>from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Philippines, Suu kyi Burma >Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 > > Via: Sydney Morning Herald . August 26, 2000 > >"Ring-in at VIP line-up shows rampant cronyism" > By Konrad Muller in Manila >--------------------------------------------------- > >During a recent visit to the Pentagon, as the United States Secretary >of Defence, Mr William Cohen, accorded President Joseph Estrada state >honours, a Filipino-Chinese tobacco, beer, airline and banking >magnate was photographed oddly standing in a line-up of Philippine >Cabinet officials and congressional leaders. > >To critics of the Philippine Government it was not merely a gauche >breach of protocol but a telling tableau. > >"Cronyism has grown into a monster that can no longer be controlled," >said Amando Doronila, a veteran commentator and Estrada critic. > >"The Lucio Tan episode provided vivid evidence of Philippine cronyism >played out on the Washington stage." > >It was not the first time the tycoon at the heart of the >Pentagon contretemps had been closely associated with Mr Estrada on a >foreign trip. > >In May, on a state visit to China, massive colour posters of Mr >Estrada were reportedly plastered on the facade of Mr Tan's 36-storey >Bank Centre in the city of Xiamen, Fujian province, as a string >orchestra welcomed the Philippine President with classical and >Filipino songs. > >At his inauguration in June 1998, Mr Estrada pledged "no relatives, >no friends, no compadres [godfathers]". > >He has since rejected persistent accusations that cronyism is >flourishing once more in the Philippines. > >Mr Tan is not just any entrepreneur; neither is he the sole >presidential friend to attract allegations of influence peddling, >although he does fuel particular heat. > >On the latest Forbes magazine roll-call of the world's top 200 >billionaires, he appears with a fortune of $US2.1 billion ($3.67 >billion) and is the wealthiest man in the Philippines. > >He arrived from Fujian as a boy, and his immigrant rags-to-riches >career, starting as a caretaker, demonstrates remarkable tenacity and >acumen. Yet pages from the past also help explain why he inspires >such controversy. > >After the late president Ferdinand Marcos was driven into Hawaiian >exile, a case was filed in 1987 against Mr Tan, among others, seeking >the "reconveyance" of allegedly ill-gotten wealth. It was >specifically claimed he had paid the dictator "sums of money" from >1980 to 1986 in exchange for "privileges and concessions". > >"We deny that and there is no proof, no evidence," responds his >lawyer, Estilito Mendoza, who was a justice secretary under Marcos >and is still one of Manila's top corporate lawyers. > >Thirteen years later the case, astonishingly yet to move to pre- >trial, is crawling in Dickensian fashion on the files of the anti- >graft court of the Philippines. > >The alleged Marcos partner is said to have donated very generously to >Mr Estrada's 1998 election campaign. > >"This is nothing new," said Sheila Coronel, head of the Philippine >Centre for Investigative Journalism. "The conventional wisdom is that >a campaign contribution is an investment that guarantees access and >favourable treatment. > >"Lucio Tan just happens to play this role on a far grander scale than >any other Chinese-Filipino businessman before." > >She suggests Mr Tan's contribution to the Estrada electoral stockpile >was perhaps as high as 1.5 billion pesos ($58 million). > >Early controversy centred on a 25 billion peso tax evasion suit >filed against Mr Tan's Fortune Tobacco Corporation by the government >of president Fidel Ramos. > >After Mr Estrada was elected in 1998 the tax case was dropped for >lack of evidence by the new Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Mr >Estrada's first justice secretary initiated a revival of the case but >has since been sacked. > >Liwayway Chato was commissioner under Mr Ramos. She insists the >cigarette maker committed criminal fraud from 1990 to 1992 by selling >to dummy corporations and fictitious individuals, which Mr Tan's >lawyer denies. > >Ms Chato said: "With such blatant disregard for the evidence, it's >very clear this administration is saying you can violate the law so >long as I kno w you. I don't know what favours the President is >getting, but if it's mere friendship, wow." > >She is being sued for 290 million pesos in damages over a separate >tax case won by Mr Tan. However, it is the Estrada Government's >policy towards the Tan-owned Philippine Airlines (PAL), especially >the scrapping of an air agreement with Taiwan, that has kindled the >deepest discord. > >Last October flights were severed, amid accusations that Taiwanese >carriers had breached the agreement by dumping prices and poaching >PAL's trans-Pacific trade. > >In July 1998, fresh from a costly refleeting exercise, the oldest >airline in Asia, a symbol of Philippine national pride, was badly >burnt by the Asian financial meltdown. It still has debts of $US2 >billion, and is only now returning to profit. > >Rejecting allegations of protectionism, government officials have >argued that keeping the privately owned flag carrier alive is >strategic to the economy. > >Yet foreign chambers of commerce said in May: "The suspension of >the Philippine-Taiwan air agreement is causing severe injury to the >Philippines. We do not believe the interest of an airline is >identical with the national interest." > >Political scientist Alex Magno said: "What strikes most people is >Estrada has not intervened for the larger good. In fact, he has >proclaimed Lucio Tan a hero of the economy." > >Others are more unforgiving. > >Conrado de Quiros, a columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, >said it was obvious from all the businesses Tan had had during >Marcos's martial law and now that the tycoon could not operate in >conditions of competition. > >"Rent-seeking is the only environment he knows and understands." > >PAL has also been entangled in the latest fracas, over Mr Tan's >acquisition last month of the Government's 30 per cent stake in >Philippine National Bank (PNB). > >He now controls 76 per cent of an ailing bank (non-performing loans >are 36 per cent) that is a major creditor of his embattled airline. > >Templeton Emerging Markets, a foreign investment fund and PNB >minority shareholder, this month accused the Philippine Government of >disregarding "shareholders' rights, good corporate governance and >proper banking supervision". It has warned of conflict of interest >and crony capitalism. > >The World Bank country director for the Philippines, Vinay Bhargava >says: "We have received assurances the transaction was in compliance >with the law." > >Analysts said concerns over cronyism in general - and Muslim >insurgency in the country's south and a splutter of soft economic >data - had shaken market confidence in the Philippines. > >Now in limbo, the Manila bourse has slid 30 per cent since January, >and the peso has crumpled 10 per cent before the US dollar. GDP >growth is widely tipped to fall below the Government's target of 4 >per cent for the year. Foreign direct investment fell a third from >1998 to 1999. > >Ripples of disquiet are also being sent through the country's >900,000-strong Chinese community. Most, like Mr Tan, trace their >roots to Fujian. > >The head of a Chinese heritage foundation, Tessie Ang-See, said Mr >Tan's conspicuous association with Mr Estrada offended mainstream >Filipino sensibilities. > >"In this country, at all times, businessmen have exploited >connections with government," she said. "Yet there is a silent code >of conduct for the likes of Lucio Tan: you must be low profile, you >must be docile, and you must be open-handed as a Chinese >businessman." > >Though the Philippines has no modern history of Jakarta-style anti- >Chinese pogroms, Ms Ang-See says the community is unsettled by the >animus Mr Tan arouses. She recalls a wave of kidnappings of Chinese >businessmen in the early 1990s attracting little public opprobrium. > >Mr Tan's defenders also say he is a victim of his ethnicity. They see >a vilification campaign by the country's old Spanish mestizo elite >against a Chinese parvenu. > >(JC..Of course the popularity of Estrada is waning with his daily >bouts of nepotism. But this is offset by his loyalty to the US >Security demands, the large US bases that are within reach of China >Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaya and Burma -most of which do not fit >the US description of "democacy". This means allowing US corporations >to take over their industries and resources, ignoring education and >health for the peoples and supporting US in all World affairs. They >must immediately buy masses of weapons, train armies willing to die >for Uncle Sam -who carries out this democratic program everywhere >else. > What we need is Communist information -the details. > >So we come to Burma -where the indigenous are being pursued and >decimated into finality -another US democratic rule, 'Get rid of the >indigenous. US Oil is there in force, US School of Assassins trains >its Generals and Special forces -as in Indonesia. The US still >controls the Golden Heroin Triangle, the sales from which in US and >elsewhere help to pay the costs of the CIA interventions. (The war in >Colombia is an annexation -nothing to do with over-supplied drugs.) > > And then we come to Burma's real democratically elected Aung San >Suu Kyi and the way oily Uncle Sam makes sure she will never replace >the Generals -who run a tight terrorist ship. > > ******* > > Via-Sydney Morning Herald . August 26, 2000 > >"Suu Kyi blocked as she tries to leave city" > By Craig Skehan, Herald Correspondent in Bangkok >-------------------------------------------------------- > >Aung San Suu Kyi has confronted Burma's military regime in an attempt >to secure her right to freedom of movement and was last night >involved in a tense stand-off in a dormitory suburb on the outskirts >of the national capital. > >Diplomats said that after spending Thursday night in a car with >supporters, Ms Suu Kyi was being guarded by "security men" from her >National League for Democracy (NLD). > >Two years ago Ms Suu Kyi was involved in a 13-day stand-off on a >country bridge outside Rangoon. She was trying to visit MPs elected >in 1990 to a Parliament never allowed to sit. > >This time she was attempting to reorganise the NLD youth wing in >towns in order to combat concerted efforts by the regime to stymie >political opposition to repressive military rule. > >The NLD last month announced its intention to pursue a civil action >against the military regime to secure an injunction against efforts >to dismantle divisional and township branches of the party. > >The NLD said in a statement yesterday that the group, including the >party's vice-chairman, U Tin Oo, had been "unfairly, lawlessly and >forcibly" stopped at Dala on their way to nearby Twante, about 40 >kilometres south-west of Rangoon. > >"We have been informed that they have run out of food and water >supplies, hence the NLD respectfully requests the NLD members in Dala >as well as people from the town and nearby villages to supply some >water and food for them," the party said. > >Mr Eddy Buri, of the National Council for the Union of Burma, said >the treatment of Ms Suu Kyi was deplorable. > >"The NLD is a legally constituted political party, and Suu Kyi is not >a criminal. She has the right to engage in political activities, but >that right is being abused." > >The Government said in a statement that Ms Suu Kyi was stopped in >Dala, across the Rangoon River from the city, because her three- >vehicle convoy did not have "proper security arrangements". > >"Due to threats of violence by armed insurgent separatist forces, >travel by prominent persons to some parts of the country is at >present inadvisable," the Government said. > >However, Mr Buri said he had never heard of any insurgent activity in >or near Dala. "There is no threat at all. That is just an excuse." > >Mr Buri said it was ironic that Ms Suu Kyi's rights were being denied >after the Australian Government had organised a series of human >rights seminars for Burmese officials in Rangoon. The Foreign >Minister, Mr Downer, said last night: "I have a choice: I can >do nothing and achieve nothing, or I can try to improve human rights >in Burma. I couldn't, with a clear conscience, turn my back on the >Burmese people and do nothing." JC > > > _______________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________
