Category: Philippines

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Phil Gov't Give Secessionist Group Deadline

The MILF another secessionist group that would like to create an Islamic State are back to their old ways.
THIS IS WRONG!!!
FROM HERE:

Gov’t gives MILF 24 hours to move out of NCotabato areas
08/07/2008 | 10:51 AM
Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain Aspect of the GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001
(Updated 2:05 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines – The government on Thursday gave the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) a 24-hour deadline to move out of several towns in North Cotabato that its forces had “forcibly taken.”
In a press conference at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Interior Sec. Ronaldo Puno said the MILF’s occupation of several areas in North Cotabato was unacceptable and that the government will be compelled to use “whatever action is necessary” if the rebel forces refuse to leave the area within the deadline.
The decision – which was finalized Wednesday night following a meeting of the National Security Council – came amid an already tense situation in Mindanao over disagreements on the government’s ancestral domain agreement with the MILF, whose signing was halted by the Supreme Court.
Earlier in the day, Executive Sec. Eduardo Ermita disclosed reports of unrest in Mindanao although he did not give details on the report.
“Our peace advisers informed the International Monitoring Team and the combined Coordinating Committees for the Cessation of Hostilities. We are giving those individuals that forcibly occupied these areas 24 hours to vacate. Otherwise they shall be forcibly separated from the area. We cannot allow these things to happen,” Puno said.
“The 24-hour deadline will end at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Friday),” he added.
Puno said that since July 1, several barangays in North Cotabato towns were forcibly occupied by some 800 elements of the MILF, including villages in the municipalities of Aleosan, Libungan and Midsayap.

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Power rates could drop by P2 per kWh, UP study shows

Dr Allan Nerves was my research adviser for my undergraduate research, Very understated but a great adviser. The attack dogs are coming Doc Nerves, God Bless. Sir Ivan and Sir Wally we my professors.
from here:
Power rates could drop by P2 per kWh, UP study shows
By Donnabelle Gatdula
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Power rates could be reduced by as much as P2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) if the government and the private sector will come together to do their share in reducing electricity rates, according to initial results of a study commissioned by the University of the Philippines.
In a public forum which presented the draft study entitled “Anatomy of the Power Rates in the Philippines,” the four-man research team had listed 10 items in the power rates that would be looked at.
The study, which will be released in its final form within the month, is authored by Edna Espos, Allan Nerves, Ivan Benedict Nilo Cruz and Rowaldo del Mundo. The team is working on a UP Diliman Open Grant research program Office of the Chancellor through the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and development).
The paper has four parts including generation; transmission and distribution; other issues such as stranded cost, incremental currency exchange rate adjustment (ICERA), subsidies and taxes; and conclusion and summary of how to reduce the electricity rates by at least P2.0913 per kWh.
Among the items in the list of possible areas that could help in the reduction of power, according to the UP research team, and their corresponding savings are: Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) power cost at optimal mix (88 centavos per kWh); reduction in generation rate adjustment mechanism (GRAM)and ICERA charges of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), (30 centavos); reduction in Napocor basic average generation charge from peso appreciation (0.06 centavos); reduction in Napocor basic charge average generation charge from plants sold and removed from rate base (32 centavos); adjustment of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) charges from removal of appraisal increase (18 centavos); adjustment of distribution charges from removal of appraisal increase (10 centavos); cost of missionary electrification assumed by government (3.73 centavos); removal of charge for benefits to host communities (0.04 centavos); removal of value-added tax (VAT) system loss 0.6 centavos and removal of government unencumbered share of natural gas royalty (15 centavos).
“The reduction in electricity rates can be effected through a combination of simple adjustment in regulatory/implementing policy and amendment of the EPIRA,” the team said.
Former energy secretary and UP College of Engineering Dean Francisco Viray said the recommendations made by the team of Professor Del Mundo should be restudied to take into account the present regulatory and legal framework.
Citing an example on the costs of the IPPs and Napocor as mentioned in the study, he said, “You cannot compare the avoided cost today (which is actually not an avoided cost as there is still a subsidy) with that when these IPP projects were conceived.” He added that rate cases or simulations are best tossed to the proper body which is the ERC.
The group also recommended that there should be an adjustment in regulatory and other policies to auction values of Napocor’s generating assets; for proper application of the performance-based rate; and ICERA.
They said these recommendations may also require legislative action such as the amendment of the EPIRA which include WESM; assignment of the government unencumbered share of the natural gas royalty by way of a corresponding reduction in generation charges; the removal of the universal charge for missionary electrification, stranded debts and stranded contract costs of Napocor, equalization of taxes and royalties; and environmental charge.
The recommendations, however, elicited different reactions from the industry stakeholders who were present during the forum.
Meralco president Jesus Francisco, for his part, said only 24.73 centavos of the proposed P2 per kWh of the UP-sponsored study would be adopted.
Francisco also noted that “while the study is supposed to analyze the cost structure and the technical, financial and regulatory elements of the electric power industry, we find that many of the recommendations are lacking in such analysis.”
“Since the full paper is still to be completed, we trust that our comments will be addressed in the final output,” he said.

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Alienation For OFW Coming Home

from here

Study: OFWs feel alienated, dissatisfied when they return to RP

08/04/2008 | 08:21 PM
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MANILA, Philippines – Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who had been exposed to societies that adequately provide for the needs of their people return home feeling alienated and dissatisfied with the Philippines.
This was the result of a two-year research project titled “Democratization through Migration” by the Arnold Bergstraesser-Institute (ABI) based in Freiburg, Germany.
A copy of the recent study was furnished to GMANews.TV on Monday by OFW group Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino.
According to the study, many returning OFWs who had experienced better living conditions abroad expect more from the Philippines.
ABI researchers Christl Kessler and Stefan Rother said the study revealed OFWs’ “strong discontent with the democratic processes in the Philippines, despite a general defense of democratic rights and freedom.”
The two said that “a feeling of neglect and discrimination for poor and uneducated citizens was felt by the respondents, having the mindset that the Philippine political system was exclusively serving the interests of the elite.”
The study also showed that “an active OFW civil society independent of the political system of the destination” can have a positive effect on the migrants’ sense of action and usefulness.
Questionnaires were used in ABI’s interviews with 1,000 migrants who were just about to leave the Philippines and 1,000 OFWs returning from Japan, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Hong Kong.
ABI presented the study last week at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City in cooperation with the Social Weather Stations, and the Political Science Department of UP-Diliman.
The study was financed by the Foundation for Population, Migration and Environment. – KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV
Can’t seem to find an online copy of the study.  Based on my own experiences these feels right but I’d really like to see the data they gathered.
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640000 Filipinos Left The Country The First Half of 2008

DOLE: Jobs available in RP but more Pinoys leaving

BY FIDEL JIMENEZ, GMANews.TV

08/01/2008 | 11:59 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque on Friday maintained that jobs are available in the Philippine despite the increase in the number of Filipinos who were deployed outside the country in the first six months of 2008.
His remarks came the same day that it was learned that 640,000 Filipinos left the country from January to June this year.

The data came from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) which said that the said figure was 33 percent higher compared to 479,725 Pinoys deployed abroad during the same period in 2007.
The said increase is much higher compared to the normal three percent deployment growth every year, according to Roque.
But the increase on the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) doesn’t mean that jobs opportunity lack here in the Philippines.
“Overseas employment is only an option…well higher pay and better employment terms and conditions,” explained by Roque.
Roque made the remarks when interviewed by GMA news. The report was aired over 24 Oras.
The possibility of more Filipinos to leave the Philippines in the coming days will surely happen after the labor department announced that are more job opportunity available for professional and skilled workers in European countries like France, Finland, Australia and Canada.
Roque said the Phillippines is about to seal a memorandum of understanding with France to allow the entry of Filipino nurses, IT professionals and engineers.
Finland, meanwhile, is in need of nurses, Roque added.
In Southern Australia, there are 30,000 job vacancies for professional and skilled workers.
Three provinces in Canada are looking for engineers, nurses, welders, trailer drivers and bartenders.
But Roque said one of the requirements in the European countries is for foreign workers is to learn their language.
“Requirements nila yun otherwise hindi kayo magkakaintindihan… Sa Finland willing sila na magpadala ng teachers dito (to teach Pinoy of their language),” Roque said. – Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV

My only quirk with this piece is where in Europe is Australia and Canada???  Borrowing Brad Delong’s words.
Why Oh Why Can’t We Have A Better Press Corps.
PS: I think that I would have enjoyed if more If I knew , How many return each year?? or at least between the stated period.

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Unskilled OFW Remittance

from GMA news:

if the video doesn’t work try this link:
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For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

according to the NSO although the remittance from unskilled workers are only a third of skilled workers the sheer number of unskilled Filipino OFW’s make up for this and makes them the larger group in terms of total remittance amounting to around 17.6 billion peros (roughly 400 million dollars or 259 million euros thanks google).
The sad thing is anecdotally people are not really changing their lives long term. This is probably because the families here or back home rarely have enough schooling or are financially astute enough to handle the remittances that they get.
Add this to the fact that people from my country somewhat believe that work abroad is easier than back home. I remember my friends telling me how people coming back home have neighbors who wait in line to get gifts.
I think some things can be done to improve this, hope I can get something started.

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MOA

I think I need to follow local news more closely.
here is a nice intro to the MOA between the MILF Rebels and The Government Representatives.
I think the MOA is unconstitutional and may be there for two reasons.
The current government is trying to railroad a Charter Change, I pray they don’t succeed.
Why Can’t We Have A Better Class Of Politicians?

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Oppressed Mentality

thanks to brad delong from his excerpt here:

Though via a paradox: the greater their power, the more they felt oppressed. When the people who felt like losers united around their shared psychological sense of grievance, their enemies felt somehow more overwhelming, not less; even if the Franklins weren’t always really so powerful at all, Franklin “power” often being merely a self-perpetuating effect of an Orthogonian sense of victimization. Martyrs who were not really martyrs, oppressors who were not really oppressors: a class politics for the white middle class. The keynote of the new, Nixonian politics…though we are getting ahead of ourselves. For first we must send Richard Nixon to law school, where he was a monk….

I see this with a lot of my countrymen and women. its like so many people feel that they are so special as to believe that everyone is trying to oppress them. Damn. We are all special that’s why Nobody is special.
What I’d be honest enough to admit is what I continuously see. People are so caught up (except those people whom I know to have so much as to be ble to give so much of themselves, I wouldn’t name names so the few people who read this end up thinking I am referring to them) in the little drama of their own lives that most of the time your boss doesn’t hate you. The jeepney driver who gave you the wrong change didn’t actually try to cheat you. The lady who slightly nudged you while getting off the MRT(like the BART) didn’t really intend to shove you. Get Over Your Cult Of ME!

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Reminder To Start Helping

from here:
The economic growth in a country like South Korea, which has made much more educational progress than the United States, clearly demonstrates this. “If you look across countries,” says Lawrence Katz, a labor economist at Harvard, “education is the strongest predictor for how quickly the pie grows.”

Hope I can find the time to contribute in the community with increasing literacy and helping people find a track towards getting educated in my country. I don’t know. I promised myself I’d get more involve a around January next year. Posting this as a reminder.