Yesterday Senators Enrile and Arroyo tag-teamed to try to shut down the Senate hearings and one can assume they did so, to prevent the emergence of new witnesses. They failed. And so, New witness tags Arroyo couple in NBN mess. See also ZTE advanced $41M to ‘greedy group’–witness: ‘Chinese, Filipino groups to half $200M overprice’ ‘The worms just keep wriggling out of the can. See Ellen Tordesillas for additional background. I do think this is an extremely valid point: New witness in NBN probe ‘too relaxed,’ says Pangilinan: He might be a ‘Trojan Horse’.
One can assume that it is the public pressure of the hearings that leads to the leaking of documents, such as ‘Copy for FG’ is marginal note on NBN document. It’s well to remember that those grousing over the “lack” of evidence deliberately overlook how the Palace clamped down on producing documents, for obvious reasons.
As Manuel Buencamino does, so will people continue doing: asking questions to which the official answers don’t make sense.
Last night, after an emergency meeting, the Catholic hierarchy released a pastoral exhortation, ‘Seeking the Truth, Restoring Integrity’ with six main recommendations:
1. Condemn the continuing culture of corruption from the top to the bottom of our social and political ladder;
2. Urge the President and all the branches of government to take the lead in combating corruption wherever it is found;
3. Recommend the abolition of EO 464 so that those who might have knowledge of any corruption in branches of government, may be free to testify before the appropriate investigating bodies;
4. Ask the President to allow her subordinates to reveal any corrupt acts, particularly about the ZTE-NBN deal, without being obstructed in their testimony no matter who is involved;
5. Appeal to our senators and the ombudsman to use their distinct and different powers of inquiry into alleged corruption cases not for their own interests but for the common good;
6. Call on media to be a positive resource of seeking the truth and combating corruption by objective reporting without bias and partiality, selective and tendentious reporting of facts.
It’s enough to make AlterNation101 happy because it rebukes the media (does that include government media?). While bloggers like Spank Me! and at wit’s end are furious, and Palace hails CBCP for ‘not succumbing to propaganda’ others, like Bobbie Reyes say the demand to revoke Executive Order 464 is “an extremely powerful statement.” barefoot calls it a wise tactical move. I have to heartily agree with Lunasandwich who points out,
While for sure the defenders of greed and corruption will be quick to use the bishop’s statement as leverage, people should still resist the urge to label the bishops as in cohorts with the enemy. People who believe that GMA must go should not be disheartened. Maybe this time there would be much more meaning when it is the people who convince the Church’s leadership when it is time for evil leaders to go than vice-versa.
People seem to be coming to a decision on their own, anyway.
In his blog, Mon Casiple seems to agree, too:
However, there is a tilt in the balance as it categorically called for the abolition of EO 464 so that “those who might have knowledge of any corruption in branches of government may be free to testify before the appropriate investigating bodies.” The CBCP asked President Arroyo to allow her subordinates to reveal any corrupt acts, particularly on the $329.48-million ZTE NBN deal without being obstructed in their testimony, “no matter who is involved.”
The thematic unity of the CBCP revolved around the search for truth — a formula that basically puts the onus for finding it on the broad opposition. In including President Macapagal-Arroyo as participant in the search for truth, the CBCP basically satisfied the bishops friendly to her. At the same time, it also opened the door for more testimony thereby satisfying those bishops who already made up their mind on the guilt of the President.
The CBCP put itself as the cart after the horse and sidestepped its possible moral leadership on the matter of addressing the key action of calling for GMA resignation. This sends the message that it will only act decisively when the people themselves — on their own — acted decisively towards this end.
There are other nuances to Casiple’s analysis, but on the open-ended demand being significant, I also agree (note: demand, not an ultimatum because, well, essentially the bishops give the President until Kingdom Come to comply: hence the Palace’s breezy “this deserves very serious consideration,” and Scrapping EO 464 requires ‘careful study’–DoJ chief, which is officialese for “wham bang thank you, bishops”) . See Jove Francisco for the Palace’s activities: none of them involving anything the bishops suggested.
It satisfies the Jesuit conditions that things should not escalate until all the i’s have been dotted and all the t’s are crossed. By all means, do so. I am confident this proposal will go the way of that other Jesuit brainchild, the Truth Commission that bamboozled the Solita Monsods of this world into giving the President a free pass in 2005. So they’ve done it again, may their tribe increase. I’ve mentioned before that we have to consider that the real fight may only begin in 2010 when the President’s collaborators run out of rationalizations.
As Tony Abaya puts it,
Edsa 1 can be said to have taken two years and six months — Aug. 21, 1983 to Feb. 25, 1986 — to reach flashpoint of sufficient heat and energy to force Marcos and his family out of Malacanang.
If the putative Edsa 3 (or 4) were to be superimposed on this timeline, and the trigger were the revelations of Jun Lozada on Feb. 5, 2008, flashpoint would not be reached until about August 2010…
By August 2010, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would be on her first months as prime minister or as president on a third term, the Constitution having been amended in 2009 to enable her to remain in power legally and constitutionally beyond June 30, 2010, by the Kampi-Lakas dominated Congress, as is the ill-disguised aim of the ChaCha Road Show inaugurated last Feb. 12 by Albay Gov. Joey “Bitch” Salceda.
Using EO 464 as one more bridge to cross, is fine with me for that reason.
Can the President dispense with Executive Order 464? Only if:
1. She replaces it with another executive issuance that has the same effect as EO 464, or;
2. She puts the squeeze on executive officials to lie, and destroys documents that everyone knows exists.
Method 1 is what Marcos adopted with his infamous Amendment 6 to the Constitution which rendered meaningless his lifting of martial law in 1981. I’m sure some legal sleuthing in the Administrative Code and other places might dig up useful pretexts to block Senate subpoenas.
But method 2 is the easier thing to do, However, in the long run, the least effective because too much has already been said and too many trails lead straight back to her.
Easiest of all, of course, is not to budge on E.O. 464 and keep applying it, saying there are pending cases in the Supreme Court, that it requires proper study, that a special committee has been appointed to look into it and that in the fullness of time it will issue non-binding recommendations for further discussion…
Or, the President could revoke it and throw caution to the winds in which case the bishops could honestly claim paternity for a full-blown miracle.
But what has been happening is that the Catholic bishops and the moderate critics of the President as well as the collaborators, have all come to focus on E.O. 464 as the first line of the President’s defense.
And a means for piercing that defense is actively proposed by today’s Inquirer editorial, Strike for the truth: a nationwide stay-home strike (the editorial responded to this particular about-face by the Palace: Arroyo on ‘flawed’ NBN deal ‘lost in translation’–Palace). No one can say a strike is incompatible with democracy, the Constitution or the so-called government “rule of law.”
Proposing a day to stay home instead of going into the streets should be vigorously discussed (see Amando Doronila’s Arroyo’s work ethic and the Mafia for some particulars on how businessmen are tackling the question of economic costs); to ignore the proposal merely limits the already narrowing options available to the public.
Returning to the CBCP Statement, bear in mind it’s the product of a collegial body and that the immediate objective of the leading bishops was to forge a united stand. The pastoral exhortation was at least, approved unanimously. No one can complain. It may also represent the last service Archbishops Capalla and Talamayan, the President’s point men within the hierarchy, can provide the President.
So, sorry to disappoint Philippine Commentary, but I’m happy with the statement. It can only help tighten the noose and it can only further clarify the battle lines.
In the blogosphere, smoke takes a nihilist look at ongoing events, an antidote, I suppose, to the passion of Etcetera, Etcetera (heartily applauded by Manila Bay Watch). love hurts… but sometimes it’s a good hurt… and it feels like i’m alive… has some photos: see B[email protected] for Cory Aquino’s speech. Philippine Politics 04 responds to a mother’s concerns over rallies.
As always, Mabini’s prayer continues to resound down the ages:
To sum it up, the Revolution failed because it was badly led; because its leader won his post by reprehensible rather than meritorious acts; because instead of supporting the men most useful to the people, he made them useless out of jealousy. Identifying the aggrandizement of the people with his own, he judged the worth of men not by their ability, character and patriotism but rather by their degree of friendship and kinship with him; and anxious to secure the readiness of his favorites to sacrifice themselves for him, he was tolerant even of their transgressions. Because he thus neglected the people forsook him; and forsaken by the people, he was bound to fall like a waxen idol melting in the heat of adversity. God grant we do not forget such a terrible lesson, learnt at the cost of untold suffering.
This is a cool bit o’ video: How cops come up with crowd estimates.
I personally think it was a mistake for her to have talked to Garci since he was a commissioner. On the other hand, I have heard other parts of the tape and there’s quite a number of administration and opposition politicians who have spoken to Garci also. So for me, patas lang yan.
I am sorry if you don’t agree with me. But that’s my take of that whole sorry episode.
As for ZTE, once there is solid proof of shenanigans….it might just change my mind. Hearsay for me is hearsay
So you don’t care that the law says she cannot talk to a comelec official during election day, much less discuss about delaying canvassing and other equally suggestive topics re elections? You just care that she is not the only one doing it?
In trying to moderate the outrage: If this political crisis is allowed to be resolved in the streets again, I feel that the instability and weakening of the state institutions would bring the country nearer to what is described in international relations as a “failed state.” The Philippines has shown these signs: “extreme political corruption, judicial ineffectiveness, military interference in politics, cultural situations in which traditional leaders wield more power than the state over a certain area but do not compete with the state, etc.”
Please remember, there are still unfinished business and unresolved issues from the upheavals of 1986 and 2001. Our leaders, both of government and civil society, should be aware of unintended consequences.
EO 464 has been defanged by the Supreme Court. That’s why revoking it won’t mean squat. When was the ;ast time you heard the Palace invoke it?
Ever since Neri, Palace has been using Executive Privilege not EO 464.
manuelbuencamino,
I’ve heard that Malacanang is using Memorandum Circular 108 to replace E.O. 464 and was said for all intents serve the same purpose. Is this true?
In the blogosphere, smoke wrote :
In real life post 1986 EDSA, the phenomenon of People Power has become commoditized. It is now considered something like a weapon, if you will, to be wielded by the discontented. Granted, some of the leading thinkers of the discontented consider it an instrument of last resort, but the mere fact that it is presumed to be a … Damoclean sword that can be dropped at will already bespeaks of a cynicism that runs totally counter to the fundamental premise of People Power.
Invoking ‘wide support’ as a principal criteria for validity, and saying that resort to People Power (again, the imagery of a falling sword is apropos) is a question merely of whether “enough of us have come to the conclusion that it must happen,†effectively absolves the people power crowd from any responsibility for their collective action. It doesn’t matter if your reasons for people-powering are wrong; all that really matters is that we all agree. That’s like a hive mentality.
———–
EDSA-march is obviously NOT a nationwide election.
EDSA-march can be viewed as a battle maneuver (to bypass impeachment) that seeks the concentration of a large-enough body count in metro-Manila in general, and the Malacanang gates in particular, to execute a move.
a liar “corroborating” another liar produces a bigger lie.
the philippine senate is the last place on earth to find “truth”. it is the best place to hear gossip and character assassinations.
therefore, meaningless ang panawagan ng CBCP.
guys, may tanong lang ako. ipalagay natin presidential election day na at pupunta ka sa election pricinct para bumuto, pwede mo bang punitin ang balota mo?
nawalan ka ng tiwala sa election.
kasi kapag ganyan lang ang ginagawa natin na kung ayaw na natin sa presidente ay kusa na lang tayong magmamartsa sa lansangan at tanggalin ang nakaupong presidente.
let the debate begin.
Corrupt Bishops Corrupt President!
What do you expect from the organization that was behind the Inquisition, and more recently the Gay Pedophilia scandals in the US?
Tama nga ang mga Protestante, Anti-Christ nga ang Simbahang Katoliko…
It is off the utmost necessity that the SC decides on the issue of E.O 464. You have the classic challenge to the idea of the separate but equal but interdependent branches of government.
The call it check and balance.- The military role was ultimately responsible for Big Mike and Gma’s rise to the throne.
That reality alone has made everyone look once again for the military to intervene.
The prize of seizing state power and its power to create wealth can only be balanced by the maintenance and strengthening of the institutions created to check and balance the power of the different economic agents in the political economy.
Government, Big Business and the working class. The Catholic Church is clearly drawing the prophetic vision that it is the government itself that should take the lead. But the role of the other agents act as the ultimate check and balance to make sure the institutions do work out.
Those who are now engaged should keep up the pressure on the institutions themselves.
Why worry about Noli when and if the process works to ferret out the truth of what happened executivepower would have been brought down a notch.
The process had exposed for all to see the danger of giving too much power to executive to increase the debt load of the country with impunity.
Moving to put in place the measures to ‘teach a man to fish’ is not sexy and is time consuming grinding work. The effects are to be felt in the medium and long term.
Unfortunately the politicos have turned public office as the main economic activity in the country. That cancer will take time to shrink and excise out.
Ultimately going to the streets will make sure the people themselves are reminded that things are amiss.
Unfortunately the varied groups are still competing amongst themselves as to who will benefit from any change that might happen.
The Philippine state has created its own safety net not due to governments doing but due to the failure of government. External factors and labor migration is keeping the country afloat.
The increase in oil prices in 1972 forced the state to trade human resource for oil.
We are still pretty much doing the same thing today.
Proving once again that it is “labor” that creates property. It is too bad people are still too dumb to see that.
mang_isko, to make a protest vote you can cross out your ballot and that would be counted as “protest vote” without any vote going to any candidate, but destroying a ballot is a believe a violation of Election Code. That is true to most jurisdictions.
We used to have a Protest Party called Rhinoceros Party where Protesters will cast their votes to the candidates of the Party, but the Party agreed to dissolve itself when the Electoral body agreed to change the process by simply agreeing the simple crossing out of ballot as means of Protest…
example:
Mike Defensor corroborating Toting Bunye.
Bunye – I have two disks, one original the other spliced.
Defensor – It’s Gloria’s voice, but it’s not her speaking.
Good example?
Gloria Arroyo’s:WORST DEAL with CHINA!Sell-out on Spratlys!!!
WORST THAN EVEN THE INFAMOUS ZTE-NBN DEAL!!!
Salient Points:
*Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s hurried trip to China in late 2004 produced a major surprise.
*Manila has given a certain legitimacy to China’s legally spurious “historic claim†to most of the South China Sea.
*The Philippines has made breathtaking concessions in agreeing to the area for study, including parts of its own continental shelf not even claimed by China and Vietnam.
*Some would say it was a sell-out on the part of the Philippines!
*President Arroyo’s agreement with China for a joint seismic study was controversial in several respects. By not consulting other Asean members beforehand, the Philippines abandoned the collective stance that was key to the group’s success with China over the South China Sea.
john marzan wrote:
If true, ganoon na nga ang mangyayari
Worse John Marzan, Malacanang has a back up cover-up policy in the form of Memorandum Circular 108
“the philippine senate is the last place on earth to find “truthâ€Â. it is the best place to hear gossip and character assassinations.”
Isama na natin dyan ang Bahay nang Representatives, mas lalo manga Tuta ang meyembro do-on, puede pa madala sa “brown envelope”, pero kong gusto mo ang pinaka-una sa lahat, basahin mo ang manga BIBIG nang Alipores ni GMA, di magsundo ang kasinunggalingan nila, sama na yong sa Ama. Ina-amin na ni GMA na may anomaliya yong Kontrata, sunod na Araw sabi naman ni Bunye Wala namam daw. hayayay…
The Equalizer,
Not surprising if Gloria sells us out by surrendering the Spratlys and other areas of the Philippines if it makes her a Multi-Billionaire.
just to remind you guys, nagsimulang magsulpotan ang mgs camps ng china noong paalisin natin military bases ng U.S.
false or unintelligent nationalism ang pinairal natin sa ating mga pag-iisip.
alam naman po natin na wala tayong kakayahan na magbantay sa mga islang yan.
ngayon sisinghot-songhot tayo.
Mang Isko,
Ano ibig mong sabihin? Ibigay na lang sa Tsina ang natitirang Spratly islands at hahayaan nating si Gloria ang gagawa ng “transaksyon”. Sino linoko ni Gloria.
If proven true, Gloria and her cohorts is guilty of Treason.
kahit nga taiwan, nagpagawa pa ng airport base sa isang isla na kung saan may claim tayo. wala din tayong nagawa kasi itinakwil natin ang isang lahi ng tao na tumutulong sa atin.
ito ang napala natin.
magsikap na lang tayong umunlad at kung very rich na tayo bumili tayo ng isang aircraft carrier.
hehehehe
mang_isko,
Ang issue dito ay ang reports na INTENTIONALLY bibitawan ni Gloria ang Spratlys at siya ang magta-Transact.
Better still, remove Gloria since she is apt to sell the Philippines a piece at a time.
If true, then Gloria is guilty of TREASON and the military knows the penalty for such high treason.
walang nagsasabi na ipamigay ang spratleys. perception mo lang yong pinamimigay ni gloria ang ibang islands sa lugar na yao.
dapat hindi tayo nabulag sa nakamit nating kalayaan noong 1986 hanggang sa macompromise pa ang ating national integrity.
hindi kasi natin kinonsidera ang sitwasyon. tingnan mo ang japan at south korea, hindi sila nabu-bully ng china.
bakit? kasi nandyan ang U.S. na handang tumulong.
mang isko,
Malalaman natin ang katotohanan sa di matagal na panahon. Natatabunan pa ng ZTE ang ibang pang posibleng katarantaduhan ng rehimeng ito.
Kung totoo nga na may tagong kilos si Gloria na isuko ang Spratlys, maski sino pang de kampanilyang abugago ang kunin niya, di siya tatantanan ng mga nagmamahal sa bansang Pilipinas.
kung sa ikinakatakot mo na ipapamigay ni gloria yaong mga isla at granting, without accepting, na si gloria ay maalis nyo. yong papalit ba makakapigil sa china na huwag angkinin ang spratleys?
eh, mga kasama nyo chinese or MAO symphatizer!
paano nyo yan marereconcile?
Kung meron man MAO sympathizer dito eh yung amo mo. Mahilig makipagtrasact sa Tsina, balak pa i-paupa ang 2 Million Hectares ng Philippine agricultural land at ngayon naman Spratlys. Ginagawa niyong dahilan ay “Di naman natin mapapagtanggol ang Spratly eh kaya ibenta na lang natin ng ilang Bilyon”. Kung may malapit kay MAO ang amo mong si Gloria yun. At kung susundin natin ang takbo ng utak mo dahil pinagtatanggol mo si Gloria na maka-MAO ikaw rin ay tauhan ng isang maka-MAO. Di ba Joseph McCarthy?
“di siya tatantanan ng mga nagmamahal sa bansang Pilipinas.” – kabayan
sabi ko kanina maging intelihente tayo sa pagiging makabansa natin. we cannot do this by our selves. sa terrorism pa lang, palpak na tayo.
kaya lang naman tayo nakapit sa mga batong yan sa spratlys dahil sa hinala natin may langis sa ilalim ng mga yan.
better still to make it a a fish and wildlife sanctuary for all the countries involved para may hanap-buhay ang mga mangingisda.
i’m not going to war for that ano at kung ano pang nationalist ek-ek ng dahil lang sa langis…buti ng maubos ang langis sa mundo para matuto tayong maglakad.
Sundin pa natin ang lohiko mo, dahil dikit ng dikit si Gloria sa ZTE at may Cyber Ed deal pa na under sa Tsina, ang ibig sabihin noon ay mas matinding maka-MAO siya di ba. At dahil pinagtatanggol mo siya, mas mataas ang ranko mo sa hanay ng maka-MAO, Cadre ka na niyan di ba.
mlq3: could we ask the political analysts of a “roadmap” on where we want to bring this crisis to end. I’ve not seen any credible plan from the opposition. Heard from Senate Pres (“Bahala na ang tao”)Such tool could assist civil society and maybe of the rest, including the cabinet, of constitutional options. We don’t want to play this as we go along, do we?
1. Increase pressure on GMA (from Dr. Randy David)
2. In case GMA is pressured to resign, constituional successor is VP Noli (?)
3. If she doesn’t, ?
4
nash,
That’s actually a good idea.
ito ang mga klasing mga tao, si kabayan, na kapag natatalo sa argumento, nagla-label ng kung ano-ano.
we are talking about the national integrity tapos sasabihin mong nagtatanggol kay gloria sa pamimigay ng spratleys.
mali yata ang takbo ng argumento mo.
sayang ka kaibigan!
mang isko,
What are you saying? We give up our independence, our autonomy? To live in the shadows of foreigners even in our own shores? It may look like a mess now (or most of the time) but the key is – we are doing something about it, it there is an imbalance, we work to balance things out. Its not the establishment of homeostasis per se that makes us better men but our ability to work on it. As long as we are willing to work for what we need, we’re on the right track. We can’t just give up and let others do our job for us, its like mommy doing our assignments all over again…
Walk tall. Walk proud…
mang_isko,
Haha sinong galit, sinusundan ko lang ang lohikong ginagamit mo mang isko, para naman marinig mo kung sino ka kung ibang tao ang magsasalita.
Maige pa makinig ka kay ramrod nang may matutunan ka.
be open ramrod, is japan and south korea surrender their independence to the U.S?
are they not free?
are they not proud?
The “SPRATLY ISLANDS SELL-OFF and ZTE Scandal are the end-results of a very dangerous game of Gloria.She played the China card too far this time.
She even called China the “BIG BROTHER” of the Philippines. The Americans were raising the red flag on this issue for a long time.
Every contract with a Chinese company was presented almost as if it were “manna from Heaven”.
Look at the government spin on the ZTE contract: “Nearly a billion dollars worth of new investments in 12 hours.That’s the way things looked like for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her brief stay in this picturesque coastal town Saturday as she “came and went like a thief in the night,” bringing with her an avalanche of Chinese investments to the tune of $904.38 million.”
Why did she play the China card too far? I see two obvious reasons:
1)To attract the attention of the Americans-Gloria had fallen from the good graces of Americans after the “Angelo De La Cruz” episode.She therefore wanted to use the “China Card” as a leverage with them.
2)To generate income for the Pidal Dynasty-This was the more important reason.In addition to the ZTE deal,how many other BIG-TIME contracts have been concluded with Chinese firms by the GMA administration?
ONE GLARING EXAMPLE:The government decided to lease to China’s Jilin Fuhua Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. (Fuhua Co.) some one million hectares of Philippine land under vague terms. The area covers about a tenth of all Philippine agricultural land!!!
China, etc. encroaching on our sovereignty do so because they were allowed. Not unlike our contryman who showed the Americans where they can get a vantage point to Tirad Pass allowing snipers to kill Gen. Gregorio del Pilar.
Ang kawaw ngayon ay ang mga sundalong lumalaban sa inang bayan pero ang Commander in chief nila balak i-divert ang housing funds nila.
Correction: Ang kawawa ngayon ay ang mga sundalong…
mang isko,
The US treats South Korea with disdain, they believe that by just giving them cold cash and they’ll toe the line and how much are they paying for their bases in Japan? I am not against US bases per se as long as we set the terms not the US. With the right approach, we can make the gringo work for us.
“China, etc. encroaching on our sovereignty do so because they were allowed. Not unlike our contryman who showed the Americans where they can get a vantage point to Tirad Pass allowing snipers to kill Gen. Gregorio del Pilar.Ramrod”
Sir Ramrod:The modern “Makapilis” are selling our country wholesale to China.First class “Lutong Makaw!They are converting our country into another province of China!
I have Chinese blood but every fibre of my body is against
the desecration of our National Sovereignty.
Gloria is a TRAITOR.
kabayan,
Sinabi mo pa. We have soldiers detained on Conduct Unbecoming charges, dito pa lang, we can see that the Rule of Law does not exist in the Philippines, its who has the power…Must power be in the hands of corrupt officials, in the Oligarchs? or shall we give POWER back to the PEOPLE? PEOPLE POWER.
yon nga pino-point ko kanina. they are using their nationalism correctly and intelligently.
tingnan mo hindi nabu-bully ng china ang japan at south korea.
look at taiwan, kung wala ang U.S. na tumutulong matagal na yang ibinalik sa china.
@bencard
ramrod brings us another excellent point – “Conduct Unbecoming”
Do you think, counsel, that GMA passes this with flying colours?
wala sa atin dito mga ang gustong ipamigay kahit anong parte ng bansa natin sa ibang lahi.
ang sa akin matutu tayong gumamit ng nationalism.
@equalizer
China (the government, not the people) will be a bully anywhere you put them, in Africa, in the middle of Europe, malas lang natin that it is in Asia…because they need the resources to feed that population of theirs…
China’s bottom line on joint development of Spratly Islands at that time: “What is mine is mine and what is yours is ours.”Gloria agreed.
“Sold the idea by politicians with business links who have other deals going with the Chinese, Ms. Arroyo did not seek the views of her foreign ministry, Philippines officials say. By the time the foreign ministry heard about it and objected, it was too late, the officials say.”
Far East Economic Review(February 2008)