Another Philippine Official Guilty of Corruption

The slime and corruption in our country has long been a source of embarrassment. What do people think of when they here our country name? They think bribes and embezzlement and scandal. Not a week goes by when some official or another is not caught in malfeasance of some kind. When do we put our foot down and demand honesty from those entrusted to run our country, these events are shameful. But at least now they are getting caught.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008357235

Former Philippine Mayor Convicted of Corruption

August 30, 2007 7:29 a.m. EST

Komfie Manalo - AHN News Writer

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - A Philippine anti-graft court on Thursday found guilty on five counts of corruption, former Paranaque City Mayor and comedian Joselito Marquez. The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division said Marquez was found guilty of violating the country's anti-graft law for an overpriced broom deal.

In its decision, the anti-graft court said Marquez was guilty on five counts of violating Republic Act 3119 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for the overpriced $63,000 broom deal. The former mayor was sentenced to six years to 10 years imprisonment for each count.

Aside from Marquez, also found guilty by the Sandiganbayan were former city treasurer Silvestre de Leon and bids and awards committee members Ofelia Caunan and Marilou Banael, who was also the city accountant during Marquez's term as mayor from 1995 to 1998.

However, the court dismissed the charges against city officials Flocerfida Babida, Aylyn Romea and Antonio Razo.

A special team of the Commission on Audit found that the city government bought a total of 142,612 brooms from 1996 to 1998, which was priced at $63,000. The audit team said the deal did not go through the usual bidding process, a direct violation of the law.

The special audit team said the broom deal was overpriced by $28,000.

Imelda Marcos seeks court permission to go abroad

This, there is so little I can say. Here is the avaricious woman who did more than anyone to give our country a rotten name, as a place for corruption and patronage politics. Why the hell she expects favors is beyond my comprehension. Her pathetic shows of charity are no diversion. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSMAN27211920070829

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines' former first lady Imelda Marcos has asked an anti-graft court to allow her to go to Hong Kong and China for medical treatment and to attend a trade show, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

The widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos faces civil and criminal cases over billions of dollars in unexplained wealth amassed during her husband's 20-year rule. She is not in detention but must get court permission to leave the country.

Imelda's lawyer, Robert Sison, said he asked the court on Tuesday to allow the former first lady to leave on August 31 for Hong Kong and China.

He promised the anti-corruption court that Imelda would be back on September 14.

The 78 year-old Imelda, famous for owning 1,200 pairs of shoes and a vast collection of jewellery that the cash-strapped government was trying to auction last year, wanted to see an expert in Chinese traditional medicine.

She has been complaining of pain in her knees, Sison said on Wednesday, adding she would also seek treatment for a strained eye.

Imelda has not left the Philippines since 2003, when she went to Europe and the United States.

The court gave Imelda permission to travel to Hong Kong in February 2006 for medical reasons but she postponed the trip saying she preferred instead to stay at home and donate a 630,000 peso ($13,490) travel bond to victims of a landslide.

She asked the court a permission to travel to Hong Kong again in September 2006, but the court denied her request due to a legal technicality.

The court was due to hear Imelda's travel request on Friday.

Koreans, Other Foreigners Using Dummies to Acquire Baguio Lots

This is a practice which plagues the entire real estate market- I personally have known of cases where marriages between filipinas and foreigners (especially from Hong Kong and America) were arranged simply to allow for investment in property, in one case to exorbitant profit by American company. Why do we have these laws if they are not followed? Do we want to return to american ownership of our country? And of course there are always problems, sometimes serious ones, with these arrangements- if the foreign investor turns out to be a crook, then it is the wife who, as legal owner, holds responsibility. Maybe she or her family make a small amount but is it worth it.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:zDlpnIvK9oEJ:www.tempo.com.ph/news.php%3Faid%3D32668+However,+real+estate+brokers+interviewed+by+TEMPO+said+many+foreigners&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1

BAGUIO CITY – Foreigners, most of them Koreans, are using unwitting Filipinos as dummies to illegally acquire properties in this mountain resort city, changing the face of the real estate business, here.

Under the Constitution, foreigners are allowed only up to 40 percent ownership of a property or business and the remaining 60 percent must be owned by a Filipino or Filipino-based firm.

However, real estate brokers interviewed by TEMPO said many foreigners, particularly Koreans, have devised ways of circumventing Philippine laws on the ownership of businesses and properties by conniving with Filipinos willing to be used as their fronts.

They said some Koreans buy parcels of prime land in the city easily because they offer a higher buying price than the existing zonal value.

Some foreigners have already constructed high-end condominium/office buildings and driven rental rates up, much to the detriment of local businessmen who succumb to such competition in real-estate and hamper the growth of Filipino entrepreneurial ventures.

But what alarms many real estate brokers more, apart from their significant loss in income, is that some Korean financiers are not hiring licensed professionals to ensure that the buildings they construct conform to standards under the National Building Code of the Philippines.

Bureau of Immigration (BI) records show that there are 11,889 Koreans now in the city, making them the largest foreign group here.

With their business acumen coupled with a continued acquisition of prime lots in the city, Koreans may soon likely displace locals and the Filipino-Chinese community as the majority stakeholders of trade and commerce, here. (Dexter A. See)

Corruption, English decline dampen investors’ interest in RP

Maybe my take on the situation differs from the author- as I see it many many foreigners looked at our resources, our beautiful scenic country, and growing economic strength and decided to wait out the restrictive laws on investment. Some liberalization came to be, this is true, but it was not the post-Soviet-style grand opening perhaps some assumed. So now they are disenchanted. Truthfully this is the last thing we need. America owned us not long ago and we are not amenable to being colonized twice.

Corruption, English decline dampen investors’ interest in RP By Cynthia Balana Inquirer Last updated 11:22pm (Mla time) 08/08/2007 MANILA, Philippines -- Corruption and the declining English language proficiency in the Philippines have dampened foreign investors’ interest in the country, according to a US State Department report. In its "2007 Investment Climate Statement - The Philippines," the State Department said the Philippines needed to restore the comparative advantages it once enjoyed to attract more investments and support higher growth. The report said high levels of corruption, efforts to reform the judicial system, weak but improving protection of intellectual property rights, slow pace of energy sector privatization, need for further fiscal reforms to boost depressed spending levels for infrastructure and social services, and political uncertainties were dampening investor interest. "Investment Climate Statements," prepared by the US State Department's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs annually, provide a thorough description of the overseas environments in which US investors must operate. The statements cover general characteristics, such as openness to and treatment of foreign investment, details of procedures for licensing, and similar administrative matters. The statements are updated each year as Chapter 7 in the Country Commercial Guides, a series issued by the US Department of Commerce. On the Philippines, the report said regulatory inconsistency and lack of transparency persisted in many sectors while the regulatory authority remained weak or ambiguous. "Foreign business representatives often cite corruption as a serious impediment to investment. Commercial disputes are often difficult to resolve quickly or satisfactorily in the understaffed and complex judicial system," the report said. In addition, the Philippines has not adequately addressed other key issues like inadequate public infrastructure and potential electric power shortfalls, it said. Questions over the general sanctity of contracts in the Philippines have clouded the investment climate, according to the report. "Investment disputes are infrequent, but when they occur it can take years for parties to reach settlement. Several disputes have concerned water rights, both for use in manufacturing and in power generation," it also said. Trade infrastructure, including Bureau of Customs operations, inter-island shipping and port facilities outside of Manila, urgently needs attention, according to the report. It said infrastructure spending remained subject to corrupt practices in allocation, procurement, contracting, and implementation, with a significant portion of the budget wasted. Also, a number of Philippine government actions in recent years have raised questions about the sanctity of contracts and clouded the investment climate, the report said. Recent high-profile cases include the government-initiated review of contracts with power producers, and court decisions voiding allegedly tainted build-operate-transfer agreements and challenging the extent of foreign participation in mining. The report said that government fiscal conditions, helped recently by new revenue legislation, seemed nonetheless to be improving and that the general economic outlook for 2007 was cautiously optimistic. Due to persistent fiscal constraints stemming from the country's high level of debt and persistent tax leakage, the country has consistently under-invested in infrastructure important to both domestic and foreign investors, such as roads and railroads, utilities, health care, and education, the report said. Foreign investors cite relatively high energy costs in the Philippines compared with neighboring countries, and the potential for power shortages in the mid-term, as areas of concern. On the brighter side, the report lauded the Philippines for taking these challenges seriously, saying the government is liberalizing the power sector through the sale of assets and is supporting alternative energy sources to reduce dependence on imported fuels. Despite these problems, many foreign investors have maintained long-term commitments to the Philippine market and prospered, the report noted. "The Philippines is often receptive to suggestions and criticisms from the private sector," it said. "Philippine observers will watch closely the government's ability to sustain revenue expansion and boost capital expenditures after years of extremely tight budgets," the report said.

Corruption fight in Philippines an uphill battle

Talk about obvious…. those who know me well are aware of my lack of sympathies for Arroyo, but even I can not dismiss this as excuse. It is hard. Maybe you can compare the Philippines to HK in some ways, but we are a large country, and with resources and many more citizens and not so simple to control. How many billions and billions of pesos are being made through the efforts of mafia, Yazuka, and too many more. Too many favors are open for purchase in the government and courts to call a quick halt to these activities.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070803-0446-philippines-corruption-.html

By Karen Lema

REUTERS

August 3, 2007

MANILA – Weak laws, a slow judicial system and public cynicism make it difficult to fight corruption in the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's anti-graft adviser said on Friday.

Tony Kwok, an anti-corruption crusader from Hong Kong credited with stamping out corruption in the Chinese territory, has beefed up the Philippine government's main graft-busting body but admitted that the Office of the Ombudsman lacks teeth.

'Here, lawmakers failed tremendously because the corruption law is terrible and inadequate. They also failed miserably in providing the Office of the Ombudsman investigative powers,' said the 60 year old, who was hired by Arroyo in 2005.

He persuaded the government to more than triple the budget of the Ombudsman from just 300 million pesos ($7 million) in 2003 to around 1 billion today and increase its staff to 200 from 37.

But that is a small team in a corruption-riddled civil service of more than a million employees.

Kwok said that Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption finds it relatively easy to follow a money trail through banks, but the Philippines' Congress has refused to lift bank secrecy laws.

And, despite his efforts, graft is still viewed as one of the Philippines' top problems.

Shady practices hold back foreign direct investment and widespread tax evasion – more than two thirds of self-employed people pay less then they should – has thwarted state efforts to significantly boost tax revenues.

Earlier this year, expatriate business people in Asia viewed the Philippines as the most corrupt country in the region, according to an annual survey by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy.

Kwok is currently overseeing a project, funded by the European Union, to improve government agencies' internal anti-corruption mechanisms.

Over 6,000 signs have been put up in public offices telling staff and public where to go and whom to ask for help to promote transparency and cut red tape.

Kwok has also helped government agencies craft a code of conduct that requires public and private parties entering into contracts to be accountable for their decisions and actions.

But he said Manila must upgrade its anti-corruption laws and speed up the judicial process to really tackle the problem.

Perhaps most important of all is trying to convince people that government agencies, often viewed as the most corrupt offices in the country, are serious about dealing with graft.

'If the people are cynical there is no chance,' he said. 'But Hong Kong had the same problem and the Hong Kong experience shows it can be done.'