Lapid and his School Bags Law

Mona Lisa senator, Lito Lapid, passed a bill prohibiting the overloading of the school children's bags. Numbered as Senate Bill 2179, the bill proposes to

limit the maximum load of schoolbags to 15 percent of a student’s body weight. Schools should provide weighing scales to implement this regulation. He also proposed that schools provide more lockers and buy thinner and lighter textbooks.

The reason: Lapid doesn't want other kids to experience what he did when he carried heavy woods and sugarcane in his younger years that instead of growing 5 feet 11 inches, he only grew 5' 9".

Lapid's bill was countered by DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro saying there is no need for a law on that. Nasa discretion na yan ng mga magulang at siyempre, ng school officials. Which is correct. Dahil sa kakulangan ng school buildings at teachers, kailangang wala nang uwian at tapusin na nang mga bata from 6AM to 12NN ang kanilang mga subjects na dapat ay from 8AM to 11AM, at 1PM to 5PM. Ibig sabihin, kailangang dalhin nila ang kanilang mga gamit at wala nang uwian para ma-maximize ang oras.

Sa halip sana na schoolbags overloading ang tinumbok ng kawawang senador, nagpasa na sana siya ng batas na mage-ensure ng quality education sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay ng: tamang oras at hindi long shifts, dagdag na school rooms at hindi lang lockers, matino at kumpletong mga textbooks hindi panipisan ngunit walang kalidad na laman, at de-kalidad na mga guro. Siyempre, dapat gumawa rin siya ng batas na nagtatakda ng dagdag na pondo para sa edukasyon.

At sana rin, sa halip na schoolbags ang tinumbok ng kawawang senador, sana yung batas na lang na nagtatakda ng matinong employee performance evaluation system at automatic kick out policy sa mga nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno na may poor performance. Lalong lalo na sa mga teacher sa rural areas na ang ginagawa sa mga estudyante nila ay pinapag-linis ng bakuran ng paaralan at pinapag-bunot ng damo. At ang pinakasimple, sana nagpasa rin siya sa ethics committee ng Senado ng resolution na ang mga Senador na kakaunti o kaya walang quality na naipasang bills ay bigyan ng parusa sa pamamagitan ng pagkaltas sa kanilang suweldo at pag-a-allocate ng pera para sa mga paaralan.


Kaso, kawawa talaga itong si Senador. Kung feeling niya kulang pa rin siya sa height, mas matindi ang kakulangan niya sa buhay: talino o kahit common sense para makagawa naman siya ng isang makabuluhang batas.

What are we jueteng for?

The frogs are croaking. Sec. Rico Puno is now in hot water while Senator Miriam Santiago had her well-thought jueteng equation. Of course, Mona Lisa senator, Lito Lapid, is to the rescue saying his kabalens Bong and Lilia Pineda are not jueteng operators. We heard this during the time of Gloria Arroyo and we are hearing it again. Anyway, the latest winning number combination according to whispering spirits is 11-23.

Chavit Singson is also on the limelight as Santiago said the governor is a jueteng operator. The problem is: Santiago is not offering evidences to pin Singson and the other names she dropped. Kaya nga tanong ni Sen. Cayetano (sino na nga yun? yung lalaki? Marami na kasi sila - 2 sa senado and earlier meron sa Kongreso): What are we jueteng for?

Ano na nga ba ang ginagawa natin? We have names, we conducted investigations, the police has a list .. and we are pissed. Sino na nga ba ang nakulong? Kahit si Erap na nasipa sa puwesto dahil sa jueteng kuno ay ayun, kumandidato pa at nag-ikot pa sa bansang Pilipinas. What are we jueteng for nga ba talaga?

Jueteng

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are rushing to conduct an investigation on the alleged recipients of jueteng payola. Are they serious on curbing the illegal numbers game or are they just curious on who gets how much?

Sabi ni Aling Munding, mukhang may ilang opisyal ang interesado sa congressional inquiry para malaman kung tama lang ang kanilang nakukuhang payola. Matapos daw kasi nung eleksiyon ay nasaid na ang kanilang mga bulsa. Ang iba nga, nagtatago na sa kanilang mga pinagkakautangan eh palapit na nang palapit ang pasko. Wala na ring choice kasi inubos na nang administrasyong Arroyo ang pera ng gobyerno. Totoo kaya ito?

Pero ang nakapagtataka, ayaw pang pangalanan ni Archbishop Oscar Cruz ang mga opisyal na tumatanggap ng payola. Ang sabi ni Archbishop, "Bakit ko sasabihin? Hindi ba nila alam? Eh, sila itong may malaking intelligence funds na ni hindi nga ina-audit?"

Sabagay, tama naman ang Arsobispo. Pero tanong lang: Saan pong intelligence funds: Yung galing sa gobyerno o galing sa jueteng payola?

Pero naniniwala si Chipipot. Kaya daw ayaw sabihin ni Archbishop yung mga pangalan ng mga opisyal ng gobyerno ay baka mapilitan din siyang sabihin yung pangalan ng mga taga-Simbahan na tumatanggap ng jueteng.

Nakowww!!!

Jinggoy on HK wrath: No big deal

At around 5 PM Thursday, Senator Jinggoy Estrada suffered China's wrath when his regular passport was thrown at him after it had been marked by a Hong Kong immigration officer. Jinggoy said the passport-throwing incident could have been triggered by the Manila hostage taking crisis last August 23 that killed eight Hong Kong nationals.

In a phone interview, however, the senator claimed that, “It was no big deal. I understand them.” The Inquirer added that Jinggoy also "opted not to make an issue out of the incident, acknowledging that the Chinese were still angered over the 11-hour hostage drama that had apparently exposed police inefficiency."

Tama naman si Jinggoy sa puntong huwag nang manggatong at huwag nang palakihin ang issue... pero teka. Di ba ang pagbabalita sa nangyari, lalo na sa media, ay pagpapalaki ng isyu? Ano ba talaga, Senator: Papalakihin ang isyu o hindi? Bakit niyo ibinalita? O baka na major major mistake din kayo sa di niyo alam na sinasabi ninyo?

Nakooowwww!!!!

Paz for peace or Paz for trouble?

"Paz" or "pax" means "peace". But with the Russian imbroglio, it appears that pass will be re-translated in the Philippines as "trouble" as Eliseo dela Paz, former PNP official, will be facing probes in the Senate and the Ombudsman.

Pero teka, why naman? Eh nagdala lang naman siya ng pera sa Russia worth P6.9 million as contingency fund cum cash advance? Ang mga banko nga billions pa ang mga pinag-uusapan at inililipat sa iba-ibang bansa, di ba? Eh may banko naman ata na pag-aari si dela Paz... meron ba?

Pero kung may banko si De la Paz, siguradong Land Bank yun o kaya PNB. Yun kasi ang banko ng gobyerno. Kay dela Paz na ba yun?

Pero wait, may banko o wala, bakit P6.9 million? Magtatayo ba ng mga day care centers sa Moscow? Kung P6.9 million at ang bawat day care center ay P300,000, marami-rami yun. Sa bayan nga ni Onyo, P24,000 me day care center na. Gawa sa pawid nga lang. Kung sabagay, ok lang yun. Teka, saang rehiyon ba sa Pilipinas ang Moscow? At bakit andun si De la Paz? Siya ba ang bago nating Cabinet Secretary? Kung hindi man, siya ba ang governor o mayor ng isa sa mga bayan dun?

Crazy!

Kung sabagay, De la Paz claims he has nothing to hide. Tama naman kaya nga na-expose ang P6.9 million di ba? So let us wait for the Ombudsman and the Senate muna. Sana di ma-PAZwash, i mean ma-hog-wash ang mga imbestigasyon. At sana ang mga taong bayan tulad din ng motto ni Mike Enriquez ang iniisip: Hindi namin kayo tatantanan!

Corruption, a matter of executive privilege?

In Tuesday's hearing on the question of law filed by Romulo Neri with regards his attendance to the Senate probe on NBN-ZTE Scandal, an agreement was reached. According to the high tribunal, Neri should attend the hearing but could not answer the following questions:

• Did the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) ask him to approve the contract despite his report of bribery and kickbacks?
  
• Did the President order him to prioritize the project?
  
• Did the President follow up on the contract?

It is said that those are matters of executive privilege, questions that clearly give the clues as to whether or not Arroyo indeed took a dip in the honey of corruption.

Kung sabagay, the Senate probe is not about whether Arroyo is corrupt or straight but as to whether or not the NBN-ZTE Contract is indeed anomalous. Isa pa, di pa naman nagbibigay ng final na desisyon ang Korte Suprema defining particularly what executive privilege really is and what are its limits and boundaries. But given these developments, and if in the end the Supreme Court will sustain the result of the compromise agreement, magkakaroon na ng precedent ang mga susunod na administrasyon. Una, puwede palang mangurakot ng mangurakot and when probes like the one being done by the Senate is conducted, i-invoke lang ang executive privilege. Ikalawa, magiging "for display purposes" na lang talaga ang Sections 27 and 28 ng Constitution which we quote:

Section 27. The State shall maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and effective measures against graft and corruption.

Section 28. Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.

Similarly, useless na rin ang mga anti-graft laws natin at laws on the code of conduct of public officials and employees dahil sa pamamagitan lang ng executive privilege, free as a bird na ang mga nasa top positions covered by the executive privilege.

Pero di pa naman tapos ang lahat. We still believe that the Supreme Court is still independent and that it can end the crisis involving executive priveleges in the soonest possible time.

Can't a sinner become a saint?

In yesterday's Senate hearing on the ZTE Broadband Scandal, Miriam "I lied!" Santiago confronted Jun Lozada with documents on the latter's alleged irregularities. She even portrayed Lozada "as a self-dealing government executive with political ambitions who acted as an agent for Jose de Venecia III, the first whistle-blower on the broadband scandal."

According to Santiago, she was merely testing the credibility of Lozada. Lozada, though, did not deny and admitted Santiago's accusations, mea culpa. Which reminds me of her "I am sorry" speech during the elections for her "mistakes" in supporting Erap and the EDSA III. Just to aid Tikboy's memories, Santiago was the one who spoke during the EDSA III and called on the people to storm Malacanang. She was also famous for saying she will jump from the airplane if ever Erap will be ousted. But when her obligation to jump was due, she just said: I lied, hehehe.

Because of her "mistakes", she lost the 2001 Senatorial elections. Fearing another failure, she asked for an apology over the media and sided with Gloria Arroyo. The people forgave her ... and won.

But with her reactions at Lozada, it appears that she forgot her past mistakes. And she forgot that the people also gave her another chance -- that is, by re-electing her. Or maybe she was not really forgiven and she doesn't think it that way. It could be that she also cheated her way to the Senate so why entertain the idea of the voters forgiving her? As she laughingly admitted that she lied, she can also laughingly admit that she cheated during the elections -- that is, if there are evidences shot at her face. So why, indeed, should she think of being forgiven and return the favor by also giving others another chance?

Kung sabagay, ang lohika ni Miriam ay "once a thief, always a thief". If this is the case, she remains to be a liar as a liar is a thief of truth. And her apology is nothing but a pure politically-motivated activity to boost her campaign. And if the logic is indeed "once a thief, always a thief", her boss, GMA, is also guilty for stealing people's votes as the "Hello, Garci!" remains undisputed to this day.

O di ba?

Senators on the move... err, movie

First, congratulations to Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada for their movies "Resiklo" and "Katas ng Saudi", respectively. And they are very active these days not in the halls of the Senate but in the televisions to promote their work.

But does this mean libre na tayo sa sinehan? Hmmmnn... And does this mean, the best na ang performance nila sa Senado?

Something is really amiss here. Revilla and Estrada are senators. I remember in our history class and I saw in a pirated DVD entitled "Rome" that eversince, senators are bound to help legislate laws, not to produce or act in movies. Are movies now the laws? It seems that my dictionary had been left behind.

Assuming that the term "laws" now refer to "movies", what are the social and economic significance of these "laws"? In the case of Revilla's "Resiklo", does his law means we "recycle" and create robots and make wars? Ganun ba yun? Or Estrada's Katas ng Saudi means we go for "drama"?

Kakalito naman. Can somebody help and tell in what dimension am I? As far as I know, movies are movies and laws are laws...

Mirriam's Logic

Mirriam Defensor-Santiago yesterday walked out of the National Broadband Network deal. Her reason: The senate is just being dragged into a case of 'kickbacks' double cross.

She also argued that the senate is just wasting its time for hearing those 'kickback' stories.

Teka, kala ko genius si Mirriam. Ba't di niya naiisip na tip of the iceberg lang ang kickback stories? Or medyo naiinis siya kasi million dollar kickbacks ang pinag-uusapan at ala pa ata sa kanyang nag-offer ng ganun?

Or masyadong matalino si Mirriam kaya ang mga simpleng bagay, di niya nabibigyang pansin. For this, let us count the ways why the Senate should continue investigating the NBN-ZTE deal:

1. NBN deal is a deal on corruption. Mantakin mo, million dollars ang pinag-uusapan. Si Neri, may 200. Si Abalos nag-offer sabi ni Neri. Ibig sabihin, mas malaki ang kay Abalos. At siyempre, mas malaki rin ang mga ibubulsa ng mga nasa likod ni Abalos. Si FG ba? Si Gloria?
   
2. NBN deal is a deal on the betrayal of public trust. Bakit ganun kabilis ang mga pangyayari? Bakit nabigla na lang tayo na meron palang ganun?Sabi ng mga taga-UP di naman daw masyado kailangan dahil kaya naman ng ating mga private companies. At bakit atat si Abalos? Si Gloria, pumunta pa ng China. Si Aling Tonya ni walang pamasahe papuntang Avenida. At bakit si Abalos na Chairman ng Comelec, mukhang nasa DOTC na? At si FG, while naglalaro sa Wack-wack, napasok pa sa eksena. Broker na rin ba? At bakit pa? Malinaw nmn sa Republic Act 3019, di ba?
3. NBN is a deal na kailangang pasanin ng mga mamamayan. Utang ba. At si Juan ang magpapasan. Eh ni wala ngang alam sa computer eh. Kahit nga ang anak niyang si Lilian, me subject ngang computer 101 eh hanggang tingin na lang sa keyboard dahil ang computer set sa school nila, pentium II na nga nag-iisa pa. At bilyong-bilyong piso ang pa ang babayaran.
4. At binabayaran ang mga senador na tulad ni Mirriam para siguraduhing bantayan ang kaban ng yaman at hindi lang ito basta malalaspag ng kung sino man. Kaya nga the power of the purse rests on the Congress di ba? At kilangan din siyempreng well-appraised ang mga tao sa mga ginagawa sa Senado, at ang mga batas tulad ng pakikipag-kontrata ng gobyerno. Kung walk-out lang ng walk-out, ba't di na lang kaya sila mag-walk out sa puwesto at ibalik ang pinangsahod sa kanila ng mga Pilipino?
   

So, di pa ba alam ni Mirriam kung bakit dapat siyang nakaupo din sa hearing? O inggit lang talaga siya sa million dollar kickbacks? Hmmmnnnn....