National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said that the Philippines will miss its Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) on the reduction of poverty by 2015. Balisacan blamed the series of natural and man-made disasters in 2013. In Eastern Visayas alone, the number of unemployed rose by 180,000.
Dr. Rogier van den Brink, the World Bank’s lead economist for the Philippines, said the price of rice is too high for the poor of this country.
President Aquino has not acted to reduce the price of rice, now going up to P44-50 per kilo.
No fire trucks
Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas revealed that 554 municipalities have no fire stations or fire trucks. Most existing fire trucks are old models. This partly explains why there is so much fire damage. Fire breaks out daily and millions of properties go up in smoke. Roxas announced the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will now procure 300 fire trucks.
Meanwhile, a forest fire in Mt. Banahaw in Quezon has burned 50 hectares. Again, we have no equipment to put out the fire. Philippine Air Force helicopters should be harnessed to put out the forest fires.
Early campaign ok
President Aquino said there is nothing wrong with early birds announcing their intentions to run for president in 2016. He said it will give voters enough time to study and observe the performance of would-be candidates.
To date, there are three probable candidates for president, namely, DILG Secretary Mar Roxas; Vice-President Jejomar Binay, who is forming a new political party; and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (Nacionalista Party).
Other probables are Sen. Bongbong Marcos (NP), Sen. Ramon “Bong†Revilla (Lakas/ National Union of Christian Democrats), Sen. Francis Escudero (independent), Sen. Ping Lacson (independent – leaving towards Liberal Party), and Senator Manny Villar (NP).
Mayor Joseph Estrada has announced several times that he is not running for president in 2016.
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Media men to be charged
Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima announced that media men who allegedly received money from the National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) will be probed and may be charged with direct bribery and malversation of public funds.
Nabcor officials Rhodora Mendoza and Vicente Cacal declared in affidavits submitted to the Ombudsman that Erwin Tulfo of TV-5 and Melo del Prado of DZBB received bribe money from their agency.
GMA-7’s Mike Enriquez and TV-5 announced they are conducting an investigation into the matter.
Tulfo and Del Prado denied receiving checks from Nabcor, but Mendoza and Cacal submitted cancelled checks in the amount of P245,535 each to Tulfo and Del Prado.
Mendoza said a third media man also received money from Nabcor, but he has not been named because of lack of supporting documents.
NBI corruption
It is sad to note that ranking National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officials are now being accused of corruption or as Secretary Leila de Lima said “integrity issues†against 2 deputy directors who have been removed. And now, two more high-ranking NBI officials, no less than a former director and another deputy director are accused of holding a meeting with Janet Lim-Napoles before she was arrested.
It was said that Napoles was tipped off about her pending arrest. Yes, just like Philippine National Police (PNP), there are corrupt officials in the NBI. No less than Justice Secretray Leila de Lima has said so.
Filipinos arrested in Spain
Another piece of sad news — 20 Filipinos arrested in drug busts in Spain.
Filipinos have been arrested on drug charges in China, California, and Singapore. Definitely, they have been recruited here in the Philippines and then sent abroad.
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) should investigate the Spain arrests, and discover who their recruiters in Manila are. The big number, 20, shows this is a well-organized syndicate.
Reduced rates
Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced that its rate increase in January is P.45 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) or just a tenth of the original P4.56 per kWh. This was due to the recalculation rate by the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) of the generation charges first imposed that is P10.23 kWh.
It also indicates a failure of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to check the Meralco increases through the years.
More complaints
Twenty residents of Santa Barbara Village 2 Subdivision in San Mateo, Rizal have filed complaints with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against Delfin Lee for double sale of their units.
After paying and moving in, they received notices from Globe Asiateque to vacate because their units were sold to other persons. About 100 complaints are expected to be filed.
Tidbits: US President Barack Obama has proposed an increase of the federal minimum wage, which is now at $7.50 an hour.
Some 1.8 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were deployed in 2013. Saudi Arabia is the biggest destination.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has asked the Blue Ribbon Committee to start the investigation of the Malampaya Fund.
A 12-year-old boy has died in Zamboanga City’s evacuation center.
The Philippines came out a low 136th place in the ease of doing business.
The Supreme Court (SC) has taken cognizance of the case of Cadet Aldrin Jeff Cudia. It ordered the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to explain Cudia’s dismissal within ten days.
Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson announced that the DPWH projects for 2014 will create 586,000 jobs.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada announced he will run for vice president only if he is chosen by Vice-President Binay as his running mate.