Prelude to SONA 2008
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SONA 2008 is coming up mga kabisyo. It will be on July 28, 2008. Will you tune in?
NBN-ZTE. And the latest? Cagayan Export Zone.
Holy communion? Not. NFA (No Food Available).
Ang kabataan. Pag-asa nang bayan. (See the emotion on the face of this kid?)
Gas prices.
Convert them in US Dollars at $1=Php44.00. Good news! Rollback! How much? Php1.50. Convert again in US Dollars at $1=Php44.00!
Davao City. Asan si Beng? Nakabili ka ba nang NFA rice Tita Poorsya?!
And there are still some more that we need to check on. Education! Infrastructure! Economy, economy, economy! Roads and bridges! A ewan! Basta madami!
For the rest of my SONA Commentaries, please check the Categories under “SONA”
Related blog entry and interesting articles about the church and poverty:
1.) 2008 SONA and GMA’s last minute attempts to save face
2.) El Shaddai leader calls House Population bill evil
3.) Church faint hand in plight of the poor
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July 23rd, 2008 at 3:38 am
May isusulat pa nga ako about education and poverty rin hehehe… Ang daming kailangang sagutin nyang nunal sa palasyo! Alam mo bang binabandera na sa mga diyaryo ang “accomplishments” daw niya???
sasha’s last blog post..2008 SONA and GMA’s last minute attempts to save face
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reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 23, 2008:
HA?! NASAAN?! SAAN KO MAKIKITA ANG ACCOMPLISHMENTS! HAHAHA! MA-ODIT NGA! HAHAHA! can you give me the links?! hahahaaha
reynz’s last blog post..Family problems
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:51 am
ramdam daw ang kaunlaran sabi ni GMA … manhid yata ang mga Pilipino kaya hindi nakakaramdam
Aaron’s last blog post..Bending over
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reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 23, 2008:
ow? ramdam nino?! hahaha! uber! saan ko makita yan! hahaha!
reynz’s last blog post..Family problems
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:11 am
that’s what we call, pinoy life.
Sad, but it’s true.
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reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 23, 2008:
i know. and it’s an eternal problem pag saten. kainis.
reynz’s last blog post..Family problems
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 am
bengga. bebenggahin ko ang gloria.
she is a living figure of speech, isnt she?
an irony. a paradox. an oymoron. a hyperbole.
there is simply no remorse in her name and person.
Kiks’s last blog post..Pictures of the Gay-zha
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reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 23, 2008:
actually, pede nang bilanging ang accomplishments nya eh. nakabalandra ever araw araw sa dailies.
reynz’s last blog post..Family problems
July 24th, 2008 at 12:54 am
nah! Cagayan Economic Zone(CEZA)! di ko alam kung totoo yan kasi taga cagayan ako, pero ang alam ko lang na totoo mura ang mga sasakyan dun, lalo na yung mga mamahalin kung ituring natin, at ang sigurado lang ako, may casino na dito at sigurado rin ako na hindi pinoy ang mga nagkacasino kundi mga singkit na galing taiwan, at yun ang di ko sigurado paano sila nakakarating dun na magcasino
kulot’s last blog post..Rainy days
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reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 24, 2008:
honestly, ngayon ko lang nalaman na meron palang CEZA dun senyo! ba’t kaya sa Bicol wala man lang? Legazpi? Naga? Daet? Kahit na isang Economic Zone siguro naman bubuti kahit papano ang mga buhay buhay nang mga katribu ko sa uragonland kaya nung binasa ko yong article medyo shock ako. pero mukhang US authorities pa ang nag-imbestiga di ba?
reynz’s last blog post..Dog drinking problems
July 24th, 2008 at 2:41 am
saang cagayan ba ang economic zone na yan? well madami na namang yayamang taga customs.
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reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 24, 2008:
Cagayan Valley ata to! Eh kasi dun sina Enrile Land yun eh. Pero tong CEZA siguro sa bakuran nina Kulot heheheh
reynz’s last blog post..Dog drinking problems
maxi reply on July 24, 2008:
bakit dun ehh madami namang lugar ang pilipinas para naman gumanda ang buhay ng iba saka dyan lang ba sa bandang yan ng luzon ehhh matatawag nating parte ng pilipinas. may mindanao visayas at yun nga bicol siguro sila lang ang ipinanganak ng may political gorilla blooded ek-ek
reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 24, 2008:
ateng noh! nasa luzon nga ang bikol, pero talagang malayo sa luzon! napunta ka naman sa barrio siete di ba? nasadlak ba ang dyip sa talabhi highway nung napunta ka? hahaha! kaya nga nagkalat ang ilong ko sa mukha ko kasi ba naman pag nasasadlak sa putikan pucha tiga-tulak ang reyna nung panahon, minsan nasadsad mukha ko sa dyip!
reynz’s last blog post..Dog drinking problems
maxi reply on July 24, 2008:
yun na nga ehh yun central & north luzon area lang ang nakatanggap ng ganyang biyaya. yung barrio 7 nyo naman was the worse or should i say napagiwanan na ng panahon, i too came from barrio siete in the islands of trulala maski papano sementado din naman ang daan namin pro syemps pag punta ka ng talahib area mahirap malagyan ng semento dun dahil kailangan pang gibain ang mga kabundukan,you’ve been there so the comparison isn’t parallel diba?
reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 24, 2008:
hallerrr! ateng naman! kung anong klaseng talahib highway ang dinatnan mo nun sa abang Barrio Siete ko, ganun pa rin sya up to now!
an layo ever nang comparison sa Bohol. kahit na nasa luzon kami, Mars ang itsura nang barrio namen, samantalang kayo Super Uber City na compared sa Barrio Siete. ateng, yon nga ang reason ba’t andaming NPA samen anak nang iniwanan nang kidlat kami dun!
pero kwidaw, sementado rin nang konti ang talahib highway, yong malapit sa national highway, PERO kal-hati lang at siguro ilang inches laang. tunay na pang-show off at photo opp hahaha
reynz’s last blog post..When I grow up paglaki ko
maxi reply on July 24, 2008:
you mean to say since yr 2000 barrio siete pa rin sya? o my gulay nakakainis na yang namumuno sa lugar nyo ha dapat gawan sila ng rebolto nang kumilos naman di yung ga hibla lang ang takbo ng development. dapat din pala ako magbunyi kasi maski papano yung barrio road namin sementado na ang problema lang maraming nakalatag na banig na may lamang palay na painapatuyo, sa lugar namin we need more infrastructure para sa agriculture like rice walang proper drying area dun siguro pag nanalo ako sa mega lotto patayu-an ko nalang.
uyy speaking of NPA dun sila sa tabi ng bulusan naglulungga hahahah jokes!
reynz (4630 comments.) reply on July 25, 2008:
kung ano yung dinatnan mo’t nilayasan ko, ganun pa rin day except dumami na rin ang squatters! hahaha!
reynz’s last blog post..Is the thrill in blogging gone?
July 24th, 2008 at 6:46 am
kapalmuks ng GMA na yan na ipagsigawang “ramdam ang kaunlaran”. kunyari hindi niya alam na mas naghirap ang lahat sa pangungurakot niya at sampu ng kanyang pamilya. ni minsan ndi ko pinanood SONA niya, nasusuka ako sa pagmumukha niya.
Ely’s last blog post..meme: better late than never
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reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 24, 2008:
hahaha, sana makita ko yang speech na yan, pang-ilan ka na na nagsabi nyang “ramdam” ever! hahaha! ano kaya yon?!
reynz’s last blog post..When I grow up paglaki ko
July 24th, 2008 at 11:00 am
hi reyna - bukas nga eh pupunta ako ng munisipyo para ireklamo ang pagtaas ng pamasahe ng mga tricycle drivers.. ang isang byahe from antipolo simbahan to our house is forty pesos eh para na akong bumaba ng bundok at pumunta ng megamall!!!
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reynz (37 comments.) reply on July 24, 2008:
hehehe magkapitbahay ba tayo sa Antipolo?! FORTY?! $1? yan nga eh, taz ang personal income eh nakapako sa krus.
reynz’s last blog post..When I grow up paglaki ko
July 25th, 2008 at 5:15 am
Who’s afraid of Enrile?
Gov’t execs at a loss on issue of smuggling
By Michael Lim Ubac, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:14:00 07/25/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Who’s afraid of JPE?
Malacañang Thursday clammed up when asked about administration Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s statement challenging a Supreme Court ruling that upheld Executive Order No. 156, which bans the importation of second-hand vehicles into the country.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza begged off from commenting on the issue when asked at a press briefing in the Palace.
A day before Dureza clammed up, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Enrile’s home province, Cagayan, was not a haven for smugglers.
“I’m not so familiar about your data yet. So I won’t comment one way or the other. I have to validate the data that you’re saying,” Dureza said when asked by the Philippine Daily Inquirer about the violation committed by Enrile in allowing the importation of used cars into Port Irene in Cagayan.
Enrile, the martial enforcer of the Marcos regime, earlier said the Supreme Court made a mistake when it upheld the legality of the EO banning the importation of used cars into Subic for resale in the country. The court ruling shut down the multibillion-peso, used-vehicle import business at the Subic Bay Freeport.
SC ruling final
Sought for comment on Enrile’s views, Supreme Court spokesperson Midas Marquez said the ruling that the senator was questioning was already final.
“The views of the good senator are respected, but the court has already spoken, and has even denied the separate motions for clarification and reconsideration. Unless this decision is revisited and reversed, it remains as case law, and it will be up to the executive officials to implement and enforce it,” Marquez said.
The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) claims that the Cagayan Export Zone (CEZ) has displaced the Subic Bay Freeport as the country’s entry point for imported second-hand luxury vehicles, undermining the business of car assemblers in the country.
Enrile Thursday said he would not participate in the Senate hearing next Tuesday on the alleged smuggling of used-luxury vehicles in Port Irene in Cagayan.
At the weekly Kapihan sa Senado, Sen. Francis Escudero, chair of the ways and means committee, welcomed Enrile’s decision to inhibit himself from Tuesday’s hearing on the alleged smuggling activities at Port Irene.
Escudero said that the guests at the hearing included representatives of Amcham (which sent a team to Sta. Ana, Cagayan, in May to look at its used-car import business), the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and Cagayan Export Zone Authority (CEZA).
Also invited to the hearing was Enrile’s son-in-law, James Kocher, who runs the five-hectare (not 50-hectare) auto yard, the center of Port Irene’s used-vehicle-import business.
Enrile started probe
Enrile, who instigated the Senate investigation of smuggling in the country last month, was active at the past two hearings of the Senate in which he virtually accused local car assemblers of smuggling completely built-up vehicles under the guise of getting incentives for developing a domestic-automotive industry.
Escudero said the hearing would focus on the operations of the CEZ compared with those of Subic and Clark Freeports, specifically on who was authorizing the second-hand vehicle imports, determine its legality, check whether proper valuation and taxes were paid, and who was the leader of the operations.
Enrile claimed that the Tariff and Customs Code did not specifically ban used-vehicle imports and that the President was not authorized to include such vehicles among the banned items.
While he agreed that only Congress could declare any item as a banned import like used vehicles, Escudero said the Tariff and Customs Code also gave the President broad authority to change its provisions, including the tariff levels as long as Congress was in recess.
Customs also defender
Before the Senate ways and means committee could look into the alleged smuggling at Port Irene, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said there was no smuggling of cars at the port.
“The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (which has jurisdiction over Port Irene) has been faithful in collecting taxes and other duties for imported cars. We have no reports of any car smuggling because importers are really paying their taxes,” Morales said Thursday.
The importers of the used vehicles at Port Irene paid not only the 30-percent customs duties but also the 12-percent value-added tax and 100-percent excise tax, Morales said.
He said he had asked the Department of Finance for a legal opinion on whether the Supreme Court decision on the Subic case may be applied to other economic zones.
Morales said he made the request in December 2007 but had yet to receive a reply.
He said the Bureau of Customs could not implement EO 156 or the ban on second-hand motor vehicle imports at Port Irene, after importers questioned the constitutionality of the order and EO 418 (2005), which modified the tariff and duties collected on imported used vehicles, before a Cagayan court.
Morales said Malacañang wanted P500,000 paid for an imported second-hand vehicle on top of the duties and taxes.
“But we’re maintaining the status quo and we can’t impose EO 156 and even EO 418 at Port Irene pending the decision of the court. For the meantime, we’ll continue collecting taxes at the usual rate without the P500,000,” Morales said.
No basis yet
Told that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself issued EO 156, Dureza said: “I’m not prepared to make a determination, or a statement on that because it’s not easy to immediately issue a comment when I have yet to validate the data that you’re citing. So at another time, I will give you my take on it.”
Dureza said as much when asked about the Palace position on whether to sanction Enrile, or his son-in-law James Kocher, for using Port Irene as a haven for second-hand vehicles.
“Well, there is no basis on my part to give a statement on that one way or the other because I don’t have basis yet,” he said.
Dureza was interviewed after the President sworn in Enrile’s wife Cristina as the Philippine envoy to Vatican. The senator witnessed the 2 p.m. event held in Malacañang’s Rizal Hall.
Enrile’s wife
Cristina was among those who participated in the oath-taking of 47 generals and flag officers, 27 star-rank police officials, and other newly appointed officials, including former Sen. Vicente Sotto III, who is now chair of the Dangerous Drugs Board, Commission on Audit Chair Reynaldo Villar and four ambassadors.
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July 25th, 2008 at 5:18 am
Pulse Asia: Only 1 in 10 believes Arroyo SONAs are true
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:48:00 07/25/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Public skepticism of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) has grown, with only one in every 10 adult Filipinos saying that her past speeches in Congress had been truthful, according to the latest survey of Pulse Asia Inc.
This “now makes it difficult” for the President to make full use of her SONA’s “political value” when she speaks to the people at the opening of the 14th Congress’ regular session on July 28, Pulse Asia said.
Only 13 percent of the 1,200 respondents, aged 18 years old and over, said Ms Arroyo’s previous addresses had been truthful, and about the same figure (14 percent) expected the forthcoming SONA to be truthful as well, Pulse Asia’s “Ulat ng Bayan” survey showed.
The survey was conducted from July 1 to July 14 using face-to-face interviews with a multistage probability sample of the respondents. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
11-point increase
The survey found an 11-point increase in the proportion of those saying that the July 28 SONA would not be truthful (from 29 percent in July 2007 to 40 percent in July 2008), alongside the drop in the proportion of those undecided about its truthfulness (from 55 percent to 46 percent).
“The low proportion of believers … has not grown in the past three years and cannot possibly represent much political capital for her and her administration,” the research outfit said in a statement released Thursday.
Considering the survey’s margin of error, there was virtually no change in the proportion of those who were expecting the forthcoming SONA to be truthful—from 16 percent last year to 14 percent this year.
“A marked, double-digit reduction in public vacillation between July 2007 and July 2008 (from 52 percent to 41 percent) did not do President Arroyo much good as many among the undecided public apparently resolved their doubts in favor of a more negative assessment of her past SONAs,” Pulse Asia said.
Mindanao most skeptical
Skepticism of past SONAs was highest in Mindanao (53 percent) followed by Luzon outside Metro Manila (47 percent); Metro Manila, 44 percent; and the Visayas, 39 percent.
Across socioeconomic classes, the view that past SONAs had been untruthful was “most apparent” among respondents belonging to Class D (46 percent) and Class E (49 percent). The same opinion was held by 41 percent among those in Classes ABC.
Regarding Ms Arroyo’s July 28 speech, the survey showed “markedly higher proportions” of undecided respondents in Luzon outside Metro Manila (52 percent), compared to the Visayas (47 percent), Metro Manila (45 percent) and Mindanao (35 percent).
Across classes, indecision was higher among Classes ABC (49 percent) than Class D (47 percent) and Class E (43 percent).
The proportion of respondents who said Ms Arroyo’s previous speeches were truthful declined by 3 percentage points (from 16 percent to 13 percent), while that of people who were undecided likewise decreased by 11 percentage points (from 52 percent to 41 percent), the survey said.
It said the proportion of those who believed past SONAs were not truthful increased by 14 percentage points (from 32 percent to 46 percent).
Still same sentiment
Moreover, the survey found that with three in every five (60 percent) of adult Filipinos aware of Ms Arroyo’s SONAs, over two in every five (46 percent) of them believed that the speeches had not been truthful, and about the same percentage (40 percent) expected the coming SONA would not be any different.
An “almost equally large number” (41 percent) of the respondents were undecided about the truthfulness of previous SONAs, and “a large plurality” (46 percent) were unable to anticipate the truthfulness of the coming speech.
The respondents were asked to complete the sentence: “In your opinion, President Arroyo’s previous SONAs were __.” They were to choose from “Truthful,” “Not Truthful” and “Undecided.”
Indecision among youth
Among the youngest respondents aged 18 to 24 (60 percent), indecision over the truthfulness of Ms Arroyo’s past SONAs was highest among those with some college education (55 percent) and the self-employed (53 percent).
“Over time (from July 2005 to July 2008), public awareness of SONAs delivered by President Arroyo has remained fairly constant (around 60 percent nationwide),” Pulse Asia noted.
Awareness of past SONAs was 83 percent in Metro Manila, 64 percent in the Visayas, and 54 percent each in Luzon outside Metro Manila and Mindanao. It was also higher among members of Classes ABC (87 percent) than among Class D (61 percent) and Class E (48 percent).
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July 31st, 2008 at 8:52 am
-[deleted word] - c gloria….
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