Archive for the ‘Government’ Category

There are many ways to try and talk with President Noynoy Aquino's supporters. Unfortunately, none of them works. They are so caught up with their own narrow view of what is good and evil that they cannot see beyond their flawed reasoning. While most of us already knew from the beginning that it was ... Full story

In the aftermath of the tragedy that claimed the lives of 8 innocent foreign tourists who made the one mistake of ignoring their friends’ advice that the Philippines is not a safe country (as is the usual refrain in Hong Kong and everywhere outside of the Philippines) and generously came over to spend their vacation money to contribute to the economy of a country known ... Full story

Filipinos have been mounting a bit of an inward reflection and soul-searching in the face of overwhelming shame brought about by the appallingly incompetent handling of the August 23 Mendoza hostage incident that resulted in the unnecessary deaths of eight foreign tourists. Something interesting was dug up by the mostly half-witted efforts in this exercise taken by some Philippine apologists and triumphalists -- the ... Full story

On Aug. 23, Rolando Mendoza, a former senior police inspector with the Manila police department, boarded a tourist bus in downtown Manila and took control of the vehicle, holding the 25 occupants (tourists from Hong Kong and their Philippine guides) hostage. Mendoza, who was dressed in his police inspector’s uniform, was armed with an M16-type rifle and at least one handgun.... Full story

Most of us knew it was just a matter of time. As predicted in my previous blog, President Noynoy Aquino's high popularity rating at the beginning of his term only had one way to go and that was down. What I never expected was for P.Noy's fall from grace to be as quick and catastrophic as this one, and to be witnessed by ... Full story

The recent Manila bus siege gave President Noynoy Aquino another opportunity to exhibit one of the two things he does best, which is to do nothing. As the tragedy of the hostage situation was unfolding, shocked and curious Filipinos were wondering where P.Noy was and what he was doing the entire time. Until now, I have never seen his Facebook fan page ... Full story

The Whole World just witnessed "World Class" Filipino Policemen and Media Practitioners botch a hostage taking crisis in the Failippines, ending up with 8 innocent hostages dead, as well as a Tourism Industry that will be avoided like the plague for years to come. No tourist in his right mind is going to want to visit the Failippines. ... Full story

For a country that has bore the brunt of natural disasters and man-made disasters, economic malaise, a chronic insurgency, migration of professionals, dysfunctional government, human rights violations, sex scandals, botox for teens - the recent hostage taking was supposed to be just another day in these darn crazy islands. However - it isn't. With foreign citizens - tourists and China involved - Aquino better ... Full story

They control electricity, they control water, they control telecommunications - and more recently - they now control roads - that's what you get for privatizing without liberalization - monopolies and vested interests in bed with government. Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), formerly First Philippine Infrastructure, Inc (FPII), is a Philippines-based holding company. The Company acts as a holding company for the shares of Benpres Holdings ... Full story

Since the people have spoken last May 10, 2010, an Aquino presidency became a reality. Needless to say, despite the glaring incompetence of the current president back in his legislative years as a senator and congressman, people ignored them since they are comfortable with the kind of thinking that P.Noy’s purpose is to unite the Filipinos -- whatever that means.... Full story

ALL OF A SUDDEN, the method of the moronism reveals its purpose. I think that originally, most of us were assuming that Noynoy Aquino was just stupid. Any casual observer could be forgiven for forming that impression from the manifold evidence of his inability to formulate a coherent platform, speak intelligently on any issue during the campaign, and the amateurish and constant gaffes in the ... Full story

A group of law school academics from the University of the Philippines published a position paper containing its opinion on the alledged plagiarism committed by a supreme court justice. The magistrate is alleged to have plagiarized certain portions of a published wok by someone else in writing the "ponencia", i.e. controlling opinion, in the case of some Filipino "comfort women" during the second ... Full story

What's up with President Noynoy Aquino doing his speeches in Tagalog? Does he want to get more "likes" on his Facebook fan page or something? This is a country where people use multiple dialects and languages and where foreign correspondents and dignitaries are present during events such as the Presidential Inauguration and the State of the Nation Address (SONA). It makes more sense for the ... Full story

Justice delayed is justice denied, assuming you do get justice - specially with Hacienda Luisita. The progress of cases through the Philippine injustice system is counted in decades - glacial on the average. Unless of course someone is accused of collusion by the World Bank - then you have the entire Congress absolving everyone in less than a week. But if it's a peasant - ... Full story

The recent "compromise agreement" is another fry-in-your-own-lard deal being promoted by paid hacks as a "breakthrough deal". But who really is benefitting from the breakthrough? Definitely, not the farmers who are getting another bum deal. This is the sort of news that just enrages thinking people's sense of decency. HLI represents the hypocrisy, the phoniness, and the corruption of the Aquino administration. A ... Full story

Can we handle the truth? It's not a rhetorical question considering our penchant to steer away from the uncomfortable and the "nakakahiya". The debate on whether Aquino should create one or not becomes moot and academic as P.Noy has already issued the EO creating the Truth Commission. (Updated 8:15 p.m.) ... Full story

Why is President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III smiling less nowadays? Perhaps it is because reality is starting to hit him -- the reality of the future and the reality that he, the President of the Philippines, is surrounded by morons. The problem with small moronic minds is that the people these inhabit lack a fundamental ability to take an imaginative step out of the ... Full story

"He can win an election but can he run a country?" Rick Ramos of the Inquirer asks a question that once upon a time was asked about Nelson Mandela. This is a question that supporters of Gordon, Teodoro, and Perlas asked BEFORE the elections. This same question is being asked by an Aquino supporter AFTER the elections. The former was PROACTIVE.  The latter was just ... Full story

When does the "honeymoon period" start? Is it after the candidate wins the elections? Or is it after he assumes office? Does it really matter whether you start early or late if you are headed for the cliff? Both ways that floor will still rush towards you at 9.8 m/sec2. People will have differing opinions. But one thing they can't differ about - are the facts. ... Full story

Yes, Noynoy, great job! Thanks to you, everything is proceeding according to my Simounistic prediction. If you recall, I had predicted last May that your winning the 2010 elections will pave the way for the rise of Bongbong Marcos to become president in 2016, and it is obvious right now ... Full story

P-Noy Aquino getting flack for the SONA wasn't a surprise. His getting elected wasn't a surprise. P. Noy's gaffes aren't a surprise. Lacierda's incompetence is not a surprise. The communication group's "Cabinet rank" is not a surprise. The policy pronouncements about "public-private cooperation" is not a suprise. Everything that P'Noy Aquino has done so far is not surprising.... Full story

So President Noynoy Aquino is popular. Okay, already. Frankly, his minions in the Inquirer.net are over-praising him for just being popular with the public and rating highly in a trust "survey". There are even newspaper columnists who give P.Noy too much credit on things he hasn't accomplished yet -- even without laying any kind of concrete plan of action for the future. They say ... Full story

The Inquirer.net Editor has gone on a defensive strike against "so-called pundits" critical of President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III's 26th July State of the Nation Address (SONA). The Op-Ed piece came across to me as no more than a long-winded admonishment of how so much of what was in the SONA that could be "chew on" even by "non-fans" was left unappreciated.... Full story

Speculation is rife that the contestants in the reality show The Biggest Loser drink lots of fluids before the official weigh-in. This is so that they will weigh a lot heavier in the beginning of the show and consequently appear to have lost a lot of kilos dramatically at the succeeding or final weigh-in. In a show that manages to win audiences based on ... Full story

After reading an English-translated transcript of President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III's recent State of the Nation Address (SONA), it started to bug me that there was no easy way to verify the true financial position of the Government on the basis of what P.Noy said in his speech until this question is answered: What exactly is meant by a "depleted" national budget?... Full story

By my reckoning (on the basis of its English translation), President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III devoted 1,558 words out of the 4,055 words in his 35-minute State of the Nation Address (SONA) to whining about the plunder of the National Budget (whatever that means exactly) and the salaries and bonuses of some Government employees. That's 38.4 percent of his speech devoted to what was ... Full story

Misguided economic policy is a sure-fire way to ruin - nationally or individually. It gets worse when we are putting more efforts on wangwang, being on time for work, being present at work, pissing off our foreign donors through sheer ignorance of the parliamentary system, and witch-hunting - than addressing the heart and soul of our economic woes.... Full story

Boo hoo hoo. The national budget is depleted and the new President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III, as it turns out, is no "superman". For the Average Filipino Schmoe who latched on to the promise of the "magic" of an Aragorn-led mighty army of righteousness galloping in to rescue him from his wretchedness, the road ahead leads back to Square One. And the only thing ... Full story

How do we learn from the past? How do we use those learnings to improve our lives. An excellent example is the work of the ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu's - "The Art of War". By learning from the experiences of the various kingdoms and validating this in real life, Sun Tzu was able to accumulate a body of knowledge which remains relevant today.... Full story

President Noynoy Aquino will be giving his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) soon. If his army of speechwriters will have their way, his speech will be all about giving people "hope". Hopefully, it will not be full of motherhood statements similar to his election platform and inauguration speech. Heaven forbid that Conrado de Quiros have his way in writing it lest ... Full story

Just before I published my recent essay that related the soccer versus basketball issue to the presidential versus parliamentary debate, a few statements made by Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan which appeared in the July 3, 2010 Manila Standard caught my attention, and I quote the Manila Standard article as follows: “Personally, I ... Full story

Even before President Benigno Aquino III was elected president, doubts have been expressed by this writer whether Mr. Aquino had full grasp of the powers and privileges of presidency and the limitations thereon. The Constitution spells out the powers, duties and privileges of the presidency, and through schematic allocation of governmental prerogatives to three separate, co-equal and inter-dependent branches, sets limits to their exercise. In ... Full story

Nepotism has its pros and cons. What happens if a family just happens to be talented? Where do we draw the line? The pros are that having the right name is like a premium brand - and is expected to deliver superior service. On the downside - anti-corruption and nepotism/cronyism/favoritism do not mix. What is Nepotism First let us ... Full story

Is it being "destructive" to publish a litany of the gaffes that have come to collectively characterise the administration of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III? Some people dismiss such an exercise as "nitpicking" and exhort the "offending" parties to take a more "positive" perspective, while others preach the virtues of dismissing these call-outs as nothing more than noise dished out by "hecklers" and ... Full story

This post continues after the first episode that came out a week after May 10, 2010. It will now be nearly three weeks after Pres Noynoy Aquino  formally took office. Prior to that it is presumed that a transition plan was being executed.  At the rate things are turning out - it seems that there wasn't even one from the start.... Full story

Noynoy Aquino's recent decision to retain the pork barrel is regrettable. It calls into question Aquino's sincerity to stay on track with his anti-corruption rhetoric. Keeping one's hands off the pork barrel does not mean the horse-trading and corruption that occurs in the process is terminated. The INQUIRER headline attempts to paint a picture that if the President keeps his hands off the pork ... Full story

How can you tell if someone is really humble? They say that someone humble is someone who is modest, reverent, and politely submissive. A humble person is someone who is never arrogant, contemptuous, rude or even self-abasing. In my not-so-humble opinion, I don't really believe that President Noynoy Aquino is humble. He is so self-aware about the level ... Full story

Have you ever watched the "Untouchables?" You should. It provides a textbook case of sleuthing, pain-staking gathering of evidence, and building an air-tight case. The experience of the US' Alcohol Prohibition era also shows how unenforceable laws cause corruption. Jueteng has come to the headlines again. Illegal gambling has become a favorite whipping boy of politicians who are out to score brownie points. But I ... Full story

In the latest mind-numbing sequel to this train wreck of an "anti-corruption campaign, Aquino applies the tricks picked up from the media training. Thus, instead of asking the Ombudsman to resign, Aquino's idiot squad is making the rounds rallying more idiots make the call for the Ombudsman's resignation on their behalf. Trial by Publicity Makes a ... Full story

A July 8, 2010 article filed by Roderick dela Cruz in the Manila Standard shows that the Philippines is among the "world’s most restrictive countries in allowing foreign capital into the economy". You can go through each item in the Constitution and the FINL and read it with a critical mind with the intention of identifying protectionism and how it affects our daily lives. Full story

At the time of this writing, millions of people around the world are obsessing about the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the noise of the annoying Vuvuzela horn. From every continent, people speaking almost every language, coming from practically every race, creed, and color are excitedly watching the game called “Association ... Full story

Word has it that when Noynoy Aquino was still a candidate, there was a group in his billionaire-backed campaign team that was assigned to handle international media relations. As a result, Aquino received positive coverage. That makes these two articles published by the Asian Wall Street Journal during Aquino's first two days in office all the more interesting to read. Full story

I've had it with listening to all this "walang mahirap kung walang corrupt" yarn. Allow me to explain in five steps with the aid of visuals why Noynoy Aquino, his team, and his supporters are wrong on corruption. I will cut to the chase and keep it simple. You be the judge as to who really, is making sense. ... Full story