vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

Latest Message 3 months, 4 weeks ago

hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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Hunger, poverty figures the President chose to ignore

Posted by: Avigail Olarte | July 28, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Filed under: Governance, In the News

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today exuded confidence in announcing in her state of the nation address that she has addressed the incidence of hunger, even noting how “unfriendly polls” have registered low self-rated poverty figures.

Arroyo, however, chose to emphasize portions of the poverty surveys that she could use, choosing to quote results that are no longer current.

On the issue of self-rated poverty, for instance, Social Weather Stations surveys did show that self-rated poverty is down to its 20-year low in 2007. In a self-poverty rating, SWS asked household heads “to point to where they belong on a card with the words “poor” on one side, “not poor” on the opposite side, and a line in between.”

But what is missing is the fact that figures have declined as families lowered their living standards, that is, belt-tightening in order not to be considered poor. In fact, SWS reported that this is the reason why there is a declining poverty threshold, despite the rising cost of living.

In Metro Manila, for example, the median poverty threshold was recorded at P9,000 in the mid-year 2007 survey, even though it had reached P15,000 many times before. SWS reported that this monthly median poverty threshold is equivalent to only P6,259 in base year 2000’s purchasing power. According to the survey, the last time that the National Capital Region recorded a deflated poverty threshold below P7,000 was 20 years ago, in 1987.

The president, in her 2008 SONA Technical Report, also boasted of addressing hunger incidence.

In her report, which she based on the SWS 2008 first quarter survey, the “national hunger incidence declined by 0.7 percentage points from 16.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 15.7 percent in the first quarter of 2008.”

Arroyo also highlighted the decline in hunger incidence recorded in all regions — three percentage points in Metro Manila, two percentage points in both Visayas and Mindanao.

Her report even mentioned that the “positive development may be attributed to the government’s resolute pursuit of its Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program,” which was designed to increase food production and improve distribution. “Under these supply-demand strategies are specific programs that the government is currently implementing not only to address hunger but to ensure food security as well.”

But what Arroyo failed to mention was that the decline was slight, or equivalent to 2.8 million families.

And that while the numbers were down, they were still four points above the 12.0 average percentage of hunger in 40 quarterly SWS surveys from mid-1998 to the present.

In specific areas, like in Metro Manila, hunger fell by three points (19 percent to 15.7 percent) but which was still five points above the nine-year average of 11.6 percent, according to SWS. It was the same in Mindanao, where the decline — from 20.3 percent to 18 percent — was still four points above the nine-year average of 14.1 percent.

Arroyo also did not mention in her SONA technical report the results of the 2008 second quarter survey, where hunger rose to 16.3 percent — or four points above the 10-year average hunger rate of 12.1 percent — and severe hunger to 4.2 percent.

Severe hunger, or those who experience it “often” or “always” in the last three months, was experienced by some 760,000 families, up from 3.2 percent or only 570,000 families.

And while moderate hunger, or those who went hungry “only once” or “a few times,” declined slightly (12.5 percent in March to 12.1 percent in June), the figure is still four points above the nine-year average of 8.8 percent.

In fact, SWS reported that “both Severe Hunger and Moderate Hunger are now higher in Metro Manila than in other areas.” In both Visayas and Mindanao, severe hunger likewise increased.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 and is filed under Governance, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Critique on PGMA’s 2008 Sona

The acknowledgment given by no less than the President of the Republic of the Philippines to at least a dozen ordinary Filipinos on the occasion of her State of the Nation Address did justice to the newly-refurbished Congress by the new Speaker courtesy of taxpayers’ money. The one-day affair costs a P100 million after many years of neglect of a historical edifice that ought to be preserved and maintained.

On the viewing screen, at least, it serves as therapy that we don’t have to see a clapping Speaker as much as an equally patronizing Senate President. Fact is, Villar practically did not have to clap his hands that must have made it inhibitive for Nograles to have to overdo any indicative patronage act. Coming as 8th in a row of Sonas, this is probably the lousiest sona ever delivered lacking as it does in its climactic effect.

As reported, the sona has gone through 20 drafts to have been finalized on the wee hours of the morning. Paradoxically, right after the speech, headlines say that there was actually nothing in a P50 cents reduction in text messages. This has given PGMA away or whoever wrote that sona? Where it reads, the piece must have been written by a not-too-above-average person of influence. Fact is, it was almost unpresidential.

What has a sona got to do with the personal circumstances of the likes of Federico Alvarez – a jeepney driver; Rodney Berdin – 13 year-old boy; Edwin Bandila – a rice farmer; Rosario Camma – chieftain and mayor (in tribal attire); Jessica Barlomento, Shenve Catana, Mary Grace Comendador, Marlyn Tusi – all welders of Hanjin (a private firm); Victoria Mindoro – a farmer and factory worker; Pedro and Concordia Faviolas – rubber farmers; Justice Vitug and Francis Lim – of Texas Instruments and Philippine Stock Exchange, respectively; Allan Amanse – a fisherman turned whaleshark watching officer; and Joey Concepcion – a partner entrepreneur?

The story line seems to generalize from very individual instances of deceptive successes by particular individuals and necessarily, it is grossly violative of logic as we normally understand. We simply cannot generalize from limited particulars – in this case, singular instances or specimens. Its residual media value is of course of some help perhaps to launch that self-confessed admission of PGMA to spend her time daily with the underprivileged. But this piece of PR utterly lacks that modicum of honesty that makes advertising a good one.

There isn’t really much of a corpus of data that will make it hard for the average layman to understand from PGMA’s speech. There is no linguistic barrier as would otherwise make it difficult for readers to get the gist of what the PGMA has to say she has accomplished and will continue to accomplish. In other words, the sona is couched in near layman terms.

PGMA turned the oil price issue as a convenient scapegoat for the shortcomings of government in fiscal matters and braggingly enough, claims the government has all the money to cushion off the impact of oil price spikes.

Cunningly, PGMA defended her VAT policy dismissing as she did that opinion polls made her look unpopular. In her exhaustive enumeration of the amounts of money taken from VAT for various programs of government, it becomes crystal clear that without VAT, her administration has long succumbed to death. It further became clear that Malacanang always allocates from P.5 billion to P4 billion for every program it envisions to undertake. For instance, PGMA allocated P3 billion for anti-graft fund, can you believe it?

It ought to challenge reflection the uncharacteristic pride PGMA exhibits in her mention that Land Bank has quadrupled loans for farmers and fisherfolks; that Pag-Ibig loans have increased from P3.8 billion to P22.6 billion; that SSS as it is with GSIS has increased salary loans benefits to employees since 2001; or that PhilHealth has paid P100 billion for hospitalization (fact or fiction?).

In the end, there is nothing to be thankful of about programs being implemented by this government. Managing corporate RP has become a profitable business in governance that even government banks have become loan sharks to – fool the people, buy the people, off the people. See you in the 9th.

PRIMER C. PAGUNURAN
UP Diliman, Quezon City Email: nielsky_2003@yahoo.com Cellphone: 09164985265