Spring of hope runs out EDITORIAL 11/13/2011

Spring of hope runs out

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

11/13/2011
The recent string of indicting studies on the country describing it as a mine field for business for having either the most hated or the worst airport in the world; a justice system that is unstable as the minds of the judges who run it and the unpredictable policies of government, all add up to conclude that Noynoy is failing miserably in the front of attracting foreign investments.

Noynoy’s biggest fault is resting on his presidential campaign laurels, stoked mostly by public sympathy owing to the death of his mother, the late Cory Aquino, which an economist recently described thus as his inability to convert what is supposed to be an overwhelming vote, which remains disputable, as fuel to get the economy moving..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111113com1.html

Boomerang FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 11/13/2011

Boomerang

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

11/13/2011
Noynoy and his Justice chief certainly must be seen by the world as a laughing stock and an embarrassment to the Filipino people, what with their insistence in claiming that Gloria Arroyo has been using the travel for medical purposes as a stepping stone to become a political asylee in any of the countries she has listed down to which the country has no extradition treaty.

Both Leila de Lima and of course Noynoy — by virtue of what his dums-dums of spokesmen parrot — even went to the extent of spreading the rumor of Gloria having sought political asylum with the papers from the Dominican Republic handed personally to her by the DR’s Ambassador to India — to the point of saying that this text message based on Yellow rumor will have to be verified by the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs, thus internationalizing Noynoy’s vindictive and persecutorial issue against Gloria, and coming off as thoroughly stupid and embarrasing to a nation..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111113com2.html

w/ VIDEO: 'Gaddafi couldn't kill more people than NATO did' – Syrian deputy FM

'Gaddafi couldn't kill more people than NATO did' – Syrian deputy FM

Even if Gaddafi had lived for another 100 years, he could not have killed even a fraction of the number obliterated by NATO during its intervention in Libya, claims Syria’s deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal al-Mikdad, in an exclusive interview with RT.

­The top Syrian diplomat recalled that NATO’s aggression against Libya was carried out under the guise of restoring human rights and protecting civilians.

­‘They send money to kill Syrians’

Syria’s deputy FM has demanded that the countries financially and militarily supporting armed religious extremists on his country’s soil assume responsibility for financing terrorism.

Faisal al-Mikdad acknowledges that terrorist groups within Syria are being financed in an unofficial way by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan, and he has appealed to the people of these countries not to support such activities..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/syria-religious-extremists-finance-007/

Behest sale N.O . N.O.N.S.E.N.S.E Jacinto ‘Jing’ Paras 11/13/2011

Behest sale

N.O . N.O.N.S.E.N.S.E

Jacinto ‘Jing’ Paras

11/13/2011
If Sen. Serge Osmeña will look into the possibility that Ashmore may have violated some laws of the country and such violation was aided by certain government officials, he should inquire into the sale of the 40 percent share of Aramco in Petron to Ashmore.

It appears that Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) waived its right of first refusal in favor of Ashmore after which the sale of Aramco shares in Petron was hurriedly consumated despite the suspicion that Ashmore was not a qualified buyer in view of certain conditions set under the Aramco-Petron Sale Agreement. However, it is bruited about that certain PNOC officials allegedly manipulated the sale thereby ignoring and brushing aside the conditions that were supposed to be followed.

If the conditions in the original Aramco Petron Sale Agreement were only followed strictly, Ashmore may not have qualified as the third party buyer of the Aramco shares. .... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111113com5.html

Social justice VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 11/13/2011

Social justice

VIEWPOINTS

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

11/13/2011
“Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic and political inequalities and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good. To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use and disposition of property and its increment.” (Philippine Constitution, Article XIII, Section 1)
It is worth noting that the above inherently significant and highly relevant constitutional provision is directly under the overall title of “Social Justice and Human Rights.”

Among other things, there is the marked indication that the above cited stipulation in the Philippine Constitution is not only mandatory but also urgent. It would be good to take note of the following facts. First, that the Philippine Constitution has been inspired by no less than the maternal origin of the incumbent President. Second, that the same Constitution became the Fundamental Law of the Land since 1986. Third, the said constitutional provision is now some two decades and a half years old — and the Filipinos in general have yet to live and savor the advent of social justice in the country as a whole..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111113com7.html

Big difference TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 11/13/2011

Big difference

TABLETS OF STONE

Larry Faraon, OP

11/13/2011
Twitters are plucking the compassionate and humanitarian strings of the Filipino heart beyond the legal and political on this issue of the medical alleviation to the condition of Rep. Gloria Arroyo overseas. More often the argument is historical citing profusely the “humanitarian” accommodations afforded by the late President Ferdinand Marcos to Sen. Benigno Aquino and that of President Gloria Arroyo to President Joseph Estrada. Such precedents, however, are non-sequiturs, not even valid arguments even considering the “humanitarian” rationale or justification for allowing the former president to travel overseas to seek medical treatment from experts.

However, there is gap of difference in all three cases.

Clearly, the late dictator Marcos’ move allowing Sen. Benigno Aquino’s coronary bypass in the United States in 1980 was a political strategy convenient for lapdogs whose hides are pestered by the “tic” that was the opposition Ninoy. It was actually an exile whereby Marcos’ hegemonic estimates would be forever for the outspoken senator. Fate, however, overlapped and Ninoy stubbornly headed for home leading to his assassination..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111113com6.html

Noynoy blows hot air at Apec forum 11/13/2011

Noynoy blows hot air at Apec forum

11/13/2011
President Aquino bereft of any solid achievement at the homefront turned to blowing his own non-existent horn yesterday before a group of corporate chief executive officers at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum business summit as he bragged about the country not needing to import rice anymore and a discovery of a major natural gas deposit which will be bigger than the Malampaya field.

The Malampaya gas field is already a major source of natural gas that feeds at least three high-capacity power plants.

Aquino is in Honolulu, Hawaii for a three-day working visit to attend the 2011 Apec Leaders’ Meeting from Nov. 11 to 13..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111113hed2.html

Gov’t renews pledge to countries affected by deployment ban 11/13/2011

Gov’t renews pledge to countries affected by deployment ban

11/13/2011
The Philippine government will continue to work with countries affected by the deployment ban imposed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for the benefit of overseas Filipino workers, Malacañang yesterday said.

“We will continue to consult the stakeholders and coordinate with our friends, the countries that will be the subject of the list (ban),” deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said in a radio interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan yesterday.

“It’s not a judgment on the country; it’s not a judgment on the friendship but we would like to work with them, to continue to work with them on how to deal with the situation because.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111113hed3.html

Palawan’s underground river one of world’s new wonders of nature 11/13/2011

Palawan’s underground river one of world’s new wonders of nature

11/13/2011
The Philippines’ Puerto Princesa Underground River, the Amazon rainforest, Vietnam’s Halong Bay and Argentina’s Iguazu Falls were named among the world’s new seven wonders of nature, according to organizers of a global poll.

The other three crowned the world’s natural wonders are South Korea’s Jeju Island,
Indonesia’s Komodo and South Africa’s Table Mountain, said the Zurich-based New7Wonders Foundation, citing provisional results.

Final results will be announced early 2012, said the Swiss foundation, warning there may yet be changes between the provisional winners and the final list..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111113hed5.html

Bulacan execs concerned over Ipo, Bustos dams 11/13/2011

Bulacan execs concerned over Ipo, Bustos dams

11/13/2011
MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan — Two big dams in Bulacan have serious problems that need immediate action from the national government to prevent future flooding in many parts of the province, Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado said yesterday.

In the weekly radio program “The Governor’s Hour” aired over dwSS with co-host Rommel Ramos, Alvarado said that he, together with Vice Gov. Daniel Fernando and members of the Sangguniang Panglalawigan are calling on the national government to act fast on the problems besetting Ipo dam and the 13-year-old Bustos rubber dam.

The governor said that they were shocked after learning that Maynilad, a concessionaire of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, is directly using Ipo dam as its main reservoir for 14 years now..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111113nat4.html

Pacquiao, Marquez make weight for battle 11/13/2011

Pacquiao, Marquez make weight for battle

11/13/2011
LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao tipped the scales at 143 pounds, his lightest fighting weight in 2 1/2 years, while Juan Manuel Marquez matched his heaviest ever at 142 in Friday’s weigh-in for their third fight.

Filipino icon Pacquiao, 53-3 with two drawn and 38 knockouts, risks his 14-fight win streak and the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown on Saturday against Mexico’s Marquez, who is 53-5 with one drawn and 39 knockouts.

Marquez, a lightweight champion moving up in size, also weighed 142 pounds in his only prior welterweight fight, a 2009 loss by decision in 2009 to unbeaten US star Floyd Mayweather.

“He’s a big target,” Pacquiao said. “It’s not easy to put on more weight and maintain your speed. You get slower. My speed is going to be a problem for him.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/sports/20111113spo1.html

Three golds put RP drive on right gear 11/13/2011

TAEKWONDO, ATHLETICS DELIVER

Three golds put RP drive on right gear

11/13/2011
PALEMBANG, Indonesia — Women power charged the Philippine drive that generated three gold medals on Saturday while other Filipino athletes salvaged as many silvers and four bronze medals in the 26th Southeast Asian Games being held here, Jakarta and West Java.

Marestella Torres, pushing herself to the limit to extend a career which obtained the first feather in 2005, cleared 6.71m in the third of six attempts in long jump at the Jakabaring Sports City for the gold medal and erased a Games’ standard she herself posted in the 2009 edition of the SEAG in Laos.

Over in Jakarta, Rani Ann Ortega Francesca Camille Alarilla and Ma. Carla Janice Lagman obliterated the frustrations of the taekwondo world championships in Russia edging a newly crowned world titlist team from Vietnam by a mere half point in a much-talked about head-to-head in women’s poomsae..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/sports/20111113spo8.html

Dumb EDITORIAL 11/12/2011

Dumb

EDITORIAL

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11/12/2011
Law is logic, it is often said, but apparently some lawyers, especially Malacaang lawyers, serving as the presidential spokesmen and aides of Noynoy Aquino are direct contradictions of what law and logic are all about.

Because the former president, Gloria Arroyo, has thumbed down the offer of Noynoy to fly in specialists of her own choice to perform whatever they have to perform, and on government expense, Noynoys chief mouthpiece Edwin Lacierda concluded and quite illogically that Gloria has practically admitted that her medical condition is not life-threatening.

Huh? How on earth did Lacierda arrive at this illogical conclusion? How does her rejection of Noynoys offer translate to her admission that her medical condition is not life-threating?.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111112com1.html

Relying on text messages FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 11/12/2011

Relying on text messages

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

11/12/2011
Incredible! We actually have a Justice chief who relies on text messages rumors to substantiate her “suspicions” of a yet to be charged in court Gloria Arroyo, obviously in her, and the Solgen’s bid to get the Supreme Court to see it their way.

As things stood, a day later, Leila de Lima had to admit that she had no proof that the Arroyos, mere et pere, have plans to seek political asylum in the Dominican Republic.

Of course she couldn’t have had any proof, foreign office verification assistance or not. She just looked like an incompetent justice chief who would even use text messages as evidence against suspects, which in turn makes her DoJ investigations and findings highly suspect.

Today she says that she was the soul of propriety by announcing the “reports” based on text messages, clearly stemming from a pro-Noynoy columnist, no doubt picked up by the Malacañang text brigade..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111112com2.html

Flood-ravaged Thailand prays to water goddess focus 11/12/2011

Flood-ravaged Thailand prays to water goddess

focus

11/12/2011
BANGKOK — Each year as the monsoon draws to an end, Thais thank the water goddess for sustaining life. But with deadly floods now plaguing the kingdom, many feel she has been a little too generous of late.

The centuries-old Loi Krathong festival is usually an occasion for celebration with ornately-decorated traditional banana-leaf lanterns set adrift in rivers, canals and lakes under the night sky.

This year it is a reminder of the kingdom’s bitter-sweet relationship with water, which has left more than 500 people dead and wreaked havoc in the worst flooding to befall the nation in half a century.

The festival, which also aims to seek forgiveness for polluting the precious resource, comes as questions mount over successive governments’ management of water development and urban planning..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111112com3.html

IAEA report on Iran exposed as a BIG fraud

10.11.2011

 

Ahmadinejad rejects U.S. allegations on nuclear weapons

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country does not need nuclear weapons to "cut the hands" of the United States, and can achieve their goals by peaceful means, thus repudiating claims about its nuclear program.

"Our nation can achieve success through reflection, its rich culture and prudence," Ahmadinejad said in criticizing Washington and its allies, who use an assembly of unfounded allegations against the Islamic Republic.

The president spoke before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports accusing Tehran of having planned nuclear weapons, something the country's government vehemently denies.

"The U.S. administration looks for prosperity by driving other countries to poverty, plundering their riches," Ahmadinejad accused..... MORE

Source:  Pravda.ru/

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/crimes/10-11-2011/119583-IAEA_report_on_Iran_BIG_fraud-0/

After 25 years, still no justice for labor leader Rolando Olalia, Leonor Alay-ay

 After 25 years, still no justice for labor leader Rolando Olalia, Leonor Alay-ay

“It angers us that after 25 years, no one has been punished for the death of an important labor leader in the country’s history. Olalia is a victim of the injustice that he fought against in his entire life.” – KMU
Sidebar: Rolando ‘Ka Lando’ Olalia: hero of workers, good father
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
ANTIPOLO CITY, Rizal – Twenty five years ago, Rolando Rico Olalia was studying law when his father labor lawyer and leader Rolando Olalia was killed.

Rolando, fondly called “Ka Lando” by his colleagues in the labor movement, and his driver Leonor Alay-ay were taken by armed men on the night of November 12, 1986 along Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig. The next day, their bodies were found. Both of them were hogtied and their mouths stuffed with newspapers. Their bodies bore bruises and stab wounds all over, and both had gunshot wounds in the head.

At that time, Rolando Rico, 22, vowed to get justice for his father. He never thought that it might take a lifetime for the case to be resolved.

Until now, no one has been arrested for the crime. Suspects have yet to be arraigned. The trial has not even begun. “This is burdensome. It is very tiring already,” Rolando Rico, now himself a lawyer, told Bulatlat.com when asked about the case during the activity organized by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) to commemorate Ka Lando’s 25th death anniversary, Nov. 13.

Rolando Rico, along with lawyers Romeo T. Capulong and Marie Yuviengco of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC), handles the murder charges against 13 suspects, all of whom were members of the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM), considered as right-wing elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Rolando Rico joined members of KMU and the National Federation of Labor Unions (Naflu) to the site where Ka Lando and Alay-ay were found, now called Olalia Road in sitio Olalia, barangay Dela Paz of this town.

Long battle
 
Months after the incident, three suspects – Gilberto Galicia, Franco Espartero and Filomeno Maligaya – were charged in separate occasions but the cases were all dismissed for alleged lack of evidence.

Workers commemorate the 25th death anniversary of labor leader Rolando “Ka Lando” Olalia and Leonor Alay-ay.(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

Many years later, eyewitness Medardo Baretto surfaced. Another witness Eduardo Bueno stepped forward. Their testimonies became the basis for the filing of murder charges against several RAM members on January 12, 1998.

Charged are: Lt. Col. Eduardo “Red” Kapunan Jr., Oscar Legaspi, Capt. Ricardo Dicon, Sgts. Edgar Sumido, Dennis Jabatan, Gene Paris, Freddie Sumagaysay, Fernando Casanova, Desiderio Perez and Jose Bacera, Chief Petty Officers Cirilo Almario and Filomeno Maligaya and civilian informer Gilberto Garcia.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) panel filed a criminal complaint on March 23, 1998 against the suspects. On August 31, 1998, the Regional Trial Court of Antipolo Branch 71 issued a warrant of arrest for the suspects but none has been apprehended up to now.

Two of the accused, Kapunan and Legaspi, filed separate motions to dismiss the charges against them. They argued that Proclamation No. 347 granted by President Fidel Ramos to rebel soldiers “extinguished their criminal liability.” Kapunan said political assassinations, such as the Olalia-Alay-ay double murder case, could have been part of simulated events intended to create an unstable situation favorable for a coup. ?.... MORE
Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/12/after-25-years-still-no-justice-for-labor-leader-rolando-olalia-leonor-alay-ay/

Wage increase, solar energy pushed to counter high electricity rates

 Wage increase, solar energy pushed to counter high electricity rates

“Filipino workers are burdened by First-World electricity rates and prices and Third-World wages.” – KMU
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA—After raking in good profits last year and in the first three quarters of this year –enough for it to raise its profit projection from P12.2-billion ($283 million) last year to P14.5-billion ($337 million) this year – the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) warned of higher electricity rates this month. The country’s biggest power distributor cited as reason the higher cost of generated electricity it is buying from different power producers.

As expected, the announcement of rate hike was greeted by collective groans and complaints. The announced P0.44 hike per kilowatt in electricity rates will further increase rates in the Philippines, which the Australia-based International Energy Standards had already described last year as the highest in Asia.
In a statement, the progressive labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said they are opposed to the power rate hike. They asked the Aquino government to stop Meralco from further hiking the already high power rates, and to increase, instead, the wage levels in the Philippines, which have been recorded as one of the lowest in the world.

Even before this rate hike, KMU estimated that in the National Capital Region where the “deficient” wages are relatively higher compared to other regions, a minimum wage earner spends no less than 10-percent of his or her monthly income on electricity bills alone.

“Filipino workers are burdened by First-World electricity rates and prices and Third-World wages,” said Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general. The impending rate hike will add P44 ($1.02) more to the bill of households consuming 100 kWh per month, and P88 ($2.04) for those consuming 200 kWh per month. These are “too burdensome for workers earning the minimum wage and those earning even less,” said Soluta.

The labor group has been pushing for a P125 ($2.91) nationwide wage hike for a decade now, to help families defray the increasing cost of living. But every year, the government has merely tasked the regional wage boards to deliberate and decide on the amounts of wage hikes. Every time, though, all labor groups in the country condemn the regional wage hikes as too paltry.

On top of the increases in toll fees, transport fares due to continued oil price hikes, this latest power rate increase will further lessen the real value of workers’ wages in the country, said the KMU. The labor group scored the “capitalists in power” and likened them to a hostage-taker “taking advantage” of the consumers’ need for electricity.

Giants in privatized public utilities

Based on reports, the Meralco franchise covers more than 55 percent of the Philippines’ GDP (Gross Domestic Product), and the company has just vowed to expand it further. Since it changed hands from the Lopez family who also operates power generating plants to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) led by Manny V. Pangilinan, Meralco has lately claimed powerlessness over rate hikes. It cites the fact that it sources its electricity requirements from the electricity spot market, state-run National Power Corp., and independent power producers.

But as with many privatized utilities in the country, Filipino consumers are just being charged various “unbundled” items in their bills, of which 58-percent are said to be generation charges. The consumers and the government have little to no oversight in the unbundled components of their electric bill nor in the power rate contracts entered into by Meralco and power producers. Unfortunately, past disclosures of progressive union members, including those who had been laid off for having participated in strikes in Meralco, had called attention to various irregularities here.

Meralco’s muscle for “hostage-taking” appear in the process of gaining strength, as it is now looking also to further spread its power over the country’s power sector. Aside from expanding its franchise coverage, it plans to spend as much as $2.3 billion (about P103 billion) to complete its planned power generation portfolio between now and 2016. This is, on top of the fact that the key stakeholder of Meralco, the Metro Pacific Investment Corp., the local arm of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. which also controls the Philippine Long Distance Company, Smart, Talk & Text and SunCellular and TV5, also has controlling stake in some of the country’s toll roads and hospitals..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/11/groups-push-for-wage-increase-solar-energy-to-counter-high-electricity-rates/

Solon slams CIA tracking of Twitter and Facebook as threat to constitutional rights

 Solon slams CIA tracking of Twitter and Facebook as threat to constitutional rights

“The general profiling of people as ‘friend’ or ‘enemy’ on the basis of their tweets and email is definitely dangerous and must be stopped.” – Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares
by INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO

Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Next time you post a status in your Twitter or Facebook account, know that Big Brother might be reading over your shoulder.

Bayan Muna Representative and human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares sounded the alarm over news reports that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States of America is tracking Facebook and Twitter accounts all over the world. According to reports, the CIA is also using their embassies in various countries for these surveillance operations.

“While the US government may insist in the legality of their monitoring of Twitter accounts due to their public nature, monitoring is a very dangerous preoccupation and a threat to constitutional rights not only because it crosses into the unconstitutional when it enters into closed social network sites or hacks emails but also because it leads to profiling which is unconstitutional especially if it serves as a prelude to illegal entry into private domains,” he said.

“Vengeful librarians”

According to a report on PressTV, around two-thirds of intelligence reports sent to Washington are made by CIA analysts who monitor millions of individual messages sent worldwide on a daily basis via social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

It cited a statement of CIA Open Source Center (OSC) director Doug Naquin that a a team of “vengeful librarians” study networks and media outlets that are open to contributions made by individuals from all over the world. Besides the Twitter and Facebook, the CIA also reportedly monitors television news programs, radio talk shows, chatrooms in the internet, and newspapers for their content and what they imply for the military, economic and political security of the US. These “vengeful librarians” are also said to make note of organizations, individuals and formations that are critical or outrightly against the US and its domestic and international policies..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/11/solon-slams-cia-tracking-of-twitter-and-facebook-as-threat-to-constitutional-rights/

Aussie gov’t calls on Noynoy to be transparent to curb corruption By Michaela P. del Callar and Angie M. Rosales 11/12/2011

Aussie gov’t calls on Noynoy to be transparent to curb corruption

By Michaela P. del Callar and Angie M. Rosales 11/12/2011


The Australian government yesterday called on the government of President Aquino to exert more effort in enforcing a more transparent and proper spending of its budget so it will have enough funds to address long-standing national concerns, such as poverty.

Australian Ambassador Rod Smith said the quality and accountability of government spending is vital so that the government can carry out badly needed development projects.

“A more effective and open budget process in the Philippines is essential to combat corruption and direct public spending to where the development needs are greatest,” Smith said as he unveiled Australia’s P1.3-billion financial aid that will help the Aquino administration manage public funds effectively..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111112hed4.html