The piteous tale of Girl who killed self lamented family’s poverty in diary brings to mind the famous passage from Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure:
First comes this ominous passage:
The failure to find another lodging, and the lack of room in this house for his father, had made a deep impression on the boy– a brooding undemonstrative horror seemed to have seized him. The silence was broken by his saying: “Mother, WHAT shall we do to-morrow!”
“I don’t know!” said Sue despondently. “I am afraid this will trouble your father.”
“I wish Father was quite well, and there had been room for him! Then it wouldn’t matter so much! Poor Father!”
“It wouldn’t!”
“Can I do anything?”
“No! All is trouble, adversity, and suffering!”
“Father went away to give us children room, didn’t he?”
“Partly.”
“It would be better to be out o’ the world than in it, wouldn’t it?”
“It would almost, dear.”
“‘Tis because of us children, too, isn’t it, that you can’t get a good lodging?”
“Well–people do object to children sometimes.”
“Then if children make so much trouble, why do people have ’em?”
“Oh–because it is a law of nature.”
“But we don’t ask to be born?”
“No indeed.”
“And what makes it worse with me is that you are not my real mother, and you needn’t have had me unless you liked. I oughtn’t to have come to ‘ee–that’s the real truth! I troubled ’em in Australia, and I trouble folk here. I wish I hadn’t been born!”
“You couldn’t help it, my dear.”
“I think that whenever children be born that are not wanted they should be killed directly, before their souls come to ’em, and not allowed to grow big and walk about!”
Sue did not reply. She was doubtfully pondering how to treat this too reflective child.
She at last concluded that, so far as circumstances permitted, she would be honest and candid with one who entered into her difficulties like an aged friend.
“There is going to be another in our family soon,” she hesitatingly remarked.
“How?”
“There is going to be another baby.”
“What!” The boy jumped up wildly. “Oh God, Mother, you’ve never a-sent for another; and such trouble with what you’ve got!”
“Yes, I have, I am sorry to say!” murmured Sue, her eyes glistening with suspended tears.
The boy burst out weeping. “Oh you don’t care, you don’t care!” he cried in bitter reproach. “How EVER could you, Mother, be so wicked and cruel as this, when you needn’t have done it till we was better off, and Father well! To bring us all into MORE trouble! No room for us, and Father a-forced to go away, and we turned out to-morrow; and yet you be going to have another of us soon! … ‘Tis done o’ purpose!–’tis–’tis!” He walked up and down sobbing.
“Y-you must forgive me, little Jude!” she pleaded, her bosom heaving now as much as the boy’s. “I can’t explain–I will when you are older. It does seem– as if I had done it on purpose, now we are in these difficulties! I can’t explain, dear! But it–is not quite on purpose–I can’t help it!”
“Yes it is–it must be! For nobody would interfere with us, like that, unless you agreed! I won’t forgive you, ever, ever! I’ll never believe you care for me, or Father, or any of us any more!”
He got up, and went away into the closet adjoining her room, in which a bed had been spread on the floor. There she heard him say: “If we children was gone there’d be no trouble at all!”
“Don’t think that, dear,” she cried, rather peremptorily. “But go to sleep!”
Followed by the passage that has gained so much fame:
She joined Jude in a hasty meal, and in a quarter of an hour they started together, resolving to clear out from Sue’s too respectable lodging immediately. On reaching the place and going upstairs she found that all was quiet in the children’s room, and called to the landlady in timorous tones to please bring up the tea-kettle and something for their breakfast. This was perfunctorily done, and producing a couple of eggs which she had brought with her she put them into the boiling kettle, and summoned Jude to watch them for the youngsters, while she went to call them, it being now about half-past eight o’clock.
Jude stood bending over the kettle, with his watch in his hand, timing the eggs, so that his back was turned to the little inner chamber where the children lay. A shriek from Sue suddenly caused him to start round. He saw that the door of the room, or rather closet– which had seemed to go heavily upon its hinges as she pushed it back– was open, and that Sue had sunk to the floor just within it. Hastening forward to pick her up he turned his eyes to the little bed spread on the boards; no children were there. He looked in bewilderment round the room. At the back of the door were fixed two hooks for hanging garments, and from these the forms of the two youngest children were suspended, by a piece of box-cord round each of their necks, while from a nail a few yards off the body of little Jude was hanging in a similar manner. An overturned chair was near the elder boy, and his glazed eyes were slanted into the room; but those of the girl and the baby boy were closed.
Half-paralyzed by the strange and consummate horror of the scene he let Sue lie, cut the cords with his pocket-knife and threw the three children on the bed; but the feel of their bodies in the momentary handling seemed to say that they were dead. He caught up Sue, who was in fainting fits, and put her on the bed in the other room, after which he breathlessly summoned the landlady and ran out for a doctor.
When he got back Sue had come to herself, and the two helpless women, bending over the children in wild efforts to restore them, and the triplet of little corpses, formed a sight which overthrew his self-command. The nearest surgeon came in, but, as Jude had inferred, his presence was superfluous. The children were past saving, for though their bodies were still barely cold it was conjectured that they had been hanging more than an hour. The probability held by the parents later on, when they were able to reason on the case, was that the elder boy, on waking, looked into the outer room for Sue, and, finding her absent, was thrown into a fit of aggravated despondency that the events and information of the evening before had induced in his morbid temperament. Moreover a piece of paper was found upon the floor, on which was written, in the boy’s hand, with the bit of lead pencil that he carried:
DONE BECAUSE WE ARE TOO MENNY.
The story of Mariannet Amper’s suicide has provoked commentaries from church leaders, and has been instantly linked, editors tell me, by the reading public with these: Palace admits cash doles from Kampi and Senate probes cash gifts: Inquiry to focus on source of money.
On that somber note, here’s an intriguing story: Allies of Arroyo clash over impeach rules–
Eighty-two lawmakers, most of them belonging to Ms Arroyo’s Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) party, blocked the move to amend the rules and sent the proposal back to the committee on rules.
They overwhelmed 50 of their colleagues who favored amendments that could allow the consolidation of multiple impeachment complaints, strengthening present moves to oust Ms Arroyo.
At present, House rules allow only one impeachment complaint per year.
Half of those who favored amending the rules were opposition congressmen. But the other half were stalwarts of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, led by De Venecia.
Mon Casiple has an interesting angle on the FVR-JDV-GMA Axis unveiled (or repolished) last Saturday. Basically, it’s a Lakas-CMD gambit to keep the party in power longer. The President, through her husband, had hoped to topple Lakas in the last elections, but Kampi didn’t make the grade, and the infighting in the ruling coalition led to some bad fallout in the Senate election results.
But the President knows that Kampi, as her personal pet party, has a limited shelf life, unlike say the NPC, which is Danding Cojuangco’s pet party (or the NP, Villar’s pet party, or, technically speaking but less so, the LP as the Roxas pet party). If the President steps down in 2010, Kampi will be what the KBL is today, a shadow of its former powerful self. Lakas, on the other hand, has no real presidential candidate in play, and so might find its fortunes rapidly wiped out, too, come 2010.
So, Mon Casiple says, the three leaders of Lakas realize that in unity, there is strength (pun intended): and that requires Lakas as the main benificiary of… Ta-dah! Charter Change:
The bigger question that seems to be up in the air is: what will happen to GMA in the intervening months until 2010, and thereafter? If current straws in the wind are to be believed, the settlement with Erap did not produce any rapprochement with the opposition–nor with Erap himself. There is also no indication that any deal with frontline presidentiables had occurred.
What is suspect at the moment is that the president is laying the ground for another go at charter change–eventually leading to a possible extension of her stay in power beyond 2010. In this, the three of them are agreed as this will make it possible the political survival of Lakas (and their own political fortunes). We are faced with the specter of revival of a Cha-cha ghost–most probably the “people’s initiative” variety. Appointments to the Comelec thus become more crucial than ever before.
At the moment, however, the more significant implication of the Malacañang photo-ops is the time bought–however short–for regime survival. The fragility of the ruling coalition has been stayed momentarily. It will not preclude further plots along the road to 2010, from both sides of the coalition as well as from both sides of the opposition.
A Filipino I know who lived in Malaysia, once told me that a Malaysian royal once told him, “when you Filipinos lost your royalty, you lost your soul.” A story like this one, Judge Dread in Malaysia, makes for interesting reading.
Incidentally, in the same conversation I had with the Filipino former resident of Malaysia, and a Filipina knowledgeable about Indonesia, she said in Indonesia, the Dutch turned the Indonesian royal rulers into civil servants with Dutch superiors; this destroyed the traditional prestige and authority of the Indonesian royals.
In the Philippines, the Spanish took over the islands one ruler at a time, guaranteeing them privileges (exemptions from tribute), and permitting them local elections in which the local (Spanish) parish priest acted as a kind of one-man Comelec. Spanish officials generally stayed in Manila and so, when the revolution broke out, it was as much about modern ideas of revolt as it was about provincial lords summoning their peasant workers to fight against Spain. Even Bonifacio spoke in terms of the ancient blood compact between the royalty in the islands and the Spanish conquistadors. The historian Glenn May, writing about the Revolution in Batangas, pointed out that in some cases it was the principalia, heirs to the leaders who had originally accepted Spanish sovereignty, who led the revolts and were followed by their tenants.
From Rizal to Laurel, there remained the enduring notion of an aristocracy of the mind; Mabini pointed to the necessity of a meritocracy; and as I’ve written in the past, American social engineering focused on something new, entirely, a middle class, but what emerged was one that aped the traditional provincial leadership and which, in turn, has reached in many ways the same dead end the traditional upper class and their warlord rivals have reached. But these are thoughts I’m still developing, but it’s good to bear in mind where we are similar and differ in terms of Malaysia’s and Indonesia’s societies, even Thailand and Brunei, and, India.
Other readings from overseas: The revolution that never was, on waning foreign attention on the plight of the Burmese. And Why is draft of ASEAN charter being kept from public?, by the PCIJ. How China’s Communist Party practices cronyism in China Rewards its Own: The PetroChina A Share Float makes us think of Russia at its oligarchic best.
And my column for today, is Postcard Power! (thank you to Rage Against Melancholy for reproducing it). The versions you can print out in full color, etc, are here. And of course, Hoorah! to bloggers bisayasijosh, to Romeo’s Site, to Manila Boy, to Sitting Amuck, to Pinoyhood, to Pandora’s Box and ScatCore. An inter-blog debate between Eddie Boy Escudero and Home Bass, too. While circle of rhymes and metaphors completely disagrees. And well, from The Philippine Onion, read it and, uh, weep.
Here’s the video of the V for Vendetta speech I quoted last Monday:
Iloilo City Boy reacts to my entry On Official Allowances.
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Charter Change, constitution, history, House of Representatives, ideas, impeachment, journalism, media, philippines, politics, president, society, Thailand, Washington DC
cjv, talked to some University students at work yesterday and they were complaining about how high their tuition fees, not considering that they are subsidized to the hilt. Figures show that the average local post secondary school fees is $4000 while foreign student is $12000 for a year program and beside local student gets deferred interest loan for their board and lodging and tax credits for their school fees and expenses… they are too spoiled…
“Death is a forced option that the government has imposed on poor Filipinos,” said Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP)-Philippines, a local anti-poverty coalition. “Bugbog na ang mga Pilipino sa kahirapan kaya’t maraming nawawalan ng pag-asa (Filipinos are battered by poverty, a lot of people has lost hope).”
“We were shocked and saddened by the news from our friends in Mindanao of the suicide of 11 year old Mariannet Amper, and for a few hours our world stopped. To hear the government reducing her death to an isolated case is outrageous. One death is too much. How many more isolated cases must we have to awaken this government to the realties that the people are dying of hunger and poverty everyday?” continued GCAP-Philippines. ”
From the Global Call To Action Against Poverty(GCAP:Philippines)
vic, looks like it, but that’s human nature.
“* What do you want your young apos to read about you in their history books?” – equalizer
Unless she manages to find a way to censor the internet, a quick google search on GMA returns everything from ‘hello garci”, “malacanang bribe”, “german bank accounts”, “fertilizer scam”….
nash:
I am 100% sure that the poor in Payatas who eat “PAGPAG”(recycled garbage food) have more self-respect than Gloria.
Money and good education do not buy you good character.
Such is life.
“Money and good education do not buy you good character.” – The Equalizer
You mean money does not buy good education if one has inherent bad character?
The Equalizer,
To be EDUCATED in my book doesn’t necessarily equate to expensive tuition fees or big named schools or universities.
Good education is never synonimous to money.
Gloria may have received formal education in expensive schools (or which in French may be defined as être instruits or to be instructed as opposed to être eduqué or to be educated with a capital E) so I don’t believe she is educated, educated with a capital E.
looks like the hate-gloria club has found another tragedy to blame her for, huh?
Looks like the old geezer wants us to be callous.Just “another”tragedy”,folks.What’s one death compared to to the impressive GDP growth,huh?
Hey, anyone in contact with devils?
Bencard,
You think it’s perfectly alright for Gloria to use that little girl’s dead body as a launch pad for her Cyber Ed program?
mbuencamino, no, i don’t think “it’s alright” to use the little girl’s dead body for anything by anyone including the gloria-haters in this blog. have a little decency naman, o.k., mb?
“Mariannet’s diary is similar to Anne Frank’s: both prefigured the inexorability of doom–Anne’s, the holocaust of the gas chambers; Mariannet’s, the holocaust of poverty.”
From the Inquirer’s Editorial today. I wonder who wrote this one.
old geezer,there are only two ways of handling the real issues in this country:confrontation or the coward’s way,denial.
It’s easy to be in the denial mode when you are 12,000 miles away from reality,where it’s all happening.
In your parallel universe,what’s one more death in a tragically poor country governed by your fantasy leader,huh?
Gloria’s Parallel Universe
* On Hunger: “Kasi iyun naman ang question ng hunger, do you miss one meal during the last three months? Pati naman ako, I’ve missed one meal in the last three months,†Gloria Arroyo said in an interview after a roundtable discussion on education and social services.
* On Human Rights:”The Philippines is the most democratic country in the region. We have championed that human rights be included in our ASEAN charter. We have no tolerance for human rights violations of any kind.”
* On Extra-judicial Killings:”We deplore any and all killings of political activist and journalist. I have met personally with the journalism community and the same with the human rights activist, we share their outrage.”
* On the Philippine Justice System: “We live by the rule of law. We abide by what the courts of the land decide. We must be a government that honors contracts and agreements that go through the required processes despite media attacks. And we must be a government that abides by what the courts of the land decide on matters of dispute.”
* On Electoral Reforms:” We can disagree on political goals but never on the conduct of democratic elections. I ask Congress to fund poll watchdogs. And to enact a stronger law against election- related violence”.
* On the Economy:”We have reached a new level of maturity and stability with some of the strongest macroeconomic fundamentals in 20 years. And I’m glad to see the rate of poverty is down, the rate of poverty is down, general poverty as well as what we have seen, extreme poverty. “
MLQ3,
This is an unsolicited advice, for BnW movement and other concerned groups, that needs some legal research and verification. I am going to based this advice from a news item in Malaya today:
“CITING paramount public interest, former Cebu Rep. Clavel Martinez yesterday asked the Supreme Court to resolve a petition that she and a group of lawyers filed in September 2005 questioning the ratification of a House committee report junking an amended complaint for impeachment against President Arroyo.
In a motion for resolution, Martinez asked the SC to rule on the validity of multiple impeachment complaints against the President and when an impeachment complaint is deemed filed.
“Considering the paramount public interest in the instant petition, that is, the denial of the public’s constitutional right to hold accountable a president accused of wrongdoing, the Supreme Court should not shun its responsibility to eradicate whatever obstruction that is preventing the public from the exercise of their rights,” the petition said.” – Evangeline de Vera (Malaya Reporter)Nov.10, 2007
The abovementioned news item tells us that there is a pending petition before the Supreme Court filed by Cebu Rep. Clavel Martinez and a group of lawyers in September 2005 questioning the ratification of a House committee report junking an amended complaint for impeachment against President Arroyo.
Moreover, the Constitution says:
“ARTICLE VIII,Section 15. (1) All cases or matters filed after the effectivity of this Constitution must be decided or resolved within twenty-four months from date of submission for the Supreme Court, and, unless reduced by the Supreme Court, twelve months for all lower collegiate courts, and three months for all other lower courts.”
So, if rallies can be held in front of Malacanang (not allowed today),in the Batasan Complex, the Senate, why not in front of the Supreme Court to remind(“pressure”) the justices of their constitutional duty to issue a ruling within twenty-four months(due last September,2007)regarding the abovementioned petition.
qwert, that is the case a congressman was telling me about in last weekend’s meeting. the problem is, they asked for oral arguments and the sc refused.
Bencard,
“have a little decency naman, o.k., mb?”
I’m glad you said that. Now you can join Gloria haters in asking her to please step off the little girl’s body.
Here’s an excerpt from a press release by the Office of the Press Secretary:
“PGMA directs DepEd to hasten and widen implementation of alternative distance education
Having heard about the fate of a schoolgirl who took her life for lack of transport fare to school, among other needs in life, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed today the Department of Education (DepEd) to hasten and widen the implementation of its alternative distance education program.â€Â
Pati ba naman yun bangkay ng isang bata eh gagamitin pang paraan para maibenta sa taong bayan ang isang proyektong umaalingasaw sa baho?
Please write to her and tell her to have some decency naman please
…”that is the case a congressman was telling me about in last weekend’s meeting. the problem is, they asked for oral arguments and the sc refused” – MLQ3
___________________________
MLQ3,
If that is the case, what is Atty. Harry Roque up to in the motion for resolution he filed the other day?
“In its six-page motion for resolution, lawyer Harry Roque told the high court that the questions that were raised in a similar petition they filed in 2005 were being used again, especially with the filing of another impeachment complaint filed by lawyers Roel Pulido and Adel Tamano.”-INQ Report
I am not obligating you in any way to answer my queries.I am just taking the chance that maybe you’ve talk to someone in the know regarding this issue. Thanks.
uhm.. i tagged you. hihi
qwert, in a word, nangungulit.
Natural selection at work – removing the defeatists.
““Kasi iyun naman ang question ng hunger, do you miss one meal during the last three months? Pati naman ako, I’ve missed one meal in the last three months,†Gloria Arroyo said in an interview after a roundtable discussion on education and social services.”
Equalizer, incredible isn’t it?
tnx for those who offered their advices and support the other day. i was able to go home and went directly to the hospital. UTI, the doctor said. no real danger. i breathed a sigh of relief and gave my thanks to God.
my son was just discharged frm the hospital this morning.
amazing, how when tragedies strike close to home, we tend to forget almost everything except our loved ones.
“The Philippines is the most democratic country in the region. We have championed that human rights be included in our ASEAN charter. We have no tolerance for human rights violations of any kind.GMA”
Where is JONAS BURGOS?
MLQ and RM are the best Philippine Presidents so far.
In your opinion, who is the worst ever Philippine President?
pls vote in my blog.
mbuencamino, i must confess i’m not too familiar with the “alternative distance education program” so i cannot form an opinion as to its merits and deficiencies. however, assuming the program is not as bad as you imply, i don’t see anything wrong with the president seeking its wider implementation to address the problem exemplified by the tragic incident. i don’t think it is (mis)using the girl’s death. as reported, i see the president’s action as a positive reaction to do something about the problem, a recognition that she did not die in vain.
politicizing the tragedy, as some commenters here are doing, is the reprehensible, even macabre way of “using” the girls death to advance cheap personal political agenda.
When the peso is improving but a 12-year old girl commits suicide after losing hope—something is terribly,terribly WRONG!
Yes, something’s wrong with the congressman in the region. Something’s wrong with the barangay chairman in the barangay.
You cannot expect the President to oversee each and everything in this 7,100 islands that constitute the nation.
Why blame the President whose task is to take care of the whole country?
I just hate looking at those placards by the militant groups seeking justice for the death of the girl. What justice?
These people always ride on every issue that comes out in the media just so they keep their group visible in the streets. Sayang ang allowance.
On Hunger: “Kasi iyun naman ang question ng hunger, do you miss one meal during the last three months? Pati naman ako, I’ve missed one meal in the last three months,†Gloria Arroyo
“PAGPAG”
In Payatas, people makes a living by recycling garbage.”Pagpag” is apparently a very common practice there.
They gather the thrown away plastic, papers, and whatever they can find, including food, that could still be recycled. They sell the papers and plastics to the factories and the recovered food items, usually half-eaten meat, to some stall-owners who cook them again and sell them to the customers. This dish is “pagpag”. The verb has become a noun for recyled food from the garbage .
Her callousness cries out to high heaven, her stinginess to the poor cries out to high heaven!She remembers them only during elections and during PHOTO-OPS.
On the Economy:”We have reached a new level of maturity and stability with some of the strongest macroeconomic fundamentals in 20 years. And I’m glad to see the rate of poverty is down, the rate of poverty is down, general poverty as well as what we have seen, extreme poverty. ”
Does she eat “pagpag”(recycled garbage food)?
On Electoral Reforms:” We can disagree on political goals but never on the conduct of democratic elections. I ask Congress to fund poll watchdogs. And to enact a stronger law against election-related violence”GMA.
Who is LINTANG BEDOL?
On the Philippine Justice System:”We live by the rule of law. We abide by what the courts of the land decide.”GMA
Pardon Erap after 6 weeks from conviction on PLUNDER.
On Extra-judicial Killings:”We deplore any and all killings of political activist and journalist. I have met personally with the journalism community and the same with the human rights activist, we share their outrage.GMA”
Where is Jonas Burgos?
Bencard,
If you are not familiar with the controversy surrounding the cyber ed contract, then you won’t see why it was callous of Gloria to use the girl’s suicide to promote it.
If you are familiar with the matter, then for once I am sure you and I would agree on something about Gloria because you will see that her action was not “a positive reaction to do something about the problem, a recognition that she did not die in vain.” Rather it was a cheap attempt to sell a project as dirty as the ZTE-DOTC deal.
i doubt there’d be more vigilance. when i worked at a call center, my tax deductions were really big. the higher our salaries got, the more we paid. but the indifference of my co-workers abt government wastage of OUR taxes really galled me. most are angry at the govt, but most have given up hope that our taxes will ever be spent correctly by any govt.
what we need is to pound into our people’s consciousness that if we don’t demand it from govt, we’ll never get it. everything has to be fought for. turning cynic will jz add to the cycle of cynicism. disengaging as Jeg said, is not the answer.
a little more assertiveness, esp in dealing w/govt agencies would go a long way. you’d be surprised what a little attitude adjustment can do for you. i know what it did for me. better service at govt agencies when i bully incompetent personnel. im not rude. but hell if i will be polite on people who don’t deserve common courtesy. a little shouting, demanding, and making a scene, plus threatening to file all kinds of complaints should get the lazy asses off their feet.
sup BrianB? jz came back from the hospital. my son was just discharged today. what you need me for?
i doubt there’d be more vigilance. when i worked at a call center, my tax deductions were really big. the higher our salaries got, the more we paid. but the indifference of my co-workers abt government wastage of OUR taxes really galled me. most are angry at the govt, but most have given up hope that our taxes will ever be spent correctly by any govt.
what we need is to pound into our people’s consciousness that if we don’t demand it from govt, we’ll never get it. everything has to be fought for. turning cynic will jz add to the cycle of cynicism. disengaging as Jeg said, is not the answer.
a little more assertiveness, esp in dealing w/govt agencies would go a long way. you’d be surprised what a little attitude adjustment can do for you. i know what it did for me. better service at govt agencies when i bully incompetent personnel. im not rude. but hell if i will be polite on people who don’t deserve common courtesy. a little shouting, demanding, and making a scene, plus threatening to file all kinds of complaints should get the lazy asses off their feet.
sup BrianB? jz came back from the hospital. my son was just discharged today. what you need me for?
Manolo’s dog is again barking my name away, but it’s me Brian – Devils
i doubt there’d be more vigilance. when i worked at a call center, my tax deductions were really big. the higher our salaries got, the more we paid. but the indifference of my co-workers abt government wastage of OUR taxes really galled me. most are angry at the govt, but most have given up hope that our taxes will ever be spent correctly by any govt.
what we need is to pound into our people’s consciousness that if we don’t demand it from govt, we’ll never get it. everything has to be fought for. turning cynic will jz add to the cycle of cynicism. disengaging as Jeg said, is not the answer.
a little more assertiveness, esp in dealing w/govt agencies would go a long way. you’d be surprised what a little attitude adjustment can do for you. i know what it did for me. better service at govt agencies when i bully incompetent personnel. im not rude. but hell if i will be polite on people who don’t deserve common courtesy. a little shouting, demanding, and making a scene, plus threatening to file all kinds of complaints should get the lazy asses off their feet.
sup BrianB? jz came back from the hospital. my son was just discharged today. what you need me for?
– it’s me, Devils (my comments via my nick are not getting through)
devilADV(Harion):That’s great news about your son! Thank God.
Devils, actually Brianb’s suggestion might work if the tax rate was 100%. 🙂
Glad to hear your son was discharged. I guess that means he’s ok.
Off topic:
Saguisag critical, wife dead in car crash.
Alioden Dalaig, Comelec’s head of Legal, felled by assassin’s bullets.
What’s common? Both were in the shortlist of Comelec Commissioner-candidates which Ermita denies he made. Was it a shorlist or a hitlist?
“it’s me, Devils (my comments via my nick are not getting through)â€Â
Harion is a welcome alternative to DevilsAdv. Arion, a winged horse believed to be Poseidon’s offspring is as close as it could get to Diablo’s blissful nemesis; he’s also a poet like you.
I’m glad too your son is well.
equalizer, cvj – yeah. first-time father, first time dealing w/one of my own getting sick – well, you know. thank God it wasn’t anything serious. jz UTI.
btw, i rather like an all-public school system for elementary and secondary schools. but instead of going total abolishment of private schools route, why don’t we just turn all the private schools into public ones? we have the added benefit of just adding on existing staff and school buildings and equipments.
do it slowly. make owning private schools financially taxing. then impose a requirement that 5% of student population be scholars. increase that requirement every year, all the while increasing subsidies as scholar population increases. then make it punitive to enroll in private schools. parents still enrolling kids in private schools are required to pay more taxes. these taxes immediately go to the country’s education budget. each year, these “private school privilage tax” will be raised higher and higher.
I forgot to mention that as subsidies of these private schools increase, so does govt ownership of them. in time, all elementary and secondary private schools will be govt owned.
demand for private tutors may increase. but this will just be for the better. in fact, i’ve often thought that sometimes apprenticing in a certain craft is much better than what we do now. throwing general knowledge around with little, or no possible chance of them being used by the students in practical life.
Abe, Harion Vincent is the name I gave my son. In Tolkien’s elvish language, Harion means Prince.
I think your suggested approach is a very promising one compared to outright abolition.
Harion,
Glad to hear your baby is alright…
Tongue,
Unimaginable… just too horrible to even contemplate (just as one of cvj’s sisters said about probability of the Glorietta blast being some terrorist act.)
Isn’t it a “rule of law” that if someone was shot dead, the police should investigate immediately instead of waiting for an order from President Arroyo? What is so special about a Comelec Official as compared to any other citizen that also got shot dead that it has to get the attention of the President? sometimes i wonder if people who supposed to know the rule of law really knows wattt the heck they’re talking about….
NEWS fr Manila Times!
Justin Yap, World Bank’s private sector development specialist with the Doing Business team, said, “The Philippines did not do any reform this year, many countries are reforming. . . .â€Â
Yap explained the country’s low ranking, The Philippines “does not do anything,†by way of reforms.
In the region, the World Bank and IFC report said, countries that made business easier are China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.
“[The Philippines] is a slower reformer. I hope it will pick up. If a country can’t do reforming, it will be left behind,†Yap said.
The bank and IFC said the most popular reform was easing regulations on starting a business.
Forty-three countries simplified procedures, reducing costs and delays. The second most popular was reducing tax rates and the administrative hassle that businesses endure when paying taxes.
“It is easy to understand why these reforms top the list: Elections can be won on the ‘more jobs, lower taxes’ platform,†the report said.
Sobs, sobs, sobs.