Now that the verdict has been rendered, what's next?

The 44-day hiatus of the impeachment trial of CJ Corona has ended with no apparent drama both from the prosecution and defense panel.

It's satirical to say that the verdict by the Senate impeachment court against Corona as “a victory of the people.”

I don't see this as a victory to the masses. Its a strong political partisan that I see and I see no hope for change to the better. It could even be a change to get worst. 

How could this be a victory of the people? CJ Corona did not do anything against the common Filipino citizens. He is not a corrupt official unlike those who prosecuted him. This is a victory of those few who have an interest in that position, to those who are in the upper echelon of the society who has pending cases in the Supreme Court waiting for a favorable verdict. This is a victory of the lead prosecutor whose father has a pending case of graft and corruption in the Ombudsman. This is a victory of Noynoy Aquino and his TUPA's. This is the victory of Aquino-Cojuangco for Hacienda Luisita, plain and simple. I see this as a victory for injustice. 

Senator judges took the stage for their grandstanding and voted to convict and became an advocate of injustice, for their self-political-interest. How could one admire them as server of our beloved country, much more a hero?

 I applaud the three senator judges (Defensor-Santiago, Joker Arroyo, Bongbong Marcos) who voted to acquit Corona because they based their judgement on legal grounds and without any political slant. If an omission in good faith in the SALN carries that heavy penalty, then the Administration must also PUNISH Health Secretary Enrique Ona and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad for submitting incorrect SALN. But how could this be done if the highest man in the country is defending them?

The House of Representative reportedly spent 5.7 million during the impeachment trial and the Senate is yet to announce how much they have spent. Well, this is nothing compared to 70 million and 200 million the congressman and senators will receive as pork barrel from the President's budget.

So, what's next? Or rather, who's next? 

I am hoping that this historical event will jump start the much needed government reforms. Congressmen and senators alike should now go back to their duties and should pass bills to resolve the lope-holes of our constitution. I am hoping that who ever Aquino chooses to be the next Chief Justice will fully implement the decision to distribute the land of Hacienda Luisita.

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We Have a Trainee President in the Philippines

The President fills several roles as the leader of the country. As the head diplomat, head of government and head of the military, he must balance the interests of the country both internally and externally. He must be competent enough to fulfill those duties and responsibilities required for being the man in the highest position of a country.
Although there's no school offering a course on Presidency, there's a lot of other venues to train one. And as such, we are expecting a President to be experienced enough and ready to be one when he decided to run for the highest position in a country.
But in a forum attended by Wharton Alumni clubs in Makati City, President Aquino declared that he still considers himself a “student” of governance. This admission by our beloved President aptly described himself as still on OJT.

“I also pride myself in being the consistent student so that I am not ensconced in a box where all what we are able to do is basically to repeat the mistakes of the past that we want to avoid,” he added.

Aquino asserted that he would continue to work “24/7 including holidays” to implement reforms to fight corruption and poverty and hopes to leave a better Philippines by 2016.
Can you imagine a country run by a trainee? It's no wonder, Philippines is going nowhere. Aquino should start working like a "president" and not training like a student in the expense of the whole nation.
Perhaps, Wikipedia's definition of noynoying as "an effortless pose, or activity consisting of sitting or standing around, in an unconcerned manner or it is also recognized as doing nothing, when in fact you have something to do" can best describe our President.

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The Effect of the Growing Population in the Philippine Economy

Population vs. Economy

The Aquino administration must have been deluding themselves by believing that our country's rising population is a boon rather than a bane in our economy.

It is no wonder, President Aquino did not pressure his allies  in the Lower House to push for the passing of the RH Bill. Just like the pasts administrations, our government has no backbone on population issue compared on the hard opposition from the Catholic Church hierarchy.

I'm not an economist, so my knowledge on the effects of high population growth on economic development is solely based from the research I have done, and it clearly oppose the government's stand.

While it is true that high population could translate to an increase in demand for goods and services and it can spur domestic-demand driven economy, so is the fact that people don't have the money to spend.

The Philippines per capita income of $2,050 is very low compared to our Southeast Asian neighbors like Indonesia and Malaysia that has per capita income of $2,580 and $7,900 respectively.

For the government to claim that high population is more favorable to our economy, they should address first three key factors that directly affects the spending power of Filipinos.

1. Corruption - Well, a credit was due to Aquino government for the increase of Philippines' Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by the global watchdog Transparency International of 0.2 from 2.4 in 2010. But the government should work harder in eliminating corruption because we are still lagging behind Vietnam with 2.9 CPI, Indonesia with 3 CPI, Thailand with 3.4 CPI and Malaysia with 4.3 CPI.
2. Unemployment - High population means an increase labour supply. With so many able-bodied worker but very low job opportunities, the unemployment rate rocketed. The Philippines has one of the highest unemployment rate at 7% amongst Southeast Asian countries.
3. Poverty - Poverty incidence in the Philippines is very high at 26.50% compared to Indonesia with 13.33% and Malaysia with only 3.6%.

To summarize, if the country has high CPI rating, more foreign investors will likely invest in the Philippines. More investments translate to more job opportunities which can lower unemployment rate. With low unemployment rate, naturally means lower poverty incidence.

The link between high population and economic development is more likely to have a negative impact rather than a boosts to our economy.

The increase of 15% on DepEd's budget is not a guarantee to drive domestic-demand driven economy in the near future. Indonesia is a good example for this as their government only spends 1.2% on education, a 1.9% lower compared in the Philippines. Instead, they focus on reducing their population growth rate which is 0.83% lower than the Philippines at 1.069%. They also invest more to create more job to increase per capita income which is $530 higher than the Philippines at $2,580.

Many developing countries have also learned that lower population growth rate is more beneficial to their economy. Malaysia, with 1.576%, and Thailand, with 0.566%, has long been addressing their population growth, thus lowering their poverty rate to 3.6% and 9.6% respectively.

This comparisons clearly shows the links between population, poverty and good governance. Malaysia is a good example on all three counts. Malaysia's CPI which was at 4.3, coupled with low population growth rate, results in economic growth and poverty reduction. While Vietnam, with also low CPI score at 2.9 clearly implies that low population growth rate at 1.077% significantly reduce their poverty rate to 9.6.

My Verdict

With all this data I have mentioned here, it was very clear to me that high population has a clear negative impact in a country's economy. But if the Aquino government believe otherwise, I might suggest our beloved president to marry and have lots of children to help spur our economy even long after he step down from power.

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Aquino Appealing on Philippine Media to Sugarcoat Bad News

In a speech of President Noynoy Aquino at the recent National Press Forum and annual membership meeting of the Philippine Press Institute, he complained of the Philippine media's too much focus on negativism and crime stories.

According to Aquino, this could drive away tourist from visiting the country. He further said that this is an example of the negative trait of crab mentality, that the Philippine media is dragging the country down. PNoy wants the media to focus on more positive news, saying he misses how newspapers were before Martial Law.

Can our President blame the media?

Does the Philippine media abuse its press freedom?

Though I have to agree on Aquino's point of view, I beg to disagree the way he did it. He was a reminiscent of my 83 year old grandfather being forgetful due to senility who always complain on things he dislike but ain't doing anything to address the problem.

What does Aquino wants to be in the news? All his good-to-be-true "reforms" and the choicest and juiciest news? 

If I may give an unsolicited suggestions, I would say he should hire more reporters that he can manipulate to deliver a bias and sugarcoated news. Better yet, PNoy could implement censorship if he wants to restrain the media on delivering bad news. Or, he should stop whining like a kid and start working.

Although he is off for a good start with his mantra "Tuwid na Daan", it seems his ship is stalled and is sailing to nowhere

Aquino may be true to his "promises", but that was before he run for the presidency. Now, PNoy epitomized hypocrisy and mediocrity. By his poor judgement, he puts incompetent puppets in top positions in different departments of his government that one way or another, contributed almost half of those "negative news" he is appealing for the media to pretentiously sandwich it in between those too few "good news" this government has done.

Aquino is preaching balance of news, but how could it be if there are more than bad than good?

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