Shutdown | The Adobo Chronicles

Malacañang Palace, the Philippines' White House — Malacañang Palace, the Philippines’ White House

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – A government shutdown is not that uncommon. It has happened in the U.S. when legislators failed to pass a budget, and it has happened in other countries when citizens declared a no-confidence in their duly-elected government.

But a looming total government shutdown in the Philippines has nothing to do with the budget or a no-confidence citizenry vote. It’s all about the pork barrel scandal involving the siphoning of 10 Billion pesos of taxpayer money into ghost projects and into the pockets of politicians and private citizens.

Recent investigation and revelations have confirmed that:

More than half of sitting senators are involved in the scam
More than 150 current and past members of the House of Representatives are linked to the scam
Top officials of the Aquino government have been implicated in the scam
Prominent members of the media have benefited from the scam

Political analysts have concluded that the one last resort to dealing with this scandal is for President Aquino to declare a total government shutdown and appoint a caretaker government to fully revamp the government.

The U.S. government, which recently signed an agreement with the Philippines to increase American military presence in this ally country, has volunteered to facilitate a speedy recovery should the total government shutdown occur. The U.S. fell short of saying that it will work towards making the Philippines its 51st state.

Washington, D.C. – With no apparent compromise surrounding the two-day old government shutdown, President Barack Obama today signed an executive order to sequester the entire U.S. Congress. Emerging from a meeting with top congressional leaders at The White House, Obama said the order is the last remaining option to end the Washington impasse.

As soon as the congress leaders returned to the U.S. Capitol, Obama ordered the National Guard to put up a barbed wire fence around the Capitol building, practically locking in the legislators and their staff. Minority leader Nancy Pelosi delivered a signed copy of the executive order to Speaker John Boehner as he banged the gavel to resume the legislative session early Thursday.

“The sequestration order will only be lifted after both the Senate and House of Representatives pass a budget bill to end the government shutdown, ” The White House said.

All the cafeterias within the Capitol Building have been locked down, but the National Guard will make daily deliveries of McDonald’s burgers and fries to feed the legislators and staff for the duration of the sequester.