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Transparency for RP, but not for GMA’s unexplained wealth?

8/13/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

After splurging in lavish dinners with her entourage abroad that had price tags close to $15,000 to $20,000(P750,000-1,000,000,) Pres. Gloria Arroyo’s assets an liabilities have been under close scrutiny.

The Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) say since her assumption of office, the president has accumulated properties 2000x than their original value. In spite of the over-hyped call for honesty and transparency by the administration, the lawyers of GMA and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, don’t see the need to explain how the couple amassed such wealth. But obviously, the people want to know.

Corruption is the centerpiece of why the Philippines is mired in poverty, but even the president fails to follow the leads to know the extent government corruption! The public sees a collusion by the leadership to keep the status quo of defrauding the country. The “scratch my back, and I’ll scratch your back culture” is at work here----so almost no one gets caught; the few who are proven thieves are pardoned.

“A report by the PCIJ said Mrs. Arroyo’s declared net worth more than doubled from P66.8 million in 2001 to P143.54 million in 2008. The increase of P76.74 million represents a growth rate of 114 percent. If her SALNs were plotted from the time she was still senator 17 years ago, the rise in her wealth would have been 2,000 percent, according to PCIJ.”-----Philstar (08/13/09)

This questionable rise in assets of a politician in power is not uncommon. The accusations of theft, corruption, fraud, and abuse in government are pervasive even if there are laws that can be used to get into the bottom of the truth. It dates back since Marcos time whose descendants are inching for a come-back, hiding under the rug the outrageous graft and corruption of their parents.

In spite of calls for President Arroyo to comply on the Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees which when violated is punishable by imprisonment, fines, dismissal or suspension, just like any slicky politician, GMA allows the foul odor in her record to pester. It’s a common reaction of corrupt politicians to pretend nothing odiously bad is going on.

Arroyo’s discordant lifestyle and wealth are incompatible to her salary as president. She receives a measly Php 60,000.00 (about USD 1,333.33 at Php 45.00 to 1 USD exchange rate) monthly. The US president’s salary at about $400,000/year is about 3,000% higher. Therefore, there is always a good reason to compute and recompute how GMA came up with her assets in so short a time. Obviously, this goes true with other politicians who dodge showing the money trail of their wealth.

GMA's business interests, if laid bare are not hard audit. If there is any, let investigators see where the conflict of interest lies, which transactions she did in accord with the law or where fraud occurre which may explain why she and her friends have become so rich.

The stonewalling by the president and her husband to conceal the truth has caused despair and loss of credibility; it makes her a pariah of the people. At the waning days of her presidency come along, her job approval is poor---among the lowest a president ever received in tenure.

The furor resulting from her extravagance abroad and clever machinations is deplorable and very much compatible with corruption. It's contemptible. There is obvious failure of the checks and balances in the system. It’s time that Arroyo comes clean from the disgusting accusations which plague her leadership. (Photo Credit: sunnexfo) =0=

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Labels: Corruption, extravagance, graft and corruption, honesty, money, morality, PCIJ, Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism, Pres. Gloria Arroyo, salary, scandal, Totie Mesia, Transparency, wealth

Like Filipinos, Americans Have Money Troubles Too!

7/16/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

In an article by Glen Curtis (Investopedia.com,) an interesting graph from US Bureau of Economic Analysis caught my attention. It’s a telling illustration of our floundering savings rate when the cost of living around us is skyrocketing.

Waking up to a world threatened by economic uncertainty and global recession, Americans are unable to save enough for the future. They have pressure from poor countries who ask them (plus their rich counterparts in the developed world) to share and redistribute wealth worldwide to stave off scarcity and famine.

But like Filipinos, Americans are aching in their pockets too. They don’t save as much money as before.

Burdened by impulse buying, house mortgages, and rising costs of credit card debts, the average personal savings rate of Americans is negative 0.5% in 2005, a time when they dug deep into their savings and spent all their incomes. This was close the worst savings rate in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression when savings rate plunged to negative 0.7%.

Today, the US income savings rate is about 0.5%, far short of the recommended 10%, to protect from unexpected money troubles in the future. According to experts, a savings below 5% of income brings serious possibility of financial ruin. They advise an allowance of at least 6 months of salary savings to cushion for any unforeseen change in our cash needs---unemployment, loss in natural disasters, illness, divorce, death in the family to name a few.

More belt-tightening is required of us to avoid becoming a bankruptcy casualty. We need to work harder and longer. It’s important to know where we are in our finances so we can make the needed corrections before our money situation worsens.=0=

Labels: Filipinos, financial, money, Philippines, salary, savings, USA

Significant Numbers

7/09/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

10%
-The percentage price of one gallon of gasoline Saudis pay (45 cents) compared to Americans who pay $4.50/gallon on the pump.

P11.583 billion-The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCCl’s ) estimate of Typhoon Frank’s destructiveness. The amount constitutes 96.5% of the total expenditure the country shells out each year, covering an average of 20 typhoons, costing about P12,000 billion

P8,599/month
-What the lowly paid government street and utility worker needs to survive the rises in prices of commodities. According to Ferdinand Gaite, president of the Confederation of Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage,) this means a needed increase of P3,000 to the present salary of P5,999.

105 million
-The number of people who could drop below the poverty line due to the spiraling rise in fuel costs and prices of commodities. According to a World Bank study issued last week, 30 million of these people come from Africa.

$624 million
-The Asian Development Bank, one of the country's biggest foreign lenders is thinking of loaning the Philippines in 2009 to help boost the economy. An additional 300 million loan is scheduled for 2010.

550 metric tons
-The amount of uranium transferred from Iraq to Canada last week in a secret operation according to Pentagon. The yellow cake was discovered in 2003 by US forces in Iraq’s Tawaitha Nuclear Research Facility which was placed under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy.

2012
-Based on an ancient Mayan calendar, the year the world is expected to end. Survival groups from Europe, Canada, and the US are preparing for the apocalypse---catastrophic events such as typhoons, nuclear detonations, tidal waves, earthquakes which they believe would usher in the end of days.

P50,000 million
-Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s planned budget to repatriate more than 100 OFWs stranded in various countries in the Middle East.

$200
-The monthly salary of Filipino nurse-turned-maid Marichu Suarez Baoanan received from Amb. Lauro Baja who was accused of racketeering, illegal human trafficking, peonage, and forced labor. As of January 1, 2007, the General Industry Minimum wage of New York is $7.15/hour, roughly $1,601.60/month. Investigation of Amb. Baja is being urged by the Philippine government authorities.

$459,000
-Nazi hunters peg the reward money leading to the arrest of Aribert Heim, 94, known as Dr. Death who’s believed to have escaped to Chile with his daughter. =0=

Labels: aid, apocalypse, Filipinos, gasoline price, loan, OFW, poor, salary, typhoon victims

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