Category Archives: Economy

‘LES MISERABLES’ : PRESIDENT AQUINO ELATED OVER PHILIPPINES’ NEW WORLD RECORD

September 4, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – In his most recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July, Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino touted his administration’s accomplishments in the areas of economic and infrastructure development, modernization of the military and reforms to combat government corruption.

Aquino takes great pride in the fact that during his administration, the Philippines has been transformed from being the “sick man of Asia” to the region’s “new economic tiger.”

Today, Aquino told reporters he was extremely elated over a new world record attained by his country. The Philippines just made it to the top 21 list of “Most Miserable Countries.”

The list, put together by Bloomberg News, was based on a “misery index” developed by the late economist Arthur Okun. The index takes into account a country’s inflation and unemployment rates. The index was extremely popular during the Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan administrations.

The Philippines was number 16 on the list of 21, earning a misery index score of 11.90% (4.9% inflation rate and 7.0 % unemployment).

Aquino said, “Every Filipino should be very proud because we are the only country in Asia that made the list.”

Venezuela, the Philippines’ toughest rival in international beauty pageants, was number one on the miserable list.

Les Miserables, Philippines!

Economy, Health & Medicine, Religion

CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES TO START COLLECTING ‘SIN TAX’

August 21, 2014 Pol Pinoy 1 Comment

File photo: Philippine bishops with former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The influential Catholic Church in the Philippines can learn a thing or two from the country’s civilian government, especially around taxes.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is closely monitoring developments within the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) which recently announced that tax collection this year has increased because of the sin tax.

The sin tax is collected from sales of alcohol and tobacco. According to BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, there has been a 29.7 percent increase in excise tax collections in just the first semester of the current fiscal year. This growth was driven by a 44.44 percent increase in collections from tobacco products and 11.62 percent increase from alcohol.

In an emergency meeting convened last night by CBCP president Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the country’s top prelates strategized on how to deal with the declining church revenue from the Sunday collection baskets.

Citing the success of the BIR’s sin tax collections, Villegas proposed that the church institute something similar. He proposed that instead of asking people to pray Hail Marys or the rosary as part of their penance when going to confession, priests will ask repentants to contribute money to the church, much like a sin tax. Priests will be given the authority to determine how much sin tax to impose, depending on whether the sins confessed are mortal or venial sins.

Special collection boxes will be installed beside confessional boxes in all churches in the country for this purpose.

The CBCP expects to increase its collections by 200 percent once this proposal is implemented. Villegas said CBCP will ask Pope Francis’ blessing for the sin tax when the head of the Roman Catholic Church visits the Philippines next January.

Economy, Politics

PRESIDENT AQUINO TO POLITICIANS: CAMPAIGNING FOR 2016 CAN WAIT TILL AFTER CHA-CHA

August 19, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – President Aquino on Monday criticized the politicians who are already gearing up for the 2016 Philippine presidential elections.

In his speech during the inauguration of a bridge and a connecting road network in Cagayan province, Aquino said talks on the next elections can wait. He said politicians should right now focus on solving the problems of the country.

Among the politicians who have been talking with the media about the 2016 polls lately was Vice President Jejomar Binay, the front-runner in the presidential surveys.

In an interview with The Adobo Chronicles, Aquino said that Binay and other presidential aspirants should at least wait until a constitutional convention is held to amend the law to allow the president to have a second six-year term.

Under the current constitution, the president is limited to one, six-year term which expires in 2016.

Aquino’s allies in Congress have been pushing to convene a constitutional convention, more popularly known in the country as Cha-Cha, to amend the law and allow Aquino to stay on as president beyond 2016. Aquino seems to be warming up to the idea.

“If the campaigning starts now, it seems I will be at a disadvantage. Let’s wait until after the constitution is amended to allow me to run for another term,” Aquino said.”It’s a matter of fairness,” he added.