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| Drilon slams military’s P11.5B golf course budget | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 24 2011, 02:25 PM (1,440 Views) | |
| Tsukiyomi | Aug 31 2011, 11:37 PM Post #21 |
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You must have outside agencies conduct blind audits whose findings are made available to the civilian leadership as well. This would go so far as to having a firm from a country like Singapore conduct the audit. I only say this as they have a low corruptibility problem. If we actually have a accounting firm with an unquestioned reputation then use them. |
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| matrix | Sep 7 2011, 01:04 AM Post #22 |
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AFP to defend Spratlys with golf courses? EFREN L. DANAO THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has P45-billion worth of golf courses and only P5 billion for its modernization program. “Can we defend Spratlys with the golf courses? Can we assert our right over the Spratlys because we have five golf courses?” Sen. Franklin Drilon asked rhetorically. Drilon, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance was referring to the islands claimed in whole or in part by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. It is believed that under the sea surrounding the Spratlys are some 200 billion barrels of oil, natural gas, minerals and polymetals such as gold, silver, iron and nickel. Flights of Chinese war planes over the Kalayaan Group of Islands, which is claimed by the Philippines, and Chinese threats to Filipino fishermen have renewed calls for the modernization of the AFP. And how will the AFP fight any invading plane? Aim golf balls at the aircraft? Fore! The most modern warship of the Philippine Navy was dispatched to protect our territory. Unfortunately, the ship took one week to reach Kalayaan and by then, the intruders had already left. Oh well, we should not be expecting too much from a ship that is of World War 2 vintage. At the latest meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, President Benigno Aquino 3rd commendably included the AFP modernization among the 23 bills he had certified as urgent. But, is P5 billion enough? This amount is no different from that contained in the 201l budget for the same purpose. Some P300 billion was raised for the AFP modernization during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos when the Bases Conversion Development Authority was organized and Ft. Bonifacio was privatized. Yet, in the last 15 years, only P30 billion of the P300 billion has been released. The bulk of the modernization fund could no longer be traced because it was commingled with the general fund instead of being placed in a separate trust fund. While the AFP modernization program is not getting off the ground, the AFP is maintaining five golf courses with land area of about 150 hectares and valued at P45 billion. The Army, the Navy and the Air Force have one golf course each. The AFP general headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo has one. Then, there is the golf course at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center. How are these golf courses helping the cause of Philippine defense? By keeping generals and their civilian friends physically fit? But what about the foot soldiers who would be in the frontlines? They are not the ones playing golf. At best, they could be on the golf courses merely as caddies! Sure, these golf courses do make some earnings but these are so miniscule to make any dint in the modernization program. At the recent budget hearing of the Department of National Defense, it was revealed that the golf course at the Veterans Memorial, for instance, earns only about P1.6 million a year. The land on which the golf course was built has an estimated value of P11.5 billion. With an income of only P1.6 million a year, it will take more than 7,000 years before it could earn its present value. Its contribution to the AFP modernization program would then be 7,000 years late! Drilon believes that the AFP need not rely solely on the P5 billion for its capital outlay next year. He is proposing that the golf courses, which he describes as “idle assets,” be privatized, and that the proceeds from their sale, estimated at P45 billion, be placed in a trust fund for the AFP modernization program. Since it is a trust fund, it cannot be used for other purposes. An alternative, according to Drilon, is to enter into a long-term lease with developers which would be added to the yearly AFP budget for capital outlay. “At say 10 percent return, that is P4.5 billion a year without selling,” he said. Privatization has been a sticky proposition and I’m sure many will oppose it. Right after coup attempts against the Cory Aquino administration had eased, there were proposals to transfer Camp Crame, Camp Aguinaldo, Fort Bonifacio and Nichols to the provinces. Their proximity to Malacanang had made it easier for coup plotters to mobilize troops. It was also pointed out that the Philippines is probably the only country in the world where military camps are located in urban centers. Recently, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima resurrected the proposal to privatize the 178-hectare Camp Aguinaldo and the 32-hectare Camp Crame. Sen. Ralph Recto is not completely sold to the idea. “This might go the way of Fort Bonifacio,” he warned, as he proposed that Aguinaldo and Crame be leased to the private sector instead so that the government could have better control on the use of the property. While there are debates on whether to privatize or lease the military camps in Metro Manila, there is no debating on the need to augment the present AFP budget for its modernization. http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opini...th-golf-courses |
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| icefrog | Sep 7 2011, 02:20 AM Post #23 |
 
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P45B?? If that's accurate then that's $1.05B. That's 16 Super Hornets or Gripen NG; 10 F-15 Silent Eagles; 2-4 submarines depending on displacement; 16 batteries of S-300 SAM. |
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| ni84 | Sep 7 2011, 06:31 AM Post #24 |
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If our generals are like Field Marshal Rommel, Von Manstein, General Guderian or Admiral Dornitz or General Ike, then we could allow them keep their golf courses. But our current general cannot even protect a couple of islands, magagalit ang mga social climber na mga generals pag ginalaw yung golf course nila baka mag coup pa yan sila. Also baka magalit is FVR. |
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We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job. Sir Winston Churchill, BBC radio broadcast, 1941 We'll settle this the old navy way: first guy to die, loses. President Thomas 'Tug' Benson, Hot Shots! Part Deux  Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya Rossiyskoy Federatsii 15,000 nukes and enough for another 40,000 | |
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| Vermonter | Sep 7 2011, 06:59 AM Post #25 |
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Why not sell them for the modernization as mentioned? Is it really that difficult to do? |
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| ni84 | Sep 7 2011, 07:35 AM Post #26 |
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Nearly all of our generals are fat cats and do not care for our national security only their monetary security. |
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We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job. Sir Winston Churchill, BBC radio broadcast, 1941 We'll settle this the old navy way: first guy to die, loses. President Thomas 'Tug' Benson, Hot Shots! Part Deux Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya Rossiyskoy Federatsii 15,000 nukes and enough for another 40,000 | |
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