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 5 months 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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Congress on the dock

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | November 25, 2008 at 10:52 am
Filed under: Congress Watch, Governance, In the News

THE PCIJ recently added another award to its collection, winning the 2007 National Book Award for Journalism for its book “The Rulemakers: How the Wealthy and Well-born Dominate Congress.”

The Rulemakers The recognition from the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board comes at a rather peculiar time though, when Congress is very much under the public lens, particularly over the recent power realignment in the Senate that ousted erstwhile Senate President Manuel Villar, the imminent junking of the fourth impeachment complaint against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by the administration-dominated House of Representatives, and the renewed efforts by pro-Arroyo congressmen to pursue charter change.

Add to these the revelations made by ousted House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. regarding the apparent Malacañang-instigated backroom dealmaking that attended the botched $329-million national broadband network project awarded to ZTE Corporation, and his confirmation of the alleged P500,000-bribe for him to endorse the weak impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Roel Pulido against Arroyo last year.

If only for these, “Rulemakers” should be relevant reading again.

First published in 2004 but re-issued by Anvil Publishing last year in time for the 2007 elections, “Rulemakers” tells the story of the Philippine Congress based on a well-researched examination of the men and women who compose the legislative body.

Written by three former PCIJ senior writers — Sheila Coronel, Yvonne Chua and Luz Rimban — and The Probe Team’s Booma Cruz, the book, as acknowledged in its preface, comes up with “troubling, but hardly new” findings. Our legislators are a select and exclusive segment of society — richer, older, better connected than the rest of us, and belong to families whose members have held public office for two or more generations. In short, they are hardly representative of the citizens they are supposed to represent.

Yet these are facts, by and large ignored, that help explain why our legislators more often behave the way they do, with the public’s interest figuring the least — if at all, token at best — in their priorities. “Rulemakers” is replete with examples of how they have used their powers — to make laws, to conduct legislative inquiries, to examine the national budget, and to vet presidential appointments — to get benefits not only for themselves but for their allies and family members.

Of late, impeachment proceedings have also apparently joined the list of sources from which congressmen could further enrich themselves. Last year, scandal broke out over “cash gifts” amounting to P500,000 each allegedly given to local officials and congressmen called to a meeting in Malacañang on October 11, 2007. This was in the midst of another impeachment complaint, which has become an annual affair for Arroyo since 2005.

What de Venecia told the House justice committee yesterday about the bribery is indeed “old news,” as his pro-Arroyo colleagues have been wont to dismiss. Over a year ago, Governors Ed Panlilio (Pampanga) and Joselito Mendoza (Bulacan), and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. already disclosed to the public that they either received or were offered the “cash gifts” themselves.

But the “gift-giving” is also old news in the sense that, as one might recall, the junking of the first impeachment case against Arroyo had patronage written all over it, attended as it was by reports of fund releases to congressmen, appointments of members of their families and relatives to government positions, promises of projects and other favors.

One such glaring instance involved Arroyo’s issuance of P15 million in postdated checks from the President’s Social Fund to support the scholarship program of then Zambales Rep. Antonio Magsaysay Diaz. At the time, the House justice committee was still tackling the impeachment complaint. Diaz eventually voted to junk the complaint.

Yet none seems probably more blatant in our legislators’ desire to further entrench themselves in power than the vigorous push for amendments to the 1987 Constitution, one that is more than likely to introduce term extension for the current beleaguered and discredited dispensation. No less than Arroyo’s congressman son, Juan Miguel ‘Mikey’ Arroyo, is in the thick of things to solicit signatures for a resolution calling for the convening of Congress into a constituent assembly to discuss charter change.

At this stage, it is no longer a question of whether the needed number of signatures — a three-fourths majority — will be reached or not. After all, at the House, so much more than the Senate, the organizing principle of legislative life is the struggle for spoils. So long as there is something that legislators can wangle for themselves, it’s more or less assuredly in the bag (pun intended). And Malacañang, as the main dispenser of patronage, knows this only too well.

To further illustrate, here’s an excerpt from Rulemakers on “Dividing the Spoils”:

The old way of doing things remains very strong in Congress. For the longest time, the tradition of spoils, of horsetrading and dealmaking, has disabled the legislature and made it an effective tool for delivering patronage but a disaster in terms of catalyzing reforms and bringing about development.

This is not to say that the legislature is incapable of enacting reformist laws. In the past, progressive legislation was made possible because there was a strong constituency outside Congress agitating for change and a committed leadership within the body pushed for the reforms. Strong presidents with a clear legislative agenda and able to exercise initiative in the lawmaking also made a difference.

For the most part, however, lawmaking has been ad hoc and incoherent. The horizons of legislators are narrow, their interests, short-term, and their attention spans, even shorter. The struggle for spoils remains the organizing principle in Congress, the reason, it would seem, for its existence.

Moreover, Congress is hostage to the president who is the source of many of the perks of power. In a system that is built around patronage, the president is the supreme patron. Malacañang itself is the main source of laws. In the post-Marcos era, 40 to 60 percent of the approved legislation originated from the presidential palace. Presidents have used their roles as custodian of the spoils to win the cooperation of Congress, which is pulled in so many directions that is has become extremely difficult for either the president or the legislative leadership to pull it togetehr as a cohesive body.

The conflicting demands from various social sectors — including big business, the military, political families, organized religion, and social movements — are reflected in the post-Marcos Congress, which has become more factionalized and differentiated than its predecessor in the postwar era. In the end, the one thing most lawmakers have in common is a desire for their share of the patronage pie.

“Most legislators see public service as auxiliary to power consolidation,” says a second-generation representative. “It’s hard to say that the institution ot that the majority in the institution are genuinely caring about where this country is headed. For the most part, it is short-term and myopic.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 and is filed under Congress Watch, 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.