Stability in the Philippines

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A Colonel in the Philippines Armed Forces stands accused, or is being investigated for attempting to incite a military coup to overthrow the Aquino government. The story is covered here.

The Aquino administration argues that the man is a front man for the Arroyo administration, who stands accused of a great deal of corruption during her administration. The problem is that there is a great deal of scandal surrounding her and her husband....so she would have a great deal to gain from any efforts to overthrow the government.

The reality is that Aquino has invested a great deal of resources in investigations against corruption. This is of course a very positive development. The fact that it has been to the detriment of broader economic and social policy is understandable. This is a big issue, and the economy has a surprising capacity to look after itself...if government would leave it alone. After all the right of government to extort 'unconditionally' is ultimately the cause of corruption; and democracy is the ultimate tool for extortion.

I frankly place no trust in democracy; and the extortionary demands of colonels are a product of that illegitimacy. Consider the justification for his repudiation:

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said:

"The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) considers Mariano’s action an isolated case in the organization.....It’s apparent that he is alone. No one came after him. We can see if a person’s action is isolated".

I think this is true as well. My PMA sources suggest there is no support for this action.

Valte: "We are confident that the soldiers know that they are here to uphold the Constitution, to secure the county and not to engage in partisan politics.”

That might be what the Constitution says but they don't have much of a shelf life in the Philippines. Was it 1987 that this one came into being? We are actually due for a new one. The reality is that ethical principles are the basis for issues of justice; not some arbitrary, 'dated', dogma drawn up by a group of people who purport to represent the 'majority'; whatever that means.

Andrew SheldonNZ Property Guide Philippine Real Estate GuideForeclosed Japan GuideApplied Critical Thinking, Strategy, Integrity Investments SheldonThinks

Lawless and irregularities in the Wild West

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Well you might have thought I was talking about the Mid West United States in the 1700s, when gunslingers ruled the West and the nearest sheriff was 6 days ride from town. If the bad guys didn't get you, the Indians would pick you off trying to get help. Well for Americans things have indeed improved. For Filipinos sadly little has improved after 20 years of strong economic growth. Corruption is on the increase and power failures still doggedly appear.

In recent weeks I have seen a lot of science-based scams being perpetrated by Filipinos in the country. These scams include selling soaps that apparently contain a substance with magnetic properties that are supposed to have healing effects. There was another such product being sold outside of my apartment in Manila. Its noteworthy that these people advertise this way because they are less likely to be tracked down, though I'm sure there are too few with a critical mind that might question the science.

I dont want to suggest that such scammery is limited to Filipinos. It goes with the territory. Filipinos will dominate because its their country, and I dare say the schemes come from another unregulated market - China or India. Afterall the products are manufactured somewhere. You can also observe that Western companies are rejoicing in the opportunity to engage in unregulated markets. Sunlife of Canada comes to mind. I can't accuse them of doing anything wrong from a legal standpoint, but actually the way they sell insurance is actually contrary to the interests of their investors in the Philippines. They require large upfront payments into their managed insurance fund scheme. They require those to payoff the agents who are not well-versed in the products they sell. The idea is to employ middle-aged housewives with a lot of friends and teach them how to flog off their product for a large upfront fee. The problem is - when there is a significant market correction, investors have lost 20% on what was a significant amount of money. More important to them was their lost friends. I am sure Sunlife has all the disclaimers and warnings about how treacherous markets can be. But I think its contrary to the interests of their customers how they package the service with an upfront fee. A better scheme would take a smaller payment from investors so they dont suffer as much loss in their is any short term fall. Friendships are being lost because of the way this company structures its scheme - all because it wants to grab the market lead before the market is regulated as it is in the West.

Politicians in developing countries are often just as culpable. In some instances they forgo business (ethics) standards for the sake of financial gain, whether national income or personal kickbacks. There was BHP's operation of Porgera in PNG which pumped tailings into the nearest river, which destroyed the livelihood of villages downstream. There are incidences of lax departmental processes that result in poorly engineered projects receiving approval. In many cases these approvals were bought. I understand in takes 2 years to get BFAD approval for a manufactured product in the Philippines, but if you pay a $US10,000 kickback you can get the product in several months.