Global Citizenship
Sona Choi
May 15, 2008
1. What was the last conflict your country was involved in? Does it currently have any negative relations with other nations?
The last conflict for the Philippines was the late January 2001 war with Mindanao and the government of the Philippines. The US has deployed some 660 combat troops to the southern islands of Mindanao, Basilan, and Jolo, where they joined thousands of Filipino troops hunting down the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. In terms of conflict with other countries, the Philippines was conquered by Japan during World War 2 then America. China is having negative relations with the Philippines because a free trade agreement with China is not in the best interests of the Philippines. China will not in the near future be a major buyer of Filipino goods and services. But the free trade agreement with Japan is an excellent development for the Filipino economy as they need and want Philippine services and manpower.
2. Outline the political situation in your country. How stable is your nation? What type of government is in charge of your country? What is its rank on the corruption index?
Ferdinand Marcos administration was from 1965 to 1980 was the darkest years for Filipinos because a military government was imposed. It resulted in a people power revolution which made Corazon Aquino the first female president, followed by Fidel V. Ramos who had a good administration. Joseph Estrada faced great controversy for having corrupted the government. Presently, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the president of the Philippines. The Philippines has a US presidential system, where the President functions as both head of state and head of government. The president is elected by popular vote to a single six-year term, during which time she or he appoints and presides over the cabinet. The Congress is composed of a Senate, serving as the upper house whose members are elected nationally to a six-year term, and there is House of Representatives. The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court. Philippines though is a unstable country. There are many political coups. According to transparency international, the Philippines is 131 on the rank of corruption index. It means the Philippines government is stealing money from the country and Philippines have a lot of dept. People also do not trust the government. The president has been accused of stealing the last election.
3. Be critical: Is your country a hindrance to global peace? Does your nation engage in ‘questionable’ activities? What is your nation’s reputation globally? Is it a pariah state or a global citizen?
Philippines is not a hindrance to global peace. As a matter of fact it is a member of United Nation and association of Southeast Asian Nation, that both promote peace and global competitiveness. Philippines is also engaged to various activities that promote global peace such as Philippines’ Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (ARMM) Social Fund Project. The ARMM Social Fund for Peace and Development Project aims to foster lasting development, in ARMM by reducing poverty and supporting activities and approaches that will promote a peaceful and safe environment in the conflict-affected areas.
Like other countries, Philippines is also not perfect and committed some questionable activities like corruption. Corruption in the government is a big issue and until now, the country is still seeking solutions to solve this problem. Even though, Philippines still don’t have a bad record or reputation globally. Philippines is an interdependent country that fully harness its foreign relations to achieve its national and global goals.
4. What is your nation’s human rights record? Check out how they are doing according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and Transparency International.
According to Amnesty International, Philippines human rights must be respected to secure peace and stability in southern island Mindanao in the Philippines. Elsewhere in the country, human rights are respected. In Mindanao, there have been cases of people being a nested and them disappearing.
5. Would you be proud to be a member of this country? Why or Why not?
In my opinion, I will be proud to be as member of the Philippines because I like their culture and I like how they treat me with kindness, thoughtfulness and care. Even through the government of the Philippines is not stable, it doesn’t matter to me. I believe the Philippines can do better work without stealing money by the government someday. And to be Filipino, if I am having a happy life to live in the Philippines, it doesn’t matter whether I’m poor or rich.
6.If you were a policy advisor to the leader of your country, what would you recommend to him/ her to make your nation better GLOBAL CITIZEN?
I would recommend to him to provide more jobs for poor people so that they will be more stable and healthy. I want to make the government stricter and make a law like no logging, no throwing trash anywhere and also mo stealing money from the government to make Philippines a stable country. I also want Philippines to have better education in public school such as free elementary school and lower students in each classroom.
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Ji Hyun Kim
May 16, 2008
Kim, Ji Hyun 8
Block H
1. What was the last conflict your country was involved in? Does it currently have any negative relations with other nations?
-In 2000, there was a war in Mindanao. On the island, the government was fighting Muslims extremist groups like Abu Sayyaf, and the Mao Liberatem party. Philippines has good relationships with other countries especially America. The war didn’t affect the relationship between Philippines and other countries. However, the government is trying to make the relationship better and try to help the people of Mindanao.
2. Outline the political situation in your country (this can be given in a timeline). How stable is your nation? What type of government is in charge of your country? What is its rank on the corruption index (look this up on transparency international)?
- The political situation in the Philippine was a bit worry-some after the election of the new president Gloria Arroyo who came after Joseph Estrada. She was accused of stealing the election. Philippine has a unstable democracy government. In Philippines, people can vote for their president and they will have another election on 2010. However, people don’t like their government. They are 131st country on the corruption index which is very low. It means that in the Philippines, there are many corrupt police and politicians. Actually, the corruption is costing the Philippines government $47m a year.
3. Be critical: is your country a hindrance to global peace? Does your nation engage in ‘questionable’ activities? What is your nation’s reputation globally? Is it a pariah state or a global citizen? (You may use information derived from your interviews to address this question and the state of the world altas).
- Philippines is not hindrance to global peace. The Philippine is active member of United Nations since 1945. Philippine is a member of Associations of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN), East Asia Summit(EAS), and an active player in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC). As you can see, Philippine is making good relationships with all other countries. Philippine maintains close diplomatic relation with its Asian neighbors. The Philippines is seeking increased relations with Spain, its former colonizer. As a result, Philippine has a good global reputation. Corruption is the questionable activity in the Philippines.
4. What is your nation’s human rights record? Check out how they are doing according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and Transparency International.
- The government in Philippine is not perfect but they respect their people. However, torturing, killing, and disappearance are still happening in the southern island of Mindanao. According to Amnesty International, Ruel Munasque, aged 33, and his friend Roger Morales were abducted by soldiers on Mindanao island in the southern Philippines on 24 October 2007. Roger Morales was released the following day, but Ruel Munasque remains in custody at an unknown location. He is at risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, or even death. As reported by Human Rights Watch, they found strong evidence of military involved in disappearances or death of hundreds of members of left-wing political parties, activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy since 2001.
5. Would you be proud to be a member of this country? Why or why not?
- I would be proud to be a member of Philippines. Philippines have their own culture and they have so many beautiful places to visit. They have some undeveloped places, but they keep their own nature. Those places are very clean and not polluted. Many people come to Philippines to enjoy the nature. Philippines has a lot of islands, so they have beautiful beaches. And I like their culture. Most Filipinos are kind and very friendly. They can speak two languages, Tagalog and English. I like their calmness. When I was in Korea, I was always in a hurry. However, Filipinos are always calmed and slow. These are the reason why I would be proud to be a member of Philippines.
6. If you were a policy advisor to the leader of your country, what would you recommend to him/her to make your nation a better GLOBAL CITIZEN?
- I think, pollution is a very serious problem in Philippines. Jeepneys are one of the major reasons of the pollution and traffic. I think Philippines needs to get rid of jeepneys and some old vehicles. People are throwing trash on the street, so the government needs to make more public things such as clean bathrooms, trash cans, and better public buildings. As I said in question 2, Philippines corruption is very bad. Philippines government must have strict and harsher laws about corruption. They need to treat and pay police better so they don’t get money from the citizens.
