MERGED: Independent Cebu/Visayas

[LytSlpr]

So you are really serious about this independence eh.Â* Tell me, where will you get your army?Â* Where will you get your taxes?Â* Where is your infrastructure?Â* You dont even have a primitive subway or railroad? Most of all, where will you get your resources to feed your people?

Your leaders are not even united because they too have their own selfish agenda. I dont think you can do it.Â* Not even in my wildest dreams.Â*

To imperial Manila:

Where's our MRT?

Where are our modern expressways?

Obviously you don't have any idea how much revenues Cebu and Davao for that matter, are remitting to the Central Offices, not just BIR & Customs and what do we get back for development? A mere fraction of it because the politicians there are squandering the money from Visayas and Mindanao.Â* Investing in Cebu is much, much better than in Metro Manila.Â* Cebu can stand on it's own, in terms of EVERYTHING you mentioned. WHY, you ask? STUDY!Â*

OT:
On the Bagyo Ruping aftermath, Cebu rehabilitated itself with the help of American and Australian volunteers through the dynamism of our local leaders.Â* Where was the national government at that time?Â*

Just to inform you:

We have our own Cardinal.Â* We have our own chamber.Â* We are a tourist spot.Â* We have export zones, IT & business parks. We have a rich culture all our own and talented artists. We have the greatest political and business minds of the country.Â* Where do you think are the roots of those big tycoons in Manila started? We have "more" educated and more skilled production workers. We have big and better exports in terms of furniture anf fashion accessories among other exportable products. We are near everything. We have a little of everything. We have international ports.Â* All we lack is a free-port but AFAIK something is in the pipeline. We have steady sources of electricity and water. We have better seas.

i suggest you dream again...

For whatever reason the Ad Congress keeps coming back to Cebu are basically more or less the same reasons why Cebu can stand independently. Just like Hong Kong, Malaysia, & Singapore.

[darkwing]

pwede raman peso ra gihapon, also most of our business here are multinational companies, just like in Singapore, choose independence now!!!

[darkwing]

You must understand that most of the business are multinational companies, we can stand on its own, look at Singapore for example...

[nunobone]

Say-Boo
Queen City of Asia.

hehehhe

[vash_stampede]

basin maabot ang topic sa splitting cebu..hehe

[LytSlpr]

Correction lang, what resources Cebu have? Cebu almost has zero forest cover, dependent on other provinces on water supply. Less than 20% of the land is arable, and except for the copper deposits in Lutupan it has very little mineral deposits to speak of.

What Cebu can boast is its strategic location being the center of it all. That's why traditionally it has been a favored trading post.

Now, I do agree that the Philippines (in general ha) is better off being run by Cebuanos I don't know at this point how feasible it is to have an independent Cebuano republic of some sort.

Maybe in the future, but for now? I think we're better off as part of the Philippines. Besides, we are Filipinos first and foremost. I do understand the sentiments of some people here, I used to think that way, Cebu is the best---Cebu is this and that. Until I went to other places and I've realized (bisa'n unsa kanindot sa Cebu, there are a few -- no make that a lot of things that we can learn. In short layo pa ta sa tinood, even though we are on the right track.

Water & electricity is being worked on. We have good watersheds and they are agressively restoring and protecting it. As far as I can remember, we don't have water problems yet in Cebu and MCWD had a vast expansion program so they won't allow that to happen. As for electricity TransCo is also agressively expanding with the Aboitiz owned VECO.

Check the NEW profiles of these service providers and I have to say they are good

[endofall]

unsaon nalang ang mga utang sa pinas nga gigamit paras cebu? mawala nalang bah ni basta-basta o kinahanglan ni bayaran sa before mka claim ug independece ang cebu?

[kermit_criminal]

Lets wait and see how Timor does before Cebu doing the same thing.


East Timorese recall better life during Indonesia occupation
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Dili, East Timor

Rich in oil, gas and coffee, the East Timorese had high hopes that the new country would be prosperous after its independence from Indonesia in 1999.

However, the lack of foreign direct investment in oil and gas exploration and the use of the U.S. dollar as its currency has almost brought the country's economy to a standstill.

The situation has made some East Timorese recall better days when the country was still Indonesia's 27th province under president Soeharto.

"We understand that independence is this country's utmost achievement. But we can't deny the irony that our life now is harder than before independence," said Nicolai, a 27-year-old driver working for a car rental company.

He said with a salary of some US$80 per month, he could barely make ends meet considering his daily expenses of $3. Therefore, he has taken a side job at a small coffee processing plant.

"When we were still a part of Indonesia, we could afford to buy food although we didn't have decent jobs. But now, aside from being expensive, food supply is also limited -- especially in the remote areas," he said.

According to a report from the U.S. Agency for International Development, more than two-fifths of East Timor's 900,000 people live on less than $1 per day and only one in five families has access to electricity and only two in five families have access to clean water.

East Timor gained independence from Indonesia in an August 1999 referendum.

After independence, East Timor was temporarily under a United Nations (UN) transitional administration before the new state, which occupies half of the island of Timor could directly elect its leaders.

During the transition period, the UN administration was optimistic that East Timor would have a self-sufficient economy within the next six years, with coffee plantations as the main economic backbone.

But after six years, optimism has faded as many coffee farmers have gone bankrupt.

Lorenzo, a police officer whose father used to engage in the coffee business, said that since last year there has been a sharp decline in coffee demand from overseas following the adoption of the U.S. dollar as the sole legal currency.

This caused coffee prices to become uncompetitive in the world market. Indonesian coffee agents, who used to buy the coffee, are now declining due to the high prices.

Since independence, the UN administration has allowed the East Timorese to use a number of currencies for exchange aside from the U.S. dollar -- including the Indonesian rupiah and Australian dollar, which have a lower value than the greenback.

"Just late last year, we had to destroy tons of coffee beans because there were no buyers. We also had to prevent the price from falling due to the abundant stock," said Lorenzo, adding that he would personally prefer the country to be under the Indonesian government.

East Timor is known for its organically grown Arabica and Robusta coffee with its smooth flavor and low acidity. The coffee business started when the area was still controlled by the Portuguese who established plantations in East Timor's highlands several centuries ago.

East Timor legislative member Clementino dos Reis Amaral acknowledged that the country's economy had declined sharply over the last three years as the UN staff were departing and foreign investment was hard to come by.

"The economy is not heading in a prosperous direction yet due to uncertainty in the business climate with the main concerns being security, a weak judicial system and poor quality of human resources," he said.

Amaral said the urgent problem that needed to be immediately addressed was the rising open unemployment rate -- which has reached around 50 percent -- and the lack of qualified human resources.

But East Timor's leaders are optimistic over the country's economic prospects due to its undeveloped offshore oil and gas reserves, which is estimated will bring in about $5 billion a year once exploration starts.

"We may be poor and underdeveloped now. But we are optimistic that East Timor can be prosperous in the next 15 years, since we have abundant untapped natural resources," said East Timor President Xanana Gusmao in a recent joint press conference with visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

At present, East Timor is still negotiating with its neighbor Australia over the exploration of oil and gas resources in the sea that separates the country with Australia -- known as the Timor gap.

[LytSlpr]

What happened to East Timor will not necessarily happen to Cebu. They bolted out of Indonesia because of Suharto even if they were not capable of being an independent country. Afterwhich, Suharto ensured that they will have a terrible life as a punishment to the Timorese. You know how Suharto is.

[clarkhkent]

Correction lang, what resources Cebu have? Cebu almost has zero forest cover, dependent on other provinces on water supply. Less than 20% of the land is arable, and except for the copper deposits in Lutupan it has very little mineral deposits to speak of.

What Cebu can boast is its strategic location being the center of it all. That's why traditionally it has been a favored trading post.

kani mo object ko ani.....i think naa dghan resources ang cebu ang nakaapan lang kay wa maklaro ug gamit!!! tan-awa ra gud na ninyo ang singapore or dili ba kanang east timor!!! nahimo man gani na sila nga nasud bisan naay kulang sa ilang resources! what about cebu pa kaha nga kompleto na tanan.....sa gika-ingon ko nga dili lang maayu pagkagamit.....

then kon walay forest.....paminaw nako dili pa man ulahi ang tanan ba.....pwede pa man ta mag start karon ug tanom....nya dili sad ta ka ingon nga upaw na ang cebu.....basta dili pa ulahi ang tanan....

just my two cents!!!