Who was that “idiotic” professor (who comes from a substandard university in Dagupan City) tasked by a local TV to give his analysis on President Benigno Aquino’s one year in office?
He said Aquino’s one year was economically better than the last year of former president Gloria M. Arroyo.
By George! This guy does not read even the newspaper’s wrap of tinapa (smoked fish).
Year 2010 of former President Arroyo was an economic banner year of the country for the 2000s.
The GNP (not Gutom Na Pilipino, but the real Gross National Product) in that year was 7.2 percent.
The projection of the GNP for this year is only 4.5 percent according to the International Monetary Fund.
***
First semester of 2010 was a campaign and national election year.
Months before the poll, politicians spent billions of pesos as if there was no tomorrow. These spending- spree bode well for the economy.
For Christ sake my dear presumptuous professor, it was a national election year where P500 and P1000 bills were just like wrappers of candies that were thrown like shits by politicians to all and sundry.
***
What Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte has done against her mauled court sheriff was condemnable. This was premeditated for media mileage as toughie “kuno” projection. It exposes also the political greed of a politician like Duterte taking the cudgels of the squatters cum future voters against a legal court order. She should be sanctioned by the Supreme Court as unethical member of the Bar, and by the Department of Interior & Local Government as public officer.
***
I doubt if Judge Emmanuel Carpio could cite Davao City Mayor Sarah for contempt of court. First, he could probably disappear in Davao; second, his perks like gas, allowance, etc, from the City will disappear, too.
I know this dilemma. In cities in Pangasinan, even fiscals or prosecutors are indebted to the mayors’ monetary favours.
What is condemnable about this practice? These fiscals (and probably judges, too) hopped to the offices of mayors of the city and towns under their watch by soliciting monies to pay for their plane fares and hotel accommodations whenever they have seminars.
“Pinagkikita-an pa ng mga lintek na iyan ang solicitations,” a city administrator quipped to me before.
He told me three fixcals, er, fiscals who would be attending a seminar in Davao asked for P120 thousand as financial aids for their two-day seminar that has been appropriated a budget already by their office.
**
A media friend Ronel has similar experience what the sheriff has experienced in the hands of Mayor Duterte. He was slapped by the Mayor of Laoac, Pangasinan years ago for instigating ABS CBN to expose the anomalies of the mayor. He was slapped big time inside the Sangguniang Bayan’s office where the dads there were having their session.
Susmariosep, three of my friend’s molar teeth were extracted by that slap.
I told him to sue the mayor with slander by deed (kasi napahiya siya before the TV cam and the public) and slight physical injury plus moral damages.
But he did not heed my advice. He instead filed ILLEGAL PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY versus the mayor. Hanggang ngayon nahihilo ang Supreme Court what to do with his case.
***
Our country is pathetic.
First, Business World article’s (Page 1, dated March 9, 2011) entitled “Philippines snubbed as investment destination (in East Asia)” described our country as laggard.
In a survey that involved 355 senior and middle managers of firms in the region, most of whom were based in Thailand and Singapore; they said:
“Of the destinations offering the best investment prospects over the next three years were 48% ASEAN countries; China 29%; USA 6% and India 5%’; Unidentified 12%. Of the 48% ASEAN group, Vietnam was top choice followed by Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. None chose the Philippines.”
***
Second, the decision of the Supreme Court recently for PLDT to divest 24 percent of the 64 percent shares (to retain the 40 percent shares the Constitutional mandates for foreigners to own a business in the Philippines) would be a bad signal for investors to sell their stocks from the companies listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange.
PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan warned the market would definitely going to plummet if the Supreme Court interpretation would be implemented by the Security Exchange Commission.
***
Tsk, tsk. This was what I was saying before. We should amend the Constitution and change that obsolete 40 percent foreign ownership of our local industries.
If the United States, China, and Vietnam have 100 percent ownership for foreign investors for their industries, why can’t we emulate them?
***
Business Czar and Stradcom ‘s top honcho Nestor Quimbao told me lately his take on this 40 percent thing, and the possibility of giving foreigners 100 percent ownership in real property.
“Hindi naman puedeng dalhin ng foreigners’ ang lupa natin pag ayaw na nila dito (Philippines)”.
He said 100 percent ownership is good for the country except to industries that involved the national security of our country.
***
Another provision that we should amend in the Constitution is the law that prohibit the return of the U.S Bases.
If you look at the disputed Spratly islets and her surrounding water they are thousands of miles away to Mainland China, while they are “stone’s throw away” in our island Palawan.
Without any U.S air and naval blanket for our air and sea territories that include the “explosive” islets, we are vulnerable to the intrusion of these chinky-eyed Sinos. Remember they have already taken over our Mischief Reef Islets there in 1995 without even a fart from our U. S made Japanese vintage Tora-Tora (T-28 propeller powered plane).
Spratly is suspected to have one of the richest deposits of natural gas and oil in the world.
Because we are deplorably poor, we could not afford to buy a squadron of U.S made F-16 Interceptor and the latest French –made Mirage. Each, remember the word is “each”, F-16 and Mirage cost $45 Million or P1.9 billion and $ 58 Million or P2.5 billion.
Otherwise, we would just heed what Supreme Court suspended lawyer Allan “All-Knowing” Paguia who scandalously told us media men (in the inauguration of the officers of the Pangasinan Press & Radio Club, Inc.) that we just give up the Spratly without any tinge of resistance to the Chinese because they owned it since the 17th Century.
***
If Dagupan City administrator and Marine reserved colonel Vlad Mata was not writing about global issues like the militarily volatile’s Spratly’s, he was hitting the key board of his PC about socially relevant issues like cooperatives that he submitted to think-tanks in Western Europe.
Now he is in the Netherlands for a global conference and would be country -hopping to states under the European Union.
“Next you co-author with me so you can visit these countries,” the Philippine Science High School and University of the Philippines –Diliman alumnus quipped to me.
“Geez man, I like it. The farthest place I have been was in Divisoria in Manila,” I retorted to him.
(You can read my selected intriguing but thought-provoking columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com).
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