New Fighting on Mindanao

[Kuciwalker]

Ok, so what's the solution? IMHO, US-style federalism, one that balances the power of Manila with the power of the provinces. Elect senators regionally instead of nationally, give governors actual executive power rather than having them be mere administrators of Manila's will, reduce national taxes in favor of provincial taxes that the provinces get to keep. That's the place to start.

That may bring a short-term improvement to the local political culture, but long-term it's a terrible solution. Look at what regional legislators have done to the US government

[chequita guevara]

Communist Party of the Philippines

[SlowwHand]

It gave you what you have, dickhead. Sit there in Santa Barbara and whine.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker

That may bring a short-term improvement to the local political culture, but long-term it's a terrible solution. Look at what regional legislators have done to the US government

Wait...you think that US states having some autonomy, including autonomy over their governance and tax revenues, is a bad idea?

Or is that a veiled comment about pork barrel politics? If so, believe me, pork barrel politics is a massive improvement over the Philippine system, in which legislators buy their elections with ready cash (or coupons for fast food -- I'm not joking) and then don't have to give anything back to the electorate.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Comrade Snuggles
Communist Party of the Philippines

Philippine communists are a bunch of bandits and thugs. They're also idiots; if they put half the effort into political organizing that they put into robbery and intimidation, they'd be running the country by next week.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker

Ok, so what's the solution? IMHO, US-style federalism, one that balances the power of Manila with the power of the provinces. Elect senators regionally instead of nationally, give governors actual executive power rather than having them be mere administrators of Manila's will, reduce national taxes in favor of provincial taxes that the provinces get to keep. That's the place to start.

That may bring a short-term improvement to the local political culture, but long-term it's a terrible solution. Look at what regional legislators have done to the US government

Sorry, that's just a bit too funny... they teach you things other than programming at CMU, right???

Regional authority is by far the best thing that could happen in the Phils, it sounds like (I have no idea myself, other than the above posts), and in the US, the problem has been the erosion of the federalist system, with the Federal Government taking over more and more, and sticking its nose in places it shouldn't (thanks to both parties, but more and more thanks to the republican party...) Even pork-barrel is really more of a problem because of this; if more revenue/payments were handled at the state level, they'd actually do appropriate things with their taxes (or at least somewhat more so) since it's spending, directly, their own money, and local people can discuss the merits of it, rather than 98 people who don't give a rat's ass deciding based on which of the other 99 people is willing to vote for the most projects THEY want.

[Arrian]

Somebody explain the "four families" bit to me.

Please.

-Arrian

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Wait...you think that US states having some autonomy, including autonomy over their governance and tax revenues, is a bad idea?

Not at all.

Or is that a veiled comment about pork barrel politics? If so, believe me, pork barrel politics is a massive improvement over the Philippine system, in which legislators buy their elections with ready cash (or coupons for fast food -- I'm not joking) and then don't have to give anything back to the electorate.

That's why I said it would be a short-term improvement but a poor long-term solution. Their corruption isn't an inherent consequence of the structure of their legislature. Pork barrel politics are inevitable given regional representation.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by snoopy369


Sorry, that's just a bit too funny... they teach you things other than programming at CMU, right???

Regional authority is by far the best thing that could happen in the Phils, it sounds like (I have no idea myself, other than the above posts),

It's incongruous to be condescending in one sentence and admitting your own ignorance in the next.

and in the US, the problem has been the erosion of the federalist system, with the Federal Government taking over more and more, and sticking its nose in places it shouldn't (thanks to both parties, but more and more thanks to the republican party...)

Which is why I was only talking about regionally elected legislators. They taught you to read at whatever schools you went to, didn't they? I never said there was any problem with a federal system.

Even pork-barrel is really more of a problem because of this; if more revenue/payments were handled at the state level, they'd actually do appropriate things with their taxes (or at least somewhat more so) since it's spending, directly, their own money, and local people can discuss the merits of it, rather than 98 people who don't give a rat's ass deciding based on which of the other 99 people is willing to vote for the most projects THEY want.

This is both ridiculous and beside the point. When was the last time you actually paid attention to your state legislature? In Virginia, at least, it's full of the same clowns you see in Congress, but it's alright because we have decent governors and the state govt doesn't have that much power.

And the accumulation of power by the national or federal government is also inevitable.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Arrian
Somebody explain the "four families" bit to me.

Please.

-Arrian

Rufus can tell you better than I can but basicly 4 familes own a large percentage of everything there and run the country more often than not.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Arrian
Somebody explain the "four families" bit to me.

Please.

Don't you live near NYC?

[Lancer]

Chicago. You're thinking Chicago. Chicago is chock full of corruption, cronyism, prostitution, pimps and mods.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Arrian
Somebody explain the "four families" bit to me.

Please.

-Arrian

Pretty much what Lancer said. I'm not sure four is still the right number, but the whole country is run by a handful of families, some of whom are also related to each other by marriage (making it one big family). Almost all were Marcos cronies who conveniently became committed to reform once the writing was on the wall for Marcos in the 80s; they joined in the "People Power" revolution in the 80s and then, once in power, proceeded to rob the people blind. Cori Aquino, for example -- widow of the sainted Benino Aquino (who was assassinated by Marcos' security forces) who became the first post-Marcos president of the Phils -- is also a member of the Cojuangco family, a family that owns huge amounts of land in the province of Pampangas and runs their plantations as feudal fiefdoms and ruthlessly cut down anyone who challenges their power (being a labor organizer in Pampangas is one of the Philippines' most deadly professions).

So, basically, these handful of families do whatever they like. The only potential check on their power are the couple of Chinese-Filipino families (especially the Tans and the Yaps) who are even richer and more powerful, but who don't participate directly in electoral politics.

All of which is to say that the place is well and truly f*cked, which is a shame because, unlike a lot of countries with the same kind of structural problems, the Phils actually had a shot at being better once upon a time.

[Arrian]

Sad.

-Arrian

[OzzyKP]

Zkribbler

Better thread title: MILF Aggressors Attack Philippines.

In pre-dawn attacks, several hundred rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) raided the towns of Kauswagan, Maigo and Kolambugan, officials said, as well as outlying villages.