Sunday, July 03, 2005

scrutiny on scurrilous subjects

I’m waiting for my own PC to get its act together and save my excel file. In the meantime, I might as well update my dormant blog.

Why have I been so lazy in updating as of late? My daily routine for the past few days involve sometimes going to the gym, keeping my ear to the ground because of the developments in our beloved republic, chatting through YM, reading blogs, and squeezing in some work for an upcoming big presentation! Heck, it’s a Sunday, and I’m still at the office!!!

Anyhoo, the past few days have brought us the popular gloriagate scandals (for lack of a better term), which is why I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground lately. Among all things, political observations are among my blog content regulars, but work really gets in the way… he3x! In addition, if I had made a blog post, it would’ve been so lengthy that time for friendstering would be lost. But since I’m constrained due to my current excel situation, I might as well comment on the issue. I have commented though on a fellow blogger’s post on this (I still have to ask permission to add him to my links).

What can I say about the recent scandals? These are my thoughts:

The tapes are real. It was her nasally voice. She admitted it herself, but it didn’t really come as a surprise.

I do believe she (and/or her minions) cheated. To what extent, I don’t know. But not only for her side, but also the other side.

On the jueteng thing, I’m not too sure. I dunno if the three Arroyos are on the take, but I wouldn’t really put it past them, since jueteng has tentacles as far as the eye can see, and even beyond that.

The only thing keeping her afloat is the lack of a viable alternative. Any change proposed by the so-called opposition would have birthing pains, plus bring in the same problems as the status quo. (I call them “so-called opposition” in reference to Amando Doronila’s comment that the current opposition is only opposing for the sake of taking power; they do not have an ideological basis whatsoever.)


On one hand, the opposition saw that the prez was at her lowest popularity point, so they jumped on the chance. Out came the jueting thing and the tapes. In case you haven’t noticed, they also were responsible for stopping the E-VAT implementation, in effect stopping another unpopular administration motion.

(I hate taxes; no one’s supposed to like them. But in order to bring this republic out of the pits, hard measures have to be taken. Although it’s a given that the graft thing must be solved in order to reduce the leakages, collections would have to be optimized. This is where the VAT comes in, since it increases the verification system of taxation & income.)

On the other hand, the administration has had a lousy time implementing its stated goals. Only the Finance department seems to be getting its act together. As for the peace & order, legislation, health services, education, public works, the performance is dismal.

I voted for her in the hopes that she be the better candidate; that she implement the hard reforms. She thinks she’s unpopular because she’s being hard on us; she’s actually being too soft on us, not doing enough and not being quick enough. She may be an economist, but she’s primarily a politician.

Unfortunately, her alternatives are worse. Unless we see someone who is worth changing the status quo for, who would bring genuine change, there would always be a stalemate. With that, you can bet your bottom dollar that it’ll come back to you with 5-10 more additional pesos.

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I’m restarting my PC now. I do hope I don’t lose that much work…. :-s

In addition, let's see where the flames go... ;)

8 comments:

Swipe said...

Don't tell me you agree on the increase in taxes. As far as I'm concerned, there is no need to add new taxes. All the politicians have to do is to stop getting their SOP from each project that comes along their way and I'm pretty sure that the taxes will be enough. And If they start doing that (ignoring the SOP, I mean), people who have heen evading taxes will eventually see that taxes are working and start paying the proper taxes. It's a chain reaction that has to begin with politicians.

Swipe said...

by the way, if you we're referring to me about the linking thing, you may link me. May I link to your blog as well?

number cruncher said...

i remember the UP 11 study on the fiscal problem, and although stopping the SOP practice will definitely plug a hole, this won't entirely solve the problem. going by a quantitative approach, the bulk of our payments still go to interest payments for the energy sector, so that has to be dealt with first.

as for the VAT, it's only a minor measure, but including items for the audit trail, such as attorneys' professional fees, would also serve as a countercheck for ITRs (though one can argue that you can use withholding tax forms for the same purpose).

at any rate, people evading taxes are the ones who usually benefit from the SOP, so it's a double benefit for them. who loses? we do.

it's so irritating that the majority of the working class get their taxes automatically deducted whether through withholding or through VAT, whereas the fat cats can evade taxes, bribe a relatively minimal fee so they can save on more taxes, and still get commissions! erg...

thanx for the link! you can link me too! i'll get around to linking you asap! :D

Bambi said...

this is what i think of the philippine government (as i would say in my posts) ...it is all one septic tank... it collects and accumulates shit and it stinks like hell.

the only good thing it has? the beautiful beaches, the flavorful food (chicharon bulaklak tempting non-meat eaters like me, mangga and bagoong, creamy leche flan, and sinigang na maya-maya, slurp), pirated dvds, and how cheap prices are (but again, labor is also cheap :-<)

categorically imperative said...

you should be a teacher lee...

number cruncher said...

to java junkie:

there are a lot of good things in this country, although if it were really that good i wouldnt have to think up of too hard for the reasons, bale dapat obvious na... hay... :-<

to categorically imperative:

teacher in what? nuclear physics? computer maintenance? masters in aids (as if doing something)? or worse, ACCOUNTING??? heaven forbid!!! he3x! :P

Bambi said...

teacher? sex ed! hahaha!

categorically imperative said...

lee, tell us naman about your bloopers!