China's infiltration of the Philippines

The Inquirer has an editorial about how PLA (China's military) is sending it's members here to work as ordinary workers ("kitchen helper", a job that could be done by a local, but hey who's watching?). And not just one PLA member, but probably a few thousand, and a possible training center for them here to keep up their military skills?

Can you say "fifth column" children.

and that is only the tip of the story.

Let's start with POGOs.

so what are POGOs? on line gambling. Illegal in China, but legal here.

from the Inquirer;

The presence of Pogos has spawned an ever-growing list of economic and social ills—flouting immigration, labor and taxation laws; prostitution, crime, the spike in real estate prices, disrupting the peace and order in residential areas; money laundering—that many see as noncommensurate to the supposed billions earned from these gambling operations banned in China yet officially sanctioned by this government.

so what's the problem? 

But the possibility of a sinister military agenda by a foreign government with hostile intentions in the West Philippine Sea takes the cake. If true, the presence of a Chinese “fifth column’’ poses extreme danger to the country’s national security and should not be taken lightly.

Read the whole thing.

more HERE about China's bid to take over the Philippines.

the "great game" between China and the USA is complicated by "human rights" types who look the other way at Uighar and Rohingye oppression but are anti Duterte, and have only increased his anti American stance.

(and then there are those rumors of suspected CIA fronts that are funding opposition newspapers)? 

The human rights types count every murder as part of the drug war (they are not: A lot of the murders aren't the cops killing criminals: many murders are by criminals, or by druggies killing family members when high, or by politicians offing their rivals, or "pay back" murders ).

according to Strategypage, it is irritation with these "human rights" types that has made Duterte cancel the "visiting forces" agreement with the US military.

but it is precisely this policy that has made the average Filipino safer and has kept Duterte's popularity so high.

For the people most affected by the war on drugs, there is approval. Filipinos feel safer and more confident about their future. The national crime rate is 3.3 percent less than a year ago and is apparently continuing to decline...

Recent surveys have shown fewer Filipinos are victims of crime in general and most attribute this to the anti-drug operations. 

And the "drug war" (5700 killed since 2016) has prevented the Philippines from becoming a narco state like Mexico (where there were 35000 murders last year alone) , and slowed the ability for drug gangs to launder money and send drugs all over the world: distributing Meth and heroin from the "golden triangle" and fentanyl etc. from China.

As to the "POGOs": The overseas gambling that was supposed to benefit the Philippines with jobs. Except they are hiring Chinese citizens while corrupting society (not that the Philippines needs lessons in this). And this is one way they are able to infiltrate military personnel into the Philippines, and of course the POGOs are a front for those wanting to launder money. LINK LINK thanks to weak laws against money laundering here.

Esquire magazine on the "POGOs" in the Philippines.

Sigh.

However, in the provinces, people hate the Chinese, including the part Chinese families who have long run the economy, making it hard for locals to start successful businesses, meaning ten percent of our population work overseas, either as immigrants or as temporary workers.

The Wuhan virus is a worry here (but hey,  last year we had over 1000 die and 200 thousand cases of Dengue)

And complicating matters: right now the hot season is here, meaning elders with high blood pressure will be dying at a higher rate).

the answer is, of course, air conditioners (most in the middle class have them) and fans (which even the poor have now) ... but since we have an electricity shortage (worsened because of low water levels in the hydro electric dams in the hot/dry season i.e. "tag init" of March/April/ May) this means rolling brownouts.

Luckily we have a generator (as do most middle class families).

Bill Clinton famously said about politics: It's the economy, stupid.

Which explains why China's investments are welcome, because the alternative is to go back to the good old days of hunger, hard back breaking work, and poverty.

so if the corona virus epidemic means we have to work from home, we're fine. (except that the rice doesn't plant itself. On the other hand, the wuhan flu is probably less likely to spread outdoors in the sunlight).

so, aside from Dengue Fever, Volcanoes, corruption, a Chinese fifth column, and the hot weather, we now have to worry about dying of Corona virus.

ah: Life in a tropical paradise: it's wonderful (as long as the air conditioner works).

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update: Manila is in lockdown, but our schools are still open... for now.

Joy has a trade fair there starting tomorrow, but I suspect no one will be in the malls so it may be canceled.