Nursing students left in the lurch

Got a call from someone very upset because a bunch of nursing students in the province who signed up with a review center, discovered that the review center absconded with the kids’ money leaving them in the lurch. The review center promised to register the kids for the PRC exams in June, but the kids found out they were never registered. Have asked for details.

My column for today is The scientific imperative , was inspired by a FilipinoVoices.com entry, and ended up about pig poop and alternative sources of electricity and a kid’s speech (which you can watch via a link in Atheista.net or read online, see Fish mucus and foot fungus – Gian Dapul ; check out Random Thoughts who points to a Filipina who’s won a research prize in the UK).

The point and counterpoint continues: Meralco accused: ‘Ghost deliveries’: Solon hurls new charge vs Meralco; Meralco denies Villafuerte rap: ‘Gas was banked’. Banked? After elaborate explanations, it may make sense, but this is the sort of thing that gives the Villafuertes ample ammunition.

Rene Azurin, in his column today, says restructuring is overdue but people aren’t being precise with their language. I’ll reproduce his column in full:

Are the National Power Corp.’s generation charges and overpriced coal purchases or the Manila Electric Company’s systems losses and questionable pass-on charges or the Energy Regulatory Commission’s look-the-other-way lapses to blame for high electricity rates? If the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, or EPIRA, had been fully implemented as specified within three years after its passage, there would be no need for the congressional inquiries now being conducted on the matter.

Actually, the Joint Congressional Power Commission’s time should be spent looking into why there has been a lot of foot dragging on the implementation of the EPIRA and ensuring that there is no further delay. Obviously, it is not in the best interest of certain parties to see the main objectives of EPIRA - “open access” and retail competition in the electric power industry sector - achieved. In fact, it is disingenuous of some parties - including certain members of Congress - to be publicly branding EPIRA a failure, considering that it has not yet been fully implemented. One should suspect that those demanding that EPIRA be scrapped because “it has failed to bring down electricity costs” are really only pushing the agenda of those who are now profiting handsomely from the present situation in the power sector. Clearly, some people want things to remain just as they are.

In the recent Philippine Energy Summit, the workshop module tackling electric power rates concluded - after listening to the views and arguments of various industry participants and user groups - that introducing open competition in the power sector, improving efficiencies in power systems management, and developing the competencies of industry regulators in tariff-setting methodologies were the main ingredients needed to reduce electricity rates to the lowest level possible. Thus, the most urgent priority action recommended by that workshop was “fast-tracking” the full implementation of EPIRA. Today, that essentially means accelerating the privatization of another two or three of the government-owned NPC’s power generation plants and the auctioning to private administrators of the management of at least 70% of the supply contracts NPC now has with independent power producers.

What fully implementing EPIRA will do is fundamentally change the structure of the electric power industry. Putting at least 70% of the electric power now generated or controlled by NPC into several private hands ends government’s monopoly over electric power generation and NPC’s current monopoly of all coal purchases as well. Removing from electricity distribution utilities, like MECO, the option of selecting the suppliers of power to their respective franchise areas and turning over these choices to the end-users themselves ends the monopsony (the single-buyer structure) long enjoyed by distribution utilities. Allowing privileged entities the exercise of monopolistic or monopsonistic power, of course, is almost never good for the general public.

In the “open access” environment to be created by EPIRA, every power generating plant connected to the electric grid can compete for the business of every customer likewise connected to the grid (no matter where located). The various operating power plants will therefore be forced to offer lower rates or better service in order to attract and sell power to the customers they want. In the restructured industry environment, distribution utilities become merely conduits, or highways, for electricity to pass from power generator to electricity end-user. Like toll highways, these distribution utilities will only be entitled to a specified toll fee (called a “wheeling charge”) for the use of their wire network. They will have been deprived of any ability to choose to use up first the power generated by sister companies in the generation side of the business.

Regulation is not the answer to bringing down electricity prices. As history has proven time and time again - just review the American (therefore, presumably corruption-minimized) examples of the Interstate Commerce Commission that controlled entry into the railway and trucking business or the Federal Aviation Authority prior to air industry deregulation or the Food and Drug Administration whose policies continue to favor (even if this may be unintended) big pharmaceutical companies today -regulation invariably results in higher prices for the consuming public and higher profits for the “regulated” entities. Open competition, even when it is chaotic and messy and unpredictable, somehow always ends up producing outcomes more favorable to the consuming public than the orderly and more stable conditions of a regulated industry environment.

The EPIRA is one of the rare examples of enlightened legislation, and it would be tragic for the Filipino public if the vested interests fighting a rear guard action finally succeed in derailing its implementation or getting it scrapped altogether. Most likely, this will be done under the guise of proposing amendments or “improvements” to the present law. We need to be aware of this. With the provisions in the EPIRA already mandating privatization and open access and retail competition, we need only put these in force so that we consumers no longer have to worry about NPC purchasing overpriced coal or MECO passing on inflated system losses and own-debt expenses to consumers or government regulators unable (or unwilling) to figure out what’s going on while permitting too-high rates. We would just need to choose the lowest cost electricity provider for our particular area and our specific circumstances, and to heck with the rest.

Open competition, we will find, will do wonders in reducing the inefficiencies and corruption that are natural consequences of monopolized power and that contribute significantly to raising electricity rates. It will also spur investments in efficiency-boosting technologies and more economically viable plant capacities. This is good. For us consumers, it is better that we put our fates in the vagaries of a competitive and objective and impersonal marketplace than in the hands of monopolists and monopsonists and regulators. Those creatures are not our friends.

Bong Austero writes in his column about prepaid electricity:

The system is quite simple. A special prepaid meter is installed in lieu of the usual electric meters. The prepaid meter contains indicators that show up how much electricity credits are still available as well as a keypad which consumers can use to input electric load credits which they buy in increments of 100 pesos. The meter automatically shuts down a household’s electricity system as soon as the credits are consumed.

Unlike the ordinary meters which only record consumption and which require a “reader” to monitor, the prepaid meter allows consumers to plan their electricity consumption more effectively. Because they pay for the electricity in advance, the impact of the expense is immediately felt compared to the usual system which in effect makes consumers automatically at debt to the power supplier.

There are many benefits that can be derived from implementing a prepaid electricity system. Obviously, there is no need for additional manpower to serve as meter readers. This translates into lower overhead costs for power suppliers. Theoretically, power suppliers are also prevented from charging systems losses to consumers although of course we all know that as we have learned in the case of Meralco, there are many creative ways to milk consumers dry. Long queues at payment stations as well as for other services are also done away.

It’s a system that is working quite well in Tacloban City. I was told by electric cooperative personnel that the same system is being implemented in other cities such as Palawan, Cebu and even in Baguio.

AM radio last night was painting dramatic word pictures of labor officials deliberating on whether to grant wage increases. The President won’t give details but Arroyo says Metro workers assured of P20 wage increase. A Palace ally isn’t happy: Wage hike to trigger downsizing – employer group. Meanwhile, the President proclaims a conditional fiesta: GMA orders release of P12.6B in IRA.

This is remarkable: SWS: English proficiency of Filipinos improves.

Do consider donating to the Red Cross for the purpose of China, Burma, or Negros Occidental disaster relief. Contact the nearest Philippine National Red Cross chapter.

Apparently, as Jeric Peña blogged, a text message went around yesterday predicting an earthquake. People got nervous. So a clarification: USGS: Earthquakes can’t be predicted. But bloggers in China are discussing the possibility a prediction was made, but ignored.

Global Voices Online sets up a page focused on Sichuan Earthquake 2008, consolidating links to blogger accounts, photos, videos, etc. The New York Times carries an analysis of A Rescue in China, Uncensored, pointing to how the Chinese government’s been fairly liberal about keeping the public informed:

In its zigzagging pursuit of a more nimble and effective form of authoritarian rule, China may be having a defining moment. Its harsh crackdown on discontented Tibetans bore the hallmarks of Beijing’s hard-line impulses. But its decision on Tuesday to scale back the elaborate domestic leg of the Olympic torch relay - after a flood of Internet protests calling it insensitive – is a sign that officials are not deaf to public sentiment.

At least at first. The Financial Times reports Beijing reins in coverage of quake:

A meeting of the party’s most powerful propaganda officials on Tuesday stressed the importance of “correct guidance of public opinion” and ordered a strengthening of political consciousness among journalists.

All frontline coverage of the disaster should “uphold unity and encourage stability” while “giving precedence to positive propaganda”, ordered Li Changchun, a member of the party’s supreme Politburo standing committee, the People’s Daily reported.

But certainly, there’s been an impressive sense of national solidarity on the part of the Chinese. In contrast, in Burma, people have been hard-pressed to get relief or express themselves. Read Juan Mercado’s ‘Malign rapacity’.An interesting observation is in Myanmar: Voices through Tweets.

In A Tale of Two Devastated Countries, John Berthelsen details the Burmese junta’s madness and the cyclone’s long-term effects:

Although aid flights finally began to arrive in Burma over the weekend, a full week after the disaster, the delays in flights and visas for relief workers and the confiscation of emergency supplies have multiplied the misery for millions. The junta followed up its inaction with two remarkable actions — the first to hold a rigged constitutional referendum while the country was still in the initial stages of digging itself out of the disaster and to dragoon its citizens into a yes vote by intimidation, and second, according to The Observer, continue to export rice to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka even as it tried to curb the influx of international donations.

According to relief organizations, Burma will need as much as 500,000 tonnes of rice and perhaps as much as 2 million tonnes to meet subsistence levels for most of its population in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which wiped out 65 percent of the rice-growing capability of the Irrawaddy Delta. The country had expected to export 600,000 tonnes in 2008. According to several estimates, Burma, once the biggest rice-exporting nation in Asia, will be forced to import to make up shortages for years to come.

Satellite imagery showed that a 16-meter storm surge pushed salt water 40km inland in the delta. According to the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, it can take up to a year to leach out the salt, depending on the kind of soil, the amount of rainfall and whether farmers plant salt-resistant varieties of rice. The storm, unimpeded because protective mangrove forests had been destroyed for prawn farming and additional rice paddies, destroyed everything in its path, as well as drowning as many as 100,000 people.

Nonetheless, according to The Observer, sacks of rice destined for Bangladesh were being loaded on to a ship at the Thilawa container port at the mouth of the Rangoon River at the end of last week, even though the rice-bowl region had been literally destroyed by the deadly storm. The paper quoted the regime as saying it planned to meet all of its contractual commitments.

On a related note, the RGE Monitor today asks, How Is China Going to Feed Its Population? Agriculture Abroad? The blog China financial markets says The devastating earthquake is also bad for monetary policy.

Meanwhile, The Economist, in Let them eat Juche , says even if out of sight and out of mind, the North Koreans go starving on:

Good Friends, a Buddhist human-rights group in South Korea, says that in rural areas families are again adding tree-bark and grass to their diet, and foraging for food in the wild. It says that in South Pyongan province in west-central North Korea, people are already dying of starvation, while listless farmers ignore officials’ calls to plant this year’s rice. Last month the World Food Programme (WFP) called for urgent help to avert a “serious tragedy”.

Then on a global note, in The BRICs (and Mortar) of the New Global Economy, the Asia Sentinel’s correspondent says the United States has dissipated its wealth, and that:

The true dimensions of the changes heralded by the end of the Cold War are only now becoming clear. The world looks headed for a gigantic economic boom. Massive economic prizes will go to the producing economies. Economies that produce less than they consume can expect some economic and political shocks. Investors should beware and construct their portfolios accordingly.

Which sounds very discouraging for the Philippines, which seems to consume more than it produces when it comes to nearly everything.

In the blogosphere, even as the bunker makes an admission (see Palace: Arroyo visit to Shenzhen was no secret), The Warrior Lawyer weighs in by noting that

The obvious question that can once again be asked of Arroyo is the same as that asked of President Nixon during the Watergate scandal:

What did the President know and when did (s)he know it?

And [email protected] can’t help but point out that the President’s designated Heckle & Jeckle need to pause and ponder what they’re saying:

The first salvo came from Golez, who said that the witness should charge Gloria Arroyo in the courts. Of course, let us pardon Golez’ ignorance of the law (even if ignorance is not an excuse, as per Civil Code), and tell him gently that we cannot sue Gloria criminally since his amo enjoys immunity from any suit. And to remove that immunity, she has to be impeached first. But, the House of Reprehensibles will never do that, however substantial the impeachment complaint is. Golez tries to be cute, but he instead insults every consciously-thinking (there are those who chose not to think) Filipinos.

Oh, he continued trying to be cute, first by stating that the meeting with ZTE officials were official. Mr. Golez, if it was official, how come it was not reported in the media? How come there was no press release? Second, he said that the picture hasn’t prove anything malicious, that there was nothing wrong with Gloria playing golf with her husband. Well, this proves that delicadeza is dead, a Filipino value that is left forgotten, for it hinders corruption. Mr. Golez, there is nothing wrong with a president of a country courting foreign investors. But to do so in secret is not right. And who paid for the golf game? Can you show us some receipts, please?

The second salvo came from Fajardo, the most effective spokeswoman that Gloria has ever hired. First, she admitted that her amo met with ZTE officials, confirming part of what that witness had said: that Gloria did had a meeting with ZTE officials, and insisted that it was not a secret. Ms. Fajardo, please read my comments to your colleague’s failed attempts to be cute, you might learn a thing or two.

And what she had said next implicitly stated the rationale for the Fortress’ attack against Meralco: it is a diversion, plain and simple. She said that the public should not be diverted from the true issue at hand, which is high power rates. Kaboom! There you go!

The Marocharim Experiment comments on the creation of the Judicial Executive Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council (JELAC). An ominous blurring of the lines that ought to keep the different branches of government separate? It’s not as if Presidents haven’t consulted the Supreme Court in the past. My own view is, another pointless innovation when an institution already exists, the Council of State, which was the subject of a new executive issuance in 2003.

Yesterday, I talked to Rachel Khan’s class and she generously blogged about in khanterbury tales. One of her students hated the whole experience, though, see Sirang Plaka for a no-holds-barred critique. Perhaps it may have been more productive to distribute and discuss The civic imperative: a reflection, (see my blog entry for March 21, 2008 as well).

Could this possibly be true, or too much of an extrapolation? Study: Philippines has 2.3 million bloggers.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

28 thoughts on “Nursing students left in the lurch

  1. Though this is not on any point raised above but there is areport that hundreds of large and small dams in China may have been damaged by the last earthquake.

    That feeds into infrastructure for agriculture (irrigation) and industries.

    Let us hope this tragedy does not lead to wider tragedy that could curtail their food production. The unintended after shocks of this quake could be disastrous not only for China.

  2. “The EPIRA is one of the rare examples of enlightened legislation” – Rene Azurin

    It has been reported that a lot of insertions/exceptions were made in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) not intended in the law.

    If we don’t watch out, same thing will happen in the cheaper medicines bill.

  3. Very nice article by Rene Azurin. I agree this is a good path forward. But I have to add, open competitive markets can be difficult to achieve, requiring, as we found in California, aggressive regulatory and state oversight to prevent market abuse and continual fine tuning.

    So the market structure itself will not be sufficient. It still takes a government that will not permit the abuse by certain market participants. Else we’re back in the same boat, but of a different color (to mix metaphors).

  4. Is it just you, or is Pinas really an unhappy country?
    Would you believe Pinas ranked happier than China, Taiwan, SouthKorea, Russia, Iran, Jordan, Egypt?
    ————–
    “Taking all things together on a scale of one to 10, how happy would you say you are?”

    With that question and global surveys, the folks at the World Database of Happiness have ranked 95 nations on a happiness scale.

    Switzerland’s citizens closely trail the Danish, each reporting an average happiness level of 8.1 (out of 10), followed by Iceland (7.8), Finland (7.7), Australia (7.7) and Sweden (7.7), all the way down to grim Moldova (3.5).

    Philippines (6.4), Nigeria (6.4), Greece(6.4), Taiwan(6.2), Singapore (6.8), SoKorea(5.8) Japan(6.2) Mexico(7.6) Russia (4.4). Iran(6.0), China (6.3), USA(7.4), Vietnam(6.1).

  5. “Yesterday, I talked to Rachel Khan’s class and she generously blogged about in khanterbury tales. One of her students hated the whole experience, though, see Sirang Plaka for a no-holds-barred critique. Perhaps it may have been more productive to distribute and discuss The civic imperative: a reflection, (see my blog entry for March 21, 2008 as well).”

    If you had a transcript of your talk/speech/story telling, we might be able to prove it wasn’t your fault; she wasn’t listening.

  6. “Could this possibly be true, or too much of an extrapolation? Study: Philippines has 2.3 million bloggers.”

    There you go again, using words like “assumption.”

    If friendster blogs are included, 2.3 mil is a modest number.

  7. The new kid who won that pechy thingy would never be as famous as Patricia Evangelista. He doesn’t have the ninongs that she does, though he won it fair and square… as a high schooler.

  8. “This is remarkable: SWS: English proficiency of Filipinos improves.”

    This is not an improvement but a discrepancy between the two tests.

  9. Per SWS survey:
    Filipinos’ understanding of spoken and written English also improved in April 2008 and even surpassed previous levels set 15 years ago.

    The SWS said Filipino adults’ understanding of spoken English was at 75 percent in December 1993, dipped to 65 percent in March 2006 and went back up to 76 percent in April 2008. Filipinos who read in English also started high at 73 percent in December 1993, dipped to 65 percent in March 2006 and improved to 75 percent in April 2008.

  10. Additional (interesting) stats from SWS, e.g. while about 1 in 5 (or a little bit less) do not use English at all, 2 out of 5 say they (can) think in English :

    Filipinos’ ability to think in English also improved from 27 percent in March 2006 to 38 percent in April 2008.

    SWS president Mahar Mangahas said the improvement in Filipinos’ English proficiency shows a greater awareness among Filipinos to improve their skills in written and spoken English.

    …..

    He added that the increasing dependence on the Internet is also pushing people to review their English skills.

    The survey said eight percent of the Filipino adults polled claimed they made full use of the English language; 39 percent said they made fair use of the English language; 29 percent said they made partial use of the English language, and 17 percent said they made almost no use of the English language.

    The SWS interviewed 1,200 respondents nationwide for the survey, which was conducted for the Promoting English Proficiency Project of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines and the Makati Business Club (MBC).

    MBC President Ramon del Rosario said the move to improve English proficiency is largely market-driven due to the rise in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines.

  11. The creation of a Philippine Sovereign Wealth Fund should be pursued. All royalties from mining and gas explorations should go to the fund. Proceeds of sale of government assets should also go to the fund. This might prevent future administrations from selling government assets to reduce budget deficits. The Marcos ill gotten wealth can go there too since CARP might not be extended. The fund can then invest anywhere in the world. The objective is to get the highest possible ROI.

  12. to leytenian: Thanks for pointing to those NewYorkTimes links on happiness. BUT… but the NewYorktimes article (or more accurately, the University of Pennsylvania) papers have a very definitive theme, namely more wealth brings more happiness. More specifically, the Wharton school researchers say that this drive by nations for increased GDP makes sense. The drive of people to create more personal wealth — for themselves, and for their children — make sense.

    There is no Easterlin Paradox.
    The facts about income and happiness turn out to be much simpler than first realized:
    1) Rich people are happier than poor people.
    2) Richer countries are happier than poorer countries.
    3) As countries get richer, they tend to get happier.
    Moreover, each of these facts seems to suggest a roughly similar relationship between income and happiness.

  13. A Financial Times(London) columnist also makes another key observation —— that the (Wharton/U-of-Penn)Stevenson&Wolfers research refutes the notion of a “satiation point” or the belief that beyond a certain income threshold, further increases to national wealth cease to increase national happiness.

  14. Note: the Stevenson and Wolfers study is very recent. The “knowledge-base” from GMA’s PhD-Econ will teach Arroyo that there is a “satiation”-point beyond which GREED can stop.

  15. upn, any data on the correlation between wealth and emotional well-being, e.g., more money, more problems (pressures, stress, etc.)?

  16. Bencard: There is a study using 1998 data of the Correlation between GDP Per Capita and Infant Mortality (which is given as the average number of deaths per 1000 births). This study shows USA and other high-wealth countries with lower infant mortality rates than the less wealthy countries. 1998 data But health policies are important; e.g. Bahrain and SouthKorea have same GDP-per-capita but SouKorea infant mortality is half that of Bahrain.

    Infant
    Mortality // country // GDP-per-capita
    4.10 JAPAN $24,500
    3.87 Singapore $24,600
    6.44 USA $30,200
    5.69 France $22,700
    5.59 Canada $21,700

    18.09 Qatar $16,700
    15.54 Bahrain $13,700
    41.34 SaudArabi $10,300

    12.09 PuertoRco $ 8,600
    7.79 SouKorea $13,700
    22.45 Malaysia $11,100
    30.82 Thailand $ 8,800
    19.03 Argentina $ 9,700
    14.11 Uruguay $ 8,900
    37.60 Syria $ 6,600
    13.98 Estonia $ 6,400
    52.04 SoAfrica $ 6,200
    103.37 Swaziland $ 3,800
    63.14 India $ 1,600

    The “world-average”
    58.00 WORLD $ 6,500

  17. http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/jmhg/article/PIIS157189130500083X/fulltext#abstract

    Per capita income is related to suicide rates in men but not in women

    * i won’t argue with statistics,but with the conclusion of:

    Socioeconomic improvements are needed to reduce suicide rates.

    Well, got to consider the fact that this study was for european countries,but imho anyone can commit suicide ;rich or poor.

    Do you have East Asian data on per capita income vs suicides ,UPN?

  18. Vigilance on implementation of laws:

    How come kailangan natin ng alarm clock palagi para maging vigilant.Isn’t that an oxymoron, pero para ka naman magiging vigilant kung tulog ka?

    Epira has been there since 2001,somebody barked so now everyone is so vigilant,including the law makers proposing to ammend it. Pati yung mga agrabyado sa GSIS bigla ding gumising.

    It is the same with our attitudes with repairs, it is either you:

    1) Don’t Repair
    2) Repair When Broken
    3) Eliminate repair by upgrade
    4) Predict when to repair
    5) Prevent repair

    to most of us,why fix it when it aint broke.

    This has a relation to the power topic, remember those power plants?

  19. Now more than ever, I am totally convinced that there should be a complete and final divorce between the Church and the Government, here another reason why..

    PM plans to stand before the Canadian People on June 11 and Apologize for the Abuse at the mandatory Aboriginal Residential Schools funded by the Government and Run by the Church to “Christianize” the Natives in the 50s…

    http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/425826

  20. Someone should tell those briliant PR boys of the Lopez’s that they should think before they put up facts in an ad.

    They think most pinoys are as stupid as they are. They are now claiming that they put up new power plants without government guarantees. But with take or pay provisions with a company called Meralco who by the way was given by Juan de la Cruz through his so called Congress a government guaranteed franchise area excusively for Merlaco. The largest in the country.

    So they piggy backed their investment on that and now they want everyone to know that wala daw government guarantee. Apart form the generation charge Meralco has to pay capacity fee, (to cover depreciation costs), maintenance, fuels costs to these private IPPs.

    The relationship between these IPP’s and Meralco are a seamless integrated process all anchored by a government guaranteed monopoly.

    Yet Juan de la Cruz is kept in the dark after giving all these privileges to a private entity.

    Business and government should be natural adversaries based on promoting the collective good. Oscar and his family wants us to belive in his charity. I believe in his greed but there is no one to make sure he knows his place in the scheme of things. His job is to push the envelope for himself and the other stockholders. Who do we have that can push back. For that to begin to happen everything must be in the open.

    The theoretical basis for open cometition that will lead to efficiencies rests in the easy entry and exit of many companies into this type of business.

    In a third world economy that is a net importer of capital medio mahirap gawin yun without state participation. Paano magiging exclusively private ito?

    The head of bank of America recently castigated the Federal authorites for bailing out Wall Street’s investmnet banks. His said that markets should have been allowed to do their own clean -up.

    That way the people who would be affected would go out and demand that Wall Street bankers be tared and feathered instead of getting golden parachutes.

    Matira and matibay. The financial services sector in the U.S. today accounts for 20% of U.S. GDP. The manufacturing sector only accounts for 12%.

    You want open and free competition, markets must be allowed to operate and risks premium naturally will be added to the price structure. That would mean high prices. The other choice is to come clean and simply let effective government take over.

    So much for theory when in practice it still remains for Juan de la Cruz to bear the burden.

  21. Continuation on Economics of Happiness: The Application of Public Policy and Happiness.

    As happiness is the ultimate goal of human beings, development paradigm needs a rethinking. Development goal is not only an economic prosperity – which is only a material mean for happiness, but development should also be conceptualized as an instrumental goal of happiness. Higher levels of human happiness involve other factors such as physical, mental, social and spiritual happiness. PUBLIC POLICY, therefore, plays a key role to improve conditions of happiness at all levels of people in the society. It is therefore important for policy makers to design a policy scheme to increase social happiness that measures the quality of life, or address the conditions of human’s physical and emotional well-being. Is our current policy makers addressing this issue to take happiness as a goal and the local operated concept of “sufficiency economy” . Would they be committed?

    The way i understand our current policy makers is they don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care.
    I don’t think they can decide on their own. parang sila ang mga bata. basta maraming utang, masakit ang ulo.

  22. As regards the hapless nursing graduates, it’s highly UNlikely they’d still be able to have their conmen arrested and tried for estafa. Sa laki ng nakulimbat nila, nagbabakasyon na ang mga ‘yun kung saan-saan. Kawawang mga bata. Malamang, ang iba sa kanila, galing pa sa life savings ng parents nila ang pinambayad sa (manggagantsong) review center. Worse, they were NOT the first ones to fall prey to these scumbags.

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