I think my first train-related entry was back in 2005, in Debating solutions to squatting, I pointed to this entry by Torn and frayed in Manila on how our country possesses “one of the most ramshackle railways in the world.” That’s putting it politely. Torn was reacting to a report by Howie Severino (and The Unlawyer also commented on it, including detailing the extremely low fares charged by the railroad).
One major problem, as recalled in Pain On The Train, was that squatters had encroached on the tracks and were, at times, hostile to train passengers. There was once a haunting post by Pulsar in 2006 (well, who says once on the Interweb, something’s forever? The blog’s gone!). Or sometimes, the problem were the passengers themselves, see Test-Riding The Metro-Tren:
But there were dreadfully more — and this was what made me uneasy and had second thoughts about using this mode of transpo on a regular basis or asking friends and family to patronize it. Dark thoughts ran in my mind thinking if I can actually still get out of this situation alive! Here we go:
Amongst the passengers in my coach were shirtless dudes who were not even drunk but were just as dangerously rowdy. Okay, to be fair, not all of them were topless. Two were wearing sando, one did not even have a footwear, and all of them did have confidently loud voices enough for anyone to understand that they are the “masters” in this place. They were huddled on two right-side doors. Some were standing and some were seated on the floor and the little steps that people use when boarding or getting off via those doors. Obviously, no one passed by those two doors. They were not just rowdy in the normal kind of kid things. They had very foul language offensive to many.
These folks were not young kids either. They were men probably in their 20s up to late 40s and they seemed to know just about every person who lived along those rail tracks as they often had a lewd or foul comment at everyone they saw. Samples? Here we go… “Hoy hostess, bihis ka na! Rampa ka ng maaga nang makarami”, or — Tangina! Nakaw ang cellphone na yan, kahapon lang”! And they most certainly elicited equally shouted responses from those they were shouting at. Some of the younger kids they teased even ran with wooden sticks or little stones attempting to catch and whack or pelt them as the train chugged along. And you guessed it, these men would run scampering towards the inner portions of the train (which was naturally a commotion that would make you panic). When kids on the ground can’t keep up with the train, these men would be back at the two doors and back to their usual shouting spree at people we passed by. I even saw two women-passengers stand up and walk further front — obviously to get away from this.
I’d be a liar if I said I was not alarmed. I was actually more than frightened! Then again, I could have been over-reacting, right?
Now hear this: As the train went a chugging slowly after that Espana Station going towards Blumentritt, a guy came walking from the front coaches who seemed to be looking for nothing but trouble. As he passed where I was seated and just about to pass the rowdy men by the door, someone shouted on top of his voice saying “o kayong lahat, ingatan nyo mga gamit nyo, yan naglalakad na yan isnatcher yan… The walking man did not even look back but shouted equally loud saying “tangina mo, hindi ako isnatcher, naghahanap ako ng masasaksak” and as he said that he lashed out a knife in mid-air. I looked at the faces of many passengers and almost all had the same facial expression — they pretended to have not heard that and they all did not look at the knife-brandishing man — and so I did not dare look at him too! This time I felt my balls were already above my forehead.
After having gone to the end part of the train, that knife-wielding man returned to the men perched by the doorway and he joined in the laughter, banter and dirty shouts at people we passed by. I clearly heard him telling the group that it was too unusual the week was almost over and he has not had a fight yet. As if to emphasize that, he said “kahit asawa ko ayaw akong patulan, nakakainip pare”!
This is a Wikipedia map of the NorthRail and SouthRail lines of the Philippine National Railways -theoretically, at least. I happen to like trains very much (perhaps not to the extent of being a trainspotter) and really wish rehabilitating our railways will be accomplished: just getting NorthRail and SouthRail functioning will actually merely return us to where we were prior to World War II, the last major extension having been accomplished with the inauguration of the Manila-Legazpi Line in May, 1938. That still marks the last major addition to our railway network. However, Marcos’ obsession with highways had led to the deterioration of the railroad.
The result? See photos in A Ride On Philippine National Railways Part I and A Ride On Philippine National Railways Part II. See also RILES in Digital Phtographer Philippines. In response to this sad state of affairs, an ambitious program of modernization has started.
One sad side-effect of modernization, however, is the destruction of heritage sites: see Las Estaciones Ferrocarril Manila-Dagupan in the ICOMOS Philippines site.
There are some extremely informative railroad enthusiasts’ blogs out there, which combine a strong historical sense with efforts to document the rehabilitation of the Philippine National Railways. See their mother organization, Railways and Industrial Heritage Society of the Phils. (and its Reese Blog), and these enthusiasts’ blogs: Philippine Railways S.I.G., Philippine Railways, and Laguna Railways,
Courtesy of Augusto de Viana is The railways in Philippine history which, however, so compresses the most interesting years, the 20s to the 50s, as to render that section meaningless. Oh well. Viviana overlooks the ambivalence and even hostility American officials felt towards railways, since it would affect the Philippine market for automobiles (see The Colonial Iron Horse: Railroads and Regional Development in the Philippines, 1875- 1935). When autonomy was achieved, railroad development accelerated. And the policy debate on highways versus railways also began, along with still-unrealized plans such as a railroad for Mindanao (the development of Maria Cristina Fall’s hydroelectric power was originally envisioned as primarily powering the Mindanao railways: there are interesting snippets on these debates in F.B. Harrison’s diary: as an Anglophile, he was pro-railways, pointing with envy to Britain’s not altogether altruistic promotion of its own steam engine industry in its colonies; as for its biggest handiwork in that regard, here’s an interesting item on accomplishing transport reform: Things Looking Up for India’s Trains).
I remember when I was still new in the Inquirer, the President had a dinner with editors and spent much of her time discussing the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (this will be one of her lasting achievements, I think). Along the way, she discussed trains and how she wanted to eliminate the old PNR lines, and have new railroad lines simply feed the metropolis, with intra-city travel done on the LRT. At the time I remember remarking that her strong grasp of detail was one of the President’s most impressive qualities, but one little-seen by the public: just as the overall schemes fed by her grasp of detail failed to be grasped, in turn, by the public: and government is at fault for this.
Today’s Inquirer editorial, Derailed, looks at the possible permutations of the ongoing problem with NorthRail: Even as our government insists that NorthRail project to push thru the reality seems to be Gov’t scrambles to save NorthRail: China threatens withdrawal, legal suit over a situation caused by the sad reality that Northrail ‘mobilization’ ate up 23% of total loan. (Here’s a helpful Northrail timeline.)
See Target for Northrail: ‘substantial’ completion by 2010:
As things stand now, the most realistic assumption is to have a partially – or at least, substantially – completed stretch of rail road some kilometers short of the first section of the 80.2-kilometer distance between Caloocan City in Metro Manila and Clark in Pampanga.
Officials familiar with the twists and turns of the project told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak that the initial goal to complete at least the first phase, or the first 32 kilometers up to Malolos in Bulacan province, is not realistic anymore…
A year since the project’s 36-month construction period kicked off in February 2007, clearing the tracks, acquiring right-of-way, and relocation works are still to be crossed out from the list of pre-construction must-do’s.
No civil works on the actual railway have commenced nor has a project design been finalized, yet the designated contractor, the Chinese National Machinery & Equipment Group (CNMEG), wanted to add almost $300 million on top of the current $421 million agreed upon and signed construction cost…
According to various sources, including correspondences from NLRC and the demand letters from CNMEG, the latter unilaterally suspended work on the Northrail in February 1, 2008, with CNMEG’s Chinese engineers returning home.
Pamintuan explained that the engineers have run out of things to do since the project design has yet to be finalized.
But that was only part of the story. Apparently, while the design plan is still pending, CNMEG has been verbally demanding to increase the project cost. In succeeding correspondences, CNMEG has pegged the additional cost, based on computations as of March, 2008, at $299 million.
That would increase the project cost of the 32-kilometer Caloocan to Malolos stretch from $421 million to $720 million. That means the cost of the entire 80-kilometer Manila to Clark distance, which has no financing in place yet, will increase from $1 billion to $1.39 billion…
…After President Arroyo thumbed down CNMEG’s verbal demand in February to increase the construction price by $299 million, CNMEG formalized its demand in their May 13 notice of claim and in their June 3 demand letter to Northrail.
Of that amount, $88.63 million was due to variations in the original scope of work, such as the need to build viaducts instead of embankments in Valenzuela and Marilao areas.
The remaining $211 million was mainly due to foreign exchange losses ($106 million), inflation ($71 million), and cost of the delay in construction. CNMEG pointed fingers at Northrail’s inability to clear obstacles within the right-of-way areas and its non- completion of squatter relocations…
…In the April 24, 2008 letter of resigned Northrail president Arsenio Bartolome III to President Arroyo, he referred to a “presidential directive” regarding the completion of the Caloocan-to-Clark phase.
The directive emphasized two things: that it should be finished by 2010, the end of President Arroyo’s term, and that it should be within the project cost of $1.008 billion.
Construction cost for the 32-kilometer Section 1 from Caloocan to Malolos is $421 million, while Section 2 from Malolos to Clark is $673 million.
The design, supply, construct contract with CNMEG, for Section 1, Caloocan to Malolos, stipulates a construction period of 36 months, or 3 years, after Notice to Proceed was issued in Feb 19, 2007. It was meant to be completed by February 2010, perfect timing for the national election in May 2010.
The relocation of urban poor residents (one day, perhaps, destined to be only immortalized in photos or some videos) has proven expensive but relatively successful (most recently: an amazed foreign friend who had done some filming for a documentary in Blumentritt, Manila, and then saw how the community he’d filmed has been relocated and disappeared) see From ‘Home Along Da Riles’ to ‘Dreamland‘) Of course, not every delay is due to gross inefficiency or corruption on the part of government:
The report also says,
Unlike other controversial projects that were also cancelled, like the NAIA-3 airport terminal, where there is already a massive building that just needs a few months worth of repair and remediation work, the Northrail project’s railway construction has not even started.
I’m not sure if this is accurate.
The thing is, if you look at the reports and photos in the railroad enthusiasts’ blogs, you’ll see that a tremendous amount has been accomplished in terms of rehabilitating the railways (see Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project Update and Rail Lifting at Paco Station for example) though perhaps it’s fair to say no real laying down of track has taken place.
The question is to what extent the whole gigantic effort -and it is gigantic, you’re reversing the deterioration of the past forty years while at the same time laying down an entirely new railway system- has been marred by inefficiency or even corruption. These things take a toll on ongoing projects, as the headlines make pretty obvious, but it also raises another problem: even if hounded by corruption and inefficiency, is the solution to simply tear up contracts and scrap the project?
I once heard someone explain Romulo Neri Jr.’s pragmatism as follows. First question: does the country need a modern railway system? Yes. Since it does, can it be built without corruption? No. If it cannot be built without corruption, then whether major or minor corruption takes place, what is essential is for the railway to be built, because the economic benefits of the project dwarfs whatever corruption will take place.
And pragmatically speaking, Neri is correct and was thinking in true Southeast Asian fashion. This was the Marcos way: anyone who remembers the ferocious debates on MRT-1 along Taft Avenue (expensive! impractical! will never work!) will realize that despite all the objections, the elevated railway line has become an essential part of metropolitan infrastructure.
And this brings me to Neri, his latest reincarnation as SSS Chief.
The PCIJ in a Special Report reveals that the resignation of Corazon de la Paz and the assumption of the leadership of the SSS by Romulo Neri Jr. has a major policy shift at its core:
De la Paz first intimated how she has not been able to accustom herself to the workings of government, indicating a preference to return to her work in the private sector. But upon further questioning by the media, she eventually relented to a little known fact: she had stood up against the use of SSS members’ funds for the government’s pro-poor agenda, in the process offending the powers that be.
“Using the fund has limits. (It) cannot be used to finance pro-poor projects of the government unless it is defined in the (SSS) Charter,” De la Paz explained, serving up a warning to SSS members and the public of the potential danger of the fund being misused.
With Neri at the helm of the SSS, many have indeed expressed fear that the funds will be used for partisan political interests. Both Malacañang and Neri’s avowal that the funds will not be touched for government’s welfare programs has not helped assuage such concerns for the very reason that the appointment boils down, not so much to the issue of competence, but to Neri’s integrity and credibility - and that of the one who appointed him – as a public official.
Those who insist that the economy in general, or government financial matters in particular, can and ought to be insulated from politics have another lesson coming in why this is neither possible nor desirable. This is a defect that afflicts not just loyalists of the present dispensation, but bureaucrats, too, as the PCIJ report reveals:
Neri also probably felt his detachment that he had to bring along with him to NEDA people whom he could trust. His consultants, many of whom were not known to the NEDA staff, were like a parallel office which acted as his political arm. At first, some at NEDA appreciated the arrangement as it insulated the staff from politics, preferring not to deal with politicians and just continue to do their work professionally. Later, on instructions by Neri himself, NEDA officials had had occasions to interact with his consultants. Even his meetings with them were recorded as part of his official schedule.
The way one director understood it, Neri played politics as a matter of course in public policy. The NEDA Secretariat and other oversight bureaucracies are to exert effort in providing full information to decide policy, he says, and that necessitated engaging with politicians and playing the game of politics.
From his own experience working with him, the CPBO’s Vicerra believes Neri played politics not in the sense of politicking, which he says Neri always tried to avoid. “It’s more of realpolitik,” he explains, “as he always wants to involve himself in policy issues. And he has his advocacies.”
Doing so may have made the NEDA Secretariat more aware of the nature of public policy in their work, but it also made them vulnerable, admits the same director. “It put the organization and employees unprecedently in an unrequitedly bad light,” he says, though maintaining that the Secretariat has remained nonpartisan, its own standard of integrity and professionalism undiminished by this initiation into politics.
But Neri’s pragmatism, the NEDA staff also claim, conflicted with his reformist image. Some would say on hindsight that this probably explains why he is seemingly not appalled by unethical behavior, that is, corruption by way of commissions, extortions, kickbacks and the like, because these make things move or work. Others find it ironic that he wanted reforms yet “still wants to be in the good graces of this government.” Still others comment that since he is a “political animal” himself, it was not surprising that he had been offered bribes as he had admitted.
This is a confusing passage, but then it neatly illustrates the confused, because ignorant, attitudes of bureaucrats themselves about politics and its place in governance.
Government’s policies and management of the economy can be left alone if the public feels officials are capable and trustworthy stewards. If not, then they can and should be guarded every step of the way.
In its editorial, The Business Mirror, not inclined to be an instinctive critic of the administration, advocates retaining the VAT on oil, but points out the essential problem with expectations being built on spending the windfall for the public good:
Removing the oil E-VAT may be akin to a voluntary disarmament at a time when we need all the weapons we can get our hands on to confront grave threats to our economy.
Gordon’s proposals may not be popular – but they make sense. Having said that, the only problem with following his tack is this: Local experience is replete with evidence that, in this country, it’s next to impossible to get a good accounting of where and how precisely special-purpose funds – say, E-VAT “windfall” as used for infrastructure to rebuild disaster-ravaged areas and spur local economies – were applied. For even as critics complain that letting the government use the E-VAT windfall for doles is tantamount to giving more money to crooks, that same peril lies in using the funds instead, as Dick Gordon wants, for infrastructure.
Finally, in a town where a crusading auditor who keeps asking a warlord to “please liquidate” millions of pesos in public funds may easily get what he prays for – that is, be literally liquidated from the face of the earth, his killer(s) never brought to justice – accountability, like honesty in the Billy Joel song, is such a lonely word. So, to Dick Gordon, you may be right on this one, but, good luck.
Which goes to my point about NorthRail, the handling of the economy, and what Yen Macabenta points out: that the economy is coping with increases in the cost of oil pretty well, not least, it seems, to some pretty OK handling of economic matters by the powers-that-be; the problem is that while this redounds to the benefit of big business, ours is Still a jobless-growth economy; and the powers-that-be don’t quite know how to effectively toot their own horns and even if they do, there’s a widespread assumption officialdom’s on a looting spree (made even deeper, I think, because most of the public can’t quite grasp how it’s being done):
The report on Monday that the government kept its first-semester budget deficit at about P18 billion – only half of the programmed ceiling – despite the food and fuel price crises is encouraging. Two points stand out in the report:
First, revenue collection improved during the first semester.
And second, our fiscal managers were concerned that the various agencies of the government have not been able to absorb additional funding to help perk up domestic growth. In other words, the problem is not lack of funds, but projects to spend on.
When the President decided that the government would no longer aim for a zero budget deficit this year, it was for the specific objective of cushioning the impact of high consumer prices on the most vulnerable among our people. The government has the resources to provide subsidies to the needy during these trying times. And just as important, it has the funds to put into infrastructure and social and economic programs that will boost economic growth this year and next year.
Inflation for now is our biggest worry, as it hit a 14-year high of 11.4 percent in June. But Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. believes the problem should ease before the end of the year, and the country should fully recover by next year.
If you’re wondering why skyrocketing oil prices – with talk of crude hitting $200 a barrel by the end of the year – are not taking the bottom out of the economy, here are a few reasons:
1. It’s not just the price of crude oil that has soared to record levels this year; the prices of other commodities have hit peak levels, as well. This is the difference between this oil-price shock and the shock of 1974. Higher commodity prices across-the-board are also benefiting the exports of the Philippines and other countries. So our import bill is not as crushing.
2. Oil is not as all-pervasive in our economy as many believe. It affects mainly transport. Most of our electricity needs are fueled by other sources of energy, such as hydropower and geothermal energy.
3. The general prognosis of experts is that oil prices should come down during the second half of the year, though not to the same level as last year. The bubble is simply unsustainable. Demand will ease and supply will rise following the basic law of economics.
But again, the windfall is there. Surely it’s helped fund the following: Government subsidy for cheap rice in first half reaches P8.6B:
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the rice stocks were distributed and sold through 3,197 Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke, 8,080 Tindahan Natin outlets, 540 Bigasan sa Parokya and 199 rolling stores nationwide.
Government subsidy for cheap rice is expected to rise as the DA said 28 million more bags of rice will be infused into the domestic market from now until December to stabilize prices.
The NFA will be injecting some 6.5 million bags monthly, from now until August.
This volume will be reduced to 5 million bags by September, when palay harvests for the wet or main crop will start coming in.
Yap said the government is confident that it will have more rice to distribute until the end of the year as 900,000 metric tons (MT) will arrive in the country before September 30.
But the questions won’t go away whether the windfall’s economic potential’s being maximized. As it is, the President has announced Round Two of her “Katas ng VAT” program (no mention if it’s part of the commemoration of National Nutrition Month):
Which brings me to something Jarius Bondoc puts forward in his column for today (no link to the Star because it still hasn’t figured out permanent links):
The truth is unraveling, slowly but surely. A clique in the Arroyo admin is capturing the energy sector for kickbacks.
First, there was a sudden flurry to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. Rep. Mikey Arroyo, the presidential son who chairs the House committee on energy, said it was necessary to bring down consumer rates. His congressmen-brother Dato and uncle Iggy assented as committee members. It turns out, however, that the main amendment is to advance the start of open access from the time 70 percent of Napocor generators are privatized to only 50 percent. While speeding up open access is fine on paper, since it will allow big users to pick their own electric retailer earlier, it would be unfair in practice. State-owned Napocor will still control half the power plants, so there won’t be true competition. Worse, the Napocor mafia will continue to dictate, for multimillion-dollar kickbacks, imports of coal to fuel the plants, whether sold or not.
Then, Gloria Arroyo appointed amiga Zenaida Ducut as Energy Regulatory Board chief. Aside from Ducut being the town mate from whom Mikey inherited his congressional seat in 2004, they have a common friend, the oft-named jueteng lord Bong Pineda. Ducut’s posting jolted the industry because of a recent Napocor scam. The state firm last Feb. awarded to a four-month-old, undercapitalized and flighty broker a P956.4-million coal import from Indonesia. There must have been P258-million overprice, since the bid price was $109.50 per ton, although the Indonesian posted rate then was only $77 (at P40.418:$1 for three shiploads of 65,000 tons each).
Among the listed incorporators of broker Transpacific Consolidated Resources Inc. are Leslie and Ressie Ducut, but Zenaida disclaims kinship. Still, there are many inconsistencies. Napocor faxed the bid invitation two weeks prior to TCRI’s only known address then, the nearby Danarra Hotel’s business center, closed since Christmas. Now Napocor insists it awarded the deal when TCRI moved into a real office – in two short weeks. Paid-up capital was only P62,500, but Napocor says “so what?”, in disregard of the Public Bidding Act that requires congruity of capital with contract price. Ducut says the scam does not matter since, as ERC chair, she will have nothing to do with Napocor operations. But Napocor spokesman admits that the ERC, aside from the energy department and NEDA, needs to approve coal imports.
The capture of the electricity sector is complete - from the executive and legislative branches to the quasi-judicial ERC. From there the clique can move to other energy sectors - say, oil exploration - if it has not already.
(Incidentally, a sense of deja vu comes from this article: Lights Out in Indonesia: Jakarta as 1990s Manila? With India, Indonesia, Vietnam,scrambling to put up more power plants, and with the Philippines going to need more power plants soon, those who position themselves in the energy sector now are going to be positively minting their own money in years to come) If you’ve ever read how Ferdinand Marcos squirreled away funds abroad, then the stories -occasionally dribbled out in the press, but more often than not, whispered about in business circles- of what’s going on in the energy sector are equally intriguing -because the money’s come home, unlike most of Marcos’ stash. One day, hopefully, someone will write it all down, from the time money began to leave the country, a hop, skip, and a jump ahead of sleuthing legislators, journalists, and American anti-money-laundering officials, with the money making its way to places as far afield as Austria, then eventually, back home again where it could be used to buy banks, and dummy firms.
Manuel Buencamino looks at the curious story of Homobono Adaza’s alleged attempt to extort money from a Japanese businessman.
Ellen Tordesillas has the skinny on what the President was up to in Washington:
A Malacañang source who was part of Arroyo’s entourage in her recent US visit said there was no mention by Arroyo of any plans to implement martial law or authoritarian measures in her meeting with Bush, the first since she fell out of his grace after she pulled out the Philippine military contingent in Iraq in exchange for the release of kidnapped Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz in July 2004.
But he admitted that increased military assistance was top in her agenda in her talks with American officials.
The source was amused that Philippine media covering Arroyo’s US visit followed Malacañang’s spin about the near passage of the Veterans Equity when they know very well that it has a slim chance of it passing in the House of Representatives despite the approval of the Senate.
He said the real reason Arroyo wanted to meet with American congressmen was to explain to them the government’s side on extra-judicial killings. Like in the Philippines, any appropriation bill originates in the House of Representatives. That’s the reason behind the idea of giving the newly minted Order of the Golden Heart Award, which is different from traditional Order of Sikatuna awards given to diplomats or nationals of other countries who have made outstanding contributions to strengthening of relations with the Philippines. According to press reports, not all awardees showed up during the conferment affair in Washington D.C. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came very late.
(Just a correction, which I told Ellen: the Order of the Golden Heart was established by President Magsaysay. It was not “newly-minted.” A more relevant question might have been whether the Philippine Legion of Honor might have been more appropriate; but then a lower-ranking Order might be appropriate because no law has been passed yet.)
Foreign Affairs officials lobbied hard to get a meeting for Arroyo with Senator Barbara Boxer (D., Cal.) chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific. It will be recalled that Edith Burgos, widow of press icon Jose Burgos and mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, met with Boxer last March.
In the hearing that she conducted on alleged extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the military, Boxer said, “We do not want blood on our hands. We do not want to use US taxpayers’ money to train their (Philippine) military and police to kill their own people.”
Arroyo was able to meet with Boxer, the source said. The meeting must have been so insignificant that it didn’t merit a line in Boxer’s website. Not even Malacañang reported it.
It was unfortunate for Malacañang that whatever propaganda it wanted to generate domestically for Arroyo’s US trip was negated by typhoon Frank which struck on the eve of her departure, sank a passenger ship and devastated many parts of the country. Compounding the stigma was the junket of 63 congressmen whom Arroyo brought along with her as part of her pre-2009 impeachment payment.
But the source said, despite the bad press that Arroyo’s US visit got, she feels that she accomplished her main objective which was to impress the military that she still has the support of the US establishment.
It maybe a meeting of lame ducks but it was still a White House meeting, the source said. Add to that was her meeting in Pentagon with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
She may not have gotten categorical support for the things she might do in case her unpopular administration is shaken by the wrath of a long-suffering people, but it is good enough for Arroyo that she has given the military the illusion that the US is behind her. With that, she believes that her presidency, whatever questions about its legitimacy, is safe.
In the blogosphere, radicalchick aims a broadside at ABS-CBN and its Ces Drilon Kidnap Special.
kg, bakit ka sang-ayon sa paghati ng probinsya?
Manolo,
mali ba ako sa obserbasyon ko na napapabayaan na ang southern portion.
kaya ba ng isang governor ang buong quezon?
I know the filams might disagree because of the size of the sates that their governor,governs.
What about you, I know I remember that you mentioned this once, so I won’t have to google, might as well wait for your answer.
Thanks.
In a recent Congressional hearing, Greenspan confessed that he was having problems with the current definition of money.
The context of his statement was related to the the unabated increase in M3 money supply. Greenspan was speaking in his normal euphemestic way of saying that the Fed had lost control of tracking the money supply on M3 aggregates or totals.
Credit was being created for these unstructured complex derivatives with very high leverage ratios. This was being done outside any oversight of the formal banking authorities.
That created a credit induced asset inflation that is now popping after it migrated to all forms of asset classes and the process of deleveraging or debt deflation is ongoing. That means a process of demand destruction is moving from the the financial markets and will migrate to the physical economy.
For some ignorance is stupidity but in reality when egos get pinched they react.
One of the greatest debates on monetary policy occurred during the formation of Bretton Woods between JMKeynes representing the U.K and H.D. White representing the U.S.
JMK wanted currencies to backed up by a basket of commodities to include silver and gold but the U.S. wanted simply gold. Keynes already had a name picked out for ther new international currency of the world -Bancor.
There was to be an Internationa Clearing Union set up like a formal International Central Bank that could include the then developing countries. No one country could dominate trade through the use of currency manipulation. Countires then would be forced to develop internally to have something to trade.
All these plans for monetary stability for the world collapsed in the face of the schism that developed between the Soviet Union and the U.S.
The entire rationale for the IMF/WB was to create an institution to prevent beggar thy neighbor policies in the world trading system.
Sadly history intervened. In its first test to prevent beggar thy neighbor policies by the U.S., The U.S. shut down the Bretton Woods system and coopted it by placing their currency as the reserve currency of the world. They were the tip of the spear guarding the West versus the Soviet Union. The lessons of the Cuban Missle Crisis and Vietnam forced the States to seek dialogue even with China. The military industrial complex in both contries destroyed the Soviet Union (internally) and is what will destroy the new empire the U.S. The dollar standard is what is keeping the U.S. economy whole. The entire world is subsidizing the economy of the U.S.
Simply type in bancor or unitas or ICU on google or yahoo and you will get more information.
It was said that the stress and strain of the negotiations eventually caused the death of Keynes.
Keynes like all other econmists of his time was also a math whiz. But instead of simply relying on complex math simulations (econometrics) the guy was also a student of human history.
A large percentage of equilibrium scientists are simply practicing econometricians. They become slaves to their econometric models and forget about the variables of human nature. Just like financial practioners they mark themselves to their models. Computer modeling even with trillions of calculations per second will still not be able to contain all the variables that can and will happen.
When markets correct or expand they tend to overshoot or overeach in either direction. The time it will take for markets to correct or move to a new level of equilibrium would be uncertain. In the meantime people have to eat.
The responsibility of economic planning and management is on the government.
GMA and her bunch of econometricians have their own set of mathematical simulations that guides their policy framework. In their mind they are scientists that conclude that equilibrium will fix everything just give it time to adjust. That is why Angie Reyes said na mas maganda na i’ todo na ang price increase to teach people to conserve and demand will drop. He gets his guide from the so called scientists in NEDA.
The past years has seen growth accruing to only a few. The past years have been good to Big Mike, GMA and friends. Now that the models are broken and peoples very lives are at risk you blame them for having too many babies. Now the government is hard pressed as they forgot that markets are the basic social institution that organizes society. You left it alone to be ruled by the rich and powerfull. Now you don’t even know who to help. How can GMA claim success and blame the crisis on world markets. She earlier claimed that the pinoys role in world markets are responsible for our success. Now you tunr to the domestic markets and find out that oops we neglected it pala. Why did you guys have so many babies.
The reason for the current global crisis is still the same as it was at the turn of the century. Control of global trade by controlling the supply of international money.
related to the topic above,
nakita ko yung mag railtracks ng PNR sa bondoc peninsula na dadaanan yata ng Lopez papuntang Bicol.
Ayun nakadinig na nama ako ng old stories dati daw wal masya do nypog dun,medyo pinutol ang mga puno pinalitan ng coconut.
PNR, me kasama pala kami, gusto sana mag implement ng cargo rail for PNR a few years ago.pag preesent pa lang daw sya ng proposal madami nang requirements.
me natutunan ako bago term:detalye
yun pala ang hatian: so the devil really is in the details.
Mahirap ba talaga mag business dito, bakit kahit makakatulong pahirapan pa din?
sabi ko lang sa sarili ko,welcome to the real world.
kg, ako, im for the merger of provinces not the creation of new ones. maganda mga arguments ni kakataspulong, lawyer-blogger from the province. like sharif kabunsuan, most slicing and dicing of provinces is the wrong cure for the legitimate symptoms, gerrymandering lang.
Karl, thanks for remembering and bringing it up for discussion. Regarding the South Korean bigshots, their benefit (to Korean Society) is that they [i.e. their firms] have been able to produce real stuff i.e. ships, trains, lcd TV’s etc (contributing to 30% of South Korea’s GDP). That’s nowhere near what our local Oligarchs are able to do since they are mostly landlords, traders or monopolists/oligopolists who extract rents from the public.
In any case, South Korea’s loss is our gain. I hope the Korean migrants stay, and that their numbers increase further (but i also hope it does not kick up xenophobia among the locals.)
As i said two and three years ago, we should encourage foreign talent (entrepreneurs and professionals) to come in (and stay).
http://www.quezon.ph/1089/cabinet-cannibalism/#comment-242894
http://www.quezon.ph/993/continuing-contentions/#comment-33203
you asking me? before the dawn of civilization, the law is the one who wielded the deadliest club. next question, please?
The question was organized communities. The root word from which politics sprang forth was the Greek word for community (polity)ion the English language. The word economics similarly has its roots from the Greek word for household.
It was only till sometime in the 20th century that the absolute majority of humans on the planet could read and write.
The majority of humans before then were illiterate. So beating people on the head or sometimes cutting off their hands or head or burning them alive was the law. That way people were taught by example. That was the originalism of law based on the king or chief getting his powers from God. The tribal cheif always had his witch doctor and Kings and Queens always had their bishops. They made public punsihment a vital complement of education on the fine qualities of law and order.
The word civilization is a misnomer. Even today in organized societies agents of the state still use that weapon of fear and discipline amongst the poor and unconnected by a bullet in the back of the head. That is the law in the favelas and shanty towns around the world.
The excuse naturally would be well they deserve it or in case of insurgents they do not follow the law also so why follow the law in going after them. To maintain order killing a few to save the many would be the expedient way of imposing the law.
To maintain civilized societies one must become a barbarian to protect civilization.
Usma Bin Laden and his band of anarchists have upset the whole planet. Empire has a way of creating its own nemesis.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/143674
After shooting Lincoln, J.W.Booth, the Southern anarchist “patriot” was said to have declared “Sic semper tyrannis” “Thus always to tyrants”
Majority of peoples around the world have become disciples of monism wittingly and unwittingly. The means or tool for human economic interaction has become the end in itslef.
It has become a potent weapon that has confounded the most of us.
“Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and, while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some. The sight of this arbitrary rearrangement of riches strikes not only at security, but at confidence in the equity of the existing distribution of wealth. Those to whom the system brings windfalls, beyond their deserts and even beyond their expectations or desires, become ‘profiteers,’ who are the object of the hatred of the bourgeoisie, whom the inflationism has impoverished, not less than of the proletariat. As the inflation proceeds and the real value of the currency fluctuates wildly from month to month, all permanent relations between debtors and creditors, which form the ultimate foundation of capitalism, become so utterly disordered as to be almost meaningless; and the process of wealth-getting degenerates into a gamble and a lottery.
Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.” John Maynard Keynes
“The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is past the ocean is flat again.” JMK
“The love of money as a possession  as distinguished from the love of money as a means to the enjoyments and realities of life  will be recognised for what it is, a somewhat disgusting morbidity, one of those semi-criminal, semi-pathological propensities which one hands over with a shudder to the specialists in mental disease … But beware! The time for all this is not yet. For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to everyone that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still. For only they can lead us out of the tunnel of economic necessity into daylight.” JMK
Scriptorium, do you find any parallels with the above and your thesis about authoritarians vs. totalitarian orders as you posted here…
http://marcusapollo.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/rethinking-pinochet-and-franco/
…and which we discussed here…
http://www.quezon.ph/1828/squeezing-the-turnip/#comment-834936
…?
IMHO, i can see how your idea and hvrds’ complement each other.
Scriptorium, do you find any parallels with the above and your thesis about authoritarians vs. totalitarian orders as you posted here…
http://www.marcusapollo.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/rethinking-pinochet-and-franco/
…and which we discussed here…
http://www.quezon.ph/1828/squeezing-the-turnip/#comment-834936
…?
IMHO, i can see how your idea and hvrds’ complement each other.
Scriptorium, do you find any parallels with the above and your thesis about authoritarians vs. totalitarian orders as you posted here…
http://www.marcusapollo.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/rethinking-pinochet-and-franco/
…and which we discussed here…
http://www.quezon.ph/1828/squeezing-the-turnip/#comment-834936
…?
IMHO, i can see how your idea and hvrds’ complement each other.
apologies for the triple post
So Manolo, when are we going to talk about The Dark Knight (a great movie, according to most critics) and the relevant metaphors and parallelism to the Philippines?
Maybe an empowwered mayor can do the trick and not the porkbarrel of an additional congrressman or IRA of an additional governor.
pero bakit napapayaan ang iba,problema na ba nila yun dahil mahina ang mayor nila o binulsa lahat ni mayor.
let me check google for past discussions.
https://www.quezon.ph/1057/unleashing-billboard-vigilantes/#comment-99115
Jeg, actually, yes, one of the good ideas of FM typically screwed up by his dictatorship. The idea of a metropolitan manila dates back to the war, when in advance of the Japanese occupation of Manila, the Commonwealth merged all the cities into Greater Manila.
But then I’m for merging things. We had 52 provinces in the 1950s, now 79 -but the same territory. I’m not convinced it’s all in the interest of greater democracy but instead, gerrymandering, but of course there are those who think they’re better off.
but in terms of metro manila, there has to be greater integration otherwise we’ll never have a coordinated effort in terms of public transport, etc.
September 29th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
From History Unfolding which you linked about:
Now as many of you know, I was extremely concerned by possible effects of gerrymandering on the 2006 elections and speculated late last summer that they would make it impossible for the Democrats to win control of the House. I turned out to be wrong. The Democrats gained 5.4% of the raw vote from 2004 to 2006, worth 33 new seats, and now hold a total of 233, almost exactly reversing the result in the last Congress. But I was not altogether wrong. In 2004, the Republicans won 232 seats with 51.4% of the major party vote; in 2006 the Democrats won 53.3% of the major party vote–almost two percentage points more–but emerged with just one more seat. The electoral math clearly favors the Republicans now.
So if we always think of the main agenda;the purpose is who controls congress; kung ganun ang dahilan it does not matter in the Philippine setting; IT only worked during the impeachment of Erap and the failure to impeach Gloria a couple of times.
Sa bills na kailangan mag hello partyline;gerrymandering does not affect it.Sa ngayon sa tingin natin laging lutong makao ang mga resulta ng law making pwede nating maisip na gerrymandering is bad.
I don’t know , that is just my opinion.
maybe I was only trying to cure the symptom .its like taking biogesic , brain cancer pala ang problema.
Thank you very much MLQ3!
CVJ,
Bow, maybe Hanjin is good(not the one I am referring to na small time.)We built our first container ship with their supervision.
Alright so our senate questioned their condo in the rainforest.
I questioned why they use their own tour guides among other problems.And why setup own grocery stores,instead of patreonizing ours. I hope I was not borderline Xenophobic.
Pag na homesik tayo hahanapin natin ang lutong pinoy,mali nga naman ako syempre sa simula habang di pa sanay, yung nakasanayan muna nila.
They are heping those looking for temp jobs for teaching english, I remember my sister attempted to tutor one neighbor,medyo lumipat ng bahay eh,namahalan yata sa rental.
Ok comment mo:
UP Student, yes we should. There are probably a number of rich Chinese entrepreneurs from the mainland who would like to set up shop here. On the professional sector, it would also be worth attracting Indian medical practitioners, and teachers who would like to relocate to our islands. Government regulations should be relaxed and simplified to expedite this process.
That was your quick fix to the doctor and shortage.
it might also be looking at the symptom rather than the disease but it would be a better temporary relief than a biogesic for a person with brain cancer who is terminal.
Mga Kababayan (My Countrymen):
This will be my second to the last State Of The Nation Address before my term legally ends in 2010.
I have 710 days left in office.
Help me be a good president during the remainder of my term.
Gloria Pidal
The VATWoman
Karl, ganoon talaga ang mga Koreano. I remember back in 1989 when i had my first training in Singapore from my employer. Kasabay namin ang mahigit na twenty Korean classmates. It was only a three week-class pero ang floor kung nasaan ang hotel rooms nila, amoy Korean food.
Regarding my suggested ‘quick-fix’ on the labor shortage, think of it as blood transfusion. A similar model is being followed here in Singapore. I had long exchange with Justice League on this who thought i was giving the government a free pass:
http://www.quezon.ph/1171/premature-celebration-2/#comment-439598
I think we should make it easier for businesses to make hiring (and firing) decisions and to source skills regardless of nationality. If we don’t grant them that flexibility, then that adds to the cost of doing business in the Philippines, which is not good for the economy.
there you are again with your myopic vision. And I am talking about nation leaders who bring their own people in the cabinet and other appointive assignments.
how long have you graduated? You were still a student, early 2000, that means you are too raw to tell me what you know.
true, corporations have HR but the executives can always bring their people thru negotiations which are not necessarily revealed in the corporate world.
They can ask their people to apply because the decision who to hire will rest on who needs the personnel. do you know that?
there is always empire-building in the corporate world. execs also protect their asses. if the exec thinks that you are not a team player,you can kiss that department good-bye.
don’t impress me with little observations you have, the more i am convinced that you know nothing except for what you have read.
it shows where you are in corporate hierarchy. still in the bottom.
In the real world, hiring of people who will work with the execs are done backwards. Te execs are given the freedom to choose the people who would constitute the team regardless whether these people are already in or are still to be hired.
interviews, negotiations for salaries and other fringes are done by the executives who need the people.
The HR’s function is merely to publish the wanted ads or call their headhunters to send candidates.
After the executives are convinced that they have gotten the right people, HR merely process the documents.
if you have not undergone this kind of recruitment and selection process, you are just a small fry in the ocean.
Even in the academe, topnotch professors don’t apply for teaching, tHEY ARE INVITEd to teach.
the cat: i hope you have taught corporate ethics to your students. It doesn’t matter if your talking public/nation leaders or corporate leaders. There’s what we call Ethics. The trouble is many companies/countries are structured so that no one has complete information, no one makes complete decisions and no one has clear responsibility. This kind of structure lets managers to CEOs/president hide behind their lack of accountability, which guarantees corporate/country governance irresponsibility , stock decline ( poor country) and fall of the empire… you sound very Gloria to me in terms of appointing people. Honesty is the best policy.
The concept is the same in terms of Ethics- Conflict of Interest…. common the cat. what’s wrong with you.
“if you have not undergone this kind of recruitment and selection process, you are just a small fry in the ocean”
am just smiling. i’d rather be a small pry than a small pry tyring to be a big pry. that’s a lot of work. it’s like.. it’s hard to be somebody that you can no longer be. That’s a lot of work… stability is better.
Out of topic:
oh the cat, you are from florida right?
are you watching arnel pineda. he’s coming to tampa in July 30th.. i’m watching. tell your family and frineds to watch him. I’ve heard his really good.
aw sorry, wrong spelling… fry pala…
leytenean, i hate to be the one to tell you, but it’s “small fry” not “small pry”. you did it twice so i’m convinced it wasn’t typo but either deliberate (for whatever reason) or just plain ignorance. do you write like you speak, or think?
Quick test to separate rules-concerned from heart-concerned people. Shouldn’t golfer Michelle Wie be allowed to play?
She failed to sign her scorecard before leaving the scoring area.
This would have been an opportune time to push the envelope for a truly meaningful population control (ok, to be politically correct management) program in the Philippines. The stark reality of high food and fuel costs is staring everybody in the face, most severely the poor and other disenfranchised people. And the economic hardships are not seen to abate quite soon.
But our good Catholic bishops cannot be denied. Come hell or high water, the CBCP will not allow the proposed Reproductive Health Bill to pass. From labeling the bill as “pro-abortion,” to denying communion and marriage to the bill sponsors, the bishops are now making threats that they will campaign against supporters of the bill come 2010 elections.
Talk about bullying tactics.
And the administration seems helpless. First, it is not giving the right policy signals to the legislators. Worse, it seems to be siding with CBCP. Bishops take castle.
In short folks: no condom and gutom!!!
bencard, yeah i’m ignorant . are you happy?
UP N,
Michelle was disqualified also in 2005. she was also disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard and that she had illegally dropped the ball closer to the hole than its original lie the day after she completed her third round.
Second disqualification- rules are rules. plenty of time for her to catch up and learn. she’s young…
PSI,
on population control..
HVRDS made comment that I agree.
https://www.quezon.ph/1911/planes-trains-and-automobiles/#comment-876486
The past years has seen growth accruing to only a few. The past years have been good to Big Mike, GMA and friends. Now that the models are broken and peoples very lives are at risk you blame them for having too many babies. Now the government is hard pressed as they forgot that markets are the basic social institution that organizes society. You left it alone to be ruled by the rich and powerfull. Now you don’t even know who to help. How can GMA claim success and blame the crisis on world markets. She earlier claimed that the pinoys role in world markets are responsible for our success. Now you tunr to the domestic markets and find out that oops we neglected it pala. Why did you guys have so many babies.
On old roads:
Over at FV, Benign0 posted an old photo of Quezon Boulevard (Quiapo area) of the 1950s or 60s? To those young-at-heart enough, Carriedo Street was the location of SM (known then as Shoe Mart), Ang Tibay (now gone), GEE (also)and other shops which sold Made in the Philippines products. I remember in grade school, students would troop to these stores to try on white polo shirts and black oxford shoes.
At the end of Quezon Boulevard, before the bridge, is the Quinta market, fondly called ‘Ils de Tuls’ aka ilalim ng tulay. Here, one can buy Filipino souvenirs and other items, subject to intense haggling or tawaran. I learned that business had become so slow because of the malls’ (again the modern scourge!)Filipiniana sections.
And who will not remember Quiapo church? All the penitents and indulgents going the altar kneeled. And of course, those old women outside selling all sorts of herbs and oils from rayuma to birth control.
And then Plaza Miranda where rallies galore were held. Where the famous “Could we defend this in Plaza Miranda?” became a famous slogan.
Yes Upn, i saw Michelle Wie’s interview. She said it was a ‘mistake’ and she doesn’t know how it happened but she did accept that she should be disqualified. Definitely better than others who are caught cheating and come up with a lame excuse like she was just ‘protecting her votes’.
what has ethics to do with the issue. again you are exhibiting your cluelessness.
the recruitment process that i have just discussed is not unethical, in fact ,it is a courtesy to people who would like to choose the people whom they know can deliver.
a vp for finance would always want his employee to be an expert in finance.
there is no way by which the HR people which you always suggest (blech) for recruitment will determine whether
the candidates. background really match the requirement of the exec.
HR merely processes paper, takes care of the employees benefits, settle employers’ issues.and do te recruitment of the rank and file. Kaya siguro that’s what you’ve mentioned in your comment showing that you have not climb a single step of the ladder. You are just trying to impress of what you are not. I do not even believe that you are an MB, because an MBA would know that the tools that I have mentioned to determine the feasibility of a project are not just the gauge to decide whether the project is socially desirable or not. But you interest amortization gave you away. Walang kaalam-alam.
and when you mentioned something about a person managing 10,000 people. Are you real? A single person does not manage 10,000 people, not even the CEO. CEOs or Presidents manage the VPs, who in turn manage the department managers and DM managing supervisors and supervisors managing lead people.
Managers do not manage people only. They manage the system… the operation.
Ang iniisip mo ay amo sa bahay na panay ang utos sa katulong. That is not how it works.
no matter how you make yourself impressive, I don’t buy it. To me you are just a trying hard intellectual whose brain may be at the tip of the fingers used in browsing the internet.
BTW, even your perception is close to zero. If you have been reading the comments, you will know that i am not from florida. Be keen and observant and respect the commenters’ intelligence here.
browsing the internet is data mining. nothing wrong with that. i am sensing attitude not brain and it’s not healthy. sorry if i have pushed the button further. one more thing.. it’s better to accept one’s mistake rather than defending it.
i actually just finish a seminar of ” how to deal with difficult people” I’m still applying it. i will get better , I know myself very well. have a nice day.
The tone and complexion of the current debate on population control is a bit worrying.
The administration has not stated its position unequivocally. They have many mouthpieces giving all sorts of signals. And the sound bites coming from the ‘enlightened’ legislators are not really that encouraging.
The junior senator Chiz Escudero said that the Catholic church should back off from the population debate because “they bishops are not demographers.”
Weak. Is he presidentiable or is posturing as a politician? Or was his statement taken out of context?
Please, say it as it is. Overpopulation is not good for the country as it exacerbates poverty. And the only way to control or manage runaway population growth is through an aggressive program.
Maybe, the good representative Ruffy Biazon could drop us a line again. Well, as we say in New York, ‘it ain’t over until the fat lady sings.” Need we doubt?
Recently, cvj and some others has been expounding on market failure relating to Sulpicio Lines. To my mind, a true market failure is the current financial meltdown brought about by excessive greed in the global financial markets.
See what happens when uncontrolled market forces are allowed to shape the economy? These financial genies abetted by econo-quacks have now created another global crisis.
Again, Main Street will has to bail out Wall Steet. This, after the big shots of these investment banks and finance houses walked out with million dollar bonuses just one yera ago.
For a sophisticated market like the United States, I am astounded by the naivete of the investors given past failures like Long Term Capital Mangement, Enron, etc. We just don’t learn, do we? Or is it unmoderated greed, like flipping houses and properties as hamburgers? Or too much of the good life?
That’s why folks, when things have to be regulated, let us allow government to do its job. Now, we blame it for not telling us erlier. OMG.
ayan ha, bago kayo mag-comment, show the C at muna your CV including Barangay Clearance…
meow…
BTW, the most stolen street sign in Manhattan, or New York City for that matter, is the one of “Wall Street 10-40”
Which reminds us how true this Pinoy gem is:
‘Ang magnanakaw galit sa kapwa magnanakaw.’
PSI, i just watched a segment in BBC which featured this guy who has a beachfront house in Malibu and earned 500 million dollars last year from buying a type of derivative known as a Credit Default Swap (CDS). This same CDS’s which financial institutions have been selling have the potential to cause a chain of insolvency which would, as a result, have an effect on the real economy in terms of lost jobs and business closures. The problem is that these Wall Street Financial types (and their local counterparts) possess an aura of respectability that they don’t deserve. They are little different from gamblers in a casino.
“Few Americans have heard of credit default swaps, arcane financial instruments invented by Wall Street about a decade ago. But if the economy keeps slowing, credit default swaps, like subprime mortgages, may become a household term.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/business/17swap.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&adxnnlx=1216580800-7XrJEesUgeeTosI%20WqNpRg
thanks for opening the topic.
Credit default swaps. Are you kidding?
Under the present economic circumstances, the next time your broker sells you anything, buy him/her a cup of coffee and a donut and politely say, “No thanks. But I’d rather go my mother in the Philippines and put my excess money in my little piggy bank.”
Then you could sleep well at night.
one can sleep well at night to those with jobs. what about those people who are not even aware, i’m sure they cannot sleep well. the crisis is right in front of us.
Benjamin Franklin’s Solution:
“Nationalization has traditionally had a bad name in the United States, but it could be an attractive alternative for the American people and our representative government as well. Turning bankrupt Wall Street banks into public institutions might allow the government to get out of the debt cyclone by undoing what got us into it. Instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul, flapping around in a sea of debt trying to stay afloat by creating more debt, the government could address the problem at its source: it could restore the right to create money to Congress, the public body to which that solemn duty was delegated under the Constitution.
The most brilliant banking model in our national history was established in the first half of the eighteenth century, in Benjamin Franklin’s home province of Pennsylvania. The local government created its own bank, which issued money and lent it to farmers at a modest interest. The provincial government created enough extra money to cover the interest not created in the original loans, spending it into the economy on public services. The bank was publicly owned, and the bankers it employed were public servants. The interest generated on its loans was sufficient to fund the government without taxes; and because the newly issued money came back to the government, the result was not inflationary.7 The Pennsylvania banking scheme was a sensible and highly workable system that was a product of American ingenuity but that never got a chance to prove itself after the colonies became a nation. It was an ironic twist, since according to Benjamin Franklin and others, restoring the power to create their own currency was a chief reason the colonists fought for independence. The bankers’ money-creating machine has had two centuries of empirical testing and has proven to be a failure. It is time the sovereign right to create money is taken from a private banking elite and restored to the American people to whom it properly belongs.”
no leytenean, i’m not happy. i’m genuinely sad, especially when you argue against the cat.
Leytenean,
Ngayon ko lang napansin na ganyan pala dapat ang spelling.
Parang atenian instead of atenean……
Leytenian,
Usually hr people are psychology graduates.
Even the consuls in the US embassy are psych grads.
Is it not?
Stop shooting blanks with the Cat,check your gun me backfire yata eh.
kaya ko nabanggit psychology,ako pikon din napikon ako ke hvrds di naman ako tinitira,ikaw(pundit from outer space)at yung many still does not know how oDA works,tatlo lang naman tayo bumanggit nun, Ikaw ,ako at si Cat.
Inako ko na para walang cat fight at walang masaktan.
pero tooo yung sinabi nya when egos get pinched they react. Syempre ano ito simbahan,pababayaan mo na lang mag sermon ang pari dahil it is tradition.
pero iba nga ang ignorance sa stupidity, as Forrest Gump says Stupid is as Stupid does.You do stupid things even if you know they are wrong. but if you allow me to quote Pocahontas’ theme song, if it is about those things you never knew, you never knew;that is ignorance.
since we do not know everything, we are all ignorant one way or the other.if alam na natin, tuloy pa din tayo, we could all be stupid at any given time.
Arguing or debate of a topic is not just about personalities or psychology, and you should never belittle or degrade another person simply because they disagree with you. This is about ideas, and in a battle of ideas, the only acceptable weapon is a well-reasoned argument. I have learned to separate my emotion from any discussions/arguments.
Bencard on, “leytenean, i hate to be the one to tell you, but it’s “small fry†not “small pryâ€Â. you did it twice so i’m convinced it wasn’t typo but either deliberate (for whatever reason) or just plain ignorance. do you write like you speak, or think?”
Leytenian – people can call you names to show their insecurities. It is rare opportunity to know that people hate your guts and savor it with smile… 🙂
who cares about emotional intelligence?
http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/6635410-1.html
http://www.businessballs.com/eq.htm
PSI, in the case of the Credit Default Swaps, it’s the sellers of such a financial instrument who are now at the losing end because it’s acts like an insurance on institutions that are going to go bankrupt/insolvent. It’s like i (and a lot of other people who have no relation to the passengers) took out a life insurance policy on each prospective Sulpicio Lines passengers on the bet that one of its ships will eventually sink.
The BBC report said that the sellers (i.e. banks and other financial institutions) are exposed to the tune of an estimated 62 Trillion US Dollars and rising so if the more financial institutions go insolvent, the more Credit Default Swaps will have to be paid out, causing even more financial institutions to become insolvent and so on.
“It is about the future stupid”
Rubin and Greenspan wrote about it in both their books. Uncertainty and the age of turbulence. Toffler wrote about it it seems ages ago. The collision of first, second and third wave.
The entire rationale of financial capitalism is the future direction of prices. Instead of retrospective it is prospective.
But it is still an abstract. Similarly the GWOT is an abstract war based on ideas. How do you fight that kind of war.
How do you survive in an abstract metaphysical economy where prices today are affected by future predictions of price based on estimates of supply and demand in the future?
The mature economies can afford to speculate on the direction of future prices sometime in the future based on the large disposable income in their economies. The poorer countries do not have that luxury. They are dependent on the actual supply and demand of goods to determine prices in the present to feed themselves. Not some abstract benchmark heavily influenced by the supply of funds bidding up options for some future date.
Financial and economic theoreticians base their forecasts entirely on mathematical simulations. A very small percentage of them take human history as an added guide.
Stiglitz won a Nobel prize on that very subject. Asymmetrical information. Depending on ones own personal history the future will be always uncertain.
Economists and financial theoreticians who are equilibrium ideologues are not better than the witch doctor who predict the future with chicken bones.
Look at the different prognostications on the North Rail as a business enterprise.
Who can predict with a certain degree of accuracy what the average exchange rate will be 1 year from completion, 5 years from completion, 10 years from completion and onward. Who can predict with the same accuracy the level of interest rates for the same period? The price of iron ore just doubled in price and steel costs going forward are sure to rise to higher level.
How does one hedge that kind of risk that will make a shambles of any predictions/forecasts and affect the direction of prices????? Simple build it yourself as the labor that builds the railroad is the actual creator of the money which is denominated in pesos. No forex risk and no interest rate risk. It is labor that builds capital and not the other way around. The basic means of production land and resources and recreated into goods is the value created of which money is simply representative of.
Money has and always will be an abstraction of labor or on the supply side the abstract (representative idea) of our shared expectations of value.
In the short term horizon governments can influence the markets. Their words affect the markets. GMA just “requested” the oil companies to roll back prices of diesel. She is scheduled to speak next Monday.
In a futures market the availability of information and separating the chaff from the grain would be dependent on people who have a basic foundation in history. No history no clue.
The entire internationl division of labor is a network of supply chains that are all interconnected. Then you have the uncertainty of politics thrown in.
History becomes as scientific as if it were a physical science. In legal circles it is called case law based on empirical history. Progressive judges create new case laws based on prevailing new realties in communities while judges steeped in originalism interpret the law as written.
Kantian categorical imperative to push political will and the politics of command.
GMA made the choices in her executive decisions based on what she knows and understands but she failed to note that all decisions have intended and unintended consequneces.
That is why you always make sure that you have the safety nets in place for the unintended consequences. Yung safety net ninakaw na pala.
Noon pa sa 1994 sabi ng gobierno na the adjustment of globalization will create winners and losers. But do’nt you worry we have put safety nets in place. The lady who said that was none other than GMA.
Yung safety nets pala para sa pamilya niya at para sa mga kaibigan niya. Yung iba, sabi pa noon ni former trade Secretary Navarro, let them die. He was referring to businesses.
Tapos sasabihin niya kasi may crisis sa mundo.
Look to hwo controls the direction of future prices and you will see who controls the global commons.
Who has extraterritorial rights over the global commons?????What is Doha all about????
The curse of free market capitalism is that it has to keep on destroying without thinking of the consequences.
The present accounting method for measuring economic output does not take into account the futures market. Yet a small minority are already earning profits from that metaphysical economy at the expense of all others.
The ideologues of capitalist monism are in charge of the world.
Fiscal policy has not caught up yet with that economy.
Buffet himself said that his secretary pays more in income taxes than he does.
How do you track the inside information available to members of GMA’s own family that can influence the financial markets.
Her closest advisers are Neri, Salceda and her own brother who are all involved in the financial markets in one way or another.
Tapos naging executive privilege lahat.
PSI, here’s some info from last May on the CDS:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/05/credit-default-swaps-losses-estimated.html
Senator Chiz Escudero said politicians and political parties have their attention trained at the 2010 presidential elections and they are more comfortable that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would finish her term.
“We have already suffered and sacrificed for seven years, what is two years?” he said of Arroyo’s administration.
To Chiz Escudero,patience is long,long,long suffering!