Too bad prudence and due process weren't part of the mix during the deal signing.
Back in February, when we first reported on these 19 agreements, little had been released in the way of details, but, going by what was being said about the land involved, the big problems were clear enough to see--- the potential agrarian conflict, the diversion of food to energy production, and the fact that the government was brokering deals for private corporations and binding several of its departments into certain obligations like land allocation. Now more details have come out into the open, and things look even worse. A lawyers' group who looked into these 19 agreements concluded that they violate several provisions of the Philippine Constitution. Under the Philippine law, no corporation or group can lease more than 1,000 hectares in the country. In these 19 agreements, 1.24 million hectares are going to be leased to Chinese corporations for 25 years, renewable for another 25!
And the scandal runs deeper than the agricultural projects. It's also connected to a politically-explosive scandal involving a couple of department secretaries and officials, and no other than First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, over an anomalous National Broaband Network deal with (yet again) another Chinese company, Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company Limited (ZTE). (Get your ZTE protest ringtone here.)
So the public furor that has erupted over the last seven months over what are now known as the “anomalous agreements” may be only the beginning, especially since the Department of Agriculture does not seem to have any plan of really backing down. Note that the operative word used in this recent decision is “suspend”. In the words of Agricultural Secretary Yap, “It is in the best interest of all parties to suspend their implementation and to go into deeper consultation in order to come up with an acceptable mechanism.” So a sell-job is now likely in the works.
But the word on the streets is that people aren't interested in a suspension of the deals; they want the government to back off completely.
As for China, it might be keeping its silence on the matter, preferring to continue working behind closed doors, but more and more people are talking about the consequences of its expanding international presence. On September 25, the leaders of the KMP (Peasant Movement of the Philippines), Pamalakaya (National Federation of Fisherfolk Organizations), Amihan (National Federation of Peasant Women) and the Union of Agricultural Workers tried to deliver a letter to Chinese consulate officials protesting China's behind-the-scenes efforts to push the deals through but were barred from entering the building. The letter said China's expression of support for the projects was "totally undiplomatic, unethical and contrary to national and public interest of the Filipino people" and called the actions of the Chinese government "tantamount to condoning bribery, corruption and greed."
Photo: Social movements trying to deliver letter to Chinese Consul officials