There is a story going around, true or false, that when DA Sec. Laurel reported to the President the corruption in agriculture, BBM asked for the list of the smugglers so he could handle the matter. That was the last Laurel heard of it. In his last SONA the President vowed “the days of smugglers […]
2024: The Year That Could Determine A Presidency
best read::Corruption, too | Inquirer Opinion
you define corruption as the appropriation of taxpayers’ money for personal gain, then this is corruption pure and simple. One sanctioned not just by long-held practice and tradition but by law.
All of which only shows how deeply rooted and tangled corruption is, and how beyond presidential resolve you need other things to push it back. Chief of them public opinion, public pressure, public opprobrium.
Someone like Enrile decides to play Santa Claus with your money, you can’t fight it legally, short of fighting to amend, or scrap, the law itself. But you can fight it morally, by public opinion, by heaping scorn on those who practice it—not quite incidentally by making sure that their children do not get voted into public office and that the values of their fathers are visited upon them.
You can fight it by telling the senators, whether they got P1.6 million or P250,000, whether the division of spoils is “hating kapatid” or hating gabi: You should be ashamed of yourselves you have the gall to accept things like this while the street children sleep in the streets, while the traffic cop grows tubercular from inhaling the traffic smoke. You have a heart, you have a conscience, why don’t you donate all that money to the cause of the NHA employees so their retirement pay, which is nowhere near what you get in a month, will remain intact?
I’m glad the commentators have been riled by this, but the question is, when will the public follow suit? When will we all get furious at this? When will we all go beyond making text jokes out of this? When will we start mounting a campaign against the kapal in the way we have done against the epal? This is appalling too, this is disgusting too:
This is corruption, too.
via Corruption, too | Inquirer Opinion.
Binay and the court of public opinion | Inquirer Opinion
Unlike most of my friends I am not a fan, of Prof Monsod rather I’ve tried to teach myself how to be level headed and critical of everything. So if it seems I am ragging on the VP often this is not some demagogue
Six times in the past seven weeks, this column has been devoted to issues surrounding the Makati parking building and other possible cases of corruption against Vice President Jejomar Binay, who, as mayor, and together with his wife (three years) and son (four years and counting), has ruled Makati for the past 27 years.
Why the concentration on the overpriced building and Binay? Because Binay has made no secret of his desire to be president of the Philippines in 2016. Therefore, Filipinos should have access to independent information (as opposed to his press releases and the work of his network of media professionals) on how he ran Makati, which will help them make up their minds as to whether he deserves to be president—other than that he has been dreaming of it since he was a poor, orphaned child.
Binay has portrayed himself as a victim of political persecution, saying the case involving the Makati parking building is already with the Sandiganbayan and therefore should no longer be heard by the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee headed by Koko Pimentel. In addition, he says, the subcommittee has no jurisdiction and it should be the full committee that should be hearing the case.
Sorry, Mr. Vice President. It takes the Sandiganbayan an average of eight years to resolve a case, and quite apart from the doubts on its integrity, it is a fact that a decision made eight years from now by that court will be useless to the Filipino people who will be judging you in the election that will take place 18 months from now. Which is why they need to know about how you ran Makati, and, relatedly, your unexplained wealth.
The only possible place they can get their facts is from the Pimentel subcommittee, but you and your minions are trying your best to gag them. The political-persecution ploy is overplayed, I think. The fact that you are allowed by the administration to hand out land titles (the President usually does that) allows me to rest my case. The lack-of-jurisdiction ploy is the same one you used in 1995, and it bought you four years from the Supreme Court. I don’t know how many times you’ve used it since then, but I hope it doesn’t succeed now. The fate of the country is at stake.
Then there’s the presumption-of-innocence ploy—a man is presumed innocent until he is found guilty. True enough. But the Senate hearings are not a criminal proceeding, so that presumption is not at issue. This is the court of public opinion. Because, Mr. Vice President, you want to be president. And the question of the people watching is: Are you worthy?
via Binay and the court of public opinion | Inquirer Opinion.
Mary Jane Veloso and being on different sides of the elephant
Who did what?
I first found out about Mary Jane’s case in January 2015, long before Filipinos knew who she was. This means I’ve been talking to the Philippine embassy officials about her case even before Migrante and NUPL knew about it.
At the time, they were preparing her first case review. They shared the background and the plans with me – to raise the translator issue – but asked me not to publish anything yet because they didn’t want to prejudice the upcoming case.
This is an indisputable fact: The Philippine government hired Indonesian lawyers to appeal Mary Jane’s case, but they did not publicize what they were doing at the start.
I’ve raised my concern several times about the lack of publicity over Mary Jane’s case, but the embassy insisted they believed the legal route will have a better chance of saving her than publicity, which at the time was backfiring on the Australians.
via Mary Jane Veloso and being on different sides of the elephant.
BINAYARAN WATCH::Makati Home Ville: Where lies the truth?
The article tries to fact check the testimony of the witnesses but instead becomes a he said she said article.
It fails to ask the right questions and instead muddies the issue. Trash journalism.
Let us give a simple example of the enclosed excerpt.
In the article the issue of the housing of relocation is a statement by Binay that :
‘Binigyan na kayo ng lupa, gusto n’yo pa ng bahay?” (He said, “You were already given lands, you still want to be given houses?”).
The article then quotes a resident:
“Hindi totoo ‘yan (That’s not true)!”
“Yung mga may kaya na magtayo nang sarili nila, okay lang na magtayo. Yung di kaya magtayo, lilipat sila sa pabahay, (Those who have the means, they may build their houses. Those who can’t, will be moved to the housing units),”
The issue was how unapologetic nay entitled Binay’s wording was. It was as if a King/Queen was telling his subjects you are alive what more can you ask for.
While the quoted person was addressing not what was said but the options the people in Homeville had.
And the the stupid reported didn’t have the sense to ask. Where does one live for 6 months while the HomeVille housing was being constructed while you are already here in Calauan?
WTF this is probably an overmatched intern or a paid hack.
EntitlementLani claimed, “Ang mga tao, takot lang magsalita. Siyempre, Binay ito. Kung paalisin sila? (The people here are just afraid to talk. Of course, this is Binay’s. What if they get evicted?)”To outsiders, the relocation site is Binay Compound. But to residents, it’s Makati Home Ville, and the 40-hectare property was purchased by the city government of Makati.Before the Senate committee, Edison recalled asking the Vice President about his alleged promise of providing them shelter: “Sabi niya, ‘Binigyan na kayo ng lupa, gusto n’yo pa ng bahay?” (He said, “You were already given lands, you still want to be given houses?”).Lopez outrightly dismissed this: “Hindi totoo ‘yan (That’s not true)!”“Yung mga may kaya na magtayo nang sarili nila, okay lang na magtayo. Yung di kaya magtayo, lilipat sila sa pabahay, (Those who have the means, they may build their houses. Those who can’t, will be moved to the housing units),” Zeny explained.THOSE WHO ARE ABLE. Residents with the means to build their own houses are encouraged to do so. Those who can’t, will move to the housing units.The housing units in Phase 3 were completed in March 2013. But it took 4 years since the first relocatees were moved to Makati Home Ville before the housing units were finished. They weren’t occupied until 6 months later.
via Makati Home Ville: Where lies the truth?.
DILG: A bright future awaits 4Ps graduates | Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines
DILG: A bright future awaits 4Ps graduates
Posted on April 9, 2015
From the Department of Interior and Local Government
Thousands of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) high school scholars gathered together with Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Mar Roxas and other cabinet members in the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Thursday, to celebrate their graduation.
“Marami ang tumulong, marami ang nagsakripisyo para tayo ay makatuloy sa pag-aaral. Anuman ang marating natin, hindi tayo solo-flight dito,” said Roxas.
According to Roxas, the 4Ps project is an investment to elevate the situation of the students and families living in the poverty line.
Roxas also asked the students and their parents to continue reaching for their dreams, even if it meant sacrifice and hardship.
“Tandaan ninyong hindi kayo nag-iisa. Nariyan ang Maykapal. Anuman ang mangyayari sa inyo, anuman ang mangyayari sa ating bansa ay nasa sainyo,” Roxas said.
Help also continues for beneficiaries in the form of internships, college scholarships and skills training programs from the government.
Secretaries Corazon Soliman (DSWD), Armin Luistro (DepEd), Rosalinda Baldoz (DOLE), Commissioner Jose Sixto ‘Dingdong’ Dantes (NYC), and the supporters of the 4Ps were also present in the program.
More than 4.4 million poor Filipino families receive regular cash grants from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a poverty reduction strategy that gives Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) to poorest households, provided that they comply with the conditions set by the program.
This program also ranks as the 3rd largest conditional cash transfer program in the world, next to Brazil and Mexico.
dilg.gov.ph
via DILG: A bright future awaits 4Ps graduates | Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
CCT beneficiary to study civil engineering in UP | Inquirer News
Topnotchers and awardees
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said of the 4,000 graduates feted on Thursday, 95 shone academically and graduated as topnotchers and awardees in various fields.
The CCT program, or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, has been heavily criticized as a “dole’’ by some sectors while others claim that the program’s budget is excessive.
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who was one of the guests at the celebration, appealed to the students and their parents to continue reaching for their dreams, even if it meant sacrifice and hardship.
Aside from the high school graduates, the DSWD also presented two former beneficiaries who graduated from college with the help of CHEd and are now licensed teachers.
“These kids only get P500, which is little. But you can see that with the perseverance of the children and their parents, they are now able to finish school,” Soliman said.
via CCT beneficiary to study civil engineering in UP | Inquirer News.
BINAYaran Watch::‘Kuli-kuli’, Binay, and his humble beginnings
3 Hits and you are part of the list
🙂
MANILA, Philippines – We all know the story. Orphaned at a young age, Vice President Jejomar Binay lived with an uncle in a seedy area known as Kuli-Kuli in Pio del Pilar, Makati, helping with the household chores and working his way through high school and college, before finally obtaining a law degree at the University of the Philippines.
via ‘Kuli-kuli’, Binay, and his humble beginnings.
Lee Kuan Yew and Jojo Binay | Inquirer Opinion
And by the way, I thought the Binays did not want the Senate hearings, because these were supposedly usurping the powers of the Office of the Ombudsman and the courts? “Let the courts decide,” the Binays said. So why are they fighting the Ombudsman and the courts every inch of the way? When the judicial proceedings to ferret out the facts are delayed by legal maneuverings, how are the citizens going to make an informed decision?
via Lee Kuan Yew and Jojo Binay | Inquirer Opinion.
rePost::The case for a State-owned newspaper in the Philippines | The Society of Honor by Joe America
We have a situation in the Philippines where the nation’s Fourth Estate, its popular media, are not fulfilling the vital role of fairly and accurately informing the public about what is happening. Indeed, they contribute to a form of hysterical tyranny. Even lead media outlets like the Daily Inquirer or ABS-CBN television give the news tabloid treatment that favors one political agenda over another.
It is the way “journalism” reporting is done in the Philippines. Conflict is featured and hyped. Sensational headlines are penned with little regard as to who is harmed by inaccurate words. The well-being of the Philippines, which is what ethics are designed to protect, is ignored. Complaints and anger accordingly run deep. Incidents are not framed in balanced and information-rich articles.
Is it any wonder why Filipinos are down on their nation even as the Philippines rises?
via The case for a State-owned newspaper in the Philippines | The Society of Honor by Joe America.