Tag: Politics

Mar Roxas and the BPO Industry 

A misleading title of the Philippine Collegian article states: “Should BPO workers thank Mar Roxas?

I say misleading because I don’t think the article didn’t even answer the very question upon its title. That or perhaps I may have just missed the points he should have enumerated how Mar shouldn’t even be credited with the proliferation of the BPO industry in our country, you tell me.

The author further wrote (emphasis is mine):

And I don’t see why she wouldn’t be offended. The promotional video employs the same load of nonsense that justifies exploitative working conditions that many BPO workers have to face in exchange for wage premiums and standard benefits. This time, the spin is being used by a traditional politician whose presidential ambition matches neither his accomplishments nor his charisma.

The message is clear, though: the industry saved millions of jobless Filipinos from hunger and the need to leave their families to work overseas. Just ignore the fact that foreign-owned BPO companies took advantage of our country’s surplus of cheap labor so that they could keep their profit margins, or the fact that the entry of these companies into the Philippine economy precede even the start of Roxas’s career in national government.

So you think the foreign-owned companies are the evil here? Please don’t make it look like we are being exploited by these foreign companies. Filipinos needed jobs, they’re willing to outsource some (or many, as the case may be), law of supply and demand, the government provides for the infrastructure.

We should be thankful we had this opportunity. If you’re not up for it, no one is forcing you. But next time, before you whine about your job, be it in the BPO industry or otherwise, read this article.

The pathetic state of our political party system

The Philippines’ political party system has gone haywire that it has become a norm for presidentiables to share some senatoriables in each of their senatorial line-ups.

At least 5 of the tandem’s [Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero] bets are shared candidates with the slates of administration and the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

— Rappler, Who are on the Poe-Escudero senatorial slate?

Imagine this: a presidential candidate endorsing and campaigning for a senatorial candidate, yet the latter does not return the favor but campaigns and votes for another presidentiable instead.

Consider that irony and tell me how pathetic we are to have such a political party system?

The Day Bishop Skipped Papaya… And Its Impact On The RH Bill

guest-post-iconThis is a guest post from Raymond.

I haven’t really signed off 100% on the RH Bill in its present form since I am still seeking some clarifications on certain details of the bill, particularly its penal ramifications. But going through my daily route in Pasig and Mandaluyong areas teeming with informal settlers, seeing the sea of idle humanity converge on what seems to be public roads doubling as playgrounds, I am actually leaning towards supporting the bill. Support at least for its wisdom and intention to educate and foster responsible parenthood.

But what I don’t subscribe to is some RH bill proponents attacking anti RH bill sectors particularly the Roman Catholic Church, not really based on the merits of a sound argument (i.e. scientific facts, statistics, etc.), but rather on trivial issues. They push for the RH bill by citing instances of bishops and priests fathering children left and right, cases of child molestation and homosexual encounters, taking money from gambling, etc. Glossing on the apparent unholiness of certain individuals belonging to the holy orders, using it to discredit the institution as a whole, and ultimately making a push for the RH bill is not an argument at all.

What does Bishop Yalung’s having a child (or children?) have to do in underscoring the positive points and fortifying arguments for the RH bill?!

Any institution, be it the state, the Church, your school, your fraternity, or whatever, will have its bad eggs once in a while. Giving credit where credit is due, these anti RH bill sectors, including and most especially the Roman Catholic Church, have done their fair share in nation building. Their schools (albeit at an exhorbitant cost) educate and instill / reinforce values that seem to be so hard to pound on to children given the present internet generation. They run orphanages to shelter neglected children (neglected even by the state’s DSWD), not a few perhaps conceived unplanned due to defective condoms, missed pills, etc. Priests and nuns were at the frontline of EDSA 1986. They keep vigil when necessary in guarding our ballots. Should Article II, Section 6 also been chorused during these times?

It shapes and sends out mission volunteers to far flung areas to do socio-civic and religious works. Mission volunteers like Richie Fernando, SJ who got himself killed in Cambodia back in 1996 at the age of 26 because some whacko decided to throw a grenade to a school full of handicapped children. He instictively jumped onto the grenade just before it went off, effectively using his body to shield the handicapped children from the deadly blast. People like Richie comprise and live by the ideals of the Church that I belong to. And this Church is not as one dimensional, closed minded, selfish and evil as practically everyone fully supporting the RH bill, more prominently the nation’s favorite tour guide now, perceive and paint it to be. The Church is NOT the Pope, Cardinals and Bishops alone!

Let me be clear with you on this, I will be with you when you grill the Church heirarchy as to why it continues to sweep its mess under the rug, keeping skeletons in its closet, to the tune of millions of dollars in parishioner contributions (when for one, it could have been used to fund scholars to go through their education), then coming right back at you, high and mighty, with threats of excommunication.

But to sell the RH bill on the strength alone of Bishop Bacani having sexually harassed his secretary is like declaring Lebron James is a better baller than Kobe Bryant simply because the latter is a rapist.

Let’s stick to the relevant facts, stats and figures like maternal deaths comprising 11% of all deaths in women aged 15 – 49, 33% of births in the country being unplanned, the definition of conception, abortifacients, etc. Let our resolution of issues pertaining to national interest not be be guided by how Lolit Solis, Cristy Fermin, Showbiz News Ngayon, etc. go about whetting Inday’s appetite for the latest chismis. (This is why I am against these types of TV shows because they insult the gullible population’s intelligence rather than allow it to be put to good use.)

PNoy was already catapulted to the presidency mainly because the demise of his mom couldn’t have come at a more opportune time; isn’t it about time we, as a nation, act and argue rationally? More rational than Bishop Odchimar irresponsibly brandishing excommunication as a proximate possibility or Carlos Celdran dressing up as Rizal, and with a Damaso placard to boot.

It’s the least we could do as we project our population to reach 94.3 million by the year’s end, 141 million come 2040, and with no definite and sustainable program as to how we are going to harness this ballooning population to make it the nation’s foremost asset instead of it being its most burdensome liability.

Let those papaya-skipping priests deal with paternity and penitentiary accordingly – with or without the RH bill.

PNoy State of the Nation Address 2010

guest-post-iconThis is a guest post from Raymond.

While it is very much welcome for the President to report to the people what kind of a sh*t hole the past administration has driven our nation into after nine inglorious years, it shouldn’t be the end all and be all of the SONA.

Though it seems that nothing can shock us anymore regarding the GMA administration’s wicked ways, we are still bound to be shocked by what we are about to be told, according to PNoy.

Beyond the impending shock coming our way though, what will be more shocking is if we’re going to dwell and end there. The overwhelming majority voted for PNoy because they believe that he can and will deliver the reforms we need. The SONA should indicate how people responsible for such despicable acts will be brought to justice, and what concrete steps will be undertaken to address what we are left with after the dark days of Arroyo.

If it’s mere reportage that we need, former VP Noli De Castro, with his signature voice, should have been the man. But what the people thirst for is rectification and what they clamor for are solutions.

Realistically speaking, the next six years shouldn’t promise for us a hacienda at the end of the path. Just leading us through the “daang matuwid” will already be a journey very much worth undertaking.

The Things We Learned from the Recent Election

The day after the election, almost all results are in. The things we learned so far:

  • We should trust the survey results, the survey companies, and their supposed ‘scientific’ approach. Or at least have them under consideration;
  • Endorsement by INC is not a guarantee of victory;
  • You don’t have to join public debates in order to win a senatorial seat.

But most of all, now that election is over, its a relief watching TV once again without the false claims and promises from the various candidates.