People will know in increased delivery of public service (better roads, more bridges, better access to public health, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseam). The need to advertise your ugly mug only comes around because you cannot account for the work you did prior to the election in the tangibles. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.



Newspapers nowadays are so shoddy that they are filled with unconfirmed reports and editorial bias. Sensationalism and propaganda take over objective reporting of the news. Broadcast media is even worse. Gone are the days of respectable newscasters. All we have now are a bunch of clowns (some of them have made senate and vice presidency) who have taken the dignity out of broadcast media and replaced it with inanity. So even if your common tao would "keep himself updated" there is a lack of respectable programs and print media to help him think for himself. Thought, instead gets shoved into his subconscious. And what help would those billboards be? Just a bloody waste of taxpayer money. There is no more meritocracy in our society and that is depressing. With no meritocracy, how can we find the drive to achieve and excel? All we have left is the inane world of showbiz. Religion is no longer the opiate of the masses. It is now MTB, Magandang Gabi Bayan and the like. Sad...

What do you guys think of the new Cabinet people, especially Nonong Cruz at DND? Do you think GMA's "I want people who agree with me." stance on Cabinet appointments will help or hinder the 10-point Agenda?

I was initially disappointed over the replacement of Pagdanganan by Ace Durano. Of all the departments where the president had to make a political appointment, why the Dept. of Tourism? At least Durano set some very objective targets for himself (5M tourists annually?). Why not some other agency like housing where he can utilize his political clout? We'll see if he has the fortitude to carry out his promises.

The DOT should be headed by a very good PR/Marketing man, not by a politician. Durano's target is 5 million tourists a year by 2010. I think the current tourist arrivals are 1.2 million. How the heck can he achieve an increase of 3.8 million more tourists within 6 years? A more realistic goal would be to increase tourists arrivals by 20% a year.

The number one hindrance to the growth of tourism is the lack of peace and order. If the government can effectively curb criminality, it would be fairly easy to encourage tourists to come here.

I commend GMA for choosing Former Batanes representative Abad as Deped secretary. I hope he can institute more reforms in basic education.

As for me, I've resigned myself to the fact that politics will always be politics. Anecdotal experience has demonstrated the ineffectiveness of pure technocracy in running a cabinet position and there are instances where having political clout is needed to get the job done. What's more important is that whoever is appointed to hold a position - be it technocrat or politician - is held accountable for accomplishing results. Durano/Cebuanos had the audacity to ask for a job that is of critical economic importance so he ought to be made to feel the heat if he misses his targets.

As for the hindrance of growth in tourism, I don't think peace and order are our only obstacles. We really have to work on the competitiveness of our "product" aside from simply resorting to PR. What is it we have to offer that a North American tourist would exchange for a trip to the Bahamas, or a tour of Thailand, to name a few?

I think we can state as fact that this government (notably its head) is pushed primarily by repaying political debts over qualifications. True that Nonong Cruz may be qualified to run the DND, but don't you think that appointment was brought about due to his being GMA's lawyer and got her off the hook on the Jose Pidal scandal? Same can be said about Abad and Durnao bringing in the votes from their respective provinces, qualifications notwitstanding.
I know Ace Durano is an up and coming go-getter, but his appointment reeks of payback politics. I sincerely wish him well and hope he proves sceptics (present company included) wrong. More than the North Americans, I think he should focus on residents of the region (SE Asia) and Australia. A recent survey says Australians are the most travelled people in the planet, but they somehow skip RP in favour of Indonesia and Thailand (heck, even Vietnam). Time to focus on our neighbours instead of our former (and present?) colonial masters to bring in tourism revenue.
Ditto on peace and order, but has anyone paid notice to our decrepit international airport in Manila? I am quite ashamed to ask friends from overseas to visit the Philippines because I know they will be disembarking on that sh**house we call an airport. Not a very good first impression, no?

Let's tax the religious groups!

Tataas nga lang for sure tuition sa Ateneo.

Let me just say that GMA’s SONA re: 10-point agenda is going to be a hard sell. I do not see how this agenda is any different from previous SONAs except to say that the promises in these SONAs all sound the same and they all failed to deliver. Check out today’s Philippine Daily Inquirer editorial (Sept. 10) and you’ll find I am not the only pessimist and doubting Thomas here whenever GMA opens her mouth.
GMA is trying to tell all and sundry that she can pull-off a “legacy” of sorts with her expenditure intensive 10-point agenda. What I cannot figure out is: how can she possibly pull-off this expensive legacy of hers at a time when she openly admitted only now that Government is in a “fiscal crisis”? GMA says the solution to this crisis “cannot begin unless the problem is recognized.” Yan na nga ang mahirap sa kaniya eh. matagal na alam niya na problema ‘yan at ngayon lang niya inamin kung kailan malala na ang problema. Well, she cannot talk about this crisis during her three year term and up to the election period. that would surely belie all the achievements she claimed in all her SONAs. Tutal, naka-upo na siyang bilang "duly elected" presidente kaya pwede nang sabihin ito. Now, GMA’s “solution” is for citizens to foot the bill with new tax measures. It is not clear whether proceeds of these tax measures will go to prioritize funding of the 10-point agenda or pay-off the huge indebtedness of corrupt-ridden government corporations, which Administrations from Cory to GMA mindlessly assumed as public debt then sold these debt free GOCCs or government assets at bargain prices, and left no trace where proceeds of the sale went. But from the looks of the proposed 2005 national budget, it seems that debt servicing gets funding priority over her 10-point agenda as is always the case in the previous national budgets where roughly a third of the budget goes to debt servicing that leaves little to fund economic programs. As total debts are said to hit nearly P6T, the pressure to service the debts more than fund economic programs including GMA’s 10 point agenda becomes increasingly apparent. if that is how it's going to be, there goes her 10-point agenda.
The worst part of these new tax measures is they do not really intend to target the incomes of the rich, but more on indirect taxes like increasing the VAT, more taxes on oil products, raising car registration fees, reducing allotments to LGUs, etc. You know government is really getting desperate when they go as far as scrapping the barrel further with proposals to tax the Church.
All these tax measures being planned by the Government without owing the public an explanation as to why GMA borrowed more money than the combined borrowings of Ramos and Erap, and explaining further where all these P1.2 T in borrowings went.
Still, GMA went to town trying to sell her 10-point agenda, but you cannot help feel skeptical of her like a scheming door-to-door salesman who’s out to scam you into losing your shirt. Well, GMA is not exactly your trustworthy public official. Who can forget what GMA did when she allowed transport fares to rise only after the elections, and gave a false election promise to raise the salaries of government employees when she knew all along that the Government cannot afford it because it’s bankrupt? Anyway, this is expected from someone who has no word of honor like the time when she promised not to run, but ran anyway. GMA is also known to do the exact opposite of what she says when she had her whole family tag along during her state visit to China for “quality time,” but not before leaving strict word that the whole country must do more sacrifices, which was pathetically led by her obsequious PNP Chief designate who pledged to donate his day’s salary and asked (or ordered) everyone in the entire police force to do the same leaving his poor policemen no choice but to reluctantly to do the same.
Sorry, I need some form of release given the hardships a worsening economy brings to the lives of Filipinos. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, we have no other choice but to pay for the sins of others lest we endure once more the crippling effects and the difficulties of frequent and long brownouts in 1992. But before we do that, the culprits behind the plunder and the many lives they destroyed in the process must be sent to jail.

Another stupid idea

First they ask the cops to donate part of their salary. Now they're going after Fil-Ams. They seem to be thinking of every creative idea except the ones that matter most:

1. Senators/Congressmen - in addition to cutting their port, will they agree not to obstruct proposed new tax measures? How about Lito Camacho's proposal to match every spending bill with a corresponding revenue-generating bill?

2. Executive Dept. - will GOCCs also curb discretionary off-the-budget borrowings that they later pass on to the treasury?

3. Businessmen - will they volunteer to pay the right corporate taxes as well as the back taxes that they owe?

This Bayanihan Fund is nothing more than an attempt to pass the responsibility for solving the deficit away from the establishment under the disguise of patriotism. Before they resort to patriotic measures, maybe they can do what's practical first.


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Fil-Ams asked to give to avert fiscal crisis
Updated 05:08pm (Mla time) Sept 12, 2004
By TJ Burgonio
Inquirer News Service


AMBASSADOR Lauro Baja Jr. on Saturday exhorted the Filipino-American community in the United States to "join hands" with their countrymen in Manila and pitch in to the "Bayanihan Fund" to avert a looming fiscal crisis.

Baja, Manila's permanent representative to the United Nations, said the fiscal problem "presents a singular opportunity and challenge" to the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) to help the country.

"Senators and congressmen have agreed to renounce their pork, or part of it; the Executive Department has embarked on austerity measures; businessmen have come forward, promising to pitch in and religious organizations have taken notice of the crisis," he said at the 6th Empowerment Congress of the NaFFAA in Chicago.

"I therefore call on NaFFAA to support the efforts of our kababayans back home and contribute to the Bayanihan Fund," Baja said in his speech.

I read on the news that Congressmen have finally agreed to abolish the pork barrel system throughout the government, and a line budgeting system be adopted in its stead. Hope they can push through with this.

so how did people react to this, rab? how do these morons get chosen for these posts?

No word yet on how the Fil-Am community reacted to this proposed extension of the Bayanihan Fund.

What ticks me off is this seemingly cheap attempt by politicians to deflect responsibility for making a mess out of the Philippine treasury. How condescending of them to ask hard-working ordinary Filipinos to "join hands" and "face the challenge" of overcoming the deficit when they themselves are least willing to make the difficult but necessary decisions, like forcing special interest groups to pay the right taxes. Maybe they think that the Filipino-American community is some kind of emergency fund that they can use at will whenever they want to cover for their mismanagement.

I don't know what business it is of Baja to be making such an appeal to the Fil-Am community since he is the representative to the UN and not the USA. Baja was appionted from the diplomatic ranks. Perhaps he was only doing what the higher-ups in Manila told him to do without thinking about whether or not it made sense.

Hoy, Gloria! Ano na ba ang nangyari dyan sa _intek na "Strong Republic" mo? ito ba ang pinagmamalaking mong "Strong Republic" na lubog ang 'pinas sa utang dahil sa iyo?
lolokohin mo na naman kami ulit ng ten-point agenda mo. tigilan mo nga kami.