Did you know that May is Anti-Graft and Corruption Awareness Month? Information is a good tool for ferreting out graft and corruption, and a Freedom of Information Act will be a step in the right direction. As Uniffors puts it, with the proposed bill being sponsored on the floor of the House, Cockroaches placed on notice.
My Arab News column for the week’s Cooperation in the Wake of Rice Panic. (and recently, it was Canada’s turn: Food-buying panic hits Canadian stores). The column refers to the chart above, distributed in a recent newsletter of Nouriel Roubini. As it is, Rice prices may fall by 50% by yearend–economists. But for now, it’s belt-tightening all around, as The Unlawyer, who is visiting Singapore, noticed.
My entry yesterday focused on the effect on prices of the government’s rice purchases; today’s news has OPEC-style rice cartel up. Interesting information also in Why rice prices surging to record highs. (export curbs; building up national rice stocks; falling world inventories; speculation; changes in land use; and growing population being the main causes).
Incidentally, three articles by Cielito Habito I haven’t linked to, yet: Is there a rice shortage? and (Mis)targeting the poor and Food, fuel and finance . The middle column is particularly relevant because of the question of mapping the poor:
During the Ramos administration, targeting was done by focusing government assistance on the 20 poorest provinces, defined as the provinces with the highest percentage incidences of poverty. It was soon realized, however, that only 11 percent of all poor Filipinos were in those provinces, many of which were smaller ones. Thus, even if all the poor in those provinces were lifted out of poverty, it would make a small dent on national poverty levels. The targeting scheme was thus refined to focus on the 5th and 6th class municipalities, on the premise that the poor can be found in the poor municipalities. We know, of course, that not all people in such municipalities are poor, and even 1st class municipalities have many poor dwellers.
The Estrada administration took a different approach: government sought to focus assistance to the 100 poorest families in each province and city, with the local governments tasked to identify them. With little data on which to base the selection, it took two years for the LGUs to finally come up with their lists; by then, a new administration had taken over.
The Arroyo administration took yet another approach to targeting, as exemplified in its Food-for-School and Tindahan Natin Programs (FSP and TNP respectively). Government has devised a Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information Mapping System (FIVIMS) that identifies very, very vulnerable (VVV), very vulnerable (VV) and vulnerable (V) LGUs. All 17 towns and cities in Metro Manila are included as target areas regardless of vulnerability level, for clearly political reasons. For FSP, all VVV municipalities are also automatically included, along with the poorest municipalities in VV and V provinces. For TNP, locations of stores were based on a rapid poverty mapping done by DSWD, focused on prevalence of malnutrition and lack of rice supply.
Unfortunately, our track record at targeting the poor has been downright dismal. Studies by Dr. Rosario Manasan and by Dr. Celia Reyes of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) have measured leakage rates (percentage of non-poor beneficiaries) and undercoverage rates (percentage of the poor who do not benefit) of the above targeting mechanisms. Results show that more than half of the recipients of the targeted assistance are actually non-poor, with leakage rates of 62 percent for FSP and 66 percent for TNP. Undercoverage of FSP was estimated at 80 percent, i.e. only one-fifth of total target beneficiaries are assisted by the program.
Interestingly, Metro Manila accounts for the bulk (71 percent) of the leakages in FSP. Similarly, the leakage rate for TNP declines from 66 to 59 percent if Metro Manila stores are not counted. Substantial leakages in targeted assistance is the price government has been paying for buying political support from the more visible and more vocal constituencies in Metro Manila through their indiscriminate inclusion in targeted assistance programs.
Vulnerability, incidentally, seemed a very good criteria, it’s a concept that’s been adopted by the International Red Cross, for example: Red Cross efforts are supposed to focus on vulnerable populations and individuals, not just in times of disaster, but in general.
The failure of the various government programs to target the poor, however, boggles the mind, in that it shows how trying to take a scientific approach can easily be subverted by human behavior -or “gaming the system” as it’s been called.
The Mount Balutacan Monitor points to a report that the provincial government in Misamis Oriental is in shock because a massive shipyard project has croaked.
My column for today is Senate swindled?
The thing is, I’ve only encountered the Pimentel resolution in bits and pieces online. It’s not on the Senate site. It’s not in the news sites. So a thorough review of what the bill contains is impossible.
For background see Federalism gets majority backing in Senate and 16 senators now back Pimentel’s shift to federalism. Background in Newsbreak’s In a surprise move, senators give qualified yes to charter debate. which also gives a digest of the Senate’s proposed changes to the Constitution:
The resolution will require the revision of 14 of the existing 18 Articles of the Constitution and the addition of two new articles. It seeks to adopt a federal presidential bicameral form of government.
Specifically, it calls for the creation of 11 federal states out of the existing political subdivisions of the country and one federal administration region.
It seeks the transfer of the legislative department to the proposed Federal State of Central Visayas, the judicial department to the Federal State of Northern Luzon while maintaining the executive department in the proposed Federal Administrative Region of Metro Manila…
…Other major proposals: the election of senators based on states; the election of senators representing overseas voters; the election of the president and the vice-president as a team; the abolition of the Judicial and Bar Council which screens nominees to the judiciary etc.
Blog @ AWBHoldings.com asks who is afraid of Federalism, and engages in counting potential votes (and potential opportunities for double-crosses in the voting), and he points to the whole subject of constitutional amendments being viewed as a Trojan horse.
Who else is critical of Federalism? Senator Arroyo is against it, and his argument is one shared by quite a few people, too: Federalism to create ’11 little fiefdoms, 11 little kings’.
For the thinking behind Pimentel’s proposal, blogger reytrillana reproduces a recent speech in which Pimentel explains why he supports Federalism. Blogger A Simple Life supports a serious examination of Federalism but thinks the current proposal provides for too many states:
One thing of concern though, is that 11 states plus one administrative region I think, is just a bit too many. Seven (7) states and an administrative region would be better, i.e., feasible and sustainable:
1. Northern Luzon (Ilocos, CAR, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon)
2. Southern Luzon (CALABARZON, Mindoro, Marinduque, Bicol)
3. Western Visayas (Western Visayas, Romblon, Palawan)
4. Eastern Visayas (Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas)
5. Northern Mindanao (Western Mindanao, Northern Mindanao, CARAGA)
6. Southern Mindanao (Davao Region, SOCCSKSARGEN)
7. Bangsamoro (ARMM)
8. Federal Administrative Region (NCR)
One stumbling block is the rhetorical attraction (rhetorical, because not precisely factual, as Torn and Frayed has argued; one thing a Federal system does not abolish is a national capital; and one thing Federalism does not remove, is the need for, or authority, of a national government) of being freed of “Imperial Manila” while getting the nagging feeling, on the other hand, that this might be a license not for regional growth, but regional chaos.
That Federalism will only balkanize the country is is indeed a cause for worry; see Francis Fukuyama (China’s powerful weakness: Beijing’s reach isn’t big enough to stop local governments from abusing the rights of ordinary citizens) writing in the Los Angeles Times, on how even strong, unitary states are concerned over the periphery ending up lawless regions.
On a related note, Ian Baruma, in The Last of the Tibetans, takes a look at Tibet and wonders if the Tibetans aren’t going to end up like the American Indians:
The Chinese have much to answer for, but the fate of Tibet is not just a matter of semi-colonial oppression. It is often forgotten that many Tibetans, especially educated people in the larger towns, were so keen to modernize their society in the mid-twentieth century that they saw the Chinese Communists as allies against rule by holy monks and serf-owning landlords. In the early 1950’s, the young Dalai Lama himself was impressed by Chinese reforms and wrote poems praising Chairman Mao.
Alas, instead of reforming Tibetan society and culture, the Chinese Communists ended up wrecking it. Religion was crushed in the name of official Marxist atheism. Monasteries and temples were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (often with the help of Tibetan Red Guards). Nomads were forced to live in ugly concrete settlements. Tibetan arts were frozen into folkloric emblems of an officially promoted “minority culture.” And the Dalai Lama and his entourage were forced to flee to India.
None of this was peculiar to Tibet. The wrecking of tradition and forced cultural regimentation took place everywhere in China. In some respects, the Tibetans were treated less ruthlessly than the majority of Chinese. Nor was the challenge to Tibetan uniqueness typical of the Communists. General Chiang Kai-shek declared in 1946 that the Tibetans were Chinese, and he certainly would not have granted them independence if his Nationalists had won the civil war.
If Tibetan Buddhism was severely damaged, Chinese Communism has barely survived the ravages of the twentieth century, either. But capitalist development has been even more devastating to Tibetan tradition. Like many modern imperialist powers, China claims legitimacy for its policies by pointing to their material benefits. After decades of destruction and neglect, Tibet has benefited from enormous amounts of Chinese money and energy to modernize the country. The Tibetans cannot complain that they have been left behind in China’s transformation from a Third World wreck to a marvel of supercharged urban development.
But the price in Tibet has been higher than elsewhere. Regional identity, cultural diversity, and traditional arts and customs have been buried under concrete, steel, and glass all over China. And all Chinese are gasping in the same polluted air. But at least the Han Chinese can feel pride in the revival of their national fortunes. They can bask in the resurgence of Chinese power and material wealth. The Tibetans, by contrast, can share this feeling only to the extent that they become fully Chinese. If not, they can only lament the loss of their own identity.
The Chinese have exported their version of modern development to Tibet not only in terms of architecture and infrastructure, but also people — wave after wave of them: businessmen from Sichuan, prostitutes from Hunan, technocrats from Beijing, party officials from Shanghai, and shopkeepers from Yunnan. The majority of Lhasa’s population today is no longer Tibetan. Most people in rural areas are Tibetan, but their way of life is not likely to survive Chinese modernization any more than the Apaches’ way of life survived in the United States.
Since Chinese is the language of instruction at Tibetan schools and universities, anyone who wishes to be more than a poor peasant, beggar, or seller of trinkets must conform to Chinese norms, that is, become Chinese. Even Tibetan intellectuals who want to study their own classical literature must do so in Chinese translation. Meanwhile, Chinese and other foreign tourists dress up in traditional Tibetan dress to have their souvenir pictures taken in front of the Dalai Lama’s old palace.
Baruma’s article, while focusing on Tibet, basically lists the grievances and concerns that have convinced some people to advocate Federalism.
In Federalism Today, which dates back to 2002, Ronald Watts tackled the question: why the Federal appeal?
To what can this increased interest in federalism be attributed? One major factor has been the recognition that an increasingly global economy has unleashed centrifugal economic political forces weakening the traditional nation-state and strengthening both international and local pressures. As a result national governments are faced increasingly with the desires of their populaces to be both global consumers and local self-governing citizens at the same time. Thus, the nation state is at the same time proving both too small and too large to serve the desires of its citizens.
These developments have contributed to the current interest in federalism, not as an ideology, but in terms of practical questions about how to organize the sharing and distribution of political powers in a way that will enable the common needs of people to be achieved while accommodating the diversity of their circumstances and preferences.
The lessons proposed are interesting, too:
Experience since 1945 has taught us three major lessons. First, federal political systems do provide a practical way of combining, through representative institutions, the benefits of unity and diversity, but they are no panacea for all of humanity’s political ills. Second, the degree to which a federal political system can be effective will depend upon the extent to which there is acceptance of the need to respect constitutional norms and structures and upon an emphasis on the spirit of tolerance and compromise. Third, effectiveness also depends upon whether the particular form or variant of federal system that is adopted or evolved gives adequate expression to the demands and requirements of the particular society in question.
It seems to me many interested in Federalism like it because Federalism is a Solution to Resolve Ethnic Conflict, as Ellis Katz suggests. On the other hand, there’s Federalism as a means to more equitably distribute national resources. See the abstract of Fiscal Federalism and National Unity.
In particular, Spain seems to be a model for approaching Federalism from the point of view of finance, see Fiscal federalism and regional integration: lessons from Spain and the more complex Public Spending and Fiscal Federalism in Spain. Period 1984-1998. Spanish concerns over Federalism are reported by Giles Tremlett in a 2005 article. Spain is an interesting example because of the difficulties the Spaniards faced after the demise of Generalissimo Franco: how do you turn a feudal society into a functioning, modern democracy? See Federalism and the State of the Autonomies in Spain:
After 39 years of dictatorship (1936-1975), the death of General Franco offered Spain an immense opportunity to rebuild its institutions and create a system of government where the diversity of cultures was not an impediment to the reintroduction of democracy. It is with the Constitution of 1978 that this country ended the ancient discussion about the form of State that would better ensure governance and opened the path to the creation of the State of the Autonomies.
Incidentally, if anyone can help me get a copy of Democracy and Federalism in Spain (see this abstract, too). as well as Mexican Federalism Revisited, and Federalism and Caudillismo in the Mexican Revolution: The Genesis of the Oaxaca Sovereignty Movement (1915-20), I’d highly appreciate it.
Mon Casiple simply thinks the Senate proposal is a gambit to derail a Palace initiative -and that the gambit’s worked.
Meanwhile, my column also looks at the President’s plans to overhaul her cabinet; RG Cruz says the President’s become rather flirtatious about the whole thing. Mad Miriam weighs in, too: New Cabinet to be 2010 admin senatorial slate–Sen Santiago. The scuttlebutt for some time now has focused those waiting in the wings for appointments – includingRalph Recto, Tessie Aquino-Oreta (said to have already completed her Department of Education lineup of appointments) and Vicente Sotto III.
In the blogosphere, on an overseas political note, BuzzMachine looks at Democrats engaged in a schism in a top American political blog. In Malaysia, as you know Jeff Ooi is the first Malaysian blogger (Screenshots) to become an MP. He takes a frustrated -but highly humorous- look at parliamentary procedure in Speaker (Sabah): ‘No supplementary questions during Q&A today’.
And on a cultural note, see Why I Gave Up Blogs To Read More Books by Coconut Headsets.
And listmania! An ongoing list-making process has missingpoints weighs in with his votes for The Top 100 Public Intellectuals , but has a bone to pick with whoever put Al Gore on the list:
Meanwhile, Al Gore needs to be off the list. He is a politician and a popularizer of a cause but it isn’t his ideas being discussed. Being a public intellectual means having thoughts that are original enough to influence lesser people’s thoughts. If agreeing with experts and promoting their ideas is public intellectualism, half the people with blogs can qualify.
Indeed, there is The dilemma of defining a Public Intellectual as blogger gov4sale dissects the question,
The best example comes from Alan Lightman in his article “The role of public intellectuals”
Lightman bring the example of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his essay “The American Scholar” in this essay Emerson describes the meaning and the function of the intellectual.
In this essay Emerson describes the intellectual as “preserves great idea of the past communicates them and creates new ideas. The intellectual does all of these things not out of obligation to his society, but out of obligation to himself.”
The idea of the intellectual that is described by Emerson feels more of a noble idea, but a very true one, what Emerson describe as an intellectual is by far the most tangible idea ever.
To add to the above notion but with a more political character Edward Said describes “the intellectual’s mission in life is to advance human freedom and knowledge, this often means standing outside of society and its institutions and actively disturbing the status quo.”
With these two ideas combine together we draw a very distinct picture of what a public intellectual is, although some may disagree with this idea.
Lightman also bring a hierarchy of levels of public intellectuals
-level one: speaking and writing for the public exclusively about his/her discipline, example Brian Green’s book The Elegant Universe.
-level two: speaking and writing about his/her discipline and how it relates to the social, cultural, and political world around it, example James Watson’s the Double Helix.
-Level three: by invitation only. The intellectual has become elevated to a symbol, a person that stands for something far larger than the discipline from which he or she originated. According to Lightman these intellectuals is asked to write and speak about a large range of public issues. Example Einstein was asked to give public addresses on religion, education, ethics and world politics.
The Daily Telegraph unveils The 50 most influential US political pundits. The Debatable Land starts a survey on American Presidents: who are the most over-rated and the most under-rated? (On a personal note, can anyone help me turn this, into something more like this, without breaking the bank?)
We like lists because we instinctively want to classify everything see how Time Magazine did so in this year’s The World’s Most Influential People. But after that, we want to rank things. With regards to the Time 100, Joel Stein threw caution to the winds to try to cobble together a formula: then someone said he should refine it, which he did.
For The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008, a thorough effort to define criteria’s been undertaken by Can Talk Tech but what is a solid criteria for him may differ from the way other people approach the same task.
Let me weigh in with my list. Let me begin with a caveat: there are quite a few blogs I’ve added to my reading list over the past year, but they’re not new enough (cut-off is a blog birthday after July 1, 2007) to qualify for the list. These blogs are in no particular order. They represent my biases as to what I consider significant and these choices aren’t necessarily endorsements of these blogs, their advocacies, etc. Though for many of these blogs, I do heartily sympathize with them, which is why I follow them -but not all.
Update, July 30, 2010. I have changed some of my nominations, my final list is as follows:
1. Writer’s Block which is a fine example of intellectual efforts by a writer online.
2. The Mount Balatucan Monitor one of the regional blogs that makes inter-regional cross-pollination possible.
3.Since scaRRed_cat seems no longer updated, and though a good example of a veteran journalist trying to adapt to sharing articles online, I’ve decided to nominate fritzified.com instead. A wholesome combination of lifestyle, food, gadgetry, even fashion, but written from an intelligent point of view and not just flashy superficiality.
4. Mon Casiple’s Weblog on Philippine Politics. The finest example of an old school pundit settling in on the interweb.
5. I’d previously nominated Brian Gorrell’s The Not So Talented Mr. Montano? If Malou Fernandez was the Affair of the Diamond Necklace (complete with a mystery: she flew coach), then the birth of this blog was the Bastille moment of the Philippine blogosphere. His recent decision to start outing people, though, is reprehensible. His other motives and postings can be debated but his outing people, well, I don’t know. For that reason, I nominate At Midfield, instead. Ging Gagelonia is a journalist who broke new ground through his reportage and commentary in the blogosphere on the Sulpicio lines sinking.
6. New Philippine Revolution, an intriguing blog and one that I think has a covert following among the politically-inclined. Also, an example of how anonymous blogging can be effective.
7. Vera Files. Had a discussion on Twitter if this counts as a blog or not, but Juned Sonido opined it does. If so, it marks the emergence of what could comprise the Big Three in independent journalism online.
8. Ateneans ACT, which became a forum for advocacy and debate among the alumni of one school, and which served as a model for advocacy and inter-generational debate, lost its steam. While this site marks the evolution and, to my mind, coming of age of the political advocacy blog, I have decided to nominate stuart-santiago instead. Seems to me male bloggers still dominate and hers is a voice of rationality and questioning that bears following.
9. Team RP, particularly because it’s on Multiply and there seems to be a lingering bias of sorts I can’t quite pin down, but it seems to be there, against Multiply/Friendster etc. blogs. This blog is significant because it’s wedded to an advocacy site, and it’s an advocacy led by, and targeted at, the youth, which conventional wisdom tagged as apathetic -but who proved the pundits wrong after NBN-ZTE broke. The kids were just waiting for an issue that really engrossed them.
10. I’m not sure if FilipinoVoices.com counts, because it’s composed of veteran bloggers and commenters, but, well, it’s new and is making ripples, if not waves.
You may be interested to read the choices of Filipinayzd, atheista (campaigning, actually, for Visit Sagada), Viloria.net, SELaplana, My First One Million Pesos, and Mapiles.com, Tingog.com and Shari.
Elsewhere in blogolandia, The Journal of the Jester-in-Exile takes a look at the hostility and patronizing attitude he believes afflicts many journalists; a relevant reading’s John Nery’s Barbarians at the gates? And see The Race: Newspapers have a bright future as print-digital hybrids after all - but they’d better hurry, in the Columbia Journalism Review (thanks to Hector Bryant Macayle for the link). The Marocharim Experiment has a thought-provoking entry on media-blogger issues.
Hiraya: Endless Journey takes a meta-look at blogging.
Adel Tamano takes up blogging at The Opposite of Apathy.
“We should have broken up that oligarchy a long time ago but they are a tenacious lot who “won’t go down with a fightâ€Â, in your own words, and we are a people who would not want blood in our hands, who would settle for peace at all cost, so this.” – ricelander
And, as Mr. Quezon points out, this oligarchy is capable of reinventing itself. They can mushroom like a hundred Michael Corleones who would deodorize their nefarious family enterprises (in our clannish society, politics and business are always kept within the family).
Mr. Quezon cited the Villafuertes in Bicol, wherein father and son seemed on a collision course due to differing political styles. He also cited the Ejercitos of San Juan, where JV Ejercito has added a fresh new dimension to the family’s stranglehold on local politics.
The ruling classes cannot be underestimated. After all, they have access to the best education and, arguably, to a superior gene pool. Not only will they not go down “without a fight”, they can even preclude a fight by pulling the wool over the masses. They can always transform themselves into more palatable, trendy versions of the older generation.
The tale about the Villafuertes may make a good story. Just as the Ejercitos, the Escuderos, the Zubiris, the Cayetanos, the Duranos and other political families appear to reinvent themselves.
But behind the smiles and the glamor, the fact remains that the ruling classes are simply trying to perpetuate their hold on power and the economy. Those seemingly fresh-looking faces conceal the fangs of a predatory breed.
In the meantime, the hapless masses are mesmerized into submission.
“. It’s like charging everything on our credit cards and yet income will only grow 5% or less a year and credit card companies charging 8% to 24%. One day, it’s a personal credit crunch. Just like our economy. So who is responsible? If we have to compare our economy to our own individual situation, do you think we will use more of our credit card limit and be burried in debts?”
Leytenian,
I don’t want to call anybody clueless or even naive,not even shooting from the hips.
Granted that this is an example to start a conversation.
Ang labo eh. You are saying that we can no longer pay our leaders,so why not remove unperforming ones?????
Comparing our economy to the individual’s credit card usage;
Where did that earning income 5% or less come from? most people are lucky enough to have a salary increase in two years,o sige me lusot ka ,it is indeed 5% or less. As to being trapped in credit card payments that can happen if you pay just the minimum payment, all the time.If you do not use your card up to near its limit, need not worry the credit line will be reduced.
As to the 8% to 24%,after enjoying a teaser rate of 0 % for a year, it will jump to above the prime rate to compensate for the”services” the credit card company has invetested in the customer, use the card for a couple of more years without having to default and go over the limit eventually you will reach that 24 % apr and eventually the defalt rate of above 30%,that is why we have balance transfer offers every now and then.
I just don’t see any connection with debt crunch to the salary of leaders, whether it is performace based ,or otherwise; or even gdp vis-a-vis the salary of our leaders, which you are trying to connect the dots with .
jude, ganyan talaga ang society, mayroon Slaves at Masters, pero sa ibang progressive na manga Bansa, tulad sa Amerika at Western Europe at iba pang sa Asia, ang manga “slaves” ngayon may mas maraming opportunidad maka-ahon at maka-alpas sa pagiging Slaves Forever. Ang Dahilan po ang manga Masters as di makaiwas bumayad nang kanilang tamang Buwis, at namamahala (sila mismo) ay hindi Pabor or Biased toward sa manga Masters para ma perpetuate ang kanilang Status.
COMELEC Philippines: http://www.comelec.gov.ph/laws/toc.html
Comelec Philippines has no clear rules and regulations in terms of conflict of interest. This commission should not allow any family members to run in line with another family member on the same province or the same jurisdiction. This will prevent political dynasty. Political Dynasty regardless of what they do , good governance or bad governance is always unethical and is no longer acceptable to our economy.
It also do not have a page nor a phone number for whistle blowers.
It doesn’t have an investigative body to investigate candidates for buying votes.
All acts do not have monetary policies ,suspension or removal from office if vote buying occurs. It also do not have a required numbers of individual who can petition against a candidate if guilty of vote buying.
It’s home page does not say… Vote Buying are unethical and illegal.
This commission requires a major makeover….
What a Shame…
In his “Mi Ultimo Adios,” Dr Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda, the national hero of the Philippines, rendered her wife, Josephine Leopoldine McBride Bracken, as only a very good poet can, immortal: “Adiós, dulce estranjera, mi amiga, mi alegrÃÂa” (Farewell, sweet foreigner, my darling, my delight). But who is Rizal’s Dulce Estranjera?
Read “Josephine Bracken: Jose Rizal’s Dulce Estranjera” at http://www.socyberty.com/History/Josephine-Bracken-Jose-Rizals-Dulce-Estranjera.111115 and find out.
Please leave your comments. Thank you very much.
KG,
5% or less salary increase is based in the US.
Credit crunch or our national debts.
taking our current GDP only as an example, it is reported at 5% growth rate since 200 something?
if our economy ( income) is growing at 5% or less but we are borrowing at 12%… we lose 7% especially if our debts our close to its limit. it’s unsustainable in the long run.
US GDP is lower than we have. probably growing at 3% a year but the US is the bank or the lender making 8%-24% from its borrowers. just an example… to connect the salary of our leaders, it simply means that our economy cannot sustain unless our leaders will help our revenue grow to pay down debts. Not sure if the IMF will offer a 0% teaser rate to our corrupt government. For credit scoring, we are probably considered poor.. less than 580 on individual FICO score. With this score, i’mnot sure if i can get a good rate nor a teaser rate. There is a scoring system for countries. i am curious how much interest rates our government is paying.
It is not hard to understand why it is hard for a few pinoys to understand their position.
Those who led the country into political independence simply imported a political system and structure that required a mature and autonomous economic system and structure.
However that autonomous economic system and structure has never existed in the Philippines. It still does not exist.
Enligthened government brought it into existence.
Hence the political system on paper has become bastardized and distorted to reflect the economic realities. So what’s new?
Most pundits on this blog also are under the same mistaken illusion on the meaning of autonomy. From the aspect of individual economic autonomy – choice, which will determine an individuals ability and free will to make a political choice. So will the communities economic autonomy determine their ability to make an autonomous political choice.
Now pray tell is there a broad mass with economic autonomy in the country? Hello is anybody home????
Most pinoys are psychologically incapacitated into being dependent by their lack of economic opportunities. They loose their ability to become psychologically autonomous.
Then you have their religious leaders ratifying this dependency.
How can you become politically autonomous when the bulk of the population has become psychologically retarded into dependency? Then the schooling system embeds this psyche through the rote system of memorizing and obedience and disdains those who question why?
This system crushes incentive and innovation.
Then those in power do not believe that those below their station have the capacity to rise above their station.
Leytenian,
I don’t think I have the right nor even would I want to meddle in who you want to date or even marry.
But if you put forward an idea anywhere; anyone has the privilege to assume that you are vouching for that idea unless you clarify yourself.
You stated that
“there’s a policy for replacement if performance are not acceptable, of course. for example , if a bank president is fired due to commingling, the vice president will replace. this type of policy will keep our leader performing at his/her highest potential.”
Then there will be a NEW bank president and a NEW bank Vice President whose salaries will be paid by the bank and not just bank with a new president but without a vice president
So I suggest you try to reconcile your thoughts with your previous statements of:
“6. It will eliminate non performing leaders
7. Labor costs for the Senate will be decreased because we are only paying 7 instead of 24
8. The lower house will be eliminated and labor cost will also decrease.” (Your initial assertion)
“i understand. i was referring to non performing leaders. We don’t have enough revenue to pay them salaries. It’s unsustainable…..Too many non performing leaders to pay plus Debts are so high, accumulated from the past and current situation.”
“my point, we might need to remove non performing leaders and pay the remainings higher salary.”
Right there in that last quote; if your last reply to me shows your concern with those who will replace non-performing leaders, then why does your post on May 4, 4:48AM deal only with the “remainings” with no word on the “replacements” of non-performing leaders?
KG gave you wise advise; best you follow it.
MyPhil,
The idea was that everything was charged. I surmise that includes building infrastructure,acquiring machinery, etc…
Let’s say I buy a refrigerator, fan, T.V., etc… this year and charged it all on my credit card. If what I bought is sturdy to survive my use; hopefully I won’t be buying the same appliances next year and hopefully several years hence.
I will still caall a person clueless who compares a nation’s borrowing to an individual’s use of his credit card.
1. An individual mostly used his credit card to buy consumable/durable goods; government borrows for a project that may be generating revenues that over time it liquidates the liabilities or a project tha brings about development that contributes cost reduction that coud be traslated into savings.
2. an individual pays the credit card on a short-term basis with fluctuating interest rate depending on the prime rate; government pays long term oftentimes at a fixed interest rate with a provision for balloon payments if necessary.
3. an individual borrows from a financial institution particularly a credit card company ; government borrowings can be made from public like the treasury bonds, pw bonds that can be floated thru domestic or international financial brokers.
The proceeds from the borrowings are not used for payment of salaries or for ordinary and recurring expenses of the government.
hvrds,
“It is not hard to understand why it is hard for a few pinoys to understand their position”
“However that autonomous economic system and structure has never existed in the Philippines. It still does not exist.”
agree..
“From the aspect of individual economic autonomy – choice, which will determine an individuals ability and free will to make a political choice. So will the communities economic autonomy determine their ability to make an autonomous political choice”
very true… you are right, it still does not exist.
“Most pinoys are psychologically incapacitated into being dependent by their lack of economic opportunities. They loose their ability to become psychologically autonomous.”
I agree with you and now I understand Benigno.
The cat,
“The proceeds from the borrowings are not used for payment of salaries or for ordinary and recurring expenses of the government.”
How do you know? This is where you missed my point. Meaning there’s no corruption in the Philippines.You are right credit card debts is for individual borrowing. It was only used as an example to test the ability of comprehension.
has anybody noticed the average pinoy’s tendency to treat borrowings as income, especially those from relatives? over the years, i have learned to consider certain loans i made as “giveaways”. that way, i save myself from a lot of anger and frustration, if not outright insanity.
@ Leytenian,
I believe that hvrds’ point is that the Filipinos have been denied political power because of the absence of economic power; hence a mindset/attitude of dependency among Filipinos was created.
Continuing, this situation had been fostered not only by the oligarchy-dominated government but also by the Catholic Church, the educational system, and other reasons.
However, your previous posts above seem to say that federalism will solve the problems of corruption by way of transparency of financial transactions(?).
Are you saying that our decades-old problems will be solved by change of structure and procedures?
jakcast,
“Are you saying that our decades-old problems will be solved by change of structure and procedures?”
Maybe. The Visayan has been wanting to be independent and so with Mindanao.
hvrds said:” However that autonomous economic system and structure has never existed in the Philippines. It still does not exist”
“Then those in power do not believe that those below their station have the capacity to rise above their station.”
whose comprehension? Who are you testing? A person who likes you do not know how government borrows?
“As of mid-2007, the total National Government debt per Filipino is P43,649.57 with each individual coughing
P7, 012.12 just to service the debt.
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/jan/20/yehey/top_stories/20080120top2.html
In principle, governments collect taxes from its constituents to generate revenues to finance its projects and programs. Yet, in the Philippines, the politics of taxation takes on a different meaningâ€â€it goes to debt service and it’s not even enough.
Minimum wage of 100 pesos/day is 3000/month or 36,000 pesos a year cannot service our national debts of
P7,012.12.
This nagging fear that the Philippines will be balkanized is most likely due to the fact that nationhood was imposed on these islands by colonizers. Before Magellan, the islands were an agglomeration of clans with autonomous, if not idependent, control over their areas. There was no evolution from within that would cause the nation to unite. Kung baga, naging hinog sa pilit yung pagbuo ng bansa natin. It was caused by outside forces, not by internal circumstances and natural evolvement.
In the case of Mindanao, for example, it is geographically and culturally more suited to be part of Malaysia than the Philippines. This inherent incompatibility causes the irritants that lead to frequent conflicts and aspirations for independence.
Colonization hastened our development as a country. But it arrested our development as a nation. Kaya “half-baked” yung pagkabansa natin.
The cat,
“See, you do not even know how budgeting is done in the government or even in the private sector as to how they estimate the expenditures and how they are going to be funded.”
Yes, you are right in principle and theory. The P7, 012.12 just to service the debt is just to pay interest.
So I am assuming that each filipino is charge at 16%.
P 7012.12 divided by P43,649.57 (actual debt) and yet income ( minimum wage) is only growing at 5% (hoping).
My Reply: May 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 pm .”Revenue from government should not rely on borrowing, overseas remittances and Aids from other countries. It needs to generate income by employing its people”
hvrds said: “Most pundits on this blog also are under the same mistaken illusion on the meaning of autonomy. From the aspect of individual economic autonomy – choice, which will determine an individuals ability and free will to make a political choice. So will the communities economic autonomy determine their ability to make an autonomous political choice.”
The sad part is, most filipinos don’t even have credit cards and yet there is hidden debts attach to their heads.
I am just trying to make people aware that it’s not just about basic finance.It is about understanding what’s really going on with our country’s economic health. We must be pro-active and vigilant on how well our leaders manage the people’s money. I’m not here to argue with anybody and use theory and principle. I am more on practice,skills and result of one’s performance.
hvrds said:” However that autonomous economic system and structure has never existed in the Philippines. It still does not exist.”
Leytenian.
If it was a test the ability of comprehension of anyone;then
almost everyone will fail ,buti pa si Myphil, naintindihan ka.
I tried,but I have to say I failed your test.
No one failed KG… my opinion is actually not for everybody and is not better than anybody. malabo lang talaga ako.i admit.. lol good day.
“I’m not here to argue with anybody and use theory and principle. I am more on practice,skills and result of one’s performance. ”
The CAT and The Justice League gave practical scanarios,not theoretical.
Ay,ambot sa imo.Bagsak talaga ako sa comprehension test mo.
jude, what is the difference between us and other countries in the region who are also nation-states because of colonialism?
jude, what is the difference between us and other countries in the region who are also nation-states because of colonialism? – mlq3
Malaysia is dominated by the majority Muslim Bumiputra. Ethnic Chinese and Indians, imported by the British colonizers, are very adaptable and have no nationalist aspirations. States within Malaysia are also given quite a bit of autonomy, keeping separatist sentiments in check. A relatively small population also makes things more manageable for the central government. An emergent Muslim fundamentalist movement, which wants to make the nation less Western-oriented, could cause problems in the future.
Indonesia is more problematic, although its having a vast Muslim majority manages to keep things together. However, ethnic Chinese have felt the recurring ire of the native populace and millions have been killed. East Timor broke away and is now independent. Before that, the Indonesian government ruled with an iron fist and ruthlessly crushed any nationalist aspirations. The areas which are Hindu do not feel at home with the Muslim majority. Aceh has separatist tendencies. The Indonesian half of New Guinea may someday go the way of East Timor. Colonialism also arrested Indonesia’s development as a nation and, presently, it has to undergo a natural evolution until it attains maturity. That process could involve a lot of pain and violence.
Singapore is dominated by ethnic Chinese who are largely united by their aspirations for wealth. Despite this, Lee Kwan Yew had to rule for many years with a strong grip in order to keep everyone in check.
Indochina had to go into violent revolutions and wars. It is still in the process of evolving, although the catharsis it has undergone now give countries like Vietnam and Cambodia a deeper sense of nationhood and gravitas. They are now touted to be the next dragons in this region of the world.
While I personally do not advocate upheaval, it is often needed to undergo a process of maturation. In a post above, ricelander says: “we are a people who would not want blood in our hands, who would settle for peace at all cost, so this.”
It would also be smart if people would concentrate on the total public sector debt that includes all GOCC’s plus the debts of LGU’s. Do not be misled by the government’s differentiating between the national government debt and the total public sector debt.
Please also note that the strengthening of the peso also would bring down the peso equivalent of the total public sector debt that is denominated in dollars.
The ability of government to continue to pile up debts is simply made more possible by the continued rise of OFW earnings.
The domestic economy is financially not able to become independent since it is saddled with horrendous debts. That is the story of the Philippines.
We follow what our creditors tell us to do.
Now if we were to add to this the total foreign debt of the private sector you will know why the Philippine economy had the multilaterals drill itself a second asshole for us to get it while we are bent over.
Meanwhile Big Mike the the Queen in waiting enjoy watching.
RP Public Sector Debt at P5+ trillion in Q3 ’07
GMANews.TV – Thursday, April 24
MANILA, Philippines – Public sector debt stood at P5.011 trillion as of September last year, 2.8% more than the P4.86-trillion deb
Cont’d from above
Finance department data released Wednesday showed that the public sector debt as of the end of the third quarter was equivalent to 77.6% of the countryÂ’s gross domestic product.
Out of the total debt, foreign obligations amounted P3.352 trillion, while domestic loans was at P1.659 trillion. – BusinessWorld
Dear Manolo,
I too am very concerned about the current debates on federalism. The financing side is left out. Time and again, I have pointed out that shifting to federalism will result in supporting through taxes three levels of government, three sets of bureaucracies and of course, 3 sets of politicians. The big issue is how to share the huge burden of the national debt?
My ABS CBN Interactive column last week was on financing federalism.
warm regards,
Liling
Leytenian,
I have to apologize for the unnecessary remarks.
Gawd, you accused me of being theoritical when I have the experience of preparing budgets in the government and in private.
We are talking about sourcing of salaries and then you come up with debt servicing. sabog ba utak mo?
But honey, these minimum wage earners are not paying the debts, principal or interest because these people are not even paying income taxes not because they are tax evaders but because they fall at the income level when they do no have to pay so why the comparison?
Currently the US total debt per person is US$ 31,100 while the minimum wage is 11.00 to some states that when translated to monthly for 40 hourrs a week , that’s roughly US 1,800 a month.
The ratio of total debts to GDP is 66.6 per cent.
the national debt is debt incurred within the central administration. very little of these debts were used to finance projects to the provinces. Federalism proposal may be the result that the provinces should not be liable for odiuos debt.
this country is running using debt financing and revenue ispaying it back at 70% of incomeand only 30% of our revenue goes to social services.
These debt are owed from both domestic and international lenders. majority is paid to local lenders or investors. some of these investors are the OLIGARCH. I am assuming they are charging 16% for our bonds that the government sold at a discount when it needed to raise capital/ cash flow to pay non performing leaders, pay past due debts, pay current expenses and sacrificing the obvious needs of the country.
The provinces are very aware of this high leverage financing just to service the Central. No wonder the provinces wanting to have their own. can you blame that. Please google search Philippines debts and try to understand where did they spend most of that money. I can gurantee you,, they are mostly in manila and most of those projects are not even making revenue. Our government were investing into projects with negative returns.
The Cat,
“Gawd, you accused me of being theoritical when I have the experience of preparing budgets in the government and in private.”
Might be a bit inapropriate for you to say that I accused you. That’s not me. I’m sure you have the experience in putting theory into practice. I have nod doubt your performance is excellent. I can tell you can read financial data because you know where revenue is derived from and what expenses are for.
The sad part honey, your perfect work will not matter to the top. They can edit and delete it so that overall income and expenses will result to profit. To prove my point ,please research Philippine debts. One more thing,do not defend Lito lapid. I think you can read financial data better than him. good day…
are you an auditor? or you just read this from a book.
The sad fact, ineng is that in financial statements analysis, you just do not look at the raw data.
you look at the comparative analysis. You do not look at the bottomline. you look at the trends and the expalanation of the causes of the trend.
Why should i researh for the philippine debts .What has that to do with the your staement deletion and editing of income statements? You mean the window dressing of the financial reports?
honey,in the government, we do not call it profit. Because just like the non-profit entities, governments are not operating for profit.
The right term is the change in the operating cost which is derived by deducting the operating costs from the revenues. the result may be deficit or or excess.
The balance sheet is not also the same as in the private sector. instead of showing the balanced assets, liabilities and equities, the net position which is the difference between the assets and the liabilities.
I am not defending Lito Lapid. I am calling your comment that the senators should know the basic financial data STUPID when you yourself can not distinguisn cash flow from revenue.
you do not call it debt-financing. You call it deficit budgeting which is practised not only in the Philippines.
hala, nagkaka-technicalan na…
tongue-twisted, talagang mahirap magbigay ng kuro-kuro kung di kumpleto ang kaalaman. mabibisto at mabibisto. eka nga, “a little learning is a dangerous thing”.
The cat,
“You call it deficit budgeting which is practised not only in the Philippines.”
it doesn’t matter sweetie. but here’s an info… http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debtfinancing.asp
sure i read the books and even study the books. but i understand where you coming from. what matter here is our country has a huge debts. are you concern of it at all? or you don’t care?
The cat,
bakit baligtad sa atin: deficit budgetting.. there’sno such thing of that word even on finance or economics… hahaha. ganyan talaga ang pinas. baliktarin para sabihin ok na… it’s called budget deficit…ining…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deficit
our government is budgeting deficit not budgetting income? … naku nabisto nga.. LOL good day, the cat
Genghis Khan united the warring tribes of Mongolia and raised the most successful armies in the world. Chinese Emperor Shi Huang Ti conquered the divided kingdoms of China and united the nation. The Japanese stop the petty wars of daimyos and become one.
Here in the Philippines we do the opposite. There are so many whiners out there especially those in the Visayas. Basically because these Visayas is composed of islands its where you can find the most regionalistic of all, the Ilonggos, the Cebuanos, the Boholanos and the Warays.
They have inward perspective. Their idea of nationshood is concentrated on their islands. I always think it stupid that we have to break ourselves apart. The sooner we break up, the sooner we will become like ancient china.
We have never as a nation when we are under the unitary setup. I dont think breaking us apart would make a difference. More likely, it will worsen as I our deep seated divisions will now be magnified.
Leytenian, have you even tried clicking on the link to see that Investopedia is a Forbes media company,it’s not even pinoy.
Sorry ,if I keep on pestering you,but please if you don’t want to stay down like I said, then at least defend yourself properly.
KB,
ambot sa imo uy,lol. to satisfy you my friend ,here’s a better link on debt financing.http://pfr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/571
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=884298
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/8/3/8/5/p83850_index.html
The concept is almost the same: budget surplus/excess/profits/positive leveraging
or
budget deficit/ losses/ negative leverage
Read manolo’s new article about federalism, he made mention about national debt. If we are going to have separate states, then there will be a question of which state should contribute more or less in terms of servicing our debts. The proposal of pimentel remains weak. It did not address the big problem… our national debt.
balatucan,
“Here in the Philippines we do the opposite. There are so many whiners out there especially those in the Visayas. Basically because these Visayas is composed of islands its where you can find the most regionalistic of all, the Ilonggos, the Cebuanos, the Boholanos and the Warays.”
In my own opinion, I don’t think the Visayans are prejudice among each other. I don’t think that is the issue or even whining. We never had history of misunderstanding among each other. People in our country not only the Visayans whine, complain and sometimes beg to the government to find answers :why we are still poor, why corruption has not been solved and among any other bigger issues.
The proposal from the Visayans is not strong enough. Cebu has not consulted the other islands. Just like Pimentel has not consulted the others about his Federalism proposal. This will definitely result to increasing problems in the long run especially if state economy will not improve. The concept of federalism may not work at this current situation. Our national debts must be addressed and cannot be ignored in terms of policy making.
On the positive side, few leaders are trying to make a solution whether good or bad. But at least they are doing something to come up with a better solution. Their proposal may not be appropriate at this time but it is something that our current administration cannot ignore. The hope of coming up with a better solution might be the result of all negotiations. So will see what’s next..let them debate and get tired of one another. it’s been that way,anyway.
@ Leytenian
Please read Mr. Antonio Abaya’s article on federalism. It might give you a fresh perspective.
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=antonioAbaya_april29_2008
the difference between debt-financing and deficit budgeting is this;
In debt-financing, the obligation can be avoided by totally scrapping the project. a good example is the NBN deal.
when the decision to abort the project due to bribe scandal was made, the debt to china in the form of loan is also scrapped.
in deficit budgeting- the decision to raise the financing of the deficit is a must or else the projected expenses will never be met.
the incurrence of debt can not be avoided.the expenses can not be avoided unlike in the first example when scrapping the project also scraps the projected expenses and expenditures.
the decisions being made are:
1. what type of debt is going to be incurred?
2. what types of bonds are going to be issued.
3. what is the maturity period?
4. what interest rate is attractive to sell the bonds.
The diffence between the bonds issued by the government and the bonds issued by the private firms is that the government bonds are safer in terms of risk because the government guarantees the payment.
jackast,
thanks for the link. i’m over with federalism issue. i’m more concern now with our national debts. so will see…
The cat,
The cat,
“that the government bonds are safer in terms of risk because the government guarantees the paymentâ€Â
true, that’s why our government are in debts because it guarantee payments to bond holders even if the projects did not result to positive outcome,revenue,profit,or excess. we have a budget deficit. when revenue cannot service the debts payable ( due or maturing) then the government can issue more bonds ( debt financing) to cover payments. When bonds are sold , it is added as cash to Cash flow statement but will become liability in our balance sheet. When liabilities exceeds assets, you know what’s going to happen.
when our government keeps issuing more bonds or in layman’s term ( print more money) , this will increase the money supply and will result to Inflation.
If government wil not issue bonds due to due to risk of inflation, the government will have a tendendy to borrow using assets as collateral. Spratley deal may be relevant to why we borrowed money from China.
That’s why a push for financial transparency is very crucial or else ,we filipinos will be burried in debts or will be owned by someone else authority if we cannot service our debts, of which might be the case.
hindi mo pa rin maintindihan ang concept.
Give up na sana ako sa kabobohan mo. sorry. i normally keep my cool and try to be civil. but you are pushing so much. You discuss stuff that you do not understand. I was decided not to Waste my time educating a no- brainer- trying to- be intellectual when I read this.
At sino naman magaling ang nasabing in layman’s language, issuing bonds is printing money. When you issue bonds, you are not printing money. YOU ARE ISSUING DEBT INSTRUMENTS. unlike paper money, you can not use the bonds, go to the store to buy rice. The bonds have maturity date and a face that can be sold for a premium or a discount. What CB prints are the paper bills ang tawag ay pera. Ang nakalagay doon ay isandaan, ang makukuha mo ay isandaan.
Whoever said that these two are the same is BOBO.
and honey goverment don’t print money to pay its liabilities.
correction: with a face value that can be sold at a premium or at a discount.