About the talks between the two Chinas

For a special presentation on our talk show “Straight from the Sky,” we bring back our old friend, former Cebu Investment Promotion Center (CIPC) General Manager and former Regional Director of the Department of Trade & Industry (DTO) Mr. Joel Mari Yu.     

While he may have been out of circulation, Joel certainly has been in touch with today’s reality, which is why for this show, we talk about where is the Philippines headed, politically, economically, and the future? With the election season already here, we discuss where we are going wrong politically and why we are still not getting the direct foreign investors to plunk in this country.

So please watch this talk with Mr. Joel Yu on SkyCable’s channel 61 at 8:00 tonight with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV’s channel 30 at 9:00 tonight and at 7:00AM and 9:00PM on Wednesday and Friday.

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Last Saturday the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Taiwan made history when Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou met in Singapore and shook hands before the cameras. It was the first time that the leaders of these two nations have met in 66 years. Few people remember that the Kuomintang, which was then under Pres. Chiang Kai-shek, was defeated by the Communists led by Mao Zedong. Chiang fled to Formosa and kept the Republican government there. Since that time, China has always considered Taiwan as a renegade province.

Then in 1971, the biggest blow to Taiwan happened when the United Nations (UN) recognized the People’s Republic of China as its official member. Just when things were turning sour for the Taiwanese, the US established diplomatic relations with China while at the same time committed itself to defend Taiwan from a potential Chinese invasion, thus assuring Taiwan that the United States would come to its aid if China invaded the renegade province. They have since been at odds for 66 years.

Well, so far the Taiwanese only got threats from mainland China. In the 1950’s the nearby islands would fire howitzers at each other regularly. But that has since stopped. If you ask me, this latest move by China is to bring its renegade province closer to Mainland China. Now whether there would be some fruits that would sprout after this meeting…we can’t predict what would happen. Taiwan has always been my reason why Filipinos shouldn’t be scared of the Chinese threat because of the Taiwan question. Again it is a matter of political system. Will China allow a democratic Taiwan as part of its One-China Two systems plan? Lets see.

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The last time I was in Cagayan de Oro City was during a meeting I had with PARASAT owner Elpie Paras, where MyTV was showing on cable TV. During dinner, a friend of Mr. Paras recognized me and he turned out to be the aide of CDO Mayor Oscar Moreno, so he asked me if I could wait as the mayor was coming over to crash our dinner. He arrived 30 minutes later and we had a very long talk.

Back then I told Mayor Moreno that he shouldn’t have allowed the Laguindingan Airport to open as it didn’t have the navigation aids that would allow airlines to operate at night. Mayor Moreno told me that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) wanted Pres. Aquino to inaugurate something when he visited Northern Mindanao… so they opened the Laguindingan Airport in its present state without the navigation aids.

I remember telling Mayor Moreno… you are a loyal PNoy follower; surely you could have stopped CAAP from transferring the airport? He merely shrugged his shoulders in disgust. Then I told him that it was time he abandoned PNoy. Well, he politely declined despite his being pissed by what happened in his city.

Well what do you know… last Friday; the Philippine Daily Inquirer had this headline news “Aquino Ally in CDO Sacked!” It turned out that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales ordered the dismissal of Mayor Moreno for allegedly giving a P2.6-million tax break to Ajinomoto, a private company without the approval of the CDO City Council.

Wow! If I know Mayor Moreno, he is a close friend of DILG Sec. Manuel “Mar” Roxas and the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer in CDO. If this order of the Ombudsman sticks, Mayor Moreno is prohibited from holding future positions in the government. If only he listened to good advice, Mayor Moreno should have just stayed with the Ayala Corp. where he was one of their top officials. Of course Mayor Moreno retorted that the Ombudsman erred by not reading his pleas. But if you ask me, the die has been cast. If this case sticks… this means that Mayor Moreno is disqualified from holding any position in the government. All I can say is… sayang!

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.