Philippines History and Politics

[Questor55]

They don't think, they just do drama. Everything here is a soap opera, with new acts that change every couple of days. There are about 14 true intellectuals in the country. The rest have all left for the US, Canada, Europe, Australia or anywhere but here. Hasn't anyone figured out yet that this is a country that is the truest triumph of empty form over substance?

We should have an Emeritus Contributors designation for GoodEnough, KongKing, Greg London, David 33, Mortman,

Red Kilt, and several others who have given us so much intelligent insight into this fascinating and frustrating country.

Thanks guys for contributing so much in these forums.

[GoodEnough]

Last week Congress passed a resolution that Ferdinand Marcos be reinterred in the cemetary for.

The Heroes of the Philippines. Remember him? The dictator responsible for countless human rights abuses,

Looting the Philippines treasury of billions of dollars, introducing rampant corruption and plunging this country's economy from second richest in Asia to the bottom of the barrel. What are they thinking?

They don't think, they just do drama. Everything here is a soap opera, with new acts that change every couple of days. There are about 14 true intellectuals in the country. The rest have all left for the US, Canada, Europe, Australia or anywhere but here. Hasn't anyone figured out yet that this is a country that is the truest triumph of empty form over substance?

[Questor55]

Last week Congress passed a resolution that Ferdinand Marcos be reinterred in the cemetary for.

The Heroes of the Philippines. Remember him? The dictator responsible for countless human rights abuses,

Looting the Philippines treasury of billions of dollars, introducing rampant corruption and plunging this country's economy from second richest in Asia to the bottom of the barrel. What are they thinking?

[Questor55]

Last week Philippine Vice President Binay attended a wake for three drug mules executed in China.

[Vageterian]

Come to jakarta where generals live in 20 mil dollar homes and send their kids to stanford. Drive mercedes and have top of the line mistresses, run some of the hottest clubs in south east asia and recieve similar pay or a bit higher

[Soapy Smith]

I'm sure somebody can tell me why the weblink doesn't work. I was trying to avoid a great long boring story, so here it is after all:

The root of RP's systemic corruption.

DIE HARD III.

Herman Tiu Laurel.

02/11/2011, THE DAILY TRIBUNE.

I checked the Chan Robles Internet law library and found Republic Act 9166 of June 2002 defining the lawful salary of a general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) , under 'Section 2. Pay Schedule, ' as: General, P30, 000 (a month) ; Lieutenant General, P29, 000; Major General, P28, 000; Brigadier General, P27, 000; and so on.

An AFP officer confirmed these figures' continuing validity today. Thus, with a few extra compensation, such as combat pay, the total take would bring the general's legal income to only about P50, 000 a month. Given this, can any AFP general, commodore, or admiral expect to maintain a standard of living that befits a member of the top echelons of society?

That would be ridiculous to expect. Though some generals and navy brass do live on their meager incomes — which is why nothing irregular is heard of them — others find unseemly ways to attain what they believe they deserve.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is another such case, where the directors generals' and various superintendents' official salaries will never be able to compete with those of Makati junior executives by any stretch. Hence, the necessity of underground activities such as jueteng becoming part of their regular unofficial payroll, from the national down to the local level.

Election upon election promises and threats of damnation from politicians and a long list of Catholic prelates alike have not stopped these jueteng operations from flourishing. Not even the much-vaunted Yellow saint Cory Aquino or her 'heirs' have been able to put a lid on the wellspring of jueteng payola going to the PNP and the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government).

Why? An insight into this can be gleaned from an encounter between a scion of the oligarchy and the anti-jueteng crusader, Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, where the former was said to have told the bishop to 'go easy on jueteng. ' My thesis is that the oligarchy consciously wants illicit money sources such as jueteng to thrive in order to contribute largely to the unofficial real income of police generals and government officials. Otherwise, these dogs may just bite their master's hands if he has nothing to feed them.

A president of the Philippines today officially earns P95, 000 a month, which wouldn't amount to, say, the cost of a brand new Porsche over a six-year term. Although that is 65 percent higher than the immediate predecessor's monthly pay of P57, 750 a month (with the increase signed by the predecessor just before the end of her term) , the fact is, it is still low. Since the President's pay is Salary Grade 33 in the official government pay schedule, the highest in government, all the rest necessarily have to be below that — except for institutions with special pay scales such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) , where janitors can get as much as AFP generals.

Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, whose son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gets $2. 8 million today, once made a widely reported tongue-in-cheek comment about a Philippine president's salary being among the lowest in the world. Even so, a Philippine president can still rake in amounts that rival the highest incomes in the world — but from under-the-table 'proceeds. '

If one were to follow government corruption like a maze and work back to its starting point, one may well find this ridiculous government pay schedule as the root of it all. An AFP or PNP general, or even a Cabinet official, with just an official monthly salary that approximates the take home pay of a veteran call center agent doesn't make sense.

So it has become a way of life among those in government to accept these unofficial incomes as a natural part of the job — as natural as MWSS personnel getting their 30-month bonuses from water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad, as if they aren't supposed to regulate these firms; and as natural as the secretary of Finance cashing in on the CodeNGO deal with fat commissions! You see, it's not only the generals.

The entire government pay scale is designed to institutionalize dependency on the unofficial, underground and illegal to augment our officials' pauper-level pays. Whenever I suggest to politicians to do as Singapore does, I always find inexplicable their non-appreciation of the logic. Perhaps it's because it takes away their excuse for continuously promoting the graft?

After all, the situation is perfect for those who want unlimited graft revenues, where oligarchs control the political leadership through all sorts of bribes or blackmail (as carried out by their media outlets) , or even their influence over US-controlled anti-corruption watchdogs such as Transparency International.

Generals Garcia, Rabusa, Ligot, et al. ; the PNP and DILG jueteng roster; and lest we forget, regulatory bodies like the Energy Regulatory Commission and the MWSS, ad infinitum, are all controlled by the oligarchy and its foreign partner, the US (the one that really exposed Garcia) , through this system that's designed for corruption.

Understandably, the AFP is flogging itself for the mire of corruption it is in. But to continue doing so, without probing deeper, will just be unfair to the institution. Our AFP men and women should start aiming their sights on the real culprits — the oligarchy and the structure of corruption it has institutionalized through its politicians and media. Such is the root of systemic corruption in this land!

[Soapy Smith]

http://newkatipunero.********.com/20...orruption.html

This tells part of the story. But taking bribes to fill the gap from low salaries for public officials is only part of the story. The big money is going to much fatter cats than these guys, and it's usually done through one of various forms of inside deals. A classic illustration was the broadband deal that almost became reality under Gloria Arroyo. Somebody in GMA's administration struck a deal by which the Chinese would give a multi-billion dollar loan to build a national broadband system in the RP. Only GMA's husband and friends were planning to rake a major piece off the top. The Chinese put far fewer strings on the loan than Western financial institutions (IMF, World Bank) usually do, perhaps because the Chinese assumed that Philippine default on the loan would give them powerful leverage for getting into the oil under the Spratly Islands. But on the eve of signing in Beijing, GMA rushed home under the guise of needing to be with her husband while he was hospitalized. Methinks the USA got wind of the deal and grabbed and twisted hard on a handful of Gloria's short curlies.

Corruption has been in these islands for centuries. Spanish rulers and their Catholic collaborators took care of themselves and paid off native elites who cooperated with them. Americans did it, and probably the British did it for the two years they were in charge. So the Filipinos come by it honestly. I can't imagine what kind of shock might push them over the hump into a principled set of practices that honor the rule of law and stable property ownership practices. But I can't imagine it happening from any kind of internal "reform." It's just too deeply embedded and socialized into everybody and everything.

[Questor55]

We've discussed in the past how the Philippines has continued downward, as most of

Its neighbours are significantly improving. When I read the following quote today, I thought.

This just about sums things up.

"The media like to say it's sheer incompetence and mismanagement.

No, no, no. Someone thought this through very clearly and made.

The decision that good management was not in THEIR interests."

[Quote from 'Chaos Theory' referring to the Marion Barry administration in Washington, DC. ]

[Paul C]

As to "remaining optimistic," it depends on where the focus of your attention is. I'm quite optimistic that the endless supply of what draws us all here will continue ad infinitum, and I'm optimistic that, for the foreseeable future, it will be entirely possible to sustain a nice lifestyle here far more cheaply than in the West.

Hundreds of foreigners are sustaining that nice lifestyle as we speak, and while a lot of us (including me) would like the government to implement certain policies, I honestly hope there aren't any major (or should I say, "major major") changes.

Every country has its issues, and I'm pretty happy with everything that the Philippines offers, good and bad.

[Questor55]

It's going to be a close race to the finish between the PI and Burma I think, but my money is on the Philippines.

As to "remaining optimistic," it depends on where the focus of your attention is. I'm quite optimistic that the endless supply of what draws us all here will continue ad infinitum, and I'm optimistic that, for the foreseeable future, it will be entirely possible to sustain a nice lifestyle here far more cheaply than in the West.

GE

Thanks for your perspective on 'optimism' GE. Of course, it is the very
morass of sustainable ineptitude and corruption that indeed keeps us
so well supplied with our nubile friends.

Btw. in northern Mindanao I've noticed government signs at bus stations and other busy places reminding people that corrupt practices are illegal and encouraging everyone to report such abuses. Being somewhat cynical, I wonder if this is some Stalinist ploy to get potential trouble makers to expose themselves.

[GoodEnough]

Interesting and somewhat sad to read reports from several of our most renowned senior members re the ongoing political/cultural morass. Guys if you give up, how can we remain optimistic ?

Pnoy is already living down to his promise of benign ineptitude. I loved that piece suggesting that new rules and regulations are specifically formulated
to allow new opportunities for further corruption.

In the race to be the the lowest ranking economy in the Orient, the Philippines has to be the odds on favourite.

It's going to be a close race to the finish between the PI and Burma I think, but my money is on the Philippines.

As to "remaining optimistic," it depends on where the focus of your attention is. I'm quite optimistic that the endless supply of what draws us all here will continue ad infinitum, and I'm optimistic that, for the foreseeable future, it will be entirely possible to sustain a nice lifestyle here far more cheaply than in the West.

GE

[Questor55]

Interesting and somewhat sad to read reports from several of our most renowned senior members re the ongoing political/cultural morass. Guys if you give up, how can we remain optimistic ?

Pnoy is already living down to his promise of benign ineptitude. I loved that piece suggesting that new rules and regulations are specifically formulated
to allow new opportunities for further corruption.

In the race to be the the lowest ranking economy in the Orient, the Philippines has to be the odds on favourite.

[Questor 55]

Oh, by the way, Cory's 'People Power' movement?

Well, Cory was herself one of the land-owning aristocracy. Also a very devoutPhilippine-style Catholic.

Who's the odds on favourite presidential candidate?

Why it's Cory's son who's. (get the picture?)

[Questor 55]

We are confused by geography to think of the Philippines as an Asian

Country. It's not. It's a Latin American country from the 1950's that happens to be located in Asia. It is owned by a small and predatory power elite who benefit enormously by keeping it trapped in a time warp.

"The more things change, the more they remain the same. "

Consider this, Cory Aquino was elected in a landslide of revulsion after the assassination of her reformist husband, returning from political exile.

Rejoicing in the streets, a new day dawns! So, what happened?

Nothing very much. Why not?

The legislators are either members of that power elite, or bought and paid for. The army and the police are really there to protect 'them' from the people. The judiciary is hopelessly compromised. The Catholic Church

Fulfills the role of legitimising the whole sorry show. Journalists who go a step too far, are routinely murdered.

Could be almost any of the 'banana republics' of the 1950's. Which reminds me of that quote of Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles,

"He may be a Son of a *****, but he's OUR son of a *****! "

Sad to say, revolution looks like the only way things will change.. Interested in waiting for a snowball in hell?

[Nvslim]

[url]

As I live here I get comfortable and think things are similar to the States but then an incident such as this happens to remind me this is the third world.

How arrogant are these people? Can they really murder nearly 50 people including journalist and get away with it? The newspapers should at least be raising holy hell.

Slim