OFFBEAT MAIL

Enrile notes lack of prosecutors’ trial savvy

2012-01-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

Enrile notes lack of prosecutors’ trial savvy

Despite the tantrums made by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on the Senate floor, Wednesday's resumption of the impeachment trial against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona had at least made a headway after a private prosecutor succeeded in convincing the Impeachment Court to allow the commissioner from the Bureau of Internal Revenue to take the witness stand.

But this didn't happen in a flash as even the Impeachment Court's presiding officer--Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile--and the defense team were adamant against the idea of the prosecution team's move to present and cross examine Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares as the first witness of the prosecution.

Private prosecutor Atty. Arthur Lim had insisted, after consulting with his colleagues and reaffirming the defense team and the presiding officer that the questioning will not delve outside articles 2.2 and 2.3 of the Impeachment complaint filed earlier with the Senate tribunal. Lim had reassured the Senate judges and the defense team that his questioning will only be limited as to the "authenticity" of the Income Tax Returns (ITRs) of CJ Corona and his wife Kristina. Which the defense team agreed without raising any question at all.

While the cross-examination continued, as allowed by the presiding officer, Lim was able to get through the entanglements when he asked the BIR Commissioner Henares if she could show the ITRs of CJ Corona?

Eyebrows of the audience and that of the Senate judges began to raise when Henares revealed that there were no ITRs to show at that moment as CJ Corona failed to file his income tax returns beginning 2002 until 2010.

"What I have your honors are the Alpha Lists which showed that CJ Corona's incomes were reflected during those years," Henares told the Senate panel.

Henares explained that the Alpha List is the dossier of officials and employees for a particular employer and how much salaries they received and the withholding taxes that were deducted from them during that particular year. The Alpha List showed, as enumerated by Henares, that CJ Corona's biggest annual income was more than P600,000.

When I watched Day 6 of impeachment trial, I hadn't the slightest idea that Private Prosecutor Arthur Lim would be able to penetrate the impregnable fortress of the defense. But he did with flying colors. it caught me by surprise that the stalwart of the defense former Justice Serafin Cuevas remained silent throughout the duration of the cross examination of Henares. Except that Cuevas had butted in to raise a few objections during the cross examination of Henares. But to me , they were just tactics to distract the mental focus of private prosecutor Lim.

What was strange about the cross examination was because it turned out later that Kristina Corona, the wife of the Chief Justice, that she didn't file her income tax return as she didn't have an income for the tax year 2003, yet Henares revealed that she was able to buy a property at La Vista Subdivision worth P11 million as shown by BIR Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) during that year. This was followed by at least eight more CARs under the couple's name.

The big question that now plays up in the minds of ordinary Filipinos is that how come the couple was able to acquire those properties despite their meager salaries? Atty. Tranquilo Salvador, spokesman of the defense team, said during a press conference that the P11 million used to buy that La Vista property came from a loan. But a document revealed that the family corporation where that multi-million loan came from was not active anymore at the time the loan was made.

Where in the world did the couple sourced out those huge sums of money to buy all those properties?

Government now free to sell shares to San Miguel costing P83.7B

2012-01-25T13:54:00.000-08:00

Government now free to sell shares to San Miguel costing P83.7B

I don't think it would be appropriate for the national government to tap for infrastructure spending even a portion of the P83.7 billion coco levy funds that could be raised should any interested bidder is able to buy the 24 percent government shares from SMC. Since this huge sums of money is owned by the millions of coconut farmers nationwide, perhaps, what the government can do is to invest the money somewhere (without any hanky panky) through a conduit of their choice and then issue dividends to the farmers on a yearly basis or whatever options had been agreed upon among themselves.

Perhaps, part of the money could also be used to set up a copra buying stations and processing mills in most copra-producing provinces in the country. In this way, the coconut farmers will not become victims of middle men who buy the copra at a lower price and sell the same at a much higher price in the markets.

Should the stock sale prospers, the national government will be left without any choice but to ensure that farm-to-market roads are constructed in remote areas where vast coconut plantations abound. In this way, it will be much more convenient and easier for the coconut farmers to transport their goods to the nearest copra buying stations in the provinces.

At this time, it is public knowledge that the San Miguel Corporation (SMC), a publicly-listed company in the Philippines, has sufficient resources to buy back the 24 percent government shares in the conglomerate. And it will be a big plus for SMC if it will retain control over these shares, rather than dispose of them in the future. At this juncture, SMC chair Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco controls majority of the stocks of the company. Unless, he has more than enough resources to buy some, if not the whole of the government stakes in SMC, he could do it if he wants to keep his post as SMC's chair.

CJ Corona's integrity unmasked

2012-01-24T13:55:00.000-08:00

The judicial circus that engulfs the on-going impeachment trial against Chief Justice Renato Corona before the Senate judges had a long way in coming before a decision had been finally made. And it took the guts and courage of a new leader in the person of P-Noy to once for all, clear the murky waters that surround the judiciary system in the Philippines.

And who do you think would muster enough courage to do what P-Noy did to question the integrity of the Supreme Court's head, cognizant of the fact that it is the highest law of the land that needs to be respected as a co-equal branch of government with the legislative and exexcutive branches of government? I had never imagined to myself that such an initiative would come to fore with reality.

Agog as we are, many Filipinos have been put in trance and couldn't believe what they are hearing and seeing at the moment as the impeachment trial is unfolding in the Senate chamber. Of course, kudos to the 188 congressmen who made the impeachment trial possible. Otherwise, it could have been another inutile political exercise that could have been made the laughing stock of the world. At least, for now, every Filipino can be proud of that nothing sinister will ever trample the untainted integrity of the Judiciary in favor of the whims and caprices of a few whose coming to the pedestal of power was made possible through the negative interests of a corrupt leader who thought it wise to place at her disposal someone who had been an associate and a close friend as she rose to power. thinking that attaining power and influence is forever a privilege that could not be quashed.

in case CJ Corona's impeachment trial will succeed, it will be a good lesson to be learned that no justices would be appointed for reason of consanguinity or affinity, if only to serve the sinister interests of the appointing authority who would resort to midnight appointments prior to his/her stepping down from power.

As former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich said: "Choosing new Supreme Court justices will be one of the next president's mo st influential tools for changing direction on controversies ranging from the balance between national security and civil liberties to a woman's right to an abortion." Literally, Gingrich was referring to the US judicial system, in which our Philippine judiciary got its model from.

As John Yoo, law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said in his article "How to End Judicial Supremacy," (January 2012, National Review Magazine): "He (Gingrich) is surely right that the executive and legislative branches have a number of ways to corral wayward judges, including the power to change the jurisdiction of the courts, to eliminate judgeships, and perhaps to make greater use of impeachment."

Pigeon's dung can launch destruction

2012-01-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

Have you ever thought that a pigeon's dung (dropping) can cause destruction? Aside from the avian flu virus that it may cause to anyone's health, a pigeon's dung can also be used as an important chemical for making bombs. In what way?

In ancient Persia, now Iran, they had erected pigeon towers that measure 10 to 20 meters in diameter and stand 18 meters high. The pigeon towers were set up more than 1,500 above sea level and close to a Zayandeh-Rud River which flows year-round to Zagres mountains. In a research made by Eric Hansen, a California-based freelance writer, the Istafahan oasis provided an ideal habitat for wild pigeons and large-scale agriculture.

Hansen said that the Persians did not raise pigeons for their meat. To them, the pigeons are sacred because Prophet Mohammed used to carry one of them in his shoulder while he was preaching the words of God. Instead, the main reason for raising pigeons in ancient Persia was for their droppings which were useful for agricultural purposes. At that time, most of the lands were not suited for agriculture so that the farmers deemed it necessary to erect those pigeon towers in the open fields for the pigeons to roost. Then, the farmers collected the droppings to be used as fertilizers.

Pigeon droppings are considered rich in nitrogen and phosphorous. When mixed with soil and ash, it's similar to those modern-day fertilizers. The mixture is applied a standard rate of 900 grams per fruit tree per year or 1680 kgs. per hectare, the harvest can produce as much as 50 percent higher. On the average, each pigeon is capable of producing 6 lbs. of dung per year.

Pigeon's dung is also used in the processing of leather hides. When mixed with water, it becomes muriate of ammonia (NH4Cl), a softening agent used for the leather tanning process. It is also used in the manufacture of gunpowder as it consists of 75 percent potassium nitrate, 10 percent sulfur and 15 percent carbon.

During those years, the Persian army had no natural source of potassium nitrate. But they were able to produce gunpowder by mixing soil, ash, lime , along with the pigeon's dung, to produce gunpowder. It was in 1280 when the making of gun powder was known in the Middle East.

Exaggerated job postings

2011-11-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

Freelance Proofing, Grammar and Fact-Checking Pro Wanted

Date: 2011-11-04, 5:13PM PDT
Reply to: job-rknsr-2685882253@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

We ain't kidding! Public relations firms seeks freelance proofreader, grammar and fact checking pro available to review press releases, brochure copy and other marketing materials. Applicants MUST be able to turn documents around quickly.

If interested, please submit the following:
· Resume
· Hourly rate (Applicants will NOT be considered without including their hourly rate requirement)

Telecommuting is ok.
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

The above announcement came from craigslist.com. Do you think the above information is believable. Actually, there's a lot of these postings at craigslist.com. At first, those who hanker to get a job in this kind of field will immediately be encouraged to apply. Why not? With the economic recession still around, anybody will just do all his best to land a job. However, if this advertisement is really true, how come the email address of the advertiser doesn't appear in the ad content? Isn't this a way to make craigslist.com's website more attractive to let other people believe that it is such a wonderful website with lots of job vacancies to be proud of? But try to apply by sending your reply to the above craigslist.com's email address and surely, you'll get nothing in return. Nothing at all. I would bet if you'll ever get a reply for this announcement. If you want you can try it for yourself.

Hanging on for a while

2011-11-04T15:35:00.001-07:00

Hanging on for a long while has been the most frustrating thing that any human could ever do. As I write this piece, the sky is overcast as if doomsday is closing in on me. And it is hard to expect something that doesn't come in. There's no use at all but dream of big dreams when you're helpless and little bit disappointed.

With all these economic problems that resulted in the "Occupy Wall Street" and other protests that went viral, it is quite to gauge as to whether there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Jobs are scarce these days and people seemed to be adamant on letting go of their hard-earned cash to buy something, unless the products they wanted to buy come from China, which are much cheaper. Is there anything else we can do, if we are in this kind economic gridlock.

What else we can do but to stick around and wait for whatever positive developments that may come at the right time and the right place? Or else, we don't have the choice but to just keep hanging on until something positive comes our way.

In the meantime, the smell of Christmas is just around the corner. However, it is sad to note that many people, including me, are scavenging for whatever little dreams that they could turn into a reality. I think I would feel insulted if I couldn't make up my mind and

reposition my thoughts on what I'll do in order to come up with something that will make everybody back home happy this Christmas season.

Foremost in my mind is to win the lottery. That's the only way to pay up all these bills and save more for the future. Unless, we are able to buy the winning tickets, dreams will be dreams. Later on, we'll find ourselves on the brink of falling into the ditch, without any saving at all but griefs and animosities in our hearts. Do something to let them out at times by doing something that could lift up the spirits of those who are in need. No matter if nothings remains in our pockets for as long as we are able to share what we have to those who have less in life.

The Lord will do the rest.

Bogus advertisers

2011-09-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Since I learned to visit the public library where I lived in the South Bay Area of Los Angeles, I made it a habit to browse over the craigslist.com, one of the best sources of jobs that one needs to have as a reliable website. But my belief and trust in this website, which they said was better than the jobs advertised with newspapers, was broken. I began to suspect that the jobs advetsied in this website may have been made up or fabricated to make it appear that thousands of vacancies were still available despite the economic recession, which persisted till the late months of 2011. In fact, President Obama already decided to release another billions of stimulus to spike consumer spending. But this had infuriated the Republicans, which according to them, would aggravate the the present economic situation. Obama would pursue his administration's plan of imposing more taxes to those earning between 250,000 and millions annually, to raise more revenues for the government. Otherwise, there's no way the federal government could accomplish such a gigantic economic program under his reign.

One of the best ways I thought to succeed in applying for jobs in the American markets was to prepare a good resume. I had to study how they made their resumes in America and what types of resumes were effective and acceptable to American employers.

The next step was to send these resumes to various employers, which advertised their vacancies at craigslist. In my experience, I didn't get any positive replies from these employers. Sometimes, I would think that perhaps, these jobs posted at craigslist.com were suspected to be fakes. Or it could be that the craigslist management was making fun of people, particularly those who are hankering for the much-needed jobs that any one could have to survive. But the more I expect, the more I got nothing in return. I would think of writing to craigslist to verify if the jobs were true or not. Every time, the craigslist email address was the only way to send the letter of application. But how sure I was that my emailed application would be entertained considering the millions of applicants that swarm craigslist's website.. I couldn't blame them.

With 2.3 million people without jobs in American right now, owing to the relocation of corporations to China, there's no way any foreign born applicant could ever land a descent job in America. The problem would be more aggravated if craigslist.com keeps of posting vacancies in its website but whose advertisers do not even acknowledge if they received your application or not. Most of the time, they're mum. I have doubts in my mind that some of those advertised jobs are real. Perhaps, one most important requirement for advertisers to follow is for craigslist to require them to give their direct email addresses or telephone numbers, rather than use the email address of craigslist. There is a strong possibility that craigslist email address will be overloaded. If they're really real advertisers, why can't they provide their own email addresses or telephone numbers? Frankly speaking, I don't want to be bothered again by a hoax. If I'm not wrong, craigslist does not have the capability or the technology to filter its site and instead free itself from entertaining bogus advertising copies. Next time nobody will believe anymore that those vacancies are real.

New POEA head vows to act on ‘illegal recruiters’ within agency - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

2011-05-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

New POEA head vows to act on ‘illegal recruiters’ within agency - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

UN to probe on Libyan gov't abuses vs civilians

2011-03-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

The United Nations is considering a move to investigate human rights violations committed by the Libyan government.

Libya is in chaos and most of its people have continued to rise up against the waning leadership of Col. Muamar Ghaddafi, whose control of government has been topsy-turvy.

Media reports said many of his remaining supporters have used brazen force against thousands of peaceful protesters who have not given up hope that pretty soon the Libyan leader will finally step down from power and hand it over to the one who is picked by the majority of the Libyan people.

As of this writing, hundreds were killed, while thousands are left stranded at the borders of Tunisia and Egypt. Sadly, many overseas foreign workers were held hostage by a group of armed men, whose motive is not yet known until now. At least 34 Filipino workers are being kept in an undisclosed place inside Libya.

Navi Pillay, commissioner for United Nations Commission for Human Rights (UNCHR), said in a broadcast interview yesterday that his office will exhaust all means to investigate and get to the bottom of human rights violations in Libya, where hundreds of people had been killed allegedly by armed supporters of the Libyan leader.

President Obama has shared the sentiments expressed by the UN. He also criticized the way the Libyan government handled the political unrest in that North African nation where Ghaddafi served for more than 40 years.

Meanwhile, China , which plays an important role in Libya’s economy and infrastructure development, has pulled out its technical manpower in Libya as a show of protest to the Ghaddafi government over the killings of unarmed protesters.

But the Libyan leader is putting the blame on al-qaeda group for the continuing unrest in Libya, saying that it helped in inducing drugs to the millions of protesters.

Libyan crisis affects oil prices

2011-03-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

As the Libyan crisis escalates, the price of Brent crude oil shot up to about $105 per barrel. And energy analysts said this could rise to unprecedented levels if the unrest in Libya is not resolved in due time.

As of yesterday, news broadcasts had shown Libyan leader Col. Muamar Qaddafi seemed unrelenting on his threat not to step down as his thousands of supporters rallied behind to keep him in power. He said it would be better for him to die than give up his power to his opponents.

As this developed, European leaders are in the process of coming out with a possible solution to stop the mass demonstrations which already resulted in the deaths of more than 300 protesters. Some of the EU leaders had even threatened to impose an embargo against Libya, if only to force the Libyan leader to step down for a peaceful transition to a new leadership as wished by the people.

With almost all the workers in limbo, with most of them participating in the mass protests, oil production had been affected. If this continues, it is most likely that the flow of oil to Europe, wherein 85% of it comes from Libya, will be cut drastically owing to the continued unrest. There is an on-going perception that the price of the Brent crude oil will likely go up in the coming days.

In response, the Saudi Arabian government has echoed its support of pumping more oil depending on the demands in the open markets if only to fill the oil shortages that had been created by the Libyan crisis. It was estimated that Libya has about 44 billion of barrels in oil deposits.

Meanwhile, thousands of migrant workers from neighboring countries had congregated themselves at the borders preparing to leave Libya.

Trump's ire on China nixed

2011-01-25T14:45:00.000-08:00

American property developer Donald Trump has accused China of "ripping off the United States." His negative comment came at a time when China's President Hu Jintao visited Washington D.C. as an official guest of President Obama recently.

His negative comment was considered timely. Or was it meant to drum up his political plans where Trump was reported to be planning to join the presidential race comes 2012? The issue that Trump was trying to play up was immediately snatched by the media considering his popularity in the international and domestic business communities. But many people, particularly the pundits, are asking as to his intention of poking his ire against China. And who wouldn't?

China's trade surplus with United States is now estimated to have totaled $236 billion. Until now, the Obama administration is left with no choice but to use its diplomatic and economic initiatives to convince China to devalue its currency to no avail. In the CNN news poll, 61 percent of the viewers considered China as a threat to American jobs. The remaining percentage did not consider China's trade relations with the U.S. as an opportunity.

Why did Trump only bend his ire on China as this time when the problem has gotten out of hand? That's what many people were asking. Was it because he's announced his presidential ambition? Or he must be suffering from amnesia? Compared to China, the U.S. has thousands of economic experts and corporate bigwigs who were products of the best business schools that are known throughout the world. Maybe, Trump has forgotten to think that many corporate bigwigs in China had studied in these best U.S. business schools? When they got back to China, they had applied and infused what they learned from American business schools. Perhaps, with some business innovations that allowed China to capitalize on the weaknesses of the American markets and the rest of the world.

It is public knowledge that the United States' corporate capitalism is without comparison. "America's democratic representative form of government and quasi-capitalistic economic system made it the most powerful nation on earth," wrote Mr. Salih Hall in the latest issue of the Georgist Journal, a publication of the Henry George Institute in New York. "However, as America grew in power and hope, it also became a land of unbelievable fortunes and grinding poverty," Hall explained.

Hall continued: "In this new political landscape...the concept of representative democracy has given way to the reality that America's future is in the hands of the very rich." In the same article, Hall defined "Aristocracy as a government by a superior group or class. When a representative government no longer reflects the will of the masses, explicitly becoming the instrument of corporate interests, then those interests have become that superior group or class."

It would only be pragmatic to think that when a particular society is teeming with the impoverished majority, whose spending power is way below compared to those in the elite members of society, the tendency is for them to seek an alternative that would eventually stretch their meager budget at the expense of defeating the good interests of the domestic labor market in general. This is because the capitalists had

opted to relocate their businesses to China and other Asian countries where labor is much cheaper than in the United States. They also thought that shifting their manufacturing operations in China would mean less corporate expenses and more profits for them.

Considering the present rate of unemployment in the country, it would seem practical for millions of consumers to buy much cheaper foreign goods even whose durability is questionable compared to those produced in America. I believed that it is no longer the issue of durability that is being thought about by most people but the simple issue of "affordability." Perhaps, this is the type of weakness that those American-educated corporate wizards in China had considered before they launched their attacks on the American markets. They thought that by selling cheap products that are useful, even if they last only for a couple of months, low and middle-income consumers could still afford to stretch their budget and still buy a lot of things for home and personal use.

Therefore, Trump's accusation to China seems to be out of touch. If he is engaged in the manufacture of goods, there's no doubt that he'd do the same as what other conglomerates had done. The only problem is that he could not construct building units in China, where labor is very cheap and export them to America and elsewhere. Otherwise, he may have thought about it a long time ago. What is at stake in this issue right now is the will of the millions of consumers. Telling them what to buy or not is surely unconstitutional. If American wants to get even with China, what it should do is to impose higher taxes on imported goods. Or convince China to devalue its currency? But can the U.S. succeed in convincing China to bend its knees a little more?

What is now happening in America is an economic reality that should not be jeopardized by the negative voice of a lone corporate bigwig. There is no way we can correct the statistics that showed many people are impoverished. Because these are the same people who would continue to buy cheap imported goods, not only from China, but from other Asian countries as well. For as long as there are poor people around the world, China will continue to manufacture goods that are intended for these sector of society.

Obama asked to wield pen on immigration reform

2010-12-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

Many Fil-Am organizations in Southern California have expressed dismay over the recent failure of Congress to pass the Dream Act, whose primary intention was to legalize the stay of children brought into the United States by their undocumented parents. Leading the protest are the Alliance-Philippines and the National Alliance of Fililipino Concerns (NAFCON), which believed the negative impacts it will have on the more than 800,000 children whose only wish is to live a good life and a bright future in America. But their ambitions were quashed when Congress failed to give the proposed law a nod.

With majority GOP members taking over the Lower House next year, there is a big doubt that any political agenda, especially pertaining to immigration reform that the Obama Administration keeps on pushing, will be killed. But President Obama can still wield his executive power by issuing an Executive Order that will legalize the stay of the undocumented Latinos and other foreigners across the United States. Cause-oriented organizations believed this is the only way to by-pass whatever discriminatory agenda that the GOP has at the moment.

Instead of deporting the millions of undocumented aliens, it would still be ideal if the federal government will rethink its policy on immigration. Economically, the federal government shall opt to benefit from their stay by requiring all of them to pay for whatever fines and penalties that they could afford rather than strain the government's coffer for whatever expenses that it may incur to detain and deport these undocumented aliens. When everything was put in order, enforce whatever is needed to strengthen border security across the country, particularly those areas that are adjacent to Mexico.

Breast cancer cure a remote possibility?

2010-12-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

It is so frustrating to read that a lot of people, especially women, are dying from terminal sickness like breast cancer. The case of the late Elizabeth Edwards had made a reawakening of how those millions of affected victims were reduced to expect miracles to heal them. For many decades, medical scientists had made serious efforts to discover a lasting cure for this malady. I'm not saying that nothing was done to cure this disease. Like the HIV, breast cancer is one of the killer diseases that hounds millions of women worldwide.

It is public knowledge that medical scientists from advanced countries like the United States, Britain, Germany and so forth and so on have made attempts or are undertaking researches on how to cure breast cancer. But it seems nothing much was done to solve this problem.

Despite the billions of dollars poured in to make the breast cancer research project successful, more work need to be done. Lately, I was wondering if the medical scientists are really serious in their efforts to find a cure to this disease? While thousands of women die of breast cancer on a daily basis, non-government organizations are in a mad scramble to raise funds enough to support the scientists' concerted efforts to realize their mission.

My only hope is for these scientists to finally make a headway in discovering a cure for this type of cancer. Otherwise, it would be considered a great insult for countries whose scientists are known worldwide to launch spacecrafts onto outerspace but could not make a scientific edge on how to discover a vaccine that will eventually kill breast cancer cells? What happens right now is that the agony of those moneyed breast cancer patients or those with good health insurance are only extended beyond their expectations? What about those who can't afford or have no financial means to carry on with their cancer treatments?

GOCCs are milking cows of hungry execs

2010-08-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

Everytime, I come across news reports of allegations that put government controlled corporations in the limelight just made me so downtrodden not because I pity these executives running these GOCCs while many of the people are wallowing in poverty.

I couldn't imagine how these executives could have a face to show the public by ignoring the realities of time. Of course, they are ignorant on the figures and official statistics that the Philippines' more than 70 percent population are poor. Yet they have the temerity to receive those excessive, if not, fat salaries which under normal circurmastances are deemed unimaginable of a person's ordinary mental faculty.

Yet, everytime, the national government is left without a choice but to be helpless in enforcing policies that would correct these shenanigans in most of the these government corporations. Now, I learned that Malacanang had acted based on reports to at least tame the GOCCs' fat salaries and bonuses by issuing an executive order. If this EO is addressed to these top GOCC executives, I doubt it if it would really merit positive results knowing how callous some Filipinos are when it comes to "delicadeza". Had anybody committed suicide, after his or her name had been put in bad light? Doubt it. And no one had ever done that as what the Japanese officials and executives when they are put to shame because of corruption or any wrong doing that would seriously tarnish their image in public?

All these years, not anybody I knew had ever attempted nor I had known of any public officials who came out to express an apology for pocketing billions of pesos in taxpayers' money for their self-aggrandizement? Nope! And here are these vultures in the GOCCs whose only motive is to hide behind the siheld of the board's independent charter, which by no means, could put them under no further scrutiny. I think it is only fitting that the administration of President Benigno Aquino had slashed a sizable amount of the funds accorded to these GOCCs.

But one of the GOCCs that continues to be inept and insensitive to the financial aspirations of its millions of members is the GSIS. And why not? While many of its executives are getting fat salaries and bonuses, lowly employees of government are being deprived of their rights to apply for loans that they could use to start a business. Worse is that loan applicants are caught in a limbo everytime they apply for loans. There are organizations that initiate moves to drum up their support for those who were taken advantaged of by the pension fund agency but to no avail. I'm not quite sure if they were bought or what? Otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised why they kept silent after a while and the objectives they were fighting for just vanished into the thin air.

If there is only a strong non-government organization that could lobby for the complete re-engineering of the GSIS, it would be a welcome development. Until this time, I haven't heard anybody doing the move. Or it could be possible that a non-government organization should be created to initiate a new type of cooperative that could parallel the services that the GSIS or SSS is doing to its millionsn of members. And one of the legislators, most probably from the party-list group, should file a resolution making no longer compulsory for government employees to become members of the pension fund agency.

New system of governance for Pres. Aquino

2010-05-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

It is a welcome relief to most Filipinos that elections were over. On the contrary, there were election-related protests that had never ceased and are still bothering the conscience of most election officials. Among those protestors are the losers themselves who claimed that the PCOS machines used to automate election returns didn't seem convincing to most people.

If there were complaints against the transmittal of election returns for the tallying of results, it would now be up to the Commission on Elections to investigate because, first and foremost, it is the Comelec responsbility to do that. Otherwise, it would take another couple of weeks before Congress is able to reconcile all those valid votes from the people.

In a few weeks time, the newly elected President Noynoy Aquino, son of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino and Corazon C. Aquino, would be steering the rein of government. Many peole have expressed hope that it will a departure from the recent administration that was mired in corruption and midnight appointments. One of which was the appointment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, former chief of staff of President Arroyo, who had been criticized by cause-oriented groups for saving the face of Arroyo from the impending corruption and other criminal cases that are expected to be filed against her by the new administration after her term ends in June 2010.

President-elect Aquino, at first, hesitated to take his oath before the new SC chief justice, but to a village chief in Tarlac province. But Aquino had decided today to instead forego with his oath-taking before an associate justice of the Supreme Court, who spared her vote against the appointment of Corona.

Perhaps, the new president should be careful in picking up his cabinet team. He must see to it that they are of unquestioned integrity. He should also avoid appointing members of his family to government posts, if only to avoid criticisms from the public. Reports revealed that some of his relatives are holding government positions right now. It would be for the good of his administration if President Aquino can convince them to quit their posts any moment now to pave the way for him to pick his own trusted cabinet members. If this is done, his administration will appear distinct and free from the influence-peddlings done when his late mother took the rein of government from the Marcoses.

Mr. President, try to make your system of governance doubly different from the rest of those who led the country before. In this way, the Philippines can be proud once more that there is such a personality such as yours who can make the great difference.

DNA test on Webb's semen will set him free

2010-04-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

If indeed it is proven that Hubert Webb, the convicted son of the former Philippine Senator Freddie Webb, along with his co-accused, is innocent of the criminal charges levelled against him in the killing of Estrellita Vizconde, 47; her daughters--Carmela, 18, who was raped, and Jennifer, 7--in their home at BF Homes, Paranaque on June 30, 1991, the Philippine government would have to be answerable for whatever exemplary damages that the accused would seek for destroying their future and the shame that befell themselves and their respective families.

It is public knowledge that there are hundreds, if not thousands of Webbs, who are languishing in different jails in the Philippines for crimes that they may have not committed. Their only mistakes were that they were at the wrong place, at the wrong time. And the Philippine government has been spending hefty sums of money to feed and keep them in jail for a long time, while the real culprits are running scot-free and may have committed the same crimes that they've been used to at the expense of innocent victims' lives and futures.

What a waste of time, efforts and money for the government just because the very law enforcement agencies tasked to execute their duties did not do them properly according to established and accepted procedures needed to implement an arrest for certain suspects. Somehow, they were arrested simply because somebody was coerced or forced to act as a witness in order to make it much easier for law enforcers to execute the arrest order and solve the crime.

Investigative journalists have made breakthroughs in unearthing the unexplained wealth of the presidents and other ranking government officials, including the justices of the Supreme Court. But nothing yet was written about how law enforcement agencies were remiss in their duties to effect proper arrests of criminal suspects, will the government be made liable to pay for the damages incurred in the wrongful arrest of that particular person, whose life was badly destroyed over many years of incarceration?

This is something, too, that any government worldwide should look into. Because you cannot just gamble on a person's future, especially if that person was arrested because he was set up or framed to make it appear that he committed the crime, when in fact, the court proved he didn't do it. Now, the question that lingers in the minds of Hubert Webb's parents and siblings: "Should Hubert be proven innocent, after the DNA tests had been conducted and compared and it showed that his sperm didn't match those that were taken from Carmela's, what will the government now do to recompensate for the number of years that the accused stayed in jail for the crime he didn't commit?"

It won't be much a problem for the scions of rich families. But what about the poor prisoners, who couldn't afford to hire good lawyers to defend them in courts? The reason why there were inside the jails is because they were framed up as fall guys so that the real suspects or masterminds would remain free. Whether we like it or not, this is the discrepancy that the Philippine justice system has at this time. When the new president is sworn in to lead the country, most of the constituents would expect him to introduce and put into effect some changes in public governance by getting rid of graft and corruption so that more investments will start pouring in again and again.

Toyota suffers from bad publicity

2010-04-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

"All of these articles blasting Toyota. Someone mentioned that American automakers are behind this continuing front page crusade against Toyota to try and help their sales. I am beginning to think this is true," wrote a certain GaPeech in his comments concerning on the latest article posted on Yahoo! on April 11 titled "AP IMPACT: In Toyota cases, evasion becomes tactic".

There seems to be a collective corporate publicity stunts to destroy the soaring image of Toyota as the number one carmaker in the world. And the only way to damage its reputation is to hurl all the blames on accidents and deaths of people who operated Toyota cars on a daily basis. In the publicity world, there are only two acceptable spheres to wit: To build or to destroy.

Toyota happens to be pitted on the latter option, which makes it vulnerable to all sorts of negative publicities if only to bring it down. I happen to pass by the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Torrance and saw Toyota car units sprawled like car toys on a copious parking lot. I had surmised that this could be the result of the negative publicities which Toyota management is currently facing. How to get out of this mess is still a big problem that haunts its operations. Lately, it has stopped production, if only to repair those cars that were recalled for further repair. Which Toyota did. But the lambasts didn't stop there. They continue to harass Toyota like it has deliberately done a mortal sin of reneging on its respondibility to correct whatever problems it has at the moment.

As you can see, Toyota still manages to buy commercial airtime to rebuild and reassure the public that it's back in business. I heard people saying they still are for Toyota because spare parts are much cheaper compared to other car brands. I'm not surprised at all why some people are sporting Toyota cars on their way to work or other activities. And the cars they are driving happen to be brand new. Isn't this a proof that some people don't just believe in publicities, bad or good. In the case of Toyota, it would mean a little hard work to regain the lost image. But from the way it looked, the damage is being taken cared of properly in the best interest of its millions of customers worldwide. There is a saying: When you're at the top, most people would try to bring you down. In the case of Toyota, I have no idea how true is this?

In the corporate world, publicity stunts are a common strategegy to bring down a competitor. Hoping this is not true with Toyota or any other car makers in the world market today.

Covenant among the presidentiables?

2010-04-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Failure of election is the name of the game. This early, the minds of the people are being conditioned to a scenario that there would be a failure of election in the Philippines. Already, bomb blasts had taken place in Basilan province where scores of people were killed. The military pointed to the Abu Sayyaf as the likely suspects in the series of bombings that killed innocent people, including some soldiers.

With the national elections past approaching, the administration can only hope for another hold on power by declaring a state of emergency or failure of elections. Consequently, those who are in power would still be in control of the government. And who wouldn't cling to power? The likes of top government honchos in Malacanang Palace who don't want to relinguish their posts, believing that once they do and back into civilian life, the new administration will run after them for their misdeeds.

In short, the fear of being deluded with a lot of criminal cases in courts is persuading President Gloria Arroyo to seek a congressional seat in her hometown of Lubao, Pampanga in central Philippines. It so happened that this is also the place of one of the country's top gambling lords --Bong Pineda, whose wife Lilia Pineda has been declared winner for the post of governor in Pampanga, after her request for recount was granted by the Commission on Elections.

This is politics, Philippine-style. Those who tasted the fruits of corruption, which led to enriching themselves at the expense of the taxpayers' money, still want to hand on to power. Power and influence of officials are good when properly used. But there are negative effects when they are abused by those who had been entrusted by the people to take the rein of government. Yet, there are rumors that they want to cling to power. For what? To further empty the coffers of government?

I think, Noynoy Aquino was right when he told media that should he win the presidency, he would go home to Times Street in Quezon City, rather than stay in Malacanang Palace. Without a family of his own, he can do this. Besides, it would be more economical for the government in so far as utilities are concerned, which are draining the government a large chunk of its budget. It seems a pragmatic way to decongest Malacanang Palace as a beehive of public functions and other activities, but when dignitaries come for a visit. In this way, the people will know that their president doesn't abuse his power by taking advantage of the Palace's conveniences and amenities. This is also a good example to the millions of constituents that the president can go home to his house, and take with him important papers that require his signature, after office hours. Although, it is common knowledge that any president works long hours, attending to the country's problems, not to mention his often hectic daily schedules.

If whoever wins the presidency can do these things and live a simple life, it would be a plus factor for good governance. For me, I always believed that staying in Malacanang is not the barometer of the country's successful social, economic and political growth. But whoever the president is, it will be incumbent upon him to lead the country towards growth and prosperity. That must be his goals when he takes the new rein of power from the crooks.

Perhaps, there should be a covenant to be made among the presidentiables. Whoever wins in this election contest should observe "word of honor" by dissociating himself or herself from any business dealings with the private sector. And that immediate families, relatives and friends of the winning candidate should not engage in any secret business transactions, if only to avoid negative publicity against the president. Likewise, the winning president must also divest himself of any business interest in the family-run companies, if there is any. Whoever violates this covenant should be a big slap on his face and a total black-eye to his administration. I don't think the people would like to have another kind of administration whose image was totally tainted with so much graft and corruption. As part of their responsibility, the youth must initiate a move to ensure that this coming elections will be honest and clean. Otherwise, there is no more hope for the country to improve socially, economically and politically.

Political chaos in the Philippines

2010-04-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

With the May 10 national elections closing in, the Philippine political arena is in total chaos. Latest reports said administration stalwarts are bolting the ruling party and defecting to the Liberal Party, whose presidential bet Noynoy Aguino, son of the former President Cory Aquino who died of cancer a couple of months back, represents.

Perhaps, some of these politicians, who were former close allies of President Gloria Arroyo, had lost their confidence in the administration's bet and saw a sure victory in Aquino, who is now leading in the Metro Manila survey as one of the presidentiables that is likely to win the seat in Malacanang Palace.

If I were a former ally of the current president, why should I stick to her, if only to free my conscience and the wrath of the voters, most of whom belong to the more than 70 percent of the impoverished population. These are the same people who had banked on false political promises that whatever economic developments during President Arroyo's tenure could trickle down to the interests of the masses. Eventually, they were somewhat frustrated because until now, most of the Filipinos are in the quagmire of poverty. Perhaps, the same people saw in Aquino a new light and hope for a better Philippines.

His archrival--Nationalista Party standard-bearer Manny Villar--had the knack to accuse him of being the son of a former president who made use of her political connections with the Arroyo administration. In fact, it was the other way around. Again, if I were to be asked I couldn't vote for someone who is a businessman for president. Why? I don't want to be judgmental in my opinion, but the way I look at it: a businessman is always a businessman. Many people right now are asking that should Villar win the presidency, it might be possible that underground private business transactions would be rampant, if only to cope up with what Villar spent during his campaign sorties, now amounting to almost 2 billion pesos. If he wins the presidency, do you think he won't do something to regain back what he had spent? And why would a president or any politician spend so much if he doesn't see any " gold mine" in the position that he is aspring for?

Now, the ball is in the hands of the people. This time, they must have learned their lessons well. Accepting money, in exchange for their votes, wouldn't do any good the country. If this happens again, there is no more hope that the Philippines will ever get out of the quagmire that she is in right now. Worse is the new president will inheret a government that is bankrupt due to rampant graft and corruption committed by the previous administration. In fact, at this very moment, the guilty parties are perhaps, thinking of running for public office to at least minimize the negative consequences brought about by whatever accountabilities that they had made while in public office. If that is what they think, they're wrong. Political immunity from lawsuits will not exempt anyone from facing the bars of justice, once they are proven to have committed corrupt practices while holding public office.

Unjust comments of a radioman

2010-04-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Who is this radioman Adam Carolla, who acted like he was a demigod of the airwaves when he took a pot shots of the Filipinos, including world boxing champ Manny Pacquiao whom he called an "idiot"? Then, he thought it later that what he did was wrong and apologized for his misdeeds.

Are you kidding. Adam? Since when did you come to your senses? News reports from Filipino newspapers like the Philippines News were barking at the front pages to protest this seemingly uncalled tirades against an Asian minority in America. For whatever reason why he did it, nobody knows. But perhaps, he had something personal against Filipinos which the only way to get even is to bully them by giving negative comments using the airwaves that seemed to destroy the image of peace-loving and hardworking people in America.

These days, poking at people has become a sideshow, if only to get attention of people or perhaps, to get higher ratings in the broadcast media industry. I have no idea if this is what Adam Carolla felt these days. But the way I discern it, he could be dreaming of putting his radio program on the pedestal by doing some "character assassination" on the air.

Had the Filipino communities across American did not lift a finger to complain about his unfair and unjust criticisms against Filipinos, Carolla would be laughing on the sideline and could be proud of himself for making negative comments against racial minorities in America. If he did it to Filipinos, he could also do the same to other Asian minorities, whom he considered as "eyesores" in America. Next time, think about it first before hurling those negative comments against anybody. Until a libel suit is filed against Carolla, he won't learn his lessons well. Do you think it would be better if Adam Carolla should be pitted to face Mr Pacman in the boxing arena to see if the latter is really "idiot."

Fear of diversion in Haiti goods distribution

2010-01-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

The distribution of international relief donations to earthquake-stricken Haiti is undergoing so much hurdles due to the absence of a proper system that would allow each needy individual to get his fair share of the much-needed food, water and other supplies to survive. Worse is that there are reports that these foreign relief aids may be taken advantaged of by some corrupt government officials.

The above apprehension circled among members of the diplomatic community in Haiti, who said that international relief aids, consisting of cash and in kind, may end up in the wrong hands, instead of going to the thousands of earthquake victims. Right now, there are lootings everywhere and the local police and United Nations Peacekeeping force, including the American forces, have tried hard to pacify desperate people from engaging in illegal activities.

This has prompted the diplomatic community to suggest of creating an international monitoring committee that will oversee how the international aids are being distributed to the right recipients. However, each time a helicopter loaded with relief goods lands in a chosen site, flocks of people, comprising of adults and children just can't wait but to rush to where the chopper was, if only to get the goods first. But television footages showed that children have been run over by rogue people in a mad scramble to get the goods, oblivious of the hapless children who are often hurt in the process.

It is hard to understand why until now the United Nations had not crafted an effective system that will allow people to toe the line and wait for their turn to get the goods for themselves. In the absence of a proper system for goods distribution, it is likely that many people, particularly children will be hurt, during

distribution efforts by the relief organizations.

Another thing that creates mistrust among members of the diplomatic community is the possible corruption in the distribution of goods to the people. In the past, Hait was observed to have been marked by Transparency International as one of the ten most corrupt countries in the world, ranked 176th among 180
countries. And it seems the recent crackdowns against corruption by current Haiti President Rene Preval didn't give a dent on how to correct the problem which continues to persist. Fride, a European Studies Center in Madrid, reported recently that inflow of foreign aid to Haiti totaled $2,600 million since 1984
but nothing much was done to alleviate massive poverty in Haiti.

Dante Caputo, special advisor to the Secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS) and former head of the UN Mission in Haiti, was quoted by reports regarding his proposal to create a monitoring committee so that international relief aids will be distributed properly to where they should go.

Caputo had suggested that the monitoring committee would be tasked to oversee the amount of aid matches those that are distributed to the proper recipients and ensure that the goods are not diverted to other parties, other than the needy earthquake victims themselves.

Agony and despair in Haiti

2010-01-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

An estimated 100.000 people are missing in Haiti, says the latest assessment of the United Nations relief organization, where scores of its own staff were buried under the rubbles when a strong eathquake hit the country Tuesday, CNN News said in a report.

Media reports said there is too much chaos and despair as can be gleaned from the faces of people, whose families and properties were among those buried under the concrete slabs of crashing buildings and houses.

CNN footages showed thousands of corpses lying unattended on the pavements and on the streets of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti's capital. Governement officials and relief workers have expressed fears that should this take longer, it could be possible that diseases may crop up as decaying corpses may contaminate the air.

As this writing, almost all the basic needs of the people like food, water, medicines, blankets, are scarcely available. Relief organizations are having problems delivering goods because roads leading to the sites of destruction are impassable at the moment. Although, it was already announced that a US Coast Guard cutter is on its way to Haiti, the first one to heed the call, to help in the rescue efforts and to brings relief goods to earthquake victims in Haiti.

President Obama has directed the US Agency for International Development (USAID), headed by by Dr. Rajiv Shah, to lead the relief efforts in Haiti, where the US government has committed some $100 million in emergency assistance to earthquake victims. While the United Nations has contributed a total of $10 million in emergency aid to Haiti.

As rescue and relief efforts are being made, the international communities are gearing up to lend support to help in whatever way they could as this time when Haiti is in terrible shape. At the moment, dead bodies are just being hauled by a payloader and dump them into a mass grave.
As this developed, rescue teams from different countries are trying their best to find those tucked under the concrete rubbles, using highly trained sniffing dogs. But the absense of electricity are making it doubly difficult for rescuers to do their jobs more easily and efficiently, reports said.

In fact, the Direct Relieft International has geared to ship out tons of relief goods and medicines to Haiti as its response to the worst disaster that already killed at least 50,000 Haitians and other nationalities there.

Am I short-changed?

2009-11-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Until now, I'm still in the throes of thinking what I'm doing these past few months. All I knew is that I've been putting my ideas into the cyberspace but getting nothing out of my own efforts. Sometimes, I have to ask myself if I'm crazy. Probably, not. I'm sure of that. However, I'm just wondering why up to this time I haven't reaped the fruits of my own efforts putting these ideas into this blog.

What I'm up to right now is whether I'll continue this blog or not. What if I'll just subscribe to something else that is truly my own. Here, everything is controlled by Google. Bloggers don't really know if their blogs are reaping enough revenues for advertisements put by AdSense or Ad world. I have no idea either. What else should I know except the fact that I don't get anything. Well, the objective of satisfying my want for my works to be put on cyberspace should be enough to make me happy. But beyond that, nope.

Like what I said, I'm not sure if I can continue doing this drudgery. The hours I've put writing my entries into this blog has been tremendous. But what else do I get out of it? Now, I knew that business is business. Tapping other people's creativity for the sake of advancing the interests of other people sounds unacceptable to me. Yet, I don't understand why most people do. It's not that I can't write with other publications, which I had been doing for the last two decades where my works appeared in several publications abroad. Now, I'm a little stuck here with nothing to gain.

Someone who reads this may try to echo his comments. At times, I'm surprised why I don't get any reactions from readers. Does this mean that my blog is drab and uninteresting to read? I have no idea. Even as I write this message, I'm thinking that blogging seems to be a waste of time. I just came to this thinking that this may not be the right avenue for me to make full use of my potentials in blogging. While other people are earning so much working behind their laptops, I don't. Will Google stand up and explain why is this so? Or are Google people lax in helping their bloggers do the tricks of the trade? If you were in my shoes, do you think you'll still keep this blog or not? I have no way of knowing if I'm short-changed or not, too. For me, working for free is just a crazy thing to do. I can't.

Clean power vs. fossil fuels

2009-10-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

The latest White House initiative to improve the electrical efficiency of the country's electrical transmission network came as a welcome relief to millions of American households. At least, the White House's move will boost additional energy to millions of American homes that are heavily dependent on the present electricity supplies that are powered by imported fossil fuel mostly coming from the Middle East. This time, it would be a different story because the federal government has committed to develop a "smart grid technology" that is intended to transmit electricity into the millions of consumers' homes using a reliable and much cleaner energy.

Bloomberg cited in its report that the money for the project will be sourced out from the $787 billion economic stimulus package approved by Congress last February. White House officials said the grants, ranging from $400,000 to $200 million, are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs once the projects are fully put on streams, using renewable and clean energy resources like wind and solar that are capable of generating power to serve millions of homes and industries.

In short, America will now be able to loosen up a bit from its over dependence on imported fuel, which costs billions of dollars in taxpayers' money, to power homes, cars and industries. But it has its drawbacks, too. In fact, the country's addiction to imported oil has also posed a threat to humanity through the uncontrolled emission of greenhouse gases that pollutes the earth's atmosphere.

Everybody adheres to the fact that America has more than enough renewable energy resources that have not been fully tapped yet. In the states of California and Florida alone, where the sun always shines almost throughout the year, the development of solar energy as a primary source of power is now gaining ground. An example of these solar power projects are those found in Lancaster, California and in Arcadia, Florida, which is 60 miles southeast of Tampa.What for is Chicago dubbed as the "Windy City" if nothing is done to harness its wind energy to produce a much cheaper and cleaner power sources for the millions of Illinois residents. The biggest wind turbines now operating off the coast of Denmark could also be emulated off the coasts of the states of Illinois and Michigan.

Bloomberg reported that at least 49 states are expected to benefit from the 100 government grants, which will also be matched by $4.7 billion in private investments. When fully put in operations, these renewable energy projects are expected to generate jobs that cannot be sourced out anymore as compared to other industries which had relocated to a much cheaper grounds like China, where labor is the lowest in the world.

However, it is not yet known how these projects would impact on the current electrical grids that are using imported fossil fuel to run industries, cars and light up millions of homes. When these much cheaper renewable energy sources are fully introduced into the markets, it is likely that these would compete with the economic performance of the already existing electricity grids that bring power to millions of American homes nationwide.

Macy's reward card makes wonders

2009-10-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of months back, I applied for a credit reward card with Macy's. However, the first credit limit given to me was only about dollars. Somehow, the Macy's card did help in some ways to add fire to my desire to buy products that I needed. However, it didn't take long enough for me to notice that there's something wrong with what I did. Then I asked myself: What I could I buy with such a limited amount of credit given to me? Well, the answer was understandable knowing that I was a first timer in the club of the company's card rewards system. When I asked the teller why I was only given a limited credit limit, she told me that's normal policy for newcomers who wished to build up their credit rating in the long run. However, I was told that should I repay my credit in due time, my credit limit would be increased to almost double the original amount.

Until I make the first move, I wouldn't be able to build up the credit that I would have wished for. So there I went wandering inside the Macy's store and trying to find whatever stuffs I need for as long as it wouldn't overshoot the credit limit given to me. However, I had enjoyed myself my shopping spree. My hands were full of the items I was supposed to have. This went on for a number of times. Until one day, I didn't know that I already run out of credits. When I made it to the teller, after lining up for a couple of minutes, I was informed that that I overshot the credit limit given to me. I was so ashamed since I didn't have enough cash to pay for the items I had taken from the shelves and sections where the items were displayed. Did I have a choice? Nothing but to return some of the items to the teller who accommodated my mistakes with a smile.

It took a little while before I did get the first bill. I wasn't so upbeat about it since it only cost me a little more than what I expected. Payment went smoothly for quite a while. Until one day, I failed to pay my bill on time. It wasn't deliberate on my part to skip payment. But I simply forgot all about it because I accidentally misplaced the bill and I couldn't find it anywhere in the house. So the next time around, I got a big surprise of my life when the dismal monthly payment I was supposed to pay the company did jump four-folds, which led me to believe that I was being duped of my money. How could a company overcharged me so much? And I didn't understand until now how this big shopping company can just overcharge its customers by leaps and bounds.

The last bill I got I was supposed to pay less than 10 dollars but then when I failed to pay it on time, the amount went up to something like $40. For any normal person to understand simple mathematics, missing a payment once should only double the amount, which was supposed to be more than 20 dollars, including the interests and surcharges. But this was different. I couldn't imagine being short-changed for a couple of dollars more because I'm just an ordinary customer who happens to hold a Macy's reward card.

What is ironical about it is that you cannot use the card to buy stuffs with other stores. Meaning it is exclusive to Macy's. As if everything you need in this world can be found at this shopping store. At this stage, what I'm trying to do is just finish my credit payments and hadn't made any purchase anymore due to frustrations. Sometimes, I'm thinking of finishing the payment off in one shot deal so that I wouldn't be pestered off into getting caught in a mess, paying for something that is not even credited to the actual credit I owed the company.

For me, it's not how little the credit a person owes but the system in which the credit is processed. Just hoping that the Macy's computer system is not taking advantage of those card holders whose knowledge on mathematical computation is weak, if not poor. And I don't understand, up to this day, why when someone missed a single payment, the amount just go haywire once the next bill comes. Hopefully, all this mess should be ironed out comes 2010 when Congress is set to craft and pass a bill that would make it hard for credit card companies to cheat on credit card holders.

Sour mortgages to hit $30B by year's end

2009-10-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Small businesses across America have been found to be groaning from the weight of economic pressures thus putting them in a situation where they are unable to secure more loans from the huge bailout money that the federal government gave to the big banks. In fact, the financial package that cost more than 700 billion in taxpayers' money did not even give a slight dent on the needs of small businesses to quench their hunger for more capital to expand their operations. In short, the federal government's move, whose primordial intention was to pump-prime the economy due to huge housing foreclosures, has become inutile.

Eventually, it had caused so much uproar among the conservatives in Congress and blamed the Obama administration for its failure to study the matter more carefully before making the final move to bailout Wall Street. It could have instigated a move to fatten the capability of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to grant more loans to small businesses rather than gave the bailout money to the big financial firms. What caused more frustrations was when it was learned that Wall Street executives got fat bonuses that run into billions, invoking their autonomy to decide on matters within the realms of their boards' clout.

There is only thing that the government benefitted from the bailout package was the $5 billion in tax breaks that was made available to small businesses. So that President Obama was quoted by the Associated Press to have asked Congress last week to increase the size of some SBA loans. Obama also had announced plans to provide low interest rate loans to small banks provided they lend more money to small businesses.

As this developed, at least 117 financial institutions have either failed or closed operations. While the big banks were enjoying the huge bailout money given to them by the federal government, small banks are just doing the opposite. What was ironical about it was that the big banks were even adamant to lend money to small businesses who needed additional capital to expand or to make their operations afloat.

BankInfoSecurity.com managing editor Linda McGlasson reported that in 2008, some 40 banking institutions failed. These comprised of 25 banks and 15 credit unions. This year, at least 77 banking institutions were either closed or taken by government regulators, including 7 banks this past weekend, she said.

As of Oct. 22, 2009, some 99 banks and 17 credit unions had discontinued operations. Citing a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation report, she said that the total number of troubled banks doubled to 305 last year. Topping the list of failed banks include Georgia with 16 banks; Illinois, 12 banks; California, 8 banks and 3 credit unions; and Florida, 3 banks. However, the largest failure was BankUnited in Coral Gables, Florida, involving total assets of $12.8 billion. This failure cost FDIC Insurance Fund some $13.553 billion.

Although it is public knowledge that the bank failures or closures were attributed to the economic recession that the United States experienced by the time the new administration tookover the reign of power from then President George W. Bush. But the Bank Info Security pointed to the present economic condition, mortgage foreclosures and other loan defaults as the factors that may have contributed to these failures. Among the 24 states heavily affected by housing foreclosures are Nevada, Arizona, Florida, California, Utah and Georgia.

McGlasson further said that if the soured mortgages are kept up at the same rate, it is likely that the losses could hit $30 billion by year's end. She said that most of the the banks that failed had bad exposures to commercial real estate sector, which is valued at %6.7 trillion, or representing 13% of the U.S. gross domestic product. The figure on estimated losses was based on the financial reports submitted by at least 8,000 banks during the first quarter, she added.

USVA grants initial US$94M to WWII veterans

2009-10-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

At least, 7,985 claim applications amounting to US$94 million were granted to eligible veterans since the United States government announced as early as April this year the granting of equity compensation benefits to Filipinos who fought side by side with American forces against the Japanese imperial army during the Second World War in the Philippines.

Of the 10,761 applications received for processing, 4,149 claims were approved for non-U.S. citizens with each getting US$9,000; and 3,836 for Filipino veterans with U.S. citizenship getting US$15,000 each. While some 2,776 claim applications were disapproved, says a faxed copy report obtained by the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans in Arlington, Virginia from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office.

Ironically, some 32,795 applicants applied for the equity compensation claim with the DVA Center for Minority Veterans, which overshot the number of eligible applicants totaling 18,000 Filipino WWII veterans registered in Missouri. However, the DVA Manila Office is still in the process of determining, based on the requirements submitted, those who are qualified to receive the equity compensation or not. In fact, a total of 22,034 applications are still pending.

According to the DVA, each application is coursed through the Manila VA Regional Office via a VA Form 21-4138 and this is examined based on the criteria established in the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" under Section 1002 called the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund.

As of this writing, the DVA Center for Minority Affairs continues to conduct successful outreach program to inform the veterans and their families about their equity benefits. As the information drive continues, the DVA had advised eligible Filipino WWII claimants to submit their claims until Feb. 16, 2010.

Metro Manila under water

2009-09-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

Code-named 'Ondoy'--the strongest typhoon that ever hit the Philippines-- brought with it more than 400 millimeters of rains and destroyed the lives and properties of an undetermined number of people who were caught by surprise when floods rising up to 20 feet deep inundated most Metro Manila streets Sunday.

Hardest hit were the cities of Marikina and Cainta, along with the rest of the Rizal province. At this time, nobody knew exactly what caused the sudden rise of water that caused tens of thousands stranded on the streets after they were caught waiting for transportation on their way back home. In previous typhoons, the Angat Dam has caused a lot of worries to millions of residents living in and around its area. When there is excessive volume of rains, it always thought that Angat Dam, which supplies water to La Mesa Dam in Balara, Quezon City, before it is distributed to the whole of Metro Manila households, would overflow. But when it does, it is hundred percent sure that the surrounding areas will be flooded. The rush of water coming from the Angat Dam would too much to bear. When it could no longer hold enough water, it has no option but to release the excess water.

Now, the flood victims have no way of knowing if it was really the release of water in Angat Dam that caused the heavy flooding. I live in Marikina for
more that 25 years now. And my family was not spared. I knew very well that the local government does its job by maintaining the Marikina River at all times. But when this magnitude of overflooding takes place, some people may just wonder that, perhaps, the river was heavily silted which might be the reason why it overflowed to the city streets. Perhaps, it is also about time that Pag-Asa--the weather center in the Philippines--should be given attention by upgrading its equipment and other facilities. As of now, Pag-Asa doesn't have a Doppler alert station where it would be capable of determining the volume of rain that is going to hit the ground.

And it's so funny to hear and read that even the chief of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) failed to rescue his only daughter who was trapped in her office by the rampaging floods in Cainta, Rizal that day. It was right that MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando did not lift a finger to use rubber boats that were supposed to rescue thousands of people who were in the same situation. Otherwise, he could have been flashed all over the tri-media for grave abuse of discretion. Indeed, a wise move and decision from the MMDA chair. Luckily, his daughter survived the hard ordeal.

My family told me it was a traumatic experience to undergo such a kind of bad experience. I knew how they felt. In fact, I've never experienced this horrific problem that hit Metro Manila before. Now, my wife is trying to convince me to transfer to another place in order to forget what happened. I believed that there are still places outside Metro Manila that are safe from floods. One of these place is Antipolo City. However, the only drawback of living in Antipolo City is the scarcity of water. Here, water is rationed on a daily basis. While those with money may just build their own water pumps to source out water from the ground. But is the suburbs free from this kind of malady? I don't think so.

For as long as man never ceases to abuse its surroundings by wantonly throwing thrash all around, overflooding of city streets will not stop. The government can only do so much. What the people need at this time is discipline, if they really wanted to live a good life. Throwing garbage into the creeks and rivers is not right because it clogs the water tributaries. Hence, the overflowing of rivers and creeks. But the local government, too, must have fair share of the responsibility. It must see to it that people, particularly those living in squatter areas, must not dispose of their garbage anywhere for good sanitation purposes. The local government must also come up with enough budget to keep its rivers free of flotsams and heavy siltation by dredging them as required. In this way, overflooding can be at least minimized.

I just hope and pray that another typhoon of the same magnitude will not visit the Philippines again. Otherwise, it would be another great disaster for so many people, particularly those living along the river banks, creeks and coastal areas. And the call to modernize the facilities of the Philippines weather station should be taken seriously, too.

Philippine heavy water awaits exploration

2009-08-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

I was watching a cable television broadcast recently. Then, all of a sudden something caught my attention. A certain Mr. Martin Fleischmann, an electrochemist with the California-based SRI International, was being interviewed on the boob tube concerning his discovery of cold fusion, sometimes referred to as "low energy nuclear reaction (LENR)."

According to Wikipedia, cold fusion came to the spotlight on March 23, 1989, when two scientists--Fleischmann and Stanley Pons--stumbled on a scientific process that would produce nuclear fusion, involving electrolysis of heavy water on a palladium electrode. The real beauty of it was that it could possibly be used to produce enormous cheap energy that could fuel many industries worldwide through the use of "excess heat."

The world, especially the developing countries, are hard up on how to cope with the impacts of fluctuating oil prices in the international markets. Alone, the high costs of fuel to run industries are exacting a heavy toll on Third World's economies so that some, if not all, of the basic services are sacrificed just to keep the economy going. The bottom line is without the fuel, manufacturing and transportation activities will grind to a halt.

The world, which has addicted to oil and draining the weak economies' coffers through heavy importations, was made aware of its existence. For more than six years now, SRI International scientists are trying their best to refine cold fusion experiments in order to help countries that are heavily dependent on imported oil as a means to run their industries. Unless there are other scientists who try to question the integrity and findings of those electrochemists on the proper methods to produce excess heat from the process of cold fusion, the world will be waiting. For how long, nobody knows when cold fusion by-products will be out in the markets.

Let's take for granted that it will be successful, what will happen to the rich-oil producing countries? Of course, the impacts will be self-explanatory in nature. When the by-products of cold fusion are introduced in the markets, depending on how much the cost will be for the buyers of the latest technology, there will be less importation of oil because "excess heat" from the process of cold fusion is more than enough to run turbines and energize batteries to run vehicles, which could last for many years.

If I remember it right, the Philippines has been reported to have sufficient stock of deuterium, a kind of heavy water that is readily available off the coast of Surigao Deep in Mindanao. This came to light during the Marcos regime, when news broke out that the Philippines has been considered as the only country in the world to have unquantifiable deposit of "deuterium". But further explorations had been called off for unknown reasons. Although, some reports said that extracting deuterium from the Surigao Deep would cost so much resources and manpower. While some geologists claimed that any equipment that could be used to explore deuterium miles underneath the sea will break due to excessive pressure as one goes deeper.

Of course, there are other reasons why they stopped deuterium explorations in the Philippines. Economists said that if deuterium exploration in Surigao Deep is pushed through, it could be one of the richest sources of income for the Philippines, which at the present time is mired in poverty and external debts. It could also mean more money, more than enough to wipe out its billions of debts with the World Bank. But it seems nobody wants the Philippines to be more than a tiger economy in the Far East. At the moment, this is a jigsaw puzzle that keeps haunting me as I write this blog. Well, there's nothing wrong if the two electrochemists would try to visit Surigao and have a look at the site where deuterium deposits are aplenty. In fact, some foreign oil companies like Exxon and Shell may have been exploring the Philippine seas just to find the elusive "White Gold" called deuterium. As to whether they had found it and are extracting it already, nobody can tell.

Diploma mills on the rise

2009-08-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

A wide variety of online education offers are all over cyberspace. Some of them just pop up in your email address inbox at any given time. What makes it worrisome is that many of these online colleges and universities offering course in the internet are bogus. Why? Because most of them are not accredited by the U.S. Department of Education in any manner.

To make it appear that they are accredited, they have established the same bogus world online education accrediting institution in cyberspace as a means to convince would-be victims that the online university is indeed accredited even if it's not. What makes it worse is that even animals can be issued a diploma and transcript of records provided they pay a certain amount to buy the package order consisting of fake documents. Isn't it funny?

Diploma mill business, which capitalizes on life experiences and trainings that are used for evaluation purposes, has become an underground industry that heaps millions, if not billions of dollars, fooling many people around the world, especially those who are working adults who have no time or lazy to go back to school due to some constraints or personal commitments. This is where these bogus online universities come in. Perhaps, they knew that these people need these school credentials that they could use for home display or for promotion at the work site.

Here are some of the few observations why they appear to be bogus: 1. The online university doesn't have a permanent address but a toll-free telephone number that is probably connected to a call center for a fee; 2. Payment for the course order is directed to an education services provider anywhere across America; 3. Origin of the documents, which is normally sent through courier services like UPS or FedEX, come from Asia or the Middle East, instead of the U.S.A.

In America alone, thousands of victims could only heave in great frustrations. Because not only their bright hopes and positive expectations gone but their hard-earned money, too, that runs to thousands of dollars. What is painful is that some of them haven't even gotten hold of the diploma or transcript of records because the federal authorities have caught up with the masters of deception. While others have received theirs but couldn't use them because the employers knew they are fake.

Popular among these bogus online universities offering a variety of courses that could be earned in lieu for life experiences include Belford University, Rochville University, Rushmore University, Glendale University, Washington International University, and many more. Authorities said some of these bogus universities are owned and managed by the same group of people who established the World Online Education Accrediting Commission as a means to validate their claim for accreditation. But the same is non-existent.

Next time you stumble on this kind of course offering, all you have to do is check their addresses and valid accreditation if they are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or other accrediting institutions listed in the directory of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, an independent private accrediting agency based in Washington,D.C. The CHEA website contains a searchable database to check accreditation status of approved accreditation agencies, accredited schools, or schools currently in the process of getting accreditation.

Using innocent women for profits

2009-08-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Time and again, it is frustrating to hear that some unscrupulous people were reaping huge profits at the expense of innocent women, whose only intention was to land a job for them to improve their lives and that of their families. Instead, they ended up as prostitutes in some brothels in some parts of Asia, which is against their will.

How do these unscrupulous people perpetrate their modus operandi? First, they pick a newspaper where they would advertise their phony vacancies abroad. When the applicants start pouring in, applicants would then be screened and then require them to submit some pertinent papers for the processing of their visas. After the selection process, each successful applicant is asked to cough up money as placement fees, and those who do not have cash are forced to pawn their properties or make some loans from friends and relatives just to come up with the agency's placement fees.

The Philippines, along with the rest of Asian countries, has not been spared of this problem. Most often, people will hear sad ordeals of women who ended up as prostitutes in some brothels in China or somewhere else. Of all places, why China? Despite its robust economy, China is struggling to deal with its millions of unemployed or underemployed citizens, who like the rest, have been aching to move out somewhere just to seek greener pastures. Unless, they were recruited by multinationals to work in that part of the world, the situation would be a bit different.

However, working as domestic helpers in the heart of China, with the exception of Hong Kong, Macau or Singapore, seemed unwelcomed considering the language barrier. Or working in the Middle East, whose harsh climate and cultural differences are making it doubly difficult for some workers to deal with. Hence, some ended up as runaways whose only alternative is to seek refuge at the concerned embassies. Good, if embassy officials are not remiss in their duties so that necessary assistance could be immediately be extended to the victims.

For these tourists, getting out of the country is not really a problem. This is where the problem starts. At the NAIA international airport in Manila, for instance, miracles do happen almost daily within the noses of immigration officials. Surprisingly, escort services are available, in connivance with unscrupulous or fly-by-night agencies, who do nothing but grease the palms of those who have immediate access inside the airport terminals up to the exit tubes. And it is hard to imagine how much money change hands to sustain human trafficking in that part of Asia.

The problem begins to crop up once the victims have already sought refuge at the respective embassies to seek immediate assistance. The most common reason is that they were abused or not given salaries for months so that the last recourse is to runaway from their employers to escape further wrath.

Sometimes, it is not advisable to capitalize on poverty as the primordial reason why there is an urgent need for some women to try their luck abroad. First thing that you'll do is to seek the help of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and check if the said agency is registered or not.

However, some do not bother to ask because they knew first hand that they would be questioned if their job offers are genuine or not. Hence, some women are taking the risks of sneaking through the backdoor, unmindful of what will happen to them next. But sometimes, the gamble ends up in a deadend.

Fil-Am veterans equity benefits trickle in

2009-08-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Thousands of California-based Filipino-American veterans of the Second World War have expressed gratitude over the federal government's concerted action which granted them at least $15,000 each in equity compensation starting last week.

In fact, many of those based in Carson, California, where a large number of these veterans are concentrated, have started receiving their notices from the US Veterans Administration (USVA), which are proof that the money that they are supposed to get for a long time had been finally approved for release.

Jesus Belicano and Richard Ongsotto, Jr. , who belonged to the Philippine Scout during the war and now U.S. citizens, have expressed high hopes that they could finally go for a short vacation to the Philippines once they receive their equity compensation from the government. However, until now both are still waiting for those letter notices to become "cash".

The same is through with Ildefonso Quibin, a native of Isabela province in northern Philippines, who until now is still waiting for his notice to come.In fact, he already sent an inquiry to the Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Office to verify why he has not received any notice yet while many others already did.

The notices asked the veterans to just go to their respective banks and inquire using the check reference numbers shown on each respective notice to verify if the money had been deposited in their bank accounts. However, the puzzle now builds up among them as to the proper instructions given by the Veterans Affairs Office on how and in what manner they will receive the money?

The veterans are expecting they will get the check amounting to $15,000 in their respective addresses, rather than going to the bank to inquire as to whether the money had been deposited or not. Unless the VAO will ask the Social Security Administration (SSA) to furnish them copies of the veterans' bank account numbers, they would face a blank wall on where to send the compensation money.

As of this writing, the veterans said they have strong faith in the way the Veterans Affairs Office is handling the problem on reaching for each of the thousands of surviving Fil-Am veterans, who, in their twilight years, are still able to get what is due them after all these years.

A couple of month back, the US Veterans Affairs Office had already authorized release millions of dollars in equity money for recognized veterans based in the Philippines, where each of them was entitled to get $9,000 in equity compensation ahead from those based in the United States. While surviving widows of veterans failed to get anything from the USVA.

Birth control methods for birds?

2009-08-19T12:42:00.001-07:00

Time and again, several commercial airplane crashes had been reported. They were not only caused by human errors but by the inevitable forces of nature. But one this is seriously alarming is the presence of high flying birds which was reportedly blamed for most of the accidents that resulted in the deaths of many people.

Despite these negative developments, the federal government can only do so much by enforcing air transportation laws that are effective and practical. In fact, appropriate solutions to these problems had been made. But accidents are accidents and there's nothing we can do about them. Perhaps, the only best solution is to ensure that commercial planes are properly inspected and checked before flight. But accidents do happen in the most unexpected moments.

Reports had it that some of the plane crashes were caused by birds which are sucked by the planes' engines in mid-air thus resulting in the failure of the plane's engine to conk out. I knew it sounds silly to the ears. But this is what concerned sectors claimed as a means to stop the growth of bird population in and around most airports across the United States, which give so much worries to airline officials and passengers alike these days.

The idea came about in response to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report that birds have been traced as one of the primary causes of most commercial airline accidents nationwide. At the top of the list is the John F. Kennedy International airport in New York, with more than a
thousand airplane crashes due to birds. Los Angeles International airport was reported to have at least 583 airline accidents which was traced to birds sucked into the airplanes' engines.

The problem that now lingers in most minds is how to implement birth control methods among the bird population, particularly the influx of Canadian wild geese across many parts of the United States. The plan may be good for the airline industry in general. But the at this stage, many people are already wondering how it willl be done with success, taking into consideration the mobility of the birds. It is common knowledge that millions of birds get in and out of most airports on a daily basis without letup. Without caring for what the animal rights groups are fighting for, shooting the birds that come to a busy airport seems an animal welfare violation.

Perhaps, what the FAA should do instead is to field dogs to drive away birds that forage within the airport premises. If not, the getridofthings.com has suggested the following remedies to solve bird population explosion at airports. These include the setting up of silhouettes of birds of prey around the airport premises to scare other birds; the use of electronic bird alarm, especially those with audible sounds; and a non-toxic product like Flight Control, which can be applied to both turf and buildings. It is effective in repelling nuisance birds.

However, the simple notion of controlling the bird population by feeding them with seeds laced with a substance that would control the birds' reproductive process is a welcome proposition. Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for someone to identify as to which birds needs the proper birth control procedure, especially at this time when even dogs could hardly get the same procedure for free due to costly expenses that will be entailed in the process.

Gaga over impending immigration reforms

2009-08-19T12:31:00.001-07:00

Early next year, President Barack Obama is expected to tackle the hotly-debated immigration reform issue. But reviving the sensitive issue on the failed comprehensive immigration reform is already simmering into the atmosphere. In fact, some sectors are already going gaga by spewing with all types of negative reactions against the possibility of legalizing millions of illegal immigrants in this country.

Some of the comments insisted that legalizing millions of illegal immigrants would snatch Americans of their present jobs, considering they already hurt labor markets brought about by the present economic recession. No question about that. However, I still believed that most of those doing those dirty jobs right now are being done by many illegal immigrants whose only intention is to survive the dog-eat-dog competition in the labor market, where many Americans don't want to do. To claim that these people are snatching jobs from Americans is not reasonable at all.

Why be insecured in the first place? Are you not competent enough to do your jobs that you feel downright afraid on the presence of these industrious guests in your backyards? What I could say, perhaps, is to calm down in the midst of all these apprehensions, after all it is still your work performance that will gauge as to whether you are fit for retention or not. The best thing that any worker can do at this point in time is just to work diligently and not be intimidated by the impending discussions about immigration reforms.

However, should the present Congress, which comprises majority democratic votes, it is highly likely that the comprehensive immigration reforms will be addressed and deliberated accordingly. In the meantime, allowing the new president to lead the way and respect his opinion and so with those of the other democrats is still the most appropriate move that anyone can do at this time. Rather than regal in the selfish motives of one's intellect, it is still humanly act to know and feel that there are millions out there who aspire to become part of this progressive and prosperous country.

What's wrong with that if these men and women, like many others, would want to improve their lives by sharing the bounty of what God has given us.

U.S., China to tap huge coal reserves

2009-08-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

The United States and China will continue to tap their coal reserves simply because they are in abundance and are much cheaper than oil imports. This means more coal-fired than gas-fired power plants will come on stream in the next two years. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said in its report "The World in Figures: Industries," that demand for coal will rise by 4.6 percent this year to 6.8 billion tonnes as countries with abundant coal reserves will start to reduce their heavy dependence on imported oil. This means that less oil imports could mean more savings for the importing country's economic coffer. Inversely, this could also mean less income for the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC).

James Hansen, a crusading American scientist, describes power stations that burn coal as "factories of death." Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel that produces twice the carbon dioxide when it is burned thus greatly contributing to global warming.

However, the impacts of coal burning are totally ignored at this time when the world's developed countries like the United States and Germany, use at least 50 percent of their coal reserves to power their industries. While India and China use 70 and 80 percent, respectively. Besides, digging for coal provides employment to millions of people, the Economist magazine said in its article. Fully aware of the negative effects of coal-fired power plants on the environment, some environmentalists had thought of eliminating carbon emissions through the so-called carbon capture and storage (CCS), also known as carbon sequestration. This process allows the utilities firms to store carbon smokestacks underground for a long period of time.

However, policy-makers are in a quandary as to how it could be effectively implemented, knowing the tedious process that could be entailed before it can attain success. In fact, utilities firms could only agree in principle but are unable to fully put on streams the projects because, according to them, it is more expensive to build and run coal-fired power plants using the CCS. Already, some private sector entities are already commenting that the CCS is not workable at this time. And western governments like the U.S. have exerted so much efforts by setting aside in a stimulus bill the amount of US$3.4 billion in subsidies for the CCS project.

While other countries like the EU, Britain, Australia have signified their interest to fund demonstration plants as a means of helping the private sector fulfill its mandated tasks of converting coal into a clean energy that will not hurt the environment. But the private sector is saying the putting in place the CCS is just a waste of money and efforts on the part of the governments concerned. As to the deeper reasons why, the policy-makers will have to take a second look and find out if the CCS project is workable or not. Otherwise, it could be another futile attempt for the private utilities firms and the governments. In fact, FutureGen, in partnership with big resources firms, scrapped the same project last year after its projected cost jumped to $1.8 billion, says an Economist report.

Soldiers risk lives on the frontline

2009-08-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

The killings by the suspected Abu Sayyaf Group, a faction of al-qaeda in southern Philippines, of more than 20 soldiers in Tipo-tipo, Basilan province recently was a tangible proof that peace would be far from being achieved in that part of the Philippines. This had prompted Philippine President Gloria Arroyo to order the military to declare an all-out war against the Abu Sayyaf bandits so that these killings and mutilations of soldiers could be stopped. Had the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) did the mutilations on some of the soldiers, the world would cry foul because it was agains the established provisions set forth under the Geneva Convention.

Here, there seems to be a confusion in so far as the on-going civil war in Mindanao is concerned. Why? Anybody can use his common sense. With the Abu Sayyaf declared as bandits and terrorist group by the government , they can just do whatever they want to do without violating any international laws. This is opposed to the religious ideology being pushed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose only real motive is to establish an Islamic state in Mindanao. With a peace pact with the government, the MILF cannot just renege on its commitments to observe what was enshrined in the Geneva Convention. Because if they do, it would mean a clear violation of the Geneva accord.

Is this the reason why the Abu Sayyaf Group is being used to attack government forces because they are not answerable to any established international convention but to God for their misdeeds on earth. Hopefully, by the now the military is able to decipher this discrepancy in field operations knowing fully well the tactics that are now being used by the ASG. The recent firefight that killed many soldiers only showed how the civil war in Mindanao is being waged differently. From the looks of it, it appeared that the ASG members were the actual instigators of these atrocities.

But why would the ASG have enough courage to battle it out with government forces when they knew in advance that the soldiers have all the logistics they needed to quash any attempt to annihilate the enemies. However, it turned out the bandits were more equipped and prepared when it comes to an actual firefight.

Military strategists and experts couldn't believe to themselves that it wasn't the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf alone. They have strong inkling that the MILF may have a hand in the ambush of the soldiers who were supposed to lend support to their comrades at the time of the actual firefight in Tipo-tipo, Basilan. Military officials have claimed in published reports that the MILF aided the ASG during the skirmishes which resulted in the deaths of soldiers. Well, the damage was done already. Now it would be time for the military to change its operational strategy against the extremist groups in Mindanao so as to avoid further casualties in the future. But no matter how sincere is the military in pushing through with its plans to effectively crush the extremist groups in Mindanao, it would be useless because proper logistics are not readily available when they are needed most.

Unless the government, especially the Department of National Defense (DND), will be honest enough to procure weapons and equipment that are truly for the purpose of war and protecting the soldiers on the ground, nothing fruitful will happen. As of now, there are reports that procurement for logistics was suspected to be in a mess, which will eventually trickle down to the disadvantage of the soldiers who are deployed for what is perceived as a long protracted war against the enemies.

Greyhound racing to compromise animal welfare

2009-08-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

I simply couldn't understand the logic why some legislators had scheduled deliberations on a bill that would pave the way for allowing greyhound dog racing in the province of Cebu. Now, the issue is soliciting split opinions from animal welfare groups as to whether it is right for some businessmen to push through with the plan to legalize dog racing in the Philippines.

At this time, when dog racing has been banned in many places worldwide, particularly the United States and Europe, some business-oriented individuals are trying their best to make it appear that this form of gambling using animals for patrons to put their bets on will somehow give them the leverage to earn hefty sums of money in exchange for abusing thousands of animals like greyhound dogs.

If this bill is passed in Congress population of greyhound puppies will explode because of the need to select breeds that are of excellent quality to be used for dog racing. Hence, endangering their welfare in the hands of dog trainers and owners whose only motive is to earn big without the benefit of giving proper care to the animals.

If approved in Congress, House Bill No. 5291 will grant Fox Millennium Amusement Club a franchise to construct, operate and maintain a rreyhound Racetrack in the city of Mandaue in Cebu province. "This measure has already been approved by a legislative conference committee and is now being considered by the Philippine Senate," says the Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation.

According to AAF, it is wrong to use any animal for the purpose of public entertainment or sport if it results in any compromise to the health or welfare of the animal concerned. "Animals Asia believes that the practice of breeding and racing greyhounds is inherently cruel with thousands of dogs being killed each year due to injuries sustained while racing and becoming surplus to the industry’s needs at the end of their racing careers", it added.

Alone, animal rights groups said that breeding of greyhound will result in the explosion of unwanted dogs whose adoption may be jeopardized as many of these abused dogs may be sickly and injured. Besides, there are not enough people to take in what the racetracks had discarded for adoption purposed.

PAL's passengers irked on excess baggage limit

2009-08-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Philippine Airlines employees manning the counter at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) made surprise declarations Tuesday (8/11/09) to departing passengers, mostly Filipinos on their way back home, prior to final boarding Flight No. PR 103.

It didn't only shock many passengers who were caught unaware of PAL's sudden implementation of a strict baggage weight limit to the frustration of each passenger destined for the Philippines. A friend who sent off a housemate that day told me he saw a lot of passengers re-opened their boxes which exceeded the baggage limit allowed for each passenger at the airport lobby. They didn't have any choice but to set aside the excess items until each box had conformed to the right baggage weight limit allowed by PAL. Then, they again repacked and resealed their boxes. Isn't it annoying that way? What's wrong with the system at PAL's ticketing outlets in Southern California?

What if those elderly Filipino passengers didn't have somebody with them to take care of the excess baggage? According to my friend, some of the passengers had to be pushed on the wheelchairs on their way to the departure area.

Sad thing is it seems that PAL is getting out of touch with the reality of life. Of course, these things could be avoided had the ticketing outlets that sold these PAL tickets informed the passengers beforehand that the baggage weight limit is so and so. In this way, the poor passengers wouldn't bother stocking their boxes with unwanted stuffs, which was the reason why they had to suffer the inconveniences at the premier airport in California.

If this happens in California, I'm sure this also happens across the other airports in America where PAL failed to give proper announcements on its new strict system on baggage weight limit. Perhaps, the PAL management has to explain something in order to iron out this mess, if only to attract more passengers to board its flights back home. It is not always money that counts, but the passengers' convenience and quality service, too.

Pro-choice vs pro-life

2009-07-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Anti-abortion groups are up in arms to criticize government officials whose negative policies on unwanted pregnancies have caused anxiety and despair among the catholic community because they fear that more and more unborn babies will be aborted. And that respect for human life will continue to be violated.

Even as this is being written, opposing forces have not reached a common ground by which to iron out their differences and beliefs in so far as acceptable birth control methods are concerned. Visible of these groups are those claiming to be affiliated or supporting the pro-life or pro-choice movements across the world. And the battle goes on and on and on. As the controversy on abortion rages, many unwanted children are born thereby adding to the already bursting number of population on earth. This means more mouths to feed, clothe, educate and raise to become productive members of society. But as the population grows, the earth's resources wouldn't be enough to absorb all our basic needs over a long period of time. What is worrisome is that in the impoverished countries, more and more children are dying of hunger each day due to malnutrition and lack of proper of health care for their survival. It is not surprising, therefore, why a group called the pro-choice movement rose up to the occasion by calling on the governments to allow responsible couples to choose what is best for them so as to limit their number of children.

What is a pro-choice, anyway? According to the Feminist Women's Health Center in its October 2007 statement, "to be pro-choice is to support self-determination to make decisions free from judgment." It adds: "Pro-Choice is the responsibility to yourself and the freedom to decide to take control of your own life process." FWCH further stated that pro-choice is not just about reproduction but the freedom to decide your life course with the support and respect of others. "It represents power and pride in self."

"We feel pro-choice is a complex process - it's not just about abortion, but about birth control, or having a child - it's about all reproductive choices. It's access to information we need, can gather and understand, and can reach our own decisions without interference. And it's about who makes the final decision, not a judge or the government, but the woman," the FWHC statement said.

In the first place, why prevent couples from deciding for themselves on what to do with having children or not? Judging from my own observations, I noticed that those couples who are much poorer are the ones who have more number of children. Based on this, can anybody just allow couples to have children even if they do not have the capability to feed their children? Notably, when a couple has more mouths to feed but has no means to sustain their children's basic needs, what happens is that some of the children are out on the streets to seek loose change and food from strangers just to fill up their empty stomachs.

Logically, why in the first place raise babies some of us cannot afford to feed? Perhaps, before the problem gets worse, acceptable birth control solutions based on the health of the mothers should be administered in order to stop unwanted pregnancies. However, there seems to be some conflicts and misinterpretations on matters related to family planning methods. According to Tom Head of About.com, where he keeps an article on the issue of civil liberties, that the pro-life movement argues that even non-viable, undeveloped human life is sacred and must be protected by the government. Abortion, according to this model, must not be legal, nor should it be widely practiced on an illegal basis. "The pro-choice movement argues that in cases where
human personhood cannot be proven, e.g. in pregnancies prior to the point of viability, the government does not have the right to impede a woman's right to decide whether or not to continue a pregnancy," he continued.

On the contrary, population studies revealed that when couples have more children, the less likely they will able to provide them their basic needs. And when any society has more impoverished people in the midst, the government is left helpless to cope with the negative consequences of the problem. In poor Asian countries, like the Philippines, this social problem has become a dilemma to the government because of the growing number of street children
who eke out a living hawking different kinds of things to earn money. Worse is when they are out on the streets all day long and into the night, these poor children are vulnerable to criminal elements. Parents should be responsible enough to limit the number of children they could afford to raise so that this problem should not aggravate the burdens of any government for that matter. What good does it do when a couple has more children that parents cannot afford to feed so that most of them experience hunger in their early stage of life.

In some Asian countries like the Philippines, the issue on abortion is hotly debated between the Catholic Church and the pro-choice movements. And the government is caught in the middle, particularly the Commission on Population (POPCOM) and the Department of Health (DOH), whose hands are tied because their stand on the birth control issue failed to get support from some legislators. Of course, POPCOM has always been battling it out for Congress to deliberate on matters related to population and development policies. But nothing much had happened because some of those legislators who are supposed to support the population-related bills are afraid of the Catholic Church. This is the reason why there is not much development in so far as family planning and responsible parenthood are concerned. It is not surprising why the Philippine population has ballooned to more than 80 million already. In the absence of a firm population and development policies with a teeth, rapid population is expected to continue at the expense of the country's resources.

Is it wrong to dry clothes in the sun?

2009-07-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

Furious over drying clothes in the sun?

It only happens in America. But not in some countries in Asia where drying clothes in the heat of the sun is a common practice taken from their ancestors many centuries ago. And the controversy blew out of proportion because some people just couldn't understand the credible reason why we have to tap the sun's energy to our own advantage. At this time when most people are complaining about the fluctuating prices of imported oil, certain measures should be used if only to cut unnecessary household costs which kind of making a serious toll on the ordinary pockets.

That's exactly what an ordinary housewife did in Vermont recently when she tried to hand her newly washed clothes in the heat of the sun. Perhaps, she just couldn't resist the temptation of tapping the natural energy from the sun and at the same time, cutting her electricity bills. But some of her neighbors just couldn't stand what she did and they were fuming mad about her new fight to save energy. But instead of being appreciated, she had earned the ire of her neighbors who had started accusing her of violating the neighborhood's decency by displaying personal items that tend to distract passers-by. She, however, insisted that what she did saved her some extra expenses for unwanted energy bills that she may have spent had she used her dryer.

For them, this practice was misconstrued as an eyesore that is frowned upon by most Americans. For them, the dryer and laundry washer were all most people do to be considered civilized in this world. There wasn't any proof at all of stereotyping against those who resorted back to the old practice of drying clothes in the sun. But negative reactions spoke louder than words. Some people couldn't just accept the fact that there are those who wanted to make a change in their lifestyles by a little bit economizing on certain things in order to save a little bit more of their hard-earned money. Still, there aren't too many people who don't seem to understand the proper advantages of having your clothes left to dry in the heat of the sun. But some people do. For example, someone wrote in the http://www.seventhgeneration.com/ website which she stated the advantage of drying clothes in the sun versus drying them in a high-heat dryer.

"If you are concerned about which method kills pathogens more, I would say that drying your clothes in the sun would indeed be more effective due to the presence of ultraviolet light. UV light is the primary reason that pathogens/bacteria do not survive well in sunlight.," she wrote.

Now, the furor over this issue came into the spotlight when some concerned energy nuts rose up to the occasion and organized themselves into a group that thought of seeking the help of the White House to support their cause. Perhaps, one of which is to find out if drying clothes in the sun can be considered unacceptable?

While some people heavily depend on certain modern technologies to make their household chores a little bit much easier to do, majority in the developing world still cling to the old tradition of hanging their newly washed clothes in their backyard, especially when the sun is out all day. Aside from this, millions of women in the Third World still cling to the old practice of washing their clothes along the riverbanks because that's what they were trained to do by their
ancestors. Despite the absence of these modern equipment and appliances, many of the Third World population can still survive and keep up with the intricacies of living and at the same time, helping the world lessen our heavy dependence of costly energy that tends to destroy our one and only planet.

Jacko's memorial service at Staples Center

2009-07-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

At least 50,000 people showed up Tuesday at the late pop singer Michael Jackson's memorial service held at the Los Angeles Staples Center. However, only 17,000 people with tickets would be allowed to attend the said event.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has warned that those who couldn't show any ticket and the access wristband at all will be barred from gaining entry at the memorial service. At this time, LAPD has already barricaded the Olympic Blvd., Flower Street, and Pico Street surrounding the Staples Center where the King of Pop's memorial service will take place.

However, thousands of fans have expressed interest to attend the memorial service, despite the LAPD's warning. Many of them have come from far away places to pay their last respect to their singing idol who passed away 12 days ago by amassing around the Staples Center. At the same time, almost all media entities around the world have already positioned themselves close to the Staples Center. Besides, the LAPD has expressed apprehensions that the memorial day will cause some problems like traffic jams, security and cleanliness around the area. In fact, the LA city government estimated it would cost the city close to $4 million for the one day event alone.

Meanwhile, Rep. Peter King today in a MSNBC interview criticized the ample media coverage being accorded to the late pop star, saying that he was a child molester and should not be given such a kind of publicity. Early this evening, the King of pops coffin was brought to the Forrest Lawn Memorial Park in San Fernando Valley for viewing. The event was closely guarded by the police so that only family members, relatives and close friends, including some celebrities, were allowed entry. While some of the fans and the paparazzi were cordoned off outside the memorial park.

Fourth of July

2009-07-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today is the fourth of July, the celebration of American independence. Something inevitable goes with it as an inseparable part of commemorating this memorable day. Of course, public eyes can see how this transformation took place many decades ago until it was totally ingrained in the minds of most Americans as an integral part of their political history.

In almost all parts of the country, all kinds of fireworks materials are displayed for sale at strategic points as allowed by the authorities. Not just anybody can sell fireworks without first getting a permit from the local government where it has jurisdiction over the business. I'm reminded of how we celebrate independence day in my own country.The only stark difference here is that while American got its independence from Britain many years back, my country got its independence from the United States, which liberated the country during the Japanese time and placed us as one of its trust territories in the Asia-Pacific Rim.

Simply put, the United States celebrates its independence day by allowing fireworks display which normally takes place at night time. But the most colorful display of fireworks burst take place near the popular beaches across the country. This is a feat that is only done during the celebration of New Year's day. But that's how it is and so be it. Filipino-Americans, who had taken the United States as their second home do celebrate this important occasion, too.

In my country, what the national government does is simply to organize annual parades and wreath-laying at the Luneta Park in Manila, to honor the death of our fallen heroes. The Philippines was ruled by Spain for more than four centuries, until the Americans came under Gen. Dewey, defeated the Spanish Armada at Manila Bay.

What is amusing is that all roads lead to the best beaches in Southern California. No wonder then because it coincides with summer time. The warmth temperature pushed people to go down to the beaches to cool themselves off. For example, the Redondo Beach Pier is now filled to capacity. So its pristine beach where thousands of people flock to while away their time, waiting for the amber sunset and the burst of fireworks display at night time.

Most Americans favor public option

2009-07-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

Public option on the health insurance issue is taking so much ride among the people. But nobody is sure if the US legislators, particularly the conservatives, will ever support it. However, what bogs most people right now is the way the issue on public option is being discussed. Everybody knows that more than 70 percent of the people, even those with private insurance, are convinced that the single payee system is most appropriate at this time when most Americans are hard up on how to make both ends meet.

What is surprising, however, is how come even some democrats do not seem to listen to the call of President Obama to support the public option on health care. This leads to some nasty thinking that may be some mysterious things are taking place, which are beyond anyone's imagination. For example, some Republicans are saying that resorting to public option will result in the derailment of some private insurance companies, which will be expected to be out of business once the public option is passed in the halls of Congress. I, for one, can't really understand why there is already an answer to a speculation.

The reason why public option on health care is being pushed is because the people wanted to have a fair competition in the market, which is only a natural thing in a democratic country like the United States. Now, if some legislators are afraid that the private insurance will be out of business, who cares? Let them compete if they really feel that what they are giving to the people in so far as quality health insurance is competitive with the single payee system like medicare? In other words, why preempt something that has not happened. Let public option have its day in the market so that the people will have the chance to try it rather than not having tried it at all. Everybody knows that the primary concern of some legislators are that the taxes will go up once the public option is approved in Congress. In many European countries and in Canada, the single payee system is effective. If it is, there is no reason why it can't be effective in the United States. Well, what's wrong with that if most of the people will enjoy the quality health care services that they have been aspiring for over a long period of time. Perhaps, it is about time that most the of American people deserve a kind of health care that is affordable to the ordinary pockets. I don't think it is wrong to think that socialism is a bad thing, especially if it benefits to a large number of people, particularly the 47 million uninsured people in America at the moment.

LAPD takes into custody Jacko's doctor

2009-06-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

A new twist came through in the death of the late pop singer/entertainer Michael Jackson after the latter's personal doctor was taken into custody by the Los Angeles Police detectives for further questioning.

Las Vegas-based Dr. Conrad Murray, however, wasn't considered as a suspect in the death of the pop singer, but a mere witness for him to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the fatal cardiac arrest that brought Jackson to the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles where doctors failed to revive him on Thursday.

As news reports developed, thousands of fans have continued to flock without letup to bring fresh flowers at the singer's walk of fame section in Hollywood Blvd. and his Neverland property, now foreclosed by the banks. While others showed up to pay their last respect to their singing idol. Some of those who came cried, while others were filled with remorse.

Jackson was expected to hold his last concert in London when he suffered his sad fate. As a show of support, Jacko's music records sold like hotcakes, while FM radio stations around the world played his music for the last time in recognition for his exemplary performance in the music world.

Japan's ageing population lures foreign migrants

2009-06-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Many years back, I went to Bali as part of the Philippine media team that covered the ASEAN Economic Summit there. One of the agenda in that summit was an agreement that would allow ASEAN citizens, particularly professionals and other skilled workers to work in any of the ASEAN-member countries within the region. In the same summit, Japan had even agreed in principle to allow foreign workers from ASEAN to fill up its impending labor shortage. The willingness of Japan to soften its hardline stance to allow foreign workers to come in was a welcome move on the part of the ASEAN member countries. Perhaps, it was Japan's role to share in the ASEAN's program of strenthening its trades in goods and services within the region itself.

The Philippines, for one, is expected to benefit from this latest development. In fact, President Arroyo already went to work it out with the Japanese government on the possibility of fulfilling its previous commitment that would pave the way for Filipino professionals and skilled workers to work in Japan. Japan is not a member of the ASEAN, but as one of the most important trading partners in the region, along with South Korea and China, it is willing to help in some ways in a manner that will not hurt its immigration and labor laws.

The reason is clear as to why Japan came to the point. Obviously, Japan is experiencing a growing level of baby boomers where sooner or later, the Japanese government will have no option but to address the growing concern for the rising number of retirees and ailing elderly population, which are now growing at a fast rate. Most Japanese at this time are busy with their jobs and other livelihood so that raising enough children is not in their vocabulary. Many of them still believed in the saying that: "He who walks alone, walks the fastest." Besides, many women do not want to bear more children anymore, knowing how fast-paced life and costly to keep the standard of living in Japan. Also, there is underlying belief among the Japanese, particularly those who were still teenagers when the war broke out, the less children one has, the more savings one could have. The JETRO Economic Report stated in 2006 that "Elderly households hold more financial assets than other generations." It adds: "Households comprised of people in their 60s are worth an average of 17.03 million yen, followed by those people 70 or above at 14.96 million yen."

It explained further the reason for this accumulation of assets is that they are no longer tied up to child-rearing costs and have less to pay back on home loans and are able to accumulate greater assets. In fact, the total value of financial assets held by baby-boomers accounted to approximately 130 trillion yen as of Fiscal Year 2004. The same report cited that the boomers' transition to old age with significant assets, in addition to retirement bonuses, will create an elderly population holding assets of enormous scale."

Unlike the U.S. whose aging population is not as extreme as that of Europe, Japan is already experiencing rapid fertility decline, says the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in its study titled "Economic Impacts of Population Aging in Japan." According to the McKinsey Quarterly, by 2024, more than a third of the poulation in Japan will be over 65, adding that retired households will outnumber households in their prime saving years, so savings rates will fall drastically.

With approximately 27 million elderly people and the largest proportion of over-65s of any country, Japan also has the smallest proportion of people under the age of 15 (13.6%), which will result in huge difficulties for Japan in the future, as the number of working people will be unable to support the population. If this is not corrected in due course, it could put Japan's economy in a dilemma.

As this is being written, Japan is faced with two major problems related to the increasing elderly population. One is that as more Japanese reach the age of 65, looking after them will be a big headache for the government is so far as healthcare is concerned. Secondly, younger workers are adamant to fill up the jobs that the retirees have vacated. There is also a tendency for the government to raise the retirement age of workers to more than 65, if only to save more time and money for their benefits. If these problems are not solved, many elderly people will suffer as the country tries to provide adequate healthcare to the rising elderly population in the future, demographers said.

With Japan's labor market now faced with an impending labor shortage, it will have no choice but to relax its immigration laws and encourage foreign workers to work there even temporarily. Figures showed that there's about 2 million foreign workers in Japan right now. Accordingly, this number is not enough to fill the labor shortage considering that many young Japanese do not want to do the dirty jobs. At least, Japan needs as many as 500,000 migrants each year for the next 40 years in order to keep pace with its industrial development, a demographic report said.But the stumbling block right now is that the Japanese government is on the wait-and-see attitude as to whether to allow migrants to come in or not. The reason, perhaps, is that Japan doesn't want to pollute its cultural heritage.

US hardest hit by H1N1

2009-06-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

The World Health Organization has released its latest statistics on countries that were affected by the swine flu virus. As of June 15, 2009, 76 countries have officially been reported to have contracted 35,928 cases of the H1N1 flu infection. This resulted in the deaths of at least 163 people.

The breakdown of the number of laboratory-confirmed cases by country is given in cumulative total: Argentina-343 cases with 0 death; Australia-1823, with 0 death; Austria-7 and 0 death; Canada-2978 with 4 deaths; Chile-1694 with 2 deaths; China-318 with 0 death; Colombia-42 with 1 death; Costa Rica-104 with 1 death; Dominican Republic-93 with 1 death; Ecuador-80 with 0 death; El Salvador-95 with 0 death; France-80 with 0 death; Germany-170 with 0 death; Guatemala-119 with 1 death; Honduras-89 with 0 death; India-16 with 0 death; Ireland-12 with 0 death; Israel-117 with 0 death; Italy-67 with 0 death; Japan-605 with 0 death; Republic of Korea-65 with 0 death; Kuwait- 18 with 0 death; Mexico-6241 with 108 deaths; The Netherlands- 61 with 0 death; New Zealand- 86 with 0 death; Nicaragua-56 with 0 death; Norway-13 with 0 death; Panama-272 with 0 death; Paraguay- 25 with 0 death; Peru-91 with 0 death; Philippines - 77 with 0 death; Saudi Arabia -11 with 0 death; Singapore - 47 with 0 death; Spain - 488 with 0 death; Sweden - 32 with 0 death; Switzerland - 22 with 0 death; Thailand - 29 with 0 death; United Kingdom-1226 with 0 death; United States-17855 with 45 deaths; Uruguay - 36 with 0 death; Venezuela - 25 with 0 death; Vietnam - 25 with 0 death; and Chinese Taipei with 37 cases with 0 death. Other countries not included have been reported with few cases and zero death.

Source: WHO

Trouble fixing US healthcare system

2009-06-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

In six weeks time, the US Congress is expected to deliberate on a serious problem that now haunts at least 48 millions Americans without health insurance. Already, President Obama personally wrote a letter addressed to Sen. Ted Kennedy to fix the problem, the MSNBC's Ed Show revealed today.
President Obama's appeal to the healthcare committee in Congress came in the wake of reports that 62 percent of Americans had filed bankruptcy protection in various courts because of high medical expenses that they incurred during and after confinement in various hospitals across the country. This joint research study was undertaken by the Harvard Law School and the Harvard Medical School in February 2005, which involved some 1,771 individuals who filed for bankruptcy.

According to Prof. Elizabeth Warren of Harvard Law School, "both doctors and lawyers care about how healthcare is financed, but it was only when we put our heads together that we could probe further. She went to say that "about two million men, women and children were swept through the bankruptcy system in the fallout of a medical problem." Warren believes that "good education, decent jobs and health insurance were no guarantee that a person wouldn't be wiped out by an illness or accident." She adds: "We believe the current policy debates are overlooking a critical problem: A broken healthcare finance system is bankrupting middle class America."

A lot of bills to reform the country's healthcare system have gathered dusts in the shelves and were not acted upon by those who were supposed to deliberate on them. And there are numerous reasons why? Sharing his opinions on the current healthcare system in America, Mr. Robert E. Moffit of the American Heritage Foundation said in his article titled "Congress and the Taxpayers: A Double Standard on Health Care Reform?", that most members and other federal employees can various options to choose alternative health care plan each, regardless of their families' health condition.

"And when federal workers move to different jobs within the federal sector, they are able to keep the coverage of their chosen plan without any interruption of benefits," Moffit said. "They can also keep their choosen plan when they retire. Few other Americans enjoy such health care security," he adds.

SEC transfer to DTI questioned

2009-06-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

It's unfortunate that the Secruties and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been transferred under the supervision of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Malacanang must have toying the idea of initiating this move until lately when SEC appeared to have absconded in its regulatlory powers to carefully check on the performance of pre-need companies where millions of policyholders had been duped. SEC used to be under the supervision of the Department of Finance (DoF) a line departmental agency that oversees the activities of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC), both tax collecting agencies of the government that are under close scrutiny by the people.

The move initiated by the president was timely even to the extent of defeating the real objective of regulating the capital markets in the Philippines. However, many observers have doubts in their minds as to the real motive of the SEC going into the folds of the DTI. Besides, putting the regulatory powers of SEC under the DTI can be misconstrued as another way of crippling the former's quasi-judicial functions, which could be under question considering that at any time, the DTI higher ups will always have a hand in any decision made by the SEC commission en banc on issues that have something to do with investments. As the populat saying goes: "Too many cooks may spoil the broth."

Now, it will be hard to fathom as to the depth of the problem that hounds SEC at this point in time. And the very people who are feeling the impacts of the SEC's mishandling of the pre-need companies that went on rough waters, especially the billions of funds invested by the millions of policyholders, are the ones who could tell if it was really right to put it under DTI's control and supervision. It is not clear at this time, however, if the SEC's en banc commission would be vulnerable to undue interference from DTI higher ups, should sensitive decisions on matters related to investments and capital markets are taken for deliberation and approval. That's a big question that now hounds the minds of those who feel that SEC should have left alone as an autonomous constitutional organization.

Rather than transferring it to DTI control, reforms should have been instituted at the very core of where SEC has messed up. If there was an urgent need to overhaul some of its functions, so be it, if only to deliver the quality expectations of the people. But rather than resort to this, the administration has diverted the route. Many still believed that the Department of Finance is the right government body where the SEC should belong to. SEC was only caught in the middle of a global financial maelstrom, where some of the pre-need companies must have poured in vast amount of money for investments but got the deepest shock when everything turned out disadvantageous to their interest.

I doubt it very much if putting SEC under the control of any department of government will do much to impose tough regulations in the country's capital markets. For as long as there are public officials who can be cowed or tempted to accept hefty sums of bribes to overturn a policy decision in favor of a shady business organization or individual, SEC is nothing but an inutile quasi-jucidial body that is expected to face more challenges ahead. It is hoped that SEC is expected to far exceed its performance now that it is under the supervision of the DTI, now alreadyoverburdened with a lot of things to do.

IPO for GM, Chrysler?

2009-06-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama today announced the final move the government could do to help General Motors and Chrysler, two of the long established icons in the United States automobile industry for a long time now. The government's intervention to keep them back on their feet again was enlivened by the president's pronouncement over the federal government's plan to avail at least 60 percent in bailout money to help GM undergo complete restructuring, after filing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

However, the government's assurance of billions in bailout money doesn't mean that their operations will be the same again. That's the beauty of it all. But the ugly part is when GM and Chrysler would be cutting thousands of employees if only to keep their operations going. A test case scenario was already felt by a large number of auto dealers when they got notices for them to close down their outlets owing to the on-going financial turbulence that affected its operations across the country.

At least, some US$30 billion in bailout money will be infused into GM's restructuring operations. One of which is GM's plan to reinvent its manufacturing plants by producing compact cars that are economical and energy efficient to the millions of prospective buyers, not only in America, but the world over. However, some auto analysts have said that GM and Chrysler's positions in the market remains to be seen considering that competition among the world's automakers, particularly the Japanese-made cars, are very stiff at this point in time. And signs of recovery for the American automakers have yet to be tested, especially at this time when American cars are not selling good in the domestic markets. Analysts added that thousands of brand new vehicles are just piling up in various yards across America.

GM and Chrysler stakeholders are in limbo as what to do next, even after the final restructuring plan has been set up. Just how good and resourceful GM and Chrysler bigwigs are, nobody knows. But based on observations in the corporate world, having covered the stock market for a couple of years, when corporations, particularly those publicly-listed companies, are in a deadlock to source out cash to pump up their liquidity to sustain their operation, the immediate reaction in the boardroom is to seek for public offering. This means GM and Chrysler can always resort to this kind of corporate strategy if only to raise huge sums of money to keep the company afloat. Economists would agree with me in a sense that IPO is an effective instrument whereby both companies may be given the chance to revive its glory by making the last gamble, rather than turn to federal bailouts, which in most instances had earned
ires and scrutiny of the conservatives in the U.S. Congress. In fact, they now called GM as "Government Motors", with President Obama as its CEO, after the federal government had reconsidered its plan of giving another bailout money to General Motors.

I don't think that GM and Chrysler officials, who have advanced degrees in business administration, won't be able to decipher what is the best move to take, especially when corporate interests and the future of its thousands of employees, are at stake. Isn't IPO an ideal move to raise enough cash for the company's restructuring plans? Giving thousands of its employees a stake in the company's outstanding shares wouldn't be a bad idea either. If they did, how come GM and Chrysler have not preempted their downfall? With the automakers' crash, thousands of employees and their dependents will surely be groping in the dark as to what to do with their lives now their primary source of pride and income for many years had crumbled to the ground.

UN nixes killings in Davao City

2009-05-31T10:11:00.001-07:00

The Human Rights Council of the United Nations had released a report which reflected the growing vigilante-style of executions in Davao City, one of the largest cities that is located in the heart of Mindanao. Philip Alston, a UN special rapporteur, claimed in a report published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer that this style of killings has significantly worsened since 2007.

Indeed, it is alarming to note that Davao City is the only city in the Philippines whose local government led by Mayor Rod Duterte, a lawyer by profession, is steadfast in its campaign to get rid of bad elements in his local premises. One of the reasons could be that city government wanted to attract investors and the only means to do this is to maintain real peace and order. He always believed that when peace and order is well-maintained, there is no question that the trust of the people is restored. It also means that ordinary citizens can stroll along the streets in the dead of night without being mugged, raped or killed. But seldom this happens in most of Metro Manila and elsewhere in the country. Because of poverty, some people tend to make a living by pestering other people who are vulnerable in awkward circumstances.Their mindset is already programmed to get things by hook or by crook in order to survive in this world of dog-eat-dog competition. Probably, I could not blame Mayor Duterte for being questioned even by the Commission of Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR), a government agency led by Chairperson Leila de Lima. Recently, she sent a team of CHR investigators to probe on the vigilante killings in the city. I'm not saying that vigilante killing is right. As the saying goes: "Nobody is above the law."

I was still a teenager, when then Manila police chief Alfredo Lim ruled the city with an iron fist. During his tenure, he succeeded in minimizing the illegal activities of criminal elements in his turf. Reports said that those marked drug dealers, robbers and the like who continue to commit crimes against humanity are floating in the Pasig River or polluted creeks in Manila. At least, Manila was peaceful even for a short period of time. But as the saying goes: "When the cat is away, the mouse will play." It didn't take time before the feisty mayor was given series of assignments during the Marcos regime down to Cory Aquino's time.

The importance of having executive officials that earn the respect of both the people and the hoodlums is something that is needed in these trying times. In the case of Davao City, many people are now happy because they live in peace and harmony. Those bad elements who can't seem to stand the heat would simply transfer somewhere else where the local government leadership is weak. Unlike Davo City, Metro Manila is a highly urbanized area composed of many cities and towns. In this kind of environment, local government officials have the say on what to do with their peace and order programs. But as always, this mandate is polarized everytime the advent of elections comes in. As elections close in, many squatters just pop up in several public places unnoticed. It is public knowledge that most of these fly-by-night voters were hoarded by some elective officials to win more votes in the locality. When this happens, so is the peace and order situation in that particular area worsens. As more people sprout all over, the locality's delivery of basic services is strained. And what do you expect when people have nothing to eat? Besides, in big cities the temptation to commit crimes is always great.

This is the reason why some cities become chaotic. When there is chaos because of poverty, some people are left without a choice but to engage in illegal activities to fill up their needs. I firmly believe that the United Nations is contributing so much for the upliftment of poverty in the Philippines and other parts of the world. But in the case of vigilante killings, it is a distinctly a different phenomena. Perhaps, each should be viewed with the different level of understanding. Although, it is common belief that some people bite the bullet when put in an awkward economic situation because of poverty. Economists would surely agree that in a country where delivery of basic services are maintained on a a regular basis, crimes seldom happen. I still would look forward to that day when most cities in the Philippines will emulate what the local government of Davao City has done to maintain peace and order at its current level.

Thieves lurk inside SM mall

2009-05-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Unless one has experienced something horrific, he or she wouldn't learn a good lesson.

This was what happened to my wife a week after she and my 17-year-old daughter went on a shopping spree at the new SM Shopping Mall in Marikina City. We have resided in Marikina City for more than 25 years now. It's here where all my children were born, raised and educated. All those years, I had learned to like Marikina City, the shoe capital of the Philippines, because the local government is doing its role in so far as the delivery of basic services are concerned. This is not to mention the peace and order situation in the city. On weekends, I'd find myself jogging along its pristine and well-paved lanes along the river that stretches between Calumpang district down to the big Riverbank Shopping Mall in Barangka.

Then, the unexpected came like a bolt of lightning. My wife was fitting a pair of shoes at one of the stores inside the shopping mall when she decided to put down her handbag, containing some cash, credit cards and an expensive cellphone. She said she didn't expect that an unknown mortal would pick it up because she knew that my daughter was right behind her. However, she wasn't aware that got up to distance from her mother because, according to her, she couldn't stand the bad breath coming from the mouth of a certain woman close to her. A few minutes later, my wife went hysterical when she found out that the handbag was no longer on her side. It was gone!

What makes it more disgusting is that the store has a security guard, who was supposed to see what's happening all around him at that moment. But he himself wasn't aware that a thief was inside that store. The management only came to find about it when my wife complained to the manager. I just don't understand if there was a collusion between the thieves and the security guard manning his post. I knew that it is the responsibility of the customers to take care of their belongings. But at least, the security should be there to also check on things that he feels are unwarranted or suspicious characters inside the store.

I'm writing this not to inform the SM management in Marikina to return the lost belongings of my wife. But I think it will be a good lesson for the local government of Marikina City to at least require business establishments to install surveillance cameras in their stores so that bad elements can be tracked and identified. I don't want to preempt the move of the city government, but it is something that will tarnish its good image as one of the safest places in the whole of Metro Manila.

GM vows to produce compact cars

2009-05-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

Next week, General Motors is expected to file bankruptcy protection, a move that appeared to be inevitable but has to be done after it has failed to come up with the appropriate solutions to the on-going problems that beset the company. Of course, it was not a welcome news for the United Auto Workers union whose thousands of members are expected to be out of job for a long while. Until the sad fate of the auto companies are resolved in due course, a large number of auto workers and their families will be like floating in the clouds of doubts. In fact, those auto dealers who were unexpectedly closed due to these unfolding events could only heave in disgust considering that thousands of workers would be out of work, adding to the already double digit unemployment rate in the country's labor markets.

What happened to GM and Chrysler was unexpected. This only goes to show that American automakers are really in a quandary as to what to do in order to break the spell that now hounds their markets, particularly in America. Surprisingly, many Americans have somewhat changed their ways in so far as lifestyle is concerned. Why? Instead of patronizing American cars for transport convenience, they have opted to prefer Japanese-made cars, which to their mind is much cheaper and more economical in terms of gas consumption, especially with the introduction in the domestic market of the hybrid lines, which could run to as much as 40 miles per galloon.

Another factor that perhaps made the American automakers groan at the present economic recession is the way in which GM and Chrysler employees and executives draw their exorbitant salaries and bonuses. Even at this economic recession, workers at these American automakers receive hourly wages that are much higher than their counterparts at the Japanese auto companies across the United States. A retired resident from Michigan claimed that it was the really the huge bonuses of GM and Chrysler executives that killed the auto companies. How true is this, I really don't know. But reports would support the above allegation when President Obama himself questioned the excessive bonuses that the American auto executives were getting.

President Obama's speech this morning, attended by his economic team in the background, appeared to be filled with frankness and remorse. But he never faltered in his belief that Chrysler can rise up to the challenges once more, especially with its merger with Italy's automaker Fiat. With the merger, some 30,000 employees were saved from the hatchet block and so their families in the midst of the economic storm that aggravated foreclosures in the housing market.

Notably, President Obama had called on the American people to help the American automakers by patronizing cars that have been the symbols of the American auto industry for many decades now. According to him, they cannot always depend on the American tax dollars to survive in the stiff competition going on among car makers. I just hope that the president's call will not turn on deaf ears considering the economic problems that now hit most families across the country. Worse is that its tailing effects have been felt across the globe, particularly those in the developing countries.

But it is not the end of the world for both GM and Chrysler. In fact, the former is considering a plan to produce compact cars that are much cheaper and in great demand for millions of ordinary American consumers. Perhaps, this is their way of keep up with its tough competitors whose hybrid cars have wowed millions of customers who may have been tired of shelling out so much for gasoline expenses.

Feds mulls cutting medicaid costs

2009-04-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

At least, some 48 million United States residents do not have health insurance. This is not to include others who are insured but do not have sufficient health coverage to free them from the exorbitant medical expenses incurred when they are admitted to private hospitals for emergency purposes.

The problem will get even much worse once the U.S. Congress deliberates and approves the huge budget cuts on Medicaid that the federal government had envisioned for the period covering this year until 2012, says a think-tank policy report.

It is expected that it will take a serious toll on millions of patients whose only option is to avail of free medical benefits from the government.The new proposal, now being deliberated in the U.S. Congress, will allow the transfer of Medicaid funds totalling $24.7 billion over the next five years and $60.9 billion in the next ten years from the federal budget to the state coffers, says the Center on Policy and Budget Priorities. The Center is one of the nation’s premier policy organization working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals.

Of the total $25 billion in proposed cuts, the federal government will save about $21 billion in medical costs once Congress has approved it. Accordingly, the loss of federal Medicaid funds would allow the states to reduce benefits or payments to health providers. They are also urged to cut back on other state programs or increase some of their taxes.

In fact, Congress already cut more than five times the federal funding for Medicaid as contained in the Deficit Reduction Act, which eventually deepen the cuts in health assistance to low-income people.

The think-tank report cited that one of the services that will be affected by these cuts is the inspection of nursing home facilities to ensure their safety and quality. Under the new proposal, the states will bear most of the burden. "These Medicaid cost shifts are in addition to other proposals that would reduce other grants in aid to states," it reported.

In the same proposed budget cuts, a number of federal tax proposals could eventually result to the loss of significant amounts of state revenues, which may aggravate the fiscal squeeze on the state governments, some of them are already experiencing huge budget deficits. For instance, the state of California is working on how to offset its 40 billion budget deficit. Which is the reason why the state government has unanimously approved a law that would increase some taxes on commodities and services to offset its budget shortfalls.

Under the current system, the federal government absorbs between 50 to 76 percent of the costs that the states incur for the purchase of health and long-term care services for eligible low-income people. But the federal government has something up its sleeves one of which is to increase rebates of drug manufacturers to Medicaid for the prescriptions they cover. By doing so, great savings can be achieved as the net price of these prescriptions are lowered to a certain level. " The federal government could also reduce its spending by limiting the state Medicaid expenditures that it is willing to match, thereby shifting costs to state budgets, rather than reducing those costs.

At present, the federal government is studying 46 states that have historically pooled the administrative costs of making eligibility determinations for families and children receiving Medicaid, TANF, and food stamps. When implemented, it will generate savings of $1.8 billion over the next five years.

As earlier envisioned under the Deficit Reduction Act, individuals without spouses living in the home may qualify for Medicaid long-term care services. They can also qualify for the home equity ceiling now set at $500,000, from the original of $750,000. However, one of the problems that concerns the government is how to monitor the income of elderly and disabled beneficiaries of the government's Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Center said.
This close monitoring makes it impossible for SSI beneficiaries to engage in other business activities as the Social Security Administration (SSA) continues to keep tabs on their assets on a regular basis by using the electronic financial records monitoring system.

As this developed, many war veterans in Southern California who are largely dependent on Medicaid for their health care needs have expressed disbelief over the proposed cuts in Medicaid funds. They have have expressed apprehensions that these impending cuts may hamper their free access to quality medical services in county hospitals and clinics. Already suffering from huge budget deficits, it is likely that shifting more of the financial burdens to California will all the more strain its delivery of quality health services to those who need them most.

In view of these problems now affecting millions of US residents, President Obama has made it one of his priorities to work out a solution that will make those uninsured or lack insurance coverage to be able to enjoy the benefits of a universal healthcare system like those being practiced in Europe and Canada.

US needs 500,000 foreign nurses

2009-03-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe when President Barack Obama said during a healthcare summit held at the White House recently about the plan of the United States government to import at least 500,000 foreign nurses to fill up the current shortage that now beset most hospitals across the country.

President Obama's positive announcement was in response to a healthcare industry executive's report in the same summit whereby she underscored the strong need to hire foreign nurses, in close consultation with the immigration authorities, owing to the sagging quality of patient care in some hospitals and nursing facilities across the country. Resources for the hiring program could be taken from the recent stimulus economic package approved by President Obama. At this juncture, some of the State governments have already availed their share of the stimulus package, while others have continued to ignore the federal government's call for them to do the same.

Healthcare industry observers have considered the move timely in the wake of reports that some hospitals and clinics are now experiencing inadequate nursing care for their patients. They said that graduates of local nursing schools are not enough to fill up the rising demands of the healthcare industry. The recent announcement by the federal government to hold the recruitment of foreign nurses and instead focused on the hiring of local nursing graduates may have contributed to the problem.

In some Asian countries, particularly the Philippines, the announcement was a welcome opportunity for thousands of professional Filipino nurses to take advantage of the situation. But requirements did not come in handy for most of them. The primary stumbling block to their aspirations to land foreign jobs as nurses in the United States was traced to the complicated procedures that a nurse may experience. One of these was the taking of the National Council for Licensure Examination (NCLEX), which was previously held outside the Philippines, thus making it more expensive on the pockets of those who have no sufficient means to take the said examination. Thanked God, NCLEX examination for Filipino nurses can now be taken in Metro Manila. On the contrary, new nursing schools have sprouted all over Metro Manila, thereby giving some health and education officials big headaches as to what to do with some of them.

Another controversial issue that cropped up recently was the reluctance of the Philippine health department to review some of its policies, particularly those that impinge on nursing volunteerism in some government hospitals. Until now, I have a hard time reconciling with myself as to how a particular government hospital could require its volunteer trainees to shell out P1,500 before they could be admitted as volunteers.

Perhaps, it is about time for the health department to investigate on this matter considering that these nursing volunteers have already bled so much financially while they were still at school, not to mention the series of seminars that they have to take before they could land a local job. I don't think this is acceptable to these nurses, knowing fully well how meager their salary is when they find work at any local hospital in the Philippines.

Bailout money in exachange for majority stocks

2009-03-06T17:22:00.001-08:00

There is something that keeps bothering me as I write this article. This is particularly true with the present recession that plagues the United States economy, whose wide-ranging impacts on the rest of the world is beyond compression. Albeit, it was at least good that President Barack Obama was able to prod US legislators to approve one of the biggest stimulus bills the United States has ever had without so much fanfare.

As the implementing guidelines on how the billions of money could be distributed are still being worked out, I couldn't help but be amused at how the money, especially for the automakers' bailouts are being considered, in order to help the American automakers lessen their operational sufferings in light of the present economic situation in America, wherein tens of thousands of workers have now been given their pink slips because their employers could no longer afford to sustain their salaries.

What is surprising, however, in this kind of economic situation is the manner in which the billions of bailout money was given to its recipients. In the case of the American automakers and the Wall Street finance companies, I was caught off-guard when the federal government had decided to just give the money away, which is tantamount to doleouts, even if it was meant to keep these big businesses afloat and to keep their employees on the payroll.

Many of us are aware that these bailouts come from the taxpayers' money so that it is only incumbent upon the federal government to protect the interests of the millions of American taxpaying public.

However, it seemed clearer now that there was no guarantee on how these automakers will be able to repay the bailout money that the federal government gave them. Research studies showed that some developing countries in Asia do not just give away taxpayers' money that simple and easy without having to make the recipients account for which purpose the bailouts were used and how they would be able to repay it.

Independent economists have strongly believed that those who have availed of the bailout money given must subscribe to the policies that the federal government will impose upon them. One of which was the idea that lowering the annual gross salaries of the corporate bigwigs would be advantageous to the interests of the millions of taxpayers. But one of the most important is the consideration that the federal government must employ a strategy that would make these bailout recipients think twice. For instance, rather than just give away the money, the federal government should have laid its cards by asking the bailout recipients (companies) to sign an agreement that would make the lender as one of their share holders. This is much better and more practical than the federal government not to expect anything from the bailout recipients once they fail to repay the billions of taxpayers' money. In this way, the federal government may have say on what operational and management strategies these companies will undertake because the majority stockholder will always have to option to decide on matters affecting the companies' finances.

Divided by opportunities

2008-05-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

Isabel Segal (not her real name), a young mother of three who works as a nursing assistant for a home care company in Long Beach, California, says she petitioned her parents way back many years ago, but failed.

Despite her repeated explanations on the great advantages of living in America, her parents refused to bite her offer. According to her, all they could say is that they are contended and happy to live in the Philippines. Sison's parents decision to stick in their homeland contradicts to what other Filipinos are hankering as manifested by the long queue at the American Embassy in Manila.

The same experience happened to Sonia Sabarre, a retired nurse in Chicago, who successfully petitioned her late mother to come to America in the 70s. Her mother did come and stayed for a few months. But the biting winter and windy breeze, not to mention the alienation that she experienced while alone at home, had all contributed to her mother's longing for home. Eventually, she did and never came back.

While many Filipinos are ambitious enough to migrate to other countries like the United States as manifested by the long queue at the American Embassy in Manila, others simply stick it around in their homeland despite the economic problems that affect most people nowadays.

Besides, the above scenarios are just a few of the sad tales that could be depicted of Asian immigrants whose immediate relatives hate the idea of coming to America. But surely there are more out there, knowing how expansive the Filipino-American population across the North American soil. While some people do stick it out rather than leave the Philippines, many others simply hanker for a taste for things American--its food, culture and social benefits. This is true to some people who have stayed and retired working in America so that going back to where they came from may not have been a big priority at this time but for some short visits once in a while.

What makes it ironical is that even after retirement, most of them could still linger on to stay despite ill-health. For instance, a couple who recently retired from the U.S. Postal Service managed to retort back by saying that there's nobody to return to in the Philippines. "All our children and our grandchildren are already here in America," the couple said. "If we will go home, that is only for a short vacation."

It's not surprising why some Filipinos behave this way. On the positive note, there are valid reasons why it would be hard to change their behavioral patterns at this time. Knowing how economic difficulties aggravate the lives of the Filipinos at home, staying for good in a foreign land is an option they could rightfully cling to for as long as they live. Add to these problems the skyrocketing prices of commodity goods, rampant criminalities, pollution, too much politics, and lack of basic services, are all factors that hold back many of our kababayans to retire in the Philippines.

Time and again, news reports of sickly and ailing Filipino-Americans, particularly the Filipino war veterans in some parts of America, are creating so much worries among the relatives in the Philippines. Immediate children of some of these Filipino-Americans now staying in the United States are extremely cautious as to what their old folks are undergoing just to avail of the medical benefits that they get for free from the state and federally-funded clinics and hospitals across America.

Couple Ildefonso and Rosita Quibin, now in their 80s, is more than happy now than it was when they first arrived in Carson, California, more than ten years ago. He narrated that he couldn't forget the days when they would always queue up for food rations given by humanitarian and religious organizations in California because their monthly income wasn't enough for their survival. 'Instead of spending our little pension for food, we'd rather line up early on weekends to get free food and other stuffs at various outlets," the husband said.

But the couple's misery did not end there. On weekdays, he had to pedal his way for almost three hours to report for work and vice versa. "At that time, I was living with my married eldest son, who petitioned us to come. I didn't want to bother them anymore because they were busy people, too. I had to do what I could do to earn for ourselves to survive in America," he lamented.

It didn't take long when the old couple finally decided to look for a place where they can live independently. Now, the couple shares a room with a other senior citizens in a bungalow in the South Bay area. "At least, we are contented and free to move around here on our own. We can do whatever we want to do, without anybody telling us what to do," he mused. It's also the amenities and conveniences, not to mention food and medicines that are immediately available if you need them most.

In the Philippines, unless you have the money or the land resources planted to coconut, rice, vegetables and root crops, wouldn't be so much a problem to the families concerned. And if you're a Filipino veteran, you can always have the option to go to the Sons and Daughter of World War II Veterans Office in Taguig to avail of free medicines. All you have to do is register your names so that proper identification cards can be issued to the requesting parties.

It's good to know that there is such an agency such as this because the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, where survivors and living veterans avail their medicines and medical check ups. But most veterans and survivors who request medicines prescribed to them by their doctors are oftentimes frustrated because no medicines are available for the taking. It has been a big problem that has not been addressed for a long time now. With the veteran's property up for sale lately, the more that the suriving Filipino veterans and their dependents would be hard-pressed on where to turn to for medical assistance.

It is no wonder why the weak and ailing Filipino veterans opted to stay longer in the United States because they can easily buy food and medicines with their meager monthly pensions. This is the reason, too, why some of my close relatives don't want to leave America. If they do, availing these kind of quality medical services in the Philippines would be impossible to attain. Under the current economic conditions in the Philippines, there is no way that ordinary pensioners will ever make both ends meet because everything is going upwards.

This means that economic difficulties tend to control the emotions and the psyche of most US pensioners not to go back yet to the Philippines, while they still have the strength to get around. If one is disabled, a motorized wheelchair is always available for free and the public buses are always ready to get you to your destinations safely. And without any hitches. This kind of public service is yet to take roots in the Philippines, where the disabled people would surely find it extremely difficult to move around without a companion.

PhilRice debunks reports of rice shortage

2008-03-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

It's a jigsaw puzzle as to why the Philippines continues to import rice from neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam. I understand that farmers in these two neighboring countries are being supported by their governments. This is in stark contrast to that of the Philippines where the local farmers are left to fend for themselves.

Farm inputs like fertilizers are not subsidized by the government so that many poor farmers are left with no choice but to borrow money from usurers in order to catch up with the farming season, which normally comes twice a year in provinces where ricefields largely depend on rainfed water, rather than the irrigation system. While some agriculture officials are hell bent on sticking to their earlier stance that the country needs to import millions of tons of rice due to rice shortage, officials at the Philippine Rice Institute in Nueva Ecija were on the opposite side of the coin. They said there is no rice
shortage in actual terms.

The primary reason why the Philippines did not produce so much rice is because some of the farmers had ventured into other crops. Although, PhilRice did not discount the possibility that some of the lands formerly planted to rice were converted into big housing projects, which is true in some parts of the Calabarzon Area. For example, the area where the famous Brent International School in Binan, Laguna, was once a ricefield. Now its neighboring area was transformed into a posh subdivision, where Filipino international boxer Manny Pacquiao has bought a house so that his children at Brent will be close to home.

Unlike other Asian countries, the Philippines is only popular when it comes to politics. But helping farmers so that the country can be self-sufficient in rice is not in the government officials' vocabulary. What makes matters worse is that one of the top agriculture officials is married to the daughter of one of the biggest rice importers in the country. The family used to own the popular Uniwide Sales that was burned in Cubao, Quezon City, many years ago. If we try to take a cursory look at it, isn't this what we can call conflict of interest?

If I were that agriculture official, I would immediately step down. But it seems this attitude is already common in the country's governance. Most of those in government have fungus faces. In the world, the Philippines is the only country whose government officials are known to be insensitive and callous in character and dignity. I really don't understand why many government officials are afraid to relinquish their post, once they are mired in anomalous controversies?

They think that these people have exclusive entitlement to their positions and that others don't. Once somebody is appointed to a certain position, he would wait until the leader orders him to vacate the post. For me, I consider that person lacking in tact. And I doubt it if some of our government officials will ever learn to accept the tenets of honesty because some of them have been eaten by a rotten political system
so that they need at least intensive rehabilitation to regain back their sense of lost values taught them at exclusive catholic schools.

Rice importation: Deliberate or not?

2008-03-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

Again, it shocked me to read about the Philippine government's impending plan to import rice from neighboring Asian countries. And I honestly believe there are two valid reasons why the country has initiated plans to import this staple from countries that only learned their rice technology from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Laguna, Philippines.

One of the reasons could be that the local farmers did not produce as much rice because they could no longer stomach the high costs of inputs like fertilizers, which should be subsidized by the government but could not because it wanted to help the businessmen rather than the poor farmers. The other reason is that it is much cheaper to import rice and sell them in the local market rather than boost local production which is more expensive.

Of course, it is not the fault of the local farmers if they could not sell or produce more rice considering that the National Food Authority (NFA) always wanted to buy their produce at a very low price. In dire need of cash to defray their basic needs like the schooling of their children and food, the hapless farmers are forced to go to the Filipino-Chinese businessmen who immediately buy their produce at bargain prices. But the catch is that these Filipino-Chinese businessmen are in cahoots with some NFA officials, in exchange for financial favors. While others, especially those who have enough resources to last until the next harvest, would only stock their rice in the warehouse. They will wait until the price of rice improves at a later time. This is when rice shortage comes in. When this happens, the national government has no choice but to buy rice from other countries. Besides, we never know if questionable deals accompany this kind of transaction. Why bother after all?

Now, if the National Food Authority (NFA) really wanted to encourage more farmers to plant rice, it should buy the rice produce of farmers at a reasonable price. In this way, the NFA should be helping the farmers, instead of killing most of them, who largely depend on their income from rice harvests. But it seems, the NFA has no conscience. Otherwise, more rice produce should have flooded the domestic markets for public consumption.

Latest reports said the national government has set aside some P3.5 billion to mitigate the effects of shortages in rice and other commodity goods in the domestic markets. In fact, President Arroyo authorized the release of least P2.85 billion to fund the planting of diversified crops, to stave off the country's heavy dependence on rice. Already the Department of Agriculture has added P1.5 billion to improve the country's irrigation systems and farm-to-market roads. The question is why only act now, when these problems have been pestering many hapless farmers for many decades already.

Well, I want to salute the agriculture department if it can sustain its goals of distributing certified seeds so that farmers can plant them in at least 600,000 hectares of rice land this coming wet season. Otherwise, it would again be another wishful thinking on the part of the government. The agriculture department said the certified seeds are expected to yield 4.5 tons of rice per hectare, which could be a big boost to the domestic rice production. At present, the Philippines already got some 180,800 metric tons, out of the 422,702 MT of rice that went to bid on Dec. 2007.

Bush to attend Beijing olympics

2008-03-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

The White House announced today that President George Bush is set to grace the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games in China, despite repeated calls by international human rights organizations for him to stay away from the said games.

This is contrary to what many believed that the US president should stay away from the Olympics, as part of the clamor from human rights organizations around the world for him to ignore the Chinese government's invitation due to the prevailing unrests in Tibet, where scores of people were killed already as chaos builds up in that part of the world.

White House sources reasoned out that it has nothing to do with politics but the participation of the athletes in this worldwide sports events. I don't think that the mere absence of the US president will ever create a vacuum of attendance from participating teams once the Olympics started.

It would be uncanny, however, if some of the participating teams from the west will decide to boycott the Olympic games in China, in protest of the Chinese military's crackdown against the protestors who have destroyed properties inside Tibet's capital. But it seems international teams have geared up to really show off their wares in the forthcoming Olympic games in Beijing.
Of course, one major thing that the Chinese government should do is to ensure that security before, during and after the games is properly put in place. However, in a country where human rights violations are common place, who would dare do some shenanigans?

Professionals continue to seek jobs abroad

2008-03-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, a group of Filipino workers arrived to work at one of the casinos in Reno, Nevada. These workers, according to reports, comprised of both skilled and professionals who were hired by a recruitment agency in the Philippines that required them to pay at least some US$4,000 in placement fees. The amount includes their air fares and other expenses as part of their deployment to the state of Nevada. I learned that all of them would be working as kitchen aides and housekeeping cleaners in the said casino.

From what I knew, my lucky countrymen are expected to be paid a salary of between $8 to $9 per hour, which is much better than working in the Philippines, where finding a good employment has become a deplorable ordeal for new graduates and some professionals alike. If ever they find jobs, the salaries are not even enough to sustain their economic needs nor support a family. And saving for the future is remote from reality.

At least, what they were in right now is a good opportunity for them to explore other fields if only to advance their careers for good-paying jobs in the medical world. For those who are opting to study the Certified Nursing Assistant course, they can do so and after passing the certification they can surely have two jobs at the different nursing homes in Nevada or elsewhere. In the meantime, they can stick to their present job and make it good so that they can be good examples of how hard-working and efficient Filipinos are.

The above scenario is just a manifestation that if some Filipinos will have the chance to get out of the country, they will do so because of the deplorable economic situation there so that high incidence of poverty is visible. The problem is made more complicated by the prevalence of leeches and vultures in the government, whose only intention is to enrich themselves at the expense of the millions of honest taxpayers.

Therefore, it is not surprising that even Filipino professionals would have no choice but to opt for jobs that are lowly in stature if only to alleviate their sufferings and that of their families back home. Never mind if they are not used to the cold weather and the culture at the work site. At least, it is much, much better than being at home where politics peepers most newspaper headlines, while most of the people are in dire need of the basic services that are not delivered to them.

The Philippines is replete with all kinds of amenities and other conveniences in life, especially in major cities where shopping malls, hotels and big edifices dot the skylines. Because these amenities only proliferate in the big cities, curious people from the rural areas are pulled to try their luck in the overpopulated urban areas where heavy traffic, air pollution, lack of housing and crime incidents are common.

Business is good for those who have enough money to survive. But for those who barely earn reasonable wages, survival in the big cities has become a big problem for many decades now. Leaders have come and gone, but the economic situation in the country has remained the same. I do think that whoever sits at the throne of power, the economic situation will not change for the better because politics has become the big source of corruption. Hence, the quality of life for most Filipinos has barely improved.

That's why, it wouldn't be surprising at all if many professionals and skilled workers are very much eager to seek for greener pastures elsewhere because they can no longer stomach the pains brought about by too much politics in the country. I would like to see a Philippines where government officials linked or are involved in corruption should not hesitate to step down, if only to adopt change in a country where ineptitude is common practice. This is the reason why doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and other professionals are leaving for good.

Corrupt officials need to atone for their sins at Lent

2008-03-14T05:15:00.001-07:00

A couple of days from now, the Lenten season will be upon us. It is recollection of how our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to redeem our sins. It is the time when most people, especially the millions of Christians around the world, come together as one to reflect and atone for our sins.

Perhaps, this is the best time for corrupt government officials to observe the sufferings of Christ on the cross, if only to allow them to realize the magnitude of our transgressions unto the Lord.

It is incomprehensible as to why a lot of people still cheat the government, if only to amass so much wealth for themselves; feeding their children with money stolen from government coffer at the expense of others who try to survive on a dog-eat-dog competition and doing all they could in an honest way. And it is disheartening to know that there are people who can't make an honest living fairly and squarely, without resorting to illegal means to attain their sinister wishes in life.

Those who are most vulnerable to commit these transgressions are people holding sensitiv positions in government, which they use to advance their personal interests. Therefore, officials and employees at the Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Land Transportation Office, among others, must shed off some of their dirty feathers during the Lenten observance.

We all knew that reforms can't be attained overnight. But at least, the onset of another Lenten season is a good way to start to re-awaken ouselves and re-establish our spiritual connection to our Lord Savior.

Advanced Happy Easter to all!!!

Junk politics for science and technology programs

2008-03-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

The reality in falling on the head of every Filipino affected by so much politics in the midst of economic crisis. But many people can still manage to give a shy smile and talk about their problems over a cup of coffee and hot pandesal at breakfast time.

However, if you come to think about it a developing country like the Philippines has a big heart when it comes to politics. But science and technology, a big no, no. For many years, many Filipinos find utmost satisfaction listening to the false promises of politicians as if they had been fulfilled. Thanks if they did. But most of them just floated into the thin air.

With too much politics, the country's prosperity was reduced to a pulp. Programs on science and technology were sidelined or forgotten for a long time because politics has been made a priority. If there are project developments around, these are only superficial adornments to show that they are doing something out of their countryside development funds. But deep inside their hearts, they still prefer to fulfill their secret agenda as a means to prolong their stay in power. No politician or government official will tell you this. But that's reality.

The draw back is that when programs for science and technology were shelved, what does this mean? It could be that there is no sufficient budget to undertake the project or it could be that the return on investments (ROI) are not feasible so that their attention will get back to them at a later time, until everything is forgotten.

Now, whether we like it or not, the Philippines is on its bended knees to seek all kinds of loans from the United States or China in exchange for what? The country has made secret bargains with China, which turned out to be unacceptable to the people. Hence, the ZTE-NBN scandal and the seismic geological exploration issue in the Spratlys even if it violates the Asean agreement and the country's sovereignty. We are making a lot of bargain deals as a means of seizing the opportunities at hand.

For the Philippines to prosper, the government must once and for all concentrate more on how to improve and develop our science and technology programs and less on politics. In this way, we won't be begging for long-term assistance from other countries at the expense of losing our sovereignty and our dignity as Filipinos.

If not, the government can always look back and allow ordinary citizens in the rural areas to occupy idle public lands to plant jathropa plants for biodiesel production. Given the right incentives, these people won't have second thoughts but will surely go for it rather than stay idle most of the time. It's something that the national government should do to spark the interests of the poor what to do with their lives rather than wait for what the government can do for them.

Safety measures may lure Jap retirees to RP

2008-03-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Philippines is a beautiful country to live. There is no argument about this claim. Comparatively, it has a tropical climate, white and pristine beaches and warmth smile and hospitality of the Filipinos.

But despite these advantages, only a few hundreds Japanese retirees had been attracted to stay in the Philippines. Do we know the reason why only a few of them are eager to invest their fortunes in the Philippines? Mind you, even a grade one pupil can answer this question.

Like any developing country, the Philippines is having a hard time dealing with its peace and order problem. For many years, it has been like this and the government seems helpless in curtailing the unrest in Mindanao. But it is not so much in the part of Luzon, but a few basic problems that any visitor or resident would encounter at any given day.

Compared to Thailand, which received an estimated 1.2 million Japanese visitors last year, the Philippine got only something like 300 Japanese visitors in that same period.

Perhaps, the government must address the personal safety of the Japanese citizens visiting the country. Besides, there is a need to put in place proper sanitation measures on where these foreign nationals will be staying. The village where these people will be relocated must adhere to the established international standards on safety and hygiene. Nobody in their right minds will ever gamble their lives if their personal safety and health are at risk.

Another important thing that the Department of Tourism and the Philippine Retirement Authority must address is the strengthening of the tourism police in places where tourists are concentrated. But how many tourism police do we have at the moment. If not, the DOT and the PRA may tap the services of the local governments in areas where they can be most effective.
Unless these criteria are met, foreign retirees may not be convinced that living in the Philippines after retirement will be a priority.

Besides, government officials and politicians, who are linked to scandals and other wrong-doings must know how to step down, if only to preserve the Filipinos' dignity and honor. It is not enough that we have cheaper real estate properties, when the retirees' lives are at stake when they go out of their domain.

China snoops for huge oil reserves in Spratlys

2008-03-11T04:23:00.000-07:00

If there is anything that the Filipino citizenry should be happy about, it is the latest announcement by the government to cancel its tripartite agreement with China and Vietnam for the joint seismic geographical survey on the portion of the Spratly Group of Islands for energy exploration.

Why not? After all these shenanigans in government, nobody is certain what the government's agenda are in dealing with communist governments like China and Vietnam. And what makes matters questionable is that the impending joint seismic survey leans more on the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines, where the Kalayaan Group of islands are now occupied by Philippine Marine soldiers.

Some political experts are questioning as to why the present administration has entered into a secret deal with these two communist countries, knowing fully well that there is an Asean bloc agreement that allows first for consultation before any agreement is sealed with countries outside the Asean.

Another thing is that the impending seismic survey, where China will most probably be dispatching its modern and advanced technological equipment and facilities to explore the potential natural resources that lie beneath the ocean floors of the Spratlys. Does the government have any control on what the Chinese explorers would be doing, not to the advantage of the Philippine interests but to the Chinese government for sure.

And why should the exploration be mostly on the parts of the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines rather than those of China and Vietnam. Some suspect that China might have other agenda in mind. If it could eavesdrop by posting its high-tech equipment around the country to monitor the strengths and weaknesses of military movements in Palawan, that's something that the Philippines should be worry about.

To an ordinary mind, why would China prefer to come closer, if only to find out the oil potentials in the areas covered under the Philippine sovereignty? Can't China use its own satellite facilities to snoop the availability of energy resources underneath the Spratly shelf for that matter? We are all aware that China has the capabilities to do just that, and it creates so much confusions among the bright minds nowadays that the Philippine government may not be aware how the tripartite agreement will affect the regional security in the South China Sea, wherein the Philippine is mostly vulnerable against any attempt to infiltrate its sovereignty, in case any powerful country tries to bully us. Of course, the United States and its allies will just sleep and leave us alone, but it is better to be cautious and do nothing at all, especially at this time when a country like China smells huge oil deposits in the Spratlys.

Controlling a big share of the exploration activities in that area would mean more revenues for the Chinese government, as what it is doing in Sudan right now and elsewhere where it has a lot of profitable stakes.

Perhaps, this is an eye-opener for the Philippine National Oil Company. Instead of putting so much fuss on politics, we would instead concentrate on how we can improve and develop our own technologies so that we can be at par with neighboring Asian countries, rather than depend for them on oil explorations in the future.

Gov't needs to clean up GSIS mess

2008-03-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

With growing complaints from pension fund members, mostly comprising of government retirees and active employees who continue to be milked of their hard-earned contributions in the hope that they could make use of their efforts in the future, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) continues to render disservice to its millions of members.

Perhaps, it's about time that the national government should do something to dip its hands on this pension fund agency by overhauling its present set up so that it can function truly and effectively as the lone caretaker of the billions of monthly contributions collected from national and local government employees.

As of late, GSIS insiders were caught taking advantage of their position by secretly funneling funds that were not supposed for them, but from those who were already dead. And who would imagine that some GSIS employees, who knew the tricks of the trade on how to deprive thousands of their benefits without even applying for them, have only to fume in anger after knowing that their loans were already taken by somebody else. They were only made aware when some of them receive a notice for loan deductions. While others just retire without getting their accumulated leave earnings from the number of years of public service rendered because the GSIS has to automatically make a lot of deductions based on their lousy and unrealistic computations.

In the first place, how could an ordinary retiring driver or messenger be able to understand complicated mathematical intricacies at the time they begin to apply for full retirement benefits when they have only limited education to wit? This is when GSIS insiders begin to take advantage of their weaknesses. The recent arrest of a certain GSIS analyst by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was only part and parcel of a syndicate that is taking place inside this pension fund agency, who take advantage of those ignorant members whose knowledge on how their retirement benefits were computed are very limited.

Why can't they just be honest on how they do their jobs? Comparatively, GSIS officials and employees are getting much better and higher salaries and fat allowances that their counterparts in the civil service. Yet, they have the temerity to do all this things at the expense of those who could barely grasp in so far as computations of loans and benefits are concerned. Why can't they make it simple in the first place, rather than present a complicated one?

I've been a former GSIS member myself and I'm frustrated to say that I didn't get the reasonable amount of benefits that I should get after I had filed my early retirement because the GSIS lumped all the charges and interests accrued to my previous loans. At the same time, a co-employee of mine from Cavite failed to get what was due to her. After working in the government for more than 30 years, without applying for any loans, she was expected to get hundreds of thousands in retirement benefits, but instead received only a total of P3,000 pesos in check payable to Landbank of the Philippines. She could do nothing but cried all night. She told me she couldn't recall any instance as to why this should have happened to her. Besides, she said it wasn't her habit to apply for loans at any time during her entire 30 years in the service.

Now, did somebody inside conspired to make it appear that she applied loans previously? I suspect this is a modus operandi that are now common practice inside the GSIS, especially for those who still hunger for more at the expense of the innocent others, who are always at the mercy of vultures and hyenas inside this once-trusted pension fund agency of government. What are you waiting for? Millions of government employees can now begin to initiate a move that will overhaul the GSIS and transform it into a well-deserved and trusted depository of billions of pension funds for government employees.

Don't tell me that GSIS is doing all these things as a means to recover the huge losses it gave away to fund the election campaigns of top officials in government during the last elections? Common, tell it to the Marines!!!

Congress should amend DILG power over police

2008-03-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

With the kind of politics that the Philippines has, the disbandment of the Integrated National Police (INP) that led to the creation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) under the Department of Interior and Local Government Act of 1990, should not have been effected. Why is that? Because the present political set up, with the PNP put under the wings of the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) is not ideal under the Philippine setting.

I think it would be appropriate if Congress will enact a new law that will amend in part under Article Two of the Local Government Code, Section 28, which in a way gives "operational supervision and control of local executives over the police force...assigned in their respective jurisdictions shall be governed by the provisions of Republic Act No. 6975."Perhaps, it is about time that this provision shall be rectified in the sense that the police are vulnerable for use and abuse by local government executives.

I knew that it is easier said than done. But why can't Congress give it a try, to pattern the organizational structure and functions of the police to that of the United States, where the police and the sheriffs are independent from political influences whatsoever in the performance of their duties. Rather than resorting to appointments of the chiefs of police by concerned higher ups, Congress should craft a bill that will elect the PNP chief, rather than be handpicked by the president.

In this way, the elected national police chief is not duty bound to be subservient to the dictates of whoever it is in power because he is elected by the people. Then, appointments of the provincial directors should now depend on the powers vested on the new national police chief. The only office that is authorized to oversee the police abuses is the National Police Commission (Napolcom). In America, it is the board of supervisors that oversees this problem. And the Department of Interior and Local Governments' mandate should be limited to overseeing purely the operations and supervision of the local government units nationwide, without the police under its umbrella.

Once this is put in place, I strongly believed that the police will once and for all free from the dictates of anybody. Perhaps, any legislator can file a resolution whose bill may be patterned after that of the Los Angeles Police Department or the New York Police Department. Under the present set up, the secretary of the DILG is also the ex-officio chairman of the National Police Commission.

This privilege must be changed under the new police set up, where the Napolcom should also be made and independent body, whose chairman shall also be elected by the people. Isn't this a wonderful idea? Unless those politicians are afraid of what will happen once the police is made an independent body would make them feel uneasy. After all, it is not the duty of the police to be tapped as security personnel of politicians and other influential people, even if they give the police elements some monthly allowances for their protection.

Perhaps, the current senator who has a good background in the police force should initiate this move so as to free the police from the clutches of the DILG. Then, the DILG's mandate should be limited to the local government units only.

DEMO-CRAZY PHILIPPINES

2008-03-07T04:09:00.000-08:00

That how most Filipinos enjoy the funfare these days.

Why not? With all these uncalled rallies brought about by the mushrooming effects of graft and corruption in government, which to many people, was more than what occurred during the dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos in the late 70s.

Rather than enjoying the fruits of their freedom earned after the late dictator was finally ousted through the bloodless People Power Revolution, they are feasting in the midst of DEMO-CRAZY Philippines nowadays. And mind you, if you're holding sensitive positions in government, it could be very dangerous in the sense that you could be used and abused by the gods and godesses at the top.

But why worry about it, just in case something like this comes your way? You don't have to do anything but to stick to your gun. If you can't dance with the music, better decide to quit, rather than be taken advantaged of by those in power for their personal interests. Unless, you want to get a share of the pie, then you have no choice but to lick their butts. However, you must always be ready to face the consequences as what other former government officials experienced these past couple of weeks.

This is the gambit. If you're holding a nice position in government, especially those that have something to do with the collection of taxes or issuing of business permits and licenses, finding the color of money is no problem at all. Perhaps, this is the primordial reason why the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs, the Land Transportation Office, the Registry of Deeds and other government agencies hate the idea of having their offices undergo the full computerization program. Because if they do, some of the corrupt government officials and employees wouldn't be able to succeed in their sinister plans to further defraud the government's coffer.

Let me pose this question, anyway. Why do some people indulge themselves in graft and corrupt practices? Either they wanted to sustain the whims and caprices of their luxurious lifestyles or they just wanted to amass so much wealth for future use. Mind you, this is a cycle that has been going on for hundreds of years, since the country was occupied by foreign powers. From my Philippine history subject, I had learned that most of the old folks then were known for their traits of being simple, respectful, honest and courteous in dealing with others. Over the decades, however, these traits had waned because of the influences brought about by what they saw from the foreign colonizers.

For instance, the incidence of landgrabbing and giving of grease money to those in sensitive government positions did not occur overnight. The influences may have been passed through generations so that the grandchildren of those who were exposed to this kind of shenanigans no doubt inherited these illegal practices, if only to make an edge over the others in a short period of time. But why do some people grab lands or steal huge sums of money from others? The answer may not be perfectly correct, but the way I understand it, the ulterior motive behind is to gain power and glory in the end.

Do you think those who have vast tracts of land nowadays just sat in the sideline and waited for whoever would shower them these blessings? Nope. They were either big time administrators of land during the Spanish time, up to the American liberation period and their exposure to this kind of lifestyle may have encouraged some of them to carry on and stick to their old practices up to this day.

A good example is my late father's hometown in Region V. How come there are people in the area who only own a few square meters of land, while others could no longer remember how many hectares of land they have. And do you think the formation of haciendas in the country just cropped up without any group of people responsible on how they came to be in the olden days? From then on, until now, the obssession of accummulating vast properties and wealth have always been pointed to as the main cause why some influential and those in power grab more lands and accummulate more wealth at the expense of the poor. Just think about it and you'll find the answers.

Executive department belittles legislature

2008-03-06T21:58:00.000-08:00

Why can't Congress, especially the Senate, get the respect it deserves from the Executive Branch of government? And it seemed the former is most often ignored, particularly when it comes to public hearings involving government officials.

Despite everybody's knowledge that all three have branches of government, patterned that after the United States, have equal sharing of recognation and powers as mandated in the country's Constitution, this doesn't give much bearing except when it comes to exposes and revelations by those who were called to give their testimonies under oath.

When it comes to the arresting power of Congress, nobody seems to be intiminated and this mandate is taken lightly even by those who are supposed to recognize it. Take, for example, the case of the failed attempt by members of the Senate arresting team sent to track down Jun Lozada as he landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, Philippines.

If their presence had earned the respect of other law enforcement personnel at the NAIA, they could have closely coordinated the matter to the head of the airport management so that they would be allowed to march down the aisles leading to the aircraft tube where Lozada was supposed to come out. Instead, they were just marooned outside, whose eyes have already turned white waiting for nothing but the sea of strange faces coming in and out of the airport premises.With the armed forces and the police under the wings of the executive department, there is no question as to why their presence wasn't felt at all, or the team had not been given the importance it deserves when it comes to arresting those who try to ignore summons of any congressional hearings.

What is so strange about this is that Congress is the body that deliberates and allocates budget for the country's general appropriations act, yet it is the same organization that suffers from the lack of facilities and law enforcement teeth needed to make its presence felt. Perhaps, the only thing that could earn the respect of the congressional arresting team is for them to be equipped with high powered arms, not for showmanship, but for work-related operations such as those
arresting influential people like politicians and other bigwigs in government.

It is hard to imagine that their presence at the NAIA was wasted. Had it not been for the media, Lozada may had been 10 feet below the ground right now. But how come the police security personnel were allowed inside the airport's restricted zones? Had the Senate arresting team made headway inside the airport's tube, the kidnapping issue could have been prevented from being blown up into huge proportions. Now, had they ran on the shoes of the police security personnel sent to fetch and snatch Lozada, I doubt it very much if they would make it face-to-face with the fetchers led by no less than the assistant chief of the airport.

Perhaps, it is about time that the Senate may have to reinvent its security force, and so with the Lower House, so that they cannot just be bullied around by other law enforcement agencies.

New nurses get a run around on health seminars

2008-03-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

In my previous article, I mentioned the hassles that professional nurses have to experience if only to gain the required certifications necessary to get ahead with their future plans and ambitions in life.

And their harrowing experiences do not end after graduation or passing the licensure examination in the Philippines, or the CGFNS or the NCLEX for those who wanted to practice their profession in America.

From what I learned, some hospitals are making it doubly difficult for new nurses (those who already passed the PRC examination) to attend health-related seminars and workshops, especially for those who wanted to apply for jobs in the local hospitals in the country. Unless, one has a certification that shows he attended seminars like infection control, maternal and child health, and the most important, the seminar on how to administer injectable instruments to patients which they call I.V. seminar.

The irony is that this IV certification is now required from all nurse applicants who are eager to land a job locally. And do you know how much it costs? A whopping P10,000 at the Medical City and much lesser for other public hospitals like the Amang Rodriguez in Marikina City, where one cannot just go there and have his name registered. It is frustrating to know that the whom-you-know system is still around because only a select few of nurses are taken in. For example, in the Amang Rodriguez Hospital, only 30 seats are available, out of the 500 applicants on the waiting list. I just don't know how the Department of Health is responding to this, which is administering the said seminars.

What puzzles me a lot is that the Philippine Nurses Association should have a hand in seeing to it that its bonafide members are protected from this kind of harassment. Why can't the PNA just coordinate the seminars with concerned hospitals, instead of the hospitals leading the way. Most hospitals, especially public ones, are always teeming with people waiting to undergo medical check ups.

Perhaps, what the PNA can do is to find a place where it can accommodate the required number of seminarians, and just invite the resource speakers to make the actual demonstrations during the seminar proper. Isn't it a way to decongest traffic in the hospital, which is already saddled with all sorts of administration problems?

If some of the ranking officials of the DOH have taken their masters degree in hospital or public administration, they should be the first to know on how and what to do. Imagine 500 people now waiting on the list, and only 30 are allowed to attend the seminar, what do you think is this? Is there any other way to pacify the feelings of these disgruntled nurses, whose emotions may be running high after they were told that they could not attend an important seminar?

DOH officials, you try to be in the shoes of these people in the waiting list and let us see how you will feel about it.

PGMA scraps EO 464

2008-03-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

With President Arroyo's scrapping of Executive Order 464, public officials and employees have now the prerogative to expose the shenigans and other illegal transactions in government, if only to bare the truth. But there is one thing more that bothers many people these days, even if EO 464 is dead. This is Malacanang Memorandum Circular No. 108, whose content is almost similar to that of EO 464. Unless this circular is scrapped, the Palace can still hound government officials and employees who have knowledge of any wrong doings in government offices.

It is hard to understand why the president has cancelled EO 464 only now. After series of rallies and protests from disgruntled civil society groups, she finally relented. But reports said she succumbed to the pressures of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), whose members recently met with the president and ranking cabinet officials in an exclusive place in an effort to iron out the kinks that surround the said order.

Now we can finally say that the president still looks up to the Catholic Church as something worth its respect. And who wouldn't? Unless, one is callous enough to go against the Church doctrines or face excommunication. After all, why wait for the CBCP to pressure anyone for that matter. Sadly, the only agenda perhaps was the scrapping of EO 464 and nothing much was discussed concerning any impending course of action that the present leadership is thinking about.If ever, there is any clamor for her to step down, it came, not from the bishops themselves, but from the civil society groups and other concerned citizens who are already fed up with the system of government in the country.

Without the EO 464 in place, Ched secretary Romulo Neri, who was also a former socio-economic planning secretary, would have the courage to come out and bare everything that he knew about the anomalous NBN-ZTE transactions between the Philippines and China. However, Justice secretary Raul Gonzales is singing another tune. According to him, Neri, or any other ranking government official, can now testify in any public hearings called by the Senate, to shed more light on the anomalous ZTE project. But Gonzales said that Neri's answers to questions asked by the legislators would now depend as to whether he will answer some of them or not.

As for Neri, there's nothing to be afraid of. If he is, the likely threats would not be from the side of the civil society groups, but from those he had given favors at the expense of his untarnished reputation. Anybody who is aware that the barrel of a gun is poised at the back of his head, will not dare say things that are against a consensus. I really do not know how the Senate hearing, with Neri being cross-examined, will look like. Hoping, once and for all, that it wouldn't be another useless attempt by the Senate to get a crack behind the concrete wall where secrets were hidden away from further public scrutiny.

If I were Neri, why should I be bothered about being jobless, anyway. But that's not what Neri is worried about. Guess what? You readers knew what I mean, should he bares it all during the public hearings. Neri is already fed up with statistics and he doesn't want to belong there anymore. And should he plans to quit the government, he can always go back to the private sector, where he will earn more than what he earns right now. Unless, Neri gets hefty commissions from illegal transactions, working in the government is purely for public service. Perhaps, what Neri needs right now is to balance the situation. Is he on the side of the truth or not? That's all. I'm sure, Neri is not that stupid to tread into a situation if he doesn't know how to get out of it.

FSGO asks stiff demands for PGMA

2008-03-04T05:16:00.000-08:00

Millions of Filipinos are on the sideline, waiting for the outcome of the five demands that former senior government officials asked President Arroyo to do. And perhaps, this is a lithmus test that will, once and for all, show the present administration's sincerity in dealing with the present challenges that lurk behind her embattled leadership.

Perhaps, what the president can do is just to make an announcement right now that she is willing to scrap Executive Order 464, which was misconstrued by the civil society groups as an armor to shield the government's image from being eroded further. With all these shanigans in government under close public scrutiny, there is no doubt that the people themselves will be fuming with anger in secrecy. This is dangerous in the sense that when the people's sentiments can no longer be contained, that's the end of it all.

Well, the only thing that needs to be tested is the sincerity of the military and the police. For how long their patience will last, nobody can say at this point in time knowing that the top ranking military and police officials are trying to please the president's wishes for protection, in case another People Power will erupt in any time.

And the deciding factors are the current demands of former senior government officials for the president to act. Otherwise, it will be too late for the present administration to mend its ways. Tens of thousands of public servants are not hundred percent on the side of government, believe me. There's a lot of them who are disgruntled at the way things are going on right now, but they just keep mum about their sentiments, except for some others who already showed their
disenchantments in the open.

As far as I'm concerned, these demands are the biggest headaches for the present administration, knowing fully well that these may spark further unrest in the streets. Metro Manila has about 13 million people. If one third of this total will hit the streets, what do you think will happen. Surely, there will be gridlock and traffic will grind to a halt. The next thing we
knew is that the economy is held hostaged by these impending inconveniences. Unless the military is callous and insensitive enough to shoot all these people on the streets remains to be seen like what they did in Myanmar's heartless government.

Among these demands, the most difficult thing to do, unless some of the records right now will be fixed to make it appear they are clean for presentation in public hearings, is the availment of minutes of the board meetings made by the National Economic and Development Authority on the ZTE-NBN broadband deal.

Why not? NEDA officials are not that stupid not to heed to calls of Malacanang to fix the problem at hand. And now, they are thinking about it already while time drags on. No wonder that most of employees at NEDA are good in terms of numbers.

Scrutinizing these public records on the US$329 million NBN contract during a Senate hearing would hopefully generate facts rather than fiction. But at this point in time, NEDA insiders are already thinking how to get away with the multi-million NBN mess, whose factual barometer would largely depend on these public records.

Another thing is that suspending those allegedly involved in the attempted kidnapping of Mr. Jun Lozada after he landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Hong Kong, is something that must be done to at least supress a conspiracy in the future. Imagine, if it were not for the media, perhaps, no Lozada would be speaking and smiling before a sea of people, telling them his sad ordeals.

Citing news reports, the FSGO group also asked President Arroyo to stop the Department of Justice, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to stop harassing Lozada and other witnesses on the scrapped NBN-ZTE project.

Members of the FSGO include former education secretary Florencio Abad; former budget secretaries Emilia Boncodin and Benjamin Diokno; former Civil Service Commission chairperson Karina Constantino-David; former executive secretary and former senator Franklin Drilon; former presidential management staff Victoria Garchitorena; former NEDA secretary general Cielito Habito; former trade minister Vicente Paterno; former foreign affairs undersecretary Leticia Ramos-Shahani, among others, who asked the President to respond to their demands in a week.

These former senior government officials gave the president within one week to act on their demands. Failure to do so would mean bad consequences for the government, they warned.

Bishops ask PGMA to scrap EO 464

2008-03-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has strongly urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to scrap Executive Order 464, or else it will be forced to declare to the people that the present administration is tolerating the incidence of rampant graft and corruption in the government.

In a statement issued by the CBCP, it insisted that the present administration's unclear stance on the issuance of Executive Order No. 464, which bars government officials, including military and police officers, from testifying before public hearings called by Congress, could be misconstrued by the people as another way of protecting rampant illegal transactions involving top government officials.

The civil society groups have shared the view of the CBCP that the continuous reluctance of President Arroyo to cancel EO 464 is meant to mussle the mouths of public officials who may have been privy or knowledgeable to some of graft and corrupt practices under the present administration.

They strongly believed that scrapping of EO 464 will eventually allow more whistle-blowers to come out in the open to expose unwanted corruption in government.

Perhaps, it is the best move that the present administration can do if only to show the people that top government officials also observe the sanctity of the forthcoming Lenten Observance.

As CBCP president archbishop Angel Lagdameo said in his recent pastoral statement: "Lent will soon be upon us, a time of penance, of sorrow for sin, of self-reform. Soon we shall hear again the clarion call of the Lord Jesus: “Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel!” (Mk 1: 15). This season is the appropriate beginning for profound reform and conversion. It is the time for a spiritual combat against the enemy within, our pride and greed, our lust for power and wealth."

"And so we exhort you, our beloved people: As a special project for this year’s Lenten observance and in the spirit of penance, let us come together in little groups of reflection and discernment. In these groups we look seriously at our part in the many evils of our day—as individuals, as families, as communities—and discern what action we can do together," he added.

Corrupt government officials must have heard or heeded the CBCP's call for these people to atone their sins to be one in the great sufferings of Christ on the cross.

ZTE key witness linked to another woman

2008-02-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

In trying to destroy his credibility, ZTE key witness Jun Lozada is now linked by media to a certain mistress by the name of Marissa, a former employee of Alcatel in the Philippines.

At the height of his series of speaking sorties metro-wide, Lozada just shrugged off the controversy and instead insisted that these things are meant to discredit him.

When asked in an ambush interview, Lozada admitted that he knew the woman being linked to him but he didn't elaborate further on the matter. However, he continued to parry questions that he believed would pin him down on the issue. He said that he still loved his family and that his attention now is focused behind the anomalous broadband deal entered by the Philippine government with China.

Lozada paid a short visit inside the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa Thursday, where he was met by thousands of students who skipped their classes and threw confettis from atop the buildings around the PUP campus to grace his visit.

A few minutes prior to his arrival at the PUP Campus, a bomb scare took place inside so that the school's alarm bell went off thus alarming the security which immediately called the bomb disposal unit of the police nearby, but no bomb was found by the sniffing dogs.

There was a chaos at the gate after the security guards locked the entrance gate while the police probers were inside doing their investigation. A heated altercation between the security guards and the students ensued when the latter succeeded in forcing themselves inside the gate.

The classes were suspended for a couple of hours when Lozada got in to speak before the thousands of students who occupied all the floors of the buildings inside the campus.

LGUs sell principles to Lucifer

2008-02-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

Local government officials and other politicians in the Philippines have fungus faces. Many of them have also sold their principles and dignity to the great Lucifer.

I'm referring to those who were called lately to attend an emergency briefing in Malacanang, presided by no less than the embattled President Arroyo herself. Reports said one of the agenda was to review the development needs of the constituents in the countrysides, a move many analysts considered as a means to shore up the image of the administration in light of the anomalous NBN-ZTE scandal and the alleged kidnapping of the Rodolfo Lozada Jr., the key witness in the ZTE deal.

From the way it looked, the efforts of the disheartened people whose eagerness to oust the president, like what they did in Pakistan, had been in vain. Let alone, the callousness of the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) whose members were suspected of having feasted on the donations given by unscrupulous government officials just to grease their collective decision.

Again, the civil society groups are bracing for another brazen attempt to flex their muscles that would eventually encourage majority of the people to go out and hit the streets once and for all. In fact, Makati City mayor Jejomar Binay and National Capital Regional Police chief Geary Barrias already met in Makati City to iron out some kinks that would make the rallies peaceful and non-violent in nature.

What I can say is that the government is the people themselves. Local government officials were merely appointees while others were elected to their present posts. Still, the collective decision would be up for the people to go for it. Nothing much can stop them from doing what they feel is appropriate at this time when the country is going down the drain. And the only thing that keeps the economy afloat is the resilience of the business community to hold on to their aces while waiting for the right opportunity to strike while the iron is still hot.

From what I knew, the people are tired of this kind of unrest because it is their families that suffer the most. At the end of the line, it is still the ordinary people who suffer while those with influence and government connections are the ones to benefit from the positive turnout of events. This is something that is bothering a lot of people so that their inclination to join the rallies is marked with doubts. They believe that after the change of command or leadership in government, they are back to the same roller-coaster system of governance where the poor have become poorer while the rich become richer.

In the end, there is no total guarantee that the new government set up is expected to shower the people with unquestionable leadership considering that it has already been a culture of the Filipinos for many centuries now. Perhaps, we owed this unsavory practice from the many foreign powers that occupied our land, bestowing to us their evil doings in governance and public service. As of now, the attitude of most Filipinos is "live and let live." This is a bad habit that developed into something whereby almost every Filipino tends to take advantage of opportunities that come their way.

Free government media from bureaucracy

2008-02-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

Government media agencies have continued to lag behind in so far as dissemination of information to the public is concerned.

Unexpectedly, they have not been doing what they are supposed to do as mandated in their assigned tasks and responsibilities. If they had, these were not commensurate to public expectations.

Currently, the Office of the Press Secretary maintains the Philippines News Agency (PNA), under the News and Information Bureau; the Philippines Information Agency (PIA), People's Television 4, Channel 9 and 13, Radio ng Bayan and so on. This is not to mention the existence of the Presidential News Desk (PND) and the Presidential Press Monitoring Division.

What is so funny about these government media entities? Well, the answer lies in the way bureaucracy is slowly creeping into the systems and tasks that they are supposed to undertake. In most instances, everything is controlled in these media agencies. All reports--both written and for broadcast purposes--have to be cleared first before they can be dispatched for public consumption.

Consequently, the officials and ordinary staff could no longer function properly and effectively. Let alone the antiquated facilities and equipment that these media agencies use at the moment. And the reason is pointed to lack of budget so that modernizing these media agencies is far-fetched from reality yet.

Multi-talented officials and employees are running these media agencies. But their grips on the rein of power are limited such that they can only do so much beyond the positive expectations of their bosses.

If there is really a big problem modernizing these government media agencies, why can't the government just allow them to become self-liquidating, rather than constrict their chance of survival and growth? All of them have remained under the direct supervision and control of the Office of the Press Secretary. Take for example the Philippines News Agency, which has been operating for more than 30 years now, yet it remains under the bureaucratic pangs of the News and Information Bureau's administrative control. In the pre-Martial Law period, then Philippines News Service (PNS) is a kind of news organization to reckon with.

I believed in the potentials of the PNA as a separate government entity, which can be operated by the board, so that it can exhaust all means to improve its image and efficiency free from the peering eyes and claws of the Office of the Press Secretary. At the moment, it can't. And one of its biggest problems is to modernize its facilities and equipment. If it is allowed to enter into an agreement with other international organizations that are willing to give it a boost, there is no doubt it can compete with other foreign newswires agencies in Asia, if not worldwide.

But from the way it looks, PNA and the rest are being used only as propaganda machinery of the government. If not, what else is there to think that it isn't? Better dissolve these media agencies, if only to save so much money for the government. At least, transforming them into government-controlled corporations will, perhaps, do the tricks. In this way, they will have the opportunity to maximize their potentials.

Catholic Church divided on oust PGMA move

2008-02-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

After a weeklong brouhaha on the ZTE-NBN scandal, where Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada was made an instant celebrity, nothing much had transpired but the usual pockets of rallies, the biggest of which was the one held at the Makati City commercial district where an estimated crowd of at least 10,000 people attended.

Some concerned people have commented that unless some elements in the military and the police will lend support to the efforts being made by the ralliests, the true spirit of another People Power will just fissle out. From the point of view of the experts, the move to oust President Arroyo will only prosper if the Catholic Church and other religious groups like the El Shaddai and the Jesus Is Lord Movement (JIL), who have at least 10 million members nationwide, will come together to heed the call of other civil society groups to join them.

But the expectations that JIL leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva would allow his millions of members to hit the streets on the anniversary of EDSA People Power, in partnership with other cause-oriented groups. On the contrary, the show of force came not much from the religious groups, but between the left-leaning organizations led by Bayan Muna and the pockets of rallies conducted by pro-administration leaders in the local governments.

And the question filled the air as to why the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines was not united in its stance to rally behind the people who were calling for the ouster of President Arroyo, whose husband was allegedly involved in the anomalous multi-million ZTE-NBN boradband deal? Along with First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos was fuming hard when Lozada broke his silence and corroborated Joey de Venecia's earlier allegations that Abalos indeed negotiated the broadband deal by deliberately overpricing the project by as much as US$130 million.

Going back, the people who are already tired of these shenanigans in government thus jeopardizing the delivery of basic services to where they are supposed to be, can only wonder at the gravity of suspicions that the Catholic bishops may have different views on how the oust movement initiaves could be undertaken. Or it could be that some of them have benefitted in one way or another from government donations which benefitted either their diocess or their pockets?

Running priest Father Robert Reyes has admitted during a live morning broadcast interview that some of the bishops and priests are accepting financial donations from some top government officials whenever they ask for them to fund certain projects of the Church. He himself was offered during the time of President Cory Aquino some thousands of pesos. But according to him, he declined the offer of donations from these public officials.

In the previous People Power movements, then Jaime Cardinal Sin would get out of his way to urge the people to go out and join the mass protests. A clear manifestation to this was the ouster of then President Marcos and his family and that of President Joseph Estrada, who voluntarily stepped down after pressures from then AFP Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes.

It is unfortunate that there's nobody to placate what the late Cardinal Sin had done to rally behind the people anymore, Father Reyes lamented. And probably, he doesn't know either as to who among the members of the CBCP would duplicate the guts and the nerves shown by the late Cardinal Sin, especially at this time when the country's direction is heading down the drain.

A large number of people are aware that the military and the police are not solid in their support for the embattled administration. But how many of these military and police officials are benefitting from the largesse of the administration, at the expense of the rank-and-file's quality of life suffering in limbo. As one Filipino columnist said, the ranking officials of the military and the police are nothing without the full support of their lowly subordinates. Which is true, but still many of these lowly subordinates are perhaps, adamant to go for it because they feel that once the oust movement fails to prosper, their jobs are surely in peril.

Along the rank-and-files of the armed forces and the police, the millions of national and local government employees are also pissed off with what is going on right now. But they have remained in the sidelines because they knew from the heart that holding jobs as public servants is all they have. Losing their jobs at the height of economic problems would mean more hungry stomachs for their families who greatly depend on them for survival.

Now the political situation in the Philippines can be compared to someone attempting to cross a balancing pole to reach the other end of the line. Unless the people are ready and willing to take the risks, the move to oust President Arroyo from Malacanang Palace is nothing but a wishful thinking. At this moment, the bottom line and the priority is no doubt security for the families. This is a typical reaction that Filipinos have considering the situation that they are in since the country got its independence from foreign powers. Perhaps, they think that only the politicians and the influentials are benefitting from the mass efforts in the end. After all, why bother?
In developed countries, this kind of thinking doesn't hold water.

Why? Because citizens of developed countries couldn't care less and they are assured of the basic services that they are supposed to get on a regular basis. For example, in America, ordinary or unemployed persons can always go to the Salvation Army to ask for food and clothings. For financial assistance, they can always seek welfare funds from the government. And there are other civic organizations that do the same on a regular basis. If the Philippines has this kind of established system, there is no doubt that the people will not have second thoughts to join the rallies. That's why the politicians always prefer that the people continue to suffer and subservient to the mandate of those who are in power, especially during the time of elections.

Egypt can open border to let goods flow for Gaza

2008-02-23T22:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not in favor of what Israel had done to impose total blockade against Gaza Strip. But I'm not in favor either of what the Hamas Group is doing by ignoring the repeated calls of Israel to stop sending rockets to its territories.

If the Hamas militants do not stop their threats against Israel, there is no reason for them to call Israel's blockade as "immoral and inhuman." I don't think that what the Hamas militants are doing right now against Israel can be considered an act of gratitude for allowing the Palestinians to come and go in Israel' territory.

The present scenario that is taking place in that part of the Middle East can be compared to a neighborhood where the lawless elements in a neighbor's house should be ignored even if they are harming or killing innocent people inside the
community.

And I think that there are members of Hamas who are intelligent enough to understand the situation at the moment. As the saying goes: "Beggars cannot be choosers." In the case of the peace-loving and good Palestinian citizens, their sufferings right now are the cause of what the Hamas militants had done to elicit the anger of the Israel government. I don't think it is illogical enough to think that only the Palestinian people have the right for co-existence in this planet. Biblically, the political issue now being debated upon between Israelites and the Palestinians has been in the limelight for a long time now so that it already became a "chicken and egg" issue.

In short, the Palestinian people and the armed Hamas Group should meet halfway in order to iron out the kinks that caused them their miseries. Anger and hatred, on the part of Hamas, will only create more troubles ahead, thus putting more people at risks. If the Palestinians do not have the will to pacify Hamas for its militant actions against Israel, there is no way that peace could rein in the area. Perhaps, the best possible means to work this problem out is to approach and beg for President Mubarak to open up the border again. From there, relief goods may be channeled through Gaza either by land or by sea. At least, they are both Arabs speaking on the same tongue and religious freedom.

Senate to probe on secret Spratly deal

2008-02-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

The Philippines has yet to benefit from the US$500 million North Rail Agreement between the Philippines and China, even if its blueprint for implementation has been prepared many months back.

Reason? The Chinese government has yet to see a sealed agreement that will eventually allow China to explore part of the Philippine continental shelf in the Spratly Group of Islands, where the Philippine government has established sovereignty over the Kalayaan Group of Island, as part of a concession signed by the present administration and that of Vietnam. Vietnam used to contest the joint exploration in that part of the South China Sea.

The controversy came out after an article published by the Far Eastern Economic Review outlined this tripartite undertaking in violation of the 2002 Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Barry Wain, a former Wall Street Journal Asia editor and now writer-in residence for the Singapore-based Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, revealed that the Philippine government under President Arroyo and former House Speaker Jose de Venecia had entered into an agreement that would allow China to undertake explorations in the Spratlys in exchange for loans intended for various development projects in the Philippines.

Under the said deal, "China would be allowed to explore territorial waters of the Philippines." This means that China is expected to cross into the Kalayaan Group of Islands, where a Philippine Marines detachment is posted for security and monitoring purposes.

Wain was quoted as saying that President Arroyo's state visit to China in 2004 paved the way for the two countries to seal the "Agreement for Seismic Undertaking for Certain Areas in the South China Sea by and Between China National Offshore Oil Corporation and the Philippine National Oil Company."

During the time of former President Fidel V. Ramos, China surreptitiously encroached into the Philippine territorial waters by erecting concrete structures as berthing posts for its fishing vessels in time of storms. The illegal structures were beamed into the U.S. satellites which eventually tipped the Department of National Defense in Manila.

The Department of Foreign Affairs immediately called on the Chinese ambassador to explain on the matter and asked him to inform the Chinese government how infuriated the Philippine government over this sensitive matter. It didn't take long before China destroyed the said structures even before the Philippine Air Force dispatched its fighter planes to bomb the illegal structures.

This new development is something that should not be taken granted. Nobody can say now as to whether the NBN-ZTE broadband scandal is part of this secret exploration deal in the Spratlys. Not seemingly contented with the first deal in 2004, China seemed to have used its big muscles to pressure the Philippines into giving in more to its demands to go ahead with the Spratly explorations.

In the first place, what seemed to be mysterious about China's insistence is that some parts of the Spratlys are reportedly rich in mineral and marine resources like oil and marine species. Which is the primary reason, perhaps, why China is so much interested to go for it, despite the odds.

It may be hard to accept it, but the Philippines doesn't have yet the technical and financial capabilities to explore its territorial waters in the Spratlys. This could be the reason why China had seized the opportunity to offer its services by entering into an agreement for joint exploration of the Spratly Islands.

Now, the tip off could be an added bonus to what Lozada already did to whistle-blow the multi-million NBN-ZTE anomaly. Surely, the concerned senators will not be happy about this negative report considering that the secret deal may had been an instrument that would have sold off part of the Philippine sovereignty to foreign powers like China.

Besides, this could be a cause for alarm to most Filipinos who may have thought all the while that the government is entering into bilateral agreements for the betterment of the country. With this latest development, Filipinos will no doubt question more about the government's neglect to observe full transparency in terms of agreements with foreign governments.

By allowing China to peek into the Philippine territory would be misconstrued by the United States and other Asean-member countries as a means of softening its stance on regional security in the South China Sea. Perhaps, the Philippine Senate is the only bastion of power that may have the legal authority to probe once more about these new allegations.

And there is a strong need to allow the public to know more in the spirit of full transparency in government. After all, it will not be present generation who will suffer from these irregularities but the future children who may have no other option but to repay what the present government owed to the foreign lenders.

Thousands of studes join mass protests in RP

2008-02-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

With most Filipinos likely fed up on what's going on in the affairs of government, thousands of concerned students from Metro Manila's Catholic universities have expressed their full support to the embattled Jun Lozada, key witness in the multi-million NBN-ZTE scandal who was allegedly kidnapped by plainclothes police personnel as he disembarked from Cathay Pacific plane at the Manila International Airport on Feb. 5.

Among those who joined the mass protests were students from the University of Santo Tomas, his alma mater; University of the Philippines, La Salle University, and the Ateneo de Manila University. In Manila, many students have went out of the UST premises and positioned themselves along Espana Boulevard, bringing with them placards that encouraged passing motorists to honk their horns as an expression of support for Lozada's crusade against corrupt government officials.

While those at the Ateneo de Manila in Quezon City have lined up along Katipunan Road, with lighted candles on their hands, as Lozada's motorcade passed through on its way to the University of the Philippines in Diliman Campus. Lozada was invited for speaking engagement in U.P.

Based on this scenario, it is likely that tens of thousands of students from some universities will take part in more mass protests to drum up support from people that would eventually force President Arroyo to step down from her post for a change. Catholic priests and bishops have expressed their intention to spearhead the rallies, even as the Jesus Is Lord Movement (JIL) has not come up yet with its decision to encourage millions of its members to go out into the streets in support of Lozada's crusade for good government.

As the political unrest heated up, Jun Lozada has filed a kidnapping case at the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza, Police Chief Avelino Razon and other police and government personalities related to his disappearance last Feb. 5. Lozada said that had it not been for the media, he should have been dead by now.

But police sources said that they are ready to face whatever criminal cases filed against their top officers.

Meanwhile, a film production outfit has offered Lozada a role that would make a movie about his life. It could be a combination of comedy and drama, considering that Lozada was known for his being a crying whistle-blower when he started revealing more details on the multi-million ZTE scandal that involved former Commission on Elections Benjamin Abalos and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

However, Lozada has not made up his mind yet as to whether he would accept the movie offer or not. At this writing, Lozada is busy moving around attending to a lot of engagements.

New PFC boss bares dirty tricks on Lozada

2008-02-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

There is a popular belief that saying something bad against your former boss is a reflection of your character as a person and an employee.

But this is what the newly installed head of the Philippine Forest Corporation did to his former boss ZTE scandal whistle-blower Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada, Jr., who resigned his post amid the anomalous multi-million national broadband project between the Philippines and China.

Like a child who was not given a lollipop, officer-in-charge Erwin Santos divulged Friday everything he knew about the illegal transactions allegedly made by his former boss at the PFC, just in time when most of Metro Manilans have expressed dissatisfaction over the way the present administration does its tactics to benefit from secret deals.

Santos revealed that Lozada has used his position to grant some favors to some of his relatives and friends in awarding hundred of hectares of land for the planting of jatropha plants. He said that he had been complaining about these irregularities many months back but the media didn't seem interested in his revelations.

When asked by media, Santos has denied that the administration is behind all these new exposes, saying that he has done all by himself and that nobody has prodded him to do such.

But many people, especially those who are supporting Jun Lozada's crusade, why Santos only did it now when he could have done it many months back. They said that there's a lot of ways to let the public know of such irregularities in the PFC.

"We could not believe that such a new revelation was so timely when the ZTE scandal was already blown out of proportions," they lamented.

Some people could only think twice that perhaps, Santos was installed by someone close to the administration so that his attempts to taint the name of Lozada was in exchange for the favor that he got from someone else at the top.

This kind of maneuverings is no longer new in Philippine politics. As such, there are public relations practitioners who are always on the prowl for good money in destroying or building up people's image amid a certain controversy. These are opportunists who back on someone else's destruction for personal interests. And the bottom line is always money.

For now, all that Santos can do is ask some of his subordinates to corroborate his false statements to make it appear that Lozada is the same bad guy as those of the ones he had implicated in the anomalous broadband transactions with China.

Civic-oriented groups have riled against corrupt government officials who have expressed interest to keep the US$130 million in commission, when most of the Philippine population are exposed in dire poverty at the moment.

As this developed, church and civic groups nationwide are scheduled to hold mass rallies in support of Lozada and to press the administration leader from stepping down.

U.S. embassies enjoy huge fees from rejected visas

2008-02-19T21:28:00.000-08:00

Citizens of Third World nations have become victims of American arrogance. How they had wanted to escape economic difficulties in their home countries, but could not due to strict issuance of U.S. visas overseas.

Most often, a large number of those applying for tourist visas being rejected at U.S. consulates overseas. It is hard to imagine how much revenues the U.S government is making from the huge income derived from approved and rejected visa applications worldwide. And host governments are silently disgruntled as to the manner by which the U.S. consulates are accumulating enormously from visa fees, without any taxes paid to the host governments.

Reading Mr. Eric Lucas' article "Tourist Trap", which appeared on L.A. Times (Feb. 19 issue), exemplifies at how the American consulates abroad are screening tightly every visa applicant who wishes to come over to America for pleasure or business trip. And visa officers couldn't care less if the applicant's intention is honest or otherwise.

Observations showed that granting tourist visas to foreigners is made at random, no matter how intact and voluminous an applicant's documents are ready for showing upon demand by the visa officer inteviewing any concerned applicant. Perhaps, the game being played at the U.S. consulates abroad is psychological in nature. Those who could hardly express themselves properly during interview are doomed for outright rejection. While those who are more articulate may have a good chance of getting approved.

No wonder that over the years, tourist arrivals in America have greatly declined. Using Mr. Lucas' data, only a total of 27 million tourists came to the U.S. last year, or down by 11 percent, as compared to 26 million in 2006. The world's aggragate travel revenues are estimated at US$5 trillion and employs a "quarter of a billion people." This is an opportunity that United States is missing in so far as human commerce is concerned, Lucas cotinued.

Lucky are the citizens of at least 29 countries that have waiver visas to visit the United States. Perhaps, most of us knew what these countries are. While "the rest of the world's people--all multi-colored billions are suspects", Lucas said.

This contradicts Canada's manner of allowing foreigners to tour to come into the country as tourists or immigrants. At present, Canada accepts non-visa visits of citizens from at least 50 countries worldwide. While the European Union allows its EU-member citizens to visit Europe, including some 43 countries like South Korea, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. This means that it is much easier for Mexicans to come to Europe than visit the United States, he added.

But why do people from developing countries are hankering to come to the U.S.? Of course, the answer is to seek a greener pasture for immigrants and pleasure or business for other travelers. The dream for a good life is driving these people nuts because economic difficulties are unbearable in their home turfs, probably due to too much politics and poverty brought about by graft and corruption in governments.

With the fee going up to US$131 per application for tourist visa, many people are still banking on luck that they may be given a visa which is good for ten years. Try to observe the crowd infront of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, along Roxas Blvd., and you wouldn't be surprised at how these applicants brave the risks of another rejection stamped on their passports. But still the persistence and determination are there, despite the odds.

Cut flower boom in the Philippines

2008-02-18T22:13:00.000-08:00

Benguet, one of the coolest places the Philippines can ever bestow, does not only attract visitors because of its variety of tourist attractions like the famour Banaue Rice Terraces and the thousand years-old mummies in caves.

Likewise, tourists are drawn to come to Benguet, via Baguio City, the country's summer capital, because of its thousands of cut flower varities that abound all year round. And business has never been so good as it is today, when imported cut flower species from other countries have been propagated and are now mushrooming all over the province and the nearby places on commercial scale.

What makes Benguet ideal for cut flower farming is attributed to two important factors: fertile soil and the cool atmosphere that abound. This is not to mention the high elevation that keeps the ground moist all the time. No wonder that Benguet has not slackened as a primary source of cut flower export in the country.

According to Teresita L. Rosario of the University of the Philippines' Horticulture Department, the major players in the marketing of the cut flowers in the Philippines are the breeders/growers, input suppliers, traders, cooperatives, transporters, brokers, exporters, importers, institutional buyers and walk-in consumers.

"New and improved varieties of cut flowers form the backbone of the industry", she stated in her paper entitled Cut Flower Production in the Philippines. "Breeders, therefore, play an important role by developing the varieties and hybrids and help in the production of planting materials for the commercial growers. Input suppliers include the distributors and dealers of farm chemicals like fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and the like," she stated further.

Unlike in other countries, marketing of cut flowers is done only by a few cooperatives. "Attempts have been made by some people to channel their cut flowers through their cooperatives but somehow, it is easier and more convenient to sell their produce individually."

A big bulk of the country's cut flowers was exported to South Korea, comprising 46% of the total export. While the rest of the exports went to Japan, Brunei, Hongkong and Italy include anthuriums, liliums, and roses. More than half of the exported cut flowers go to Japan.

However, Chrysanthemums and carnations constitute the bulk of imported flowers from Australia, Holland and Malaysia. Almost half of the flowers are imported from Holland, she said.

Most of the cut flower exports were sourced out from the upland areas of the Cordillera Administrative Region, where Benguet province is a part. While the rest are distributed throughout the Calabarzon Area and some parts of Mindanao like Davao City, Zamboanga City and Cagayan de Oro City.

Beef recall worries consumers

2008-02-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

The biggest beef recall initiated by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has sent quivers, not only to the spines of millions of consumers, but the big retailers across the country as well.

This after animal humane society and federal inspectors have expressed apprehensions over the way ambulatory cattles were being treated before they were brought to the slaughter house for meat processing and packing.

Humane Society officials estimated that the recalled beef meat could run to the tune of a billion pounds. But USDA officials argued that estimate of the total volume could not be figured out at this time considering that meat supplies to Hallmark/Westland Meat Company came from many sources and distributors all over the country.

As this developed, food safety inspectors are in a limbo as to how much of the recalled beef went into the various outlets in the domestic markets such as schools and restaurants. Another concern that bothered most of the food inspectors were the laboratory tests that would determine what caused the cattles to become sick.

Federal health officials may be correct to theorize that some of this recalled beef may have ended up at big department stores, despite the quality of meat which is now under question in so far as food safety is concerned.

The beef recall uproar came out after the animal right group had made a video footages on how sickly cattles were being treated at the plant before the cattles were brought to the slaughter house for meat processing.

Meanwhile, the USDA was quoted as saying that only a total of 8.4 million pounds of meat was recovered so far. At this writing, no reports of illnesses contracted out the beef recall have not been established yet. While the controversy is under investigation, the Chino-based slaughterhouse has halted its operations and fired two of its employees who were shown on the video footages.

Gov't agents are used and abused

2008-02-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

Being a public servant is no joke. Apart from having low salaries for rendering service to the public, government employees, including law enforcement agents and the military, are being used and abused by top government officials to retaliate against those who tried to implicate the former for wrong-doings in the government service.

That's the trade-off and any law enforcement agent must be prepared to take the bait. Even if he knows for sure that what he is being assigned to do is against his conscience. Just the same, he would do it for the sake of following orders meant to destroy someblody in retaliation for what he had done against certain public figures. However, not all law enforcement agents are the same. And not all of them follow what they were supposed to do against their will.

As a reporter covering then the Central Police District in Quezon City, I was reminded of a certain agent of the Criminal Investigation Service (CIS) during the time of President Fidel Ramos, who happened to be a part of the law enforcement team dispatched to investigate the dawn massacre of at least 18 members of the dreaded Kuratong Baleleng Gang along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City many years ago.

The suspected perpetrators were agents of the Philippine Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) then headed by Chief Supt. Panfilo Lacson, who later became the overall police chief when Vice President Joseph Estrada became the president.

Of the invesitgating team, he was the only investigator who went against the strong current. He didn't allow himself to be cowed by pressures from peers that what he was doing was contradictory to top police orders. He went for it anyway, despite the threats to his life and family.

The CIS agent revealed to media that when he peeked into the closed van, he found out that the hands of some of the victims were handcuffed at the time of the massacre. Which only showed that the victims were allegedly salvaged as the group cruised in the dark along Commonwealth Avenue at dawn. His revelations made big headlines in the leading newspapers, contradicting the PACC's report that the victims traded shots with the PACC agents during the incident.

The said CIS agent was put under the protective custody of the government as he appeared on public hearings and investigations made by the proper authorities. Later, he was nowhere to be found. But a few years later, when the issue subsided already, the CIS agent and his family were reported to be exiled somewhere in Canada. How did he get there was already beyond the public's knowledge. But it could be that somebody at the top worked out his successful exit, rather than be silenced forever.

Chinese officials ignore Senate hearing on ZTE scandal

2008-02-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

Despite the brouhahas that implicated the name of former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos who allegedly brokered the anomalous multi-million dollar national broadband deal with China, ranking officials of the ZTE Corporation hadn't budged an inch to the calls of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to attend a hearing that would eventually shed more light on the scrapped NBN-ZTE broadband project.

ZTE chair Fu Yong and Chinese embassy commercial attache Fan Yang were invited to testify at a public hearing called by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to no avail. Philippine senators have interpreted the continuous refusal of the Chinese officials as a show of arrogance against weak nations like the Philippines.

Senate minority floor leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the ZTE officials must appear during a formal hearing to be conducted by the respective committees and take advantage of the opportunity to clear the cobwebs that now blur the controversy surrounding the latest revelations made by key witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr., former president of the Philippine Forest Corporation and a government consultant on the NBN-ZTE broadband project.

The senators' concern right now is for the ZTE officials to come forward and tell the public that the broadband project between the Philippines and China is not overpriced. During a public hearing, Lozada revealed that the NBN-ZTE project was allegedly overpriced by as much as US$130 million.

Sharing Pimentel's sentiments, Sen. Richard Gordon also lambasted the ZTE officials for ignoring the invitation for them to appear at the public hearing, saying they should help by showing their financial records to the Senate probers. The senators said the Chinese officials should clarify that no bribed money was offered to high government officials in connection with the ZTE broadband contract.

But prior to his public revelation in the Senate, Lozada went missing for at least 20 hours, after he arrived from a weeklong trip in Hong Kong when plainclothes police security personnel fetched him at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Feb. 5. Then, Lozada was whisked away out into a special exit for airport VIPs and into a waiting vehicle, making his family who was waiting at the arrival area worried because Lozada was nowhere to be found.

Lozada was supposed to be picked up by a waiting security personnel from the Senate who would serve the warrant for his arrest, after Lozada escaped to Hong Kong without attending the Senate public hearing, but their waiting went in vain, too. Then, Lozada's wife sought the help of Senate President Manuel Villar and alerted the media for the missing Lozada.

In retaliation for Lozada's revelations, government agents led by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided Lozada's office at the Philippine Forest Corporation in Taguig City. The raiding team from the NBI Anti-Graft Division, took some important documents with the help of the newly installed officer-in-charge Erwin Krishna Santos, after Lozada resigned his post. Lozada called his replacement as another "judas" who handed the documents for a price.

Meanwhile, Representatives Roilo Golez and Rufus Rodriguez branded the NBI raid as another form of government's harassment and intimidation efforts to get back at the key witness, now under the protective custody of the Senate.

State pension fund officials fatten pockets

2008-02-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

Over the decades, state pension funds running to billions of pesos have been amassed through regular premium deductions taken from the monthly salaries of the millions of lowly public servants. It is an established government policy that eventually capitalized on the hard earnings of civil servants, most of whom are still hankering to live comfortably into retirement. Others who could not stay longer in service may just have to quit and look for other good opportunities somewhere else, while some of them are still strong to engage in another well-paying drudgery.

While millions of civil servants in the local and national government offices labor hard to make a living, employees and officials of the government's two pension fund agencies wallow in convenience and comfort by receiving more that what ordinary public servants get on their monthly salaries, minus deductions. Of these two agencies, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is the only semi-government organization that doesn't follow the standardization of salaries and wages for its employees. As a result, most of its officials and employees are allowed to receive salaries and fat allowances that are much higher than what the national civil servants get.

All these GSIS employees do is to take care of the monthly contributions of the millions of other public servants and invest a big portion of the accumulated funds in securities in the hope of earning good dividends in the future.

What is difficult to understand here is that the pension fund agency has created its own charter whereby salaries of its officials and employees are to be determined by the board. Isn't it unfair that millions of national and local government employees are drawing salaries that are not even enough to make both ends meet, yet the GSIS continues to enjoy the funds at the expense of the hapless government employees.

Until now, there is not a single legislator who has thought of initiating a resolution that will eventually reduce some of the fringe benefits that GSIS employees get. What is worse is that many GSIS members have complained that whenever they apply for a loan, it takes a couple of days, if not weeks, before their application is released. Does it mean that the GSIS is running out of cash? Where did the GSIS put its funds, if only to ignore its obligations to bonafide members? This is a million peso question that needs to be explained by the GSIS management.

Now, there are reports that the pension fund agency is being used as a milking cow by unscrupulous government officials during elections. Members have suspected that the current boss of the GSIS is a protege of the present administration so that it is not remote from possibility that the funds are being diverted for something else other than their official purpose.

Many members are puzzled as to why those who have not even filed their loan applications ended up with obligations with the GSIS. This means that there are insiders who are in cahoots with ghosts loan applicants at the expense of the active members paying for what they have not applied for. For many years, this type of mystery has not been properly addressed. And I doubt if this kind of corruption inside will ever be corrected.

What is happening is that the millions of active members are being fried on their own oil. The same is true with the sad experience of lowly military personnel whose contributions to the RSBS in Camp Aguinaldo are being mishandled by the very officials who run the RSBS funds. Perhaps, this is the appropriate time for millions of local and government employees to lump their acts together and initiate a move that will free them from the long bondage to the GSIS by creating an independent pension fund agency that is not run by vultures and hyenas.

Mass housing programs junked for ZTE project

2008-02-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

Mass housing programs for millions of public servants are not in the priority list of the national government.

This revelation came out after Joey de Venecia, son of the former House Speaker and a key witness in the NBN-ZTE broadband scandal, found out that funding for the government's mass housing projects was scrapped in the original development programs of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and deliberately substituted them with that of the ZTE broadband project.

The younger de Venecia confirmed to media that he has copies of the authenticated documents to prove that NEDA was somehow involved in this divertionary tactics, perhaps, due to pressures from top Malacanang officials.

De Venecia admitted, too, that the documents were sent to him by Malacanang insiders themselves who might have infuriated at the way things are going on under the present administration.

De Venecia today attended the protest rally in Makati City, whereby at least 10,000 protestors have showed up, along with some local and national government officials to show their solidarity with the people.

However, the protestors were disgruntled to hear of the military and the police warnings that the rally would only be until 8:30 p.m. If the protestors go beyond this time limit, the civil disturbance units of the government will force them to disperse.

But some Makati City employees have expressed frustrations over the holding of the protest rally because it caused rerouting of traffic. Many of them have to hike alaong the stretch of Ayala Avenue just to get through EDSA where they could catch with the Metro Rail Transit and other means of transportation.