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GOOD
news! Thai educators laud Filipino English teachers as
the best and as more efficient than their counterparts
in Thailand.
More
than 3,000 Filipinos are in various parts of Thailand as
English teachers, and are earning from P17,000 to
P43,000 a month. This is another testimony to the innate
superior qualities of Filipinos, who often are
underrated and are underemployed. It is true that
Filipinos are more adept at learning foreign languages
and math subjects than our Asian neighbors, and our
professionals can exploit this edge by looking outwards
beyond our shores.
****
MORE
good news! The Philippine all-girls team captured three
bronze medals in the Sixth International Mathematical
Olympiad for Girls in Hubei, China, last week, in a
field of 41 teams from all over the world, including
those from US and Russia, which sent formidable teams to
the Olympiad.
Congratulations to Geraldine Baniqued, Aileen Giselle
Chua and Stephanie Anne Oliveros for the bronze medals,
and to the Philippine team for winning first prize in
the dance aerobics exhibition contest held as a
sidelight of the event.
****
TWO
senators have come out and announced their support for
the amendment of the Charter and change the form of
government. These are senators from both sides of the
political fence and who come from opposite sides of the
archipelago.
Both
claim that the federal form of government is “in accord
with our diversity, ethnic diversity. . . and since we
are diversified society. . . each one has a way of
looking at how we should run our lives in our respective
regions.”
I have
always supported Charter change because of the many
latent defects in the Constitution that need to be
corrected in the face of the recent developments in our
country and in world politics. If we envision an
economically stable nation in the near future, we shall
find a way to amend the Charter in order to support that
vision and make our basic laws economically friendly.
****
GLOBAL
warming is still an issue that would not cool down. A
newspaper report said that scientists at the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los
Baños, Laguna, are breeding new rice varieties that can
survive in a climate affected by global warming and are
rushing to counter the threat against the world’s major
source of sustenance.
More
than half of the 6.6-billion inhabitants of this planet
are dependent on rice, according to IRRI, and we can
just imagine the catastrophic proportions brought on by
a scenario of reduced rice supplies, especially in our
country.
This may
be a minor concern for many, but we must remember that
rice is still a dominant food fare for Filipinos despite
the popularity of fast food, offerings which have
altered the dietary regimen of young Pinoys. We are
still primarily a rice-eating people, and the rice issue
is not only a nutritional concern, it is, by and large,
a political issue as well.
****
ALMOST a
hundred illegal Chinese construction workers were
arrested by officials of the Bureau of Immigration in a
resort-hotel in Clark for working without the
appropriate visas while some were engaged in jobs other
than that stated in their visas.
Whoever
brought in these illegal Chinese workers should realize
that the Philippines is not a country where foreigners
can dump anything they want to get rid of, like excess
workers or toxic waste or unhealthy food products.
The
Philippines is a major exporter of skilled construction
workers around the world, and we will be the first to
complain about foreigners trying to take our jobs away,
especially in an area where we excel.
****
I HAVE
been a member of the House of Representatives for nine
years, and records will show that I have been faithful
to my duties, especially in my attendance and in my
frugal use of the perks and expenditures that come with
the office.
I
therefore sympathize with the Speaker in his expression
of elation over the substantial attendance record, which
is new record in itself, in comparison with that of the
previous years.
I feel
that I must state, for the record, that the people of
each congressional district elected their representative
in the House basically to make laws relevant and
beneficial to their district, and to the country in
general. The basic requirement in steering a measure
into a law is attendance in sessions and committee
hearings where the measure is debated upon.
To
attend sessions and committee hearings is to get things
done. It is a must, and one must not wait for the
Speaker to thank you for it.
****
THE
destruction of several illegally imported luxury
vehicles by elements of the Bureau of Customs drew
varied reactions from the public. I support the
President’s decision to destroy these smuggled fancy
cars if only to show the culprits that the government
means business in its drive to stamp out smuggling.
The law
specifically prescribes that such contraband shall be
dealt with or destroyed in the exercise of the police
power of the State, and the President is right in
assuming that when auctioned off, these smuggled cars
will eventually find their way back to the smugglers,
and make the Customs people look like a bunch of stupid
morons.
Destroying these smuggled vehicles in the most graphic
way possible will send a most graphic message to those
who break our customs laws.
****
Attached
agencies of the DOJ are busy doing their jobs, as your
morning paper will tell you. The NBI is filing charges
of syndicated estafa against the PIPC and the PIPC Corp.
to make them account for the millions they duped
Filipino investors.
Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera has won the round
against the largest investor in the Naia 3 project,
Fraport AG, when the International Center for the
Settlement of Investment Disputes in
Washington D.C. dismissed Fraport’s complaint for having violated Philippine
laws.
These
are products of relentless sleuthing and excellent
lawyering. So what is this about former senator Eddie
Ilarde warning us of the coming of the end of the world
on
December 22, 2012? |
