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Social Unrest in the Philippines, the Beginning?

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posted on Aug, 19 2013 @ 01:11 PM
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Hello all, the pic above is whom the media branded as the scapegoat, only to be backfired on the national politicians and many others (it's quite mixed up.)

The reason? Money (as usual), combined with corruption (surprise.) This is a huge whistleblower event at the same time as a devastating monsoon/typhoon is flooding most places in the Philippines, as usual... sadly


Alright, so for a back story we have a woman on center stage named Janet Lim-Napolen (JLN) apparently kidnapped and held hostage a relative named Benhur Luy for whatever family fighting/fallout. The most probable reason for the detainment? Because he is a signatory and insider on a "pork barrel" scam.

To give you an understanding here, there are 24 senators for the country and 294 congressman (senate/house). Recently, this Benhur Luy blew the whistle on a scam involving politicians and private NGO companies, where the tax-payers money would be siphoned off into dummy NGO companies, and the money would then be divided between the dummy NGO company representatives, the politicians, and other government agencies involved in the coverup. If any money went to the designated project, maybe 20% would show up. See [here] for insanity on this scam from a supposed insider.

What happened? Billions of pesos (hundreds of millions USD) of taxpayer money was siphoned off through dummy NGO corporations over many years while nothing was done about it, surprise. There are at least 9 senators involved in this operation and countless congressmen/representatives. This is just one of these kinds of scams that are known, possibly the largest so far.

To bring it forward now, this social unrest issue is gaining serious traction, and at a bad time for the all so silent polticians, unless they're defending themselves and backtracking etc. The reason? The tropical storm / monsoon that is flooding most everywhere.

Here are some examples:





This kind of flooding has been getting worse every year, yet nothing is being done because the money for these drainage / infrastructure projects is being stolen by countless politicians and their relatives and cronies.

You can read some of the negative sentiments in recent news [here], [here], [here], and many other places on this subject.

Needless to say, there has been a LOT of people questioning the need to pay their taxes when they now know their taxes are going directly to the pockets of politicians. There has been a lot of speculation and countless cases of inference with photos of mansions/cars/yachts, etc., but nothing substantial until the whistle was blown. Now the people are calling the government on their BS, which is still ignoring the pork barrel fund scam...

While the city is flooded. This tropical storm Trami/Maring comes at a particularly bad time for politicians because they can no longer cover for years of stealing. The city is underwater, and the people who are connected online are pissed and texting/calling/internet (I don't know if this news has hit print yet.) If it hits print, the rest of the population may decide to not pay taxes if they know it's being stolen.

The fund being robbed is the "PDAF" fund, known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund. There are many uses for this fund, but it is the one now known as being very abused (I don't doubt many more are abused as well.)

So, this is where the Philippines is at now, if it goes anywhere. There is a protest marked for Aug 26, but who knows what that will accomplish.

I think the fuse has been lit, and the people in the Philippines are tired of the lies, corruption, and tireless status quo.

Meanwhile, the president "Pnoy" Aquino, of a family dynasty (unconstitutional but not illegal), has the following to offer the nation, but note the comments, and the president has been very silent since July..

Noy wants exhaustive probe on pork scam

What are your thoughts ATS? What would your country do if it was willfully admitted on mainstream press that politicians regularly setup solutions to steal and pocket the taxpayer money?



posted on Aug, 19 2013 @ 01:40 PM
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Thanks for that well-written, well-thought, and well-explained state of your nation.


If we do see protests and/or rioting there it bodes not well for any of us. Once we see social unrest outside of the ME, then it would appear a domino effect is taking place.

I hope those that are stealing from you--to the point of letting you be flooded--get brought to justice!



posted on Aug, 19 2013 @ 02:26 PM
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Originally posted by The GUT
Thanks for that well-written, well-thought, and well-explained state of your nation.


If we do see protests and/or rioting there it bodes not well for any of us. Once we see social unrest outside of the ME, then it would appear a domino effect is taking place.

I hope those that are stealing from you--to the point of letting you be flooded--get brought to justice!




Thanks for that. I could have spent a lot more time and made it much more into a storyline.. but I'm not getting paid for that


I welcome any questions on the subject and situation which is at the moment a bit moot compared to the ongoing storm and flooding/rain/wind issue that most of the nation are affected by.

Let's see what the people think as this news spreads to less informed areas as the floodwaters go down. I think this could be a situation of people "online" spreading the word to the majority of the population "offline."



posted on Aug, 20 2013 @ 11:57 AM
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Unfortunately social unrest has been going on for decades there.

Politics is just a way to amass wealth there. Positions are passed down to family members. Call me a pessimist, but corruption is so entrenched there, combined with a weak central govt that nothing will ever change.

It's a beautiful country, just hamstrung by corruption and ineffectual govt. I've lived there part time for years with the requisite "house and lot" and pig farm
It's probably going to be my final retirement destination.



posted on Aug, 20 2013 @ 01:21 PM
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Originally posted by bg_socalif
Unfortunately social unrest has been going on for decades there.

Politics is just a way to amass wealth there. Positions are passed down to family members. Call me a pessimist, but corruption is so entrenched there, combined with a weak central govt that nothing will ever change.

It's a beautiful country, just hamstrung by corruption and ineffectual govt. I've lived there part time for years with the requisite "house and lot" and pig farm
It's probably going to be my final retirement destination.


I agree social unrest has been going on for decades, but now this is a bit different. For decades people have suspected politicians of outright stealing money, but had no real evidence to prove it. Now with the whistleblowers and combined with the COA (Special Audits Office Report No. 2012-03 - Commission on Audit -- shows the amount of expenses (millions of pesos and dollars) that are either unaccounted for, have unexplained excuses, and so many countless kinds of incompetence that it seems government money is like monopoly money to these politicians. They plaster taxpayer money on friends and relatives, meanwhile the livelihood of the taxpayers goes to a flooded quagmire, again.

You're right also on family dynasties, another huge problem here. They are constitutionally illegal, but there is no law to enforce that part of the constitution. The country is beautiful, yes, but is also being systematically destroyed in many areas in the name of "progress", making money, and over "civilized" activities.



posted on Aug, 20 2013 @ 02:22 PM
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Out of curiosity, what are the gun laws like over there? This sort of thing has alot to do with how far things will go or how bad it can be for the people. Are they disarmed for the most part?

I think its pretty apparent that ALL governments do what they want and try their best to control their people. You would think we would all wake up one day.



posted on Aug, 20 2013 @ 02:37 PM
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reply to post by Philippines
 


Nice article. Is your country not also on the verge of civil war or still fighting rebels slash drug dealers?

The Bot



posted on Aug, 20 2013 @ 03:17 PM
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Originally posted by Wiz4769
Out of curiosity, what are the gun laws like over there? This sort of thing has alot to do with how far things will go or how bad it can be for the people. Are they disarmed for the most part?

I think its pretty apparent that ALL governments do what they want and try their best to control their people. You would think we would all wake up one day.


As for gun laws, it's a bit like the wild west. If you are by blood from the country, you can own/possess a gun. There may be some questions, but as a local it's usually not a problem. If you're not from the country it could be a problem if you're alone. Otherwise maybe a local sticks his/her neck out for you and claims the weapon as their own. It's not quite Mexico, but still a bit wild. Some foreigners do make it too wild..

If your blood is Filipino, you can own a gun no problem..



posted on Aug, 20 2013 @ 03:21 PM
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Originally posted by dlbott
reply to post by Philippines
 


Nice article. Is your country not also on the verge of civil war or still fighting rebels slash drug dealers?

The Bot


Thanks for the answer. My "country" is technically Texas, so in a way it has always been fighting outsiders of their way of life.. Like the native Americans before them.

As for your drug dealing and rebel accusations, I think that is still uncensored in the Texas-Mexico border towns - it's happening in the US for decades



posted on Aug, 21 2013 @ 06:12 AM
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And now a new article appears amidst the ongoing flooding, which is probably these worst flooding in history for Manila, so far...


Inquirer.net - ‘Million people march’ vs pork spreads like Arab Spring


A social media initiative calling for a “million people march to Luneta” to demand the scrapping of the lawmakers’ pork barrel is shaping up as a sort of an Arab Spring spreading across the Philippine archipelago—from Baguio in the north to Davao in the south.

Just like the Facebook post that ignited the Luneta event scheduled on Aug. 26 at 9 a.m. in Manila, netizens urged outraged Filipinos to gather in town squares and plazas in a show of force to put an end to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of senators and congressmen amid allegations billions of pesos intended to ease rural poverty had instead gone to ghost projects and kickbacks.


I wonder what will happen, but I surely won't be there, because the government sent a clear message to foreigners not to protest: get deported and banned from the country.

Rappler - Dutch who made SONA cop cry to be deported Aug 7
edit on 21-8-2013 by Philippines because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 23 2013 @ 02:12 PM
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Million People March marches on

It's on. Despite the president of the Philippines who is, as usual, part of a political family dynasty -- who has tried to first ignore, then rearrange, and now abolish the "pork barrel" fund, even now to the point of excluding NGOs to continue to exist... The march continues.

I think this coming 26th, Monday, could be interesting in Manila, because the Million people marches on, despite the flood, or perhaps in spite of having to live with flooded conditions while being forced to pay taxes that get stolen by politicians.



posted on Aug, 23 2013 @ 02:18 PM
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Originally posted by Philippines

Originally posted by dlbott
reply to post by Philippines
 


Nice article. Is your country not also on the verge of civil war or still fighting rebels slash drug dealers?

The Bot


Thanks for the answer. My "country" is technically Texas, so in a way it has always been fighting outsiders of their way of life.. Like the native Americans before them.

As for your drug dealing and rebel accusations, I think that is still uncensored in the Texas-Mexico border towns - it's happening in the US for decades


To answer your question a different way..

1. Civil war, no. I don't know of any civil war in this country ever happening.

2. Fighting rebels / drug dealers, you would have to be more specific on who exactly rebels are, and drug dealers. There are many facets to this, none are happy

However, most places are still a bit free, and living off the land and traditional culture works well. There are no police, no cell phone signal in most places, and electricity is relatively recent. The people still live long and are able to pass their knowledge to their grandchildren to continue their way of life. It sounds crazy I know. No paper, taxes, government etc.







 
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