PH: Stratbase, CIPE (NED), and the Belt and Road Initiative

07-31-2024: If it’s bad business, it’s bad for the Philippines (archived)

Our organization, the Stratbase ADR Institute, received an award from the prestigious Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC. We were recognized for our research, advocacy, and strategic communication on four infrastructure projects entered into by the Philippines, during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, under the Belt and Road Initiative of China.

The Philippines has currently withdrawn from the Belt and Road Initiative and the current administration has been careful to consider other partners aside from China.

Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.

Just like the National Endowment for Democracy, CIPE has been scrubbing their website. Search for the Philippines and click on the results. Most of the links are missing.

Related:

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[11-23-2022] Pilipinas Conference 2022

Pilipinas Conference 2022: “Onward to New Beginnings: Sustaining and Improving Philippine Development”

Light Up the Gray Zone: Leveraging Publicly Available Data to Deter Intrusions into Philippine Waters

Col. Raymond Powell, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation (Project Myoushu), Stanford University, California, USA

Major Angela Smith
US Army Officer, Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation (Project Myoushu), Stanford University, California, USA

Related:

What’s Really Going On In the South China Sea

Observations on the pundits in the PH media

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Source

Retired Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio says the Philippine government should accept Vietnam and Malaysia’s invitation to take China to an arbitral court on their territorial disputes.

Source

US-funded Rappler:

[OPINION] Ayungin and why PH should respond as one team, one nation (archived):

This crisis should be turned into an opportunity.

We have postponed the replacement of the BRP Sierra Madre for years, for fear of escalating tension at Ayungin Shoal. Now is the time to either construct a concrete facility or deploy a self-propelled oil platform inside the shoal as a permanent station for our troops; which should be far superior in terms of habitability, self-defense, and supportability. If completed, some of the Navy’s missile boats can be redeployed to secure the shoal, instead of languishing in Mindanao and conducting anti-smuggling operations.” – Retired Rear Admiral Rommel Jude Ong.

One thing that I’ve noticed about these pundits being quoted in the PH media, is that all of them have ties to the Stratbase Group, which includes the Stratbase ADR Institute and BowerGroupAsia.  Both the Stratbase ADR Institute and BowerGroupAsia have connections to Ray Powell and the U.S. government. 

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