Alleba Politics

There has been much hullabaloo over President Arroyo being named by Forbes as the fourth most powerful woman in the world. Her supporters say that it is a positive thing since she is ranked with the likes of Condoleezza Rice and Oprah Winfrey. Critics, meanwhile, point out that her being ranked as fourth stems from her strong hold on to her position amidst the countless calls for her resignation.
Read the rest of this entry »

Con-Ass vs Con-Con
Most Congressmen are raring for the House of Representatives to convene as the Constitutional Assembly and draft the new Constitution themselves. And of course, most Senators are against this. Do we even need to ask why??? President Arroyo and her “mentor” former Pres. Ramos are proposing a Constituent Assembly as well. Because, they contend, it is the easiest, fuss-free way to go about with the Charter Change. But, fast and easy isn’t neccessarily best, right? Although we are now undeniably in a political crisis (and consequently, an economic crisis, as well), a fast and easy Constitutional Change is not the only way to remedy our political ailments. For one, there is something very dubious about elected congressmen amending the constitution. Unfortunately, they will most likely churn out a constitution that will serve their own interests. What will stop them from lifting the limit to serving as a “public servant”? And while the Constitutional Assembly grandstand and debate on the consitutional amendments, who then will take care of legislation? Is our country going to stand still while they debate? And I fear, despite their claims, that it will be a very looong debate.
Read the rest of this entry »

According to SWS:

The two surveys of Metro Davao enterprises in 2004 and 2005 show a marked increase in the proportion of businessmen who said they were asked for bribes in the past year.
Davao enterprise managers report mor esolicitation of bribes in all the transactions included in the survey, except for income taxes.
39% of Davao businessmen say they were asked for a bribe in relation to getting local permits/licenses, up from 26% in 2004.
Solicitation of bribes also increased regarding national government permits/licenses from 9% in 2004 to 30% in 2005.
Davao enterprises asked for a bribe in relation to supplying government with goods/services rose to 29% in 2005, compared to 18% in 2004.
Delaing with import regulations had an even larger increase, with 19% solicited for a bribe in 2005, up from 2% in 2005 (-2004[probably a typo] - MJ).
Solicitation of bribes also rose in connection with collecting receivables from government (26% in 2005 versus 13% in 2004) and availing of government incentives (17% in 2005 versus 2% in 2004).
Regarding income tax payments, 24% of Davao businessmen said they were asked for a bribe, or similar to the 23% solicited on this matter on 2004.

Read the rest of this entry »