Katarungang Pambarangay
The “Katarungang Pambarangay” or the barangay justice system is governed by Sections 399 to 422 of the Local Government Code. It has helped lessen the burden of our courts by settling at the barangay level conflicts and disputes between residents of the same barangay. Please take note of these issues regarding barangay justice:
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Where is corruption most prevalent?
At a first, indiscriminate glance, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published annually by TI, seems to confirm the stereotypical notion that corruption is predominantly a problem of the South. While the Scandinavian countries come out on top, most of sub-Saharan Africa ranks at the bottom. It would not only be wrong to conclude, however, that - according to the CPI 2008 - Somalia and Myanmar are the most corrupt countries in the world; it would also be counterproductive. The index is not intended to brand any one country or territory, or to pit the North against the South. Rather, it is a tool to raise public awareness of the problem and promote better governance. Corruption is as much a problem of the North as it is of the South. Recent scandals in Germany, France, Japan, the US or the UK attest to that. It is well-established checks and controls that make the difference in proportion. People are as corrupt as the system allows them to be. It is where temptation meets permissiveness that corruption takes root on a wide scale. Such an environment is more likely in the emerging democracies of the South and East. There, administration and political institutions are still weak and pay scales are generally very low, tempting officials to "supplement" their income. In dictatorial systems, meanwhile, administrative and political institutions are nothing but an extension of the usurper's corrupt practices.
The North also carries part of the responsibility for the situation in the South due to its role as the bribe-payer. After all, it is largely Northern corporate interests that supply the bribe payments. Until recently, governments of the North not only tolerated these corrupt practices, but they even rewarded them with tax deductibility. Fortunately, the 1999 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention has made the bribing of foreign officials a criminal offence. TI has addressed this aspect with its Bribe Payers Index (BPI), the logical complement to the CPI. In addition to the question of the regional pervasiveness of corruption, the issue of corruption by sector is often raised. The BPI provides statistical evidence as to which business sectors are most prone to corruption. According to these results, the problem of corruption is particularly prevalent in public works and construction, followed by the arms and defence industry. The sector with the least detected corruption was agriculture.
The North also carries part of the responsibility for the situation in the South due to its role as the bribe-payer. After all, it is largely Northern corporate interests that supply the bribe payments. Until recently, governments of the North not only tolerated these corrupt practices, but they even rewarded them with tax deductibility. Fortunately, the 1999 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention has made the bribing of foreign officials a criminal offence. TI has addressed this aspect with its Bribe Payers Index (BPI), the logical complement to the CPI. In addition to the question of the regional pervasiveness of corruption, the issue of corruption by sector is often raised. The BPI provides statistical evidence as to which business sectors are most prone to corruption. According to these results, the problem of corruption is particularly prevalent in public works and construction, followed by the arms and defence industry. The sector with the least detected corruption was agriculture.
What are the costs of corruption?
The cost of corruption is four-fold: political, economic, social, and environmental. On the political front, corruption constitutes a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. In a democratic system, offices and institutions lose their legitimacy when they are misused for private advantage. Though this is harmful in the established democracies, it is even more so in newly emerging ones. Accountable political leadership can not develop in a corrupt climate. Economically, corruption leads to the depletion of national wealth. It is often responsible for the funnelling of scarce public resources to uneconomic high-profile projects, such as dams, power plants, pipelines and refineries, at the expense of less spectacular but fundamental infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and roads, or the supply of power and water to rural areas. Furthermore, it hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition, thereby deterring investment. The effect of corruption on the social fabric of society is the most damaging of all. It undermines people's trust in the political system, in its institutions and its leadership. Frustration and general apathy among a disillusioned public result in a weak civil society. That in turn clears the way for despots as well as democratically elected yet unscrupulous leaders to turn national assets into personal wealth. Demanding and paying bribes become the norm. Those unwilling to comply often emigrate, leaving the country drained of its most able and most honest citizens. Environmental degradation is yet another consequence of corrupt systems. The lack of, or non-enforcement of, environmental regulations and legislation has historically allowed the North to export its polluting industry to the South. At the same time, careless exploitation of natural resources, from timber and minerals to elephants, by both domestic and international agents has led to ravaged natural environments. Environmentally devastating projects are given preference in funding, because they are easy targets for siphoning off public money into private pockets.
How do you define corruption?
Transparency International (TI) has chosen a clear and focused definition of the term: Corruption is operationally defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. TI further differentiates between "according to rule" corruption and "against the rule" corruption. Facilitation payments, where a bribe is paid to receive preferential treatment for something that the bribe receiver is required to do by law, constitute the former. The latter, on the other hand, is a bribe paid to obtain services the bribe receiver is prohibited from providing.
What is "transparency"?
"Transparency" can be defined as a principle that allows those affected by administrative decisions, business transactions or charitable work to know not only the basic facts and figures but also the mechanisms and processes. It is the duty of civil servants, managers and trustees to act visibly, predictably and understandably.
Friday, November 19, 2010
EDITORIAL
Making monsters
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11/19/2010
It became clear in the traumatic aftermath of the gruesome massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, a year ago: the rule of violence that was associated with the Ampatuan family in the province could not have been possible without sins of omission or commission of the Arroyo administration. A report prepared by the New York-based Human Rights Watch and issued this week is a useful and sobering reminder of that fundamental but often-fudged fact.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11/19/2010
It became clear in the traumatic aftermath of the gruesome massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, a year ago: the rule of violence that was associated with the Ampatuan family in the province could not have been possible without sins of omission or commission of the Arroyo administration. A report prepared by the New York-based Human Rights Watch and issued this week is a useful and sobering reminder of that fundamental but often-fudged fact.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
THE STATE OF THE NATION (Part 1)
A Situationer: Perfecto Yasay Jr.
Sometime last August, I found myself between two friends doing a post mortem of the results of the presidential elections over a cup of coffee. “What is wrong with our country?” asked the fellow on my left. Without batting an eyelash the friend on my right sarcastically replied: “Everything is terribly wrong with the Philippines today!”
THE STATE OF THE NATION (Part 2)
Purpose of the Separation of Church and State by: Perpecto Yasay
Before I share with you my views about the critical issues that beset the nation, let me briefly clarify the concept of the “separation of Church and State” so that we may have an idea of how we can carry out our prophetic mission, distinctly and separately from what government must do in the performance of its responsibilities, and also identify areas where mutual cooperation can be pursued towards the easing of our difficulties without one hampering, preventing or undermining the efforts of the other.
THE STATE OF THE NATION (Part 3)
Poverty as a Fundamental Pressing Problem
by: Perpecto Yasay
I believe that the fundamental and critical problem that plagues the country is poverty. I say fundamental because once we have eradicated the principal causes of poverty we would have removed the formidable impediment to our development and progress, paving the way to improving the quality of life of our people, strengthening their hope and confidence in the future, and nurturing and unleashing their potentials for nation building. Critical because, unless we are able to eradicate the causes of our poverty, the continued sufferings and uneasiness of our people can further fan the flames of violence leading to the dismemberment and demise of our Republic as we know it.
I believe that the fundamental and critical problem that plagues the country is poverty. I say fundamental because once we have eradicated the principal causes of poverty we would have removed the formidable impediment to our development and progress, paving the way to improving the quality of life of our people, strengthening their hope and confidence in the future, and nurturing and unleashing their potentials for nation building. Critical because, unless we are able to eradicate the causes of our poverty, the continued sufferings and uneasiness of our people can further fan the flames of violence leading to the dismemberment and demise of our Republic as we know it.
THE STATE OF THE NATION (Part 4)
by:Perpecto Yasay
The Causes of Poverty
We all know that our land is profuse with natural resources. A good number of our country’s tycoons and privileged families figure as among the wealthiest in the world, but we have not been able to harness this richness or curtail the growing poverty among our people mainly because of serious inequitable distribution or sharing of the nation’s income, wealth and resources; incessant conflicts, high population growth rate and systemic corruption.
THE STATE OF THE NATION (Part 5)
by: Perpecto Yasay
Unrestrained Corruption
Corruption, which should be defined as the use of public resources and/or public power for personal benefit is evidently one of the main governance issues that contribute to the growing poverty of our people.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
|Activism is not a crime!|
Greenpeace Philippines
Activism is not a crime!
Activism is not a crime!
Greenpeace has condemned as disproportionate and unjust a one year jail term, suspended for three years, imposed on two Greenpeace activists, who exposed widespread corruption in the Japanese government’s Southern Ocean whaling program.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
APEC is for America
Why is APEC important for America?
Washington DC, United States, 29 March 2010 - APEC Senior Official, Kurt Tong discusses APEC and priorities for 2011, when APEC will be hosted by the United States:
Washington DC, United States, 29 March 2010 - APEC Senior Official, Kurt Tong discusses APEC and priorities for 2011, when APEC will be hosted by the United States:
[QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TO APEC]
What is APEC?
APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. It is an organisation of economies in the Asia-Pacific region formed to foster economic cooperation and trade among them with a view of enhancing international trade. Its members work together to reduce trade barrier, open investment opportunities, ease the exchange of goods, services, resources and technical know-how, and strengthen economic and technical cooperation among them.
APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. It is an organisation of economies in the Asia-Pacific region formed to foster economic cooperation and trade among them with a view of enhancing international trade. Its members work together to reduce trade barrier, open investment opportunities, ease the exchange of goods, services, resources and technical know-how, and strengthen economic and technical cooperation among them.
[APEC Leaders' Declaration]
APEC LEADERS ECONOMIC VISION STATEMENT
Blake Island, Seattle
20 November, 1993
20 November, 1993
Our meeting reflects the emergence of a new voice for the Asia Pacific in world affairs. As we prepare to enter the twenty-first century, we believe our dynamic region, representing forty percent of the world's population and fifty percent of its GNP, will play an important role in the global economy, leading the way in economic growth and trade expansion.
The foundation of our economic growth has been the open multilateral trading system. Therefore, we pledge our utmost efforts to bring the Uruguay Round to a successful conclusion by December 15. We are determined the Asia Pacific region will lead the way in taking concrete steps to produce the strongest possible outcome in Geneva. Increased participation by APEC economies in a strengthened GATT system also will facilitate greater regional cooperation.
Our success has been the result of the ability of our societies to adapt to changing circumstances. Our economies are moving toward interdependence and there is a growing sense of community among us. We are united in our commitment to create a stable and prosperous future for our people.
Recognizing our economic interdependence as well as our economic diversity, we envision a community of Asia Pacific economies in which:
The spirit of openness and partnership deepens, enabling us to find cooperative solutions to the challenges of our rapidly changing regional and global economy;
We are a vast Asia Pacific market of two billion people where dynamic economic growth continues, contributing to an expanding world economy and supporting an open international trading system;
We continue to reduce trade and investment barriers so that our trade expands within the region and with the world and goods, services, capital and investment flow freely among our economies;
Our people share the benefits of economic growth through higher incomes, high skilled and high paying jobs and increased mobility;
Improved education and training produce rising literacy rates, provide the skills for maintaining economic growth and encourage the sharing of ideas that contribute to the arts and sciences;
Advances in telecommunications and transportation shrink time and distance barriers in our region and link our economies so that goods and people move quickly and efficiently;
Our environment is improved as we protect the quality of our air, water and green spaces and manage our energy sources and renewable resources to ensure sustainable growth and provide a more secure future for our people.
We recognize this vision will become a reality only if we work together actively to secure it. We are convinced we can succeed. We intend to use our shared vision as a guide for developing the future of our region.
We reaffirm our support for the continued development of APEC as a forum dedicated to producing tangible economic benefits to the region. We urge APEC to expand its economic dialogue and advance its specific work projects. The entrepreneurial spirit and market-oriented policies that have driven our economic dynamism will continue to be fostered within APEC.
We welcome the challenge presented to us in the report of the APEC Eminent Persons Group to achieve free trade in the Asia Pacific, advance global trade liberalization and launch concrete programs to move us toward those long-term goals. We ask APEC to undertake work aimed at deepening and broadening the outcome of the Uruguay Round, strengthening trade and investment liberalization in the region, and facilitating regional cooperation, including in such areas as standards.
We agree to convene a meeting of APEC Finance Ministers to consult on broad economic issues including macroeconomic developments and capital flows. We believe such discussions will help us address some of the challenges facing the region, including ensuring non-inflationary regional growth, financing investment and infrastructure development, and promoting capital market development.
We ask business leaders to establish a Pacific Business Forum to identify issues APEC should address to facilitate regional trade and investment and encourage the further development of business networks throughout the region. We also ask APEC to strengthen its policy dialogue on small and medium size business enterprises.
We agree to make an investment in our future generations by establishing an APEC Education Program to develop regional cooperation in higher education, study key regional economic issues, improve worker skills, facilitate cultural and intellectual exchanges, enhance labor mobility and foster understanding of the diversity of our region. We agree to establish an APEC Business Volunteer Program to promote cooperation among us in the areas of human resource development and the exchange of management skills and techniques.
As members of APEC, we are committed to deepening our spirit of community based on our shared vision of achieving stability, security and prosperity for our peoples.
[What is ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC)?]
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region .
APEC is the only inter governmental grouping in the world operating on the basis of non-binding commitments, open dialogue and equal respect for the views of all participants. Unlike the WTO or other multilateral trade bodies, APEC has no treaty obligations required of its participants. Decisions made within APEC are reached by consensus and commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis.
APEC has 21 members - referred to as "Member Economies" - which account for approximately 40.5%1 of the world's population, approximately 54.2%1 of world GDP and about 43.7%2 of world trade.
APEC's 21 Member Economies are Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; Viet Nam.
Purpose and Goals
APEC was established in 1989 to further enhance economic growth and prosperity for the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community.
Since its inception, APEC has worked to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers across the Asia-Pacific region, creating efficient domestic economies and dramatically increasing exports. Key to achieving APEC's vision are what are referred to as the 'Bogor Goals' of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialised economies and 2020 for developing economies. These goals were adopted by Leaders at their 1994 meeting in Bogor, Indonesia.
Learn more about the Bogor Goals in the 1994 Leaders' Declaration.
Free and open trade and investment helps economies to grow, creates jobs and provides greater opportunities for international trade and investment. In contrast, protectionism keeps prices high and fosters inefficiencies in certain industries. Free and open trade helps to lower the costs of production and thus reduces the prices of goods and services - a direct benefit to all.
APEC also works to create an environment for the safe and efficient movement of goods, services and people across borders in the region through policy alignment and economic and technical cooperation.
1 Sources:
The APEC Region Trade and Investment 2008
2 Sources:
The APEC Region Trade and Investment 2008
World Trade [Trade in goods and services (exports + imports)]
APEC is the only inter governmental grouping in the world operating on the basis of non-binding commitments, open dialogue and equal respect for the views of all participants. Unlike the WTO or other multilateral trade bodies, APEC has no treaty obligations required of its participants. Decisions made within APEC are reached by consensus and commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis.
APEC has 21 members - referred to as "Member Economies" - which account for approximately 40.5%1 of the world's population, approximately 54.2%1 of world GDP and about 43.7%2 of world trade.
APEC's 21 Member Economies are Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; Viet Nam.
Purpose and Goals
APEC was established in 1989 to further enhance economic growth and prosperity for the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community.
Since its inception, APEC has worked to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers across the Asia-Pacific region, creating efficient domestic economies and dramatically increasing exports. Key to achieving APEC's vision are what are referred to as the 'Bogor Goals' of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialised economies and 2020 for developing economies. These goals were adopted by Leaders at their 1994 meeting in Bogor, Indonesia.
Learn more about the Bogor Goals in the 1994 Leaders' Declaration.
Free and open trade and investment helps economies to grow, creates jobs and provides greater opportunities for international trade and investment. In contrast, protectionism keeps prices high and fosters inefficiencies in certain industries. Free and open trade helps to lower the costs of production and thus reduces the prices of goods and services - a direct benefit to all.
APEC also works to create an environment for the safe and efficient movement of goods, services and people across borders in the region through policy alignment and economic and technical cooperation.
1 Sources:
The APEC Region Trade and Investment 2008
2 Sources:
The APEC Region Trade and Investment 2008
World Trade [Trade in goods and services (exports + imports)]
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
[China’s next leaders]
Sunday, 07 November 2010 00:00
China and the Philippines have become more tightly bound in commercial and investment relations than most Filipinos realize.China is financing a lot of our infrastructure projects. Many Chinese companies—most if not all of them state-owned—are involved in many of our most important developmental activities.
China is the Philippines’ third largest trading partner. It is also our third largest donor partner and, despite the hostage-taking tragedy, continues to be a major—our fourth largest—source of visitors, tourists and businessmen, from abroad.
PH-PRC economic, political and cultural relations are growing, and bound to continue to deepen and expand, if only because of our nearness to each other. In a certain sense, though in very different forms, the same political, commercial and political imperatives that made the Philippines an important partner of China in dealing with the New World (the Americas) and Old Europe during the 250 years of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade (1565 to 1815) are at work today. Geography and the resulting geopolitics tie China and us together.
This physical proximity, and the accidents of history, have imposed on the leaders of the Philippines and China—because millions of Filipinos and Chinese (especially those of Fujian, Guangdong and Hong Kong SAR) are blood relatives and in other ways sharers of a common personal history—a mission to take each other’s nation more sensitively, more caringly.
That goes for Philippine presidents and Cabinet members, as well as lawmakers in both chambers of our Congress, as well as for leaders in the different departments of life in the private sector.
That is the reason we have offered our readers today’s Special Report on the new generation of China’s leaders who will be coming in from 2012 onward.
The words of the former Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Ambassador Rod Severino, who is now head of the Asean Studies Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), in Singapore, bear repeating here. He was addressing an unsolicited advice to presidential-election winner Benigno Aquino 3rd in an article titled “A Foreign Policy Agenda for the New Philippine President” in Opinion Asia on May 14, 2010.
Ambassador Severino wrote this about China.
“Relations with China.
“President Aquino may have to make an early visit to Beijing, if only to focus his mind on this all-important relationship, to take the measure of China’s decision-makers, and to have a first-hand look at Chinese realities. Some of the issues to deal with are the conflicting claims of the Philippines and China to land features in the South China Sea and the uncertain nature of the maritime regimes there, the competition with China for markets and investments, the opportunities that a rapidly rising China presents to the Philippines, and the links between Chinese firms and powerful Filipinos. For the Philippines, China is both an opportunity and a challenge; it is both a rising power with which the Philippines has a territorial dispute and a surging market that can be an engine of growth for the region of which the country is a part. In any case, China is a looming force in East Asia while being held down by a number of internal constraints.
The Philippines ought to approach its relations with China with utmost seriousness and sophistication, taking these tensions and seeming contradictions into account. http://manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/83-opinion-columnist/31646-chinas-next-leaders
[Filipinos less happy in 2010]
The level of happiness among poor Filipinos fell “dramatically” over the last three years, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
In its Statistically Speaking, NSCB Secretary General Romulo Virola on Tuesday said that the level of happiness did not change much between 2007 and 2008, but dramatically went down in 2010.
He added that the level of the perception-based (using a single question) happiness went down to 47.40 percent from 70.89 percent in 2008 and 69.44 percent in 2007.
Virola said that among the low-income group this year, women are happiest with their family, love life and food, while men are happiest with their sex life, love life and food.
“The men are not very happy with their family, however, a great mismatch with the women and a cause for concern,” he noted.
Other important sources of happiness for women are work, food, and peace and security.
But while peace and security and work are also important to men, food is only ninth most important to men compared to fifth among women.
“This might mean one of the following: that husbands have to take their wives to dinner every now and then; or that unless they can be more convincing in describing their dinner as “ang sarap, [that’s delicious] darling!,” they should learn to cook the dinner themselves. Of course it is understood that husbands should never dare compare the wife’s adobo sa embutido ni nanay [of mother]!,” Virola said.
Adobo and embutido are meat dishes and seen as all-time favorites among Filipinos.
The NSCB chief said that the biggest disparity in the rankings is on sex life.
Virola added that men find it 10th most important with a rating of 8.2 but women find it 18th most important with a rating of 6.8 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Women find love life only 10th most important with a rating of 8.2, but men find it 6th most important with a rating of 8.7.
“This is easy to trivialize, but the unmet expectations for love and sex by either partner can surely lead to problems, and must be managed properly and professionally. In fact, this is probably one explanation for the finding that 8 percent of sexual violence against ever-married women were perpetrated by the husband,” Virola said.
He added that the most important for men and women is family followed by health, religion, work, peace and security and food.
The NSCB chief said that importance of friends as a source of happiness has gone down from No. 4 in 2007 to No. 12 this year.
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter
ManilaTimes.net
In its Statistically Speaking, NSCB Secretary General Romulo Virola on Tuesday said that the level of happiness did not change much between 2007 and 2008, but dramatically went down in 2010.
He added that the level of the perception-based (using a single question) happiness went down to 47.40 percent from 70.89 percent in 2008 and 69.44 percent in 2007.
Virola said that among the low-income group this year, women are happiest with their family, love life and food, while men are happiest with their sex life, love life and food.
“The men are not very happy with their family, however, a great mismatch with the women and a cause for concern,” he noted.
Other important sources of happiness for women are work, food, and peace and security.
But while peace and security and work are also important to men, food is only ninth most important to men compared to fifth among women.
“This might mean one of the following: that husbands have to take their wives to dinner every now and then; or that unless they can be more convincing in describing their dinner as “ang sarap, [that’s delicious] darling!,” they should learn to cook the dinner themselves. Of course it is understood that husbands should never dare compare the wife’s adobo sa embutido ni nanay [of mother]!,” Virola said.
Adobo and embutido are meat dishes and seen as all-time favorites among Filipinos.
The NSCB chief said that the biggest disparity in the rankings is on sex life.
Virola added that men find it 10th most important with a rating of 8.2 but women find it 18th most important with a rating of 6.8 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Women find love life only 10th most important with a rating of 8.2, but men find it 6th most important with a rating of 8.7.
“This is easy to trivialize, but the unmet expectations for love and sex by either partner can surely lead to problems, and must be managed properly and professionally. In fact, this is probably one explanation for the finding that 8 percent of sexual violence against ever-married women were perpetrated by the husband,” Virola said.
He added that the most important for men and women is family followed by health, religion, work, peace and security and food.
The NSCB chief said that importance of friends as a source of happiness has gone down from No. 4 in 2007 to No. 12 this year.
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter
ManilaTimes.net
Fount of intelligence and wisdom
President Benigno Aquino 3rd deserves to be praised for slashing his P650-million intelligence fund by P250 million. It shows him to be a man of integrity and self-abnegation. One might say that in this matter, President PNoy is a fount of intelligence and wisdom. He no doubt wishes his act to be taken as an example by other heads of government agencies, each of whom also has an intelligence fund.
That is still a large amount. And it takes integrity and a generous spirit of frugality to give up P250 million that he could actually use in any way he pleases—as long as he wrote in a piece of paper that it was for gathering intelligence and placed the piece of paper in a sealed envelop and gave this to the government auditors. The auditors then take the President’s word that the money was properly used for intelligence gathering.
Liquidation by certification
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Franklin Drilon wants the entire concept of the intelligence fund for non-police and military agencies reviewed and the money placed in the regular budget. He described how the money is accounted for to meet legal requirements—without proper and detailed examination by the Commission on Audit.
Malacañang agrees to the review of the intelligence fund system.
Drilon told media this manner of accounting for the intelligence fund is called “liquidation by certification.” Among government people it is also called the “envelope system of liquidation,” he added.
“You write in a piece of paper the use of intelligence fund to purchase intelligence information from a certain Juan de la Cruz. You put the piece of paper in an envelope, then you seal it, and you give it to the Commission on Audit [COA[, and you have liquidated the amount,” the senator (and former senate president) said. He added that the COA auditors have the power to open the sealed envelop and read what it says. But they cannot question the President (or any official who has intelligence funds has submitted a certificate of liquidation).
Senator Drilon and everybody else agrees that security officers of the government—especially those in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration Department, and perhaps even the specially designated units of the Bureaus of Customs and Internal Revenue—should have an intelligence fund. That budget is necessary.
Intelligence funds have been abused
But for other government offices, it does seem ridiculous to have department secretaries and bureau chiefs given intelligence funds exempt from the rules of transparency and COA scrutiny.
Senator Drilon says the use of the intel fund has been abused so much by previous administrations.
So he wants to place the intelligence fund under regular budget items rather than being included as a lump sum under the label “intelligence fund” which is not subject to proper auditing procedures.
The Ilongo senator wants intelligence funds to be reprogrammed “to line functions” and therefore no longer be treated as confidential. These should then be subject to regular auditing by COA.
The 2010 budget allocates P1.380 billion for intelligence funds.
The total 2011 budget allocation for intelligence funds for the various offices in the PNoy administration is P1.425 billion. This lump sum intelligence fund does not cover the intelligence funds for military and police use. And this P1.425 billion neither includes intelligence funds allocated by local government units for their own use nor funds allocated by the directors of government corporations and other state enterprises for their own use.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile agrees—even if he says the P1.425 billion for the intelligence fund in the current budget is a small part of the 2011 P1.6-trillion budget—that intelligence funds for non-security agencies and offices should be made part of the regular budgets and be subject to normal auditing.
Mr. Enrile said the President’s office is not an intelligence gathering agency. It is in fact a user of intelligence obtained by all the intelligence-gathering units.
Legacy of the Cold War and Martial Law regime
Every government office was given an intelligence budget during the Cold War years. The purpose of the fund is for the chief of the agency or office to be able to unearth useful and vital information for the national interest, often related to national security, that would otherwise never be obtained.
It reflects the anti-communist paranoia that pervaded the Martial Law regime.
It veritably made each head of agency, and his or her close assistants, an extension of the police and military intelligence service. Its use is supposed to be totally sub rosa. That is why the intelligence fund is not audited in detail by the Commission on Audit. That system must be abolished. Fount of intelligence and wisdom
Friday, November 5, 2010
KAALAMAN SA GLOBAL WARMING
Ang Pag-init ng Daigdig (o Global Warming sa Ingles) ay tumutukoy sa naranasang pagtaas ng katamtamang temperatura ng himpapawid at mga karagatan sa mundo nitong mga nakaraang dekada. Tumaas ng 0.6 ± 0.2 °Celsius (1.1 ± 0.4 °Fahrenheit) ang temperatura sa loob ng ika-20 siglo ang katamtamang pandaidigang temperatura. Ayon sa siyentipikong opinyon, “ang naranasang pag-init nitong huling 50 taon ay gawa ng tao”. Ang pagtaas ng antas ng carbon dioxide at iba pang mga greenhouse gases na resulta ng pagsunog ng produkto mula sa petrolyong langis, pagpapanot ng kagubatan, pagsasaka, at iba pang kagagawan ng tao ang mga pangunahing sanhi ng pag-init ng mundo.
Nagpapakita sa mga pagmamatyag na pag-aaral at ng mga modelong pangklima na ang pagka-sensitibo ng klima upang madoble ang antas ng CO2 ay mangyayari kapag tumaas ng 1.5-4.5 °C ang katamtamang temperatura. Ang mga modelong basihan ng Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ay humuhula na ang pandaigdigang temperatura ay tataas sa pagitan ng 1.4 at 5.8 °C (2.5 hanggang 10.5 °F) mula taong 1990 hanggang 2100.
Sinasabing ang pagtaas sa pandaigdigang temperatura ay magdudulot ng malaking pagbabago kasama rito ang pagtaas ng karaniwang taas ng dagat at pagbabago sa dami ng mga pag-ulan. Ang mga pagbabagong ito ay sinasabing magpaparami sa dalas at lakas ng mga mapanirang kalagayan ng panahon tulad ng baha, tag-tuyot, bugso ng init (heat waves), bagyo at buhawi. Sinasabing ang pag-init ay makaaapekto sa bilang at tindi ng mga ito, Mahirap na iakibat ito sa partikular na kalagayan ng panahon sa pag-init ng mundo. Gayunman, ang mga pag-aaral ay nakatuon sa panahon hanggang taong 2100 na ang pag-init (at pagtaas ng pantay laot mula sa pag-aalsang dulot ng init) ay patuloy na mangyayari dahil sa ang CO2 ay may mahabang buhay sa himpapawid.
May maliit na bilang na mga siyentipiko ang laban sa pananaw na ang gawa ng tao ang nagdudulot ng malaki sa pagtaas sa temperatura nitong nakaraang panahon. Gayundin, walang katiyakan ang nakapalibot rito kung gaanong kalaking pagbabago sa panahon ang makikita sa darating na araw. May mainit na debateng politikal at publiko kung paano mapabababa o mababaliktad ang pag-init sa darating na panahon at kung paano haharapin ang mga bunga nito.
Ang katagang “global warming” (pag-init ng mundo) ay isang tiyak na dulot ng mas malawak na katagang “climate change’ (pagbabago sa klima) (na tumutukoy din sa paglamig tulad ng nangyari noong Edad Yelo). Sa prinsipyo nito, nyutral ang global warming sa dahilan nito ngunit sa karaniwang gamit, kalimitang pinahihiwatig na may papel ang tao sa pag-init ng mundo. Gayunman, ginagamit ang ‘climate change’ ng UNFCCC sa pagbabagong gawa ng tao, at ‘climate variability’ (pabago-bago ng klima) na dulot ng ibang kadahilanan. Ang ilang organisasyon ay gumagamit ng katagang 'anthropogenic climate change' sa pagbabagong dulot ng tao. read more...
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
|ECOWASTE CALLS FOR AFFORDABLE ECO-FRIENDLY BAG|
by: Angela Lopez De Leon
BEGINNING today and every Wednesday thereafter, more malls and supermarkets will observe "Reusable Bag Day" by not providing free plastic bags for their customers’ purchases or charging them a fee for preferring plastic bags.
The "Reusable Bag Day Campaign" was launched last month by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in partnership with the National Solid Waste Management Commission, Earth Day Philippines Network, and the retail industry under the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association, Philippine Retailers Association and some other participating stores.
Some of the bigger outlets like the Ayala Malls, Ever Malls, Hi-Top Supermarket, Isetann Malls, Makro, Robinson’s Supermart, Savemore, and SM Hypermart have been implementing this for some time now despite initial resistance from customers.
The campaign calls for concerted efforts to shift public consciousness from using plastic bags to reusable bags to address the environmental hazard posed by improper disposal of plastic bags.
The environmental group EcoWaste Coalition, however, appealed to participating retailers to bring down the price of their eco-friendly bags for the benefit of consumers on tight budgets. The group said the current price of reusable bags which range from P25 to P295 each will not attract ordinary consumers who might want an alternative to plastic bags but cannot afford the reusable bags’ price.
"Budget-conscious consumers, even if they appreciate the ecological benefits of reusable bags, are put off buying anything expensive," said Sonia Mendoza of the EcoWaste’s Task Force on Plastics.
EcoWaste said Hi-Top’s reusable bags are P25 each; SM, P35 each; National Book Store, P65; Healthy Options, P75; Robinson’s, P90; Shopwise/Rustan, P99.50 for canvas and P60 for waterproof bags; and Body Shop, P295 each.
"We definitely welcome the initiative of these market leaders to introduce eco-friendly bags and we hope that more supermarkets and stores will join the green bandwagon," Mendoza said. "Any scheme that will allow consumers to get their reusable bags for free or at a discounted or subsidized price will hopefully bring about increased preference and demand for reusable bags,"
Mendoza suggested the promotion of home-based, job-generating industry in the provinces, with support from the private and public sectors, that can flood the market with more affordable and durable eco-friendly bags made from non-plastic, cloth-based, and locally-sourced materials, knowing that plastic reusable bags will soon disintegrate and pose disposal problems.
Ecowaste advised retailers to encourage their customers to make and bring their own reusable bags by providing financial and non-financial rewards such as discount, rebate, movie or museum pass for earth-friendly buyers.
Gloria Estenzo-Ramos of the Philippine Earth Justice Center advised consumers to make a "financial sacrifice" and spend money for reusable bags – if they are not able to make their own – for the sake of the environment. She pointed out that Chapter IV of RA 9003 provides for various incentives to encourage and support local government units, business enterprises, non-government organizations and other entities to actively implement ecological solid waste management, including waste prevention, reduction, reuse and recycling activities.
BEGINNING today and every Wednesday thereafter, more malls and supermarkets will observe "Reusable Bag Day" by not providing free plastic bags for their customers’ purchases or charging them a fee for preferring plastic bags.
The "Reusable Bag Day Campaign" was launched last month by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in partnership with the National Solid Waste Management Commission, Earth Day Philippines Network, and the retail industry under the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association, Philippine Retailers Association and some other participating stores.
Some of the bigger outlets like the Ayala Malls, Ever Malls, Hi-Top Supermarket, Isetann Malls, Makro, Robinson’s Supermart, Savemore, and SM Hypermart have been implementing this for some time now despite initial resistance from customers.
The campaign calls for concerted efforts to shift public consciousness from using plastic bags to reusable bags to address the environmental hazard posed by improper disposal of plastic bags.
The environmental group EcoWaste Coalition, however, appealed to participating retailers to bring down the price of their eco-friendly bags for the benefit of consumers on tight budgets. The group said the current price of reusable bags which range from P25 to P295 each will not attract ordinary consumers who might want an alternative to plastic bags but cannot afford the reusable bags’ price.
"Budget-conscious consumers, even if they appreciate the ecological benefits of reusable bags, are put off buying anything expensive," said Sonia Mendoza of the EcoWaste’s Task Force on Plastics.
EcoWaste said Hi-Top’s reusable bags are P25 each; SM, P35 each; National Book Store, P65; Healthy Options, P75; Robinson’s, P90; Shopwise/Rustan, P99.50 for canvas and P60 for waterproof bags; and Body Shop, P295 each.
"We definitely welcome the initiative of these market leaders to introduce eco-friendly bags and we hope that more supermarkets and stores will join the green bandwagon," Mendoza said. "Any scheme that will allow consumers to get their reusable bags for free or at a discounted or subsidized price will hopefully bring about increased preference and demand for reusable bags,"
Mendoza suggested the promotion of home-based, job-generating industry in the provinces, with support from the private and public sectors, that can flood the market with more affordable and durable eco-friendly bags made from non-plastic, cloth-based, and locally-sourced materials, knowing that plastic reusable bags will soon disintegrate and pose disposal problems.
Ecowaste advised retailers to encourage their customers to make and bring their own reusable bags by providing financial and non-financial rewards such as discount, rebate, movie or museum pass for earth-friendly buyers.
Gloria Estenzo-Ramos of the Philippine Earth Justice Center advised consumers to make a "financial sacrifice" and spend money for reusable bags – if they are not able to make their own – for the sake of the environment. She pointed out that Chapter IV of RA 9003 provides for various incentives to encourage and support local government units, business enterprises, non-government organizations and other entities to actively implement ecological solid waste management, including waste prevention, reduction, reuse and recycling activities.
NY-based think tank rains on PPP parade
NY-based think tank rains on PPP parade
BY DENNIS GADIL
The government risks piling up more contingent liabilities instead of tapping more private funds from an "ill-conceived" public partnership program (PPP), a New York based economic think-tank said.
In its quarterly report on the country, Global Source said most of the projects initially identified under the PPP program either lacked "quality" or "skillful" preparation.
"We remain unconvinced results will be seen in this area (PPPs) in the near term even assuming that paperwork and physical execution can be fast-tracked," it said.
Global Source said the problem appears not to be funding but the failure to do a thorough homework on the projects’ feasibility.
"For instance, government’s current PPP wish list of infrastructure that can be immediately financed looks thin and, except for one or two mass transport projects, not fully prepared at this time," it said.
Global Source added that the presence of regulatory risks also poses complications on the success of every PPP project.
"But the major constraint as we see it is not a lack of funding but rather a lack of quality and skillfully prepared projects to fund," the US-based economic think tank said in a report written by Filipino economists Romeo L. Bernardo and Margarita Gonzales.
Global Source said implementation of half-baked PPPs would lead to more contingent liabilities for the government in the long run if it would provide counterpart funding for a doomed-to-fail project.
Government proponents of the PPP project have said some guarantee cover and tax holidays will be extended to PPP investors to ensure decent returns on their multi-billion investment.
"In that case, PPP projects may just lead to higher fiscal risks and hard-to-manage contingent liabilities down the road," it said.
Global Source likewise belittled the move of government to charge Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. with technical smuggling for alleged non-payment of P24.5 billion in excise taxes for its oil imports from 2005 to 2009.
The New York-based think tank said it was "surprised" by the filing of criminal case against Shell.
"This trumpeted ‘big smuggling case’ however may not be the airtight case government needs to show its no-new taxes strategy can really work given the complexity of the legal issues involved," it said.
"And may even signal that fiscal managers have run out of options in terms of hiking collections, resorting to past practice of ‘hunting in the zoo’ and squeezing those already within the tax net."
Global Source also said such development is "possibly counterproductive to government’s efforts to attract more FDI (foreign direct investment)."
The government is looking at an initial of P180 billion to P200 billion in private funds that would be generated from its list of 10 to 13 projects that would be unveiled during the PPP summit slated this month.
Among the projects included in the PPP short list from a bigger list of 70 projects are airports on Panglao Island off Bohol and another in Daraga, Albay.
The list also includes the improvement of the Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental as well as an irrigation facility in Sultan Kudarat and additional lines of the Light Rail Transit system.
Economic managers met Wednesday at the finance department building to discuss preparations for the November PPP summit.
BY DENNIS GADIL
The government risks piling up more contingent liabilities instead of tapping more private funds from an "ill-conceived" public partnership program (PPP), a New York based economic think-tank said.
In its quarterly report on the country, Global Source said most of the projects initially identified under the PPP program either lacked "quality" or "skillful" preparation.
"We remain unconvinced results will be seen in this area (PPPs) in the near term even assuming that paperwork and physical execution can be fast-tracked," it said.
Global Source said the problem appears not to be funding but the failure to do a thorough homework on the projects’ feasibility.
"For instance, government’s current PPP wish list of infrastructure that can be immediately financed looks thin and, except for one or two mass transport projects, not fully prepared at this time," it said.
Global Source added that the presence of regulatory risks also poses complications on the success of every PPP project.
"But the major constraint as we see it is not a lack of funding but rather a lack of quality and skillfully prepared projects to fund," the US-based economic think tank said in a report written by Filipino economists Romeo L. Bernardo and Margarita Gonzales.
Global Source said implementation of half-baked PPPs would lead to more contingent liabilities for the government in the long run if it would provide counterpart funding for a doomed-to-fail project.
Government proponents of the PPP project have said some guarantee cover and tax holidays will be extended to PPP investors to ensure decent returns on their multi-billion investment.
"In that case, PPP projects may just lead to higher fiscal risks and hard-to-manage contingent liabilities down the road," it said.
Global Source likewise belittled the move of government to charge Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. with technical smuggling for alleged non-payment of P24.5 billion in excise taxes for its oil imports from 2005 to 2009.
The New York-based think tank said it was "surprised" by the filing of criminal case against Shell.
"This trumpeted ‘big smuggling case’ however may not be the airtight case government needs to show its no-new taxes strategy can really work given the complexity of the legal issues involved," it said.
"And may even signal that fiscal managers have run out of options in terms of hiking collections, resorting to past practice of ‘hunting in the zoo’ and squeezing those already within the tax net."
Global Source also said such development is "possibly counterproductive to government’s efforts to attract more FDI (foreign direct investment)."
The government is looking at an initial of P180 billion to P200 billion in private funds that would be generated from its list of 10 to 13 projects that would be unveiled during the PPP summit slated this month.
Among the projects included in the PPP short list from a bigger list of 70 projects are airports on Panglao Island off Bohol and another in Daraga, Albay.
The list also includes the improvement of the Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental as well as an irrigation facility in Sultan Kudarat and additional lines of the Light Rail Transit system.
Economic managers met Wednesday at the finance department building to discuss preparations for the November PPP summit.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
EDITORIAL
Leave the SK alone (The Freeman) November 02, 2010
If there is so much noise about the character and conduct of the Sangguniang Kabataan, it is only because there are so many hypocrites in our midst who pretend not to see that when the SK swung around years ago, there was never any pretention as to its direction.
There was no way the SK can be anything other than what they are supposedly being trained to become later -- as adult leaders of our country. That was the one and only purpose in creating the SK.
So if SK members behave like their models, they should be applauded instead of condemned. At least they succeeded in becoming what they were meant to be. Had they strayed away from their intended direction, then that should be the time to flog them.
In fairness to the SK, it is not the only one whose activities are patterned after adult models. Even in campus politics, where participants are as young as grade-schoolers, the signs of hewing to pre-set adult examples are already there and unmistakable.
This is not to say that people should be pleased with what they see in the SK, or that they believe in the reasons for its being. But why blame the SK when, shorn of all pretense and hypocrisy, it is only being truthful to what it was truly conceived to be.
If people do not like what they see in the SK, or do not see any reason for its continued existence, then they should work mightily to have it abolished. But while it exists, do not flog it for being true to itself.
For there can be no disliking the SK while at the same time tolerating the model after which it was designed to learn from and emulate. There is a method to the madness of politics and the SK is just part of that process.
So its either we put up or shut up. The SK cannot be so bad if the model is so good. Year in and year out we fill the air with the agonized screams of our bellyaching, and yet year in and year out we go through the same exercise with so much excitement you'd think a revolution was on.
Almost to a man, Filipinos love to condemn our brand of politics. And yet almost to a man Filipinos take to no other undertaking with so much passion as politics. So what is it really? Or are we just being hypocritical even with our own hypocrisies?
There was no way the SK can be anything other than what they are supposedly being trained to become later -- as adult leaders of our country. That was the one and only purpose in creating the SK.
So if SK members behave like their models, they should be applauded instead of condemned. At least they succeeded in becoming what they were meant to be. Had they strayed away from their intended direction, then that should be the time to flog them.
In fairness to the SK, it is not the only one whose activities are patterned after adult models. Even in campus politics, where participants are as young as grade-schoolers, the signs of hewing to pre-set adult examples are already there and unmistakable.
This is not to say that people should be pleased with what they see in the SK, or that they believe in the reasons for its being. But why blame the SK when, shorn of all pretense and hypocrisy, it is only being truthful to what it was truly conceived to be.
If people do not like what they see in the SK, or do not see any reason for its continued existence, then they should work mightily to have it abolished. But while it exists, do not flog it for being true to itself.
For there can be no disliking the SK while at the same time tolerating the model after which it was designed to learn from and emulate. There is a method to the madness of politics and the SK is just part of that process.
So its either we put up or shut up. The SK cannot be so bad if the model is so good. Year in and year out we fill the air with the agonized screams of our bellyaching, and yet year in and year out we go through the same exercise with so much excitement you'd think a revolution was on.
Almost to a man, Filipinos love to condemn our brand of politics. And yet almost to a man Filipinos take to no other undertaking with so much passion as politics. So what is it really? Or are we just being hypocritical even with our own hypocrisies?
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