Category Archives: The Media

Economy, International, Politics, The Media

FORBES ARTICLE GOT IT ALL WRONG ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES’ BUDGET DEFICIT, AQUINO GOVERNMENT INSISTS

Leave a comment

10710969_10203518050845530_5362568196257307442_nManila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Aquino government blasted a recent article in Forbes magazine claiming that the Philippines’ economic boom is a bubble waiting to burst.

The article was authored by economic analyst Jesse Colombo who writes that the Philippines’ economic progress and status as an emerging market  —  often touted by President Aquino in his state of the nation address and speeches abroad — is deceiving. Colombo points to the continued disparity between the few rich people and the rest of the population and that investors’ insatiable hunger for emerging market debt has caused the Philippines’ external debt to spike in recent years.

Specifically, Aquino’s Budget Secretary Florencio Abad challenged the claim by Colombo that the Philippine government has been running a budget deficit since 1999, which includes the last 5 years of the Aquino administration.

Pointing to the graph showing the deficit years, Abad said Forbes magazine seems to have inverted the graph, and that the bars showing the deficit should be pointing upwards instead of downwards.  He said this is how the graph should look like:

inverted

It appears that Abad failed to  recognize the source of the graphic — the Aquino administration’s own Department of Finance.

 

Law Enforcement, Politics, The Media

FCC TO BAN THE TERM ‘REDNECKS’ FROM THE AIRWAVES

Leave a comment
Grammy Award-winner Gretchen Wilson, 'Redneck Woman'
Grammy Award-winner Gretchen Wilson, ‘Redneck Woman’

Washington, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – Just hours after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it will consider banning the term ‘Redskins’ from the airwaves, Commissioner Tom Wheeler said  it will do the same for the term ‘Rednecks.’

Redskins, of course, is the name of the NFL football team which Native Americans and other advocacy groups consider to be offensive and derogatory.  There has been extensive debate in the media as well as in the sports and political arenas about the continued use of the name by the Washington, D.C. team.

The term Redneck is often used to describe a rural poor white person of the Southern United States. It can be a derogatory slang term similar in meaning to ‘cracker,’  ‘hillbilly,’ and ‘white trash.’ In the mid-1970’s, the term had expanded in meaning to refer to ‘a bigoted and conventional person, a loutish ultra-conservative.’ It is often used to attack white Southern conservatives. At the same time, some white Southerners have reclaimed the word, using it with pride and defiance as a self-identifier.

The FCC said it will soon conduct public hearings in America’s heartland, to determine whether to ban the term ‘Rednecks’ from all broadcasts. “The FCC is certainly sensitive to populations that are offended by any and all terms used in the broadcast industry,” said Wheeler.

One person that is sure to attend the public hearings to oppose the ban is Grammy Award-winner Gretchen Wilson whose 2004 debut song  ‘Redneck Woman’ won the ‘Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Asian American Journalists Association is reportedly preparing a petition for the FCC to ban all terms and references that are offensive to Asians and Asian Americans, including ‘Jap,’ ‘Chink’ and ‘Gook.’

Religion, The Media

VATICAN SCOLDS CATHOLIC FOUNDATION OVER NEW COMIC BOOK

1 Comment

imageVatican City, Italy (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Vatican has sent a stern reprimand to the Communication Foundation for Asia (CFA) for spreading false information that Pope Francis is merely a comic book superhero.

Based in Manila, CFA is a not-for-profit foundation whose mission is to harness the power of communication in order to promote Christian values and empower people in need towards social transformation.

In preparation for the Philippine visit in January by Pope Francis, the foundation has published a new comic book depicting the leader of the Catholic church as a fictitious character in the likes of Superman, Batman and Spiderman. The comic book’s title is “A Pope Named Francis.”

In its letter, The Vatican said that “Pope Francis is a real person, not a comic book superhero. While he seems too good to be true because of his down-to-earth policies and actions, the Pope is real. Let us not mislead our children – and adults – to believe otherwise.”

In view of the scolding, the foundation is now considering several alternatives on what to do with the millions of copies of the new comic book. One of the options being mulled is to burn the copies in a huge bonfire to be held at Rizal Park (Luneta) in Manila on the eve of Pope Francis’ arrival in the Philippines.

To cover the cost of producing the comic books, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is designating this Sunday’s collections to reimburse the foundation. CBCP appealed to the Filipinos to drop real money — not play money — in the collection basket.