A few days before the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States, statements speaking against a planned burning of the Holy Book of Islam went pouring in.
Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center said that they are planning to burn the Koran, the Holy Book of the Muslim world on the day of the anniversary.
The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue of the Vatican stated that terrorist attacks “cannot be counteracted by an outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community.” It also insisted that every religion “has the right to respect and protection.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the idea is a “disgraceful plan.” She is hoping that the pastor will not push through with it.
Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie, who is currently in Pakistan, said this when asked about the pastor’s plan: “I have hardly the words… that somebody would do that to somebody’s religious book.”
US General David Petraeus, the Commander of the International Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, said that the burning of the Koran will endanger the lives of the US troops.
Comments about the news are welcome below. We don’t delete strong opinions, but please, keep it clean.
Amidst all the efforts of international organizations, like the United Nations, and the active participation of vigilance groups as well as the free press, good governance still seem to be as elusive as the dream of winning millions from the lotto.
Corruption coupled with the other hindrances to good governance has haunted and still haunts the Philippine government system from the grassroots to the national level. After years of streamlining the bureaucratic system to make it less susceptible, setting up watchdog agencies and increasing their scope, as well as the passage of laws with nastier teeth against those who deliberately toy with the fibers of good governance, we are only a few steps away from where we started.
Why, you ask? I believe it has something do with our culture.
Filipinos, in general, are god-fearing citizens and this contributes greatly in molding us to be law-abiding citizens yet when we are given a position of power by the people through elections, by appointment to high posts, or just by winning millions from the lottery, we tend to lose our sense of allegiance to the rule of law and make up our own, worse, society goes along with it.
We tend to be apathetic and take even major government scandal for granted even when we are all generally affected by it rendering the channels of feedback and participation useless. On the other hand, people in power tend to have a status of immunity as no one would usually dare to file a formal case against them for fear of retribution.
In this country where the corrupt can get easily elected back to power or gain the second place in a presidential race, and where members of the clergy are also accessories to corruption, there are a lot more practices that threatens our quest for sustainable human development through good governance. I can attempt to write some more scenarios here but why should I when even kids know how fucked up we all are?
So, how then can we promote good governance?
There are lots of things a citizen can do to promote good governance just through small and easy steps.
For this essay, allow me to focus on what tech savvy Maasinhons can do.
10 Things A Tech Savvy Maasinhon Can Do to Promote Good Governance
Know your rights and assert them and empower others by educating them about it.
Know your duties and fulfill them religiously. This includes payment of the right amount of tax and obeying traffic rules.
Know the major laws and take time to Google new ones to know what they are for and how it affects you.
Take time to complain. Unlike in the past when you need to write a long letter, send it via air mail, then wait for almost a year for a response, government agencies, specially the watchdog agencies like the COA and the Ombudsman have online portals, emails and hotlines to cater to your complaints and reports of abuse.
Start a personal blog and share your views on current events. You don’t need to be negative all the time and please, don’t be a hypocrite and be overly positive.
Share your opinions via Facebook and other social networks. You may get dissenting opinions from your friends from time to time but don’t take them as personal attack instead, consider them as inputs and build stronger rebuttals around them. Oh, don’t hesitate to change your mind too.
Spend 15 minutes on Google News or any preferred news sites. No, PEP.ph don’t count, stupid!
Listen to online radio. Local news doesn’t usually get printed on national papers but your local radio station may carry it. Since listening to THE radio is not so techie, find one with online streams. Most radio stations are into online streaming now and even the local DYDM is jumping in the bandwagon according to a friend who works there. Just skip Ballroom sa Kusina (if that program still exist).
Don’t download or stream ripped songs and videos. This is kind of difficult since it’s hard to resist getting stuff for free. If you can’t help it, just limit it to foreign artists and shows.
Don’t hack into other people’s account. This usually applies to gamers who scam other users to get high level items or game currency. You might be doing it online but such corrupt habit would eventually grow on you.
Good governance- describes how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources in order to guarantee the realization of human rights. The concept often immerges as a model to compare ineffective economies and political bodies with viable ones.
8 Major Characteristics of Good Governance
-these characteristics ensure that corruption is minimized, the voice of the minority is taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision making.
Participatory- Both men and woman should be able to participate directly or through representation. This encompasses freedom of association and expression and the freedom to organize civil societies.
Consensus oriented – Good governance requires the mediation of the different interest of all the actors of governance in a given society to reach a consensus on what is the best for the community as well as how it could be achieved. It requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable development and the achievement of the goals of such development. Understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society is essential for the aforementioned purpose.
Accountable- Accountability is a necessity for good governance. In general an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law.
Transparent- Information on government policies are made available and directly accessible to those affected by the decisions as well as its enforcement. It also means enough information is provided in easily understandable forms and media.Transparency also means that decisions and the enforcement thereof follow the rule of law.
Responsive- It is required by good governance that institutions serve all stakeholders within a reasonable time frame.
Effective and Efficient- A good government produce results that satisfy the necessity of society while making BEST use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and environmental protection.
Equitable and inclusive – Members of society must feel that they have a stake in governance. That even the vulnerable groups have the chance to be heard and the opportunity to improve or maintain their well being.
Follows the rule of law -Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force.
Effects of Good Governance
International Humanitarian Funding – Major financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, base their aids and loans on certain conditions that the recipient undertake reforms ensuring good governance.
Democratization – the 8 characters of good governance as defined by the UN clearly promotes democracy over other systems of government.
This one goes out to aspiring officials of the land. This post is already late since most of you have concrete game plans on how to win this elections.
Let me start with your campaign pitch. Never ever use the word change to refer to yourselves. It’s unoriginal and a lot of voters know you’re faking it. One man cannot change a culture of corruption nor could he change the system of government. It takes a party or a majority vote to do that. You can only make a difference. A small one but it’s as good as any politician gets.
Don’t bank on your parents’ and relatives’ reputation. It took them years to build it and unlike diabetes or hypertension, it can’t be passed on by blood. Doing this insults the intellect of your voters (granting they have one). Make a name for yourself!
Spend more than one thousand pesos for your poster’s layout. Hire a professional photographer and make sure it’s not the one who took Lito Lapid’s photo. Ask a good layout artist to make it look patriotic. Stick to Green, White, Blue, Yellow, Red and Black. Don’t use orange, pink, or lavender unless you’re gay or you don’t want to win. Don’t overdo yellow, by the way, it’s currently attributed to a candidate who survived autism. Your background should just be a solid color. Don’t use clouds, patterns, maps and the likes.
Don’t use old photos to feign youth. Don’t ask your photographer to retouch it to look 10 years younger. You’re not kidding anyone. People know you’re old once you start visiting their barangays and no one likes politicians who lie about their age.
Don’t spend too much time packaging yourself to young voters. The voters demographics may tell you they have the greatest number but only a small fraction of them actually votes.
Money is a plus. Giving money to people is a double plus but it does not give you the assurance that you will win. Take Odong Saludo for example. He had the money but he did not get the vote.
Lastly, don’t put too much effort in rigging the elections. It’s automated and it can never be hacked.
Bellow is a privilege speech delivered last August 17 by Rep. Raymond Mong Palatino of the Kabataan Party list
delivered on August 17, 2009.
….
Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, I rise on behalf of fellow young Filipinos denied of their dreams and were forced to enter the illusory world of call centers.
The tale of Filipino youths setting aside their childhood dreams to enter the call center industry is fast becoming a common story. More and more young Filipinos are being lured into working in a call center regardless of their educational background. A starting salary of P15,000 on average is indeed attractive, not to mention the signing bonus and incentives for good work performance.
As the global financial crisis sweeps ominously into Asian shores, the Philippine government has continuously promoted and relied on the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) industry to provide opportunities to millions of jobless Filipinos. The number of jobs generated grew robustly from 99,000 workers in 2004 to 372,000 workers in 2008, most of them in their 20s.
For the government, the BPO sector is a major contributor in terms of revenues and employment generation. From $350 million in 2001, revenues generated from the
BPO sector surged to $6 billion in 2008. The government was quick to conclude that the BPO sector is poised to benefit from the global recession.
This has prompted both the administration and the vanguards of globalization to brand the BPO sector as the sunshine industry.
But there is a need, Mr. Speaker, to bust the myth surrounding the so-called sunshine industry. For behind the seemingly innocuous statistics and improving figures lie tales of exploitation, false hopes, and dim working conditions inside the call center.
Totoong mas mataas ang tinatanggap na suweldo ng isang call center agent kumpara sa isang regular na manggagawa. In reality, foreign companies are exploiting our cheap labor. The average annual salary of a call center agent in the Philippines is $3,964. This is lower than Thailands $4,874, Malaysias $5,199, and Singapores $16,884. Kung totoong tayo ang binansagang Offshoring Destination of the Year noong 2007, bakit kakarampot lamang ang sahod ng call center agents natin kumpara sa ating mga kapitbahay?
Companies in developed countries benefit immensely from this set-up. By taking advantage of highly-skilled and low-value labor in poorer economies such as ours, foreign firms gain an estimated net savings of 20-40 percent on labor costs.
Despite the relatively decent pay and seemingly rich rewards, job tenure in the call center industry, as labor economist Clarence Pascual puts it, is as transient as the phone calls that agents make or take.
This is evident in the industrys high attrition rates or the proportion of the workforce that leaves a company or industry. The Call Center Association of the Philippines pegs the turnover rate in the country at 60-80 percent, the highest in the world.
According to a multi-country survey conducted by Callcentres.net, full-time call center agents stay in a contact center for a brief 22 months, while part-time agents stay for an even shorter 10 months.
This is an international figure, Mr. Speaker. In the Philippines, where most of the call centers are outsourced, offshore and non-unionized, the situation is even worse: 60 percent of call center workers stay in a company for only a year or less.
As more employees leave the industry, the demand for replacements becomes constant. According to an article in Newsbreak magazine, for every employee hired to fill in a new seat, another two employees must be hired to replace the seats vacated by those who left. How apt, Mr. Speaker, that this industry is marked by hellos and goodbyes.
The culprit: poor quality of jobs at the call center. A survey by the Call Center Project based at Cornell University in New York shows that the high attrition rate is caused by a low job quality in call centers. The study revealed that 67 percent of agents found in 39 percent of call centers work in low to very low quality jobs.
The Call Center Project survey points out that worker turnover and quit rates are higher as job discretion or the agents sense of control becomes lower and monitoring on the job becomes more intense. Low job discretion and high performance monitoring contribute to employee stress and rapid job burnout.
Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, the job of a call center agent is not that all fancy nor ideal. For it is in the very nature of the call center job to be exploitative.
Call centers-vendors in indsutry parlance-provide services, such as customer service, sales, technical support, on behalf of client companies. They compete for accounts from companies that ousource some of their functions. In this competitive arena, the agent is stuck between two contrasting interests-he or she must keep costs low for the client while ensuring profits for the call center.
In this set-up, quantitative targets are laid down by clients to reduce costs and increase productivity, giving them the upper hand. In the call center industry, everything is measured.
Thus, call center agents work the phones for the entire duration of their work shift. Unlike our jobs, where we have time to read newspapers or chat with our officemates, the job of a call center agent is one of isolation. The calls just keep coming in, and one has no choice but to pick up to phone.
Moreover, one faces punitive measures, such as forced leave, suspension or even termination, for failing to meet productivity targets, which serve as basis for staff assessment and promotions.
To ensure the targets are met, clients even enforce remote monitoring of actual calls. Supervisors track an agents use of time, from call handling time to time spent on after call work and break time. Recorded calls are scored for quality on a monthly or weekly basis. A low score translates to a corrective action memo, which can cost ones job. Consequently, monitoring becomes a constant source of anxiety for workers.
Since monitoring and evaluation are done remotely, penalized workers do not have enough opportunity to appeal disciplinary actions. A 22-year old agent says in their company, even tenured workers issued with corrective action memos get terminated.
According to a survey by the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, only a 10-minute per day period is allowed for personal use, such as going to the restroom. This becomes difficult for the workers since a cold workplace temperature encourages frequent urination. Female agents, thus, usually suffer from urinary tract infection.
Since the United States is the biggest market of BPO industry, this requires call center operations during the evening. The call center sub-sector is changing the nightlife of Manila. Bars, restaurants and convenience stores are open every morning to accommodate the night workers.
But the graveyard shift has become a major source of difficulty and dissatisfaction for a lot of agents as their day-to-day routines are turned upside down. Medical specialists point out that disrupting the body clock can cause manic depression and heart problems.
Weekends and holidays are also rarely off, since the calendar being followed is that of the clients, resulting in very rare family time for married agents. Meanwhile, compulsory overtime or extended time is also prevalent.
The Department of Health has warned against this work schedule, aggravated by an intense and exhaustive workload. DOH warned that persons working in the graveyard shift are vulnerable to various diseases, including hypertension, cardiovascular illnesses, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases. Foreign studies have even shown that graveyard shifts can increase the risk of cancer among women workers.
Noong isang taon, Mr. Speaker, ibinalita sa TV Patrol World ang pagkamatay ng isang call center agent. Siya ay si Dingdong Flores, inatake ng hypertension habang nasa trabaho. Siya ay na-coma bago pa mahatid sa ospital.
The DOLE has made separate studies on health risks associated with call center work. Both studies show high incidence of eyestrains symptoms, muskuloskeletal symptoms, voice disorders, hearing problems.
Since most call centers employ first-time and young workers who are hesitant to complain, these health problems may even be an underestimation of the true state of health among workers.
Such health hazards explain high rates of absenteeism in the industry. Consequently, call centers have adopted punitive attendance policies. In some call centers, eight absences over a six-month period constitute grounds for termination.
While they are entitled to sick leave, workers find difficulty in securing the supervisors approval.
BPO employees are also deprived of socialization opportunities with family and friends. Dr. Prandya Kulkarni, who writes for United Press International Asia, adds that young BPO workers, who receive high salaries, do not have the maturity and emotional capability to handle their wealth. This sudden wealth syndrome has led to such high-risk behaviors as loose sexual practices, drug addictions and alcohol abuse.
Another alarming reality in the call center industry is the absence of unions. Unionism is covertly and overtly discouraged, if not forbidden. Foreign employees warn that if unions in call centers will be allowed, they will leave the Philippines. Workers contracts clearly stipulate that forming or joining a union is prohibited.
Such a repressive practice, Mr. Speaker, is a clear violation of the Philippine Labor Law, where it is stated that every worker has the right to form and join a union. Isnt it ironic, Mr. Speaker, how our call center workers are rendered voiceless in a voice industry?
Habang inilalahad natin ang mga suliraning ito, habang inihahanda natin ang ating mga sarili sa pagtatapos ng araw na ito, magsisimula pa lamang ang araw ng libu-libo nating manggagawa sa call center. Naway huwag dumating ang panahon na ang isasagot ng ating mga kabataan sa tanong na What do you want to be when you grow up? ay maging isang call center agent.
Anong klaseng mga mamamayan ang mahuhubog ng sistemang ito? Anong klase ng kaalaman ang ating ikikintal sa ating mga kabataan, na siyang mamumuno sa ating bayan? Paano nila paglilingkuran ang bayan kung ang tangi nilang alam ay tumugon sa daing ng mga dayuhan?
Nakakabahala, Mr. Speaker, ang kuwento ng isang manggagawa na tatlong taon nang nagtratrabaho sa call center. Ayon sa kaniya, a plague is raging among the youth working in the call center industry and that is apathy. Dagdag niya, nabubuhay ang mga call center agent sa isang mundong batbat ng kawalang-pakialam. Ang tangi nilang sinusunod ay ang dikta ng orasan, ang dikta ng makina. Tila hindi na sila kabahagi sa mga isyung panlipunan.
Sa kasalukyan, kinakaharap ng BPO industry ang kakulangan ng skilled workers, ng mga kabataang mahusay mag-Ingles. The government is now tinkering with the educational system to address the needs of the BPO industry. President Arroyo has mandated the use of English language as the medium of instruction in schools.
But such measures can only do so much to address employment problems in the country.
At the minimum, the government should ensure the implementation of our labor code, which aims to protect our workers and guarantee their right to organization and humane working conditions.
Call centers should respect our labor code. Bukod sa pagtuturo ng American accent, dapat ding ipaalam ng mga kumpanyang ito sa ating mga aplikante ang kanilang mga karapatan bilang empleyado.
Ngayong nauuso ang call centers, napapanahong bumuo tayo ng batas na magtitiyak sa kanilang mga karapatan. Sa kagyat, ito ang ating maiiambag sa libu-libong kabataang pinasok at balak pasukin ang BPO industry.
The government should not use the seemingly rosy statistics of the BPO sector to conclude that we have a strong economy. Ultimately, it is dangerous to exaggerate the importance of the BPO industry. The government should put more emphasis on propelling the domestic economy as a whole rather than making public institutions and laws serve the needs of BPO companies.
The passing of Cory Aquino is something that did not strike me as important. To be honest, all I know about Cory comes mostly from way back when I was in gradeschool and through her TV interviews every time she attempts to bring down governments through People Power Revolution. Truth is, I classify her as one of those old politician who try to stay relevant even when their political careers are already entombed.
About a week before her death, I even broadcast on Facebook how I mock medias attempt to brand her as an icon of democracy by saying that perhaps Erap, when he dies (sooner I guess), would be considered an icon of intelligence. I just did not think that she is worthy of being considered an icon.
It was only yesterday when I spent some time knowing Cory through the most convenient source of informationthe Internet. I found myself teary-eyed, clip after clip of videos I play and stories of her heroism I read and then I realized that I made a mistake and a big one, that is.
Ninoy has been given much credit for empowering the people to rise up against the dictator but it was, after all, Cory who unified them and served as catalyst for bringing back democracy to the land. I thought her only qualification then was her relationship with Ninoy not knowing that she too is equally fitting for the job of leading a nation.
Her address to the US Senate, which accordingly garnered the longest applause in history, has made me realize that she posses the intelligence as well as sincerity that moves not just the Filipino people but our American friends as well.
Cory Aquinos administration may not have lived up to the peoples expectations but then again, they have to consider the fact that she has to start, not from scratch, but from a negative. They coffers were already plundered by the dictator and his wife and all she could do to give it a boost is to ask for foreign aid.
I live in a reality where the choice is either between the devil or the deep blue sea or the lesser evil, I believe this is reason why behind my partiality towards Corys intentions on recent national issues. I believe that when it comes to politicians, the general rule is that they have their own agenda plotted specifically to gain either fame or something more beneficial. Its a sad reality that I share with a lot of other young people whos sick and tired of the games politicians play to get the votes.
I wonder what it is like to live in the time when Cory was still in office, where everyones hopes for a better nation is still high and ones leader is passionate in fulfilling its countrymans dream of freedom, not just from oppression but also from hunger, poverty and ignorance. I just wish that I will be able to meet another Cory as president in my lifetime.
Not everyone got the chance to be in front of a TV or radio set last July 27, when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, president of the Republic of the Philippines delivered her 9th, and supposedly, last State of the Nation Address(SONA 2009) so I deemed it right to post here the transcript as well as the video clips, courtesy of Youtube. I hope no one deletes this videos as there are still a lot of Filipinos both here and abroad who needs to hear this address.
A lot of critics has been hard hit by the president’s blows like Mar Roxas, who was criticized for cursing in public, Joseph Estrada for his threats of sending Gloria to jail and former president Ramos for his withdrawal of support to Constitutional Amendment through Constitutional Assembly. SONA 2009 reminds us that we have a strong president who is not only determined to safeguard democracy but the country’s fiscal position and generate jobs to it’s people.
Although a lot of the figures presented may be arguable and a lot of “experts” refute the president’s claim as well as disagree to her policies, it is a fact that we have seen growth and successfully erased or repaired the damage done by the Estrada administration. At the end of the day, getting the job done is the only thing that’s important.
This SONA 2009 transcript has been posted by Inquirer and has been copied and posted on this blog. I don’t deem it necessary to link to their SONA 2009 transcript page as they already have a lot of hits.
The SONA 2009 videos is here courtesy of Youtube which also does not need a link back. Just load up all seven SONA 2009 video parts one by one to so you won’t be bothered with the buffering process.
SONA 2009 videos:
SONA 2009 Transcript
Thank you, Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Before I begin my report to the nation, please join me first in a moment of prayer for President Cory Aquino. Senate President Enrile, Speaker Nograles, Senators, Representatives, Vice President de Castro, former President Ramos, Chief Justice Puno, Ambassadors friends:
The past twelve months have been a year for the history books. Financial meltdown in the West spread throughout the world.
Tens of millions lost their jobs; billions across the globe have been hurtthe poor always harder than the rich. No one was spared.
It has affected us already. But the story of the Philippines in 2008 is that the country weathered a succession of global crises in fuel, in food, then in finance and finally, economy in a global recession, never losing focus and with economic fundamentals intact.
A few days ago, Moodys upgraded our credit rating, citing the resilience of our economy. The state of our nation is a strong economy. Good news for our people, bad news for our critics.
I did not become President to be popular. To work, to lead, to protect and preserve our country, our people, that is why I became President. When my father left the Presidency, we were second to Japan. I want our Republic to be ready for the first world in 20 years.
Towards that vision, we made key reforms. Our economic plan centers on putting people first. Higit sa lahat, ang layunin ng ating patakaran ay tulungan ang masisipag na karaniwang Pilipino. New tax revenues were put in place to help pay for better healthcare, more roads, and a strong education system. Housing policies were designed to lift up our poorer citizens so they can live and raise a family with dignity. Ang ating mga puhunan sa agrikultura ay naglalayong kilalanin ang ating mga magsasaka bilang backbone ng ating bansa, at bigyan sila ng mga modernong kagamitan to feed our nation and feed their own family.
Had we listened to the critics of those policies, had we not braced ourselves for the crisis that came, had we taken the easy road much preferred by politicians eyeing elections, this country would be flat on its back. It would take twice the effort just to get it back again on its feetto where we are now because we took the responsibility and paid the political price of doing the right thing. For standing with me and doing the right thing, thank you, Congress.
The strong, bitter and unpopular revenue measures of the past few years have spared our country the worst of the global financial shocks. They gave us the resources to stimulate the economy. Nabigyan nila ang pinakamalaking pagtaas ng IRA ng mga LGU na P40 billion itong taon, imparting strength throughout the country at every level of government.
Compared to the past we have built more and better infrastructure, including those started by others but left unfinished. The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway is a prime example of building better roads. It creates wealth as the flagship of the Subic-Clark corridor.
We have built airports of international standard, upgraded domestic airports, built seaports and the roll on/roll off transport system. I ask Congress for a Philippine Transport Security Authority Law.
Some say that after this SONA, it will be all politics. Sorry, but theres more work.
Sa telecommunications naman, inatasan ko ang Telecommunications Commission na kumilos na tungkol sa mga sumbong na dropped calls at mga nawawalang load sa cellphone. We need to amend the Commonwealth-era Public Service Law. And we need to do it now.
Kung noong nakaraan, lumakas ang electronics, today we are creating wealth by developing the BPO and tourism sectors as additional engines of growth. Electronics and other manufactured exports rise and fall in accordance with the state of the world economy. But BPO remains resilient. With earnings of $6 billion and employment of 600,000, the BPO phenomenon speaks eloquently of our competitiveness and productivity. Let us have a Department of ICT.
In the last four years tourism almost doubled. It is now a $5 billion industry.
Our reforms gave us the resources to protect our people, our financial system and our economy from the worst of shocks that the best in the west failed to anticipate.
They gave us the resources to extend welfare support and enhance spending power.
For helping me raise government salaries through Joint Resolution 4, thank you, Congress.
Cash handouts give the most immediate relief and produce the widest stimulating effect. Nakikinabang ang 700,000 na pinakamahihirap na pamilya sa programang Pantawid Pamilya.
We prioritize projects with the same stimulus effects plus long-term contributions to progress.
Sa pagpapamahagi ng milyun-milyong ektaryang lupa, 700,000 na katutubo at mahigit isang milyong benepisyaryo ng CARP ay taas-noong may-ari na ng sariling lupa. Hinihiling ko sa Kongreso na ipasa agad ang pagpapalawig ng CARP, at dapat ma-condone ang P42 billion na land reform liabilities dahil 18% lamang ang nabayaran mula 1972. Napapanahon, its timely because it will unfreeze the rural property market. Ang mahal kong ama ang nag-emancipate ng mga magsasaka. Ii-mancipate naman natin ngayon ang titulo.
Nakinabang ang pitong milyong entrepreneurs sa P165 billion na microfinance loans.
Nakinabang ang sandaan libo sa emergency employment ng ating economic resiliency plan. Kasama natin ngayon ang isa sa kanila, si Gigi Gabiola. Dating household service worker sa Dubai, ngayon siya ay nagtatrabaho sa DOLE. Good luck, Gigi.
Nakinabang ang isang milyong pamilya sa programang pabahay at palupa, mula Pag-Ibig, NHA, community mortgage program, certificates of lot award, at saka iyong loan condonation.
Our average inflation is the lowest since 1966. Last June, it dropped to 1.5%. Paano?
Proper policies lowered interest rates, which lowered costs to business and consumers.
Dahil sa ating mga reporma, nakaya nating ibenta ang bigas NFA sa P18.25 per kilo kahit tumaas ang presyo sa labas mula P17.50 hanggang P30 dahil sa kakulangan ng supply sa mundo. Habang, sa unang pagkakataon, nagawa nating itaas ang pamimili ng palay sa mga magsasaka, P17 mula sa P11.
Dahil sa ating mga reporma, nakaya nating mamuhunan sa pagkainanticipating an unexpected global food crisis. Nakagawa tayo ng libu-libong kilometro ng farm-to-market roads at, kasama ng pribadong sector, natubigan ang dalawang milyong ektarya. Mga Badjao gaya ni Tarnati Dannawi ay tinuruan ng modernong mariculture. Umabot na sa P 180,000 ang kinita niya mula noong nakaraang taon. Congratulations, Tarnati. We will help more fisherfolk shift to fish farming with a budget of P1 billion.
Dahil dumarami na naman daw ang pamilyang nagugutom, mamumuhunan tayo ng panibago sa ating hunger mitigation program na sa nakaraan ay napatunayang mabisa. Tulungan ninyo ako dito, Kongreso.
Mula pa noong 2001, nanawagan na tayo ng mas murang gamot. Nagbebenta tayo ng gamot na kalahating presyo sa libu-libong Botika ng Bayan at Botika ng Barangay sa maraming dako ng bansa. Our efforts prodded the pharmaceutical companies to come up with low-cost generics and brands like RiteMed. I supported the tough version of the House of the Cheaper Medicine law. I supported it over the weak version of my critics. The result: the drug companies volunteered to bring down drug prices, slashing by half the prices of 16 drugs. Thank you, Congressmen Cua, Alvarez, Biron, Locsin.
Pursuant to law, we are placing other drugs under a maximum retail price. To those who want to be President, this advice: If you really want something done, just do it. Do it hard, do it well. Dont pussyfoot. Dont pander. And dont say bad words in public.
Sa health insurance, sakop na ang 86% ang ating populasyon.
Sa Rent Control Law ng 2005 hanggang 2008, di pwedeng lumampas ng 10% ang pagtaas ng upa taun-taon. Ayon sa kakapirma nating batas may isang taong moratorium, tapos hanggang 7% lamang ang maaaring pagtaas. Salamat, Kongreso.
Noong isang taon, nabiyayaan ng tig-P500 ang mahigit pitong milyong tahanan bilang Pantawid Koryente sa mga small electricity users.
Yung presyo ng koryente, ang EPIRA natin ang pangmatagalang sagot. EPIRA dismantled monopoly. Ngunit minana natin ang power purchase agreements, kaya hindi pa natin makamtan yung buong intended effect. Pero happy na rin tayo, dahil isang taon na lamang iyan. The next generation will benefit from low prices from our EPIRA.
Samantala, umabot na sa halos lahat ng barangay ang elektrisidad. We increased indigenous energy from 48% to 58%. Nakatipid tayo sa dollars tapos na-reduce pa iyong oil consumption. The huge reduction in fossil fuel is the biggest proof of energy independence and environmental responsibility. Further reduction will come with the implementation of the Renewable Energy Act, and the Biofuels Act.
The next generation will also benefit from our lower public debt to GDP ratio. It declined from 78% in 2000 to 55% in 2008. We cut in half the debt of government corporations from 15% to 7%. Likewise foreign debt from 73% to 32%. Kung meron man tayong malaking kaaway na tinalo, walang iba kundi ang utang, iyong foreign debt. Those in the past administrations conjured the demon of foreign debt. We exorcised it.
The market grows economies. A free market, not a free-for-all.
To that end, we improved our banking system to complement its inherent conservatism. The Bangko Sentral has been prudent. Thank you, Governor Tetangco, for being so effective. The BSP will be even more effective if Congress will amend its Charter.
We worked on the Special Purpose Vehicle Act, reducing non-performing loans from 18% to 4% and improving loan-deposit ratios.
Our new Securitization Law did not encourage the recklessness that brought down giant banks and insurance companies elsewhere and laid their economies to waste. In fact, it monitors and regulates the new-fangled financial schemes. Thank you, Congress.
We will work to increase tax effort through improved collections and new sin taxes to further our capacity to reduce poverty and pursue growth. Revenue enhancement must come from the Department of Finance plugging leaks and catching tax and customs cheats. I call on tax paying citizens and tax paying businesses, help the BIR and stop those tax cheats.
Taxes should come from alcohol and tobacco and not from books. Tax hazards to lungs and livers, do not tax minds. Ang kita mula sa buwis sa alak at sigarilyo ay dapat gamitin sa kalusugan at edukasyon. Pondohan ang Philhealth premiums ng pinakamahihirap. Pondohan ang mas maraming classroom at computers.
Pardon my partiality for the teaching profession. I was a teacher.
Kaya namuhunan tayo ng malaki sa edukasyon at skills training.
Ang magandang edukasyon ay susi sa mas magandang buhay, the great equalizer that allows every young Filipino a chance to realize their dreams.
Nagtayo tayo ng 95,000 na silid-aralan, nagdagdag ng 60,000 na guro, naglaan ng P1.5 billion para sa teacher training, especially for 100,000 English teachers.
Isa sa pinakamahirap sa Millennium Development Goals ay iyong Edukasyon para sa Lahat pagdating ng 2015. Ibig sabihin, lahat ng nasa tamang edad ay dapat nasa primary school. Halos walang bansang makakatupad nito. Ngunit nagsisikap pa rin tayo. Nagtayo tayo ng mga paaralan sa higit sanlibong barangay na dati walang eskwelahan upang makatipid ng gastos sa pasahe ang mga bata. Tinanggal natin ang miscellaneous fees para sa primary school. Hindi na kailangan mag-uniporme ang mga estudyante sa public school.
In private high schools, we finance half of the students.
We have provided college and post-graduate education for over 600,000 scholars. One of them, Mylene Amerol-Macumbal, finished Accounting at MSU-IIT, then she went to law school, and placed second in the last bar exams the first Muslim woman bar topnotcher. Congratulations!
In technical education and skills training, we have invested three times that of three previous administrations combined. Narito si Jennifer Silbor, isa sa sampung milyong trainee. Natuto siya ng medical transcription. Now, as an independent contractor and lecturer for transcriptions in Davao, kumikita siya ng P18,000 bawat buwan. Good job, Jennifer.
The Presidential Task Force on Education headed by Jesuit educator Father Bienvenido Nebres has come out with the Main Education Highway towards a Knowledge-Based Economy. It envisions seamless education from basic to vocational school or college.
It seeks to mainstream early childhood development in basic education. Our children are our most cherished possession. In their early years we must make sure they get a healthy start in life. They must receive the right food for a healthy body, the right education for a bright and inquiring mindand the equal opportunity for a meaningful job.
For college admission, the Task Force recommends mandatory Scholastic Aptitude Tests. It also recommends that higher private education institutions should be harmonized with state universities and colleges, and that CHED should oversee local universities and colleges. For professions seeking international recognitionengineering, architecture, accountancy, pharmacy and physical therapyit recommends radical reform: 10 years of basic education, two years of pre-university, before three years of university.
Our educational system should make the Filipino fit not just for whatever jobs happen to be on offer today, but also for whatever economic challenge life will throw in their way.
Sa hirap at ginhawa, pinapatatag ang ating bansa ng ating overseas Filipinos. Iyong padala nilang $16 billion noong isang taon ay record. Itong taon, mas mataas pa.
I know that this is not a sacrifice joyfully borne. This is work where it can be foundin faraway places, among strangers with different cultures. It is lonely work, it is hard work.
Kaya nagsisikap tayong lumikha dito sa atin ng mga trabahong maganda ang sahod, so that overseas work will just be a career choice, not the only option for a hard-working Filipino.
Meanwhile, we should make their sacrifices worthwhile. Dapat gumawa tayo ng mas epektibong proteksyon at pagpapalawak ng halaga ng kanilang pinagsikapang suweldo. That means stronger consumer protection for Overseas Filipino Workers investing in property and products back home. Para sa kanila, pinapakilos natin ang Investors Protection Task Force.
Hindi ako nag-aatubiling bisitahin ang ating taong bayan at kanilang mga host sa buong mundo mula Haponhanggang Brazil, mula Europa at Middle East hanggang sa American Midwest, nakikinig sa kanilang mga problema at pangangailangan, inaalam kung paano sila matutulungan ng ating pamahalaan-by working out better policies on migrant labor, or by saving lives and restoring liberty.
Pagpunta ko sa Saudi, pinatawad ni Haring Abdullah ang pitong daang OFW na nasa preso. Pinuno nila ang isang buong eroplano at umuwi kasama ko.
Mula sa ating State Visit sa Espanya, it has become our biggest European donor. At si Haring Juan Carlos ay nakikipag-usap sa ibang mga bansa para sa ating mga namomoblemang OFW. Ganoon din si Sheikh Khalifa, ang Prime Minister ng Bahrain.
Pagpunta ko sa Kuwait, Emir Al-Sabah commuted death sentences. We thank all our leaders, our world leaders, for showing compassion to our overseas foreign workers. Salamat.
Our vigorous international engagement has helped bring in foreign investment. Net foreign direct investments multiplied 15 times during our administration. Kasama ng ating mga Together with our OFWs, they more than doubled our foreign exchange reserves. Pinalakas ang ating piso at naiwasan ang lubhang pagtaas ng presyo. They upgraded our credit because while the reserves of our peers have shrunk this past year, ours reserves grew by $3 billion.
Our international engagement has also corrected historical injustice. The day we visited Washington, Senator Daniel Inouye successfully sponsored benefits for our veterans as part of Americas stimulus package.
I have accepted the invitation of President Obama to be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet him at the White House, later this week.
That he sought us out testifies to our strong and deep ties.
High on our agenda will be peace and security issues. Terrorism: how to meet it, how to end it, how to address its roots in injustice or prejudiceand first and always how to protect lives.
We will discuss nuclear non-proliferation. The Philippines will chair the review of the nuclear weapons non-proliferation Treaty in New York in May 2010. The success of the talks will be a major diplomatic achievement for us.
There is a range of other issues we will discuss, including the global challenge of climate change, especially the threat to countries with long coastlines. And there is the global recession, its worse impact on poor people, and the options that can spare them from the worst.
In 2008 up to the first quarter of 2009 we stood among only a few economies in Asia-Pacific that did not shrink. Compare this to 2001, when some of my current critics were driven out by people power. Asia was surging but our country was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Since then, our economy posted uninterrupted growth for 33 quarters; more than doubled its size from $76 billion to $186 billion. The average GDP growth from 2001 to the first quarter of 2009 is the highest in 43 years.
Bumaba ang bilang ng mga nagsasabing mahirap sila sa 47% mula 59%. Maski lumaki ang ating populasyon, nabawasan ng dalawang milyon ang bilang ng mahihirap. GNP per capita rose from a Third World $967 to $2,000. Lumikha tayo ng walong milyong trabaho, an average of a million a year, much, much more than at any other time.
In sum: 1. We have a strong economy and a strong fiscal position to withstand global shocks.
2. We built new modern infrastructure and completed unfinished ones.
3. The economy is more fair to the poor than ever before.
4. We are building a sound base for the next generation.
5. International authorities have taken notice that we are safer from environmental degradation and man-made disasters.
As a country in the path of typhoons and in the Pacific Rim of Fire, we must be prepared as the latest technology permits to anticipate natural calamities when that is possible; to extend immediate and effective relief when it is not. The mapping of flood- and landslide-prone areas is almost complete. Early warning, forecasting and monitoring systems have been improved, with weather tracking facilities in Subic, Tagaytay, Mactan, Mindanao, Pampanga.
We have worked on flood control infrastructure like those for Pinatubo, Agno, Laoag, and Abucay, which will pump the run off waters from Quezon City and Tondo flooding Sampaloc. This will help relieve hundreds of hectares in this old city of its age old woe.
Patuloy naman iyong sa Camanava, dagdag sa Pinatubo, Iloilo, Pasig-Marikina, Bicol River Basin, at mga river basin ng Mindanao.
The victims of typhoon Frank in Panay should receive their long-overdue assistance package. I ask Congress to pass the SNITS Law.
Namana natin ang pinakamatagal na rebelyon ng Komunista sa buong mundo.
Si Leah de la Cruz isa sa labindalawang libong rebel returnee. Sixteen pa lang siya nang sumali sa NPA. Naging kasapi sa regional White Area Committee, napromote sa Leyte Party Committee Secretary. Nahuli noong 2006. She is now involved in an LGU-supported handicraft livelihood training of former rebels. We love you, Leah!
There is now a good prospect for peace talks with both the Communist Party of the Philippines and the MILF, with whom we are now on ceasefire.
We inherited an age-old conflict in Mindanao, exacerbated by a politically popular but near-sighted policy of massive retaliation. This only provoked the other side to continue the war.
In these two internal conflicts, ang tanong ay hindi, Sino ang mananalo? kundi, bakit pa ba kailangang mag-laban ang kapwa Pilipino tungkol sa mga isyu na alam naman nating lahat na di malulutas sa dahas, at mareresolba lang sa paraang demokratiko?
There is nothing more that I would wish for than peace in Mindanao. It will be a blessing for all its people, Muslim, Christian and lumads. It will show other religiously divided communities that there can be common ground on which to live together in peace, harmony and cooperation that respects each others religious beliefs.
At sa lahat ng dako ng bansa, kailangan nating protektahan ang ating mga mamamayan kontra sa krimen in their homes, in their neighborhoods, in their communities. How shall crime be fought? With the five pillars of justice, including crime fighters. We call on Congress to fund more policemen on the streets.
Real government is about looking beyond the vested to the national interest, setting up the necessary conditions to enable the next, more enabled and more empowered generation to achieve a country as prosperous, a people as content, as ours deserve to be.
The noisiest critics of constitutional reform tirelessly and shamelessly attempted Cha-Cha when they thought they could take advantage of a shift in the form of government. Now that they feel they cannot benefit from it, they oppose it.
As the seeds of fundamental political reform are planted, let us address the highest exercise of democracy, voting!
In 2001, I said we would finance fully automated elections. We got it, thanks to Congress.
At the end of this speech I shall step down from this stage, but not from the Presidency. My term does not end until next year. Until then, I will fight for the ordinary Filipino. The nation comes first. There is much to do as head of stateto the very last day.
A year is a long time. Patuloy ang pamumuhunan sa tinatawag na three Es ng ekonomiya, environment at edukasyon. There are many perils that we must still guard against.
A man-made calamity is already upon us, global in scale. As I said earlier, so far we have been spared its worst effects but we cannot be complacent. We only know that we have generated more resources on which to draw, and thereby created options we could take. Thank God we did not let our critics stop us.
As the campaign unfolds and the candidates take to the airwaves, I ask them to talk more about how they will build up the nation rather than tear down their opponents. Give the electorate real choices and not just sweet talk.
Meanwhile, I will keep a steady hand on the tiller, keeping the ship of state away from the shallows some prefer, and steering it straight on the course we set in 2001.
Ang ating taong bayan ay masipag at maka-Diyos. These qualities are epitomized in someone like Manny Pacquiao.Manny trained tirelessly, by the book, with iron discipline, with the certain knowledge that he had to fight himself, his weaknesses first, before he could beat his opponent. That was the way to clinch his victories and his ultimate title: ang pinakadakilang boksingero sa kasaysayan. Mabuhay ka, Manny!
However much a President wishes it, a national problem cannot be knocked out with a single punch. She must work with the problem as much as against it, turn it into a solution if she can.
There isnt a day I do not work at my job or a waking moment when I do not think through a work-related problem. Even my critics cannot begrudge the long hours I put in. Our people deserve-a-government that works just as hard as they do.
A President must be on the job 24/7, ready for any contingency, any crisis, anywhere, anytime.
Everything right can be undone by even a single wrong. Every step forward must be taken in the teeth of political pressures and economic constraints that could push you two steps back-if-you flinch and falter. I have not flinched, I have not faltered. Hindi ako umaatras sa hamon.
And I have never done any of the things that have scared my worst critics so much. They are frightened by their own shadows.
In the face of attempted coups, I issued emergency proclamations just in case. But I was able to resolve these military crises with the ordinary powers of my office. My critics call it dictatorship. I call it determination. We know it as strong government.
But I never declared martial law, though they are running scared as if I did. In truth, what they are really afraid of is their weakness in the face of this self-imagined threat.
I say to them: do not tell us what we all know, that democracy can be threatened. Tell us what you will do when it is attacked.
I know what to do:
As I have shown, I will defend democracy with arms when it is threatened by violence; with firmness when it is weakened by division; with law and order when it is subverted by anarchy; and always, I will try to sustain it by wise policies of economic progress, so that a democracy means not just an empty liberty but a full life for all.
I never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term. Many of those who accuse me of it tried to cling like nails to their posts.
I am accused of misgovernance. Many of those who accuse me of it left me the problem of their misgovernance to solve. And we did it.
I am falsely accused, without proof, of using my position for personal profit. Many who accuse me have lifestyles and spending habits that make them walking proofs of that crime.
We can read their frustrations. They had the chance to serve this good country and they blew it by serving themselves.
Those who live in glass houses should cast no stones. Those who should be in jail should not threaten it, especially if they have been there.
Our administration, with the highest average rate of growth, recording multiple increases in investments, with the largest job creation in history, and which gets a credit upgrade at the height of a world recession, must be doing something right, even if some of those cocooned in corporate privilege refuse to recognize it.
Governance, however, is not about looking back and getting even. It is about looking forward and giving moreto the people who gave us the greatest, hardest gift of all: the care of a country.
From Bonifacio at Balintawak to Cory Aquino at EDSA and up to today, we have struggled to bring power to the people, and this country to the eminence it deserves.
Today the Philippines is weathering well the storm that is raging around the world. It is growing stronger with the challenge. When the weather clears, as it will, there is no telling how much farther forward it can go. Believe in it. I believe.
We can and we must march forward with hope, optimism and determination.
We must come together, work together and walk together toward the future.
Bagamat malaking hamon ang nasa ating harapan, nasa kamay natin ang malaking kakayahan. Halinat pagtulungan nating tiyakin ang karapat-dapat na kinabukasan ng ating Inang Bayan.
And to the people of our good country, for allowing me to serve as your President, maraming salamat. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
A few days before the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States, statements speaking against a planned burning of the Holy Book of Islam went pouring in.
