Tag: Congress

Why pork barrel whistleblowers Benhur Luy and Ruby Tuason should go to jail

February 16, 2014 benign0 9 Comments

The fact that there are many whistleblowers and that the entire case the Department of Justice is mounting against several Philippine senators accused of plundering their pork barrel funds rests on these whistleblowers highlights the profound dysfunction of the country’s criminal investigation and criminal justice system. How many whistleblowers are needed to support the case?…

Crime, Media, Politics

Philippine Senate ‘probe’ on pork mule Ruby Tuason a complete waste of time

February 14, 2014 benign0 13 Comments

The thing with Senate “probes” is they really don’t amount to much beyond serving as a sideshow to a Filipino public hungry for tele-intriga. Presumably, a legislative body getting involved in a criminal investigation is investing that time in the aid of legislation. What kind of legislation will be an outcome of this latest Senate…

Crime, Government, Politics

Best opportunity for the Philippines – A Manifesto for development

February 6, 2014February 6, 2014 Hugh Stanley 30 Comments

The following is a list of the real opportunities that exist and which could be grasped by an administration with sufficient foresight and determination. Agriculture. • Fine wool production. The land above 700 meters in Luzon, Mindoro, Panay islands and Batanes can support about 10 million Merino sheep producing about 80 million kilos of wool…

Development, Economy, Environment, Government, Science, Technology

PNoy and allies mount damage control efforts following Revilla tell-all speech

January 22, 2014 benign0 18 Comments

Affected politicians are on a mad damage control scramble following the tell-all privilege speech delivered by embattled Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla the other night. In his privilege speech, Revilla defended himself against allegations of pork barrel thievery and revealed intriguing accounts of how Philippine President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III attempted to influence various senators…

Crime, Government, Politics

Noynoy Aquino has become the most divisive Philippine president in history

January 21, 2014January 21, 2014 benign0 87 Comments

Philippine President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III has so far proven to be the most divisive president in the Philippines’ history. Ironically, this divisiveness traces its source to the pseudo-nationalist rhetoric on which President BS Aquino mounted his campaign to seize the lucrative seat he now holds in Malacanang. Indeed, rather than foster a spirit…

Crime, Government, Media, Politics

Does the government of President Noynoy Aquino govern? Or does it MERELY spin?

November 6, 2013 benign0 30 Comments

In a rare stroke of balance, “social news network” site Rappler published the scholarly work of eminent sociologist Nicole Curato, “a post-doctoral research fellow at the Center for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the Australian National University” according to the short bio included at the foot of her article The President as spin doctor….

Crime, Development, Government, Media, Politics

Instead of ending corruption, Noynoy Aquino encourages it

October 21, 2013 Ilda 32 Comments

There is something about Filipino public servants and Philippine society in general that could make one lose faith in humanity. It could be the fact that a lot of public servants do not have any qualms about lying to and stealing from the Filipino public. Or it could be the fact that the majority of…

Crime, Government, Politics

Discretionary power over public funds: How much pork does a Philippine president really need?

October 12, 2013 benign0 10 Comments

The raging controversy surrounding pork barrel thievery in Congress and Malacañang highlights just how weak a state the Philippines is. It is weak because its people rely on “strong leadership” as a proxy to what should be a grassroots bottom-up approach to applying what, by now, should be a deeply-ingrained sense of civic duty. Instead…

Crime, Government, Society