THE CORRESPONDENTS

March 18, 2008

An aerial shot reveals only the beauty of the Spratlys, a group of atolls and islets in the South China Sea believed to have rich oil deposits, but beyond the beauty lies a long-standing dispute among six nations trying to declare Spratly's as its own.

In light of the controversies between the Philippines and China, Ricky Carandang and The Correspondents team explore the different aspects of the Spratlys dispute, and how this is relevant in looking into the issues the country is facing.

The controversial documentary looks into the involvement of President Gloria Arroyo with the agreements recently made with China through Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking or JSMU.

But here’s the rub. The said agreement covers not only the disputed territory but also the uncontested area very well within the Philippine territory. Allegedly, the agreement was an explicit pre condition before China agrees to pour in billions worth of projects in the form of loans to the country.

Within this overarching agreement spurred the funds for what we know of as the Northrail, Southrail, Cyber Education, and ZTE issues and projects, among others that the public does not know about.

The Correspondents asks, is the Philippines for sale?