Global Pinoy for Better Philippines

I’ve seen on TV how Archbishop Cruz refused to grant Holy Communion to President Gloria. Was the Bishop God? Did he know the President’s sins even without saying confession to him? Was he sure of the President’s sins more than his own?

This Bishop has no place at the Catholic Church. He has been acting as if he is the god of pure souls. If he has knowledge of Gloria’s sins for him to refuse granting her communion, then why don’t  he present evidences? Why don’t he present proof to the CBCP so that they will all be enlightened?

This Bishop is such a despecable member of the Church! He should renounce his vocation because he is not worth to be called  leader of the Catholic Church!.

 The last time I wrote about NBN-ZTE was in October of last year. It’s been five months and the issue is far from over. Many personalities have been dragged to the issue but the investigation is leading everyone nowhere.

After listening to all statements, accusations and denials, I still believe that the project is good. It is Joey and his recently ousted Speaker of the House-father that messed up the whole thing to serve their personal purposes. In my own personal analysis, the de Venecias have been dipping their fingers to many government projects many years back. The father corners the project and the son works on the background. The father was in power for 12 long years and  still refuses to let go to the point of backstabbing his good friend/kumare Gloria. The son concealed his identity when he applied AHI to the NBN project but later freely announced his ownership despite the fact that his name did not appear on its registration documents. Both actions suggested there’s something fishy under the table. And yet they’re both very articulate in accusing Gloria of corruption. Well, if ever Gloria is, so are they!

Back to NBN-ZTE, I have a feeling that  Lozada and the deVenecias have  convinced Neri to back their NBN-BOT scheme before the end of 2006. Neri on his part was also able to convince the President to support their scheme that’s why the President has announced during the NEDA Board meeting in November 2006 that she wanted the project run by the private sector with no expense from the government. Early 2007 , however, Neri changed his mind and endorsed the NBN-ZTE and there seems to be a missing link between Neri’s change of position which is really mind boggling and has drawn many speculations and in fact, accusations against the President. This has become the main reason why the Senate investigation has not been concluded up to now. I can only guess that the missing link is the offer of China to corner the deal and the counter offer by the government which was well on its way where it not for the  cancellation of the deal as a result of Joey and Lozada’s crying foul  in public.

Based on what has been presented to the Senate by both parties, I am more inclined to believe the side of ZTE. Their proposed $329M will cover the entire country down to all barangays while Joey’s  AHI-BOT will only cover 80% which would exclude 5th and 6th class municipalities. ZTE’s offer was partly grant and partly social loan at 3% interest per annum payable in 30 years while Joey’s BOT would be privately funded but likewise operated and later transfered to the government. If I were the project analyst, I would readily go for the ZTE’s offer first because of the coverage it offers, 2nd because of the technical assistance package (grant), 3rd because of the very easy terms of payment, and lastly because it will be managed outright by the government. Communications and transportation facilities are basic public services that should be ran or regulated by the government especially that internet has no barriers. It would be very risky for the government to allow private sector to run a public service that have no boundaries. And this aside from the fact that Joey seems to be backed up by another Chinese company he has long been in association with. For one, Joey’s AHI has no sufficient capital back-up for the project. This is again very risky because we are not aware of their secret deals unlike with the ZTE which is now an open book. But the de Venecia’s have succeeded in nipping the project in the bud. Their apparent and obvious association with the opposition who has a grind to axe against the President is really a well planned strategy and they seem to have gained momentum. But really, the good side of the President seem to be weighing more. Despite all the combined efforts of those that openly despise the President, still they do not succeed. The Lozada popularity was such a lofty and fleeting status. If the Senate is really honest in their intention to guard the reins of the government and the welfare of the people what they could probably do is to seek independent budget estimates for the NBN project in order to assess whether there is really an overprice. We need not go far and risk the credibility of the country by broadcasting to the senate for all the world to know, all the ills of this government. We can do it without necessarily burning our house down.

After reading the Statement of Joey de Venecia, the Statement of Abalos and the ZTE Supply Contract all submitted to the Senate, I have come to the conclusion that Joey de Venecia has been telling a lie with his statement obviously sanitized to suit an opinion that Malacañang has been cooking an anomalous transaction with regard to NBN Project. In fairness to the government, I couldn’t find a trail that would lead to a dubious transaction except those enumerated by Joey de Venecia involving himself and Abalos. But Abalos seem to be nearer to the truth because while Joey continuously denied being in association with Abalos, he also narrated the many times he attended meeting with Abalos at the latter’s office in Comelec and Wack Wack. Abalos seems to be correct in saying that it was Joey who was pursuing him because the venues of the meetings were all in his place. If indeed Joey did not agree with Abalos’ offer (assuming he really had) why would Joey attend many meetings with Abalos including going with him to China?.

This is my own side of story. The ZTE Supply Contract was already a done deal even before PGMA’s SONA last July 2006 because the MOU was signed around that time. What happened between July 2006 to April 21, 2007 (the official signing of the Supply Contract with ZTE in China) were all groundworking and refinements of the Contract including the approval of the NBN Project by NEDA. The Contract was between the Governments of China and the Philippines and ZTE was assigned by the Chinese Government to supply the materials needed by the NBN Project, ZTE being China government’s owned and controlled Corporation. It was a case of Top to Bottom Planning where the evaluation of the proposals were suited to the ZTE deal already. In fairness, there are no indications of anomalous transaction among the President’s trusted men except the Php200M offered by Abalos to Neri which was maybe because Neri was for BOT and not for a loan as was proposed by the Government of China.

 During these times however, Joey tried to steal the deal by submitting his own concept which was a BOT Scheme. This was based on the pronouncements by PGMA during the November Meeting of ICC that she wanted NBN to be a BOT, private sector led, no government subsidy and should reduce gov’t telecom expenses. To accommodate the President, DOTC accepted the proposal submitted by AHI thru Joey. It was during this  time when the trouble begun. As alleged by Joey, Abalos proposed to partner with Joey and AHI with Abalos covering the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th class municipalities. But later in the meeting Joey discovered that Abalos was backing ZTE and allegedly told Joey to drop his proposal in favor of the ZTE. When Joey declined, he offered a partnership between AHI and ZTE. (There is inconsistency here because “How could Abalos propose an alliance with AHI but at the same time back ZTE?  This statement of Joey gave him away and I am inclined to believe that it was really Joey who approached Abalos and offered an alliance between ZTE and AHI in exchange of the US$10M. Joey continuously asserts in his statements that he did not agree with this proposed partnership but all his succeeding revelations of meeting with Abalos and ZTE lead to a conclusion that he brokered the alliance but their talks broke down somewhere along the way. According to the DOTC evaluation report, Joey’s proposal required that the Philippine government should have its own VoIP. The ZTE on the other hand will provide the package including technical assistance that’s why the project should go to ZTE.

To me, it was Joey DV who messed up the whole project.

..Life is a choice, a continuous struggle to do better, be the best and sustain it.

..Failure and death are definite destinations in not sustaining life.

..Success is being able to rise above failures and death.

..Therefore, life is a success and to live is to sustain life..

I used to admire the Sr. Pimentel. He was my choice to replace Ramos in 1997. I looked up at him as a principled statesman and respected political leader until he joined Estrada’s bandwagon last 2004 Presidential Elections and openly castigated Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Even more disgusting was when his Jr. decided to run for the Senate in 2007 Elections and insisted he won by technicality. He turned to be a scheming traditional politician.

His joining Estrada’s camp was a complete disappointment because he was a major player in Estrada’s ouster and a prominent supporter of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she took over the Presidency. I could have forgiven him when he turned against Arroyo at the height of the Impeachment Trial but not when he openly supported Estrada’s machinations and bad mouth as if he was a”holier than thou”.. Arroyo’s supposed cheating was never proven while Estrada is in jail.. It is so unthinkable for a supposed principled man to eat his words.

My disappointment turned to hatred when he allowed his son Koko to run for the senate. How could a man who hated Gloria for her supposed cheating ever allowed the chance for two Pimentels in the Senate? and they are both Aquilino! As if there are no other Filipinos who can do the job for the Philippines.

The Sr and Jr gagging out on Migz is another mud on their faces. Do they have proof that Migz’s parents dined out with the Comelec Chairman? Fallacy! They have been so desperate that they making  fools out of many filipinos!

The Filipinos and the Philippine Government are very hard to comprehend.

·        We are an agriculture economy yet people don’t want to be farmers.

·        The government’s priority is agriculture development yet it is wanting in the development of agriculturists.

·        The government counts on agricultural production to raise its income yet it is giving away large tracts of land to landless farmers who do not want to cultivate their lands.

·        We want good education for our children so we send them to school yet when they are in school, they want to pursue careers in non-agricultural sector.  Only those that cannot afford higher education are forced to remain farmers.  Some who are brave enough to pursue agricultural studies are more of exceptions than the rule.

·        So, we want to pursue agriculture development but our people don’t want to be farmers, hence, we end up cursing ourselves not because we failed to develop agriculture but because we did not see the gap between the government priorities and the priorities of our people.

·        And since our people don’t want to be farmers they go somewhere else to seek employment in non-agriculture sector, which our government cannot provide not because it doesn’t want to but because it cannot.

·        We want to upgrade the lives of our people, but when they do, they abandon their farms and settle in the cities. Afterall, they feel they no longer deserve to be called farmers. 

·        Those who cannot wait for the promised good life, hurry to the cities where they dream of angelic lives; only to settle in the squatter’s world and share with the rest of their flock the stink of the city life. 

·        I, too, am a coward. I dreamt of uprooting my parents from the harshness of farmer’s life. I struggled and won. And now, our little farm lie idle, maybe grieving for not having seen me for many years, and though I want to see her, my new life would not allow us to be together again.  And that’s because I grew tall, traveled far, chased my dreams and grabbed it; while our little farm lied still, unmoving not because she doesn’t want to but because she cannot. All these years, no one dared brought her close to where most of us want to go and want to be.  Poor lands

I was on my way to Legaspi City yesterday to attend a meeting. I took the 1:30pm ferry ride to Tabaco City. The boat left at a little over 1:30pm.

Few minutes later, I heard a baby boy about 2 years old cry at the back of the seat where I was seated. The cry started slowly and grew louder and louder. To my surprise, the baby boy was asking for “Alak” (wine). He shouted in a very loud voice “Alak Papa..Alak”.. The crying and shouting was turned into tantrums which the father could no longer control.. He kept on telling the child, “Bawal yun dito anak”.. (It’s prohibited here my child..) The father carried the child near the canteen and bought him “Mooo” a chocolate drink. But still the child would not stop crying. I bet he was hungry and was asking for something to fill his tummy.

I didn’t exactly know what the father did to the child. I just saw the child already asleep when they returned to their seats. I was really touched by that experience and I can’t forget the incident. The father and child seem to be living in Manila or nearby Tagalog speaking provinces because they were talking in tagalog. The father was young, maybe less than 30 years old and they didn’t have a mother of the child with them.

I felt so sorry about the child. Was it the world he was living? “Alak!” He seem to be living the life with a young troubled father who has “Alak” as a recourse to life’s never-ending troubles. But the child was so young.. Was it possible that whenever the father drinks “wine” he also gives his child a shot? Maybe to stop him from crying or asking for child’s attention?

How many fathers are doing that to their children? Is it the life that many children may have been living today? Where will this practice bring them? And what kind of citizens will they become in the future?

I guess I have reasons to be afraid of the future.

 The recent government decisions seem to prioritize government consumption (from 6.8% for Q1 2006 to 7.1% for the same period this year) through various infrastructure projects that are expected to
boost the economy in the future. This is understandable because, of all the parameters, this is the only one controlled by the government. The other parameters are interdependent  This is also one factor that will contribute in making a “business-friendly” environment.

Personal Consumption, however, should be equated with trade balance because, in a healthy economy, consumption is equated with the local capacity to earn income (Per-Capita Income against Per-Capita Consumption). Income is derived from employment and business earnings
which are directly equated to trade.

In this case however, personal consumption has been derived from OFW remittances and not from internally generated income. Hence, the potential imbalance or unsustainable growth.

The President of the Republic is an economist so we should trust her judgement. The euphoria over the increase 6.9 GDP is boosting the capital formation along with the government’s decision to improve the country’s business climate through improved infrastructure support.
Aside from the infrastructure, she has also put the development of Small & Medium Enterprises to her priorities, making SMEs as dependable base for exports and source of employment.

Blogging is a totally new activity to me. I was more of a forumer because I always enjoy people reacting to my postings. I also enjoy commenting on other’s postings on the Forums I joined. I learned a lot from them and I really enjoyed pitting my opinions with others although sometimes I get offended by their negative reactions. Until now I still join forums and in fact, I already joined an organization of forumers whose members never saw each other in person but has remained closely connected everyday. Would you believe they entrusted me with close to Php400,000  which I  also turned over to our intended and pre-identified recipients? We donated to typhoon victims and housing projects of Gawad Kalinga. And we did it over the net..

Ang now I am into blogging. I have been encountering this word on the net many years back but it did not catch my fancy until a best friend of mine invited me to join him. I instantly liked the idea because of the lengthy expression of anything you want to write about. He also told me about making money by blogging.

Since I enjoy writing, I tried blogging. This is a great way of releasing ideas that I love. On my first try, I did not know how to go about it. But since I wanted to keep stock of the comments and opinions I post in the forums, I started saving it on my newfound hobby..blogging. It is easy to retrieve and reread posts in blogs so I continued writing. Blogging is my new passion since I can express my opinions and ideas freely. I also hope to find new friends who share the same interest with mine. I love discussing politics, economy and religion since these are universal topics. I also enjoy culture and psychology but since these are highly subjective topics, the discussion is somehow limited to nationalities sharing the same culture and traditions. At any rate, I would also love to learn from others.

Internet is a playing field with no barriers.. no boundaries..no limits. It is only the mind and not the physical attributes that matters.

Those who see evil in E-VAT are the pessimists who dwell on its
negative effect rather than look at its positive impact. They are the
opposition and GMA’s critics who see nothing good in everything that
GMA does. Many people believed them as manifested by the huge votes
they got last May 14 mid-term elections. In fact, the two TU Senators
who landed to the magic 12 likewise opposed EVAT before its
implementation. Recto, the author of EVAT landed 14th.

However, I look at the turn of events positively. The people gave
their mandate to the GO senators in the hope that they can make their
lives better. It is now their turn to prove GMA wrong. It will be
their word against their performance. People need to know. It will
now be a battle against themselves. At any rate, more than 12M
electorates have put their trust on the senators who opposed EVAT but
about 10M likewise trusted Recto, the author. Meaning, its 55:45 in
favor of the opposition. Reckoning from the time of its
implementation about a year and a half ago, the situation is
improving bcoz only PGMA and her economic managers were in favor of
EVAT then. Roughly, the situation was about 90:10 in favor of the
opposition.

Now that we have started to see the positive impact of EVAT, we
expect the situation to tilt in favor of EVAT advocates. With the
appreciation of our PESO, our cash outflow for debt servicing has
been substantially reduced. Meaning, there will be more budget for
our local operations. The more money circulating in the economy, the
more economic activities there will be. Which, by all indications,
will already cascade down to the masses.