Polegov

Kan luminangkaw an presyo kan lada asin nagdalagan sa sarong ribo hanggang un mil dosyentos, duminakula man su paglaom ni Manoy Juan na mag-asenso. Kaya nag-arkila siya ki sadit na lote para mag-oma ki lada na ipapabakal. Nag-popoon pa lang mag-tubo su mga tanom niya, buminagsak tulos su presyo na uminabot sa P300 hanggang P500.  (When the price of chili pepper rose to P1 thousand to P1.2 thousand, Manoy Juan’s hope to increase his income grew. So he rented a small farm to plant peppers and sell his produce. His plants were starting to grow when the price dropped to P300 to P500.) The story of Manoy Juan is the story of most farmers. A few years back, when I was doing a study on the political feasibility of the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP), I was told that farmers in Western Visayas were encouraged to plant patola or loofah (either  Luffa acutangular or Luffa aegyptiaca/Luffa cylindrica ) because of the information from the Department of Agriculture (DA) that there

Food sufficiency in the Philippines still remain an impossible dream as clearly shown by the actions and policies of the government. When inflation hit 9.7% this September 2018, the immediate response was to flood the market with imported products. That was logical as a “vulcaseal” solution but a bad idea for long term direction. We may be able to address food security temporarily but never food security. Unfortunately, the importation policy will be here to stay. As Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol clearly stated : "Our food security program requires a ten- to 20 year-forward planning and we're looking at Papua New Guinea as our food security insurance… So if our 3.9 million hectares could feed 95 percent of Filipinos right now, you can just imagine what four million hectares in Papua New Guinea would be able to contribute to our food security program.” First, the vision is only food security not sustainability. Second, food security will be realized not

At the height of the “Hello Garci!” Scandal, Congressman Joey Salceda (2 nd Dist., Albay) jokingly called then-President-and-now-House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) as the “ luckiest bitch ”. Despite several impeachment complaints, she stood her post and was never removed like convicted plunderer Joseph Ejercito Estrada, or embattled Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona. But was she really a “lucky bitch”? After stepping down from her post as President, she ran for Congress and spent most of her time in hospital arrest. But when the time came that she was acquitted of plunder, she immediately removed her neck brace that symbolized a fragile state not befitting even a minute in prison. This was followed by her rising in power leading to her installation as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives. Could these successive and favorable events just prove her being “lucky”? If GMA is just lucky, the probability of randomness of the events favorable to her is ver

 The Local Government Code of 1991 (RA 7160), in affirming the Department of Interior and Local Government Act of 1990 (RA 6975), allows local chief executives to exercise supervision and control over the police force in their respective jurisdictions. Unfortunately, this was revoked in the case of  one governor from Region 9 and 24 mayors from different regions because of their alleged links to illegal drugs. The list of those stripped with power over the local police are the following: Antonio Ceriles, governor of Zamboanga del Sur Crisinciano Mahilac - Mayor of Sinacaban Misamis Oriental Michael Gutierrez - Mayor of Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental Donjie Animas - Mayor of Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental Jason Almonte - Mayor of Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental Juanidy Viña - Mayor of Concepcion, Misamis Occidental Ezel Villanueva - Mayor of Calamba, Misamis Occidental Ferdinand Aguinaldo - Mayor of Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte Andres Lacson - Mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac

How can you ensure that the project will be sustainable? This is the common question to local government units (LGUs) presenting their programs for evaluation in the search for Galing Pook programs. The common response: Institutionalization by means of policies and ordinances. Indeed, institutionalization is one of the ways to sustain the programs and projects. In the Philippines, however, while policies and ordinances may set the tone and the environment for sustainability, they do not guarantee that the projects will continue after the administration that initiated them. This is because of the lack of strong political institutions and the highly personality-oriented system of politics and governance in the country.  Cases in point are the city and municipal development plans which are literally shelved when a new officials are elected. At the national level, there is   also the Bottom-Up Budgeting Program (BUBP) initiated by the Aquino Administration (2010-2016). Des