P-Noy Aquino getting flack for the SONA wasn’t a surprise. His getting elected wasn’t a surprise. P. Noy’s gaffes aren’t a surprise. Lacierda’s incompetence is not a surprise. The communication group’s “Cabinet rank” is not a surprise. The policy pronouncements about “public-private cooperation” is not a suprise. Everything that P’Noy Aquino has done so far is not surprising.

The case of P Noy, like the case of Erap will be fodder for discussion in the years to come, as a how-not-to-run government guide for leadership should someone become President of the Philippines.

P Noy must have studied in a university somewhere in a parallel universe, where the anti-rules of lousy leadership are embedded into one’s psyche. I imagine that those anti-rules will look like this:

TIP #1 – PRESENT FLAWED INFORMATION AND FLAWED INTERPRETATION AND CLAIM IT AS FACT.

If you have instituted a program about eliminating false statistics and you have presented a questionable presentation of the figures just say “I encourage everyone to take a step towards participation rather than fault-finding. The former takes part in finding a solution; from the latter, never-ending complaints.”

Do you seriously want people to participate on actions based on false information?

TIP #2 – - DENY THE EXISTENCE OF PROBLEMS – DON’T MENTION WHOLISTIC STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT.

Hacienda Luisita does not exist. Kamag-anak Inc does not exist. The evils of protectionism does not exist.

Forget the FOIA – that puts too much power to the people. Just have a Whistleblower act so that we deal with only a few whistle blowers instead of an entire population of whistle blowers.

TIP #3 – EMPHASIZE YOUR OWN POWER AND IMPORTANCE

When your choices of people in the Cabinet are questioned – just say you have the power to hire and fire people. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Marcos – they had that power, too.

When people question the choice of Abad – never mind that favoritism is a breeding ground for corruption – just say “they are qualified”.  Just use Arroyo’s strategy of “pakapalan ng mukha”, when applied to P.Noy – it’s “conviction” – it works.

TIP #4 – MAKE PEOPLE FEEL RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYONE ELSE EXCEPT YOU. PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEMSELVES. DO WHAT I SAY DON’T DO WHAT I DO.

Just say ” if we prioritize enabling others, we will open a world of opportunities not just for ourselves but for those who direly need it.”

Forget that you did not prioritize the enabling of Hacienda Luisita’s farmers – or passed laws to that effect when you were still Congressman and Senator.

When poor people prioritize “others” it ensures that the Pork Barrel is full, and there is money to be looted by government and the oligarchs.

And never never make people be responsible for themselves – that’s when they start thinking for themselves – that’s a NO-NO. Always present yourself as a padrino. Do not teach the people how to fish. Just give them fish.

Don’t open up the economy – I have big shares in the oligarch companies – I don’t want foreign competition threatening my income. Just give the people the circus – ABS-CBN can easily launch a program that will have people wanting to be poor so they can win money in a variety show.

TIP #5 – GIVEN TWO CROOKED PATHS – CHOOSE THE LESSER CROOKED PATH. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIND THE CORRECT THIRD PATH

Present as a straight path – the continuity of the protectionist policies in the Constitution which ensure that Filpino businesses have a monopoly of the domestic market. Never let the public in on the personal interests of HLI and Kamag-Anak Inc – and where one is “a slave to political considerations to the detriment of our nation.”

TIP #6 – NEVER APOLOGIZE AND DON’T EVEN PRETEND TO LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES

Don’t apologize for your ignorance of Japan’s parliamentary system. Don’t even learn from your diplomatic faux pas. It’s alright – if you are a hermit kingdom like North Korea – you are A-okay.

*****

In another universe – where these anti-rules are reversed, the outcome could have been different.

Good leaders must face facts – not just one but ALL – not just Arroyo but ALL.

Good leaders prepare for the worst case scenario by solving the problems before they even happen. They don’t serve as apologists of utility companies that rob the people in broad daylight.

Good leaders acknowledge mistakes and don’t make the same mistake twice.

Good leaders continuously seek to discern and evaluate a choice before committing to it – and when they commit they do so wholeheartedly.

Good leaders do not make irresponsible misleading and factually incorrect statements.

When a candidate becomes President and is now responsible for the fate of a country, he is given enormous power and privilege. P-Noy is expected to enhance the country – not undermine it in favor of his oligarch masters.

Of course, calling for P. Noy’s resignation at this point is out of the question – let’s give him his 100 day honeymoon. Removing him will not guarantee any change either as long as we operate under the higly anti-FDI provisions of the constitution.

By now, it no longer is the question of P. Noys leadership. It is a question about what kind of society comes up with such mediocre leaders.

The deeper question is what kind of people make up this kind of society that comes up with such leaders?

So President Noynoy Aquino is popular. Okay, already. Frankly, his minions in the Inquirer.net are over-praising him for just being popular with the public and rating highly in a trust “survey”. There are even newspaper columnists who give P.Noy too much credit on things he hasn’t accomplished yet — even without laying any kind of concrete plan of action for the future. They say he “now holds the highest ever trust rating ever earned by a public official.” The thing is, former president and convicted plunderer, Joseph Estrada was popular with the electorate too and he even almost won the presidency again in the recent election. So clearly, popularity is not a big deal especially if one is only popular for the wrong reasons like, say, having a popular mother, father and sister. Besides, all newly elected presidents are popular at the beginning of their term anyway (think: Obama). P.Noy’s popularity is not something that should define his presidency this early.

Inquirer columnist Jose Ma. Montelibano said in his sorry excuse for P.Noy’s lack of a roadmap in his SONA, “The roadmap is about character, the character of the leader and the character of the follower, the character of P-Noy and the character of the Pinoy.” But exactly what type of character does P.Noy have anyway? I fail to see any redeeming qualities that can make up for his lack of foresight and vindictive nature. In fact, more and more people are starting to become vocal about his character flaws and one of the many obvious character flaws of P.Noy is his boastfulness about being someone with integrity.

Can you imagine yourself announcing to your friends, “Hey, I’m really someone with integrity!” They might just think you are delusional or something. One does not go around telling people about one’s own goodness. One should just show his or her good intentions through his actions and let other people be the judge of their character. People’s perception of you can be totally different from what is in your mind and you just can’t force everyone to believe what you are saying especially if you haven’t done much to prove yourself.

To be fair, it’s only been a few weeks since P.Noy was sworn in as the President. But it’s been one heck of a gaffe-filled few weeks culminating with his state of the nation address (SONA), one that was filled with what seems to be unsubstantiated claims, empty rhetoric and negativity. No wonder the media outlets owned and operated by relatives and friends of P.Noy are coming out swinging and on the defensive about his “character”. It is like scraping the bottom of the barrel because they haven’t got much to work with. P.Noy’s supporters are just banking on his popularity to help him through his term.

So now Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda is saying that “the President instructed all the Cabinet secretaries to come up with an individual spokesperson for all departments.” Perhaps this move was prompted by the coming to light of all the inconsistencies in P.Noy’s SONA in recent days. So this means that there could be at least 19 new spokespersons added to P.Noy’s communication team. Great! Increasing the number of people to speak on behalf of the President will make it even easier for P.Noy to blame someone for being misquoted or being misunderstood. Indeed, this will be a very convenient excuse for all the future gaffes by the Chief. And whatever happened to working in simple ways for better coordination and less labor cost? Obviously for the P.Noy Administration, less is not more.

Speaking of communication, could it be true that P.Noy’s original mouthpiece, Conrado “Nonoy is like Aragon” de Quiros was “bitin” with P.Noy’s SONA?!? I had to read his analysis of the SONA twice just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. It had a hint of dissatisfaction that was very unlike those other public relations pieces of his that were dedicated exclusively to P.Noy.

De Quiros was actually saying that P.Noy missed the opportunity to take advantage of the people’s mood because the Filipino people are so “inspired” at the moment and they are just waiting for P.Noy to tell them what to do. He said “It should have been obvious from the campaign that the people were no longer in the mode of ‘What’s in it for me?’ They were in the mode of ‘What can I do to help?’” But then he had to add the delusional statement in the end by saying that John F Kennedy’s proposal during his time was now a reality for P.Noy. He says, Filipinos are asking “what can I do for my country?”

The Inquirer.net sorcerer couldn’t be more wrong because the electorate is still in the same mode as before which is to leave every problem to the government to solve for them. Where is the evidence of this you might ask? It is in the same statement of Inquirer columnist Montelibano that P.Noy “now holds the highest ever trust rating ever earned by a public official.” It is not a good sign when the electorate has complete trust in their government. When the electorate does not even question or use their critical analysis faculties when listening (or not listening) to their public officials, it only means that they are not in the mode of “what can I do to help?” They are more in the mode of “we can trust him to take care of everything for us.”

The Filipino electorate is indeed dreaming again. They are back in their comfy stupor. They keep going back to being less vigilant every time there is a newly elected head of state. It was the same with former President Gloria Arroyo when she was new to the office. It’s because voters believe that their duty ends on election day and anyone who complains or makes a fuss of the new president’s “errors” of judgment are just being unpatriotic or sore losers.

If you believe the surveys conducted by polling firms owned and operated by friends and family members of P.Noy, he is indeed, the most popular guy in town. Unfortunately, popularity is just like gravity. What goes up usually will come down one day.

The Inquirer.net Editor has gone on a defensive strike against “so-called pundits” critical of President Benigno “P.Noy” Aquino III’s 26th July State of the Nation Address (SONA). The Op-Ed piece came across to me as no more than a long-winded admonishment of how so much of what was in the SONA that could be “chew[ed] on” even by “non-fans” was left unappreciated.

And how did Mr Editor go about convincing us that these chewie aspects of P.Noy’s SONA were worthy of our appreciation? Three words:

Appeal to emotion.

The Editor juxtaposed the excess rice stocks “rotting” in National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses, against “the context of people going hungry and millions of others forced to travel to various hells overseas to earn the wherewithal to keep their families’ heads above water”. Tell us something we don’t know, Mr Editor.

Of the need to dismantle monopolies and cartels and expand basic education which was also mentioned in the SONA, Mr Editor reminded his dear readers of “the intent to bring about a level playing field and, no matter how slowly, to stamp out the ignorance that effectively keeps populations in the yoke of servitude”. Last I heard, “intent” does not fill stomachs or enrich bank accounts, Mr Editor.

More laughs come our way in how Mr Editor saw those who found “the lack of ‘shockers’ in the Sona, and those who complain of being left high and dry on the scaffold of heightened arousal” as a bunch of androids desensitised to endemic crime and corruption in Philippine society. Just a question Mr Editor, whose bright idea was it in the first place to release teasers that hyped up this SONA’s “shock” and “awe” value to begin with? I do recall too that even the Inquirer.net post-SONA report devoted only a measly 3.4 percent of its wordage to covering P.Noy’s “shocking” accounts of the previous Administration’s criminality.

Perhaps Mr Editor, all of what you say would’ve been valid if Mr President was coming from a zero base; as in, the forward-looking parts of this SONA would’ve been truly enlightening and the retrospective aspects of it truly shocking if we were all hearing this for the first time. But the reality is that P.Noy’s SONA is not jumping off from a zero base. There already is in place some baselines on which his SONA was expected to be built upon.

Firstly, he already has some semblance of a platform. And though Professor Solita Monsod observed a while back that this platform had now been deleted from Noynoy’s website, copies of it continue to live on, and continue to be used as a baseline for on-going evaluation of the current administration. So why then is a big deal being made about a few odd references to the future in P.Noy’s SONA when there already is a broader and (to now give a bit of credit to it) deeper body of work on the subject in his original campaign platform. Considering the existence of this plartform, the SONA’s forward-looking aspects should have been framed by it.

And second, P.Noy’s campaign was almost entirely built upon the notion that the (at the time) incumbent administration is “evil” (and therefore crooked, thieving, and malicious) and that his is the “good” option, the anti-thesis of this “evil”. As such, much of the hyped up shock value in P.Noy’s SONA was already pre-empted by his good-vs-evil campaign. In effect, Noynoy already convinced the electorate during the campaign that former President Gloria Arroyo was a thief and a cheat and that he is the warrior Aragorn who will raise an army to of ghosts to battle the Evil One’s forces. So why did he stand before us making reiteration of this concept the key point of his speech?

It’s simple, really.

The more P.Noy relies on his handlers and his circle of Kamaganak Inc assets to do his work for him, the more he will be putting himself at greater risk of suffering the sorts of gaffes that have come to characterise his presidency.

The call to the President remains fundamentally the same:

Be a man.
Be a statesman.
Be a PRESIDENT.

Not even the pen of the Editor of the mighty Inquirer.net can save you from the gaffes that your handlers expose you to, Mr President.

The government urges creation of an infrastructure fund to help fund Public-Private Partnerships. Sec Purisima says ““We’re solid in our belief that we need to invite investors to our country. Investors need a fair return as payment for their capital and the risk they’re taking. We need to make sure that we simplify the processes.” One step in this direction, according to Purisima, was the initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry to streamline the approvals process for foreign investments and to cut red tape.

Doing the same thing and expecting the same results. Will a protectionist consitution generate the efficiencies of a free market? FREE YOUR MIND.

As pointed out by the Inquirer article – “The idea of a Philippine infrastructure fund is not a new one, with previous administrations having tried to drum up support for private-sector funded projects through the state-owned National Development Corp.

Is this the right direction to go?

The latest incarnation of this idea proposed by the Arroyo administration as recently as last year was the allocation of P50 billion for the NDC, which would be used as seed money for big-ticket infrastructure projects. Under this scheme, the cash would be raised by selling bonds to the public. Purisima acknowledged that the funding requirement for President Aquino’s infrastructure program would be nothing short of massive.

What is wrong with this picture?

A couple of things.

#1 – The need to invite investors. Sec Purisima says “We’re solid in our belief that we need to invite investors to our country”. If we are indeed solid in this belief, given that the Philippines has reputation as being among the most restrictive in Foreign Investments, prudence dictates that we address the issues which give us such reputation – “overly restrictive and obsolete laws are an impediment to foreign direct investment and their poor implementation creates additional costs to investment”.

Section 11. No franchise, certificate, or any other form of authorization for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of the Philippines, at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens; nor shall such franchise, certificate, or authorization be exclusive in character or for a longer period than fifty years. Neither shall any such franchise or right be granted except under the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress when the common good so requires. The State shall encourage equity participation in public utilities by the general public. The participation of foreign investors in the governing body of any public utility enterprise shall be limited to their proportionate share in its capital, and all the executive and managing officers of such corporation or association must be citizens of the Philippines.- 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article 12

So how do you exactly invite investors when the Philippine constitution is very restrictive? You go out on a selling mission – only to turn back investors because of equity limitations? It does not make sense.

Which reminds me of the recent SONA – invite foreign dignitaries, Noy speaks in Tagalog and expect consuls and ambassadors to bring their own language translators because Aquino does not want to speak English. Remind me of the times when the Aquino supporters were mocking Erap for speaking Tagalog.

#2 – Fair Return on Capital. It is true that Investors need a fair return as payment for their capital and the risk they’re taking. Investors also want a modicum of control to ensure that their investments don’t end up in a government pork barrel somewhere, or the fat paycheck of an inconsequential and incompetent government bureaucrat. Or that their local partner with 60% has colluded with the Philippine government to rip off the foreign partners. Then there’s also the longer view – what are the prospects for getting good returns given a non-performing Philippine economy. There are many variables to consider.

#3 - Process Improvement. Process improvement is but one component. One step in this direction, according to Purisima, was the initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry to streamline the approvals process for foreign investments and to cut red tape.
The bigger component to attracting foreign investment is still one that involves equity and property ownership. Why will an investor put major money if he does not have major control? You can have a streamlined process but when the constitution RESTRICTS FDI – there’s not much to process, really.

Is there a better way?

The SONA’s reference to inefficiencies in water, rice, electricity, calamity funds and transportation with reference to the Metro Rail Transit are inefficient is not because of foreign competition or due to foreign investors but due to the lack of it.

Our utilities are inefficient because we took the protectionism route, embedded it in our constitution, thereby missing out on the efficiencies that come with competition.  It ensured that our industries never got to grow up – perpetual cottage industries that failed to launch. Much like a person who is chronologically old but with the emotional and mental age of a six year old.

This shows a complete failure of the Aquino administration to see the evils of protectionism – and its presence in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

But what do you expect? President Noynoy Aquino is a tool of the Filipino monopoloy businesses/oligarchs (MERALCO, MWSS, MAYNILAD, PLDT, FIRSTGEN, FPHC, FPIC, ABS-CBN, SMART, GLOBE, PAL) is just too real. In the recent electric rate increase, Aquino was reduced to being an apologist for the inefficiencies of an ownership structure that protects vested FILIPINO monopoly business interests.

Kung anong puno, siyang bunga.

A toast to the Philippine Idiocracy

Barely 3 days after the May 10 elections, The Economist wrote:

He has served in both houses of Congress, but has a lacklustre record there.

Mr Aquino will face problems familiar to his predecessors: how to spur an economy that lags behind most of South-East Asia; widespread, entrenched poverty; a high birth-rate; reform of an over-prescriptive constitution; communist and Muslim separatist insurgencies; and home-grown terrorism linked to al-Qaeda.

He will need the co-operation of a new congress, also elected on May 10th. It was not immediately clear how well Mr Aquino’s Liberal Party and its allies had fared. But parties often count for little—for the most part congressmen align themselves with the main source of political patronage, ie, the president. This kind of political opportunism and the tradition that new presidents return the favours done by power brokers during their election campaigns mean Mr Aquino will need all his mother’s fortitude to resist the blandishments of those around him.

Another misgiving about the incoming president is that, like Mrs Arroyo (the daughter of an ex-president), he comes from one of the handful of families that have dominated Philippine politics and the economy for generations. His mother is remembered for restoring democracy But she failed to entrench stability or prosperity. During her presidency the economy boomed but then sagged, and she had to fend off several military-coup attempts. And she allowed the dominant families to regain the political and economic clout usurped by Marcos and his cronies.

So here we are again – using the same protectionist optimization tactics when the root of the problem is the protectionism embedded in the Philippine constitution itself. This is the same protectionist constitution that ensures the Philippines gets the crumbs in FDI.

Same old solutions,  Same old results

We have been protectionist since Day One of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Don’t expect free market efficiencies from an inefficient protectionist environment. You can blog to death what a jerk I am, but will that really bring down the cost of utilities, will that really lead to more economic freedom?

You asked to be put on a cliff, you asked to be cheered because you are on the cliff, you asked to be supported as you go throw your bare self down the cliff.

I could have told you not to jump from the cliff – but then I would be an obstruction to your happiness.

So, when your body goes splat as it hits the ground – I will be cheering too.

You all asked for it, you got it – SIX LONG YEARS OF AQUINO – minimal infrastructure, high utility rates, lack of economic choices,

The Pope, Jesus Christ, Mary,  Joseph, Saint Jude and the entire pantheon of Catholic Saints ain’t gonna save your ass.

My country, I grieve for what you have done unto yourself.

Speculation is rife that the contestants in the reality show The Biggest Loser drink lots of fluids before the official weigh-in. This is so that they will weigh a lot heavier in the beginning of the show and consequently appear to have lost a lot of kilos dramatically at the succeeding or final weigh-in. In a show that manages to win audiences based on exaggeration and sensationalism, I wouldn’t be surprised if the contestants pull all the tricks in the book just to win the battle against the bulge in front of a national audience. It would certainly do the trick as long as you can hold it in. But like in any other reality show, only people who are desperate for their fifteen minutes of fame would want to participate in a show that cheap. You just know these people have very little shame.

Philippine President, Noynoy Aquino would be a good contestant of The Biggest Loser or any of the reality shows on offer because he is very good at exaggeration and sensationalism. As predicted, the President’s recently concluded first State of the Nation Address (SONA) succeeded at lowering people’s expectations by convincing them that he does not have much left to work with because of the budget deficit left by the previous administration.

As I predicted in my previous article, P.Noy’s SONA would be devoted so much to witch hunting rather than on real solutions. P.Noy’s speech wasn’t even easy on the ears because he delivered it in such an angry manner. He was like someone who was only reading it for the very first time. It was delivered in the manner like any cheap television production trying to pull a cheap stunt that only vacuous audiences can appreciate. And yes, there are currently millions of vacuous audiences who buy into P.Noy’s style. One can be forgiven for thinking P.Noy had some drama coaches from his equally overly dramatic sister, the actress, Kris Aquino. Only someone as desperate and dense would try to trick Filipinos the way P.Noy did in his speech. But unfortunately, with the help of his media friends, P.Noy seems to succeed in fooling majority of the Filipino electorate.

He said in his speech that “For a long time, our country lost its way in the crooked path” but I really wished that he could’ve given a specific date when the country started losing its way in the crooked path because it certainly didn’t start during former President Gloria Arroyo’s term; and even if it started during GMA’s term (which is impossible), wasn’t P.Noy already a public servant by then (since 1998, to be exact)? Just in case P.Noy or anybody else who bought into his “crooked path” intro forgot, I would like to remind everyone that P.Noy was a Congressman of the second district of Tarlac from 1998 to 2004.

He then served as senator from 2007 to 2009. But P.Noy is making it sound like he didn’t have any idea how his own colleagues were mishandling their funds or not doing their jobs. He now gives the impression that there was nothing he could have done about it. But we all know that he could have done more as a public servant. The billion dollar question is: Why didn’t P.Noy say or do anything while he was a Congressman or while he was still in the Senate to guide the country into “the straight path?”

P.Noy mentioned that “The reality was hidden from our people, who seem to have been deliberately obfuscated on the real state.” Again, why wasn’t he more proactive in finding out the real reason the country is poor when he was a Congressman and when he was in the Senate? Could it be that he didn’t care? Could it be that he lived such a sheltered existence prior to the death of his mother? That is the only explanation I can think of because he acts so shocked and awed now at the state in which the country is in despite the very visible squatters who keep multiplying along the path of his daily commute to work. Indeed, P.Noy has very little shame in putting all the blame on Representative Arroyo. If P.Noy is really genuine about having an open book, he will do his best to help pass the freedom of information act.

In his speech, P.Noy lambasted the employees and board of trustees of MWSS for their salaries and benefits just because a few days before his SONA, there was a water crises. I find this part of his speech unprofessional. Why would he accuse them of wrong doing even before any investigations were underway? Wouldn’t his accusations affect the morale of the employees of MWSS? He is certainly doing a trial-by-media here. He embarrassed them and made them look “guilty” in the eyes of the electorate without going through the proper procedure. P.Noy was shifting the responsibility for the recent water crises to others this early on. He is responsible now for everything. The least he could do is study the problem carefully and look for a solution into the water crises like the possibility of using recycled water or desalination plants. Why would P.Noy concentrate on the salary and bonuses of the workers and board members of MWSS when it is obvious that the problem is bigger than that?

P.Noy spoke about the anomalies done by the NFA. He claims that in 2004 and 2007 (years that he was already a public servant), the government bought more rice than what was needed. Again, P.Noy did not analyse the problem very well. Obviously, since there was a shortage of rice, the offense here is not the oversupply of rice but a failure in the distribution infrastructure. Regarding the rotting supply of rice in the warehouse, P.Noy should know that you can’t just give away rice to the public for the simple reason that if you flood the market with free rice, the market will crash. This is the same principle why food chains like McDonalds or KFC cannot just give away the food they don’t sell at the end of the day. If he had only listened in his Economics 101 class, he wouldn’t be talking out of his behind. A consultation with a real economist before the SONA would have sufficed if he had trouble comprehending the reason behind the situation.

P.Noy spoke about the different infrastructure projects of the previous administration and questioned why they entered into so many projects and how some were shelved in favor of another. This is well and good but isn’t what he is saying just part of his job now? We already know that he does not plan to steal. That is old news to everyone. But eradicating corruption is not enough to put food on everyone’s table. And it is funny how he questions the people who he considers “midnight appointees”, making these people look like they had already done something wrong by asking them to resign immediately “if they have any shame left.”

P.Noy boasted about being in talks with some private business concerns that are interested in partnering with the government in providing infrastructure for the public. According to P.Noy, “There are some who have already shown interest and want to build an expressway from Manila that will pass through Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, until the end of Cagayan Valley, without the government having to spend a single peso.” Wow! The government will not spend a single peso! Who are they and what’s in it for them? Is it a relative or a friend who wants to help out P.Noy to smell good to the public? Good for him but I hope that the deal will be open for everyone to scrutinize. Besides, there is nothing sensational about such deals to grandstand about. Build-operate-and-trasfer (BOT) schemes have been around for some time now.

If there is one thing that I appreciate from the drama-filled speech is that P.Noy is advocating the passing of the Whistlebower Bill and the implementation of a Witness Protection Program to “eradicate the prevalent culture of fear and silence that has hounded our system”. I will not question his motives even though he still has GMA in mind because I really think the country needs this for the reason that the questionable election result last May 2010 would have been resolved easily if the bill already existed.

I sincerely wish P.Noy meant it when he said that “It is every Filipino’s duty to closely watch the leaders that you have elected.” At least we now have his blessing here to continue criticizing him. And I really wish he could follow his advise “to take a step towards participation rather than fault-finding” in the future because his entire SONA is pure “fault-finding” directed against the previous administration.

P.Noy would be a good contestant at any reality television show. He is good at exaggerating, sensationalism and not to mention very good at contradicting himself too. The guy has no shame and never ceases to disappoint his critics. Unfortunately, it is the Filipinos, especially the poor who are going to be “The Biggest Losers” in his show.

After reading an English-translated transcript of President Benigno “P.Noy” Aquino III’s recent State of the Nation Address (SONA), it started to bug me that there was no easy way to verify the true financial position of the Government on the basis of what P.Noy said in his speech until this question is answered: What exactly is meant by a “depleted” national budget?

In accounting there are many concepts that describe outgoing funds, and just as many words to articulate these concepts: spent, disbursed, appropriated, accrued, allocated, provisioned, etc. Choosing the right word to use among those examples basically comes down to deciding whether funds referred to were set aside or moved to or from one account to another. A “budget” does not necessarily imply the existence of actual money. A budget is planned expenditure, and as such, the concept of a depleted budget does not make sense. We may exceed a budget, but to say it’s been “depleted” is to state an oxymoron; which is exactly the way P.Noy stated it in his SONA…

Our budget for 2010 is PhP1.54 trillion. Of this, only PhP100 billion – or 6.5% of the total budget – can be used for the remaining six months of the current year. Roughly 1% of the total budget is left for each of the remaining month.

Where did the funds go?

The amount of funds, say cash, in an account, say a bank account, on the other hand, represents something that could be depleted — both in principle and in practice. Perhaps if P.Noy made specific reference to an actual statement of account and made use of more precise accounting terms, then his speech would have made better sense. Albay Representative Edcel Lagman does exactly that in a statement challenging P.Noy’s accounting acumen (or that of his handlers). Lagman makes use of precise words on the matter, in the way that a more informed person would:

Quoting the Bureau of Treasury, Lagman said the total cash disbursement or the national government expenditures as of June 30, 20010 amounted to close to P789 billion. This means that close the P752 billion pesos or 48 percent of the budget remains unspent, he said.

“The problem in the President’s accounting must have been caused by a lack of understanding of the difference between allocation as covered by a Special Allotment Release Order and actual disbursement to pay accrued or matured obligations,” Lagman said.

The general principles of what Lagman says seem consistent (in the way that it raises the right issues to discuss and debate) with Arroyo’s stated position on the matter as evident in how “Former Presidential Management Staff (PMS) chief Elena Bautista-Horn, who is now Arroyo’s spokeswoman, told Mr. Aquino to ‘please get your numbers right’.” in this Philippine Star report…

Horn, who also served in various capacities under the Arroyo administration, pointed out that Mr. Aquino might have been misled into believing that Arroyo overspent by P1 trillion in the first half of 2010, thereby leaving his administration with only P600 billion to spend.

Horn pointed out that P300 billion of the total amount was “automatically appropriated for debt service.”

“First of all, the President should also realize that 100 percent of the annual budget for government salaries or personnel services, and 75 percent of other operating expenses are automatically deemed disbursed on the very first working day,” she said.

As such, the present administration would, in fact, have the convenience of having already paid for future salaries of government personnel and other operating expenses, Horn explained.

She said, “This is a budget practice that Budget Secretary Florencio Abad would have become aware of if he spends less time churning out anti-Arroyo press releases.”

“Come to think of it, it’s probably worth checking with Secretary Abad as well if, by the word ‘releases,’ is he referring to actual cash disbursements or just allocations or SAROs (Special Allocation Release Order) to the different government agencies which they may have not spent yet,” Horn said.

Note the precise terminology used in both Lagman’s and Horn’s/Arroyo’s statements. Their take on the matter may be wrong or may be right. For that matter, so could P.Noy’s take. But then, that is beside the point. The point is more around the clarity of the assertions they make which, in turn, makes an effort to either debunk them or verify them more straight forward.

Then again, it may be a reasonable bet that Lagman and Horn are pretty confident about the validity of their assertions considering they did not shy away from being precise in the way they articulated said assertions. The same thing could not be said about the way P.Noy articulated his own claims in his SONA. In at least a thousand words, he tried to tell us that his government is broke. But he did it in a way that would make anyone with even the most basic understanding of accounting principles cringe. Bottom line is that the concept of budget is not logically compatible with the concept of depletion. Whoever supplied the President with the fodder for yesterday’s SONA should step up and clarify. Plez.

By my reckoning (on the basis of its English translation), President Benigno “P.Noy” Aquino III devoted 1,558 words out of the 4,055 words in his 35-minute State of the Nation Address (SONA) to whining about the plunder of the National Budget (whatever that means exactly) and the salaries and bonuses of some Government employees. That’s 38.4 percent of his speech devoted to what was supposed to be the “shocking” “exposé” that would be his SONA. Thanks to P.Noy’s childish teasers last weekend, everyone was pumped up to get a load of just that, so much so that his own Family Newsletter was left no choice but to mount a rather laughable attempt to downplay the shock value of this speech last Sunday.

Even now, the top headline on the Inquirer.net, We can dream again, supposedly a “report” to highlight the salient points of P.Noy’s SONA, grossly misrepresented its content. Only 32 words out of the 937 (i.e., 3.4 percent of the content) in this “report” was in reference to the majority whiney bashing-the-previous-administration parts of P.Noy’s SONA.

That’s false publicity in my book.

In P.Noy’s SONA, we have a product composed of 38.4 percent whininess by volume now being pitched as containing only 3.4 percent of the “shocking” ingredient.

But then let’s be fair. Like the alleged plundering of the national budget, there is nothing “shocking” about a Family Newsletter playing down the latest gaffe of its Golden Boy — which brings me to the point of this piece:

The first SONA of the Aquino Administration is no more than another addition to the President’s growing list of gaffes.

Indeed, it is a gaffe that played out over the last several days. It began when teasers about it being a “shocking” “exposé” were first released to the press on the 23rd of July…

MANILA, Philippines-President Benigno Aquino III may decide to reveal the alleged irregularities in the previous administration that were uncovered by the new Cabinet when he delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

… followed by a backpedalling by the Family Newsletter that carried the story on the 25th of July in an attempt to highlight more of its “truth-telling” aspect…

MORE THAN its “shock and awe value,” President Aquino’s first State of the Nation Address (Sona) will be an educational and “truth-telling” speech.

“This is not simply about exposés or accusations,” Presidential Communications Group member Herminio Coloma yesterday said of the speech that Mr. Aquino is to deliver at the first joint session of the 15th Congress tomorrow afternoon.

… and finally capped by today’s “We can dream again” top headline report on the Inquirer.net — a “report” that pathetically pleads for the SONA to be perceived by the public to be a forward-looking solutions-focused message — a tough PR job considering the unfortunate reality that half of this message was a big whine over a “depleted” budget and a bunch of overpaid government employees that would have been best left within the jurisdiction of agencies that specialise in audit, investigation, and prosecution.

Misguided economic policy is a sure-fire way to ruin – nationally or individually. It gets worse when we are putting more efforts on wangwang, being on time for work, being present at work, pissing off our foreign donors through sheer ignorance of the parliamentary system, and witch-hunting – than addressing the heart and soul of our economic woes.

The ASEAN free trade area is looming in the horizon. The Philippines investment policy is still protectionist while its tariff policy remains liberal. This skews the market in favor of Filipino monopoly businesses – in effect subisidizing the oligarchs. Without FDI to check the oligarchs, wealth is concentrated in the oligarchs. For example – Meralco, FPIC, FirstGEn, First Philippine Holdings, ABS-CBN, Maynilad – are all owned by just one family. Amidst all the poverty, we have three Filipinos who are in the Forbes Global Fortune 500. This condition will perpetuate as long as SEc 10,11 Art 12 of the constitution are not changed.

Arroyo is a convenient target because she is visible. You can see her. Make fun if her height, her mole and all that crap. But really, are we addressing the crux of the matter here.

What’s not being said is the economic loss due to a protectionist charter that “protects” the Filipino monopoly businessman at the expense of the Filipino consumer. But just to give an indication – the Philippine is getting the crumbs in ASEAN FDI. Sure it has BPO – but India and China have the lion’s share of the pie.

Forget your high electricity rates, water rates, forget integrated resource planning – just bash Arroyo.

It’s going to be a long six years Philippines. at least the US has people like Ron Paul and the National Inflation Association and Nouriel Rubini.

What does the Philippines have? Flash the Laban sign and talk about hope?

To paraphrase the sari sari store – “Hope and promise is good but we need solutions, policy directions, economic baseline”. The original sari-sari store is “credit is good but we need cash. bawal mangutang”. Then there’s the “basta utang lipay-lipay, inig bayad likay likay”. Lastly, there’s “lista sa tubig”. For short, fluff talk is cheap.

We cannot improve and manage what we don’t measure.

If Arroyo is guilty send her to jail. We can make a show of Arroyo’s crime.

But how about the crime of of non-distribution of land? How was it able to skirt it’s commitment to distribute the land. How much revenue was generated from the non-distributed lands from 1967 to the present? All those need to be accounted for.

Fairness and social justice dictates that not only Arroyo should be investigated but you-know-what – as well. Review the declaration of land value – how much are they actually paying in taxes, based on their land declaration. Then ask whether the value of the land declared is accurate. If it’s not, there is a price to be paid for the land valuation to remain that way so that taxes don’t have to be paid.

Where’s the crime in that – in multiple layers;

1) honoring a commitment to distribute land;

2) making money out of a property that no longer belongs to you;

3) keeping that money to yourself and still keeping the land to yourself and still making money out of #2).

4) To be able to do that from the time one were supposed to distribute the land – a lot of people would have been on the take to keep their mouth shut – from DENR to DAR to BIR, to whoever – from top to bottom, turn a blind eye, or in the case of the farmers – die. That’s corruption right there – in one’s own backyard.

But depending on how the winds blow, we can easily get an absolution from Congress if it wants to – just like when it absolved the developers identified by the World Bank for collusion. The resolution was quick – mabilis pa sa alas kwatro. But when it came to passing the FOIA – basa ang black board, absent ang mga lintek.

We are asking for an accounting from Arroyo, it seems there’s more accounting that’s needed.

Let’s start with the pork barrel. All the pork barrel disbursements of all congressmen and senators need to be reviewed with a fine-toothed comb – starting from Cory to the Present. If you cannot find nor convict that not even one – oh by golly, you can just shove the Truth Commission. Naglolokohan lang tayo dito.

And that’s just for a start.

If the SONA is similar to the fluff talk of the Inauguration – I’d say it was more fun watching Estrada – he still didn’t have substance like Aquino but at least Erap was funny.

********

That was written before the SONA came out.

True enough – I read this from the Inquirer, when I woke up (July 5:45AM, US EST/5:45PM Manila Time):

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 2) President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III bared in his first State of the Nation Address a series of irregularities allegedly committed by the past administration.

In his speech, Aquino disclosed that millions of pesos went to the pockets of board of trustees of the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage System (MWSS) for their salaries, allowances and benefits and billions of pesos wasted by the National Food Authority.

Aquino also bared that of the P108-million calamity fund for Pampanga, the province of former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, P105 million went to only one district.

“Of the whole P108 million for the province of Pampanga, P105 million went to only one district while in the province of Pangasinan that was ravaged by Pepeng, only P5 million was given and it was even for typhoon Cosme that hit the province in 2009,” Aquino said in Filipino.

“The funds for Pampanga were given on election month, seven months after Ondoy and Pepeng. What if there is a typhoon tomorrow?” Aquino asked.

Aquino arrived at the Batasan complex at 3:46 p.m., in time for the session at 4 p.m., on board his black Mercedes Benz with plate number 1. He did not use his sirens when his convoy left his family home in Quezon City.

The President went directly to the holding area in the House upon his arrival. He was joined there by newly elected Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.

Aquino’s sisters – Viel, Pinky, and Ballsy – arrived at the House ahead of the President.

The session hall is packed with lawmakers and guests including politicians, members of the diplomatic community and friends and families of officials.

For the record and for our AP discussion, here’s a copy of PNoy’s first SONA as translated in English.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Vice President Jejomar Binay, Chief Justice Renato Corona, Former Presidents Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada; Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; distinguished members of the diplomatic corps;

My beloved countrymen:

Our administration is facing a forked road. On one direction, decisions are made to protect the welfare of our people; to look after the interest of the majority; to have a firm grip on principles; and to be faithful to the public servant’s sworn oath to serve the country honestly.

This is the straight path.

On the other side, personal interest is the priority, and where one becomes a slave to political considerations to the detriment of our nation.

This is the crooked path.

For a long time, our country lost its way in the crooked path. As days go by (since I became President), the massive scope of the problems we have inherited becomes much clearer. I could almost feel the weight of my responsibilities.

In the first three weeks of our administration, we discovered many things, and I will report to you some of the problems we have uncovered, and the steps we are taking to solve them.

This report is merely a glimpse of our situation. It is not the entire picture of the crises we are facing. The reality was hidden from our people, who seem to have been deliberately obfuscated on the real state of our nation.

In the first six years of this year, government expenditure exceeded our revenues. Our deficit further increased to PhP196.7 billion. Our collection targets, which lack PhP23.8 billion, were not fully met, while we went beyond our spending by PhP45.1 billion.

Our budget for 2010 is PhP1.54 trillion. Of this, only PhP100 billion – or 6.5% of the total budget – can be used for the remaining six months of the current year. Roughly 1% of the total budget is left for each of the remaining month.

Where did the funds go?

A calamity fund worth PhP2 billion was reserved in preparation for anticipated calamities. Of this already miniscule amount, at a time when the rainy season has yet to set in, PhP1.4 billion or 70% was already spent.

The entire province of Pampanga received PhP108 million. Of this, PhP105 million went to only one district. On the other hand, the province of Pangasinan, which was severely affected by Typhoon Pepeng, received a mere PhP5 million, which had to be used to fix damages inflicted not even by Pepeng, but by a previous typhoon, Cosme.

The funds were released on election month, which was seven months after the typhoon. What will happen if a typhoon arrives tomorrow? The fund has been used up to repair damage from typhoons that hit us last year. Our future will pay for the greed of yesterday.

This is also what happened to the funds of the MWSS. Just recently, people lined up for water while the leadership of the MWSS rewarded itself even though the pensions of retired employees remain unpaid.

The entire payroll of the MWSS amounts to 51.4 million pesos annually. But this isn’t the full extent of what they receive: they receive additional allowances and benefits amounting to 81.1 million pesos. In short, they receive 211.5 million pesos annually. Twenty four percent of this is for normal salaries, and sixty six percent is added on.

The average worker receives up to 13th month pay plus a cash gift. In the MWSS, they receive the equivalent of over thirty months pay if you include all their additional bonuses and allowances.

What we discovered in the case of the salaries of their board of trustees is even more shocking. Let’s take a look at the allowances they receive:

Attending board of trustees and board committee meetings, and you get fourteen thousands pesos. This totals ninety eight thousand pesos a month. They also get an annual grocery incentive of eighty thousand pesos.

And that’s not all. They get a mid-year bonus, productivity bonus, anniversary bonus, year-end bonus, and financial assistance. They not only get a Christmas bonus, but an additional Christmas package as well. Each of these amounts to eighty thousand pesos. All in all, each member of the board receives two and a half million pesos a year exclusive of car service, technical assistance, and loans. Let me repeat. They award themselves all of these while being in arrears for the pensions of their retired employees.

Even the La Mesa watershed wasn’t spared. In order to ensure an adequate supply of water, we need to protect our watersheds. In watersheds, trees are needed. Where there should be trees, they built homes for the top officials of the MWSS.

We cannot remove them from their positions quickly because they are among the midnight appointees of former president Arroyo. We are investigating all of these things. But if they have any shame left, they should voluntarily relinquish their positions.

Now let’s discuss funds for infrastructure. The DPWH identified two hundred forty six priority safety projects to be funded by the motor vehicle user’s charge. This needs a budget of 425 million pesos. What they ended up funding were only 28 projects. They disregarded 218 projects and replaced these with seventy projects that weren’t in the plans. The 425 million pesos originally asked for became 480 million pesos, increasing because of projects allocated for a favored few.

These projects make no sense: unstudied and unprepared for, sprouting like mushrooms.

The era of such projects is at an end. Under our administration, there will be no quotas, there will be no overpricing, the funds of the people will be spent for the people.

There’s more. Five days before the term of the previous administration ended, they ordered 3.5 billion pesos to be released for the rehabilitation of those affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. This was supposed to fund eighty-nine projects. But nineteen of these projects amounting to 981 million pesos didn’t go through public bidding. Special Allotment Release Orders hadn’t even been released and yet the contracts were already signed. It’s a good thing Secretary Rogelio Singson spotted and stopped them. Instead, they will all go through the proper bidding, and the funds will be used to provide relief to those who lost their homes due to typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

Let’s discuss what happened in Napocor. From 2001 to 2004, the government forced Napocor to sell electricity at a loss to prevent increases in electricity rates. The real motivation for this is that they were preparing for the election.

As a result, in 2004, NAPOCOR slumped deeply in debt. The government was obligated to shoulder the 200 billion pesos it owed.

What the public thought they saved from electricity, we are now paying for using public coffers. Not only are we paying for the cost of electricity; we are also paying for the interest arising from the debt.

If the money we borrowed was used properly, then there would be added assurance that constant supply of electricity is available. However, this decision was based on bad politics, not on the true needs of the people. The people, after having to sacrifice, suffered even more.

This is also what happened to the MRT. The government tried again to buy the people’s love. The operator was forced to keep the rates low.

In effect, the guarantee given to the operator that he will still be able to recoup his investment was not fulfilled. Because of this, Landbank and the Development Bank of the Philippines were ordered to purchase the MRT.

The money of the people was used in exchange for an operation that was losing money.

Let us now move on to the funds of the National Food Authority (NFA).

In 2004: 117,000 metric tons (of rice) was the shortage in the supply of the Philippines. What they (the government) bought were 900,000 metric tons. Even if you multiply for more than seven times the amount of shortage, they still bought more than what was needed.

In 2007: 589,000 metric tons was the shortage in the supply of the Philippines. What they bought were 1.827 million metric tons. Even if you multiply for more than three times the amount of shortage, they again bought more than what was needed.

What hurts is, because they keep purchasing more than what they need year after year, the excess rice that had to be stored in warehouses ended up rotting, just like what happened in 2008.

Is this not a crime, letting rice rot, despite the fact that there are 4 million Filipinos who do not eat three times a day?

The result is NFA’s current debt of 177 billion pesos.

This money that was wasted could have funded the following:

- The budget of the entire judiciary, which is at 12.7 billion pesos this year.

- The Conditional Cash Transfers for the following year, which cost 29.6 billion pesos.

- All the classrooms that our country needs, which cost 130 billion pesos.

This way of doing things is revolting. Money was there only to be wasted.

You have heard how the public coffers were squandered. This is what is clear to me now: change can only come from our determination to stamp out this extravagance and profligacy.

That is why starting now: we will stop the wasteful use of government funds. We will eradicate projects that are wrong.

This is the point of what we call the zero-based approach in our budget. What used to be the norm was every year, the budget merely gets re-enacted without plugging the holes.

Next month we will be submitting a budget that accurately identifies the problem and gives much attention on the right solution.

Those that I have mentioned were only some of the problems we have discovered. Here now are examples of the steps we are undertaking to solve them.

There is a case of one pawnshop owner. He purchased a vehicle at an estimated cost of 26 million pesos.

If he can afford to buy a Lamborghini, why can’t he pay his taxes?

A case has already been filed against him. Through the leadership of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares, Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez, and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, every week we have new cases filed against smugglers and against those who do not pay the right taxes.

We have also already identified the suspects of the cases of Francisco Baldomero, Jose Daguio and Miguel Belen, 3 of the 6 incidents of extralegal killings since we assumed the Presidency.

Fifty percent (50%) of these incidents of extralegal killings are now on their way to being resolved.

We will not stop the pursuit of the remaining half of these killings until justice has been achieved.

We will hold murderers accountable. We will also hold those who are corrupt that work in government accountable for their actions.

We have begun forming our Truth Commission, through the leadership of former Chief Justice Hilario Davide. We will search for the truth on the alleged wrongdoing committed in the last nine years.

This week, I will sign the first ever Executive Order on the formation of this Truth Commission.

If the answer to justice is accountability, the answer to the dearth in funds is a new and creative approach to our long-standing problems.

We have so many needs: from education, infrastructure, health, military, police and more. Our funds will not be enough to meet them.

No matter how massive the deficit is that may keep us from paying for this list of needs, I am heartened because many have already expressed renewed interest and confidence in the Philippines.

Our solution: public-private partnerships. Although no contract has been signed yet, I can say that ongoing talks with interested investors will yield fruitful outcomes.

There are some who have already shown interest and want to build an expressway from Manila that will pass through Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, until the end of Cagayan Valley, without the government having to spend a single peso.

On national defense:

We have 36,000 nautical miles of shoreline, but we only have 32 boats. These boats are as old as the time of (US General Douglas) MacArthur.

Some had this proposition: they will rent the Navy headquarters on Roxas Boulevard and the Naval Station in Fort Bonifacio.

They will take care of the funding necessary to transfer the Navy Headquarters to Camp Aguinaldo. Immediately, we will be given 100 million dollars. Furthermore, they will give us a portion of their profits from their businesses that would occupy the land they will rent.

In short, we will meet our needs without spending, and we will also earn.

There have already been many proposals from local to foreign investors to provide for our various needs.

From these public-private partnerships, our economy will grow and every Filipino will be the beneficiary. There are so many sectors that could benefit from this.

We will be able to construct the needed infrastructure in order to help tourism grow.

In agriculture, we will be able to have access to grains terminals, refrigeration facilities, orderly road networks and post-harvest facilities.

If we can fix out food supply chain with the help of the private sector, instead of importing, we will hopefully be able to supply for the needs of the global market.

The prices of commodities will go down if we are able to make this efficient railway system a reality. It will be cheaper and faster, and it will be easier for travelers to avoid crooked cops and rebels.

A reminder to all: creating jobs is foremost on our agenda, and the creation of jobs will come from the growth of our industries. Growth will only be possible if we streamline processes to make them predictable, reliable and efficient for those who want to invest.

We make sure that the Build-Operate-and-Transfer projects will undergo quick and efficient processes. With the help of all government agencies concerned and the people, a process that used to take as short as a year and as long as a decade will now only take six months.

The Department of Trade and Industry has already taken steps to effect this change, under the leadership of Secretary Gregory Domingo:

The never-ending horror story of registering business names, which used to take a minimum of four to eight hours depending on the day, will be cut down drastically to fifteen minutes.

What used to be a check list of thirty-six documents will be shortened to a list of six, and the old eight-page application form will be whittled down to one page.

I call on our local government units to review its own procedures. While we look for more ways to streamline our processes to make business start-ups easier, I hope the LGUs can also find ways to implement reforms that will be consistent with the ones we have already started.

All will certainly benefit from this streamlining — be it businessmen, soldiers, rebels and ordinary Filipinos. As long as the interests of Filipinos will not be jeopardized, we will explore all available avenues to make this a reality. We must start now, and we should all help achieve this and not stand in each other’s way.

The time when we will no longer be made to choose between our people’s security and the future of our children is upon us now.

Once we implement these public-private partnerships, we will be able to fund public service in accordance with our platform.

This will enable us to fund our plans for education.

We will be able to expand our basic education cycle from seven years to the global standard of twelve years.

We can build more classrooms, and we will fund service contracting under the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Program (GASTPE).

Conditional cash transfers that aim to lessen the burden of education on parents will also be funded if this partnership becomes a reality.

Our plans for improving PhilHealth can now be within reach.

First, we will identify the correct number of Filipinos who sorely need PhilHealth coverage, as current data is conflicting on this matter. On one hand, PhilHealth says that eighty-seven percent (87%) of Filipinos are covered, then lowers the number to only fifty-three percent (53%). On the other hand, the National Statistics Office says that only thirty-eight percent (38%) of Filipinos are covered by Philhealth.

Even as we speak, Secretary Dinky Soliman and the Department of Social Welfare and Development are moving to implement the National Household Targeting System that will identify the families that most urgently need assistance. An estimated 9 billion pesos is needed in order to provide coverage for five million poor Filipinos.

Our country is beginning to see better days ahead. The private sector, the League of Provinces headed by Governor Alfonso Umali, together with Governors L-Ray Villafuerte and Icot Petilla, are now ready to do their share when it comes to shouldering the financial burden. I know that the League of Cities under the leadership of Mayor Oscar Rodriguez will not be far behind.

If the local governments share in our goals, I know that I can surely count on Congress, the institution where I began public service, to push for our agenda for change.

Our Cabinet has already showed it skill by identifying not just problems but also proposing solutions in a matter of three weeks.

In the aftermath of Typhoon Basyang, we were told by those in the power sector that we would be without electricity for four days. The quick action of Secretary Rene Almendras and the Department of Energy resulted in the restoration of power to almost all those affected within twenty-four hours.

The so-called water shortage in Metro Manila was quickly attended to by Secretary Rogelio Singson and the Department of Public Works and Highways. Secretary Singson did it without prodding, which alleviated the suffering of those affected.

We also witnessed the competence and initiative of those we appointed to be part of our Cabinet. It is but just that they not be forced to go through the eye of a needle to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. Should this happen, competent Filipinos will be encouraged to help our country by becoming public servants.

In the soonest possible time, we will convene the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to discuss the important bills that need to be addressed. Rest assured that I will keep an open mind and treat you honorably.

We will push for the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, which will limit spending bills only for appropriations that have identified a source of funding. We need 104.1 billion pesos to fund those laws already passed but whose implementation remains pending because of lack of funds.

We will re-evaluate fiscal incentives given in the past. Now that we are tightening our purse strings, we need to identify those incentives that will remain and those that need to be done away with.

We will not allow another NBN-ZTE scandal to happen again. Whether from local or foreign sources, all proposed contracts must undergo the scrutiny of correct procedures. I now ask for your help with amending our Procurement Law.

According to our Constitution, it is the government’s duty to ensure that the market is fair for all. No monopolies, no cartels that kill competition. We need an Anti-Trust Law that will give life to these principles, to afford Small- and Medium-Scale Enterprises the opportunity to participate in the growth of our economy.

Let us pass into law the National Land Use Bill.

It was in 1935, during the Commonwealth, that the National Defense Act was passed. There is a need to amend for a new law that is more responsive to the current needs of national security.

I appeal to our legislators to pass the Whistleblower’s Bill to eradicate the prevalent culture of fear and silence that has hounded our system.

We will strengthen the Witness Protection Program. We must remember that from 2009 to 2010 alone, cases which involved the participation of witnesses under the program resulted in a ninety-five percent conviction.

There is a need to review our laws. I call on our lawmakers to begin a re-codification of our laws to ensure harmony in legislation and eliminate contradictions.

These laws serve as the basis of order in our land, but the foundation of all rests on the principle that we cannot grow without peace and order.

We face two obstacles on our road to peace: the situation in Mindanao and the continued revolt of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

Our view has not changed when it comes to the situation in Mindanao. We will only achieve lasting peace if all stakeholders engage in an honest dialogue: may they be Moro, Lumad, or Christian. We have asked Dean Marvic Leonen to head our efforts to talk to the MILF.

We will learn from the mistakes of the past administration, that suddenly announced an agreement reached without consultations from all concerned. We are not blind to the fact that it was done with political motivation, and that the interest behind it was not that of the people.

We recognize the efforts of the MILF to discipline those within its ranks. We are hopeful that the negotiations will begin after Ramadan.

To the CPP-NPA-NDF: are you prepared to put forth concrete solutions rather than pure criticism and finger-pointing?

If it is peace you truly desire, then we are ready for an immediate cease-fire. Let us go back to the table and begin talking again.

It is difficult to begin discussions in earnest if the smell of gun powder still hangs in the air. I call on everyone concerned not to waste a good opportunity to rally behind our common aspiration for peace.

Our foundation for growth is peace. We will continue to be shackled by poverty if the crossfire persists.

We must understand that now is a time for sacrifice. It is this sacrifice that will pave the way for a better future. With our freedom comes our responsibility to do good unto our fellows and to our country.

To our friends in media, especially those in radio and print, to the block-timers and those in our community newspapers, I trust that you will take up the cudgels to police your own ranks.

May you give new meaning to the principles of your vocation: to provide clarity to pressing issues; to be fair and truthful in your reporting, and to raise the level of public discourse.

It is every Filipino’s duty to closely watch the leaders that you have elected. I encourage everyone to take a step towards participation rather than fault-finding. The former takes part in finding a solution; from the latter, never-ending complaints.

We have always known that the key to growth is putting the interest of others beyond one’s own. One thing is clear: how do we move forward if we keep putting others down?

How will those without education secure quality jobs? How will the unemployed become consumers? How will they save money for their future needs?

If we change all this, if we prioritize enabling others, we will open a world of opportunities not just for ourselves but for those who direly need it.

We have already begun the process of change, and we are now able to dream of better things for our country. Let us not forget that there are those who wish us to fail, so that they will once again reclaim power to do as they please at the expense of our people.

My firm belief is that our fate is in the hands of God and our people. While we focus on uplifting the lives of our fellow men, I have an unshakeable faith that Almighty God will give us His blessings and support. If we remain firm in our belief that God is on our side, is there anything impossible for us to achieve?

The mandate we received last May 10 is testament to the fact that the Filipino continues to hope for true change. The situation is not what it was before; we can all dream again. Let us all become one in achieving a fulfilment of our hopes and aspirations for our country.

Maraming Salamat Po!

DARN… Am I right or am I right?

Some commenters come in here saying that our site is so unpleasant and that we should focus on something more pleasant. Thing is, there’s little that’s pleasant in a country that’s going down by allowing itself to be suckered. Truth hurts. Face it.

But it reveals another sorry aspect of our culture: that Filipinos tend to be pleasantry addicts.

Being Filipino is just an unfortunate circumstance that it is so unpleasant. And thinking about the unpleasant things is so painful makes the emo tribe of the Philippines want to seek some distraction. Wowowee, along with most of local TV (and perhaps even Glee and Beverly Hills 90210, hehe), is one of the most harmful programs to our culture, but it is being embraced by our populace. It remains a distraction, forever keeping the masses drunk with emo pleasantry, while making sure they don’t think of doing anything worthwhile, such as participate in anti-protectionism charter change initiatives.

Anthony Bourdain in his episode of “No Reservations” in the Philippines saw really glaring faults in Filipino culture. He noticed how the inviter Augusto was so excited and wild in his submitted request video, but was so tame in person. So Bourdain was like, what happened? Then after learning more, he said about Filipinos… you’re too nice!

I wrote before that Filipinos don’t know how to be truly positive (or constructive, as Benign0 had pointed out). My points in this article are vindicated when you see how the Filipinos in Bourdain’s show are focusing so much on the trappings of the culture, but are hiding the substance, hiding the truth – because there’s very little substance to be proud of. Otherwise, the food featured on the episode was nice. Yet that food was probably one of the things depended on to forget the problem (probably the reason for high cholesterol, risky food?).

Pleasantry addiction is also form over substance. No wonder Filipinos want the latest products, fashions and stuff. They want to look good… even if they are not good.

You may say that we in Antipinoy.com are so negative, that we dwell on negativity, and focus on them too much. Not at all; we give the right focus to things that are so obvious. And we want to be constructive. We don’t want the problems hidden under the hot air of “positiveness.” We want real working solutions to be enacted. Face the negativity, and think of the solutions.

I now know that focusing on the obvious problems is disturbing some people. They are so sad about what’s happening to our country, that they want people like to “stop all this negativity” and be more pleasant. Thing is, pleasantry addiction is also laziness. It’s what wiser minds would say, “puro good time lang nasa isip.” Then it turns out that Filipinos are good in faking the good time, wallowing in pleasantries while their country falls apart around them.

Because of pleasantry addiction, Filipinos love to avoid confrontation. They believe too much in that Desiderata line, that one should “be on good terms with all persons.” But if you value justice and righteousness, you will certainly not be on good terms with some people, since you will oppose their injustice. Remember, even very good people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and even Mother Teresa had enemies.

Also, this avoidance of confrontation can lead to many Filipinos not saying what they need to say to correct another person. Instead, they talk behind their backs. It’s one reason why Filipino family values can actually encourage our culture of inaction and fatalism. It can lead to families pretending that everything is OK, while they’re actually breaking up inside.

Filipinos are so addicted to pleasant stuff that they refuse to face the truth. They instead want to focus on pleasant things and insist that even if there are serious gaffes and mistakes, everything is still OK. Alas, it means that people are willing to drop the truth and embrace lies just to feel good. And thus, we become a nation of lies.

Of course, seeking something pleasant is not by itself wrong. But it is when you use it to hide the truth. the pleasantry addiction in Philippine culture is a cause of inaction. They want short-term pleasantry, while not focusing on the long-term way to get truly pleasant results because of ignorance or laziness.

Even if the truth is ugly or unpleasant, you must face it.

Boo hoo hoo. The national budget is depleted and the new President Benigno “P.Noy” Aquino III, as it turns out, is no “superman”. For the Average Filipino Schmoe who latched on to the promise of the “magic” of an Aragorn-led mighty army of righteousness galloping in to rescue him from his wretchedness, the road ahead leads back to Square One. And the only thing standing in the way of that doom-and-gloom scenario is P.Noy’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

If we are to believe all the teasers sent out by the Philippine Media, this SONA is gonna be a “shocker” of an “exposé”. Why? Because Big Bad Former President Gloria Arroyo’s alleged “looting” of the National Budget will be laid out for all to see and gawk at. Hey, wait, isn’t this the handy work of an ex-President that got elected back into Congress by popular vote? Considering that counted among other morons that get elected into the Philippine Congress are honourables like some chump currently detained in Hong Kong for drug trafficking, and a renegade soldier who trashed a major Manila hotel among others, it’s quite surprising that the real source of this ingrained crookedness in our society continues to be glossed over.

A chamber of “representatives” does indeed reflect the people who voted them into office, and a writer for the Aquino Family Newsletter, Neal Cruz, agrees…

That is the reason many politicians want to run for Congress. It is not to serve the people as they promise in their campaign speeches. It is to partake of the bonanza from the pork barrel.

… though not too many Filipinos would agree with the Truth about them that this highlights: that they, as voters are complicit to these ignoble aspirations that characterise the typical Filipino politician.

For me, the SONA Shocker will be no more than a false-validation to Da Pinoy that criminality resides in everyone — everyone, that is, but himself. The Filipino desperately wants to believe that Arroyo looted the National Budget. Why? Because it gives him some semblance of a rational reason why he remains the impoverished wretch that he is today — living and feeding off mounds of garbage instead of taking his place at the top of that green hill where his peers in the East Asian region picnic today.

Quite fortunate for “P.Noy”. He is poised to deliver today that assurance that Da Pinoy is not responsible for his own poverty — essentially the main point of the SONA he will be dishing out. It’ll be a PR bonanza, this SONA. At a time when Da Pinoy is mired in bewilderment over his chronic poverty, a SONA telling him that his poverty is the result of an ex-President consciously depriving him of his entitlements will be a breath of fresh air. And as an outcome of the infinite wisdom of his “Communication Team” (presumably), the SONA will also hit another bird — the increasingly apparent hollowness of his “anti-corruption” sloganeering.

Indeed, as Amando Doronila sees it;

With the shift of focus to the depleted budget, the President offered a means to open a limited number of new issues to keep his anticorruption campaign from running out of steam.

With that, let us sit back, microwave some popcorn and enjoy the Presidential Shock-Jock’s show today. Whilst lesser bloggers and “analysts” await its conclusion before they start their feeding frenzy, we are already helping ourselves to our advanced harvest. After all, we here at AntiPinoy.com are exemplars as far as foresight is concerned.

I say – More WOTL Less Wowowee. Finally, the Philippines has a TV show that tells it as it is. Initially, I thought it was an indie-film. But obviously, it isn’t.

The Philippine entertainment industries reason for producing B-movies and re-imagined Mexican/Korean/HK telenovelas is that there is no market for such fare. I find that hard to believe.

The remaining TV shows, have lost their connection with reality and instead have become yellow kool-aide propaganda mouthpieces engaged in Pinoy Newspeak.

Show your support for this program by supporting the advertisers on WOTL – vote with your wallet.

Don’t buy products advertised on WOTL’s competitor – that’s one way of making your voice heard. Why should you keep on supporting a network that dumbs you, your family, and your community down.

For the meantime, on with the show.

About WOTL (from Facebook)

Website: http://www.tv5.com.ph

Daily newscast of TV5 which ventures into a fresh way of delivering the day’s top stories with Lourd De Veyra

Monday – Friday, 11:00 pm
TEN: The Evening News

Lourd Ernest Hanopol de Veyra is a multi-awarded Filipino musician, poet, journalist, broadcast personality, and activist who first became famous for being the vocalist of Manila-based jazz rock band Radioactive Sago Project.

He has thrice been a recipient of a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature – A Third prize in essay (English division) in 1999, a second prize in the same category in 2003; and a first prize in teleplay (filipino division) in 2004.

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Kudos to WOTL and TV5 – Keeping it real. Lourd wears daily clothes but his content has more substance than the talking heads and stuffed suits on ABS-CBN.

Wear nice clothes – and put in a lot of whiz bang video transitions – never mind the trivial superficial treatment of the content. Let them watch Pokwang – and they are happy campers.

Push back against ABS-CBN and GMA. Encourage TV5 to promote more shows of this nature – support WOTL.

Send them an email, call – let your voices be heard.

Vote with your remote.

Vote with your box-office ticket.

And If I may add, Vote with your wallet.

How do we learn from the past? How do we use those learnings to improve our lives. An excellent example is the work of the ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu’s – “The Art of War”. By learning from the experiences of the various kingdoms and validating this in real life, Sun Tzu was able to accumulate a body of knowledge which remains relevant today.

Which begs the question, have we as a nation learned anything from the past. What knowledge have we accumulated to move the Philippines forward – not backward. But that discussion is for another day. It’s a Sunday, I’ll keep it light. I find this more engaging than Wowowee. Or watching “Ang Panday”.

The videos were produced by The History Channel – not TFC.

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The Department of the Army in the United States, through its Command and General Staff College, has directed all units to maintain libraries within their respective headquarters for the continuing education of personnel in the art of war. The Art of War is mentioned as an example of works to be maintained at each individual unit, and staff duty officers are obliged to prepare short papers for presentation to other officers on their readings.[16]

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is listed on the Marine Corps Professional Reading Program (formerly known as the Commandant’s Reading List).[17]

During the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s, both General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. and General Colin Powell practiced Sun Tzu’s principles of deception, speed, and attacking the enemy’s weakness.[12]

Mark McNeilly writes in Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare that a modern interpretation of Sun and his importance throughout Chinese history is critical in understanding China’s push to becoming a superpower in the 21st century. Modern Chinese scholars explicitly rely on historical strategic lessons and The Art of War in developing their theories, seeing a direct relationship between their modern struggles and those of China in Sun Tzu’s time.

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Sun Wu (simplified Chinese: 孙武; traditional Chinese: 孫武; pinyin: Sūn Wǔ), style name Changqing (長卿), better known as Sun Tzu[1] (simplified Chinese: 孙子; traditional Chinese: 孫子; pinyin: Sūn Zǐ; pronounced [swə́n tsɨ̀]), was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed to have authored The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. Sun Tzu has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture, both as an author of The Art of War and through legend. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War grew in popularity and saw practical use in Western society, and his work has continued to influence both Asian and Western culture and politics.

Without further adieu, here’s the Sun Tzu – Video Playlist.

It’s a Sunday on AP – relax, feed your mind.

How does this apply to our daily lives, or maybe at work, or in marketing – in selling an idea or selling ourselves to an employer.

Gary Gagliardi, Author of “Sun Tzu’s The Art of War Plus The Art of Marketing” – writes

The Competitive Ethics of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is broadly read within the business world as the basic primer for competitive strategy, which is easily adapted to marketing. In the original Chinese, the original work is an almost mathematical analysis of how competitive systems work. Though a basic translation puts its principles in military terms, its original formulas can be directly translated line by line from military terminology to business marketing terms. When we do this, some fascinating ethical insights emerge.

The most common misconception among people who have not studied Sun Tzu’s work is that is its basic competitive philosophy is Machiavellian, devoid of ethical considerations in advancing its principles of success in competitive arenas. Nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, Sun Tzu teaches that ethical behavior is the foundation for success in competition.

Sun Tzu’s ethics are pragmatic rather than idealistic. He focuses on the fact that direct conflict is inherently costly. Those who naturally react to competitive situations by wanting to engage in battles and defeat their opponents are doomed to defeat, even if they consistently win their battles. This as true in marketing battles as it is in military ones. He advances the art of war as a strategy for replacing the artless, destructive conflicts that define most competitive battles, including those that too often take place among business competitors.

His analysis is that victorious conflict is so inherently costly that it is never worthwhile. We can win a market by spending too much money, but we cannot make a profit doing so. He says specifically, “A general that fights a hundred battles and wins a hundred battles in not a great general. The great general is one who finds a way to win without fighting a single battle.”

The Art of War teaches us to stop defining successful in terms of winning conflicts or in terms of beating opponents. Sun Tzu redefines success very simply as advancing our position, improving our market share, if you will, while avoiding costly direct conflicts.

By using strategy, as oppose to brute force, we can advance our position in such a way that people do not want to attack us and, ideally want to join us. In warfare and marketing, this means finding openings where we can go around the competitors rather than battling them directly.

This is certainly worth thinking about.