Tag Archives: Philippines

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

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.

 

PRESIDENT AQUINO WANTS MANILA’S INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RENAMED

imageManila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Manila’s International Airport is named after his late father, but Philippine President Noynoy Aquino wants the name changed. This, after the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) again got ranked as one of the world’s worst airports.

According to a list compiled by US website Cheat Sheet, NAIA is among the 10 worst airports in the world because of its poor facilities and long queues. Cheat Sheet also cited the airport’s “impolite” staff, despite Filipinos being known around the world for their warmth.

The article also mentioned the airport’s overcapacity, which has resulted to long lines that begin outside the terminal. Some  32 million passengers use NAIA each year despite the fact that it only has the capacity for 6 million passengers.

In 2013, NAIA was named worst airport in the world by travel website Sleeping In Airports, which asked travelers to rank airports based on comfort, conveniences, cleanliness, and customer service.

In talking to reporters, President Aquino said that he doesn’t want the Aquino name to be dragged for anything that is negative and unpopular.  Asked if he had any new name in mind for the airport, Aquino said, “For all I care, they can name it Gloria Macapagal Arroyo International Airport,” referring to his predecessor and political nemesis.

Aquino has consistently blamed Arroyo for all the ills and problems now faced by the Philippines.

Upon hearing about Aquino’s statement, Representative and former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos proposed that NAIA be renamed Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport.

Ninoy Aquino was assassinated in the tarmac of the airport during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

POPE FRANCIS REPRIMANDS PHILIPPINE MAYOR

Mayor Petilla of Palo, Leyte in the Philippines (photo: ABS-CBN News)
Mayor Petilla of Palo, Leyte in the Philippines (photo: ABS-CBN News)

Vatican City, Italy (The Adobo Chronicles) – Pope Francis sent a strongly-worded letter to the mayor of Palo, Leyte in the Philippines, reprimanding her for attempting to hide the truth from the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.  The pope is scheduled to visit the Philippines next January and wants to meet with the victims devastated and rendered homeless by last year’s typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).

Mayor Remedios Petilla of Palo wants to transfer 250 families living in bunk houses in Barangay Candahug to another place five kilometers away so they will not be very visible when Pope Francis visits the town in January. The families, who had been staying in the bunk houses in Candahug after their houses were destroyed by the supertyphoon on Nov. 8, 2013, would be transferred to other bunk houses in Barangay Tacuranga or permanent relocation sites ahead of the papal visit.

The transfer “is being fast tracked because of the scheduled visit of the Pope next year,” Petilla said.

Pope Francis
Pope Francis

In his letter to Petilla, Pope Francis said, “What part of ‘visiting the typhoon victims’ do you not understand? That is the primary reason I am coming to the Philippines. Do not displace them just to impress me because I am not that easily impressed, especially by those who are not truthful like yourself.”

The Vatican is considering papal visit guidelines which now include banning Mayor Petilla from coming anywhere close to the pope when he visits Leyte.