Keen to make an impression: Japan-US military drills begin amid Asian island row

SOURCE: RT.COM

US aircraft carrier USS George Washington leads a US guided missile cruiser and three Japanese destroyers during the Keen Sword US-Japan military exercises in the Pacific Ocean on December 10, 2010. (AFP Photo/Shigeki Miyajima)

Japan has launched naval drills with the US in spite of heightened tensions with China over a territorial dispute. The exercise was initially planned to simulate an island re-occupation, but was scrapped for naval operations to avoid agitating China.

The 11-day drills are aimed at boosting the defense of Japan’s southwestern island territories and will involve more than 37,000 Japanese personnel and 10,000 US forces, along with an aircraft carrier.

Operation Keen Sword was originally planned to incorporate a mission to simulate the retaking of an island. Although neither the US nor Japan specified if the mission was aimed at the disputed archipelago “it was widely perceived they had in mind the Senkaku Islands,” said Japanese newspaper Kyodo.

The Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu by the Chinese, are claimed by both China and Japan and are the source of simmering tensions between the two nations. In view of the escalating dispute, the plans to enact a re-taking operation on Irisunajima Island were shelved so as not to goad China.

The islands are uninhabited, but are believed to hold rich oil and gas deposits. The archipelago has changed hands a number of times over the years, but has been administered by the Japanese since 1975. Taiwan also lays claim to the islands.

EA-6B electronic warfare planes were parked on the flight deck of the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington during Keen Sword military exercises in December 2010.

China addressed the planned exercises with suspicion, saying it “sternly opposes Japan wooing extraterritorial nations for joint military drills that only increase regional tensions.”

Given the scope of the Keen Sword maneuvers, the Chinese regard it as a provocation. This view is also supported by Dr. Conn Hallinan, a contributing editor at Foreign Policy in Focus, who says that the rhetoric surrounding the region already amounts to “a mid-level war planning.”

“Not only are tensions very high between Japan and China, but they are also pretty high between the US and China. China has recently accused the US of encouraging the Japanese right wing to dictate a very strong nationalist position in relationship to the islands,” Hallinan told RT. “The US says that the joint treaty between Japan and the US does apply to the islands. If there is a confrontation between Japan and China, Washington has made a very explicit statement that they will come to the military aid of Japan.”

Washington and Tokyo, however, maintain that it is merely a routine drill, harking back to the last Keen Sword exercise, which took place in 2010.

While the US does not openly support either party in the island dispute, it is obliged to protect Japanese territory from an “armed attack” by a 1960 mutual security treaty with Japan.

In recent weeks both China and Japan have been sending patrol ships to the disputed islands and exchanging aggressive rhetoric.

Senior Japanese and Chinese Foreign Ministry officials agreed to extend dialogue over worsening diplomatic ties caused by the island dispute through to Monday, following a meeting at the weekend.

It is the third high-level meeting between the two governments since the Japanese state purchased three of the five islands from their private owners, provoking Chinese rage and intensifying the dispute.

http://rt.com/news/japan-military-drills-us-989/

Serge Valencia learns the risks of public office

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR 
By William M. Esposo
The Philippine Star

The sad plight of our Ateneo batch mate Sergio “Serge” Valencia – former PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office) Chairman – was the hot topic of our e-group recently. Serge is now detained in Camp Crame for having been included in the plunder charge sheet against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA). They’re all being made to account for the alleged diversion and misuse of P366 million PCSO intelligence funds.

Classmates and batch mates would naturally sympathize with a fellow alumnus who had suffered a major setback or big blow in life. Serge was a very popular student in the campus and that would account for the intense interest our batch has in seeing him freed at the soonest possible time. Visits to the Camp Crame detention center where Serge is being held have been planned. Options on how to further help him were considered.

The discussion somewhat took a wrong term when a batch mate – perhaps having gotten too emotional – started blaming the plight of Serge to the “oppressive” policies of the current administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III (P-Noy). To me, this view was totally baseless and uncalled for and my reaction was to respond to it – to provide our batch e-group with my two cents worth on the “oppressive” subject matter.

The PCSO case centers on the P366 million intelligence fund of the agency that were allegedly diverted and misused. With GMA leading the roster of suspects, also ordered arrested by the Sandiganbayan were former PCSO General Manager (GM) Rosario Uriarte, Former Chairman Sergio Valencia, former Board members Manuel Morato, Raymundo Roquero, Jose Taruc V, Ma. Fatima Valdes, former Commission on Audit Chairman Reynaldo Villar, COA Region V Head Nilda Plaras, and PCSO Assistant General Manager for finance, Benigno Aguas. They were charged with violating Article 217 [4] of the Revised Penal Code and Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code, Section 3 [e] of Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as amended by RA 1060, and Republic Act 7080 or the Plunder Law.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Hearing, whose report led to this charge against the accused persons, it was established that within the PCSO there was a direct link between GM Uriarte and GMA and it was through this Uriarte-GMA link that major operations were coursed and undertaken. The Uriarte-GMA setup made a mockery of the management system of the PCSO as it diverted and misused substantial amounts of money that intended control points, like the Board, should have prevented.

Serge Valencia might have been the unwitting victim of the operation that diverted the PCSO funds. His case reminded me of the plight of Cito Lorenzo when he was still Agriculture Secretary. Cito claimed exclusion from the Fertilizer Scam operation that was allegedly managed by Joc Joc Bolante. Be that as it may, the Justice Department will file cases based on what the evidence presents. The evidence of the PCSO fund diversion held all those in positions of power accountable for not preventing the alleged misdeed. Being in a position to prevent the fund diversion, it is then assumed that they were accountable for the misdeed.

Serge, just like Cito, will have to prove how he was kept out of the operation and therefore could not have stopped the diversion of funds. As Chairman of PCSO, Serge is accountable for the movement of such a huge P366 million intelligence fund. The Board members are accountable too. The movement of huge amounts is supposed to be cleared by the Chairman and the Board – the highest control point of the organization. Serge, like Cito, is being charged on account of command responsibility. Serge and Cito must now prove to the court just how the alleged misuse of funds in their respective agencies was undertaken without their knowledge and without their participation.

Serge should have sought guidance from his lawyers about what was going on in the PCSO. His position gives him the option to assert his authority and order it to stop. Friends and kin hope that the Court will favorably consider the assertion of having been kept out of the fund diversion operation despite the fact that he had the highest position in the organization. We, his Ateneo batch mates, can only pray and hope for the best outcome for our valued friend.
The case of Cito Lorenzo and Serge Valencia should be a wake up call for all those who sit in positions of power in any government agency. Appointed public servants in all government agencies must be true to their mandate and the trust given them by the people. Trust positions are mandated to stop any wrongdoing that would work against the public interest.

Appointed public servants should follow the example of St. Thomas More who embraced death when he opted to obey his commitment to God over that to his king – the infamous Henry VIII. Refusing to pledge allegiance to what he deemed was an unlawful edict, Thomas More said before he was beheaded at Tower Hill: “I die the king’s loyal subject, but God’s first.”

* * *

Shakespeare: “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.”

* * *

Chair Wrecker e-mail and website: macesposo@yahoo.com and www.chairwrecker.com

Pax Americana

PerryScope
By Perry Diaz

CARRIER STRIKE GROUP

For the first time since the end of World War II, the United States achieved a state of relative peace in the world.  President Barack Obama’s timetable of withdrawing American combat forces from Afghanistan by 2014 would mark the end of a century of warfare that began in 1914 when World War I erupted.   Yes, the elusive dream of Pax Americana– Latin for “American Peace” — is finally coming to full realization.

The term “Pax Americana,” which was originally applied to relative peace in the Western Hemisphere in the 19th century and to the Western world in the first half of the 20th century, has evolved to encompass the entire world at the end of World War II.  But regional wars continued after America dropped the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.  For the ensuing 60 years, American forces were sent to the Korean War, Vietnam War, two Iraq wars, Afghanistan, and several other smaller conflicts around the world.

Pivot to Asia

But the specter of another war looms in Asia where a rising China is making her neighbors nervous, notably Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines.  To allay fears that the United States is not concerned about an emerging – and aggressive – Chinese military power, Obama implemented a “Pivot to Asia” plan where 60% of American naval forces would be deployed to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020.  American military strategists have developed a strategy – Air-Sea Battle — to deal with China’s missile systems, which are designed to keep U.S. air and naval forces beyond what China refers to as the “inner island chain.”  It encompasses the East China Sea and South China Sea from the southern tip of South Korea to the western edge of Borneo, an area that is bounded by Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, and Malaysia.

U.S. military planners say that Air-Sea Battle is “a concept for disabling those systems using long-range bombers and submarines. The concept is designed not so much to fight a war as to convince the Chinese that any conflict with U.S. forces would be long and costly. Pentagon officials say Air-Sea Battle is not solely focused on China, which they describe as the ‘pacing’ threat.”

China’s land-based anti-ship missiles have a maximum range of 1,300 miles, which would reach the Western Pacific and the Philippine Sea.  However, Guam – which hosts Andersen Air Base and a submarine base — is beyond the reach of China’s missiles.  As “Air-Sea Battle” envisions, “stealthy bombers and submarines could wage a ‘blinding campaign,’ destroying long-range Chinese surveillance and missile systems and opening up the denied areas to U.S. fighter jets and ships.” (Source: Strategic and Budget Assessment).

Trouble spots

SANSHA CITY

In my article, “Trouble spots in Western Pacific waters”(October 12, 2012), I wrote: “What was once a relatively placid body of water in the Western Pacific has become a tinderbox ready to explode.  I am talking about an area that extends from the Sea of Japan down to the East China Sea through the Taiwan Strait and into the South China Sea with a total area of about 5.8 million square kilometers (2.2 million square miles).  It’s dotted with little islands, islets, atolls, shoals, and rocks.  Except for a handful of islands, these outcroppings are uninhabited.  But the waters are rich in oil, natural gas, and marine life. And that’s why countries in the region are interested in owning part – if not all — of this vast body of water.”   

Of the three trouble spots in Western Pacific waters, China is involved in territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei over the Spratly islands in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea); and with Taiwan and the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal to the Philippines).

On July 24, 2012, China established a prefecture-level government in Sansha City located in Woody Island, which will administer all of the Paracel Islands (disputed by Vietnam), Spratly Islands, and Macclesfield Bank (claimed by the Philippines).  Woody Island — which was uninhabited when China forcibly took it from Vietnam 38 years ago — is now populated with more than 1,000 Chinese civilians with roads, a bank, a post office, a supermarket, and a hospital.  In addition to the city government, China is also going to establish a military garrison in Sansha.

SENKAKU ISLANDS

Recently, China waged a word war with Japan on the territorial dispute over the Senkaku islands (Diaoyu to China), a cluster of five islets and three rocks in the East China Sea about 160 kilometers from Okinawa and about 320 kilometers from mainland China.  While the uninhabited Senkakus are administered by Okinawa, China and Taiwan claim them as part of ancient China.

The question is: Is China prepared to go to war over the disputed islands?

At present, China wouldn’t risk going to war with Japan over the Senkakus knowing full well that the U.S. made it clear that she considers these islands as part of Japan; thus, covered by the U.S.-Japan security treaty, which requires the U.S. to defend Japan in case of attack.

In the case of the Spratlys, the U.S. Marine Corps Pacific Commander General Duane D. Thiessen confirmed in a media interview in Manila last April that the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty covers Philippine-held islands in the Spratlys.

Transition of power

XI JINPING

With the U.S. presidential elections just a week away and the ascension of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to the presidency coming up in December, the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections and how Xi presides over a rising China could affect the world’s balance of power.  Can Xi convince China’s military leaders to stand down on their hawkish policies and maintain peace with China’s neighbors? Or would he play into the hands of warmongers?  One must remember that in China, the Central Military Commission (CMC) is really the one that calls the shots.  And it controls the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which reminds us of Chairman Mao Zedong’s famous quotation: “Power comes from the barrel of a gun.”

It is expected that outgoing President Hu Jintao will keep the CMC chairmanship for a few years or until the Politburo is ready to hand Xi full power and authority.  Meanwhile, he has to kowtow to Hu and the military brass.

The U.S. has its share of warmongers – rightwing politicians — whose hard line stand on China, Russia, Iran, and Syria could bring the United States closer to the threshold of another war.  Indeed, whoever wins on Election Day would draw the chart the U.S. would take in the complex world of geopolitics.

Perhaps, it’s time to give peace a chance to take a foothold and let the world enjoy a new era of Pax Americana.

AIR-SEA BATTLE

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

MILF to govt: Hold Liguasan oil search

By Joyce Pangco Panares 
Manila Standard Today

The leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Tuesday urged the government to postpone the awarding of oil exploration contracts in the Liguasan Marsh in the Cotabato basin and in Sulu until wealth-sharing arrangements are ironed out.

Negotiators from both sides are scheduled to meet next month in Kuala Lumpur to discuss wealth-sharing, power-sharing and the decommissioning of MILF fighters.

“Our appeal is very reasonable and sound,” said MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim in a statement posted on the group’s Web site.

“As a principle, we are not against exploitation of our natural resources including oil and gas provided that they redound to the benefit of our people and should be done in the proper time and conditions,” Murad said.

The areas are covered by the Department of Energy’s Petroleum and Energy Contracting Round 4 that was launched last year.

Three contracts are currently up for bidding: Area 11 covering 600,000 hectares in Cotabato, Area 12 covering 456,000 hectares in Cotabato, and Area 15 covering 482,000 hectares in Sulu Sea.

In his statement, Murad said that, based on available data, the resources in the Cotabato basin were estimated to be 158 million barrels of oil.

He said 10 wildcat wells had already been drilled in the three areas.

Area 11 in Cotabato received two bids from Forum Pacific and Helios Mining and Energy, which were both accepted.

Area 12, also in Cotabato, received a bid from three companies of which two—Dil Moro Energy Corp. and Min Energy Pty. Ltd—were accepted.

Area 15 in the Sulu Sea drew the most bids and three were chosen: Philodrill Corp. and Philex Petroleum Corp.; Mitra Energy Ltd. (with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Co. and Tap Oil) and Forum Pacific.

Earlier, Gapul Hadjirul, the political director of the rival Moro National Liberation Front faction led by Nur Misuari, claimed that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak offered 2 billion ringgits for the right to search for oil in Mindanao.

Hadjirul claimed Najib made the offer to Murad for the MILF to accede to Malaysia’s mineral exploration venture in the country’s southern region.

“Malaysia had offered 2 billion ringgits for the exploration of our oil basin at the Liguasan Marsh in Maguindanao, which the United States supports,” Hajirul said.

But the MNLF official did not give details of the alleged deal.

On Tuesday, Hadjirul said that even without the Palace admission of the oil exploration deals in the Liguasan Marsh, Murad’s statement was proof enough of foreign interference in internal affairs.

“The Philippine government is trading the sovereignty of Mindanao in the interest of foreigners including Malaysians,” Hadjirul said.

He also criticized MILF political affairs director Gadjali Jaafar for dismissing the MNLF claim.

“Now who is lying? He is a liar, “Hadjirul said.

He also urged the Aquino administration to stop transacting business with the Malaysians in Mindanao.

“Why should they allow Malaysia to interfere with our internal affairs? Let the people of Mindanao govern it,” Hadjirul said.

He warned that Malaysia’s interference would intensify the conflict in the region.

Emmanuel Fontanilla, legal counsel of the MNLF, said the oil exploration deals represented “a creeping invasion” by the Malaysians.

He said “the framework agreement was a misrepresentation of the true aspirations of Mindanao’s inhabitants composed of Christians, Muslims, Lumads and other indigenous people.”

Fontanilla slammed the government for treating the MILF as “the representation of the entire Mindanao” when the people were never consulted about the framework agreement.

The Liguasan Marsh is about 200,000 hectares of dry and wet basins bound by the Mindanao River in south-central Mindanao, North Cotabato and South Cotabato provinces. It is reported to be rich in oil and gas deposits, and is home to 112,000 Maguindanaon families whose primary means of livelihood is fishing. With Francisco Tuyay

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/10/31/milf-to-govt-hold-liguasan-oil-search/

Money laundering

BY AMADO P. MACASAET
MALAYA

‘By refusing to make good its commitment to cooperate in the exchange of data with members of the FATF, the Senate practically helped make this country a possible haven for laundered money.’

By its refusal to honor a firm political commitment in 2010 to remedy the deficiencies in the Philippine effort to combat money laundering, the country has been placed on a so-called gray list.

The Philippines is now being constantly monitored by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as a possible haven for stolen or dirty money coming from drugs, smuggling, kidnapping for ransom and other illegal sources including graft and corruption.

The Senate failed to make good the Philippine commitment obviously because it found itself in quandary between compliance and possible violation of the bank secrecy law.

Under the FATF regulations, member countries may exchange information about suspected laundered money without court permission. Giving away information about deposits without a court order or consent of the depositor is considered a criminal act.

But how else are we going to catch the thieves? As it is, the courts in the Philippines have not exactly been cooperative in pursuing anti-money laundering. We remember the case of some officials of Fraport, the German partner in the construction of the failed NAIA Terminal III.

The anti-money laundering council filed an ex parte petition with the court to examine the deposits of the Germans and the wife of an official of Philippine International Air Transport Corp. (Piatco).

The court invalidated the petition because the respondents were not informed. That, according to the court, does not sit with law. The legal doctrine of “dura lex, sed lex”, the law is hard but it is the law, was clearly applied in the case.

A more noble objective of preventing the country from being a haven for ill-gotten, stolen, dirty money was crushed by the court. Upholding a legal maxim put the country in grave danger.

We look at the case simply from common sense. If the respondents in an ex parte case – respondents suspected of having deposited stolen money – were informed of the council’s intention to examine their deposits, the first move they would take is move the deposit elsewhere.

The court put to waste what could have been years of painstaking intelligence work to trace iII-gotten money.

By refusing to make good its commitment to cooperate in the exchange of data with members of the FATF, the Senate practically helped make this country a possible haven for laundered money.

The danger of this proposition, obviously taken by the Senate in the name of the majesty of the law, is making Philippine banks a depository of money for terrorism.

There is so much illegal money that comes from the smuggling of cigarettes in countries that raise taxes to make smuggling a profitable proposition.

The Philippines is a clear candidate if the Senate yields to the pressure of the Department of Finance to raise the excise tax that would make local cigarettes beyond the rich of the poor smokers.

The Senate could have asked the anti-money laundering council how much ill-gotten money it has forfeited for the state. The senators will be told that billions upon billions of pesos have been collected from the money launderers. But the council does not talk about it.

I guess one reason is large sums were forfeited from powerful people. The effort against money laundering is gaining ground in spite of obstacles thrown by the courts.

In refusing to amend the anti-money laundering law to comply with a 2010 commitment, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile was quoted in media as having said the Philippines will not be told what to do by the FATF.

Enrile’s stand for legislative independence is misplaced. The Senate is merely called upon to honor its commitment to prevent the country and its banking system from being a huge parking lot for stolen funds.

Little has it occurred to the Senate that under the program, only foreigners are allowed to make deposits under the Foreign Currency Deposit Unit. The money is considered part of secondary reserves and may be relent by the depository bank.

The dollar deposits made by then Chief Justice Renato Corona were considered as attempts to keep the money away from public knowledge, the funds not having been included in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

The Senate, which may feel it finds itself in a bind between the law and the commitment to the FATF, may simply consider or weigh which part benefits the country most. Is it complying with the bank secrecy deposit law or is it keeping the reputation of this country as a democracy loathe to harbor money from thieves?

After all, the exchange of information is treated with the highest confidence. The banks that may have deposits suspected of being ill-gotten will not complain. Neither will the depositor.

If they do, they both expose themselves as parties to a fraud.

***

email: amadomacasaet@yahoo.com

http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/opinion/16506-money-laundering

PCSO: Daang Tinuwid

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR 
By William M. Esposo 
The Philippine Star

State institutions that are oozing with funds like the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) become a magnet for the insatiable and the brokers of evil designs. The worst of this occurred in the PCSO during the term of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA). Eventually, auditors discovered the anomalous diversion and misuse of P366 million intelligence funds and GMA and the officials and members of her PCSO Board have been charged and ordered detained for plunder.

When President Benigno S. Aquino III (P-Noy) appointed the new PCSO Board headed by Margie P. Juico in August 2010, the new officers and members swore to uphold the highest standards of honesty, transparency and commitment to sound corporate governance and ethics. In just three years, the new Board of PCSO can proudly announce what few government institutions, with the exception perhaps of the Department of Public Highways under Secretary Rogelio Singson, had done in such a short time.

PCSO, under Chairman Margie Juico and General Manager Joy Rojas, has damned the torpedoes and went full throttle. What they have accomplished are easily checked and verified.

One of the profound changes at the PCSO has been in giving dignity and respect to applicants for assistance at their clinic. Margie Juico introduced a numbered queuing system to ensure that no one is given preferential attention. Social workers assist these applicants and help them with the processes, including filling up forms and directional guidance.

It used to take months to obtain the valuable guarantee letters of PCSO which patients need in order to get the treatment their health conditions require. Now, it only takes four days.

Hospitals used to be reluctant to accept PCSO patients because it took as long as six months or more before they can get paid. This has changed dramatically. Hospitals now welcome PCSO patients and this in turn has given these patients the respect and dignity that they so particularly need in their time of affliction.

To enumerate a few more accomplishments that had remained unknown to many:

1. The old Board now charged with plunder has left billions of pesos in tax liabilities and unpaid obligations. Settling these liabilities became first priority and to date, the present PCSO board is nearing full tax compliance.

2. The anomalous practice of commingling prize, operations and charity funds in violation of the PCSO charter was corrected. Funds are now properly segregated, accounted for and audited to safeguard against misuse.

3. Keeping its focus on maximizing efficiency of service to its charity beneficiaries, PCSO retooled their finance and accounting system to shorten the time it takes to pay for the medicines of patient-beneficiaries. By shortening the payment period to only 45 days from the previous six months, PCSO had successfully persuaded pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices by 20% of the market price. This translates to more funds to help more PCSO patients.

When the new Board took over, they cut nearly half a billion pesos worth of annual TV advertising. It was argued that the output of honest work, commitment and dedication would beat the output of an advertising campaign. When you gather a group whose hearts are in the right place, the changes will be profound.

It was as eminent journalist Sheila Coronel had described it — “If you fight corruption, corruption fights back.” Soon enough, issues were muddled and the old familiar bylines and media characters identified with paid demolition campaigns came out of the woodwork. The new PCSO Board came under intense fire.

Unfortunately, unscrupulous elements can easily peddle false information and malicious accusations to the minds of the benighted and the under informed. Where there are gullible news consumers, there’ll be deceivers on the prowl. This accounts for all the bad reviews that have been directed at the new PCSO Board headed by Margie Juico.

Alas, our media have this addiction to scandals, crime, conflicts — especially in showbiz and politics — that they’ve altogether neglected their bigger mission, which is to inform and enlighten. Our media have copped out from their main mission and are dishing only what most people want, and not what people really need. Luckily, lies and half-truths are eventually exposed in this information age. Given enough time, the facts eventually emerge and penetrate public consciousness.

The positive developments in the PCSO is a reflection of the leadership of P-Noy, something that’s also observed and noted in foreign media. Philippine country rating has been improving under P-Noy and foreign media had credited this to P-Noy’s campaign for good, clean governance.

Honest leadership begets honest followers. You cannot imagine the new PCSO Board thriving and surviving under a corrupt president who is perpetually scanning the environment for easy pickings. The new PCSO Board succeeded because they worked under the principles of DAANG MATUWID (straight path).

In our country, where the culture of corruption has embedded itself firmly in the nooks and cranny of government, trying to change that culture to one of honest efficiency and commitment is an arduous uphill climb. All Filipinos should get involved in this endeavor of their president.

Every centavo and peso saved by clean governance translates to more funds for education, nutrition and health care. Clean governments provide more housing benefits and opportunities for every Filipino to aspire for a better life.

* * *

Shakespeare: “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.”

P25b oil drill offer in Liguasan bared

By Francisco Tuyay  

Manila Standard Today

A top Malaysian government official had offered 2 billion ringgits—about P27 billion—to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the right to search for oil in Mindanao, an official of the Nur Misuari faction of the rival Moro National Liberation Front said Sunday.

In a phone interview, Haj Gapul S. Hadjirul, the political director of the MNLF faction led by Nur Misuari, said Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak offered 10 billion ringgits to MILF Chairman Al Haj Haj Murad Ebrahim to accede to the Malaysian mineral exploration venture in Mindanao.

“Malaysia had offered 10 billion ringgits for the exploration of our oil basin at the Liguasan Marsh in Maguindanao, which the US supports,” Hajirul said.

Hadjirul, however, offered no specifics about the alleged deal, except to say that the government panel crafting the framework agreement together with Murad had a secret meeting with Najib in Malaysia days before the signing of the treaty.

But Hadjirul, quoting a confidential source from the MILF’s central committee member who had deserted to the MNLF, said he was surprised by Murad’s public disclosure of the deal.

Anticipating the Malaysian dole, “Murad convinced the central committee leadership to agree to the government’s offer because it will eventually benefit us,” Hadjirul said, quoting an unnamed source who was in the meeting when Murad announced it.

The Liguasan Marsh is around 200,000 hectares of dry and wet basins bounded by the Mindanao River in south-central Mindanao, North Cotabato and South Cotabato provinces. It is reported to be rich in oil and gas deposits, and is home to 112,000 Maguindanaon families whose primary means of livelihood is fishing.

The area is a vast complex of river channels, small freshwater lakes and ponds, extensive marches and arable land subject to seasonal flooding in the basin of the Mindanao River.

Most of the area is under water during periods of heavy rainfall, but some 140,000 hectares dry out during the dry periods and are cultivated.

The marshes are state-owned but the surrounding areas are privately owned. In 1979 30,000 hectares of the area were declared a Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary.

Study has said that the marsh supports a great variety of aquatic wildlife, including 20 species of fish, three species of reptiles, and over 20 species of waterfowl, herons, egrets and ducks. The marsh is also one of the last strongholds of the Philippine Crocodile and the Estuarine Crocodile.

Former MNLF chairman Nur Misuari has said that some American experts had told him that the estimated earnings from the natural gas of Liguasan, once explored, was $580 billion.

Hajirual said that while Malaysia was banking on the MILF’s control of the marsh, “the desertion of thousands of MILF to the MNLF” had led to the MNLF’s control of six municipalities surrounding Liguasan Marsh.

The MNLF official added that the US had pushed Malaysia to the forefront of the deal to obscure its involvement in the enterprise.

The Malaysians, Hadjirul said, had enlisted US expertise, sending representatives to conduct soil tests and other studies in preparation for exploration.

“The US [experts] are now scattered in General Santos City, Jolo, Compostela Valley and Cotabato,Hadjirul said.

“They have a huge presence in Zamboanga City, which they use as their headquarters. But they are [highly] visible in Palawan.”

Misuari has said that, aside from oil exploration, Malaysia intends to convert the entire Liguasan Marsh into a palm oil plantation.

“That is their purpose behind the secret deal,” he said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/10/29/p25b-oil-drill-offer-in-liguasan-bared/