MERGED: Independent Cebu/Visayas

[arnelmation]

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Enough with this philippine bullshit! Let us support the call for the separation from the philippines. Manila is no longer capable to govern this islands! Goodbye and prepare for the great revolution!

[pnoize]

...so separation will do good for the country or will it be good just for cebu?

[tempest]

GMA is the problem. Lets all face it. No need about this useless crap of independence.

OT:

Bilib ako sa mga rallyista sa Cebu mas matapang pa kaysa mga rallyista ng Maynila. Yan ang mga lahi ni lapulapu. Makibaka. hadang lumaban.

[tempest]

Officials saddened over FedEx decision to leave

First posted 04:40pm (Mla time) July 14, 2005
Agence France-Presse




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GOVERNMENT officials expressed regret on Thursday after US logistics giant FedEx announced it would close its Asia-Pacific hub in the country and move it to China.
"It is quite unfortunate to hear about the plan of FedEx. We already have the infrastructure projects ready," said Dennis Arroyo, director of the National Economic and Development Authority’s national planning and policy staff.

Arroyo said FedEx's decision came just as the government was improving rail and road links to Subic Bay.

"If that is a business or corporate decision it is unfortunate. We hope they might reconsider. They may have other reasons privy only to themselves," said Transportation department spokesman Thompson Lantion.

FedEx chairman Frederick Smith announced in Hong Kong on Wednesday that his company would move its regional hub from Subic Bay, a former US naval base north of Manila, to what would be the largest Asia-Pacific air transshipment hub at Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport.

Hayan umalis na ang Fedex. Babay Pilipins.

[Blongkoy]

The call for New Republics is nothing more than seditious propaganda.

[darkwing]

we are not trying to take over the government but making one ourselves to free us from the chain of Manila, we have contributed much to the GNP of our country, maypa maglahi nalang ta, anyway naa naman ta atong Malacañang, bahala sila mag unsa na sila sa Manila...

[darkwing]

Friday, July 15, 2005
Cebu will be capital of Visayas Republic
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

Governors from the Visayas are out to prove that they are serious in their proposal to secede if President Arroyo is removed through extra-legal means.

They began their work yesterday by creating two teams to assess the country’s situation and to study the planned Visayas Republic.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said Cebu is being eyed to be the capital of the proposed state, but she refused to answer whether she is also being considered to head the republic.

The Visayas leaders, who reiterated yesterday their statement of support for President Arroyo, also refused to say if they will make Arroyo the president of the proposed republic.

“I would not want to second guess the President,� Garcia told reporters.

“We are just trying to send a message that we are not fence-sitting and we won’t let events overtake us. We are proactive and we are closely watching,� she said.

“V� sign

After a close-door meeting that lasted over two hours, the 16 governors, vice governors, provincial board members and mayors flashed a “V� sign to media members shouting “Visayas Republic� as they stood against a streamer that read “Manila is not the Philippines.�

Visayas can survive on its own but the Constitution must be scrapped before a Visayas Republic can be made, said PB Member Antonio Almirante, a lawyer who also heads the committee on laws.

He explained that there is a provision in the Constitution that the Philippines is one country. That means making a Visayas Republic can be unconstitutional.

The Gloria Step Down Movement, in a press conference, said the plan is “seditious and a form of blackmail.�

Lawyer Kit Enriquez described the plan as a “hypocritical action of traditional politicians.�

“This move only shows that these people do not love the country, because if they do, they will not exchange the country’s integrity for a President who is not capable of running the country,� Bayan Central Visayas chairman Paul Rodriguez said.

Study

A technical working group, headed by Central Visayas Regional Development Council chairman and Oriental Negros Gov. George Arnaiz, is set to start next week a study of the different forms of government suited for the Visayas regions and to look into the legal, economic and other possible problems that might arise with the separation of the Visayas from the rest of the country.

Former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia, League of Cities of the Philippines president and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone, Siquijor Gov. Orlando Fua, and Biliran Mayor Rogelio Espina will compose the team, which might consider making Cebu as the Visayas Republic’s seat of power.

In her welcome address during the gathering at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel past 10 a.m. yesterday, Governor Garcia said they have come together to make a collective stand and not to let the few in Metro Manila, referring to anti-Arroyo groups that converged in a rally in Makati City last Thursday, dictate the future of the country.

Summit

Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado yesterday said the first technical working group will study the proposed republic and its viability with the region’s economy and existing infrastructure.

A second group will organize the Visayas leaders and businessmen’s socio-economic and political summit on Aug. 11. to “adopt and implement a comprehensive and integrated development plan to uplift the life of the people in the Visayas region.�

The group for the summit will be headed by Governor Garcia, with the chairpersons of the Regional Development Councils of Regions 6, 7 and 8 as co-organizers. They are Antique Gov. Salvacion Perez, Oriental Negros’ Arnaiz and Gov. Rosette Lerias of Southern Leyte.

During the summit, which will include officials of LGUs, business and religious leaders, and sectoral representatives, the organizers will get a consensus of the stand of the Visayans on the federal system and the proposed changes in the constitution. (With MBG & JGA)

[FK]

wow... tungod lang usa ka taw, mag buwag2x ang mga Pinoy?

Maau onta mo voluntary resign na lang siya oi... para matibook pa ning Pinas
or too na lang kaha ni Ramos nga mag Cha-cha na lang...
(pero onya ra kono siya mag Cha-cha inig kahoman sa iyang term, iya jud kono tiwason. na mao na ni ron)

[darkwing]

Friday, July 15, 2005
Takeover ‘will pave way for secession’

Just how far-fetched are calls for a secessionist Republic of the Visayas?

In theory, all it needs is the four basic elements of people, territory, sovereignty and a government system, a political law professor said.

People represent the inhabitants, territory the boundaries, sovereignty the acknowledged power to govern and system to formulate, express and carry out the will of the state.

A forcible takeover of the present administration in Manila will even make the secession sort of legal because the takeover has the effect of nullifying the present constitution, lawyer Antonio Arellano theorized.

“The takeover is done at the expense of the existing legal system. With that (system) gone, what stops others from putting up their own?� he said.

Pulling it off

Arellano said the real question is whether or not those behind the calls for a secessionist republic are really serious and can actually pull it off.

“If you listen to their (the advocates of secession) clamors, they are actually airing their sentiments of how the regions have been neglected by the central government. (On) whether or not these can be deemed as revolutionary demands, we’ll have to see,� he said.

Also, a lot would also depend on whether or not the regions feel it can successfully assert its position, he said.

“If the anti-government group in Manila (assuming that they are able to successfully stage a takeover) extends their so-called authority over the whole archipelago, we’ll have a civil war if there are those regions that reject the authority. If the new government uses the armed forces to assert its position, the regions would have to match that,� he explained.

The crisis in Manila, with certain sectors voicing calls for President Arroyo to step down, has caused some of Cebu’s leaders to take a long hard look at secession and an independent Visayas republic.

Cebu is seen to be at the forefront.

The head of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Robert Go, in a previous interview, had said Cebu’s economy is sufficient to stand on its own.

“Cebu has always been resilient. In fact, Cebu would have been very much better in terms of economy, growth, exports, and in terms of everything if it would have to run by itself. Cebu would probably be almost like Singapore,� Go had said.

Feasible

Unfortunately, he lamented, Cebu has to suffer the consequences of Manila’s problems.

Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado calls an independent Visayas republic feasible but “a long shot.�

“With our rich resources, we in the Visayas can stand on our own,� he said. Aumentado heads the League of Provinces of the Philippines and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines.

“If President Arroyo will be toppled by a mob rule or by extra-constitutional and extra-legal means, we will create the Visayas Republic. Kay kon naa’y kaguliyang sa Manila, ma-apektahan ta tanan. Di ta gusto ug samok, gusto ta’g hapsay (Chaos in Manila hurts us all. We want an end to disorder. We want order),� Aumentado said.

Sixteen other governors of Visayas-based provinces, including Palawan, agreed and met in a socio-economic and political summit at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel yesterday.

Except for Northern Samar Gov. Raul Daza, 15 of the governors already signed a manifesto for the creation of the republic.

“There was no leader. Everybody was just concerned. It happened on the spur of the moment,� said Oriental Negros Gov. George Arnaiz, who chairs the Central Visayas Regional Development Council.

The group intends to hold a Visayas leaders’ summit to discuss the plan with district lawmakers, mayors and other local officials. (KNR)

[darkwing]

yes! lets go Visayas Republic!!! lets become like Singapore...