ASEAN-CHINA LANDMARK DEAL ON SOUTH CHINA SEA

ASEAN-CHINA LANDMARK DEAL ON SOUTH CHINA SEA

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Gracious day to all!

All is well that ends well. Let us hope that this holds true for the territorial conflicts in the South China Sea or ‘West Philippine Sea’. The brewing conflict can erupt into a full-scale war if it remains to linger in hot caldrons of uncertainties, unresolved using diplomatic tools and methods.

Below is an update news about the landmark deal between ASEAN and China regarding the disputed territories.

[Philippines, 04 September 2011]

Source: http://www.asean.org/26468.htm

ASEAN-China Reaches Landmark South China Sea Deal

Bali, Indonesia, 20 July 2011

ASEAN and China have agreed on the Guidelines on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

The landmark agreement was reached after talks between senior officials from both sides in Bali.

"This is a significant and good start for us to work together to continue dialogue and cooperation with a view to further promote this stability and confidence in the region," Mr Pham Quang Vinh, Assistant to Viet Nam Foreign Minister told reporters after the meeting.

Reflecting similar sentiments, China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said the officials would submit what they had approved to their Ministers for final endorsement.

"This is an important milestone document on the cooperation among China and ASEAN countries," said Mr Liu to reporters. "And we have a bright future and we are looking forward to future cooperation."

Although still at the early stage, the document raised hopes for a peaceful resolution to the overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

In his speech to the delegates yesterday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has stressed the importance of stability in the area.

"We need to send a strong signal to the world that the future of the South China Sea is a predictable, manageable and optimistic one. And we need to finalise that long overdue guidelines," he said, adding: "we need to get moving to the next phase, which is identifying the elements of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea."

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ASEAN ACTION ON TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

ASEAN ACTION ON TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Good day from the Pearl of the Orient!

ASEAN has actively taken action in building peace and solidarity in the region. A gladdening fact, as the region is priming for greater roles as an emerging economic power.

The dispute between China and some ASEAN members regarding territorial overlaps in the South China Sea has generated various reactions, with China receiving flaks from diverse quarters. This is understandable, though in no way should this morph into senseless carnage of wars that could only lay waste to the prosperity visions of the great leaders and patriots of the region.

Below is an update news from the ASEAN headquarters about the concrete steps undertaken to build a zone of peace & prosperity in the foreseeable future. I salute the ASEAN leaders and experts in their prudent actions on the seemingly intractable territorial disputes.

[Philippines, 03 September 2011]

Source: http://www.asean.org/26467.htm

Initiatives on South China Sea, Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping Cooperation, People Engagement, Among Many Issues Noted in Comprehensive ASEAN Joint Communiqué

Bali, Indonesia, 20 July 2011

ASEAN will seek to finalise the Guidelines on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

In its Joint Communiqué, ASEAN stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, and the continued exercise of self-restraint by all parties concerned, and the promotion of confidence building measures in the area.

"In this regard, we look forward to the finalisation of the Guidelines at the upcoming ASEAN-China Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on the Implementation of the DOC," it said.

The Communiqué also noted with appreciation, the proposal of the Philippines on a Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship and Cooperation, and tasked the ASEAN SOM - wth the assistance of maritime legal experts - to study the proposal.

The statement also "welcome the offer of the Philippines to host maritime legal experts meeting in 2011, report to the SOM, and make recommendations to the Foreign Ministers prior to the 19th ASEAN Summit."

Disputes over overlapping claims made the news again in recent months, with several claimant states accusing each other of intrusion. But at the same time, the claimant states also voiced support for peaceful resolution of their disputes through dialogue.

The Communiqué also welcome the establishment of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR).

"We emphasised the importance of enhancing cooperation in capacity-building in the areas of conflict prevention, conflict management, conflict resolution, peacekeeping and post-conflict peace building, including demining activities, in order to strengthen the vital role of ASEAN Member States in supporting effective efforts in the maintenance of regional peace and security," it said.

In another development, the AMM also welcome the progress of the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in the promotion and protection of human rights in the region in accordance with the ASEAN Charter, and Terms of Reference of AICHR.

The Communiqué also welcome the commencement of the drafting of an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, and took note of the annual report of AICHR.

To support ASEAN's increasing engagements with foreign partners, and to enhance its support for ASEAN's integration, the AMM further reiterated their support for the strengthening of the ASEAN Secretariat, "and agreed to undertake a comprehensive review by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, in collaboration with the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) with a view towards reporting to the 19th ASEAN Summit, through the ASEAN Coordinating Council".

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CHINA’S ULTRANATIONALISTS FAST-TRACKING BLUE WATER NAVY

CHINA’S ULTRANATIONALISTS FAST-TRACKING BLUE WATER NAVY

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Good day to you fellow global citizens!

In previous articles, this analyst articulated on Chinese bullying of its neighbors over disputed territories and the rise of the ultranationalists within the Chinese state and communist party. I will add the matter of ‘blue water’ navy to the discussions, as the ultranationalists are now working triple time to transform China into a naval power.

In order that an emerging economic power must be recognized as a world power—which includes politico-military power at its zeneath—it must be able to build a powerful military. Since the heydays of the maritime powers of Southeast Asia and Venice, which grew almost simultaneously though independently of one another, it was demonstrated that politico-military clout can be had by building a ‘blue water’ navy in order to be regarded as a world power.

Navies don’t make for world power alone, but they are decisive in bringing a country to that state. The challenge for any emerging economy is to build ‘blue water’ navies that can maneuver in the vast oceans outside of its territorial confines for long periods, thus enabling that country sustained military engagements in case of conflicts with competing powers or adversaries.

But before that can happen, the emerging economy must first build a navy that is strong enough to defend its territorial confines. ‘Brown water’ navy in present day parlance, that is where both China and India are situated today. Both countries have territorial disputes with their neighbors, and such disputes served as impetus for military build-up by India’s neighbors, a reaction that could spill over to Southeast Asians.

For now, China is able only to send teams of frigates and submarines to maritime zones to its east and southeast. It still doesn’t possess aircraft carriers, which could decisively enable the shift towards ‘blue water’ capabilities.

China is building an aircraft carrier right now, which is an open secret. But expert observers better not rely on open secrets, as China could be secretly building aircraft carriers and state-of-the-art WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) in top secret sites.

What China and its love-hate nationalist partner Russia have perfected to date is the production of anti-aircraft carrier weaponry. This weapon is fearsome enough, which can disable even the USA’s military forces if applied to the max.

China still lacks an effective anti-missile defense system and anti-submarine weaponry. For as long as these systems are not in yet, there is still time for China’s neighbors to maximize the resort to international institutions to drumbeat their complains and make China yield to international pressures to show civility and respect international law.

As for an unsolicited advise to China’s neighbors, please maximize on diplomacy to pursue your territorial claims. Stop the ‘cry wolf’ reaction to the ‘China syndrome’ of ultranationalist bullying. China is no world power yet as far as politico-military criteria are concerned, it doesn’t have a ‘blue water’ navy yet, so calm down and take the rational route to redress international grievances.

[Philippines, 16 June 2011]

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SCOURGE OF CORRUPTION

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Good day to you fellow global citizens!

We just celebrated the 25th EDSA People Power Revolution in PH last Feb 25. A full twenty-five (25) years after EDSA, the country remains mired in the gargantuan problem of bad governance. Graft & corruption continues to be a scourge to this country, ditto for other countries.

Patrimonial interest groups of every shade continue to pillage the national coffers and the business sector. Business and politics are as intertwined as ever, thus barring efforts to bring down patron-client relations in the public and private spheres. No wonder that corruption remains high and could be, in fact, scaling up the heights in exponential fashion.

For as long as bad governance (‘bureaucrat capitalism’ is the Maoists’ term for it) remains in a vicious circle pattern, poverty will loom large in the near future. People’s incomes will be relatively stagnant, resulting to a stagnant if not declining middle income class. The high growth figure of 7% annual growth will therefore be meaningless, as the growth benefits largely those who are already very rich.

It doesn’t matter if the Philippines has already been urbanized, with as large as 68% of the population and/or the labor force residing in cities and big towns. Urban it is alright, yet replete with narratives of burgeoning urban poor populations.

So that brings us back to square 1, which is the self-perpetuating bad governance cycle. Whether the vicious cycle can be broken during the incumbency of the Aquino regime is doubtful. This government is being run by mediocre bureaucrats who are predominantly Jesuit-schooled boys and girls, who as a whole administer the public sector like “running a student council” as Sen. Joker Arroyo aptly described them.

Sadly for the country and other emerging markets, it is this governance side of the equation that cancels out the very positive outlook resulting from high growth. To note, it is this same scourge that had angered youthful Arabs in Tunisia and Egypt who watched their national leaders plunder the coffers like they were lusciously consuming personal candies, and the scourge is now driving many other Arabs to the streets to overthrow their corrupt leaders.

Good governance, strong institutions, and right policies are getting to be appreciated all the more by the youthful working peoples of the day, such as those in the Arab states. They are values that strongly appeal to the middle class of developing countries, while they resonate well for the young generation of Arabs. Amusing observations!

If the middle class of emerging markets can inspire the young generations of Arabs and countries with authoritarian regimes at the helm, well and good. But let the ‘regime change’ agents be reminded that overthrowing corrupt authoritarian and/or autocratic regimes do not an incorruptible government make.

Examine the history of the Philippines and other countries that are similarly situated, where bad governance perpetually churns itself out long after dictatorships were overthrown. Our neighbor Indonesia is similarly situated, and so are couples of countries in Latin America. The more so for African countries where the problem of racial integration complicates the scourge of corruption.

It seems like we badly hit a quagmire in PH and other developing countries, in regard to graft & corruption. Whether we shall all jettison efficaciously out of the quagmire in the short run is a delusion. And maybe never will there be hope in reforming governance institutions that would enable eradication of poverty and attendant problems.

As to the reason behind the scourge, I am reminded of the explanation of the pioneer sociologist Emile Durkheim. The noblesse gentleman cogitated that there will always be deviants in society, unless that society is populated by saints. Deviance, such as corruption, will always prevail at levels beyond the residual, to follow Durkheim’s logic.

Economists would have it that ‘rent seeking’ will assert itself in diverse circumstances, inclusive of the public sector. Rent seeking, or reaping profits beyond opportunity costs, explicates corrupt practices and no less. The UP School of Economics professor Emmanuel De Dios had already writ informative articles about the matter, so please try to search for his articles in university libraries and online.

I do perceive corruption as a scourge, even as I remain optimistic that in the very long run it will be minimized. Humans will gradually evolve across time, and I guess the conscience of future humans will work the greater to make values work in daily life. But it seems my concluding note is only wishful thinking, so I’d leave it up to you to form your opinions on the subject matter.

[Philippines, 27 February 2011]

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EVIL GLOBAL ELITES KILLED PH’S ANGELO REYES

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

In a previous article, this analyst tackled the matter of corruption in the echelon of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines). As discussed, the AFP echelon’s corrupt acts have direct link to the US Pentagon that bred the former and continues to treat it as a subordinated institution.

It was during the recent ongoing investigations that former AFP chief and past Secretary of Defense, Angelo Reyes, was summoned by the Senate to answer allegations about slush funds for generals and related graft practices. Barely just days after facing the senate blue ribbon committee, Reyes committed suicide by shooting himself at the foot of his deceased mother’s grave.

Had Reyes died of a health-related cause such as cardiac arrest, I should have never suspected of the possible handiwork of an evil circle behind his death. Reyes died just like the way the late Ted Borlongan, former CEO of the Union Bank, end his life. Borlongan was blamed for the bank run that the Union Bank went through, and committed suicide by shooting himself at the foot of his mother’s grave.

People ought to know that the Union Bank is owned by the former president Fidel V. Ramos, also a retired general like Reyes. As president from 1992 through ’98, Ramos got was alleged to have received gargantuan kickbacks in power contracts, government estates sales (to favored buyers), and the infra for the centennial celebration of Philippine independence, among others.

Ramos left the presidency very much wealthier than before, enough for him to secure control of the Union Bank as a largesse for his favored actions for a certain patron comprising of evil cabal. That same cabal are persons among the Who Is Who of global elites, and comprise a section of the abominable Committee of 300 (C300), also known as the Illuminati or New World Order (a Luciferan global network or secret government).

Ramos’ abominable handlers were the ones who planned all along to overthrow Marcos in 1986, which indeed happened. The same cabal again used Ramos to overthrow Erap Estrada in 2001, which also happened. Angelo Reyes, then chief of staff under Erap, was already a favored figure among neo-conservative honchos inside the Pentagon (installed there earlier by the old man Bush).

So you can see how easy it was for Ramos to connect to Angie Reyes who was his former subordinate (as chief of AFP and as defense secretary). Upon the behest of the neo-conservative wing of the C300 and old players like George Schultz (a C300 adept), Ramos gave the directive to Angie to tow the line and join the EDSA II forces that were massing up to overthrow Erap.

To claim now that Reyes voluntarily shot himself is old hat simpleton discourse. Writers and thinkers can go on with their reflections about his death, but I don’t buy any of them. Like Ted Borlongan couples of years back, Reyes was a fall guy. A cabal of dark adepts, using psychic attack method (e.g. meditating together to command the target to commit suicide), took down both Borlongan and Reyes.

Both Borlongan and Reyes knew of very highly classified information—regarding criminal money movements such as racketeering, money laundering—that were done by dirty operators of the C300. Borlongan knew of classified info in the banking sector, while Reyes knew of parallel information within the defense Establishment.

In Reyes’ case, information about direct commands from the C300 for the escalation of hostilities with the Muslim separatists in Mindanao was the bone of contention. AFP field forces were used to sell arms to the rebels (Sen. Trillanes and Magdalo rebel forces know much about this), indicating how important war was to the generals, defense officials and Pentagon honchos.

To cut the story short, Reyes must be eliminated in order to stop further investigations unleashing a can of worms. Investigations should stop at the level of retired generals, and venture not an iota into culpabilities of global networks of the abominable C300.

Reyes was clearly a fall guy in the dirty games of the elites. A person with a strong mind like Reyes, who isn’t ailing from sociopathy or personality disorder, has no suicidal ideation tendency. I am not about to be fooled by abominations who are playing tricks on the public mind, by making it appear that Reyes’ suicide was volitional.

The evil handlers of Ramos did it to Borlongan before, they did it to Reyes this time. It will only be a matter of time before some fall guys will die again as sacrificial pawns in their evil games for the sake of their insatiable greed and power over people’s minds.

[Philippines, 19 February 2011]

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PH MILITARY CORRUPTION CONNECTS TO PENTAGON

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Pleasant day to you fellow global citizens!

Criminal investigations are currently hounding the Philippine military, with retired generals serving as frontal targets of congressional investigations. The dirty practices among echelon officers in the headquarters of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) include huge slush funds juggled from soldiers’ salaries and ghost battalions, and listening to the investigation proceedings is like watching a super-shocker horror film.

The new rounds of investigations have revealed corrupt practices that were heretofore untold. There is, for instance, the pabaon system whereby a retiring Chief of Staff will be automatically gifted with P50 Millions in cash. As a result of the corrupt practices, generals are able to own mansions, invest in estates and condominiums, or splurge cash outflows for assets that are way beyond what their salaries can afford them to consume.

I hope that the investigators will review the link between the AFP and the Pentagon (US Defense Department & military) to be able to effectively trace the roots of the corrupt practices. The AFP was a child of the Pentagon, US defense officials continued to have direct links to the AFP’s echelon even after RP gained independence in 1946, and the war policies of the AFP were copied straight from the father unit Pentagon whose war policies have been benefiting Defense and military officials from the colossal arms contracts.

War makes some people much richer than before, and that is the political economy of hot pursuit aggressions. Not only do some people in the military make money out of arms & supplies purchases, thus making war a necessity of the moment. Financier oligarchs, who finance wars, also make money from the hot fires of conflicts, as they rake in mega-profits from rapid cross-border movements of ‘smart money’ that take place in the region where conflict happens.

In the Pentagon, officials’ grins always stretch up to their ears, for the reason that arms contracts are ceaseless sources of boons like some waterfalls of cash. Concurred without biddings, arms suppliers and Pentagon bosses connive to jack up the prices of arms & supplies by as much as 14 times their expected wholesale prices. A bullet worth $1 for instance will be padded sky-high to $14, thus making Pentagon and arms producers very happy.

“Like Father like Son,” goes an old folk cliché. Though seemingly silly, the cliché seems to describe the AFP perfectly being a clone of the father (Pentagon). The matter of corruption in arms & supplies purchases is already a classic one to behold, investigated on and on like vicious circle.

An addition to the list of corrupt practices was the embezzlement of pension funds for military veterans. Again, the same echelon officials were involved in the anomalies, even as their bottomless greed resulted to the bankrupting of accumulated pension funds for veterans. As a response to the problem, the national government was compelled, via legislative measure, to allot additional appropriations to fund the pension gap so as provide crumbs to the obedient retired soldiers.

Just less than a decade ago, young officers sent to the battlefields (versus local rebels) were shocked over the directive that they drop off caches of arms and munitions to the enemy area. That was a clear indication that echelon officers were selling arms to the enemy, making big bucks and living in style in the Big City, while young officers and enlisted personnel were eking a living in the battlefields and living in shabby Spartan barracks.

The mafia behavior of echelon AFP officers, such as selling arms to the enemy and racketeering, surely couldn’t have been bred as a genuine unique behavior by themselves. The behavior was copied elsewhere, and that the same officers were emboldened to do their criminal graft acts as they felt they were protected by gods in the Philippine Establishment and the Pentagon.

As a matter of fact, the directives for the AFP to resume large-scale attacks on the rebels (Muslim separatist & Maoist) and jihadist terrorists could have come straight from Pentagon and not the PH presidential palace. The chiefs of staff of the AFP are henchmen of certain Pentagon officials, the most recent Pentagon honchos being the neo-conservatives entrenched there by the Bush father & son.

Ergo, in the case of any large-scale investigation of military corruption, the investigation shouldn’t stop at the AFP generals alone. It should go much higher than the generals, and that “much higher” should point out straight to the US Pentagon. Not only is the PH AFP corrupt, it also comprises of officers whose patriotism is for sale to the highest bidders, and it is high time to reform it or abolish it altogether.

[Philippines, 19 February 2011]

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