Tag Archives: Philippines

PROPOSED BILL TO REPLACE ADOBO WITH LECHON AS THE PHILIPPINES’ NATIONAL DISH

August 25, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Senator Nancy Binay, daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, has filed a new bill that would make lechon (roasted pig) the official national dish of the Philippines.

Until recently, the “unofficial’ national dish was the adobo.

In filing the new bill, Binay said that the main reason she wanted to replace adobo with lechon was to memorialize Congress’ pork barrel which many believe will soon be extinct. A major signature campaign has been initiated by Filipino grassroots groups asking Congress to permanently abolish pork barrel.

“Making lechon the national dish will be a constant reminder to all Filipinos of the many ghost projects that have been successfully funded through the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). PDAF, also known as pork barrel funds, is the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured primarily to bring money to a Congressional district.

Earlier this year, a 10 Billion-peso pork barrel scam rocked Congress and the nation, leading to indictments and the arrest of business persons and politicians who allegedly pocketed taxpayer funds intended for non-existent projects and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

While the chicken industry is totally opposed to the new bill, the country’s swine producers are throwing their full support for the measure. As a compromise, the chicken raisers are proposing that lechon and chicken adobo be designated as “co-national dish.”

Binay is scheduled to convene a townhall meeting next week to hear the pros and cons of her measure.

Health & Medicine, Technology, The Media

A CHALLENGE TO PHILIPPINES’ DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

August 23, 2014 Pol Pinoy 1 Comment

Every so often The Adobo Chronicles veers away from the satirical nature of our posts to bring to the attention of our readers and followers items that are serious and important, like ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. (To learn more about the disease, visit alsa.org)

By now the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has reached the Philippines and is starting to gain momentum. But alas, we just learned that the Philippines’ Department of Health does NOT have data on ALS in the country, or to what extent this horrible disease is affecting Filipinos and their loved ones.

So here is a different kind of challenge to DOH Secretary Dr. Enrique Ona:

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.