The enemy within

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
9/26/2007



There’s been frenzy anti-China vitriol due to the ZTE scandal - a well deserved black eye for Chinese state companies dealing with the most corrupt Gloria government. One columnist dubbed them “the yellow peril”; but is that sin exclusive to the ZTE? In my last column, I showed the tens of billions of dollars fleeced from this country by the Western electricity IPPs (Independent Power Producers) in contracts signed with FVR and Gloria – larceny a thousand times larger than the ZTE; shall we not denounce this? But I won’t blame the foreigners; they’re just pursuing their interest. The enemy of this nation is within – the corrupt ruling political-economic elite.

It’s not just the politicians: In the attempted Neri “kidnap”, Gloria’s excuse to compel Neri to join her is a religious “retreat” organized by Ayala Foundation – the Ayalas danced at the Edsa Shrine to celebrate the ouster of President Estrada who dared stop “sovereign guarantees” upon which foreign companies bank on for riskless, equity-free “investment”, guaranteed with taxpayers money – which multi-lateral or foreign national banks hold as perpetual debt of the country. A text to us lamented: “And these Ayalas now seem to be accessories to the crime… Even at the cost of the country’s soul?” Virginia, dear, it’s not just the Ayalas but the entire old financial elite are soul-stealing ghouls.

Since 1986 the local banking elite have been sucking this country dry: Leftists accuse Marcos of impoverishing the country with $ 24-B or so foreign debt accumulated over twenty years, but what they omit is Cory Aquino’s domestic debt from P P54-B when Marcos left to P 400-B after just six years – all contracted from the local banking and finance elite. That’s why they put up Ninoy Aquino’s statue at Ayala Avenue in praise of the huge manna the Makati finance community got from Edsa Uno. Note how friendly the financial community is with FVR and Gloria, these are the enemy within conspiring to perpetuate their national plunder.

Another text on the Neri case: “CBCP – your silence is deafening…” Indeed, the CBCP is invariably strikes a discordant note to the public’s clamor against Gloria’s corruption and seems to desire more the diversion of the issue to Estrada’s already debunked plunder charges. The CBCP has not said a word about the plunder in the energy and debt sector, seemingly happen to see the country plunge deeper into poverty, penury and population explosion that the blessed poor may multiply and increase the flock. Someday, like China, the Archbishops here must be elected by the people and not appointed from the tribute collecting Vatican.

Finally, the local old elite who run businesses imbued with public interest as business solely for their profit – like the media moguls who treat their controlled newspapers and broadcast outlets as weapons of mass distraction. Take that upper fold headline of the Inquirer about Erap’s pardon, a minor issue Gloria is using to distract from the big corruption cases against her, and the P 1-B Puno says Erap can keep with a pardon; that headline was to prejudice Erap. There is no finality in the kangaroo court conviction and the Inquirer knows this, but its editorial keeps insisting on criminal “guilt” when the case is clearly political; the people show in surveys they know better than the Inquirer.

The ABS-CBN owners who keep the real IPP-PPA and Meralco plunders out and outside of focus, the Inquirer owners are getting back at Estrada for inquiring into the Mile Long deal that then executive secretary Joker Arroyo finagled for them. These media moguls sabotage the information flow, denying the public the most essential facts and analyses that would illuminate the causes of the worsening national crisis. Only now, in the last row, does the corrupt government factotum come in, including those in the military and police who follow the example of the corrupt elite and crave their lifestyles).

Know thy enemies – and they are not the foreign abusers who would never get the chance if the greedy local conspirators are not there to welcome them in. These are the old elite like the Ayalas, Prietos and Lopezes, to the pygmy-wedded-to-bankrupt-Tuazon elite to the caddy turned would be-elite Abalos, in cahoots with foreign exploiters to plunder this country’s taxpayers. For this country to progress, the domestic predators must be expunged from their positions of power and a new elite must arise - with frugal lifestyle, dedicated to the welfare and national interest of the people of this country –and take charge, steering us towards a debt-free, independent, self-reliant and modern status.

We are aware (as Gloria is, that’s why Esperon’s tanks at on the streets) that military officers with national conscience are on the move. They should not be deterred by a fear of “lack of a program of governance” because it is there since Rizal, Mabini and Recto’s times – and most recently, as outlined in the SundalongTagapagtanggol website: just love the country and the people, and defend the national patrimony. There is more than enough wealth for the needs of this nation, but there’ll never be enough for the greed of even a few. Erratum: last column – R.P. (not just Meralco rates) overall Asia’s highest power rates: industrial $0.167/kWh, Korea $ 0.67, Japan $ 0.112; residential rates third highest $ 0.174/kWh.
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