How Ironic.

I want to repeat what I just said in the title of this post: How Ironic.

It is an irony that BIR is targeting doctors, accusing them of not paying their taxes properly, wherein we have these big businesses not paying their taxes properly, and the differential is in the millions! (Google BIR’s tax case against CATS Motors to get a background).

It is ironic that our Supreme Court is in favor of a Cybercrime law over a Reproductive Health law. Judges favor a provision on online libel more than a provision providing proper reproductive health to the masses.

It is ironic that the bigger criminals of our country still manage to find ways and means to deny the crimes they have done. The Cedric Lees, the Delfin Lees, the Janet Napoleses still try to paint to the public of their innocence, in spite of the multitude of controversies they have been embroiled upon, both past and present.

It is ironic that some politicians are beginning to plot their agenda this early for the 2016 elections, in spite of many important bills like the Freedom of Information Bill, needed to be passed and made into law.

In relation to the previous paragraph, these politicians have the guts to announce their intentions for 2016 in spite that the country has not yet fully recovered from the disasters brought by the Bohol earthquake and super typhoon Yolanda. 

It is ironic that as a country that charges high rates for its electricity, yet it threatens the Filipino of power shortages if they could not increase their rates further until the prices are of highway robbery levels.

It is ironic, to a major extent, that those who are victimized by cases of adultery are the very ones who defend the adulterers (refer to the revelations of Cristina Ponce Enrile to get an idea of this topic).

It is ironic (or more like stupid) that with the last two years under the Aquino Administration, all infrastructure projects have commenced simultaneously, causing a nationwide armageddon for everyone.

 

Yes, the Philippines is living a life of ironies and only God know when will this end.

Prelude to the nation.

In a few days, Pres. Noynoy Aquino will be delivering his fourth State of the Nation Address (SoNA) in congress. PNoy will be giving updates on the progress of the country, on his administration’s accomplishments, and other concerns that need to be pointed out. To be really honest, in his three years as president, I do not think a lot really changed for the better (in spite of PNoy’s bragging rights with that 7.6% GDP growth and on the downpour of foreign investments). In fact, his administration simply exposed the real flaws of the country; flaws that were hidden and kept a secret in the administration of former Pres. (and possibly impeached Pampanga representative) Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

First things first, let us talk about safety in the country. In spite of the recent turnover of modern Glock 17 9mm pistols to the PNP, the country by itself remains to be unsafe. With the influx of snatchers, robbery groups, drunk drivers, drug addicts, rapists, kidnappers, drug lords, and high-profile criminals, I seem to disagree that the PNP is actually addressing the safety of the country properly.

A perfect case of this? The multitude of unsolved crimes that occurred in recent days, ranging from kidnappings, attempted rape, street massacres, gang wars, robberies, and the like.

Also, the death of Ozamiz gang leader Ricky Cadavero and the recapture of Chinese drug lord Jackson Dy also shows the flaws of the PNP. While all of us may be happy that a drug lord has been recaptured once again, and that a high profile robber was shot dead, people still do not know the dirty stories behind these incidents. Witnesses and kin of these high-profile criminals can attest to this, but they are too scared that they can be silenced by corrupt PNP officials, of which some of them allegedly did a Kuratong Baleleng-like scenario.

The thing is that even if PNP claim to be able to arrest these criminals, we cannot deny the fact that some of them are indeed corrupt and do shady moves in the process of arresting these criminals. A witness (from a footage I had to deal with a few days ago) detailed on these shady moves done by policemen during drug raids, and I just feel like vomiting upon realizing how our justice system is not really fair at all, and that how law enforcers are also the ones who break the law.

Sure our policemen may be able to capture minor criminals in the Metro, but capturing high-profile criminals are difficult for them, especially when corruption is involved.

Speaking of corruption, the recent expose of the 10 Billion Peso Pork Barrel scam has to be this week’s major highlight. A under-the-table operation that has gone unnoticed for a decade has been finally revealed, as the pork barrel of senators and congressmen ended up to fake NGOs, and into the hands of the mastermind of the scam allegedly known as Janet Lim-Napoles.

And no, Napoles is not new to this controversy, as she has been involved in previous controversies such as the unsolved fertilizer fund scam of 2006. When she said that “we control government” as narrated in a testimony of whistleblower Benhur Luy, she indeed controls the government, as she was able to manipulate five senators and 23 congressmen (with Sen. Bong Revilla topping the charts with a little over one Billion Pesos worth of his pork barrel exploited) to take part in her shady scheme.

How she managed to conceal her scheme for a decade is surprising, considering the restrictions placed in the release of pork barrel funds. Apparently, our government is still not smart enough to determine whether an NGO is legitimate or not. After all, Napoles DOES control the government as she was able to outsmart most, if not all, of them.

I’m glad that this syndicate has been exposed right now, BUT I hope our government be able to address this properly, and possibly, totally abolish pork barrel for real. It may be hard, but it is so far the most sensible option right now, given the fact that politicians can easily exploit it in spite of restrictions imposed to the allocation of the pork barrel to “projects” that normally end up as covered courts or waiting sheds (yes, that is a fact).

And if you would factor in the expose made by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago on the earnings of senators, it is definite that a lot of politicians’ dirty deeds got exposed to the public at the speed of light. Let’s see how will these crocodiles face the charges. Well for one, Revilla is whining that Malacañang is doing a demolition job against him, which I definitely disagree with him. A Caviteño would definitely know how powerful, influential, and corrupt are the Revillas. Same goes with the Ejercitos of San Juan, the Enriles of Cagayan, and the Marcoses of Ilocos Norte.

I honestly do not really care if they claim that the pork barrel scam is fabricated by PNoy, as those involved are his rivals; they better prove they are not involved in the mother of all scams. Better yet, PNoy should do a lifestyle check to ALL of his officials and cabinet members. I believe that this pork barrel scam is just the tip of the iceberg; there are more controversies lying within the government body itself. Only time will tell when these shady activities will be further exposed.

These are just two major issues that I doubt PNoy would even tackle in his SoNA. If you add up the issues of traffic, arrogant informal settles, rising prices of basic goods such as gasoline, water, and bread, and infrastructure projects, the more I am not excited about PNoy’s upcoming SoNA come Monday.

So before he gives his SoNA, might as well give my prelude to it. Nonetheless, let us see what PNoy has prepared for his fourth speech to the nation.

June’s political atmosphere.

The political atmosphere in the Philippines is going through tough times once again, with issues ranging from Ayala Land and Cebu Pacific’s fiasco, to issues of flooding, to eviction of informal settlers, and to intentions of certain politicians for 2016.

The first big topic involving Ayala Land and Cebu Pacific is something that has caused some damage not just to the economy but to the reputation of both companies involved in accidents. Add to the fact they way both companies managed the situation, and boy they are definitely in hot waters. I do hope that both companies will be able to resolve their respective issues soon, just as how Philex mining is slowly recovering from the fiasco.

Considering they are members of the upper class, I wish they would be considerate in treating their customers right. I mean, hello, they sure have earned good profits with their business; it is simply due time for them to give back to their customers especially in bad times like this, and it is more apt that they be responsible for the incidents involving their company and not play the blame game.

I mean, come on guys, improve your services. We customers do deserve better, right?

And while June also marks the start of the rainy season, a typical issue being tackled here is flooding all around the Metro. In spite of all these improvements made (or supposedly made) by DPWH, Maynilad, MWSS, MMDA, and other agencies concerned, one is still baffled at why some streets, such as España, remain prone to flooding. The blame game between agencies is ongoing, and fingers eventually point to informal settlers clogging esteros and intentionally clogging flood pathways to earn extra money in pushing stranded cars and assisting stranded commuters (very sly of them assuming it is true).

The issue of flooding and informal settlers are to issues that are related to one another. Call me discriminatory or what, but I am for the government’s effort to remove all informal settlers from dangerous areas such as esteros. These activist groups keep on complaining, yet they do not fully understand the dangers these informal settlers face. 

Have they forgotten typhoon Ondoy? Have the forgotten last year’s habagat? Have these informal settlers learned their lesson? They are given free house AND subsidy and yet they complain. Sorry guys, but the desires of informal settlers are too much for me. I mean, you have been squatting on land owned by someone for years, and you benefitted from NOT paying taxes, and yet you complain of being relocated? 

What do these people want? Be fed with a silver spoon? This is a reason why I am very much against Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s Conditional Cash Transfer program. Because of this program, people become lazier, and do not know how to really work hard.

And while I’m at it, there are news reports about the upcoming 2016 elections. There is the Bong-Bong Bong team up (Senators Bong Revilla and Bong Bong Marcos), Mar-Vi team up (DILG Sec. Mar Roxas and Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos), and of course, Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay (whose team up is still unknown). Quite an interesting line up perhaps but do you think it is still too early to talk about 2016?

We have a barrage of issues to deal with right now, and I do think it is but apt NOT to talk about 2016 now.

Volatility.

First of all, it has been a while since I last made an entry to my blog. Was busy having a nice week-long birthday celebration two weeks ago, and for this week, I’m getting myself adjusted into the graveyard shift in work (it has been a year since I was last assigned to this shift).

While getting caught up with various matters, some local news came to my attention. Aside  from the Philippines bragging about its 7.8% GDP growth, several fiascos happened: from the legal battle between SM Aura and BCDA, to the explosion in Two Serendra, to the recent bomb threat at Net One Center, all happening at The Fort (which is for me this generation’s Makati), one would seriously think how these events would reflect on our country’s GDP growth.

Well, for one, the PSEI dropped for a while, but is recovering slowly recently, and the same goes to several investments. I myself felt dismayed at how rates dropped after the announcement of the 7.8% GDP growth, and really feel skeptical at this supposed good news. Not that I am being pessimistic, but to be honest, that figure should translate to progress not just to the upper class, but that it should trickle down to the masses as well. Even our Peso to Dollar exchange rate is falling down recently.

If there’s one reality the Philippines cannot deny, it is the fact that poverty incidence did not really go down, that there are still several unemployed and underemployed people in this country, and that such majestic figures is not really felt at all. To add insult to injury, prices of basic commodities and utilities such as water, electricity and gasoline continue to increase. Also, the country still faces a power crisis, especially in Mindanao.

With these mumblings, I want to ask the honorable President this: If we have this majestic 7.8% GDP growth, where is it going? Why is it not really felt? Are these figures for show only?

As to the series of unfortunate events happening within The Fort for the past two weeks, one would feel disturbed as how these events would affect potential investors and also our economy. If I were an investor, I would be definitely worried at investing in The Fort, particularly with properties of Ayala Land. With conclusive reports that the blast at Two Serendra was caused by a gas leak, one would raise a red flag at the safety and integrity of properties of Ayala Land (but honestly speaking, their properties are way better than those of SMDC, but that is just me I guess).

Then you also have the fiasco caused by Cebu Pacific when one of its planes overshoot the runway at Davao International Airport. Even with its piso fares, Cebu Pacific’s reputation of having delayed flights AND not handling the situation properly (it took around 30 minutes before passengers were able to get out of the aircraft, of which the inside of the aircraft was already being enveloped by smoke!) will surely turn off potential customers, which in return will damage their profits badly. In addition to Cebu Pacific’s fiasco on handling emergency situations, leaving the plane on the runway for almost two days did major damage to the airport as flights were cancelled, and that passengers were diverted to other airports. Millions were lost due to this fiasco, mind you.

Just days after the big announcement on our GDP growth comes these set of disasters. Now this makes me wonder . . . how long can the Philippines sustain such a majestic GDP growth?

Stabbed by the truth.

If you think the brouhaha has ended once elections has come to a conclusion, think again. Aside from complaints with the accuracy of the count of votes, accusations of cheating left and right, and issues with the PCOS machines, people not involved in politics directly also get engaged in the spat as well.

The latest has to be the one between model Georgina Wilson and Jake Ejercito, son of Manila Mayor-elect Joseph Estrada. The spat started on Friday, where Georgina tweeted:

“ugh i hate politics – but I only have one thing to say: Anyone that votes for Erap is a f***ing idiot.”

Georgina’s tweet refers to Erap’s win in Manila over Alfredo Lim. In reaction, Jake gave a lengthy reply to Georgina’s tweet, saying:

“Ms. Wilson, social media might be a free world but I think it’s quite irresponsible to express such an opinion unless you are well-versed with the current situation of the city of Manila and how the present local administration has failed to handle it. Moreover, to call 325,288 Manileños, including the 9.4 million Filipinos who voted for him in 2010, “f***ing idiots” is harsh and truly uncalled for.”

Not siding with any one of them, the spat exposed the harsh realities of Philippines and its politics. Although Georgina was frank enough to say that Filipinos did not learn their lesson by voting an ex-convict, it is unfair to say that these people who voted for Erap are bobo or uneducated, and that only the upper / educated class has the right to vote for who deserves to be duly elected.

*an article in Rappler explains about the “uneducated” voter here. In addition, CRUSADA’s “The myth of the bobo voter” is also a good read. Check it here.

One cannot blame that majority of Manileños voted for Erap for being merely stupid. They voted for Erap because they believe that they can relate with Erap with their struggles in contrast to Lim’s administration which has been admittedly lackluster. One should accept the fact that in a democracy, people have the freedom to choose whatever candidate they think deserves the post, no matter how bad the candidate’s credentials is (which is why Nancy Binay won).

The Philippines by itself lives through a culture of popularism: people would vote for who they think is popular, who they think is influential, whether that candidate is a veteran politician, a neophyte, or someone who is from showbiz and suddenly decides to join politics. We have lived in this system for the longest time, and correcting it will take a while and not just one night alone. Yes, a lot may disagree with me on this, but Jake is actually right when he said that no one has the right to criticize the voter who chose Erap over Lim in spite of the background of both individuals.

But one should remember this: no one, and not even the intellectual, educated middle class, can possess the objective truth as mentioned by Plato in the figure of the philosopher king. No one in this world knows the objective truth, and we should also be faced with the fact that even the intellectual, educated middle class makes big mistakes as the masa who we call stupid, idiot, and bobo.

Case in point? Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2001, 2004, and 2007.

Now do not tell me that Manileños are stupid for voting for an ex-convict, because we were all stupid enough to vote for a tyrant.

Or let us make it more blatant: The bigger flaw Filipinos made was voting for an intellectual who eventually became a tyrant for 20 years, and that intellectual is Ferdinand Marcos.

_________

UPDATE: Rappler reports that the tweet Georgina made was dated almost four years ago. I guess Jake just make the fire grow again.

Pope of the masses.

Yesterday, the Papal Conclave has finally declared Habemus Papam! ( Latin for “We Have a Pope!”), selecting Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to be the successor to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Cardinal Bergoglio selected the name Francis (after St. Francis of Assisi) as his name for Pope. Hence, he is now known as Pope Francis (not Pope Francis I as some media outlets reported).

The former Cardinal Bergoglio has an interesting background. Aside from being a Jesuit (in which in history used to be the enemy of the Vatican) and the Chuch first non-European Pope in almost 1300 years (the last was Pope Gregory III in the 8th century), Pope Francis is also a chemist, has lived majority of his life with one lung (but remained to be healthy all throughout), and lived a simple life, just like St. Francis of Assisi.

While Pope Francis is conservative in terms of his stand with same-sex marriage, Pope Francis is known in Argentina as being pro-poor, as he has sided with the poor in Argentina, protecting them and criticizing the wealthy for their inaction with helping the needy.

How to describe Pope Francis’ simple life? Back when he was a bishop and cardinal, he lives in a simple apartment, cooks his own food, takes care of older Jesuits, and takes the train and bus everyday. Markings of a man living a simple life.

Even as Pope, it is of good observation that Pope Francis is setting a new example to the Vatican and to the 1.2 billion Catholics around the world by giving his first message as Pope in a simple white robe, donning the same cross he wears since he became bishop, congratulating and greeting cardinals by standing up and approaching them one-by-one, and choosing to use a ordinary sedan instead of the papal fleet’s main car to do his duties on his first day as Pope. 

In fact, Pope Francis even “paid his bills” to the clerical guest house he was staying at the duration of the Papal conclave.

On the first day of duty alone, I am very impressed at how Pope Francis redefines the Church as being more approachable than ever. With Pope Francis, I have renewed hope that the Catholic Church can be reformed, amidst issues and scandals hounding it.

All the best to Pope Francis as he leads 1.2 billion Catholics around the world.

Fight for our right.

For the past week or two in work, I have been dealing with materials on the ongoing standoff in Sabah, in a battle between Malaysian authorities and the group of Raja Muda (which translates to Crowned Prince) Agbimuddin Kiram and his followers counting 200 strong.

What are the two groups fighting for? The land of Sabah, a land that has been historically attributed to be part of the Philippines under the Sultanate of Sulu, which is now under Malaysia.

Unlike the Spratlys, Sabah has been more associated with the Philippines, and has solid historical basis for it. The Sultanate of Sulu has been, in fact, existing even before the Spaniards have colonized the Philippines. However, due to the series of events that occurred from the 19th century on, Sabah has been more associated with Malaysia over the Philippines as the latter has not pressed claims on the land in recent years.

In fact, until this recent standoff, both the Philippines and Malaysia have not been addressing the issue as a priority. However, many people may wonder why the Kiram family (headed by Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III) is fighting for their right to claim Sabah as part of the Sultanate of Sulu. My friend (who is a well-known reporter for ABS-CBN) Jeff Canoy has some relevant points in his entry here. Presently, he is in Tawi-Tawi, covering the ongoing standoff.

To be honest, I am sad that our government is not putting any effort in resolving the standoff, and that is in spite that the Kirams are actually Filipinos, even more Filipino than the majority of us (and do not ever put me in an argument that the likes of Jessica Sanchez and members of the Azkals are Filipinos, but that is another topic that needs to be dealt separately). In addition, history tells us that the Philippines has given little focus to Mindanao, more so with Muslims in general, giving birth to the likes of MILF, MNLF, and BFF.

I may not be really favoring the Muslims (considering what happened to my family decades ago involving Muslims), but on a more nationalistic perspective, I do support their cause to fight for their right for Sabah, as Sabah is supposed to be a part of the Philippines, and not Malaysia. The same goes for the Spratlys and Scarborough shoal.

In addition, the ongoing standoff and other territorial disputes does tell something about the administration of Pres. Noynoy Aquino: sure he may be garnering a lot of plus points for being more transparent than the previous administration, and that our economy has significantly improved (although I still question up to now who actually benefits from those impressive GDP growth stats), and sure he may have passed landmark bills such as the ever-controversial RH bill, but he fails on other aspects such as crisis management (remember the Quirino Hostage crisis?), and foreign relations.

Sad to say, our government has not been doing well in addressing claims to what is definitely ours. Worse, our government even allows foreigners to exploit on our natural resources, starting off with mining in several regions of the country, and that incident involving a US ship getting stuck in Tubbataha reef. How come the Philippines seem to favor foreign countries more than our own motherland?

Also, even if PNoy would say that the standoff is a result of a conspiracy against him by his opponents as elections come close, I would barely believe on such a statement. Sure the past administration has done, I do not think it is right to practically blame everything bad happening then and now to the dark administration of former president and current Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

If there is something that PNoy has to blame upon, it must be the ongoing talks of the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement that has caused this issue to escalate at such a level. ignoring a letter once from the Sultanate of Sulu is forgivable, but thrice? I have no words for it. It just shows that PNoy and the rest of the committee involved in the framework agreement has not properly consulted with all concerned parties.

As of this writing, it would be a month since the Lahad Datu, Sabah standoff has started and I do not know how this issue would be resolved. With reports of around 60 people already killed, I do hope PNoy makes immediate changes with how they handle foreign relations. More importantly, I hope our government will, for once, fight for what is truly ours.

While our president has still three more years to change his views on several issues, I still do hope that he acts fast on these issues and not get himself busy campaigning for candidates he has endorsed for the coming elections.

Road to elections: Defining dynasties

While reading through some tweets on my timeline yesterday, I came across a tweet of my friend that said “A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.” She quoted the said line from James Freeman Clarke, an American theologian.

Come to think of it, such a line is relevant especially with the coming 2013 elections where familiar names, familiar faces, AND relatives of these familiar names are running for one of the twelve senatorial posts in the Philippines. Among one of the major issues of this upcoming elections are political dynasties, where relatives of politicians run for government as well, leading to a government that is powered by a few influential families. 

We normal citizens know that this culture is wrong, and even if there is an actual law prohibiting political dynasties, we still do not know the true meaning of a political dynasty. Even our politicians sadly do not know how to define such a term.

With the two or so weeks that candidates have been campaigning around the Philippines to persuade people to vote for them, I have noticed that for political dynasties, I have seen two kinds so far. 

The first one is the accomplished, who has made a lot to the Philippine community even if he is related to a current politician. These are candidates who either have made significant contributions to the private sector (as in the case of senatorial aspirant Bam Aquino, a nephew of Pres. Noynoy Aquino), or through government in legislating bills (as in the case of Aurora Rep. and senatorial aspirant Sonny Angara, son of Sen. Edgardo Angara). These kinds of aspirants are well qualified, but their associations with current politicians made people think twice of voting them as they may propagate political dynasties.

The other one is the accidental, the one who runs because his/her relative was told to run. These are the ones who are either forced by their elders to run (as in the case of senatorial aspirant Nancy Binay, eldest daughter of Jejomar Binay), or have worked in congress but has an infamous reputation of not being active in congress (as in the case of Cagayan Rep. and senatorial aspirant Jack Enrile, son of Senate Pres. Juan Ponce Enrile). These are aspirants who have a questionable background, and still seem unripe for the senatorial seat, as they were just dictated by their elders to run.

In both cases, these candidates are perpetuators of political dynasties, yet they present to us two different scenarios. The real challenge is for us to know who we are voting for before we actually vote for them in May 2013.

Various news outlets have been doing extensive research on all of the candidates running, and it is our responsibility to do our homework and assess a candidate’s potential in leading our country. 

Pres. Noynoy Aquino said during his inauguration “kayo ang boss ko.” The decision will lie in our hands.

Road to elections: Awareness and the lack of it

Two years ago, I graduated as a Political Science Major in Ateneo, which is under the School of Social Sciences (SOSS). Historically, when it comes to student council elections (we call it Sanggu), it has been consistent that SOSS has the highest voter turnout of the four schools in Ateneo (the other four schools are SOM, SOSE, and SOH). I have always believed that our school is the school in Ateneo that has the best awareness in terms of student politics and politics in general.

However, two years later, things became . . . different, to a dismay.

Yesterday night, Guidon, my school publication (where I was a News Writer for two years and was the starting point on my desire to work for media) announced via twitter that there was a failure in elections for both SOSS and SOSE. Honestly, I find this rather unusual since during the time I was a student in Ateneo, failure of elections rarely happen, and if they do it affects SOH (but kudos to them this year for not experiencing failure of elections). Declaring failure of elections in one school may be ok, but two schools? I guess something is wrong with this generation.

And if you click on the Scribd link included with the said tweet, the election turnout for all four schools, including the top four positions, are not that impressive either. Statistically speaking, the voting turnout is even barely above 50% mark, which also speaks of potential problems not just in my school, but also in the coming 2013 midterm elections.

Elections are roughly three months away, and the campaigns of both political parties (Team PNoy and Team UNA), plus independent candidates have already commenced. I do hope that in this year’s elections, people will become more encouraged to vote and realize the importance of their vote in selecting our next set of leaders. There is a need for awareness on how important elections are, unlike in the fiasco that happened in my school.

I honestly do not know what happened in my school, but whatever the case it may be, the Ateneo Comelec has failed in its duties to encourage students to vote for their next student leaders. If this already happens on a school-wide elections, what more if it occurs during national elections?

I do hope though that even with that disappointment, students from Ateneo and the youth in general will learn within three months the importance of choosing the next set of leaders that will manage our country.

Because the youth is the country’s hope, as how Dr. Jose Rizal would put it.

Love and hate for the government.

While I do admit that the present administration is performing way better than the previous controversy-laden administration, not all of the things Pres. Noynoy Aquino is doing is exactly good (or bad). Hence, I still have this love and hate for the present government.

I do love the way corruption is being addressed, starting with the crackdown on corrupt officials, with the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona as the highlight for this part. However, the issue of corruption has not been fully resolved yet, as the KKK (short for Kaibigan, Kapamilya, and Kabarilan) of PNoy’s team still proliferates in government, and doing dubious tasks.

I do like how BIR is addressing tax evaders for these past months, improving tax collection,  and I do also like on how Congress and Senate has approved a law on imposing higher taxes for Sin products (ie. cigarrettes, alcohol). However, I am not completely solved on PNoy’s flagship program 4Ps (short for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program), as I find the program a short-term solution in addressing poverty in the Philippines.

I do appreciate that the economy of the Philippines is doing great, with the PSE index breaking the 6000 mark, and our GDP growth going steady at 6%. Such manner will definitely attract more investments to our country. However, such great figures are still useless if it does not really trickle down to everyone in the Philippines, especially the masa. Better salaries and more jobs is still key to success.

I definitely appreciate the fact that our country finally has the balls to pass a proper Reproductive Health bill promoting better health services especially to women. I do appreciate DOH’s efforts towards universal healthcare, even if I do understand that it is a long shot to attain such goal by the end of PNoy’s term. However, I’m still not happy that there is no clear separation of Church and State, as the religious continue to pose threats and insults in light of the passage of the controversial bill.

I am very sad that PNoy’s promise of a transparent government has not come into full bloom yet, with a flawed bill such at the Cybercrime Bill posing threats to our independence on the internet, and the “killing” of the Freedom of Information Bill, a bill that is key to letting the people finally know that the Country’s money is going to good hands.

I am happy for the country’s fighting stance against China in terms of disputed islands, as we fight hard for what is really ours. However, I am dismayed at how our country is presently dealing with America following the disaster at Tubbataha Reef, one of our country’s prized treasures.

I feel optimistic at the government’s plans of improving our roads and modes of transportation in efforts to address traffic issues in the country. However, I am not really confident on how our government will be able to implement its projects, as most projects either lack in proper planning, or lack in proper funding.

I definitely have no confidence with our country’s security, in spite of PNP’s claims that criminality has significantly reduced. With better robbers being able to outsmart mall security guards, and crooks being able to snag in guns inside establishments, one would need to constantly look after his/her surroundings given the uncertainty of the places one visits.

Yet, in spite of the imperfections this government has, we the Filipino people should likewise act up as well in helping our own government improve. After all, we are all in this together; Filipinos should care for their motherland.

And that is how real love works: Both should work their differences together in order to make their relationship successful.

*I know it is Valentines’ day soon, and the usual me still remains single (not that I’m bitter that I still remain single, mind you). Anything can happen still. If I did something unusual last year, maybe I would this year. It’s all up to me.