Just a simple question.
Telecommunication deal, bribery, 1 million hectares, territorial water for soft loan, etc.
I can sum up quite some stuff when Arroyo is in power. What do the people in Philippines think?
She called Hu Jin tao big brother?

she is just passive...
maybe because her family has a percentage in the corruption...

and she seem religious... tsk! tsk! tsk!

People Power and get that b!tch out of power

This is what Democracy can do it can impeach a President if the people don't like him or her anymore.

Democracy is still alive and well in the Philippines.

An example that China wants to rent 2 million hectars of farmland in the Philippines but the deal was only Chinese farmers can work in the vicinity so the Filipino Farmers complained because they will lose their jobs and displace many Filipinos so the China renting farmland in the Philippines didn't push thru.

Remember when the Koreans bought Taal Volcano, the people of the Philippines also complained because the Taal Volcano is a National Park and it cannot be purchased by anyone especially Foreigners.

..and then what?

i would be very happy if those of you who want people power would just kill all of them, the current corrupt gov't official, corrupt ex-gov't official, the corrupt opposition, politicized priest & nuns, the media, greedy businessmen, kris aquino or anything that moves.

that way we could have peace and serenity, maybe.


EDIT:

BTW, it's not only GMA who ccoked the China deal, it also includes the De Venecia's and J.Lo as the intermediary with Lacson observing them slyly in the background with his demonic grin.

This is the reason why I'm apathetic when it comes to politics.... if a Philippine President makes a mistake, the only resolution is impeachment..

she sold her soul to me.....

agreed they aren't thinking of the reactions of their actions. you know they aren't thinking ahead but only focused on the here and then still.

Yep! I mean come on, nobody is perfect and only wants the best for our country.

^^ thats a big shot to the moon.. politiko??trappppppppooooooooo..

She wants the best for herself and her Clan

nosy

BTW: Here the latest news
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headline...aid=20080306184

http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2...5166&type=2

$hit like this would stop if Filipinos would care more about their country rather then just their family. it all comes back around ... what your country can't give you, you can't give to your family.

that's the main reason why Politicians should be treated as Diapers.

They need to be replaced regularly. All for the same reason. (they're becoming full of sh*t)

DAMN. Is there any filipino politician/s, lesser dirty??

Remember Sabah ? Do not blame the Arroyo government for selling the Philippines !

The Spaniards sold the Philippines, Guam and surrounding islands in 1898 for just $20 million dollars

This means you have to continue like this ???

nosy

.

funny that some are basing their supposed claims with INCREDIBLE media
which has history of wrongdoings and PARTIALITY.

addendum:

and by way you said that you are not from this country and youve written
it in another thread, why are you meddling with US. Wala kang karapatang
tumuligsa sa AMING BANSA kung di ka na naman tagarito, ingrato ka.
youre country is corrupt too so concentrate pinning down your country
and not ours. okinnam.
im sorry im just very very mad right now.

I guess I have no rebuttal for this argument and seeing that I haven't been living there for a while.... hmm Let's just have a revolution shall we?

all i know is this , 2005 the price of LPG is 310 pesos, now 2008 here in our place 610 pesos , WTF !!!!! last month i bought cooking oil (1.5 bottle of coke) 80 pesos ,now its 92 pesos , even the price of rice is $hit F@ck !! what is this ??? PUTRAGES TALAGA !! MGA HAYOP !!

you mean an EDSA fiesta? pointless when you have 40% of the poeple are poor and over 50% of the people mis educated.

hey she just being another Filipino that will sell out their country in behalf of herself wealth so why oust her when Filipinos themselves are guilty of it to.

PNOC: JMSU area all in RP

By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:06:00 03/19/2008

MANILA, Philippines—The entire 142,886-square-kilometer area covered by the controversial Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) among the Philippines, China and Vietnam is all under Philippine territory, the president of the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) said.

“We own those,” PNOC president Antonio Cailao said, referring to the areas encompassed by the JMSU.

He added, however, that the tripartite accord among PNOC, China National Offshore Oil Co. and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. was a purely commercial agreement and was not at all political in nature.

Also, such an agreement had a precedent.

“There are many commercial contracts that involved foreign entities and this is just another one of them. In other words, in the earlier days, there was a joint Australian-Philippine cooperation, a joint Norwegian-Philippine cooperation,” he said in a briefing Tuesday. “Inviting other commercial entities of other nationalities is a very common practice.”

Unlike with China and Vietnam, the Philippines is not involved in any territorial disputes with Australia or Norway.

In an earlier interview, former PNOC president and JMSU signatory Eduardo Mañalac said the tripartite agreement explicitly states that each of the three countries’ claims on the Spratlys Islands would not be compromised.

Should the JMSU go to the next level, that is, to actual exploration, development and production, that would be a different story, Manalac said.

“The intent is really to drill there. Why would we spend millions of dollars doing seismic if there’s no intention to drill? But then the three governments need to talk to get a common, acceptable contract,” he said.

“The three countries have different laws. We should follow all those laws. That’s what’s going to be difficult. I encourage all three governments to honestly and earnestly pursue this,” he said, adding that the first batch of data gathered from the JMSU area was “very encouraging.”

Cailao said the JMSU, which he said was pre-exploratory in nature and could best be described as a scientific study, mentioned nothing about actual exploration in the covered area.

He said the tripartite agreement could still be extended beyond the impending July deadline, despite the controversy surrounding it.

“(The extension) is still being studied and will all depend on the outcome of the data gathered, processed and interpreted. The decision is still being evaluated. Everything we do will depend on the study,” he said.

At this point, he said there were still no clear indications as to the oil potentials of the JMSU area.

For his part, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said PNOC would continue to deal with the technical side of the study, while the Department of Justice would tackle its legal side.

He did not comment on the territorial dispute issue and the alleged unconstitutionality of allowing China and Vietnam to engage in surveys in waters the Philippines considers to be part of its territory.

RP warned on peril of Spratlys study

By Volt Contreras
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:52:00 03/18/2008

MANILA, Philippines—An American think tank has urged Washington to treat with “serious concern” the corruption scandal over the aborted National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp. as well as suspicions linking the flow of Chinese loans to Manila to a 2004 accord that allows Beijing to scan the disputed Spratlys island chain for fuel deposits.

The Heritage Foundation, however, said that from a US standpoint it would be “far more preferable” for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to finish her term rather than be ousted through extra-constitutional means, “even if under a cloud of suspicion” over the NBN-ZTE and Spratlys issues.

It observed that the NBN-ZTE scandal had aroused “still-meager protests” and that “public outrage has not reached a level that rules out amicable settlement.”

But the group also echoed warnings from critics of the Spratlys agreement, saying a “study today” of the area’s resource potential may eventually threaten Philippine sovereignty and ultimately reinforce Chinese claims on the territory.

“As Washington calculates its diplomacy and geopolitical interests, politics in Manila going completely off the rails should be a serious concern,” said Walter Lohman, director of the foundation’s Asian Studies Center.

For sale

“Even more disturbing is the thought that a pillar of the United States’ historic presence in the Pacific may be for sale,” Lohman said in an article titled “Off the Rails in the Philippines” and released on Friday.

The 35-year-old Heritage Foundation is a research and educational center based in Washington DC. It describes itself as an institute that promotes conservative public policies based on principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense.

Its recommendations are generally addressed to the White House and US Congress, as well as the US academe, media, and public policy communities.

Lohman said “the most spectacular charge to emerge from the (NBN) controversy is that the contract flows from a 2004 China-Philippines deal to put aside sovereignty claims in the South China Sea in order to conduct a joint seismic study.”

Threat to sovereignty

The Heritage official was referring to the three-year Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU), an agreement first inked between China and the Philippines. Vietnam was later included in the agreement after the country, being another Spratlys claimant, registered its protest.

Lohman spoke of the “obvious danger” that the tripartite cooperation contemplated under the JMSU “will eventually threaten Filipino sovereignty.” He noted that the area covered by the study was “far from the China mainland, but close to the Philippines.”

He further warned: “A study today will lead to a joint tapping of resources tomorrow and ultimately reinforce Chinese claims in the territory.”

Such a “concession” was difficult to understand strictly from an assessment of the Philippine national interest, Lohman said.

Just data gathering

The Arroyo administration has defended the JMSU, which expires this June, saying it is just a “data-gathering effort among oil companies” from the three countries.

Malacañang, mainly through former Energy Secretary Vince Perez and former Philippine National Oil Co. president Eduardo Mañalac, maintained that the JMSU was “scientific in nature” and not a treaty that would affect any territorial claims of the Philippines.

Lohman noted that the NBN-ZTE deal was “only one element to emerge from the $2 billion per year Chinese project loans offered soon after the deal on the seismic study.”

Dozens of deals

The Chinese loan program extends until 2010, Ms Arroyo’s last year in office and “has already facilitated dozens of deals beyond the ZTE broadband project,” he said.

“Another massive deal that has aroused suspicion is the 25-year concession to the Philippines power grid,” Lohman said.

He was apparently referring to the awarding to Monte Oro Grid Resources the right to operate the assets of National Transmission Corp. (Transco). Monte Oro counts among its partners Enrique “Ricky” Razon, port operations magnate and a treasurer of the administration ticket Team Unity in last year’s senatorial elections. [Razon, who has invested in a port in Shandong province, denied that he was the treasurer of Team Unity.]

“The biggest privatization in Philippine history, the $4-billion deal has a similar confluence of factors: Chinese involvement, high-value assets, and charges of connections to the First Family,” Lohman said.

He said what was alarming about these cases was the possibility that corruption in the Philippines may have reached the point of trumping national interest.

Lohman noted that one commentary on the JMSU, for instance, had called the deal an act of “treason” on the part of Ms Arroyo.

“While to date the evidence of a connection between the seismic deal and official corruption appears circumstantial, the new depths being plumbed by this ‘debate’ are reason enough to be concerned,” he said.

Fix the system

But Lohman said Ms Arroyo deserved a fair hearing “if for no other reason than that she is the duly elected President. If not guilty of treason, (her) government may yet garner enough trust among the Filipino elite to put the controversy behind it.”

If the President’s critics have sensed that the impeachment process has itself become “too corrupt to render an accurate judgment, the answer does not lie in appeal to extra-constitutional means, but in a concerted effort to fix the system, however difficult and lengthy it may be,” Lohman said.

Calling the Philippines a “natural American ally,” Lohman said that “from the perspective of a concerned friend, it would be far more preferable for the President to finish her term in office—even under a cloud of suspicion—than for the Constitution to be breached.”

He said that the United States “should help (the Philippines) avert what has the potential to become a major constitutional crisis.”

The United States should hold up a mirror to the Philippines, Lohman said.

“The US does its Filipino friends no good by pretending corruption is any less than a cancer eating away at its body politic … Above all, the US must be crystal clear that it supports the constitutional order in the Philippines,” he said.

Malacañang Monday said it agreed with the US government that the NBN-ZTE controversy had not affected Philippine-US ties, as observed by the Heritage Foundation.

“As far as we know, this alleged effect on the US government has been denied by the US ambassador herself and I guess that’s reasonable stand to make,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye told reporters.

“We agree with the stand of the US ambassador that this has not affected our relations,” Bunye said. With a report from Christine O. Avendañ

She is a corrupt
IMPERIALIST

The people of a nation gets a leader that they deserve. Certainly in a democracy but to some degree, even a totalarian state.

Iraqi and other Arab country got what they deserve.

USA got GW, a BIG ahole, but we voted for him, so we deserve the sht that is raining down on us from the economy sucking like it does as well as this messed up war.

Of course China is going to try to fk the Fillpinos over, they are looking out for their own interest. Their leaders are doing what they are suppose to do.

Like Americans, the Fillipinos have no one to blame but themselves about their countries leaders.

I honestly believe she's doing her best for the country. Whether she is the "best" leader or that her "best" is enough to change our ill society is another story.

She should remain in power until 2010. A premature change of administration now will only show that the nation is politically divided, and uncertain. Sometimes, by simply presenting a unified front, it is enough to create progress. The private sector only needs a stable political base to conduct business, once it has that, capitalism will take care of the rest.

Its worldwide I think. You should hear the people complain. LPG gas has gone from $55 dollars for one hundred pound tank to between $75 to over $90 depending where you buy it. Corn Oil has doubled in price. From $4.50 (the cheap brand) to over $8 . And rice just went up again. Last year 50 pounds was $11.50. In January it went to $15.50 and last week it was $19.50. We need to produce more rice. Eggs doubled in price. The falling dollar also does not help..

I did not know the Philippines Pres. was that corrupt. We have and have had the same problems here.
As for China there leaders do what is best for China. That should be the job of all government leaders. As for some Chinese leaders you cannot blame them since its there job but many could care less about the Philippines. To them its what the Philippines can do for China and not the other way around. Its like another site I go to. This guy wants Scotland independent from the UK.. Supposedly, England is the major force in the UK. And he says some people from England are always saying that without England Scotland cannot survive. That the English give them millions. But he says the problem is that the English do not mention the Billions they take from Scotland. So all nations do it. If they can take from another nation for there own nation they will do it.

And unlike here, I thought no foreigners could legally own land in the Philippines. So how are non-Filipinos getting around that. Thats a good law in the long run. Any foreigner that wants land can lease it. Here plenty of foreign companies from eithier europe or other latin american nations are busy buying up things. The problem is they could with time close the businesses they bought here especially if it would save them money. They could care less that people here would lose there jobs. Then they could import from there homeland the products they use to produce here at a cheaper price but they would still sell it at the same retail price. They would make big profits. Plus they would repatriate the profits which means less money to invest here.

Some people think some nations will have to do what Chavez did. He just nationalized 60% of each of the foreign cement companies so that no monopoly or what I decribed above would happen.
Here in PUR. the largest Cement Company the Puerto Rican Cement Company which was privately owned was sold to Cemex Cementos De Mexico. So they have a monopoly since they are the largest. There were rumors they might stop making cement here and instead import from there other factories in other nations. But they would sell it here at higher prices.
On a side note before PR Cement was sold to Cemex it was owned by a person who was once Governor. They say when he was governor over 30 years ago that train travel at that time was abandoned since he was pushing for concrete road construction. He also approved the massive building of public housing made out of concrete. Some are reminded of the good things he did. Others say his cement company made a fortune with the government contracts since it was the major cement producer on the island.

I also read once that Cemex and two or three other cement companies in the Philippines got together to control cement prices in 2002. A Taiwan Cement company in the Philippines wanted no part of it but it seems they were then jumped on by the govt over there for dumping at low prices. But they were not the problem. The problem were the others that wanted to start a cement monopoly. As for Cemex they really are taking over cement production in Latin America, Asia and Europe.

And construction of housing. Plenty of houses being constructed but the problem is the majority of the homes are very expensive. It seems they are made to sell for the foreign market not for the people living here.

And agriculture here is really being hit hard since the govt seems to be abandoning it. Things that can grow here are being imported. Someone said that the Philippines had the same problem but with Rice. The Philippines needs to import rice when they use to produce it.

There are radio talk shows here which inform there listeners of all this which is happening. I would think in the Philippines they would also have that.

vote OBAMA if you are a fil am and wants gloria to step down!!!!

Obama isn't going to help the Philippines.

It's on your own from there.

I do not like Obama because I have a feeling that he is going to give the Spratlys to China and he is going to pull out the American Soldiers helping protecting the Philippines from Insurgency and Terrorism. The Bush Administration is planning to beef up the Philippine Air Force to protect the Spratlys and if Obama becomes President, all of those programs would be gone.

^ Then again America is wasting it's military and economic power on a war that's useless.

Do you want Jemaah Islamiah to rule Mindanao or perhaps the whole Southeast Asia?

http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/ji.cfm

then pinas won't be a puppet state anymore! npa will be happy...

IMO the progress of our nation will not go on unless all criminals lose their heads, it is very necessary to execute all those corrupt bastards in every level of our society and we might loose millions of corrupt citizens in the process specially in the goverment sector but just as napoleon said it is necessary to suspend liberty in the name of liberty, if it is necessary to suspend individual freedoms to save the republic then so be it.

Oh really?!? hmmm, I can think of at least 5 examples.

I saw on the news obama was half-indonesian and spent his childhood in indonesia and probably raised as muslim. So maybe indonesia might get more aid than us if he be president .

nah, his stepfather and half-sister is indonesian. He was also born in Hawaii, his dad's from Kenya, he used to be muslim. Do you think their lives are gonna improve as a result. I don't think so.

I think it's great we have a truly international man to be president.

She visited my city yesterday.

It's normal for Philippine politicians to be corrupt. That stated, Filipinos should just tough it out until the next presidential elections. They can't afford another 'People Power' which could drive foreign direct investment even lower than it already is. The Philippines need loads more investment if the country is to develop at a moderate pace.

In general, sort of sympathize with the above, though millions is WAY too high. However, the Philippine oligarchy and petty corrupt officials do need to be shown that their actions can result in an execution. Then they might not be so corrupt and inept, and the Philippines might actually thrive.

By the way, you probably don't want to use Napoleon. He was a dictator who drove France into the ground economically. You should look much closer to home both geographically and historically. Singapore, your neighbor, is extremely strict. Corruption is relatively low, but drug runners are executed, as a what would be considered 'minor' criminals in most countries. As a consequence, Singapore has a low crime rate and a stable society--and thus people invest in the country a lot. Singapore is growing around 8% per year (the highest the Philippines rose in decades was about 7.5% for a single year, 2007) and is already developed (per capita income around $30,000). It is more difficult to make a developed economy grow by such a large amount, and yet Singapore is still beating the Philippines (per capita income around $1,500).

You can observe this in some cities in the Philippines like Davao, drug runners are indeed executed summarily and other petty criminals that don't mend their ways and thus have some moderate economic progress going on. If this can only be replicated to the whole country, the Philippines might have a chance in overtaking Singapore.

Im not using napoleon as a whole im just sharing a bit of his ideals that inorder to maintain order and stabilze the state individual freedoms should be suspended, martial law you bet. But it all depends on th leader wether he/she will be just or unjust in enforcing martial law. I think we will never overcome singapore and our country will never get lower crime rates by making strict laws because as long the population is exploding exponentially there will be many people competing for jobs for supply of food, everything is overcrowded people living in slums no work, no food and resort to all kinds of crimes to survive.
That it is why it is neccesary to curtail the population and decrease the population we need to legalize abortion, use of contraceptives, one child policy and death penalty. In order to do that u have to confront the catholic church and other relgious nuts in the country we should suspend their freedoms ban them to protest and cause rallies and other civil disorders against the government. This should be done in order to achieve the goal of controling the population, jail and excute the trouble makers, including priests and nuns that instigate black propaganda and destabilization on the goverment.