Duterte is In

                                

The announcement by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte that he is running for  president in the May 2016 elections gives the Filipino electorate one more choice as to who they want to lead the nation for the next six years.

Duterte's entry into the presidential race makes it a five-way contest, pitting him against Sen. Grace Poe, United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay, Liberal Party bet and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, and Sen. Miriam Santiago. 

The latest survey of presidentiables shows Poe still the frontrunner, followed by Binay and Roxas. Duterte managed to get double-digit ratings in previous surveys even if he had said time and again that he would not seek the presidency. This could be explained by the fact that he has succeeded in bringing criminals to heel in his home turf, and his avid supporters believe that he can do the same on a nationwide scale.

What we know about Duterte is that, apart from going hammer and tongs after criminals, including drug traffickers, he wants a shift to a federal form of government, an advocacy he shares with former Sen. Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., the former head of the PDP-Laban party under whose banner the city mayor will make a stab at the presidency. We will get to know his full platform once the official campaign period starts next year, but at this point, suffice it to say that a five-way presidential race offers voters a wide range of platforms.

Or perhaps options, since their platforms are not expected to differ much from each other. 

Image by mb.com.ph

Early X'mas

 

It's heartening to know that House leaders have vowed to prioritize the passage on third and final reading of the measure increasing the salaries and benefits of government employees when Congress resumes sessions today.

According to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., House Bill 6268, otherwise known as the proposed Salary Standardization Law of 2015, will immediately be tackled by the chamber at the plenary.

For his part, Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II said the House can pass the measure once a quorum has been established.

Under the measure, the minimum salary (Salary Grade 1) for government employees would be raised from P9,000 to P11,068 in the next four years. The monthly pay of the next President, who enjoys Salary Grade 33, will increase from the current P120,000 to P399,733 when the final tranche of the pay hike has been implemented.

The pay hike for government workers will be effected through a combination of a salary increase, a 14th month pay, and an enhanced performance-based bonus to be implemented over a four-year period, from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2019.

 A pay hike would be an excellent Christmas gift for all government workers, even if the pay raise will start only in January next year.

Image by www.topnews.in

Apec united vs terror

It’s good that the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Manila came out with a strongly worded condemnation of terrorism amid a call for greater cooperation in achieving growth and prosperity.

After all, the meeting took place in the shadow of terror attacks in Paris and Beirut and the downing of a Russian airliner over Egypt over their economic agenda.

“We will not allow terrorism to threaten the fundamental values that underpin our free and open economies,” the Apec leaders said in a declaration issued after their summit yesterday.

“Economic growth, prosperity and opportunity are among the most powerful tools to address the root causes of terrorism and radicalization. We stress the urgent need for increased international cooperation and solidarity in the fight against terrorism,” the leaders said in their joint declaration.

The declaration also denounced “all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all their forms and manifestations.”

The Apec leaders’ last major statement against terrorism was in Shanghai in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

“We further encourage economies to implement fully the APEC Consolidated Counter-Terrorism and Secure Trade Strategy and to continue taking collective and individual actions and sharing best practices to secure infrastructure, travel, supply chains and financial systems from terrorist activities,” the declaration read.

Will this statement in any way deter the Islamic State from launching further terrorist attacks. Not at all, it would seem. But at least they should know that many countries condemn their actions in the strongest terms—and that if they continue to do so, then they will have to face the consequences.  

Apec unites against terror

It’s good that the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Manila came out with a strongly worded condemnation of terrorism amid a call for greater cooperation in achieving growth and prosperity.

After all, the meeting took place in the shadow of terror attacks in Paris and Beirut and the downing of a Russian airliner over Egypt over their economic agenda.

 “We will not allow terrorism to threaten the fundamental values that underpin our free and open economies,” the Apec leaders said in a declaration issued after their summit yesterday.

 “Economic growth, prosperity and opportunity are among the most powerful tools to address the root causes of terrorism and radicalization. We stress the urgent need for increased international cooperation and solidarity in the fight against terrorism,” the leaders said in their joint declaration.

The declaration also denounced “all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all their forms and manifestations.”

The Apec leaders’ last major statement against terrorism was in Shanghai in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

“We further encourage economies to implement fully the APEC Consolidated Counter-Terrorism and Secure Trade Strategy and to continue taking collective and individual actions and sharing best practices to secure infrastructure, travel, supply chains and financial systems from terrorist activities,” the declaration read.

Will this statement in any way deter the Islamic State from launching further terrorist attacks. Not at all, it would seem. But at least they should know that many countries condemn their actions in the strongest terms—and that if they continue to do so, then they will have to face the consequences.  

                                              

Trash talk

Totally dismayed—and understandably so—were the environmentalists who expected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take back some 100 shipping containers misdeclared by an Ontario-based firm as plastic scraps but later found out to be household wastes.

A total of 103 containers of trash consignments from Canada entered the country in 10 batches and intercepted by Customs authorities from June 2013 to January 2014.

Trudeau said Canada is looking at a “Canadian solution” and possibly amending legislation to address the unresolved problem of a garbage shipment from a Canadian company to Manila.

The Canadian prime minister made no clear commitment to take back their trash:  “I have obviously been made aware of this situation and told that there is a Canadian solution in the process of being developed.  And at the same time, this has exposed a problem that needs fixing within our own legislation,” Trudeau said.  

Pressed on what such solution might be, Trudeau said part of resolving the matter would be to plug loopholes that allowed the incident to happen in the first place: “I think going forward, we need to ensure that if a situation like this were to arise once again, the Canadian government will have more power to actually demand action from the companies responsible."

Environmentalist groups have since been urging the government to compel Canada to take back the garbage, citing the Basel Convention that bars developed countries from dumping wastes on less developed countries.

The Canadian Embassy has maintained that the case was a private commercial matter between Chronic Inc. and its Philippine partner, Chronic Plastics.

From the looks of it, given Trudeau's pronouncement,  the stink from Canadian garbage is here to stay.        

The lesson here? Our environmentalists should probably direct their lobbying and advocacy efforts at the Canadian legislature—and the Canadian people themselves to exert pressure on their own legislators.

Image  by www.eco-business.com