Category: Better Politicians

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Was SC justice partial in BCDA-SM Land issue?

Justice is (NOT) for sale, maybe.
Time to revamp the supreme court.

Judicial overreach
In its MR filed in September 2014, the BCDA broadened its case with a new argument: that the Court has encroached upon the powers of the executive. It built its case by showing that questions hounded the integrity of the previous process and that it was within the powers of the Office of the President to “exercise control” over all the executive departments – including changing the mode of disposition of government properties.
‘…the haste and the reckless manner by which the TROs were served and re-served create an impression of bias and manifest partiality in the minds of the respondents and erode their faith in the Honorable Court.’ – BCDA
When he took over, President Aquino suspended the privatization and development of the 33-hectare property via competitive challenge or “Swiss Challenge” as part of a wide-ranging policy review and due diligence process. Fort Bonifacio was not singled out; the Food Terminal Inc complex and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway were subjected to the same rigor.
In 2012, Aquino decided that the Bonifacio property should be opened to public bidding.
In its narration, the BCDA said that “a shadow was cast on the integrity of the process” because the previous board appeared to have rushed approval of the unsolicited proposal of SM Land days before the May 2010 elections.
“The undue haste by which the award was made was a cause for concern of the newly appointed directors and for President Aquino himself,” the BCDA wrote.
Moreover, the offer of SM Land was way below the market value of the land. The BCDA cited the recent appraisal by Cuervo Appraisers placing the cost of each square meter at P78,000. Besides, the BCDA pointed out, SM Land can participate anew, this time in a public bidding.
via Was SC justice partial in BCDA-SM Land issue?.

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Lest We Forget :: Chiz Escudero's Stupid Proposal on Education Curriculum Reform for our Country

I can only cite myself as an example,magmula po nung natapos ako nung high
s c h o o l h i n d i k o p a n a g ami t a n g C a l c u l u s , h i n d i k o p a h o n a g ami t a n d
Trigonometry, hindi ko pa ho nagamit and Algebra, iyung Geometry, sa bilyar ko
lang nagamit. At iyong mga ibang itinuturo ay marapat sigurong ituro sa kolehiyo
kung nais maging inhinyero ng isang bata. Iyong mga ibang itinuturo, marapat
sigurong ibigay na lamang nating sa kanila sa kolehiyo o bilang elective
pagdating ng high school.
This would effectively give more time to our children to spend with their
families and perhaps and help them in whatever it is that they are doing to earn a
livelihood. If by any chance we are able to reduce the curriculum by half, we would
effectively double the number of classrooms in a day and overnight because we
can now use the classrooms twice over instead of simply being used once given the
overburdened curriculum that our children have. If only, Mr. Speaker, to propose
the following, I think we can reduce the curriculum to perhaps five or six subjects,
namely: Language, to include Filipino and English; Social Studies and History
both of the world and our country; Math and Science; Computer and Good Manners
and Right Conduct. And I believe that we could develop our children holistically
in such a manner.
This, however, is only a proposal. This is a suggestion for us to look into once
again and study it. And we have made known our proposal to the Secretary of
Education so that they could review this with a view of unburdening our students
at present

I had difficulty finding this. If the congress needs help with their website I’d gladly volunteer to make it more searchable and reliable. If I wasn’t persistent enough I wouldn’t have been able to get the source document.
PDF HERE :
If I only had the time I know If I read through these I’ll be able to find more gems of law makers being less than enlightening.

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Hillary Clinton on Family Planning.

I’m pro Family Planning and a rational reality based Reproductive Health program. I think the RH Bill is not being marketed well. It has become somewhat a war between people of great passion and even far greater pride.
Hillary Clinton’s words: “Good Family Planning and Good  Medical Care Brings DOWN the rate of Abortion” and
“Keeping women and men in IGNORANCE, and denied the services actually increases the rate of abortion”.
The unrealiable and increasingly stupid fourth estate must be circumvented to prevent the horse race reportage that it has fallen on.

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rePost:: There is now substantial evidence that the health and schooling of children can be raised by empowering women, and this is precisely what Tunisia did when it raised the minimum age for marriage, revoked the colonial ban on imports of contraceptives, instituted the first family planning programme in Africa, legalized abortion, made polygamy illegal, and gave women the right to divorce as well as the right to stand and vote for election. :: Dani Rodrik's weblog: The unsung development miracles of our time

I score this one against the moralist forces in our country. They are basically against what other countries find successful.

What was their secret? Determined policies to expand educational opportunities and access to health along with a willingness to depart from the conventional wisdom of the day and experiment with their own remedies. Even though all three North African countries are Moslem, empowering of women seems to have played an important role as well:

There is now substantial evidence that the health and schooling of children can be raised by empowering women, and this is precisely what Tunisia did when it raised the minimum age for marriage, revoked the colonial ban on imports of contraceptives, instituted the first family planning programme in Africa, legalized abortion, made polygamy illegal, and gave women the right to divorce as well as the right to stand and vote for election.

What is somewhat puzzling, as Rodriguez and Samman also note, is that these countries have not made nearly as much progress in democratization.
These new “facts” substantially enrich our understanding of the development landscape over the last four decades.
via Dani Rodrik’s weblog: The unsung development miracles of our time.

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Better Class of Politicians :: Manny does a Floyd (A missed opportunity) | Filipino Voices

Fr. Tito Caluag who is supposed to have signed the report has publicly denounced the hoax by stating to the effect that the document is forged and that he is not even competent to make the evaluation since he is neither a psychologist (nor a psychiatrist).
It was then a perfect opportunity for Villar to be a gentleman politician by condemning the ludicrous fabrication and thereby allowing to mitigate the tone of animosity in the campaign (that is, if the source of the report is not his party or a cabal of rabid partisans). Very unfortunately, Villar did just the exact opposite.
One may recall that during the last US presidential election, a woman from the audience in a town hall meeting stood up and took the microphone to confirm from John McCain if Barack Obama is an Arab (implying maliciously that being an Arab, Obama is either uncivil or a terrorist). McCain defended his rival without any hesitation. “No ma’am,” McCain said to the woman after retaking the microphone from her. “He is a decent family man . . . citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign is all about,” he further stressed earnestly.
Unlike McCain who had had the basic decency to cut off the woman wanting to stoke bigotry, Villar reacted in the other extreme by issuing a statement challenging Aquino to submit to a psychiatric test to determine his rival’s fitness to be a president. In a pretense to appear fair, Villar said he is willing to take the same test or a “comprehensive physical and mental examination in order to ascertain [our] fitness to occupy the highest office of the land.”
via Manny does a Floyd (A missed opportunity) | Filipino Voices.

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rePost :: Business Insight Malaya | LITO BANAYO

Which is why we cannot understand why you had to fake the circumstances of Danny’s unfortunate illness and eventual demise and therein lie to the people.
Your father did obtain a loan from the GSIS, for 16,000 pesos to build the house, which was not a small amount in those days. He bought a 560-square meter lot in San Rafael which at the time, cost 30 pesos per square meter, or 16.800. Who were your neighbours? Well, the following big names in Philippine industry lived in that vicinity: the late Yao Eng Hue, once president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, at the time owner of Manhattan Rubber, which produced rubber slippers; Robin Sy, also a former president of FFCCCI; Dante Go, who used to own Sugarland and sold it in 1999 to Ramon Ang for a cool billion; even the family of Wilson and William Tieng of Solar Films and Solar TV. Their father was one of the biggest glassware and kitchen equipment dealers in Echague, Quiapo, in league with the late Leonardo Ty of Hitachi and Ajinomoto. Even William Gatchalian had property in the vicinity. My own grand-uncle used to have a clothing factory nearby, called La Navotena at the foot of the bridge along North Balut. The area is beside what is now Westminster High School, a Chinese-Filipino school.
Just so the young will understand how big an amount 16,800 pesos was (30 x 560 sq. m.), the minimum wage at the time was 120 pesos per month, or 4 pesos per day.
Villar also said that the subdivision they lived in was beside Smoky Mountain, and the stench assailed their nostrils. Again that is a lie. Because there was no Smoky Mountain at the time (the 60’s). It was only in the 80’s when population pressures, inward migration and grinding poverty made foraging the city’s detritus become the anomaly that it was. San Rafael subdivision is close, but not adjacent to the area used as a mountain of dump, which Tita Cory and later FVR converted into tenement housing for real squatters, developed by Reghis Romero, now one of Villar’s and GMA’s most ardent supporters. Young Manny did not smell the stench of garbage, but the smell of soap produced by Procter and Gamble PMC at the back of San Rafael.
You want the Liberals and your main political opponent to “apologize” for what they did to your reputation. Firstly, it was neither the Liberals nor Noynoy who told the truth surrounding the death of your brother which you yourself brought to public attention through expensive advertisements. It was the collective work of columnists whose responsibility it is to tell the truth, and shared their information with each other, especially since it concerns someone who wants to be president.
via Business Insight Malaya | LITO BANAYO.

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rePost :: Till victory :: BusinessWorld Online:

I’ve praised PGMA for the cash transfers to the poor because of the significant level or research done on the effects of CCT in improving lives in Africa, South America and Asia.  This is controversial for most, especially the libertarian leaning people but I am of the helping each other leaning type. Praise to Noy for knowing stuff like this. In a way Gordon, G1BO  and even Jamby have promising insightful projects lined up. So Praise to them too.

To strengthen Noynoy’s pro-poor position, his campaign must persistently explain the link between corruption and poverty. It must flesh out Noynoy’s statement that corruption “deprives the poor of the services they badly need.”
The campaign has to highlight the elements of Noynoy’s pro-poor platform that have not been widely publicized. An example is the program to sustain and expand the conditional cash transfer (CCT) to the poor. The program provides cash subsidy for the poor, conditional on sending their children to school and availing themselves of public health services. A CCT administered by a transparent and honest administration will do away with the patronage that characterizes traditional politics. The CCT has a double dividend — it provides immediate relief to the poor and paves the way for long-term poverty eradication.
Further, to solidify the support in rural areas, Noynoy can follow up his promise to subject Hacienda Luisita to land distribution.
The second task is to strengthen the mass movement component of the electoral campaign. Amplifying Noynoy’s pro-poor platform also serves the purpose of energizing the mass movement.
via BusinessWorld Online: Till victory.