is not uncommon, if the man lives overseas.

Twenty-nine million are forced to live on less than $1.50 a day. They cannot afford the school uniforms for their children to attend school. For the 2008 year President GMA has said to waive the school uniform rule due to the rising prices.

An additional 20 million live on less than $5 per day, and in June of 2008, that does not go very far. Especially with Gasoline over $5 per gallon.

Pork and beef has doubled from January 1, 2008 to May 29, 2008. Diesel fuel on May 24, 2008 was $5.02 per gallon and gasoline is close behind.

Their cloths have holes, they work in flip-flops, and barely make enough to keep from starving and some have starved.

Since a roll of toilet tissue costs 1/2 a day's wages they use their hands to wipe themselves. This results in feces under the fingernails, which kills their children. The injecting of feces is the largest killer of children in The Philippines Islands.

This is a true story that is a normal police activity for The Philippine Islands. Nothing unusual about what happened to this man while living in Angeles City, Pampanga province: Philippine Islands' Police Preying Upon Unfortunate Foreigners

The innocent usually do not pay girls that claim rape. The guilty always pay.

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Source: http://www.philippinecorruption.net/