Watching the Philippines - we keep you informed

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Magandang Umaga Bayan - Tuloy po Kayo !!!!
Kumusta na Asawa ? get them to come on this site ladies, calling all Husbands in the UK, come and join us and get involved in the FilipinoUK Forum, we will keep you updated on whats happening inthe Philippines with a light hearted look at Philippine Life, ok so come on down and join in the fun.

Best wishes
Pete Bennett
Moderator

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GMA Innaugural Speech.

GMA Was in City of Cebu between 3-5th July 2004 giving her innaugural speech (GMA - Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo - El Presidente de Pilipinas )

The Speech was grandiso to say the least, where GMA set out her goals and aspirations for her government and what she wished to achieve on behalf of the Philippine people during her current term of office, as she was sworn in GMA was heard to say that "Their are many challenges now and in the future for the Phillipine people and their is much work that must be done" well Madam President we certainly think that is true, that is almost as clever as Senator Bob Dole Republican Party candidate for President against Bill Clinton in 2nd term of his Presidency, when Bob said "This election is about the future, and that is yet to come" very profound Senator !

In truth, GMA has put forward a credible set of objectives, but in our view she has completely missed the whole point of being in office, this is typical of all politicians who use political sound bytes to set out a strategy for improvement and change, after all her job is a short term opportunity to try and make the lives of the Philippine people better, but to set hout a strategy and not say how you are going to do it, is quite plainly p........ing in the wind.

Manifesto pledges need substance behind them, most business make business plans to show the bank how they will achieve their objectives, and cash flow forecasts, plans are mainly long term in projection, 5 year, 3 year 1 year, and plans need constant adjustment to make them appear to be on course, but with GMA it appears she has totally missed the point, its not just about saying "We need scholarships for poorer people who can ill afford them" "We need the eradicate child poverty" "We need to eradicate the Manila Garbage Moutain" "We need to eradicate Corruption" "Build new Bridges" "re-organize the PNP" "Reduce the budget deficit and balance of payments" these are part of GMA's 10 point plan, with elimination of Corruption at the top of the list, but when you give your manifesto commitments, you need to set out a strategy for affecting change.

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Did GMA set out her strategy for change ? we didnt hear that she had, in fact she has done what most national leaders do when things are not going to plan...you simple have a cabinet re-shuffle, move people around, and change the faces in the frames, her appointment of 26 new members of cabinet are a testimony to that theory.

What FilipinoUK Forum thinks is this : Madam President, you need to look at your basic institutuions in the Philippines before you can effect change, the PNP for example needs re-organizing and the right people need to be employed to do it, professional managers need to be employed in area' such as Human Resource Management, get the right people in place and things start to happen.

Bureacracy in the Philippines is an absolute nightmare, with its mountains of forms and paperwork, reduce the red tape and throw out the bureacracy and you get a slim line style of government, what the people of the Philippines want I we suspect is less government not more government, go back to Reaganomics and give people the tools they need to make their lives better, Government should be about creating the right market conditions to enable people to help themselves, Government should be restricted to Foreign policy and market reform, social spending on worthy projects is fine, but if the wrong people are skimming off the public funds set up with tax payers money to effect the changes, such as building that road bridge in Carmen del sur, then it aint gonna happen !!, GMA needs to look at total reformation of basic Phiiippine Institutions.

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GMA stated her aim is to eradicate corruption, s...rolls down hill we say, the only way to do that, is to take out those at the top. that is the very ones who escape the bullet, A good course in Home Economics will certainly help where that is concerned.

If an official is corrupt, remove them, its a simple as that, replace that official with a Bought and paid for professional manager, for example in the Department for Public Works, why is that those bridges do not get built, again this is a matter of the right people not being in the right positions to make decisions and effect change.

There is little point in sound byting such as "We need standardized institutions" if you have not got the political will to accelerate the process to achieve this.

Yes we are watching GMA this time very closely to see what happens over the next few years, we hope its better for the Philippine people, but only time will tell. and itsnt that a profound statement.

Keep watching here at the FilipinoUK forum, and we will keep you informed of whats going on in the Philippines, and join in our light hearted laugh at Philippine Politics.

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21st August 2004.


GMA presided today over the oath taking ceremony in Manila Philippines, the President administered the oath of office to several members of ner new cabinet, she has appointed over 26 new members during her cabinet reshuffle, lets hope their is some fresh ideas...but at least they can take the fall if something goes wrong.


The Philippines Government receives a 59.6 Million Dollar (AUS) Grant from the Australian Government which is to be used for Human Resources training and development for Philippine officials, I wonder where that will go ?? I will wager not much of it into training !!

Today marks the anniversary of the death of Ninoy Acquino...President Corozon Acquino Former President has observed this anniversary which happened on the 21st August 1983 when Ninoy Acquino was shot on the tarmac at Manila International Airport..now named NAIA after her husband
Ninoy Acquino was popular with young leaders within the Philippine community and he was sadly missed....the Malacanang was seen to be distancing itself today from reports that their is fresh evidence surrounding the case...however Presidential spokesperson for GMA said that "It was a matter for the Judiciary and PNP to decide if the case into the murder should be re-opened".....hmmmm talk about side stepping a landmine.

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21st August 2004

GMA will be tickeld pink by her inclusion in the Forbes List of 100 most powerful women in the world.

The 2nd female President of the Philippines has been named as 9th in the list of 100 most powerful women...GMA has been cited as the "Iron lady of Asia" perhaps a reference in some way to her political strengths.

Forbes is a top American publication read by leaders and decision makers alike. and GMA has done pretty well out of it....it even cites U.S. Advisor Condoleeza Rice as slightly above her in terms of pure power in Politics.

However GMA is facing tough criticism from both the U.S. and U.K. Leaders President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair who have distanced themselves from GMA's decision to pull Filiipino troops out of Iraq in order to secure the release of a Filiipino citizen.

Whilst the move by GMA might have led to the release of the Filiipino citizen held in Iraq the 2 coalition leaders fear this will lead to more kidnappings in Iraq....both the British Government and United States Government do not beleive that negotiating with terrorists is the right foreign policy to pursue.

However the loss of Filiipino troops will not be felt by the coalition as they were there only to represent a token presence and support showed by GMA for the Coalition and its links with the U.S. Administration in the fight against world terrorism.

Moderators comments: there are over 50 countries who are involved in some way in the re-building of Iraq and supply of imilitary forces..the bulk of the combat patrols is done by the U.S. Armed Forces some 130,000 Combat troops..and the U.K. Division in Iraq some 25,000 Troops, The U.S. Sixth Fleet is active in the Persian Gulf as is a smaller British Fleet, whilst the wtihdrawal of the Philippine troops will be seen as a political blow.....the operatironal loss wll not cause any real problems for the Coaltion..as their were only 50 Filipino troops in Iraq...the decision by GMA may have much further implications for the Coaltion in the future.

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21st August 2004.

GMA Has Pink Eye !!!

yes its official Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was confirmed by Press Spokesperson Ignacio Bunye...as having a "Slight Irritation of the Eyes" the slight irritation was shrugged off yesterday as GMA went around performing various functions...Ignacio Bunye said that their was a precautionary measure in place that no one should have any contact with the President, however she could continue with her duties...providing she wore a pair of dark glasses...it appears she picked up the irritation in Cebu...after her 2 day tour their recently.


Moderators comments: We are sorry to hear your Excellency that you have a slight irritation of the eyes.....can we draw to your attention the slight irritation of the bowels we all get when we arrrive in the Philippines...Spokesperson for the FilipinoUK forum will be happy to approach the Presidents office and take up the issue at her convenience.

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Republic Act 9262 Confirmed by GMA and written into the Constitution of the Philipines.


All Filipina's around the 7000 Islands will take some comfort now from the recent ratification of Republic Act 9262 recently ratified by the Philippine Government and signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The Act protects all Philippine women against domestic violence and sexual abuse.

The Act was designed to give protection to those women both in Married relationships and common law ones...and for Filipina girlfiends living with Filipino boyfreinds....any relationship is protected, should it be neccessary to do so..the PNP will now have greater powers of arrest for offenders..and those offenders will be imprisoned for up to 1 month or a fine of 100,000 PHP for any act of abuse or violence against a Philippine woman.

There does not appear to be any mention though of violence in a relatioship where the female member is the perpetrator of such an act....but maybe it covers both parnters in the relationship.

The act was mainly set up with sexual abuse cases in mind...there are some 9 rapes a day in the Philippines..although that is those that are reported...the real figure is thought to be much higher.

Philippine women including young girls are the most abused and trafficked group in the world.....charity begins at home they say..so this new act...will certainly go someway to addressing the needs of Philippine women in the family.

The FilipinoUK Forum supports the Act and trusts that the PNP will uphold it with an even hand.

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22nd August (PST) GMA by her own admission has conceded that:
""over the last decades, our republic has become one of the weakest, steadily left behind by its more progressive neighbors. "Forty years ago, we were only second to Japan in economic stature, and way ahead of Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Today, at our present growth rate, it will take us 30 years to get to where Thailand is today. By the year 2030, our children will experience far worse conditions than what we have today:
1. A population of 160 Million
2. Of those, 70 to 90 million (equivalent to our current population) will live below the poverty line
3. Our national debt is estimated to be at US$200B (compared to US$28B when Marcos fled, and US$53B today)
4. We will be competing, not against Thailand or even Vietnam, but against Bangladesh
5. We will be the most corrupt nation in Asia, if not in the world (we are already ranked 11th most corrupt nation by Transparency International)

The signs are clear. Our nation is headed towards an irreversible path of economic decline and moral decadence..."

While the signs may be clear to Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike, let us step back and try to understand how the Philippines got to where it is at today.


Moderators comments:

This is a worrying trend for the people of the Philippines...by GMA's own words...the Philippines is 30 years behind Thailand...and is vastly becoming on a par with Bangladesh...this goes to show that the constant exit of Filipinos looking for better life chances..will leave a country ravaged by national debt...poverty...disease...and violence...their is only one way to go for this country....since the Marcos regime which was ousted...and the Estrada regime..who was also ousted....GMA needs to take action quickly..this republic is I fear heading for a Popular uprising and armed revolution...It needs urgent outside Management...and the intervention of the United Nations and even the World Bank and the International Monetary Fun....before the people themselves take the law into their own hands.

They have been warned !!!

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August 22nd Manila at the Malacanang (Presidential Palace)

Vice President Noli De Castro today suggested that it would be better to use the Filipino language more in Government affairs, as this would he said "Lead to Better Communication" hmmmmmmmm so English doesnt help then Mr Vice President....well Its only the Language of the Internet.. The International Language of the Civil Aviation Authorities in every country in the world..and the International Language of Business.

So is Filipino to becom enow the language of Government in the Philippines..after alll...it can be observed that when you read the newspapers...they start in Filiipino and then all of a suddenly stop and break into English...when they dont have a phrase in Filipino..which is derived from Tagalog...so why not keep it simple Mr Vice President and use English.

FilipinoUK Forum comment: If it aint broke dont fix it !!!!

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23rd August 2004

Whats happening today in the Philippines ?

GMA (Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) has retained her 5 man economic team in the wake of a further worseing of the economic crisis in the Philippines, the President had been earlier heard to say which may have been a slip of the tongue..."That we are 30 years behind Thailand and compared to Bagladesh we are struggling" its not kown if the Presdient meant anyone to hear that....especially not the Average Filipino, however she did through her official spokesperson Ignacio Bunye say"

We are already in the midst of a fiscal crisis and we have to face it squarely – wielding our courage, resourcefulness and solidarity as a nation and people," the President said, setting the ball rolling for the fiscal and economic managers to take decisive action against the ballooning fiscal deficit.

This may all be very well for GMA and her cabinet members who do not face the daily struggle that many ordinary Filipinos alike do to make a living and put food on the table, perhaps charity begins at home....a good gesture would be for those in power to divert their salaries into charity like President John Fitzgerald Kennedy did in 1962, the Late Presdient did not receive a salary, and had it paid to charities as determined by the U.S. Congress.


in the news today, it hsa been reported that the Bataan Nuclear power plant that was envisioned for Philippine national power grid, has not pumped out 1 single watt of electricity and is costing Filippinos over USD 155,000 per day in interest payments, this project 30 years old...still has not been completed, the USD 155,000 in daily interest payments on loans could have been used to provide better schooling for Filipino children and to help the poor.

Alas, another fine mess someone has got them in, Westinghouse of U.S.A. who got the contract had to pay out so much money in bribes to Philippines Politicians, that it is still not completed on time and is years behind schedule.

FilipinoUK Forum comments: If these companies could come in and bid for contracts without having to bribe so many officials they might have got it finished, but as it is, the interest alone on the loans used to buy it, and construct is is costing USD 155,000 per day out of taxpayers money...naturally what a waste.

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