ONE of the biggest—and scariest, if one considers the stakeholders—reports in yesterday’s papers was the one about the simultaneous attacks staged by some 300 New People’s Army (NPA) rebels—that’s the size of a battalion—on three mines operating in Claver, Surigao del Norte, killing three security guards.
Sad to say, but those daring attacks wiped out the gains President Aquino may have made during his recent visits to the United States, China and Japan. The raided firms are subsidiaries of Nickel Asia, the country’s largest nickel-mining firm, and the attacks highlighted the helplessness of our police and military organizations against the rebels who, according to reports, are no longer ideologues but plain bandits out to bilk big companies operating in areas they control and which cannot be penetrated by our law-enforcement agents.
So what happens now to the ringing assurances of the President during those visits where he told prospective investors of the emergence of a “new” Philippines that can take care of its new investors? The attacks may also prompt those already investing here to have second thoughts about the security of their investment. What is promptly needed now is for the administration to take steps to address the problem if it is to restore public confidence that it can deliver on its promises. The attacks highlighted the capability of the rebels, downgraded in recent statements of military authorities, to do damage to the country. The rebels even reportedly set up barricades as they went about destroying equipment and putting ablaze docked barges with mined nickel ore. Indeed, in one fell swoop, the rebels were able to put the message across that they are still a force to reckon with, although government estimates of their strength put their number at now just 5,000.
One curious thing about the attacks was the reason being bandied about by the rebels that they staged the raid because of “environmental issues” they wanted to deal with. The National Democratic Front (NDF) issued a warning that more attacks would be staged against companies violating its “environmental policies.” Reports quoted one Jorge Madlos, NDF Mindanao spokesman, as having said the raids were not prompted by money but by the NPA’s enforcement of policies to protect the environment.
That warning, noble as it sounds, will not sit well with the foreign investment community which only wants to put their money in projects that would also allow them to recoup their investments. Sadly, the daring NPA attack could put in jeopardy the very essence of the foreign trips of the President: drum up investments in the hope of reviving the economy. Now he may have to travel once more to assure the foreign investors that the attacks on Nickel Asia were just an isolated case. Tall order.
ShamSur and the Ad Congress
Our colleague, Dean de la Paz, first coined the term ShamSur which so aptly describes the state of affairs at CamSur, site of the forthcoming Ad Congress, that it wouldn’t surprise us if the arrival of delegates to the gathering would be in trickles, not in droves, as its barkers keep, well, barking. There is so much ranting and raving between father and son—the political lords of that province—which is actually an unheard-of phenomenon in Philippine family relations—and this unpleasantness is definitely hurting the tourist industry there and may, in fact give people the reason to adopt Mr. de La Paz’s coinage as the province’s moniker.
The latest we heard is that with the touted attractions in the province that are being trumpeted by the congress organizers slowly but surely being negated by the politics of hatred espoused by the provincial leaders, the P18,500 enlistment fee for prospective delegates is suddenly being viewed as exhorbitant. We hope the organizers can use their influence to ask the politicians there to observe a moratorium so the congress can achieve its goals. But they must do it fast. Time’s running out on them.
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