Why Obama invited P-noy?
The invitation extended to President Noynoy Aquino to meet US President Barack Obama at the White House is a solid achievement for the Philippine President.
Despite all the statements on US-Philippines cooperation on mutual defense, there was no explicit statement that the United States would come to Philippine defense if China attacked the Philippines.
What was new was Obama’s pledge to “help the Philippines attain a minimum credible defense posture.” But no specific commitments were released.
Why the Obama invitation? Obama is running for reelection. His approval ratings have gone down to 43% with Republican Mitt Romney starting to close the gap. There are more than 2 million Filipino American voters in the United States. Their vote could be decisive in his re-election.
Be that as it may, President Aquino certainly gained in stature by the Obama meeting.
There are about 200 embassies in Washington. All of them try to get an invitation from the White House to visit. No more than 10 are given that honor to visit the White House for a one on one talk with the US President. SIN TAX . . The House of Representatives passed the Sin Tax bill on the last day of sessions. It now goes to the Senate for approval.
DOH Sec. Enrique Ona joined by former Health Secretaries Esperanza Cabral and Alberto Romualdez issued a statement asking the Senate to pass the Sin Tax bill which increases taxes on cigarettes.
The 3 Secretaries emphasized that 240 Filipinos die everyday from smoking. Statistics show that 53.9% of smokers started smoking before the age of 18.
The bill as passed by the House seeks to push up prices of low end cigarettes to the same price bracket of high end cigarettes.
Anti smoking advocates said that high price has been identified as the single biggest factor in reducing cigarette consumption.
I have no doubts that the Senate will pass the Sin Tax bill but the debate will center on the issue of one tier pricing. UGLY . . The ugly face of crime surfaced once again in the ambush slaying of Laguna Provincial Board Member Reynaldo Paras and his driver Giovani Dumaraos, 44, last Wednesday near his house in San Pablo City.
Edwin Amante, younger brother of San Pablo City Mayor Vicente Amante, has been identified by Laguna Police as the mastermind of the killing. Mayor Amante said he has not seen or spoken to his brother for more than a year. CHIEF JUSTICE SEARCH . . The formal nomination of BIR Commissioner Kim Henares and former UP Law Dean Raul Pangalangan has been submitted to the JBC. So far, DOJ Sec. Leila de Lima has not been nominated.
The four most senior justices of the Supreme Court led by acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio are automatically nominated. K TO 12 UPDATE . . ACT Partylist Congressman Antonio Tinio and Kabataan Partylist Congressman Raymond Palatino both said that the DepEd was illadvised to implement the K to 12 program because no funds has been provided to support it.
Congressman Tinio zeroed in on the hiring of “volunteer” contractual Kindergarten Teacher with a salary of P6,000 and without benefits.
DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro said that the DepEd hired only 7,000 regular teachers and 43,000 volunteer teachers.
Cong. Tinio deplored the fact that the teachers were given only a 5-day seminar on the new curriculum and not 15 days as originally planned.
Conceding these points, the more it becomes laudable that Sec. Armin Luistro had the determination and courage to start the K to 12 program this year.
It is advisable for Congress to pass a supplemental budget for the K to 12 program. DepEd is asking for P100 billion. Give half of it at least to begin with and start hiring more regular Kindergarten teachers.
Meanwhile, Speaker Sonny Belmonte told us he has built thousands of classrooms with city funds. He admits that migration of residents to the Payatas/Batasan area is so large, the QC government cannot keep up with the demand. PACQUIAO ACCEPTS . . In an early interview, Manny Paquiao appears to have accepted his upset defeat by Timothy Bradley saying the “Lord must have a purpose” for giving him a defeat.
Most boxing analysts are of the opinion that Paquiao won the 12 round fight. A rematch has been set for Nov. 10. Next time around, Manny should take his training more seriously and defer his non-boxing activities.
His mother Dionisia fainted, his wife Jinkee cried after the split decision was announced.
Manny Paquiao has conducted himself properly in his post fight statement. He had gained stature, he remains loved by his fans. POLITICAL UPDATE . . Speaker Belmonte told us at the birthday party of Boss Danding Cojuangco that he is not running for Mayor. He will run for re-election as Congressman.
Atty. Kune Aldon is running for Governor of Antique under PDP-Laban with Vice Governor Dodot Cadiao as his running mate. Completing the ticket is Mayor Ray Roquero running for Congressman. They will face the father and son team of Gov. Exequiel Javier and Cong. Paolo Javier. Arturo Pacificador is running for Provincial Board member. Fernando Corvera is running for Mayor of San Jose, Antique. Ex Mayor Vicente Bermejo Jr. will run for Mayor of Roxas City under UGYON against Mayor Alan Celino ( LP).
Abono Partylist Robert Estrella informed us that he wil not be the nominee of his partylist in the next Congress. TIDBITS . . . Happy birthday to Pinky Webb. Greetings to our avid readers: Obet de Leon, president of Club Filipino, Rene Cabrera of San Miguel Corporation, Charito Villar of Dao, Antique, Sammy Sotelo of Pontevedra, Capiz and City Councilor Carlito Oga of Taguig.