Agile: It’s either a case of rape or prostitution

OPEN DOOR TO AID: Chronic lack of funds and managerial incompetence in the bureaucracy were the keys that opened the door for the US AID, oozing with millions of dollars, to come in and influence government policy on matters pertaining to American interests.

If it was not a case of prostitution, it was rape with tacit consent. At the very least, it was seduction using dollars.

But three friends who have been working with USAID-funded Agile (Accelerating Growth Investment and Liberalization with Equity) swear to us that they have been doing honest consultancy that includes research and writing papers.

They said they saw nothing sinister in extending expert advice and services, something they would do also for other outfits, including government agencies, that might retain them directly.

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PROFESSIONAL WORK: It seems that the problem with government offices is that (a) many agency heads do not have the management sense to know what they need and how to get it, or (2) if they knew what they want by way of expert assistance, they do not have the funds for it.

Two of the specialists we interviewed had worked abroad, extending basically the same consultancy with foreign governments. "If we can do this for other countries," one of them said, "surely we should be able to do this for our own country without leaving home."

They said that with Agile, they were never told to angle their research, report and recommendations to favor American interests as alleged by some quarters. Their work is considered done upon submission of the required output.

They said it was unfair for anybody to accuse them of being US lobbyists or agents or that they were agents covertly working for a foreign power against their own government.

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AGGRESSIVE LOBBY: Sen. Ralph Recto, one of those who exposed activities of Agile, said however that "Agile agents are aggressive policy pushers, buttonholing members of Congress, participating in meetings, drafting laws and regulations, sitting in inter-agency conferences and orchestrating media campaigns, all without the prior disclosure that they are paid by a foreign government."

"There is deceit and misrepresentation when a vendor peddles some policies but he does not identify himself as a salesman of the US government," he said.

It seems to us, however, that the bureaucracy is as much to blame. Taking the line of least resistance, many officials have been entrusting even sensitive policy matters to Agile, which is US-funded.

When the work is submitted, the officials have neither the competence, the time nor the inclination to critically review and maybe revise the Agile papers.

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OVERDEPENDENCE: Recto said that some government offices’ dependence on Agile "had reached the point that they relied on Agile to write their official stand on issues."

"There was a time when my committee (ways and means) was deliberating on the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPAV) bill," the senator recalled. "When we asked the Bangko Sentral to comment on a ticklish point, a BSP official told us that their position paper was still being reviewed by Agile."

Agile does not do only consultancy work, he said, adding: "They are involved in advocacy and social mobilization. There is a highly-paid advocacy officer in every Agile project. The job of this advocacy officer is to plant favorable stories in the media , rent crowds for rallies, take out paid ads, and besmirch the reputation of conscientious objectors to the bills they are pushing."

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PYRAMIDING ALERT: The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, has been investigating several pseudo investment scams victimizing thousands of Overseas Filipino Workers.

As a result, it has listed corporations that, in the words of Director Jose Tomas C. Syquia of the SEC Compliance and Enforcement Department, "we have reason to believe are engaged in unregistered investment activities."

On the SEC list are: Atlantic Invest, Florentino Mateo Lending Services Inc., Golden Firebird Marketing, Vefloni Lending Services Inc., Asian Media Development Group Inc., Asian Islands Management Inc., BXI Properties and Holdings Inc., CITP New Century International, Crisis Solution Inc., Good Harvest Orchard Inc., Lead Lending Corp., Speed Credit and Collection, Access Credit & Development Group, AVG Group of Companies, MMC Investment and Finance Corp., Multitel Investment Corp., Mutitel Investors Corp., Multitel Lending Corp., Phil-Asia Lending Investors Inc., Zurich Investment Group, AVG Lending Investors Inc., BGA Lending Investors Inc., Coin’s Account Lending Services Inc., Red Dragon Lending Corp., Five Vision Consultancy Inc., Intercontinental Services Inc., Conrad Group and Associates Inc., Servlink Cargo Inc., Overseas Workers Stock Capital, Mateo management Group, and Tibayan Group of Companies.

Syquia added that in the case of Powerhomes Unlimited Corp., the SEC "views this corporation as a possible pyramiding scam," but that the commission could not "take enforcement action against them at the moment because of an injunction issued by the Court of Appeals."

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IRAQ WAR IQ TEST: Re the US-Iraq IQ Test that we printed last time, reader Henjie using a philmug.org address questioned some of the answers:

1. In No. 17, the answer given said the Iraqi military inflicted 0 casualties on the Western forces. That figure is wrong. The US alone suffered 140+ combat deaths in Operation Desert Storm. Even taking into account "friendly-fire" deaths (30+), the total is still 110+ combat deaths. This figure does not include deaths from other causes (accidents, etc.).

2. In No. 22, the answer said that there’s no proof Iraq plans to use its weapons other than for deterrence and self defense. That certainly is questionable. Iraq has shown time and again that it’ll use its weapons in whichever way it wants. The Iran-Iraq War; the Kuwait invasion; gassing the rebellious Kurds, etc. During Desert Storm, it fired a number of Scud missiles into Israel, and I can’t equate deterrence and self-defense with that act. Generalizing this issue into a Yes or No question is irresponsible.

3. In No. 27 and 28, the answer implied that while the US and UK weren’t at war with Iraq between Dec. ’98 and Sept. ’99, 20 million pounds of explosives were still dropped on Iraq in that period. While the US and UK (and UN, for that matter) weren’t at "war" with Iraq between Dec. ’98 and Sept. ’99, enforcement of the no-fly zones in Northern and Southern Iraq continued on as per UN mandate. Those bombs were dropped as part of that enforcement.

4. In No. 34, the answer is correct in noting that Iraq didn’t expel the UN inspectors (in Dec. ’98). The fact is that the inspectors left on their own accord after UNSCOM decided that Iraq wasn’t cooperating. Again, generalizing this issue into a Yes or No question doesn’t help in giving the readers every side of the story.

5. In No. 38, the answer implied that Scott Ritter was UNSCOM chief in Dec. ’98. Wrong. Richard Butler was.

The last question is again too general. Saddam allowed inspectors back in, yes. But what about cooperation? Transparency? Even with a thousand inspectors in Iraq, the job wouldn’t be properly done without complete Iraqi cooperation.

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