Council of State Begins

The Council of State has begun, but with out the presence of the opposition. I’m half-expecting it so no surprise here. So much for getting the inputs of key personalities from all opposing sides and various sectors.

What surprised me though was finding out in this article that there’s already an existing body – the Legislative-Executive Development Council – which functions similar to the CoS. Until now, I didn’t know that Ledac existed.

If that’s the case, then I agree with Sen. Joker Arroyo when he described the CoS as “a decorative body without any real power or clout.” The way I interpret it, the essential function of CoS is to come up with answers  that address the burning issues that our country is facing. Or to put it simply: mere words on paper.

And like everything else, such actions entails costs. Costs paid by us (or most of us). Spending time and the people’s money on the CoS is utterly senseless, considering that Malacañang already has Ledac! And besides, I doubt if the people will even consider their output as “clean and untainted.” Or if the people will even care since CoS is a Malacañang-initiated move.

Anyhow, since it has started already, we might as well see what they can come up with. And to the opposition: it would have been more interesting if one of you were present. Just one. For the sake of some sort of balance.

‘La na

Nora Oliveros of the Department of Budget and Management said that only PHP “5 billion remained of the confiscated Marcos wealth.” After being spent and allocated to the CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) and various departments through the years, only the said amount remained. Wow. More details here. Further more, the budget for CARP this year is PHP 16 billion and yet, they’re only left with PHP 13 billion, from which PHP 8 billion will still be deducted to compensate the human rights victims.

“(It’s) practically gone, your Honor,” Oliveros said.

If I were present in that Senate hearing, I would have loudly reacted, “Huwat???”

How could you spend that much money so fast? Where did each centavo go? Well, the answer should be easy: Just collect the “receipts” whether they’re official print-outs or written on table napkins. There ought to be a paper trail. Somewhere. Assuming though that every entry is accounted for, it still does not answer how can they spend so much in such a short amount of time? And be under budget now?

The only answer I can think of as of this writing is this: they overspent. Case in point, they hired 10,000 personnel for CARP. Did (or do) they really need that many people to work for CARP? Ten thousand people just seem far too many don’t you think?

Sigh. The government needs to hire better managers next time. (I’m pretty sure there will be a next time.)

Pacquiao Effect

This news article made me laugh. Last Sunday was a crime-free day for Metro Manila! Was that even possible? I asked myself. Whether that claim is completely true or not, the point was everyone was watching the big fight of Manny Pacquiao. Now, I’m thinking, we should train and send more boxers around the world to fight for other boxing titles.

And when Monday began, it was back to normal for our hard-working politicians. But not quite. Still reeling from the victory of Manny, they went into a frenzy of resolutions and proposals – from lauding the boxer’s skills and sportsmanship to declaring Manny’s arrival as a non-working holiday. Although I found it commendable that they made effort to make sure that Pacquiao’s achievements didn’t go unnoticed, I just felt that they’re overdoing it. And how long before all the glory and attention start to fade? We’ve had other boxers – as well as other athletes! – who brought home titles as well, but where are they now? Has our government, through the generosity of our loving politicians, fulfilled and sustained any of the promises they gave to these athletes?

I realized now that all *these* simply illustrate how deprived the Philippines is of something that we can be proud of – as individuals and as a nation. And please, give Manny Pacquiao a break.