OFFBEAT MAIL

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 pro...

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 ...

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 ...

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 mos...

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 insi...

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 pe...

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 . Anot...