March 26, 2013 My wife worked as reservoir engineer for Magma Power Co. the office in charge of monitoring the geothermal field including the production wells while I worked for Magma Operating Co. that operated the power plants. The whole business was bought by CalEnergy and I was laid off while my wife was transferred to Ridgecrest, CA.
We did manage to secure for Magma Power Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) of several geothermal power plants from my late wife’s former employer, PNOC-EDC, in the Philippines. Ma. Elena G. Macario was part of ALL the explorations of Known Geothermal Resource Areas (KGRAs) in the Philippines and she helped maintain production wells in some of those resources long before she took up her Masters in Petroleum Engineering at Stanford.
It was strongly recommended that bids for these BOT projects overseas take into account the prevalent currencies crises in the 1990’s. Because of this, while the 20-yr. contracts were negotiated after 1992 and the Asian Currency Crisis happened in July 1997, none of these BOT contracts were affected when the Philippine peso dropped from P26:$1 to P35:$1. By 2001 the exchange rate was P52:$1. This means a $100 (P2,600.) investment in 1992 by 2001 is worth $50. The devaluation of the Philippine peso alone wiped out 50% of the investment.
Other than the oligarchs of the Philippines DO FILIPINOS LIKE MYSELF AND MY LATE WIFE HAVE PROPERTY RIGHTS? Below is a copy her MS Petroleum Engineering Report title page. I’ve combined pages 1 & 2. Her adviser was Prof. Roland Horne who’s from New Zealand. Her report SGP-TR-136 is posted at Stanford University’s Earth Sciences website.https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/research/geoth/publications/techreports/SGP-TR-136.pdf
It was only when Pres. Aquino III went to New Zealand in Oct. 2012 and cut a deal for the Philippine businesses that I learned Paul Aquino, the younger brother of the assassinated Ninoy Aquino was in charge of privatization of PNOC-EDC where Maria Elena worked. “Smart Paul” sold the government energy companies to the Lopezes at dirt cheap prices.It turned out other than oligarchs and their cronies in the Philippines no matter how smart or how hard & dedicated they work or how piously they pray have no future, especially women. Oligarchs can take anything they want.
She was supposed to graduate in summer of 1990. However she has to take a leave to give birth to Gabriel.I told her it may not be a bad idea NOT to finish her paper and her degree, after all she’s involved in the exploration of ALL known geothermal resource areas in the Philippines. She started working with PNOC-EDC in the late 1970’s. “I really have to finish my paper and studies,” was what she said to me. Had we an inkling that only oligarchs in the Philippines have property rights, I would have asked her to switch to education or something else. By 2014 I found this: The richest men in the Philippines are either ethnic Chinese or ethnic Spaniard.
So it is better to have Native American status and let Anglo-Saxon take care of our environment and natural resources. Correct?
After WWII, everyone in the Philippines was poor. Even in 1994 there was no Filipino in Forbes’ List of Richest men in Southeast Asia. *
In 2004, Forbes list of 40 Wealthiest Men of SOUTHEAST ASIA, seven (7) are from the Philippines.
1. Lucio Tan $1.6 Billion-#12
2. Henry Sy $1.4 Billion-#14
3. Jaime Zobel de Ayala $800 Million – #20
4. Danding Cojuangco $380 Million – # 31
5. George Ty $360 Million-#33
6. John Gokongwei, Jr. $330 Million-#35
7. Tony Tan Caktiong $270 Million – # 37
Total: $5.14 billion*
By 26 Aug. 2015 the 50 richest “Filipinos” have a combined net worth of $73.1 BILLION. Yet none of these people invented, developed or discovered anything remotely connected to the fabulous wealth they’ve amassed. Where would their wealth come from if not from the U.S. taxpayers given through the World Bank?
From WAIS post: *SOUTHEAST ASIA: The Philippines: Wealthy families. (John Eipper, USA, 05/03/05 4:45 pm)
http://waisworld.org/go.jsp?id=02a4&objectType=post&o=6336&objectTypeId=586&topicId=18
PHOTO (Below): An undeniable proof that BENIGNO AQUINO, SR. the grandfather of incumbent Philippine Pres. BENIGNO AQUINO III was a Japanese collaborator during WWII. A notice from Japanese Military Attache – Japanese Embassy
This will explain why the Philippines has never held a single Liberation Day or VJ Day parade or any celebration whatsoever.
=========================
OFFICE OF THE MILITARY ATTACHE
TO THE JAPANESE EMBASSY
Manila, Philippines
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
This house belongs to His Excellency Benigno S.
Aquino^, Speaker of the National Assembly. The same
should be respected and the occupants thereof given
the necessary protections.
IMPERIAL JAPANESE FORCES
^ – The grandfather of Benigno Aquino III was a die-hard Japanese collaborator.
The Philippines has never held any Liberation Day or VJ Day parade or any celebration whatsoever.
https://www.nedmacario.us/2016/01/26/notice-from-the-japanese-military-attache-japanese-embassy-1943/
So Do We Have Property Rights In the Philippines?