Tag Archives: Philippines

Government, International, Military, Politics

PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT WILL VIOLATE ITS OWN ‘NO RANSOM’ POLICY

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles ) – Ah, the price of peace in the Philippines!

The proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region that will be created should the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) be passed is expected to receive P336.9 billion total funds over a period of five years. This includes the nearly P37 billion allocations for 2016 approved by the Committee on Appropriations and Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) projected that the Bangsamoro region is set to receive a total of P56.6 billion in 2016; P58.2 billion in 2017; P65.9 billion in 2018; P73.5 billion in 2019; and, P82.7 billion in 2020.

President NoyNoy Aquino and many legislators are aggressively campaigning for the approval of the controversial  BBL, in their desperate attempt to put an end to the decades-long Muslim insurgency and separatist movement  in southern Philippines.

The Philippine government, of course, has been steadfast in its “no ransom” policy for the kidnapping of foreigners as well as Filipino citizens.  But Aquino and the legislators seem to be willing to violate that same policy to buy back  the elusive peace in Mindanao.

Money talks. But the question is : whose money?

(We think they’re  called taxpayers.)

Government, Politics, Religion

NATIONAL BOOKSTORE TO PUBLISH ANNOTATED EDITION OF PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION’S PREAMBLE

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Philippines’ premier publishing company and book seller, National Bookstore, is reportedly  coming out with a much-awaited annotated version of the Philippine Constitution’s Preamble, just in time for the start of the political season leading up to the 2016 presidential elections.

In just the last few days, there have been a lot of news and speculation about who is running for president and vice president. Among those constantly mentioned are Vice President Jejomar Binay, Interior and Local Governments Secretary Mar Roxas, Senators Grace Poe, Chiz Escudero and Miriam Defensor Santiago, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Even incarcerated Senator Bong Revilla, Jr.

Boxer Manny Pacquiao is on the short list, although because of constitutional age restrictions (one has to be 40 years old), he is not eligible to run in 2016.

The Adobo Chronicles obtained a copy of the annotated preamble, which easily falls under the category of published “Books For Dummies.” or “Do It Yourself” publications.

Here, in full, is the annotated preamble, with annotations marked in parentheses:

“We, the sovereign Filipino people (ever dependent on the United States of America for the security of our nation), imploring the aid of Almighty God (and the dictates of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines), in order to build a just and humane society (for the rich, privileged and connected), establish a (corrupt) Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations (reflecting those of inept and clueless elected officials), promote the common good (of the top 1%), conserve and develop our patrimony (inspired by Hollywood), and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of (a fairy tale) independence and democracy under the rule of law (lessness) and a regime of (half) truth, (in) justice, (faux) freedom, (philandering) love, equality (except for the poor, LGBT, women and working class) and peace (in accordance with misdirected Bangsamoro Basic Law), do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.”

 

The Media

MAJOR PHILIPPINE NEWSPAPER ACCUSED OF SEXISM

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – A major daily newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), has been accused of sexism after it published a provocative photo of a woman in her bikini on its front page.

Senator Pia Cayetano criticized PDI for publishing the photo, describing it as “degredation and commodification of women.” Many women’s groups joined Cayetano in condemning PDI.

Interestingly enough,  the sexism charge didn’t come from Cayetano or the women’s groups. Rather, it came from gay male and straight male groups that accused PDI of not being “fair and balanced.”

The groups told The Adobo Chronicles, “Why do they always publish provocative photos of women, but not men?  “The newspaper is obviously biased against men, and that is plain and simple sexism,” they added.

Responding to the criticism, PDI apologized to its readers and promised to feature a provocative male photo in one of its future issues. “We may have to wait until the next male beauty pageant,” the PDI said.