Sunday, February 21, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
One-on-one debate between Aquino, Villar in the works
A one-on-one debate between the two frontrunners in presidential preference surveys is now in the works, with both standard-bearers of the Nacionalista Party (NP) and the Liberal Party (LP) issuing statements that they are ready for a duel of ideas.
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, LP's Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III called for a meeting between his camp and that of NP's Senator Manuel Villar Jr. after the latter accepted Aquino's challenge for the two to engage in a one-on-one debate.
"I think it's time to end the proxy war. This would give Sen. Villar a chance to do what he wasn't able to do on the Senate floor: take direct questions regarding the Senate’s findings on the C-5 deal and other issues that have remained unanswered by him," Aquino said, adding that he would also take the opportunity to shed light on allegations thrown by some Villar supporters regarding the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita.
Aquino said the meeting between his camp and Villar's will discuss the venue, date, format, and other details of their impending debate.
The LP standard bearer said he wants the debate to revolve around their positions on issues such as education, taxes, electoral campaign finance reform, foreign policy issues, food security, and constitutional amendments.
Aquino earlier challenged Villar to a one-on-one debate after the NP standard bearer failed to show up at Monday's forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap).
Villar then accepted Aquino’s challenge Tuesday morning in a press statement, saying he is ready to debate since he sees this as “an opportunity to present plans and programs of government to the general public."
He added that each candidate has the responsibility to communicate one's vision for the nation even as one's capability, competence, and record of accomplishment are tested through reason and inquiry.
"If such were the purpose of the challenge, I will gladly accede. Name the place, name the time, I will be there" he said.
However, Villar said, if the intention is to find a platform for senseless argumentation and mudslinging with the hope of calling attention unto oneself "then I will have to decline."
In his follow-up statement Tuesday, Aquino said he is not ruling out the possibility of also including his cousin, administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and former President Joseph Estrada, in the debate.
Aquino consistently topped surveys since he announced his presidential bid in September. (See: Noynoy Aquino announces bid for presidency in 2010)
Villar however gradually narrowed the gap with the help of aggressive political advertising. (See: Noynoy, Villar neck and neck in latest Pulse Asia survey)
Estrada consistently ranked third in the surveys, while Teodoro usually ranks a distant fourth. (See: Aquino, Villar neck and neck in latest Pulse Asia survey)
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, LP's Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III called for a meeting between his camp and that of NP's Senator Manuel Villar Jr. after the latter accepted Aquino's challenge for the two to engage in a one-on-one debate.
"I think it's time to end the proxy war. This would give Sen. Villar a chance to do what he wasn't able to do on the Senate floor: take direct questions regarding the Senate’s findings on the C-5 deal and other issues that have remained unanswered by him," Aquino said, adding that he would also take the opportunity to shed light on allegations thrown by some Villar supporters regarding the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita.
Aquino said the meeting between his camp and Villar's will discuss the venue, date, format, and other details of their impending debate.
The LP standard bearer said he wants the debate to revolve around their positions on issues such as education, taxes, electoral campaign finance reform, foreign policy issues, food security, and constitutional amendments.
Aquino earlier challenged Villar to a one-on-one debate after the NP standard bearer failed to show up at Monday's forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap).
Villar then accepted Aquino’s challenge Tuesday morning in a press statement, saying he is ready to debate since he sees this as “an opportunity to present plans and programs of government to the general public."
He added that each candidate has the responsibility to communicate one's vision for the nation even as one's capability, competence, and record of accomplishment are tested through reason and inquiry.
"If such were the purpose of the challenge, I will gladly accede. Name the place, name the time, I will be there" he said.
However, Villar said, if the intention is to find a platform for senseless argumentation and mudslinging with the hope of calling attention unto oneself "then I will have to decline."
In his follow-up statement Tuesday, Aquino said he is not ruling out the possibility of also including his cousin, administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and former President Joseph Estrada, in the debate.
Aquino consistently topped surveys since he announced his presidential bid in September. (See: Noynoy Aquino announces bid for presidency in 2010)
Villar however gradually narrowed the gap with the help of aggressive political advertising. (See: Noynoy, Villar neck and neck in latest Pulse Asia survey)
Estrada consistently ranked third in the surveys, while Teodoro usually ranks a distant fourth. (See: Aquino, Villar neck and neck in latest Pulse Asia survey)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Hey, LOOK AT THIS! See how this dispensation treat oldies!
Finance asks Arroyo not to sign bill exempting elderly from VAT
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Finance has appealed to President Gloria Arroyo not to sign into law a measure exempting the country's estimated 4.6 million senior citizens from paying the 12% value-added tax (VAT).
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/11/2010 8:35 PM
Finance asks Arroyo not to sign bill exempting elderly from VAT
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Finance has appealed to President Gloria Arroyo not to sign into law a measure exempting the country's estimated 4.6 million senior citizens from paying the 12% value-added tax (VAT).
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Finance has appealed to President Gloria Arroyo not to sign into law a measure exempting the country's estimated 4.6 million senior citizens from paying the 12% value-added tax (VAT).
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/11/2010 8:35 PM
Finance asks Arroyo not to sign bill exempting elderly from VAT
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Finance has appealed to President Gloria Arroyo not to sign into law a measure exempting the country's estimated 4.6 million senior citizens from paying the 12% value-added tax (VAT).
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Integrity of PCOS Machines
I attended a lecture on the automated election system, held on January 26, 2010 at the Abelardo Hall of the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, initiated by the Aquino-Roxas Bantay Balota (ARBB).
Among the battery of issues that i raised in that forum is, first, about the integrity of the software that was programmed in the counting of votes. I couldn't help but compare the principle to a taxi meter where there is an automatic flag-down rate, the moment it is switched on and continue to accumulate every few meters of the road. In comparison, the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan)machine might also have a "flag-down rate", but which might only be activated at the end of the process, or during the counting, or storing of data or transmission for canvassing. There is a widespread speculation or fear that the PCOS machine could be factory pre-programmed, such that for every 100 votes or ballots cast, 20 goes automatically counted to a favored candidate, then stored into a small memory card, which data is highly vulnerable to corruption once it gets into dangerous human hands.
Second,it was explained, that when a particular PCOS machine bogs down, it's memory card shall be ejected and transported and fed to another PCOS machine in any precinct and location, where the interrupted process of counting and transmission to the Board of Canvassers is to be continued.
Thus, it can be construed that a memory card from Maguindanao is readable and could be processed by another machine in Manila, and vice-versa! While in transit, can a memory card be switched with another one that might have been loaded with data that are more pleasant and favorable to the perpetrators; and, perhaps, even re-feed the same loaded memory card to other machines for as many times as they want?
Third, transmitted data from a PCOS machine is received by a gadget as simple as a laptop. Only the BOC could view whatever is received and displayed in the small monitor of the laptop. Not the watchers; not the public! Why not attach a projector to the laptop, so the public may know what's going on during the canvassing in the first level!What they see in the first level will be their basis for comparison in the next canvassing level and up to the last, which is either the COMELEC or the House of Representatives
Fourth, why thermal paper in the printing returns? Data in thermal papers, as in lotto tickets, cash register receipts, and facsimile (fax) machines fade after awhile, even if hermetically sealed from natural elements. Once it fades, there is no more basis for audit. Moreover, once the function of one machine has been accomplished, all data are eternally erased. Hard copies from ordinary printers and ordinary papers last for even 99 years!
If that's the case, the "dagdag-bawas" phenomenon is still alive and kicking!
Don't get mad, please! Don't insult! Just respond! It's a speculation that's as good as real!
Among the battery of issues that i raised in that forum is, first, about the integrity of the software that was programmed in the counting of votes. I couldn't help but compare the principle to a taxi meter where there is an automatic flag-down rate, the moment it is switched on and continue to accumulate every few meters of the road. In comparison, the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan)machine might also have a "flag-down rate", but which might only be activated at the end of the process, or during the counting, or storing of data or transmission for canvassing. There is a widespread speculation or fear that the PCOS machine could be factory pre-programmed, such that for every 100 votes or ballots cast, 20 goes automatically counted to a favored candidate, then stored into a small memory card, which data is highly vulnerable to corruption once it gets into dangerous human hands.
Second,it was explained, that when a particular PCOS machine bogs down, it's memory card shall be ejected and transported and fed to another PCOS machine in any precinct and location, where the interrupted process of counting and transmission to the Board of Canvassers is to be continued.
Thus, it can be construed that a memory card from Maguindanao is readable and could be processed by another machine in Manila, and vice-versa! While in transit, can a memory card be switched with another one that might have been loaded with data that are more pleasant and favorable to the perpetrators; and, perhaps, even re-feed the same loaded memory card to other machines for as many times as they want?
Third, transmitted data from a PCOS machine is received by a gadget as simple as a laptop. Only the BOC could view whatever is received and displayed in the small monitor of the laptop. Not the watchers; not the public! Why not attach a projector to the laptop, so the public may know what's going on during the canvassing in the first level!What they see in the first level will be their basis for comparison in the next canvassing level and up to the last, which is either the COMELEC or the House of Representatives
Fourth, why thermal paper in the printing returns? Data in thermal papers, as in lotto tickets, cash register receipts, and facsimile (fax) machines fade after awhile, even if hermetically sealed from natural elements. Once it fades, there is no more basis for audit. Moreover, once the function of one machine has been accomplished, all data are eternally erased. Hard copies from ordinary printers and ordinary papers last for even 99 years!
If that's the case, the "dagdag-bawas" phenomenon is still alive and kicking!
Don't get mad, please! Don't insult! Just respond! It's a speculation that's as good as real!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Questionable Claims!
1. The Philippines is the world's second largest English-speaking nation. In reality, most Filipinos do not speak English on the street while the Department of Education is bothered by Filipino students' low English proficiency level. In comparison, English is the main language in the streets of United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and other British territories.
2. The Philippines has the largest Christian population in Asia. China actually has over 80 million Christians and is therefore the country with largest Christian population in Asia.
3. The Philippines was second to Japan in economic prosperity in Asia in the 1950s. Coming out of World War II, most East Asian countries, including the Philippines, were in still in recovery in the 1950s. Some of them had just won their freedom while economic prosperity was a strange phrase during that period. Even our parents would agree that life was harder in the 1950s. The Philippines never became rich and its golden age has yet to set in. Economic situation, however, was less burdening in 1996 and 1997 under the Ramos administration.
4. The Philippines is an agricultural economy. The Philippines is no longer an agricultural country. It cannot even produce enough rice, sugar or wheat to feed its entire population and has to import food from Thailand, Vietnam and the United States. The country's agricultural exports comprised less than 5 percent of its total outbound shipments in 2001. While the agriculture sector employed 37 percent of the workforce in 2001, it contributed only 21 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP). The industrial and services sectors contributed the remaining 79 percent to the domestic economy.
5. Filipinos are the happiest people in the world. The World Values Survey conducted by University of Michigan in 1998 ranked Iceland 1st and the Philippines 12th among 54 countries in happiness index. The Philippines was ranked first among Asian countries though. The truth is happiness cannot be measured.
6. Early Filipinos had a perfect socio-economic and justice system before the Spaniards came. There was never a perfect society in the world and tales about gold abounding in the Philippines five centuries ago remain to be proven. The fact is slavery, war, witchcraft, beheading and human sacrifice were already present in the country before the Spaniards came.
7. The Philippines is a favorite destination of foreign tourists. It could have the finest beach resorts in the world, but the Philippines gets only about 2 million foreign tourists annually. In comparison, smaller Asian countries like Singapore and Hong Kong receive over 8 million foreign guests every year.
8. The Philippines is one of the safest and most peaceful places on earth. That is what the Department of Tourism claims but according to the International Red Cross, the Philippines registered the world's fourth highest number of casualties and injuries as a result of natural disasters and man-made calamities from 1992 to 2001 - 5.8 million cases in all. It was behind China, India and Iran. China and India were expected in the accident list because they have the largest populations in the world.
9. Equitable distribution of wealth would resolve the poverty problem in the country. In reality, the country's per capita income or the imaginary figure referring to every Filipino's equal share in the country's total wealth, is below US$1,000. In comparison, countries like the United States, Germany, Japan and even Singapore have a per capita income of over US$25,000. This means that an ordinary American is 25 times richer than an ordinary Filipino. What would be needed to relieve poverty is to enlarge the economic pie by drawing more capital and resources into the country, so every Filipino would get a larger share.
10. Basketball is the dominant sports in the Philippines. Not any more. Because of the growing youth population and the lack of basketball courts, most Filipino children are now trooping to computer game shops and billiard halls.
11. Filipinos invented the fluorescent lamp that illuminated the world and the Lunar Rover used by American astronauts on the moon. The National Academy of Science and Technology disagrees.
2. The Philippines has the largest Christian population in Asia. China actually has over 80 million Christians and is therefore the country with largest Christian population in Asia.
3. The Philippines was second to Japan in economic prosperity in Asia in the 1950s. Coming out of World War II, most East Asian countries, including the Philippines, were in still in recovery in the 1950s. Some of them had just won their freedom while economic prosperity was a strange phrase during that period. Even our parents would agree that life was harder in the 1950s. The Philippines never became rich and its golden age has yet to set in. Economic situation, however, was less burdening in 1996 and 1997 under the Ramos administration.
4. The Philippines is an agricultural economy. The Philippines is no longer an agricultural country. It cannot even produce enough rice, sugar or wheat to feed its entire population and has to import food from Thailand, Vietnam and the United States. The country's agricultural exports comprised less than 5 percent of its total outbound shipments in 2001. While the agriculture sector employed 37 percent of the workforce in 2001, it contributed only 21 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP). The industrial and services sectors contributed the remaining 79 percent to the domestic economy.
5. Filipinos are the happiest people in the world. The World Values Survey conducted by University of Michigan in 1998 ranked Iceland 1st and the Philippines 12th among 54 countries in happiness index. The Philippines was ranked first among Asian countries though. The truth is happiness cannot be measured.
6. Early Filipinos had a perfect socio-economic and justice system before the Spaniards came. There was never a perfect society in the world and tales about gold abounding in the Philippines five centuries ago remain to be proven. The fact is slavery, war, witchcraft, beheading and human sacrifice were already present in the country before the Spaniards came.
7. The Philippines is a favorite destination of foreign tourists. It could have the finest beach resorts in the world, but the Philippines gets only about 2 million foreign tourists annually. In comparison, smaller Asian countries like Singapore and Hong Kong receive over 8 million foreign guests every year.
8. The Philippines is one of the safest and most peaceful places on earth. That is what the Department of Tourism claims but according to the International Red Cross, the Philippines registered the world's fourth highest number of casualties and injuries as a result of natural disasters and man-made calamities from 1992 to 2001 - 5.8 million cases in all. It was behind China, India and Iran. China and India were expected in the accident list because they have the largest populations in the world.
9. Equitable distribution of wealth would resolve the poverty problem in the country. In reality, the country's per capita income or the imaginary figure referring to every Filipino's equal share in the country's total wealth, is below US$1,000. In comparison, countries like the United States, Germany, Japan and even Singapore have a per capita income of over US$25,000. This means that an ordinary American is 25 times richer than an ordinary Filipino. What would be needed to relieve poverty is to enlarge the economic pie by drawing more capital and resources into the country, so every Filipino would get a larger share.
10. Basketball is the dominant sports in the Philippines. Not any more. Because of the growing youth population and the lack of basketball courts, most Filipino children are now trooping to computer game shops and billiard halls.
11. Filipinos invented the fluorescent lamp that illuminated the world and the Lunar Rover used by American astronauts on the moon. The National Academy of Science and Technology disagrees.
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