Category: Philippines

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rePost :On MTRCB Showtime Osang and Teachers: Marginal Revolution: Heroes are not Replicable

I’ve written about this before but seeing that the MTRCB is still in the process of engaging in a pissing match with ABS-CBN I’m posting about how being a repeater (the “insult” hurled by Rosanna Roces on the teachers) is actually taken in light of evidence with DI (Direct Instruction) is a convoluted form of praise. To be a repeater is a form of acceptance for most teachers. I am unremarkable. I am a cog. I am a replaceable cog. To accept this is in some ways accepting that student’s learning is more important than the sense of validation that people crave from other people. Truly heroic.

In Super Crunchers, Ian Ayres argues that just such a method exists.  Overall, Super Crunchers is a light but entertaining account of how large amounts of data and cheap computing power are improving forecasting and decision making in social science, government and business.  I enjoyed the book.  Chapter 7, however, was a real highlight.
Ayres argues that large experimental studies have shown that the teaching method which works best is Direct Instruction (here and here are two non-academic discussions which summarizes much of the same academic evidence discussed in Ayres).  In Direct Instruction the teacher follows a script, a carefully designed and evaluated script.  As Ayres notes this is key:

DI is scalable.  Its success isn’t contingent on the personality of some uber-teacher….You don’t need to be a genius to be an effective DI teacher.  DI can be implemented in dozens upon dozens of classrooms with just ordinary teachers.  You just need to be able to follow the script.

Contrary to what you might think, the data also show that DI does not impede creativity or self-esteem.  The education establishment, however, hates DI because it is a threat to the power and prestige of teaching, they prefer the model of teacher as hero.  As Ayres says “The education establishment is wedded to its pet theories regardless of what the evidence says.”  As a result they have fought it tooth and nail so that “Direct Instruction, the oldest and most validated program, has captured only a little more than 1 percent of the grade-school market.”
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on September 27, 2007 at 08:20 AM
via Marginal Revolution: Heroes are not Replicable.

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You must read this!!!! :: Market Manila – Income Levels / Poverty in the Philippines – General

This is probably one of the top 5 posts I’ve read about the Philippines this year.

Marketman’s Running Survey
In the survey I am running (or if you read this later, survey that I ran), it seems some 40% of readers actually think the Philippines is POORER than it is, in other words, a fairly negative sentiment. Some 24% of you got it right, with roughly 86-88% of the families earning less than PHP25,000 per month for a family of 5. But approximately 36% of you were varying degrees of being overly optimistic, and believed that many more families earned more than they actually do. Okay, so hold this thought for a moment. Roughly 87% of all families in the Philippines, representing 75.7 million people, are living on less than PHP5,000 (USD110) per month per person on average in income.
via Market Manila – Income Levels / Poverty in the Philippines – General.

Okay a little too over the top. but I really wanted you to read this!!!

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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.

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Praise :: Noynoy opposes Teves’s plan to raise 12% E-VAT to 15%

There was the book taxing travesty last year and now we have secretary teves trying his best to increase government revenues by increasing E-Vat. Simply put, I am against any increases in the E-VAT. VAT’s are regressive taxes in nature. Regressive in our cases means falls more heavily on the people who can least afford it.  Processed foods such as some canned goods etc, or worst the chicheria (junk food) that extremely poor people use to give a little taste to a bowl of rice. All this while politicians maintain multiple houses and businesses , very large businesses evade taxes. This is unacceptable. Tax the poor and the near poor and the middle class (I and most classmates are probably part of the near poor and middle class)while you let the big businesses and even small businesses go to the bank with the paper because their accountants know how to run make money out of accounting software. Increase tax efficiency. Catch the big tax evaders. Close the fucking loop holes that unsavory but slick accountants use to hide profits, revenues etc. In short I salute the creative ways Sec Teves is trying so as to close the budget gap but what he is doing is declaring defeat against the big evaders while lording it over the people like most salaried employees and consumers who have no way of evading the the tax.
PS:: I usually go with the crowd in decrying taxes, but honestly I believe in a fair and equitable society where we help each other out. The fortunate sharing some of their fortune to make the lives of the unfortunate just a little more livable. I am not against taxation. I just hate the thought that people who can least afford the tax are the same people who are the easiest targets for taxation.

Noynoy opposes Teves’s plan to raise 12% E-VAT to 15% PDF Print E-mail
Written by Butch Fernandez / Reporter
Tuesday, 06 April 2010 20:21
FINANCE Secretary Margarito Teves’s plan to jack up the 12-percent expanded value-added tax (E-VAT) to 15 percent met immediate objections from opposition stalwarts, led by Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
“This [planned E-VAT increase] is the easy way out,” Aquino said, adding: “We can collect more taxes at the Bureau of Internal Revenue and higher duties at Bureau of Customs if we become more serious in curbing and punishing tax evasion and smuggling.”
In a statement, Aquino assured that if elected, his administration would instead focus on raising revenues by increasing the government’s tax collection efficiency to 17 percent.
via Noynoy opposes Teves’s plan to raise 12% E-VAT to 15%.

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rePost :: Political ideologies and the 2010 elections | 100ARAW.com

Reading this gives me hope that my dream of a culture for a high level of political discourse for our country becomes a reality within 3 national elections including this one.
Thanks to chuck for posting this on facebook!

Political ideologies and the 2010 electionsApril 5, 2010By BenCyrus G. EllorinThe contest between the top two pre-election survey leaders in the Presidential race has the trappings of the age-old conflict between the progressive/militant National Democrats and the moderate Social Democrats.
via Political ideologies and the 2010 elections | 100ARAW.com.

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rePost :: Aquino, Roxas still lead presidential, VP race—poll – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Smileys!!! Astig talaga si Erap.

Aquino got 37 percent of the 3,000 respondents who were surveyed from March 21-28, by Pulse Asia. Closest rival, Senator Manny Villar, is at second with 25 percent. Former president Joseph Estrada is third with 18 percent, former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro, fourth, with seven percent; Senator Richard Gordon and Brother Eddie Villanueva, with two percent each.
For vice president, Aquino's runningmate, Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas, leads the pack with 43 percent. Senator Loren Legarda is second with 23 percent, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, third with 19 percent; former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando, fourth with two percent; television host and former Optical Media Board chairman Edu Manzano, fifth with two percent; Perfecto Yasay, sixth with one percent; and broadcaster Jay Sonza, last with 0.5 percent.
via Aquino, Roxas still lead presidential, VP race—poll – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

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Better Government Officials :: Praise ::Comelec cancels P690-M contract for ballot folders – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News

Praise for Sen Pimentel (inching towards redemption from his conduct at the Villar senate investigations, Why is it that people I admire greatly seem to sell themselves for a pittance during the twilight of their lives.)
Fail for the Comelec official who rail roaded the purchase order without bidding.
Praise for Commissioner Melo for not signing.

Amid allegations of overpricing, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday canceled the awarding of the P690-million contract for the supply and delivery of the ballot secrecy folders that will be used in the May 2010 polls.
The decision was announced a day after Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. revealed that the poll body bought nearly two million ballot secrecy folders at an overpriced rate of P380 each.
via Comelec cancels P690-M contract for ballot folders – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News.

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rePost :: New Comelec rules disallow election complaints at precinct level – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News

This would speed things up greatly but I fear for places where people are running against the incumbent this will test the the determination and honor of the local comelec officials. This would also level the playing field for candidates with less money (read:: less corrupt) because incumbents have enough cash to put lawyers in each clustered precinct. Local politicians usually use the lawyers to slow the pace of voting in the precincts whose voters they do not own. In some ways you can think of these lawyers as thugs or as protectors of the sanctity of the ballot because they either impede you or protect your vote, a true double edged sword.

Candidates can no longer complain about possible anomalous election documents at the precinct level and instead, wait for the winners to be proclaimed first, according to new rules promulgated by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over the weekend.
Comelec Resolution 8804 says that candidates, political parties, and party-list groups can only question documents that they deem to be suspicious – such as election results, for instance – and challenge the results before the proclamation of winners if there is an “illegal composition of the board of canvassers (BOC)” and “illegal proceedings of the BOC.”
via New Comelec rules disallow election complaints at precinct level – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News.

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rePost :: Notes from an Insomniac: A conversation with Noynoy by Lila Shahani

I also appreciate the types of bills he has filed: they are clearly reform-oriented in very overarching ways. It comes as no great surprise that Noynoy became a strict fiscalizer in his time, focusing more on accountability in government appropriations and spending than anything else. Among the measures he pushed for were greater restrictions on exemptions to the requirement of public bidding and strengthening legislative oversight over executive spending. He also sought to tighten congressional oversight on the executive’s use of public funds.
More importantly, if one studies the actual bills he filed and the quality of thinking that has gone into what are clearly pro-reform views, what is more striking is how many of them were not passed. How is it that none of these (arguably stellar) initiatives — on PNP reform; an increase in penalties for corporations and work establishments not compliant with minimum wage; the banning of reappointments to the Judicial and Bar Council; the prevention of reappointments and bypassing of the Commission on Appointments; real property valuation based on international standards; and superior responsibility for senior military officers, who are ultimately responsible for their own subordinates — had been passed? Had they been blocked, I had to ask? These were after all not the kind of trivial initiatives one might associate with certain legislators, for instance, and could certainly have benefited the country as a whole…
Noynoy agreed with my reading, noting that the job of an effective legislator goes beyond merely proposing laws. After all, legislators have the responsibility to ensure that the checks and balances system in our government is at work as well. But he had clearly pitted himself against the administration in a score of privileged speeches that questioned the government’s alleged human rights abuses (with respect to the desaparecidos, informal settlers, marginalized groups and extrajudicial killings). He has also continued to question the misuse of public funds (ZTE-NBN, “Euro Generals” and Fertilizer Fund, etc.). So it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if he had rubbed the administration the wrong way, which would certainly explain why so many of his initiatives never saw the light of day. Clearly, he would have been threatening to many in the establishment, which further sheds light on why he was stripped of his post as Deputy Speaker for Luzon after he called for GMA’s resignation at the height of the “Hello, Garci” scandal…
via Notes from an Insomniac: A conversation with Noynoy by Lila Shahani.

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Better Class of Government Officials Please:: PRESS STATEMENT 28 March 2010 CONCERNED ARTISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES

PRESS STATEMENT
28 March 2010
CONCERNED ARTISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES
Reference: Roselle Pineda, tel. 09296454102
Cause-oriented
artists’ group slams MTRCB for “X” rating
The Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP)
joins the local film, media and creative communities in lambasting the
so-called Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) for
reverting to open fascism when it slapped an “X” rating on two films
for AmBisyon 2010 of local cable channel ANC.
This MTRCB action bares once again the repressive
soul of this relic of an agency from the martial law regime of decades past.
Under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the MTRCB has been at its most ferocious since
1986, effectively censoring the most number of films with “X” ratings
for the narrow partisan purposes of the power-hungry few. These strikedowns
expose to all and sundry the basic deceit that the MTRCB is merely a review and
classification agency.
The MTRCB should have long been sent to the dustbin
of history along with the martial law dictatorship. Its existence wantonly
violates the bold mandate of the constitution to protect freedom of expression
as an inalienable right not to be suppressed by prior restraint that the MTRCB
signifies as an institution. That Congress has not come out with a law
abolishing it 23 years after our people ratified a fundamental law with a
superior Bill of Rights speaks of the actual insensitivity to democracy of
those who have ruled the legislature and government all these years.
CAP had worked with many of today’s generation of
rising filmmakers in lobbying the passage of House Bill 6425 outlawing the
MTRCB. But this has languished under a Congress obsessed with the Arroyo
clique’s ploys to prolong itself in power.
The Arroyo regime has shown by this single act
against Philippine culture that it does not deserve at all being hosts to our
country being made this and next year’s ASEAN’s cultural capital. It is an
insult to ASEAN and the peoples of this region’s countries that the chosen
epitome of their colorful cultures would exhibit such a deep lack of respect
for cultural and creative expression.
We laud world-class Filipino filmmakers Jeffrey
Jeturian and Brillante Mendoza for holding their ground in asserting their
filmic portrayal of a country sadly lost to the mad dogs of greed and
powerlust. This MTRCB action pointedly proves the urgency of why their films
and others of similar nature ought to be made and broadcast in conscience. It
also pointedly proves why this year’s elections is all about removing the
U.S.-Arroyo regime from power.
CAP is thus intent in being part of the protests
against this abominable act of “X” ratings against the two AmBisyon
films. We likewise urge fellow Filipinos to do so, and make this season a time
to reclaim our country from the detestable Arroyo regime. ##

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