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 Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:41 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:43 am
On the occasion of the anniversary celebration of PhilippineIndependence, the Philippine Embassy held a Thanksgiving Mass for the Filipino community at the St. Mary's Cathedral on 16 June from 4 to 5 pm. His Excellency Ambrose De Paoli, Apostolic Papal Nuncio, officiated the said Mass. Tokyo-based Filipino priests joined in the celebration and a choir composed of Filipino students rendered hymns during the Mass. Atty. Marissa Dionson of the Philippine Assistance Group acted as commentator.
The Holy Mass was followed by a pot-luck party at the Koln Hall within the cathedral premises. A special program wasprepared also in celebration of the Migrant Workers' Day. Jojo Sanchez, the Welfare Officer at the Philippine Embassy, co-emceed with Ms. Ava Arcilla of the Assistance to Nationals Section, Philippine Embassy.
HE Ambassador Romeo A. Arguelles greeted the members of the Filipino community who came to participate in the event. Ms. Sanchez read the message of Mr. Wilhelm Soriano, Administrator of the Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration. Filipino musicians and performers rendered a medley of Tagalog songs.
Mr. Christopher Manalo, this year's recipient of the Bagong Bayani Award, was given a formal citation by Ambassador Arguelles. Mr. Manalo was conferred the award by no less than President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo on 7 June on the occasion of the Araw ng mga Migranteng Manggagawa.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:47 am
The Philippines has failed to get the Jump on Its crisis-stricken neighbours
The Philippines will enter the new century with question marks over the quality of its performance in 1999.
At best, it has been a moderate performer, especially compared to its neighbours, which have bounced back in spectacular fashion from the lows of two years ago.
At worst, the Philippines can be described as an underachiever yet again -- a country which failed to get the jump on the region despite the fact that it, of all South East Asia's countries, managed to get through the region's financial storm in the best shape.
Or, as ABN Amro Asia chief strategist Christopher Wood bluntly puts it: "The Philippines has been the dog of Asia this year."
Such negative assessments may disappear next year, with the government upbeat about the Philippines compounding on the modest 2.4 per cent gross domestic product growth rate it achieved in the first half of 1999.
President Joseph Estrada is confident the economy can sustain its growth because of several factors: the continuing strong performance of the agricultural sector, the gradual recovery of the manufacturing sector, rising exports, an improving financial environment and rising foreign investment.
The agricultural sector has proved the most resilient and is expected to add further to the Philippines' growth. It should more than make up for the manufacturing sector, which has yet to fully bounce back.
On the financial front, non-performing loans (NPL) should continue to dip in 2000, though not to levels seen before 1997.
At the end of August, the Philippine's commercial banks had bad loans at 14.36 per cent of total lending, still much higher than 1997's average ratio of 3.8 per cent.
Estrada is confident export growth will surge into double-digit figures next year. September exports alone rose 33 per cent from a year ago to US$3.692 billion.
PHILIPPINES
Head of State: President Joseph Estrada
Population: 75.2 million (199 cool
GDP: US$65.1b (199 cool
GDP per capita: US$900 (199 cool
Strengths: Steady growth; streamlining of bank sector
Unknowns: Concerns remain over corruption; ability of Philippines to match neighbours in progressive hi-tech sectors
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:49 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:49 am
The toppling of a corrupt Filipino president was not a victory for "people power", writes John Elliott
She was an unlikely nemesis -- a four-foot-something, attractive Asian lady who told the nation in a 1997 Valentine's Day message: "I treasure true love. I want you to be part of my dream."
In fact, this American-educated former economics professor and senior Filipino politician played a central role in the downfall of President Joseph Estrada, succeeding him in the job that he had held for two and a half years. Other women--Estrada's harem of wives and mistresses -- also played a role in his downfall, as did his incessant drinking and gambling, plus the way he allowed businessmen and gambling cronies to line their pockets.
Without Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a young-looking 53-year-old, Estradamight still be president. Arroyo gave the Filipino establishment the confidence to oust Estrada because, under the country's constitution, the vice-president automatically takes on the top job -- and Gloria (as she is popularly known) was the crowd-pleasing vice-president. Arroyo's elevation was welcomed around the world as a victory for "people power"; yet her appointment was neither democratic nor constitutional. As Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's elder statesman, pointed out, the Philippines' constitutional requirement of a vote in the Senate had been ignored.
"People power" has a special ring in the Philippines because of the genuine people's movement that brought down Ferdinand Marcos, the former president and one of Estrada's mentors, in 1986. But it was not "people power", any more than it was constitutional democracy, that started the ball rolling against Estrada: it was Luis "Chavil" Singson, a corrupt provincial governor, local "warlord" and national power-broker, who announced last October that he had helped the president take $10m in illegal gambling kickbacks and leakages from tobacco taxes.
This "old friend" was persuaded (by whatever means) to go public with his allegations by opposition politicians and the Philippines' old establishment-- which brings us back to Arroyo. She comes from an important political family, the Macapagals, which has the sort of business connections that are inevitable in a country where the lot of the 75 million-strong population is controlled by an oligarchic business-political elite. The same goes for her husband, Mike Arroyo, a lawyer. Her father was president from 1961-65, and gained a reputation as a committed, though only partially successful, economic reformer. Her elder sister, Cielo Macapagal Salgado, has twice been a regional vice-governor and is a director of the Philippine National Bank.
The first hint that Estrada, who had been elected in May 1998 with a record majority, might be ousted came in November 1999, when a Texas-based political risk consultancy called Stratfor put an article on the internet. This forecast that he was "unlikely to complete his six-year term".
Estrada had played into his opponents' hands by continuing his playboy lifestyle, gambling with cronies into the early hours, and failing to get to grips with the country's failing economy -- the fiscal deficit is growing and growth is down to between 2 and 3 per cent, at a time when most other regional economies are recovering from the late-1990s Asian financial crisis with growth rates of more than 5 per cent.
That report was immediately picked up in Manila, where the press ran headlines such as "the president's days are numbered" -- sparking rumours of an imminent military coup. Stratfor specialises in news analysis and geopolitical forecasting and is owned by Strategic Forecasting Inc and Stratfor Systems of Austin, Texas, which does private political and business risk consulting for government and corporate clients. It started as a think-tank affiliated to Louisiana State University, made its name on the net as a reliable source of information during the Kosovo crisis, and now produces daily worldwide analysis of varying reliability, mostly culled from secondary sources. None of this proves any official American association with an anti-Estrada plot -- but in the past couple of weeks, the consultancy did forecast that Arroyo's presidency will strengthen ties with the US.
The allegations against him estimated sums of up to $60m in ill-gotten wealth. In addition to the gambling kickbacks, they included interfering with a securities scam investigation, insider dealing and diverting church charity funds.
Such stories were doing the rounds when Singson's gambling kickback revelations were made public on 9 October. A month later, impeachment proceedings started against Estrada and, in late December, a banker claimed she had witnessed Estrada trying to open a $10m secret bank account under an assumed name.
By this time, Estrada's fate was virtually sealed because the "people power" street protests were reaching a crescendo. They were organised by an unlikely alliance of businessmen, old soldiers, the left and other dissidents, led by the former presidents Fidel Ramos and Cory Aquino (with whom Arroyo has close links), plus Cardinal Jaime Sin, who wields extensive power in this devoutly Catholic country. Bomb blasts in Manila at the end of December added to the sense of crisis. The final crunch was the resignation of cabinet ministers and a decision by the army chief, Diomedio Villaneuva, to withdraw his support.
Arroyo's instincts will be to push economic reforms, which will please the markets -- stock prices rose by 30 per cent within a few days of her taking power. In her inauguration speech, however, Arroyo recognised that she would also need to tackle social and economic inequalities -- but to do so, she will have to attack her own privileged oligarchy.
That is why many of the poor still think that they were better off with Estrada -- his corruption did them no more damage than the elite's manipulation of political and economic power has done for generations.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:59 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:33 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:40 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:18 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:39 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:40 pm
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:52 am
AFP probes generals linked to 'Gloriagate'
The military ordered Thursday an investigation of four generals linked to an alleged plot to rig last year's elections in favor of President Arroyo.
Gen. Efren Abu, Armed Forces chief of staff, instructed Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga of the Inspector General's Office to start a probe against Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani and retired Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko.
The four were earlier mentioned in the alleged wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and a poll commissioner to rig vote-counting in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Esperon, incoming Philippine Army chief, is a former Army brigade commander based in Mindanao while Habacon headed the 1st Infantry Division and Task Force Comet in Mindanao in 2004.
Gudani headed the 1st Marine Brigade and Task Force Ranao based in Marawi City while Kyamko held the top post at the Southern Command based in Zamboanga in 2004.
Esperon earlier said he welcomed any investigation on the wiretapping issue so he could clear his name. He added that the elections in Mindanao and elsewhere were clean and credible.
Abu's order came a day after a retired general called for the resignation of top officials of the AFP who were appointed to their posts without going through the selection process.
"If your loyalty remains to the person (and) you cannot anymore decide if this would not be a consideration, I think you better leave your post," resigned Lt. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, former Northern Luzon Command chief, said on Wednesday.
IBON survey: Arroyo's net satisfaction rating up
The latest survey of IBON Foundation, a left-leaning think-tank, showed that President Arroyo's net satisfaction rating increased slightly this month, during the height of calls for her to resign.
Mrs. Arroyo's net satisfaction rating improved from -66.97 in March to -62.50 this month, IBON Foundation said in a statement released during a press conference Thursday.
Those who believed that Mrs. Arroyo did her job satisfactorily also increased from 9.41 percent in March to 14.87 percent in July.
Most Filipinos, however, were still unsatisfied with Mrs. Arroyo’s performance.
Of the 1,379 respondents, 77.37% said the performance of Mrs. Arroyo as president is "unsatisfactory," a slight increase from 76.38% in March.
"This means that, while the number of Filipinos that comprises a large majority who is unhappy with Arroyo’s performance has remained the same since March, her net satisfaction rating has improved," IBON said in a statement.
More Filipinos also wanted Mrs. Arroyo removed from office. Of the 1,379 respondents, 68.6 percent wanted the President removed from office.
IBON said the number of those who wanted Mrs. Arroyo to resign is higher this month by 10.05 percentage points compared to the 58.55 percent in March.
Of those who said Mrs. Arroyo should be removed from office, 46.41 percent said she should resign, 19.43 percent said she should be impeached and 11.82 percent said she should be ousted by another "People Power" revolution.
Of those surveyed, 20.45 percent did not give an answer.
Most of those who said Mrs. Arroyo should resign live in the provinces, 84.6 percent, while 13.4 percent reside in Metro Manila.
"This contradicts the administration’s claims that the call for the President’s ouster is only confined to Metro Manila," IBON said in its statement.
IBON said most Filipinos feel the economy worsened in the first half of 2005 compared to the same period last year.
A total of 67.88 percent of the respondents said the economy is worse than last year.
"This figure was higher compared to 62.43 percent in March 2005," IBON said.
Of those surveyed, 25.89 percent said the economy stayed the same while 4.06 percent said it improved.
The survey also showed majority of Filipinos did not favor the Arroyo administration’s proposal to amend the Constitution.
At least 49.6 percent of those surveyed did not want to change the Constitution, a slight decrease from the 50.87 percent in March 2005. The number of those in favor of charter change went up from 24.28 percent last March to 31.76 percent.
A total of 17.91 percent were uncertain or did not give an answer.
The IBON survey was conducted nationwide from July 8 to 17. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent, IBON said.
Tabulation of the results of the people’s perception on the President’s performance
What can you say about Mrs. Arroyo’s performance as president of the Philippines this year 2005?
July 2005 March 2005
Satisfactory 14.87 9.41
Unsatisfactory 77.37 76.38
Don’t know /No Answer 7.76 14.20
Tabulation of the results of the people’s perception on the removal of President Arroyo from office, how she should be removed and how she should be replaced
In your opinion should Mrs. Arroyo be removed now as the country’s president?
July 2005
Yes 68.60
No 21.68
Don’t know 8.70
No answer 1.02
How do you think should she be removed from office?
July 2005
Resign from office 46.41
Impeachment 19.43
Ousted by People Power 11.82
Others 1.89
No answer 20.45
In your opinion, how should the president be replaced?
July 2005
Constitutional Succession 42.13
Electoral Protest (Loren Legarda) 14.79
People’s Council 26.54
Elections 2.68
Others 0.07
No answer 13.78
Reds deny plan to infiltrate SONA rally
The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) denied Thursday a police and military report that it is planning to infiltrate the ranks of ralliers during next week's State of the Nation Address of President Arroyo at the House of Representatives complex in Quezon City.
CPP spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal told DZMM that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are scaring the public against participating in the anti-Arroyo rallies on July 25.
He said the CPP prohibited the NPA from participating in mass actions since the first People Power revolution.
He added that authorities are using the report to justify any violent dispersal of anti-Arroyo ralliers.
The CPP spokesman also accused the military of releasing a tampered tape of an alleged wiretapped conversation between him and another person about a plot to
to sow violence during the President's SONA.
Rosal said that while he is not sure if it was his voice in the tape, he is certain that the recording was manipulated.
Rosal called on the public to join the anti-Arroyo rallies on Monday, saying that the CPP encourages all means of protest against the Arroyo administration.
He said the NPA would continue its offensives against the AFP and the PNP in rural areas.
RP tagged as destination of US child sex tourists
Washington identified the Philippines as a known destination of child sex tourists from the United States, a report by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Thursday.
The report posted on the US Embassy website (http://manila.usembassy.gov/) named a certain John Seljan, an 85-year old American citizen, who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by a US court in March this year for contacting and planning to molest Filipino minors aged nine and 12.
US immigration and customs agents arrested Seljan as he was about to board a flight for the Philippines in Los Angeles International Airport. The report said Seljan had been in constant contact with his would-be victims through Internet chat and e-mail.
At the time of the arrest, agents found pornographic material, sexual aids and nearly 100 pounds of chocolates in the American's luggage. An unspecified amount of currency was also recovered from Seljan.
The report said Seljan intended to use the chocolates to bribe his victims.
Seljan is the 14th US citizen arrested by American authorities for engaging in child sex tourism.
The immigration and customs central office in Washington said that it has maintained close coordination with ICE attachés in US embassies worldwide including areas where child sex cases have been recorded.
US authorities have arrested more than 6,000 child sex suspects on American soil since the launch of ICE's Operation Predator in July 2003.
The campaign also led to the arrests of about 1,000 suspects overseas after US officials shared information with foreign authorities about their investigations into international sex tourism, Internet child pornography and human trafficking.
BIR files tax evasion charges vs export company
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Thursday revived its campaign against tax evaders as it filed tax evasion charges against officers of a company that exports Christmas items.
BIR Assistant Commissioner Gerardo Flores told ANC that Mitsuko Philippines Corporation neglected to pay income taxes amounting to around P165 million from 1998 to 2002.
Company president, Yen Chan Liaw, and treasurer, Kin Lin Liaw, were named respondents in the tax evasion case.
Flores said the company had annual earnings of P22 million and P21 million in the years 1998 and 1999. This rose to P637 million and P858 million for the taxable years 2001 and 2002, respectively.
The BIR official said an informant from the Bureau of Customs tipped them off about Mitsuko's violations. He said the company is in the business of importing raw materials from abroad and exporting finished products.
Flores said BIR agents discovered that the company has no record of tax payments both in their office and with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
He said Mitsuko is the 27th corporate entity that have been charged by the BIR for tax evasion under a program that is going after big-time tax evaders.
It is the first tax evasion case filed by BIR since the resignation of former bureau chief Guillermo Parayno last July 8.
President Arroyo has named Jose Mario Bunag as the new BIR commissioner.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:37 am
Truth panel defended, hit
Congress is split over a plan to create a truth commission to look into charges that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo conspired to rig the 2004 presidential election, but Malacañang welcomes any law or resolution to strengthen the authority of such a panel.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said yesterday the commission, to be created by administrative order, could be reinforced by congressional action in the same way that the Davide fact-finding commission was when it investigated the 1989 military coup against then President Corazon Aquino.
A law or resolution, Ermita added, would address criticism that the proposed body would be unable to act independently or impartially if it is created by executive fiat.
In the House, support for the proposed commission split along party lines, with the majority bloc favoring it, and the minority warning it would bring more conflict than solutions.
Also yesterday, Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio Bunye appealed to critics not to prejudge the proposed commission and to give it a chance to achieve its purpose. After all, he said, the initiative for creating the commission came not from Malacañang but from Catholic bishops, business leaders, civil society groups and political leaders.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, which had mentioned the commission as an option in a pastoral letter last July 10, said it would not take a direct hand in its creation.
CBCP spokesperson Msgr. Hernando Coronel said the group would leave it to the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference, which had urged the President to form the commission, to nominate members to the body.
Reinforcement
Without a law or resolution, Ermita said the truth commission may not be able to gather all the facts it needs since certain personalities or public officials may refuse to testify or release necessary documents for fear of being sued due to the absence of immunity.
“Since Congress will resume session on Monday, we expect some lawmakers to also file a similar resolution. A joint resolution may be passed by Congress, using the 1989 template as a basis,” Ermita said at a press briefing.
Bunye, for his part, said the President will sign the administrative order creating the commission a day before or on the day of her State of the Nation Address before the joint session of Congress Monday. He said the President may announce the designation of some commission members during her speech.
House allies supported the creation of the commission.
“It will be a faster mode to get to the truth,” said House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles. “It will have an impact on impeachment in the sense that it can influence the discernment of the House and the Senate. It is not political; it is fact-finding.”
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said after the BBC urged the convening of a truth commission, the President immediately responded with a three-track roadmap to political normalization.
These, he said, are reforms, the truth commission and impeachment as full compliance with the bishops’ moral imperatives.
“Ideally, the output of the truth commission would be an input to an impeachment process. However, given the severity of partisan animosity, the two could run parallel reinforcing each other along the way. A truth commission would address the intense skepticism over the incorrigibly partisan character of political processes,” said Salceda, one of the President’s economic advisers.
Opposition lawmakers, however, were skeptical of the truth commission.
“I am warning them that they should not use the truth commission to subvert, divert and preempt the impeachment complaint,” said House Minority Leader Francis Escudero. “This will only bring conflict if the President-appointed members of the truth commission would deliberately come up with findings contrary to the findings of the impeachment court.”
He also said there is no need to convene a truth commission. “All that President Arroyo had to do is tell the truth now,” he said.
Iloilo Rep. Rolex Suplico, for his part, said the truth commission was a “dilatory tactic.”
Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, lead chairman of the House panel investigating the wiretapped conversations purportedly between the President and an election official, said he was convinced the truth commission is being formed merely to placate and appease the clergy and other sectors.
“I also believe that it could be a ploy to further prolong the situation and delay impeachment,” Remulla said.
Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo called the truth commission a “fraud.”
Senators split
In the Senate, reaction to the commission was mixed as well.
Opposition Senator Sergio Osmeña III supported the creation of a fact-finding commission, saying it could help exposé “the shenanigans in the government” during elections.
Senator Mar Roxas also supported the President’s move. “This is one way to put an end to this political crisis,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, however, said the truth commission was another ploy to buy more time for the President.
He said the commission, created by the President and whose members would be appointed by her, would have no credibility.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, on the other hand, called for the passage of an independent counsel bill in lieu of the truth commission.
Pangilinan, author of the bill, said Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III has agreed to file a similar measure in the House.
Under his bill, Pangilinan said, the independent counsel will be appointed by the Supreme Court upon the request of the Office of the Ombudsman.
The independent counsel focuses on the criminal element of possible offenses committed by impeachable officers under the Constitution, as well as members of Congress, Pangilinan said. Fel V. Maragay, Christine F. Herrera, Jaime Pilapil, Rey E. Requejo
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:38 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:39 am
US sending a female envoy
For the first time in history, Washington is sending a female ambassador to Manila to replace former envoy Francis Ricciardone who left the country last May.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo confirmed the appointment of Kristie Anne Kenney, current US ambassador to Ecuador, as the next US ambassador to the Philippines.
“She will complete the term for her current post first before coming to Manila,” Romulo said in a press briefing yesterday.
Kenney, who is expected to start her tour of duty in the Philippines in October, served as US State Department executive secretary for three years.
She has worked under former secretaries Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright, handling crisis management and inter-agency policy coordination.
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to Washington Alberto del Rosario also confirmed the arrival of Darryl Johnson as acting ambassador until Kenney assumes her post in October.
Del Rosario described Johnson as “a good ambassador” and dispelled speculation that Washington is sending a “retiree” as a signal of damaged bilateral ties between the US and the Philippines.
“I’m sure this has happened before. They are sending him because they respect the importance of the relationship and feel that the gap is too long until the new ambassador arrives. They have chosen a very good former ambassador,” Del Rosario said.
Johnson is expected to arrive in Manila on July 31, a week before US embassy chargé d’affaires Joseph Mussomeli leaves the country to assume his post as ambassador to Cambodia.
Johnson has been the US ambassador to Thailand since 2001 until he retired from the foreign service early this year.
Prior to that, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific. His previous postings include India, Hong Kong, Moscow, Beijing, Warsaw, Lithuania and Taiwan. Joyce Pangco Pañares
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