KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.17 JUNE 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.17 JUNE 2011

Road users pork barrel & ARMM poll postponement

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him…” (Psalm 103:13, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

CONNECTION BETWEEN PORK BARREL AND ARMM POLL POSTPONEMENT: Will the Road Board, whose members are appointed by the President, give away billions of pesos it has collected as road users tax as additional pork barrel for senators, congressmen and governors, on its own, and then risk being charged with plunder or graft and corruption later?

We must remember, as Sen. Panfilo Lacson said, road users tax collections are intended by law to be used for repairs and improvement of roads, and not as pork barrels of lawmakers or local government officials. Using the tax for some other purposes, as what was admittedly done here, constitutes a crime.

So, when did the Road Board get the courage to divert the road users tax from its original usage? When it was time to vote on the postponement of the August 2011 elections at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) by our senators? Is that the connection between this road users pork barrel and the ARMM poll postponement?

-ooo-

WHO ARE WE TO BELIEVE---CARANDANG OR DE JESUS? So, who are to believe on the issue of whether or not Malacanang was asked by former Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose De Jesus to reprimand Land Transportation Office chief Virginia Torres---De Jesus or Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang?

Carandang says Malacanang is not aware of any memorandum by De Jesus recommending administrative sanctions against Torres, but then De Jesus has produced that memorandum, giving copies thereof to media to back up his claims.

Clearly, Carandang either does not know what he is talking about, which is a sign of gross incompetence, or that he is simply pulling the wool over our eyes to hide his incompetence, or the incompetence or, worse, the criminal maneuverings, of some other Malacanang officials who maybe in cahoots with the corrupt and the greedy.

-ooo-

OFFICIALS MUST BE SLAVES OF ALL: As a reminder to those who are in positions of power, we are reproducing here a discussion by the Lord Jesus with His disciples led by John and James on how a leader should conduct himself in office. This is how Mark 10: 35-45 describes this important discussion:

“Jesus called them together and said, `You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

“ `Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,’ ” Jesus said. For officials reading this, it is time to follow what Jesus said here.

-30-

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.16 JUNE 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.16 JUNE 2011

GMA was also good? Wendell Sulit’s honesty!

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him…” (Proverbs 23:24, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

GMA DID SOMETHING GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY, AFTER ALL? Now, now, now!!! Will somebody please tell us the truth: who should get the credit for the recent improvement of the Philippines’ fiscal position and macroeconomic stability, as reported by Moody’s Investor Services : the government of former President Arroyo, or that of President Aquino?

The clarification is necessary because, even among President Aquino’s officials, a great degree of confusion is very evident. While one group says it was because of the economic policies of the Aquino government that economic improvement became possible, another group unabashedly attributes this improvement to the policies of the Arroyo government.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Armando Tetangco, Jr. has this to say, as reported by ABS CBN: “"In the last 10 years, we have grown quite impressively, even through the crisis, inflation has been muted, the BOP (balance of payments) has been in surplus, the GIR (gross international reserve) level has climbed many folds, the banks have been strong and stable, fiscal consolidation has been entrenched…”

So, Gloria Arroyo’s 10 or so years of presidency really did something good for the country then? So, whatever economic achievements the country and its people are experiencing now under President Aquino all came about because of the policies that Arroyo’s government espoused for the last 10 years? And I thought Gloria did nothing but to plunder our country?

-ooo-

WENDELL SULIT: ALWAYS ABOVE-BOARD IN HER DUTIES: I am not aware of the truth or falsity of the charges against Ombudsman Special Prosecutor Wendell Barreras Sulit in connection with the plea bargaining deal between the Ombudsman and former Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, but one thing is clear: in all her professional life as a prosecutor, Wendell has always been above-board in the discharge of her duties and responsibilities.

I know this for a fact, considering that right from the very first time that she started serving as an ordinary prosecutor, I had the opportunity of looking at her performance from the jaded eyes of a reporter, since I was then covering the Ombudsman and all its attached agencies for various media entities.

I know that many opportunities presented themselves to Wendell for her to make lots and lots of money out of her position, but then she chose to keep her nose clean, as it were, with the conviction that the only wealth she could bequeathed her children are a good name and reputation, a conviction handed down to her by her own parents.

I am sure Wendell would not do anything to sully that name and reputation now, especially since she is getting older, on her way to retirement. Among the many officials at the Office of the Ombudsman, Wendell is someone whose fear and love of God has remained intact through the years, something that she utilized well to enable her to graduate as a magna cum laude from the Far Eastern University in the 1970s.

-ooo-

RID YOURSELVES OF MALICE: Here are more self-explanatory rules of behavior from the Bible: “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good…” (1 Peter 2:103).

-30-

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.15 JUNE 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.15 JUNE 2011

Pinoys enticed by media ads re: deadly foods

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Philippians 3:20, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

PINOYS ENTICED TO BUY DEADLY FOODS VIA MEDIA ADS: The tragic incidents of food poisoning in a children’s birthday party in Bulacan which hospitalized more than 100 persons, in Batangas which sent 400 teachers to hospitals, in Qatar involving 156 Filipinos, in Isabela which downed 26 children, and in the mistaken use of a deadly chemical as salt which killed two school children in Tuguegarao, Cagayan, underscore the need to be extra careful in what we eat.

But over and above these sensational cases is the truth is that many of the foods we are exposed to daily are actually dangerous, as they are poison-laden, cancer-causing, and are killing many Filipinos slowly but surely, oftentimes unknown to them.

What is ironic here is that the producers of these deadly foods manage to entice many of us to buy and eat them just the same, through relentless radio-TV and print advertisements in media outfits which, despite knowing the health hazards of the foods being advertised, publicize them anyway on account of the billions of pesos paid by food producers as advertising fees.

-ooo-

“BUY CHINESE LAST”: A group of persons who have Facebook accounts created a page called “Buy Chinese Last”, evidently to protest the so-called “bullying” of China of the Philippines and other countries who have staked a claim over the Spratly Islands at the South China Sea, in opposition to China’s own pretensions over the area.

The page was created and started by “Hill Roberts”, with the following caveat: “Don't buy anything made in China, unless you are desperate. This is a fight back how to handle China. Since we cannot fight them militarily, we can apply a different tactic by not, I repeat, not buying Chinese-made goods…” Some 349 Facebook account holders from across the globe have already signed up for the page.

-ooo-

US OFFICIALS NOW SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE: Now, officials of the US Embassy in Manila, led by Ambassador Harry Thomas, are singing a different tune. Whereas just a few days ago they were saying the US will not come to the aid of the Philippines in case of an armed conflict with China over the Spratly Islands, they are now saying the US will help the Philippines.

This is good, but who is the US fooling? US, with its trillion-dollar-loans from China, cannot be expected to help anyone fighting China, and the US Embassy’s first announcement of this fact, in reaction to a Malacanang statement that the Philippines expects US to help Filipinos in case of a war with China, represents the unchangeable reality in America.

-ooo-

BIBLE FORBIDS ANGER: Did you know that getting angry is against the Bible? The Lord Jesus Christ does not want us to be angry. In Matthew 5:22, Jesus says: “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…”

“Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift,” Jesus adds in Matthew 5:23-24. So stop being angry, simply trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

-30-

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.14 JUNE 2011

US heavily indebted to China, won’t help Phl

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God…” (Philippians 4:6, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

NPC: EIGHT MEDIAMEN KILLED UNDER PNOY SO FAR: By the National Press Club’s own reckoning, there are now eight media personalities who were brutally murdered since the assumption of President Benigno Aquino III last year. Here is the NPC list of slain mediamen:

1. July 3, 2010: community journalist Jose Daguio of Barangay Tuga, Tabuk, Kalinga. 2. July 9, 2010: Miguel Belen, of DWEB FM station in Nabua, Camarines Sur. 3. August 1, 2010– Edilberto Cruz, publisher of Salida tabloid in Nueva Ecija.

4. December 10, 2010: Edison Flameniana Sr., columnist of Mindanao Inquirer. 5. January 24, 2011: Dr. Gerry “Doc Gerry” Ortega of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. 6. February 1, 2011: Cirilo Gallardo, 38, a broadcaster of DWWW Spirit 96.9 FM and a teacher of the Divine Word College, of Velasco, Tayum, Abra.

7. March 24, 2011: Len Flores Somera of Maysilo, Malabon. 8. June 13, 2011: Romeo Olea, reporter-announcer of DWEB-FM based in Nabua town.

-ooo-

PROSECUTORS ARE JUST TOO OVERWORKED? Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile may have the right to be mad at Zamboanga City Assistant Prosecutors Alfredo Jimenez Jr. and Gladdy Bernabe for failing to decide criminal cases against a Chinese trader and his wife for almost four years. Justice delayed is indeed justice denied, especially because the delay allowed the trader and his wife to leave the Philippines, for good it seems.

But, perhaps, Enrile and his colleagues in the Senate should also look into the workload of prosecutors, not only in Zamboanga City, but in the whole country as well, because it appears fiscals are just too overwhelmingly overloaded with cases for preliminary investigation, while they are also burdened with court hearings, mornings and afternoons.

I suggest the Senate should find a way to increase the number of prosecutors across the country, so that one set would do nothing but conduct preliminary investigations, and another set would do nothing but attend court hearings.

-ooo-

US WILL NOT HELP PHL: I hate to repeat myself on the issue of the United States of America coming to the aid of the Philippines in case a shooting war erupts between it and China on the Spratly Islands dispute, but I am going to say it again: the US will not help the Philippines.

The reason is simple, regardless of what the treaties and agreements provide: the US is now heavily indebted to China, to the tune of trillions and trillions of dollars. China literally owns the US now, because of these unpaid loans. So if China owns the US, will Beijing allow Washington to help Manila in case of a war? Clearly, the answer is no.

-30-