[hider=Philippines Nation Update]
[B]Philippines Nation Update - Will also be Posted on my CS[/b]

[i]Domestic Events[/i]

The Philippines has pursued a policy of land reform and agricultural subsidization, as well as the introduction of new 'low-tech' inventions like charcoal briquettes made from the refuse from sugarcane processing. It has also acquired new crops like Teff, and new varieties of Coffee and Sugar in order to boost productivity. New agricultural techniques, including a system of raised platforms and water-filled trenches, have also been researched, and despite weaknesses in other areas, the country is producing a surplus of food and agricultural products.

Infrastructure continues to be modest, but surprisingly good, with the Bangko Sentral/Central Bank funding the construction of new roads and even a renovated railway for the transport of export goods as Priscilline Concilliarism is more lenient to trade and foriegn exchange than Houist Communism. Cottage Industry, primarily dedicated to the production of bootleg Russian guns, is flourishing all across the islands, due to the needs of defense. Civilian shipbuilding is enjoying a minor boom, as armed merchant ships are a requirement for travel from Manila to Kolkata.

Politics continues to be racous but healthily democratic, with mid-term elections being followed by the sudden resignation of the country's 12-year President, Priscilla Aglipay-Rizal. This has led to the next Presidential election being contested by Archibald Santos, agricultural scientist and member of Priscilla's New Philippines Party, and Aurelia Dizon, a rich landowner who was allowed to keep part of her estates in exchange for her allegiance during the Second Philippine Revolution. Aurelia has attained surprising appeal by promising electric lighting to the country...[i]and actually following through on her promise.[/i]

Despite this, Archibald maintains an early lead in the polls, and the race is likely to be close.

And finally, one factor remains with corrupt Workers' Co-operatives in Subic Bay, whose policies of exploiting child and immigrant labor have earned them the ire of all sides. These corrupt Co-operatives are searching for Japanese aid in order to betray their own country...

[i]Foriegn Policy[/i]

The Philippines' current policy is to put up a wall of allies in Southeast Asia, starting with Vietnam, where the Priscilline Concilliarist Lady Trung has the allegiance of Hanoi and the North, and has advanced to the city of Vinh, her hometown. A treaty has also been signed with the People's Republic of Thailand in order to blockade the reactionary forces (Capitalist Vietnamese and Capitalist French Remnants), thus tightening the noose on the obstacles to a strong and stable Vietnamese ally to the Islands.

To the Philippines' south, in North Borneo, two claimants to the Sultanate of Sulu fight; the first is Al-Hakam Kiram, a Filipino Citizen who is the spiritual head of all Muslims in the Philippines, while the second is Mubarak Kiram, his brother. Mubarak Kiram has taken control of Sabah/North Borneo and installed a reactionary Muslim Fundamentalist regime there, and plans to invade Philippine Sulu in order to restore the old Sultanate. Al-Hakam Kiram, however, has resources of his own, and is waging a war against his brother using pirates and rebels.

Trade-wise, the Philippines has an odd friendship with Rhodesia. Aurelia Dizon, Opposition Leader and candidate for President, has managed to pass a bill forming 'Special Economic Zones' where foriegn businesses, like Rhodesia's Cornell Tobacco Company, would be allowed to do commerce within 'semi-normal' conditions. This treaty was further sweetened by the Cornell Company selling several 'civilian planes' to Aurelia's plantation...many of which Aurelia gave away to the Phillippine Air Force to convert into military craft in case of Japanese Invasion.

Ethiopia, too, has taken an interest in the Philippines; with the African Kingdom gifting one of its Battleships (acquired in the aftermath of the Great War) to the Island Nation after being paid to do so by the United States, the Philippines' former colonial overlord. The US' reasoning was that despite the Philippines' breakaway status, a Japanese or Chinese hegemony over the West Pacific was worse.
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