Category Archives: Philippine Wealth

Mining in Mindanao
Jul 11 2012

Mindanao has $840 billion untapped mineral resources says US

The Philippine Star Updated August 24, 2011 11:28 AM

MANILA, Philippines – A peace pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) could be the Philippines’ way out of poverty, a congressman said today citing a US intelligence assessment.

Iloilo Rep. Jerry Treñas, chairman of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said that the success of the ongoing peace talks between the government and the MILF plays a vital role in solving poverty.

Treñas said that based on the US intelligence assessment, “the Philippines may have untapped minerals worth between US$840 billion to US$1 trillion” in Mindanao.

The congressman said that the US intelligence assessment was included in the 2006 “unclassified/for official use only” cable from the US embassy in Manila released online by Singapore-based journalist Andrew Macgregor Marshall.

He said that the assessment can only become a reality of peace and security in Mindanao is secured through the success of the government-initiated peace talks with the MILF.

Treñas said that the intelligence assessment “basically assures that peace in Mindanao could catapult the entire nation from being a third world nation into a major economic power in Asia.”

“We’ve always known that Mindanao is fertile and rich in natural and mineral resources but I didn’t realize that Mindanao’s mineral wealth can single-handedly reverse our present economic situation. With this report, I’m convinced more than ever that our key to finally become a first world nation is to bring peace and development to Mindanao,” he said.

The lawmaker said that the US intelligence assessment should raise the urgency for the forging of peace talks between the government and the MILF. He urged opposition congressmen to support the Aquino administration’s bid to secure the peace deal.

President Benigno Aquino III had recently met with MILF leader Al Haj Murad in Tokyo. Both agreed to speed up the talks and work for the forging of a peace pact before Aquino’s term expires in 2016.

Treñas said the US report should now convince skeptics that President Aquino is on the right direction in his decision to do anything possible that is within the bounds of law to guarantee the success of the peace talks between the government and the MILF.

He also dismissed claims that a peace deal between the government and the MILF is a “sell out” of the nation’s patrimony because on the contrary, the full integration of the MILF and their decision to give up their quest of an independent state is a big leap forward in promoting national patrimony.

“We should stop talking about national patrimony in a manner that treats the MILF as non-Filipinos. The fact that they have given up secessionism should be considered as something that strengthens our nation and not something that weakens it,” Treñas said.

Talks between the government and the MILF bogged down Tuesday after the MILF panel led by Mohagher Iqbal rejected the proposals presented by the government peace panel enumerating economic and political solutions that can end the armed conflict in Mindanao. – Angelo L. Gutierrez

Jul 5 2012

Gold in the Philippines Estimated Worth More than US$ 100B

Why So Much WWII Loot In The Philippines?
by Tony Wells
Japan had always considered the Philippine Islands to be a very important strategic location for military bases in Southeast Asia.Unknown to the rest of the world, the Japanese Imperial Forces had a major plan for post war sovereign and the Philippine Archipelago was included in this elaborate scheme.Once the shipping lanes became too dangerous due to American Naval vessels, almost all of the loot that the Japanese had accumulated thereafterwards was being channeled to the Philippines and buried.Their ultimate plan was, that when the war was over they were going to withdraw forces from all the other Asian countries but try to maintain their colonial rule over the Philippine islands.

Under the banner of “Asia for Asians” they prescribed some reforms in the guise of nationalism. In hopes to win over the Philippine people, in 1943, the Japanese went as far as setting up a ‘Philippine Republic’, and installing a puppet government with the Judge Jose’ Laurel as president. By winning over the hearts of the Philippine people and later even granting them independence, the Japanese Forces hoped that they would be then regarded as ‘hero’s’ by them. This would also allow them to put military bases there as a pretext of ‘protection for the Philippine people’. In this way, they could remain in the Philippines for as long as they liked and take their time to re-excavate the stolen WWII loot at their leisure. It was a good plan but in the end it didn’t work out – the Americans invaded the Philippines in October 1944.However, before this U.S. invasion, the Japanese Imperial Forces were busy hiding and securing its stolen WW II loot. Elaborate tunnels were dug, some down to depths of a few hundred feet, to the final ‘storage chambers’. Many of these tunnels were dug down to just below the water table during dry season, which would also be a deterrent to would-be future salvors.Most, if not all of these tunnels, were booby-trapped and rigged with 1,000 and 2,000 pound WWII bombs and poisonous gas. This trick would also help keep the buried loot from falling into enemy hands. Detailed maps of the sites were drawn up on rectangular rice paper – all written in special treasure codes and the 2,000-year-old Japanese script known as ‘Kungi’.

In most cases, POW labor was used to dig the intricate tunneling systems. In all cases, upon completion of securing the gold in the pits – the POW’s were all executed and buried along with the treasures.In some rare cases, Japanese officers even had their own soldiers killed and buried along with the treasure to protect their secret locations.In all there were 172 ‘documented’ Philippine burial sites (138 land and 34 water sites) left by the Japanese Imperial Forces. This is not to even mention the numerous ‘private’ burials of WWII loot by greedy officers and renegade soldiers.There was still much treasure remaining to be buried when the U.S. abruptly invaded the islands. Japanese Forces took all of this with them up into the mountains in the northern Philippines and other

areas during their retreat, where it was all buried at many different locations.

It is estimated that the total worth of this war loot ranged up to 3 billion 1940′s dollars – the equivalent of over $100 billion today. According to various post war estimates, the amount of gold bullion alone was 4,000 to 6,000 tons. Ex-president Ferdinand Marcos himself managed to recover several sites and that is how he became so wealthy.

deuterium
Jul 4 2012

Deuterium in the Philippines: The Untold Riches

The world’s largest reserves of deuterium, or heavy water, are to be found in the Philippine trench. I had no idea what deuterium was until a couple of days ago, but thanks to an article in the Cebu Freeman I now have some notion. All our worries are over.

“Deuterium is used in the production of (hydrogen) Li-Hy Fuel now used in Canada, America, Germany and some parts of Sweden to provide fuel for cars, trucks, jet planes, etc. including solid hydrogen for the spacecraft Challenger and Columbia. Deuterium can replace gasoline, LPG, LNG, Avgas, etc. in powering all types of internal combustion engines. It does not emit pollutants or any harmful carbon monoxide and does not cause any environmental problems because it is in a member of the water family. Emissions are nothing but water vapor or steam. Deuterium as hydrogen fuel can be used for cooking, lighting, heating, and as heavy water fuel for reactors in electric power generation.”

And where is it?

“[It] is obtained from the deep trenches of the world and the world’s largest deposit of deuterium is in the Philippines – a big deposit of 868 miles long, 52 miles at widest point, and 3 miles at deepest point, replenished by nature 24 hours a day after deuterium travels more than 12,000 kilometers from Central America to the Philippines through the span of the Pacific Ocean when planet earth turns on its axis from west to east in unending perpetual motion.”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, after all the gloomy forecasts, “this untapped source of energy were to make the Philippines one of the richest countries of the world”?

Sadly, the deuterium dream has been kicking around for a while (there was even a satirical play called “Deuterium” based on what happened when the Philippines became the richest country in the world). The play won a Palanca Award in 1990, but in the intervening years the Philippines has made little progress up the prosperity ladder. Mind you, oil has never been $50 a barrel before…

Source:  Torn and Frayed, August 24, 2004

You can receive more information about deuterium by writing to: ProgressiveTimes-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

palawan oil
Jul 4 2012

World class discovery’ Oil sa Palawan, kumpirmado

-          Abante, 24 April 2012

Kinumpirma kahapon ng pamunuan ng Department of Energy (DOE) ang umano’y “world class discovery” sa Recto Bank sa may Palawan na sinasabi ngayon na mas malaki ang gas reserves kumpara sa Malampaya.

Ito’y makaraang iulat ng Atok-Big Wedge Co., isa sa mga miyembro ng pribadong consortium na nagsasagawa ng oil exploration sa Palawan, ang natuklasan sa “seismic test” nila sa “Service Contract (SC) 72” sa Reed Bank o kilala rin bilang Recto Bank.

Dahil sa laki ng natuklasan, pinagpaliban ng Atok ang ibang eksplorasyon sa iba pang panig ng mundo, kabilang na sa Laos.

Naglaan na umano ng P350 milyon ang Atok para sa pagpapalakas ng eksplorasyon sa Recto Bank.

Ayon pa sa mga opisyal ng Atok, posibleng mag-umpisa silang magsagawa ng oil drill sa katapusan ng taon.

Nagpahayag rin ng posibilidad si Atok vice chairman Walter Brown na maaaring meron ring mahukay na “crude oil” sa Recto Bank ngunit kinakailangan pa ng dagdag na pag-aaral bago makumpirma.

Nabatid na isa rin ang Recto Bank sa pag-aari ng Pilipinas na inaangkin rin ng China.