Philippine Territory for Sale

[Sforza]

I really think this deserves its own topic, because its about how our sovereignty is for sale. If anyone finds any other example of how the country is for sale, please post them here! I'm sure there are lots.

Manila's Bungle in the South China Sea (Far Eastern Economic Review)

Today the Spratlys, tomorrow Palawan (Inquirer)

Main points:

1. GMA traded "commissions" from China to help fund the administration campaign last year for the Philippine (and ASEAN) claim to the Spratlys.

2. She did it by agreeing to a "joint territorial survey" of the claimed islands, giving China legitimacy AND breaking the official stance of the ASEAN which China already agreed to. This was done because the ASEAN countries have much less bargaining power individually.

3. Part of that survey in the Spratlys reached off the coast of Palawan, which China was not contesting. It was however part of Malampaya, a gas field in Philippine territory. No doubt China will try to do "business" there for political favors if anything is found.

Correspondents' report here.

Oh, and Mayors back Arroyo, get 210B in internal revenue allotment (IRA)

[Black Dragon]

Now the last thing we need is to sell Mendiola, that way, no rally

Seriously though, I think it wasn't wise to sell our land, we need all the resource we can get.

[Shintetsu]

Economical improvements would make Arroyo's work look good to people who don't care much(most of us, really). Well, short-term economical improvements isn't reason enough for you to sell out your own country, eh.

I think the chinese are aiming for world domination. NOOOO! Short dicks for everyone!!

[Serene]

Well, it's like "Sell what you have now, lose what you need later"

Dins, there's no need for you to fear the possibility of that happening, you don't have any use for those.

[Sforza]

The country might not be worth dying for anymore, but Ben Abalos' "Burjers" are!

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* He owns a burger stall in Mandaluyong.

[Grim]

That quite adequately sums up the entire situation so far, yeah. It's one big fucking ecks dee with a facepalm value meal.

[NiX]

I wanna make things work in this country. But it's hard.

Yep. Mass genocide, anyone?

[Serene]

I'm game.
Want to use a bio weapon that makes people suffer from spontaneous bleeding?

[Goat]

Let's make an army cute, emotionless, and deadly genetically-engineered loli supersoldiers.

[Shintetsu]

Make them scarier by using naked shemales instead xD

[Serene]

Off topic na ah...

Ipatapon na lang natin sa kanila lahat ng mga snatcher dito sa pinas.

[Sforza]

Raul Pangalangan's column in the Inquirer today is entitled,
"Finally, the tipping point?"

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropin...ping-point

UP law professor Harry Roque has exposed the diversion of some P600 million of a P2.5-billion swine program to fund the campaign chest of pro-Arroyo senatorial candidates. Strangely, Malacañang has given its tried-and-tested response to these periodic crises of confidence. Faced with Roque’s exposé, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol says: So sue us before our favorite ombudsman. When Roque proposes to impeach the ombudsman, the House Speaker threatens to throw it out like it did the Lozano complaints.

When Senator Francis Escudero asks for a Senate inquiry, Apostol invokes the bank secrecy laws. Escudero and Roque remind him that we are not dealing with bank deposits here. I too remind him that the bank secrecy laws didn’t seem to bother him when he wanted to open Erap’s bank records during the impeachment trial.

Finally, Malacañang asks us to trust our institutions, yet the Commission on Audit, the constitutional watchdog agency that was supposed to have unearthed the scam, hasn’t and won’t.

...That's not all.

Neal Cruz' article today is entitled,
"Another broadband scandal at NTC"

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropin...dal-at-NTC

They never stop trying. On the heels of the foiled ZTE national broadband network (NBN) scam comes another scandal. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) secretly allocated Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) frequencies to a bankrupt company, Liberty Broadcasting Network Inc. (LBNI).

Court records show that LBNI filed for rehabilitation before the Regional Trial Court of Makati, Branch 149. This shows that LBNI currently has no financial capacity to provide the service. LBNI has since effectively ceased operations, and without any operations and employees, it could not possibly have the required financial and technical capability to provide the service. Thus, the allocation of valuable BWA frequencies to a company which is not financially and technically capable of providing the telecommunications service prejudices the general public.

Due to recent developments in the wireless technology, especially the introduction of the BWA, a number of telecommunications providers are fiercely competing for allocation of the available frequencies. Why in heaven’s name did the NTC allocate, secretly, four of these limited frequencies to a bankrupt company?

The recent discovery of this secret allocation by the NTC without any hearing and publication and service of notice, as required by law and the NTC rules, to affected parties, principally the competing telecom providers to give them the opportunity to oppose the allocation, makes the allocation by the NTC illegal.

The affected telecom providers, Congress and the public should demand an investigation.

[Sforza]

In summary, the government just traded the country's long term food security for money to pay the Arroyo gang. Expect swine and rice prices to go up even more.

The government also just traded away the possibility of having cheap broadband wireless access in the near future, too.

And then there are also scandals that didn't get as much media millage, like the ones listed here:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerhea..._id=117288

"Teves took a verbal beating during the CA hearing Tuesday where Enrile berated him for sheer incompetence in allowing the entry of NPA’s power generators and the inexplicable reduction in the tax on a premium cigarette brand, Pall Mall, from P26 per pack to only P6.74 per pack which resulted in P100 million in tax losses annually for the government."

You have to be completely insane to still think that the current administration is also the most qualified one for the job.

[Shintetsu]

Facepalm. FAAACEPAAAALM. Tara, gumawa tayo ng community natin sa Mars. -_-