Category: Politics

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rePost::Illusions and bitterness – Paul Krugman Blog – NYTimes.com

By all means denounce Obama for his failed bipartisan gestures. By all means criticize the administration. But don’t take it out on the tens of millions of Americans who will have health insurance if this bill passes, but will be out of luck — and, in some cases, dead — if it doesn’t.
via Illusions and bitterness – Paul Krugman Blog – NYTimes.com.

hmm. This is my reply to Sen. Noy’s vote of NO to the budget. I understand that he needs to build his profile and all but this is purely signaling. I suspect this would bite him if he wins the Presidential elections.
from the same linked article:

But what’s happening, I think, goes beyond health care; what we’re seeing is disillusionment with Obama among some of the people who were his most enthusiastic supporters. A lot of people seem shocked to find that he’s not the transformative figure of their imaginations. Can I say I told you so? If you paid attention to what he said, not how he said it, it was obvious from the beginning — and I’m talking about 2007 — that he was going to be much less aggressive about change than one could have hoped. And this has done a lot of damage: I believe he could have taken a tougher line on economic policy and the banks, and was tearing my hair out over his caution early this year. I also believe that if he had been tougher on those issues, he’d be better able to weather disappointment over his health care compromises.

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rePost::Philippine left backs Villar, Legarda | ABS-CBN News Online Beta

Philippine left backs Villar, Legarda
by Carmela Fonbuena, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 12/14/2009 1:52 PM
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MANILA, Philippines – After months of courtship, presidential candidate Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP) succeeded in getting the support of the leftist group Makabayan.
Senatorial aspirants Bayan Muna Satur Ocampo and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza on Monday officially joined the NP senatorial ticket as “guest candidates.”
Ocampo and Maza bring with them the support of the eight party-list groups under Makabayan–Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis, Kabataan, Katribu, Migrante, Courage, and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers.
“Matagal pinag-usapan ang pagsasamang ito. Di naging madali sa magkabilang panig dahil alam kong ito ay kauna-unahang pagkakataon. Nagsimula sa maraming pagkakaiba, sa pagwawakas konti lang pala pagkakaiba,” Villar said at a press conference in Quezon City.
“I am extremely happy with this partnership,” he added.
It is the first time that the leftist alliance is officially supporting presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
“Ganun kalaki ang pagtingin namin sa mga kandidatong ito,” said Ocampo’s colleague in Bayan Muna, Rep. Teodoro Casiño.
via Philippine left backs Villar, Legarda | ABS-CBN News Online Beta.

This is probably the first presidential election where the two front runners both give me hope that the Philippines can be a great country within a lifetime. There is only so much angst I can live with.  We can always hope pray and do.

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Praise::Senate lauded for passing Freedom of Info bill on 2nd reading – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News

The Right to Know, Right Now! network urged the Senate to sustain the momentum by immediately approving the bill on third reading. The network said it is important for both Houses of Congress to name their respective representatives and convene the bicameral conference committee to finally pass the measure for signing by President Arroyo.
According to the network, the right to information has been held by the courts to be executory, but it is difficult to enforce in practice. The Freedom of Information Act will make the Constitutional right to know and the state policy of full disclosure of transactions involving public interest fully operable. It provides a standard procedure in dealing with requests, and clarifies the exact scope of the right. It provides implementing mechanics for the automatic disclosure of key government transactions. It also puts in place effective sanctions to deter or make accountable the violation of the right.
“The Freedom of Information Act, if passed into law, will be a significant and lasting contribution of the 14th Congress to political and governance reform in the country, to benefit our generation, and the generations to come”, said the network. – PCIJ
via Senate lauded for passing Freedom of Info bill on 2nd reading – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News.

Had a discussion with a former professor about the freedom of information act as practiced in the Philippines.  The problem has always been about practicality, though in essence a law like this is unecessary we have a society that necessitates it. I pray that the Freedom Of Information act pave the way for a more involved polity.
I have my misgivings, of course. If GMA has showed us, with executive privilege that Mr. Neri used to hide what was said between him and the President, laws are really only as good as the people who serve under it, in some respects the law is still useless as long as we elect people who have no respect for it.

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rePost::Charter Cities: Property Reform in Peru

As formal property registration expanded through the late 1990s and the early 2000s, collateral-based lending increased. Newly formal property owners felt secure enough to make improvements to their property. With formal rights, people were free to pursue earnings opportunities away from their property without fear of losing it to another claimant. Panaritis also reports lower levels of child labor and higher levels of school enrollment among families with formal property rights compared to their informal counterparts.
The reforms made made property a tradable asset and gave Peruvians the freedom to use their property in ways that best served their interests. The reform effort was not a simple matter handing out titles under the existing system—it required the creation of a new system for registering property. To this end, the pilot program was key. It allowed reformers and property owners to try and revise the new system, the success of which engendered trust in the pilot participants and sparked enthusiasm for the reforms elsewhere in Peru.
via Charter Cities: Property Reform in Peru.

I’ve been thinking of creating a more personal blog, as long as I haven’t done anything about this plan there would be political stuff and views not related to Passion and Happiness in onthe8spot.com .
I am not anti-poor but squatting is government supported extortion.  The whole apparatus smacks of people rent seeking, from the courts to the enforcement officials.

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ROTD::Do Working Men Rebel? Insurgency and Unemployment

Do Working Men Rebel? Insurgency and Unemployment in Iraq and the Philippines
Most aid spending by governments seeking to rebuild social and political order is based on an opportunity-cost theory of distracting potential recruits. The logic is that gainfully employed young men are less likely to participate in political violence, implying a positive correlation between unemployment and violence in places with active insurgencies. We test that prediction on insurgencies in Iraq and the Philippines, using survey data on unemployment and two newly- available measures of insurgency: (1) attacks against government and allied forces; and (2) violence that kills civilians. Contrary to the opportunity-cost theory, we find a robust negative correlation between unemployment and attacks against government and allied forces and no significant relationship between unemployment and the rate of insurgent attacks that kill civilians. [Emphasis mine]
via Do Working Men Rebel? Insurgency and Unemployment.

This is discouraging. Please remember that GMA is still an economist and in some accounts a sharp person. Does this mean that keeping people in poverty a viable strategy in minimizing rebellion? It seems to be what the warlords and government are actually doing.

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Impeach The Comelec ::Pleasure and subversion: Psychiatric Association of the Taliban

Impeach the Comelec

Psychiatric Association of the Taliban
Dear Editor
Is there anyway to impeach the following Comelec Comisssioners: Nicodemo T. Ferrer, Lucinito N. Tagle and Elias R. Yusoph?
They must be impeached because they have openly decided to turn the country into a religious state instead of a secular one. I am referring of course to their decision to outlaw Ladlad on the basis of upholding religious beliefs. They quote the Bible and the Koran forgetting that they should consult the Philippine Constitution instead. Only in the Philippines would we have high government officials who state that obedience to religious beliefs trumps other more cogent legal provisions as a basis for policy.
If stupidity were a basis for impeachment, the proceedings would be quite short. Their display of ignorance of current scientific knowledge on sexuality is quite appalling. They should have taken the simple expedient of asking any psychiatrist or psychologist who upholds the standards of organizations like the World Health Organization or the American Psychiatric and Psychological Associations. They would have been told that homosexuality was delisted as a psychological pathology more than 30 years ago. They either did not bother to read for themselves or consulted the psychiatric association of the Taliban when they decided that homosexuality is an abnormality.
As a Filipino citizen who is neither Christian nor Muslim; as a practitioner and teacher in psychology and sexuality; as someone who cares that we do not look like backward bigots to the world community; I urge the impeachment of these men who have violated morals, scientific truths and our laws against discrimination.
I am so upset. I'm gay starting today and until Ladlad gets accredited.
Sylvia Estrada Claudio, M.D. PhD.
Director, University Center for Women’s Studies
Professor of Women and Development Studies
University of the Philippines
Posted by Sylvia Estrada Claudio at 4:08 AM
via Pleasure and subversion: Psychiatric Association of the Taliban.

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rePost::Paul Collier — Five myths about elections' power to change nations

4. Elections compel new democratic governments to overspend, worsening economic policies and performance.

When I investigated elections’ effect on economic policy in newly democratic countries, I found that populist pressure does cause policies to deteriorate somewhat in the year before an election. They certainly did in Ghana in 2008. But governments that face frequent elections have significantly better economic policies when they are averaged over the political cycle, and governments that become subject to elections improve their policies.
Unfortunately, there is a caveat: Elections in which there is misconduct have, at best, no effect on economic policy because governments are off the hook of accountability. For example, President Robert Mugabe chose to wreck the Zimbabwean economy precisely when he was facing contested elections. His policies were not even populist; he simply relied on fraud and intimidation to establish policies that benefited only a tiny political elite.
via Paul Collier — Five myths about elections’ power to change nations – washingtonpost.com.

This is a good reason why we cannot just let the alleged (damn political correctness)  election cheating/corruption/graft and overall crookedness of the present administration.

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rePost::The Long View: In defense of Esperanza Cabral : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose

I’ve bemoaned the lack of goodToGreat political blogs in the Philippines. Most tend to be ideologues and tend to bend over backward to defend their beliefs. Its refreshing to know that there is at least one High Quality blog in the Philippines about politics. Now if only I can find another 4  goodToGreat political blogs , I can finally start looking for goodToGreat Econ/Business blogs from the Philippines!

What struck me immediately about the controversial blog entry was that the problems the public has come to associate with officialdom and relief were notably absent. There was no pilfering, no looting, no diversion of relief to line official pockets. This, in itself, is a colossal achievement: the warehouses are secure, items are tidily kept and they presumably end up where they should. Another thing that struck me was that the secretary has proven true to her pledge to be transparent and accountable about donations: they are publicly available, on line, listing monetary donations, and donations in kind, and the disbursement of relief goods.
via The Long View: In defense of Esperanza Cabral : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose.

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Elink Vid:UKG Mindanao: PGMA hands over ancestral domain titles to Higaonon tribe

I used to believe that this would set a bad precedent and would fracture the Philippines;  but recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that if we want to survive the modern world as a nation we better really learn to embrace our differences while we embrace our similarities. I use to doubt we could. I do not know what has changed either within me or outside of me but I am more hopeful now that we can.
Good job PGMA , we almost never see eye to eye but praise to whom praise is deserved.

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rePost::Clinton lambastes 'anti-defamation' trend round the world | ABS-CBN News Online Beta

On what is the issue of this century, the rising friction between individual liberties and religion.  Which side are you on?

Clinton lambastes ‘anti-defamation’ trend round the world
Agence France-Presse | 10/27/2009 8:46 AM
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday came out strongly against laws around the world that make religious defamation a crime, saying freedom of speech and religion should be equally upheld.
“Some claim that the best way to protect the freedom of religion is to implement so-called ‘anti-defamation’ policies that would restrict freedom of expression and the freedom of religion,” she said on presenting a department report on religious freedom.
“I strongly disagree. The United States will always… stand against discrimination and persecution… But an individual’s ability to practice his or her religion has no bearing on others’ freedom of speech,” Clinton said.
“The protection of speech about religion is particularly important since persons of different faith will inevitably hold divergent views on religious questions. These differences should be met with tolerance, not with the suppression of discourse,” she added.
In a draft resolution adopted last month by the UN Human Rights Council, Egypt and the United States raised concerns over the rise of “negative racial and religious stereotyping of religions and racial groups” around the world.
via Clinton lambastes ‘anti-defamation’ trend round the world | ABS-CBN News Online Beta.