Meron Nga Bang Nagbago?

PNoy promised change. So far, there had been many changes. I laud the changes in the GOCCs and the GFIs. The exposes on how grossly abused these offices were by their boards. These are major changes that created a huge impact on public perception. But there changes that show na "walang pagbabago".

In the Bureau of Customs, "areglo" is still rampant. Before, it was P80,000-P125,000 per container. Now, it's between P165,000-P185,000. Only the faces changed but the same corrupt practices remained. Importers complained that despite their desire to pay the right taxes, officials come up with charges so that the importer would use the "areglo" just so they can bring their goods out. No wonder manufacturing costs are so high.

The new Metro Manila Development Authority administration has also done nothing. In fact, traffic has become terrible. Colorum buses continue to ply their routes with impunity. Of course the LTFRB shares the blame. The "Kabit system" is tolerated. There is a very simple solution to this problem, simple conduct an audit of franchises of these bus companies. EDSA looks like a huge parking lot even on weekends. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to fix this problem.

The revised IIRC report will be released on Monday. This will prove if things really has changed or wala talagang pagbabago. Will justice be blind or would it favor those close to PNoy? I hope there wouldn't be scapegoats.

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Where Were You?

As the debate on the RH Bill heats up, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is gearing up for a confrontation. First they threatened to call for civil disobedience, they now threaten to excommunicate anyone who supports the bill. Claiming that they are doing this in the name of morality. The say that when moral values are the issue, they will resort to these extreme actions to drive their point home.

Pure hypocrisy if you ask me. Where were you in the nine years of Arroyo's immoral reign? Isn't thievery a moral issue? Isn't human rights a moral issue? Isn't increasing poverty a moral issue? Isn't the destruction of the moral fibers of all our institutions a moral issue? The cheating and lying of the past administration and its cohorts were all moral issues, yet they did not even raise a whimper when all these were happening before our eyes.

Calling for civil disobedience just because the president is pushing for an informed choice is totally reckless. Their continuing rejection of the RH Bill runs smack of hypocrisy. They could not even police their ranks. We've seen priests father children, molest altar boys and steal mass collections. Have they done anything significant to address poverty that is a result of the lack or inadequate information and methods to plan for their family?

The Lord gave us free choice. It is up to us to use our God-given wisdom and intelligence to make our own conscientious choices. At the end of the day, it is my God that will decide if I lived my life in accordance with His teachings. We live in a democracy and you have the right to express yourselves. It is your right to call for civil disobedience. As a Catholic and a Filipino, I can also exercise my right to express myself. I'm sure I am not alone in saying that we too can call for a donation disobedience. After all, you get the money you spend on yourselves from us.

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Media Out of Focus

"A journalist is only as good as the last story he wrote."

It did not surprise me to see media practitioners and even networks included in the list of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC). Clearly, broadcast media overstepped the bounds of press freedom. They need not be told by any authority what they can and cannot air. It's a lame excuse to say that the police did not give any guidelines on what can broadcast. Either these people were stupid or simply ambitious. I am appalled by the way broadcast media handled the situation. Their actions contributed to the deterioration of the situation.

I do not understand why they have to show the actions of the assault team or show on national television Mendoza's brother screaming like a stuck pig. Things may have ended differently if Erwin Tulfo and Michael Rogas of RMN did not tie up the line of communication for almost an hour.

All rights have limitations. Press freedom is not exempted from these limitations. Media should know when lives are endangered. At the end of the day, broadcast media should know when they should act as reporters and when they should act as human beings. The media I saw on that fateful August day is a horde of predators out to squeeze every drop of ratings they can get out of the incident. They should be brave enough to accept the consequences of their reckless actions.

Legislators now would like to repress some of their rights. Media has only itself to blame. They said that the PNP failed to give them orders so they just let their cameras roll. Now that congress wants to regulate them, they raise a howl. If only media knew how to regulate itself, congress wouldn't step in. Alas, the temptation of becoming stars was just too irresistible. The networks should be reprimanded, the more guilty ones (Tulfo and Roags) should fry.

Broadcast media at least on this matter was clearly out of focus.

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The Illusion of Jueteng

I don't buy that jueteng gives employment to the poor. In fact, it enslaves them. A kubrador gets a measly 10% of his entire daily collections. It looks big until you see how many they are. A kubrador is lucky to earn P 200 for his efforts. Additional income can be had if one of his patrons win. And that very rarely happens. The biggest benefactor of jueteng is non other than the jueteng operator. The lowly kubrador slaves day in and day out to earn his keep while the operators sits idly by and rakes in hundreds of millions.

Like a slave, the lowly kubrador has no benefits. He has only himself to rely on when he gets sick. Is this how jueteng benefits the poor? Jueteng would be acceptable to those who are too naive to understand how jueteng really works. Jueteng's benefits is just an illusion to justify its existence. It's nothing but a means to exploit the poor and desperate. It's no wonder the Small Town Lottery (STL) will never succeed. No corrupt official will allow it. To legalize jueteng will take a big chunk of their earnings. Just imagine the tax they have to pay? They will have to raise the pay of the kubrador. Of course these people will have to pay their SSS contribution and medicare. No jueteng operator in his right mind will part ways with his millions. He would pay any amount to continue his exploitation.

*Jueteng operations in my area were temporarily stopped. A new chief of the PNP has just been appointed. People in the know will tell you this is the SOP every time a new chief is named. Negotiations will soon follow when everything settles down.

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The Truth

We've heard P-Noy's SONA and the two Kontra-SONAs of the minority in both houses. Edcel Lagman described P-Noy's SONA as "bitin" and misleading. The truth of the matter is that P-Noy got it right. His data was genuine as can be. He was right about the excessive benefits the MWSS execs get. Even the MWSS's OIC admitted it. What about the over importation of rice by the NFA? Yap denied it but evidence presented by Sec. Lito Banayo proved otherwise. In fact, surplus as far back as 2008 was discovered. P-Noy wasn't lying when he said the budget had been spent. Sure there's money in the coffers but all have been allocated to the different agencies. He has nothing to work with in terms of programmable funds. The misuse of the calamity fund was also proven to be true. Perhaps Lagman felt bitin because P-Noy mentioned only a few anomalies.

Alan Cayetano was his old true self. Feeling self-righteous as usual. He implores P-Noy to follow up on his promises. I guess he forgot that his gang blocked the resolution of Villar's scandalous C-5 Ext. controversy. Isn't that worthwhile job for the Truth Commission? Cayetano may have also forgotten how he exploited the Arroyo administration's scandals to further his political ambitions. He is the one selective in the fight against corruption. Their camp also was the one who used downright dirty tactics against P-Noy during the campaign. All the issues hurled against Villar were supported by real documents and not fabricated ones. He was never truly for the people in past nine years. He played poker with the people at the least of his concerns.

Lagman and Cayetano may have massive hangovers of the past nine Glu-rious years. The country has entered a new phase. The likes of Lagman and Cayetano are remnants of old politics where the truth is fabricated and manipulated. The truth of the matter is that the people can now differentiate fact from fiction.

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While Others Toil

The GOCCs really are the luckiest bunch of them all. P-Noy's expose on the lavish lives of the officials and the employees of MWSS is a great example of the disparity even in government. I'm sure those in NAPOCOR fairs even better. I could almost see the distraught faces of public school teachers and even health workers. What did these people do to deserve so many benefits. I don't see the logic behind the inequity in the same government.

Teachers have low pay, poor benefits (even the GSIS stole from them) and very long working hours. Our public health workers share the same fate. In their hands are the education and health of our nation. While those in the MWSS and NAPPOCOR are bestowed with so many perks despite being remiss in their jobs. How can they then justify the benefits their receive? The MWSS employees even have their own subdivision. And these people have the temerity to feel bad because they were singled out? Ang kakapal ng mga mukha niyo!

Habang kukuyakuyakoy kayo sa mga malalamig niyong opisina, our teachers endure hot and crowded classrooms. They are burdened with loans because their low salary isn't enough to support their families. They do not have a place to call their own while La Mesa Heights have huge three-storey houses. Do MWSS employees go through the same rigorous training and education our teachers and health workers go through to get their licenses and certificates? I doubt if they do.

While others toil to make ends meet, these lucky ones have grocery allowances, mid-year and end-year bonuses. Hell, they even have productivity bonuses despite the water crisis. They even have reimbursements for their expenses. They even have an anniversary bonus! The MWSS should be closed down. It should be just a small department in the DPWH. Nothing will justify the the perks these people get at the taxpayers expense.

I hope P-Noy does the moral thing and teach these people a lesson. While they bask in the sunshine, our teachers and health workers slave in the shadows of despair.

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Nagsusumiksik!

The party-list 1-UTAK has announced that they are dropping Angelo Reyes as their nominee for congress. I saw a defiant Reyes on TV and I don't think he's going down without a fight. I guess now Reyes feels how Erap felt when he abandoned Erap back in '01. Hasn't Reyes had enough? I'm sure he has put away a sizable retirement. What is it he wants that he is forcing himself to a group that no longer wants him?

He revealed that interest groups in the party wants him out. At least the one who wants to represent 1-UTAK is a true bus operator and not an impostor like him Reyes has yet to secure a COMELEC proclamation. And last Thursday, he was informed by the house SG that he should present the pertinent documents before being allowed in congress. Poor Angie, he's been hanged to dry.

I recall Reyes bullying anyone and everyone who questioned him during his term as DOE secretary. Not even Ralph Recto was spared as he served as both spokesman and lawyer of the oil companies. Humility was never in his vocabulary. Now that the 1-UTAK party-list that he thought would be his ticket to congress has dropped him, he has nowhere to go. I don't know how he'll bully his way to congress. I hope he gets the message. Kung ayaw na sa'yo, huwag ka nang magsumiksik!

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