Category: Campaign Finance

SB’s boast: ‘Hang me if FOI does not pass!’ Lip service?

mcmangahas Leave a comment

“ANG IPINANGAKO ko talaga is, during the 16th Congress. Bitayin ninyo ako kung matapos ito at hindi pa nakakapasa.”

[What I have promised was, during the 16th Congress (it will pass). When it ends and this does no pass, you can hang me."]

Thus spoke Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.in March 2014, in response to reporters’ queries about when the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill will pass in the House of Representatives. That early, the FOI bill had already hurdled third and final reading in the Senate.

Belmonte, leader of the House, had practically offered his head to proclaim what was supposedly his firm commitment to get the FOI bill passed in the lower chamber.

Was he just lying or bragging or both?

Words are apparently cheap to Belmonte. His verbal affirmation has not been followed by affirmative action for the FOI bill in the last 14 months.

In the view of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition of 160 civil society organizations pushing for the FOI bill’s passage, Belmonte has merely paid lip service to a reform legislation that has been pending in Congress over the last 14 years.

Belmonte’s House, the Coalition said, seems to be no different from that led in the 14th Congress by Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr., an ally of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

At the time, the FOI bill was in its final stage of ratification by the House but Nograles and Arroyo’s allies, feigning a lack of quorum, postponed plenary vote until the 14th Congress adjourned sine die.

The Right to Know Coalition, in a statement issued on the eve of the sixth and last state of the nation address of President Benigno S. Aquino III, called out Belmonte and his “chief enforcer,” Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, for their failure to lead the FOI to passage.

The 16th Congress opens its third and last regular session tomorrow, July 27. It will adjourn sine die before the May 2016 elections.

A number of factors bode ill for the FOI bill. It seems headed, once again, to a tragic end in the 16th Congress.

These include the long recess intervals (i.e. Christmas break, Holy Week break); the frequent lack of a quorum because of absentee lawmakers; the election campaign that will see many politicians running for re-election; a long list of similarly urgent legislation (i.e. 2016 national budget, Bangsamoro Basic Law); and tepid support from Aquino, Belmonte, and Gonzales.

Belmonte, who was also Speaker of the 15th Congress (2010-13) when the Aquino-led Liberal Party Coalition gained control of the House, has hardly done anything to accelerate the House’s work on the FOI bill in the last six years.

Aquino, meanwhile, has largely been ambivalent and inchoate about his true position on the FOI bill, even as he had promised as a candidate for President in 2010 that he will support its passage. –PCIJ, July 2015

The statement of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition follows:

Speaker’s support for FOI mere lip service

AT AROUND the time that the Senate approved the FOI bill on Third Reading in March 2014, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. boldly proclaimed: “Ang ipinangako ko talaga is during the 16th Congress. Bitayin ninyo ako kung matapos ito at hindi pa nakakapasa.”

Yet on the ground, the Speaker has not lifted a finger to give FOI a positive push. The bill has advanced at the committee level through the efforts of the committee chair, House champions and FOI advocates, at times even with counter-signals from the House leadership.

One clear evidence of the Speaker’s lack of actual commitment to advancing the FOI bill was his failure to put the FOI on the agenda, even for just its sponsorship in plenary, before Congress went to recess last June. This, despite the Committee chair and authors expressing readiness for the bill’s sponsorship and defense, and a letter of appeal from advocates.

The Speaker, under the rules, is the political and administrative head of the House of Representatives. He is responsible for the overall management of the proceedings of the House. He is primarily responsible for preparing the legislative agenda for every regular session, with the view of ensuring the full deliberation and swift approval especially of priority measures.

With the Speaker only paying lip service to FOI, the FOI Tracker rating goes down to 25. It will just be a matter of time for his chief enforcer, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, to drive the final nail in the coffin of the FOI bill in the 16th Congress.

When all excuses are said and done, we see the House of Belmonte no different from the House of Prospero Nograles Jr. on FOI.”

Related links:

2015 will be a reckoning of promises on FOI

BT: Freedom of Information bill, nakabinbin pa rin sa Kongreso

SB’s boast: ‘Hang me if FOI does not pass!’ Lip service?

mcmangahas Leave a comment

“ANG IPINANGAKO ko talaga is, during the 16th Congress. Bitayin ninyo ako kung matapos ito at hindi pa nakakapasa.”

[What I have promised was, during the 16th Congress (it will pass). When it ends and this does no pass, you can hang me."]

Thus spoke Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.in March 2014, in response to reporters’ queries about when the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill will pass in the House of Representatives. That early, the FOI bill had already hurdled third and final reading in the Senate.

Belmonte, leader of the House, had practically offered his head to proclaim what was supposedly his firm commitment to get the FOI bill passed in the lower chamber.

Was he just lying or bragging or both?

Words are apparently cheap to Belmonte. His verbal affirmation has not been followed by affirmative action for the FOI bill in the last 14 months.

In the view of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition of 160 civil society organizations pushing for the FOI bill’s passage, Belmonte has merely paid lip service to a reform legislation that has been pending in Congress over the last 14 years.

Belmonte’s House, the Coalition said, seems to be no different from that led in the 14th Congress by Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr., an ally of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

At the time, the FOI bill was in its final stage of ratification by the House but Nograles and Arroyo’s allies, feigning a lack of quorum, postponed plenary vote until the 14th Congress adjourned sine die.

The Right to Know Coalition, in a statement issued on the eve of the sixth and last state of the nation address of President Benigno S. Aquino III, called out Belmonte and his “chief enforcer,” Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, for their failure to lead the FOI to passage.

The 16th Congress opens its third and last regular session tomorrow, July 27. It will adjourn sine die before the May 2016 elections.

A number of factors bode ill for the FOI bill. It seems headed, once again, to a tragic end in the 16th Congress.

These include the long recess intervals (i.e. Christmas break, Holy Week break); the frequent lack of a quorum because of absentee lawmakers; the election campaign that will see many politicians running for re-election; a long list of similarly urgent legislation (i.e. 2016 national budget, Bangsamoro Basic Law); and tepid support from Aquino, Belmonte, and Gonzales.

Belmonte, who was also Speaker of the 15th Congress (2010-13) when the Aquino-led Liberal Party Coalition gained control of the House, has hardly done anything to accelerate the House’s work on the FOI bill in the last six years.

Aquino, meanwhile, has largely been ambivalent and inchoate about his true position on the FOI bill, even as he had promised as a candidate for President in 2010 that he will support its passage. –PCIJ, July 2015

The statement of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition follows:

Speaker’s support for FOI mere lip service

AT AROUND the time that the Senate approved the FOI bill on Third Reading in March 2014, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. boldly proclaimed: “Ang ipinangako ko talaga is during the 16th Congress. Bitayin ninyo ako kung matapos ito at hindi pa nakakapasa.”

Yet on the ground, the Speaker has not lifted a finger to give FOI a positive push. The bill has advanced at the committee level through the efforts of the committee chair, House champions and FOI advocates, at times even with counter-signals from the House leadership.

One clear evidence of the Speaker’s lack of actual commitment to advancing the FOI bill was his failure to put the FOI on the agenda, even for just its sponsorship in plenary, before Congress went to recess last June. This, despite the Committee chair and authors expressing readiness for the bill’s sponsorship and defense, and a letter of appeal from advocates.

The Speaker, under the rules, is the political and administrative head of the House of Representatives. He is responsible for the overall management of the proceedings of the House. He is primarily responsible for preparing the legislative agenda for every regular session, with the view of ensuring the full deliberation and swift approval especially of priority measures.

With the Speaker only paying lip service to FOI, the FOI Tracker rating goes down to 25. It will just be a matter of time for his chief enforcer, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, to drive the final nail in the coffin of the FOI bill in the 16th Congress.

When all excuses are said and done, we see the House of Belmonte no different from the House of Prospero Nograles Jr. on FOI.”

Related links:

2015 will be a reckoning of promises on FOI

BT: Freedom of Information bill, nakabinbin pa rin sa Kongreso

All set for Data Journalism PH15!

mcmangahas Leave a comment

IT’S ALL SYSTEMS go for the launch on Monday, July 13, of Data Journalism PH 2015, a project of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF), with support from the World Bank-Philippines.

The event will be held at the HIVE Hotel and Convention Place in Quezon City with a panel of distinguished speakers — Commissioner Heidi Mendoza of the Commission on Audit, Budget Undersecretary Richard ‘Bon’ Moya, Kai Kasiser and Rogier van den Brink of the World Bank.

Mendoza will discuss the ground-breaking work of the COA, in partnership with civil society organizations, on their Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA) project.

Moya, who coordinates the government’s Open Data Task Force, will focus on the story of Open Data and Open Government initiatives in the Philippines.

Kiser will tackle the topic, “Open Roads: Transparency and Accountability in the Roads Sector.”

After the project launch, 34 journalists and bloggers from 11 media agencies will participate in a three-day training seminar to be conducted by OKF and PCIJ.

Through an open search for teams of content providers and techies with data-story proposals, the following participants were selected:

1. From BlogWatch:

* Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, known as @MomBlogger on social media, believes in making a difference in the lives of her children by advocating social change for social good. She is the editor of Blog Watch Citizen Media and the features editor of thePhilippine Online Chronicles, a platform for alternative viewpoints and a synthesizer of ideas.

* Jane Uymatiao is a citizen advocate and resource speaker on digital citizenship and social media crisis communication. She co-founded Blog Watch, a citizen advocacy group, and actively engages different stakeholders via social media on a wide range of economic, social and political issues.

* Carlos Maningat is a Manila-based labor researcher. He works on data stories that cover labor, official development assistance (ODA) and financialization.

2. From Interaksyon:

* Patricia Aquino is a correspondent at InterAksyon.com. She is on general assignment.

* Edilvan Falcon is a senior web developer at InterAksyon.com. He is working on his master’s degree in Computer Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

* Orlando Garcia is the Information Technology editor at InterAksyon.com. He has been a journalist for over 20 years, having started at Jingle Magazine.

3. From The Philippine Star:

* Alexis B. Romero has been covering national security for The Philippine star since 2010. He started his journalism career in 2006 as a reporter for BusinessWorld, where he covered finance, the Office of the President, the energy sector, House of Representatives and defense.

* Helen M. Flores is a reporter of The Philippine STAR covering politics and science issues. Aside from her regular beat, she also writes stories from survey data of the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia. Flores graduated from Centro Escolar University-Manila with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication major in journalism. She completed her master’s degree in Communication at the University of Santo Tomas.

* Jan Victor R. Mateo, 24, is the education beat reporter of the Philippine STAR. He is a graduate student of development communication, and has an undergraduate speech communication from the University of the Philippines. He is a participant of the 2010 Study of the US Institutes on New Media Journalism held at the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

4. From the Calbayog Post:

* Rommel L. Rutor is a multi-platform Journalist based in Samar, works for Print, Radio, TV and Online, he is on his 20th year in the profession this year. A prime mover of local issues in his own right, he desires to provide more in-depth stories to the public, and be a catalyst of change in Samar.

* Jennifer Sumagang – Allegado graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts major in Communication Arts from the University of the East, Manila. Has been in the media work for more than 12 years now, correspondent of Calbayogpost.com and a radio broadcaster in the City of Calbayog, Samar.

* Jose Gerwin Babon is a media practitioner and communication instructor at the same time.

5. From inquirer.net of the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

* Frances Mangosing is a multimedia reporter for INQUIRER.net for four years. She mostly covers defense, disasters and weather.
Nestor Corrales is a multimedia reporter for INQUIRER.net. He writes breaking news and covers urban transportation, politics, among others.

* Dan Paurom is the one-quarter of INQUIRER.net’s social media team. He consumes reports based on big data almost daily.

6. From The Financial Times-Manila:

* Hannah Dormido, 25, is a senior production editor for the Financial Times. She specialises on visuals and is currently a QGIS sorceress in training.

7. From BusinessWorld:

* Christine Joyce S. Castañeda is a researcher from BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since July 2014. She finished her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines – Los Baños in April 2014.

* Kia B. Obang, earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of the East in 2013. She has been with BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since June 2013, starting off as a Research Assistant before being promoted to Researcher in December 2013.

* Leo Jaymar G. Uy graduated from the University of the Philippines School of Economics in 2013 and is a researcher from BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since January 2014. He has a strong interest in history – particularly with the economic, social and political histories of East Asia, United States and the Philippines.

8. From Forbes Philippines:

* Lala Rimando is a business journalist with expertise in political economy and understands the dynamics of new and traditional media. She headed the business and other news units of investigative media publication Newsbreak, the online news site of Philippine media giant, ABS-CBN, and social media news network Rappler.com before joining Forbes Media’s Philippine edition as managing editor.

* Paul John Caña is a writer for Forbes Philippines and a contributor for various online and print publications. A Journalism graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman, he is a former newsdesk operations staff of GMA Network Inc. and was also the managing editor of a leading lifestyle magazine.

* Lorenzo Kyle Subido is the data journalist of Forbes Philippines, crunching numbers and scouring data bases online and off for the research needs of the magazine’s visual and text stories. He has a Creative Writing degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman and is keen to hone both his right- and left-brain skills.

9. From Bloomberg TV-Philippines:

* Regina Hing co-anchors the daily morning shows First Up and Starting Gate on Bloomberg TV Philippines. The shows aim to connect the dots for a broad audience–between politics and the economy, between macro and micro, between the movement of billions of dollars in the capital markets to the buying power of OFW remittances. Before joining Bloomberg TV Philippines, Regina was a Senior Producer/Evening Editor on the Business Desk at Channel NewsAsia in Singapore, helping oversee the channel’s coverage of business and financial markets globally. She holds a Masters in Business and Economic Reporting at New York University.

* Katria Alampay is a writer and segment producer for Bloomberg TV Philippines. She graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a B.A. in Journalism and previously worked for almost two years at the Korean Embassy in Manila.

* Alay Magno is a segment producer for Bloomberg TV Philippines’ evening news show In The Loop and weekly talk show on Startups, Igniters. Alay obtained his Masters degree in Finance from the University of the Philippines, where he also studied Computer Engineering before working in the tech industry.

10. From ABS-CBN:

* Marie Mamawal is the currently the Associate Dean of the Journalism Academy, ABS-CBN University. Currently a professor/lecturer at the Communication Department of the College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University-Taft. Has been an Executive Producer for ABS-CBN Current Affairs’ investigative programs since 1988. Among them “Magandang Gabi Bayan” and “Assignment”.

* Gigi Grande, Multi-platform journalist for ABS-CBN’s Investigative and Special Reports Group, concurrently news presenter for ANC (the ABS-CBN News Channel.) Since 1997, covered a variety of beats including the Defense department, Commission on Elections, the Catholic Church and Department of Foreign Affairs. Produced documentaries for “”The Correspondents”” between 2003-2006. Proficient in English and Filipino, knowledge of Spanish.

* Rowena Paraan is a former Research Director of PCIJ and currently handling Bayan Mo IPatrol Mo, a citizen journalism/crowd sourcing arm of ABS-CBN. A journalist of more than 25 years.

11. From Rappler:

* Michael Joseph Bueza, or Mike, is a researcher/reporter for Rappler. He geeks out on books, maps, and pro wrestling.

* Gwen de la Cruz is a researcher from Rappler’s online disaster platform, Project Agos. She loves to write inspiring stories.

* Gerard Raymond Lim is a researcher for Rappler’s #PHVote. He hopes to teach philosophy someday.

A three-person team from PCIJ that will assist in the seminar completes the list of participants.

The seminar will be followed by months of mentoring for the participants by OKF and PCIJ so they could continue research and development work on their data-story projects. A public presentation of the participants’ completed projects will be held toward the close of 2015. – PCIJ, July 2015

All set for Data Journalism PH15!

mcmangahas Leave a comment

IT’S ALL SYSTEMS go for the launch on Monday, July 13, of Data Journalism PH 2015, a project of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF), with support from the World Bank-Philippines.

The event will be held at the HIVE Hotel and Convention Place in Quezon City with a panel of distinguished speakers — Commissioner Heidi Mendoza of the Commission on Audit, Budget Undersecretary Richard ‘Bon’ Moya, Kai Kasiser and Rogier van den Brink of the World Bank.

Mendoza will discuss the ground-breaking work of the COA, in partnership with civil society organizations, on their Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA) project.

Moya, who coordinates the government’s Open Data Task Force, will focus on the story of Open Data and Open Government initiatives in the Philippines.

Kiser will tackle the topic, “Open Roads: Transparency and Accountability in the Roads Sector.”

After the project launch, 34 journalists and bloggers from 11 media agencies will participate in a three-day training seminar to be conducted by OKF and PCIJ.

Through an open search for teams of content providers and techies with data-story proposals, the following participants were selected:

1. From BlogWatch:

* Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, known as @MomBlogger on social media, believes in making a difference in the lives of her children by advocating social change for social good. She is the editor of Blog Watch Citizen Media and the features editor of thePhilippine Online Chronicles, a platform for alternative viewpoints and a synthesizer of ideas.

* Jane Uymatiao is a citizen advocate and resource speaker on digital citizenship and social media crisis communication. She co-founded Blog Watch, a citizen advocacy group, and actively engages different stakeholders via social media on a wide range of economic, social and political issues.

* Carlos Maningat is a Manila-based labor researcher. He works on data stories that cover labor, official development assistance (ODA) and financialization.

2. From Interaksyon:

* Patricia Aquino is a correspondent at InterAksyon.com. She is on general assignment.

* Edilvan Falcon is a senior web developer at InterAksyon.com. He is working on his master’s degree in Computer Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

* Orlando Garcia is the Information Technology editor at InterAksyon.com. He has been a journalist for over 20 years, having started at Jingle Magazine.

3. From The Philippine Star:

* Alexis B. Romero has been covering national security for The Philippine star since 2010. He started his journalism career in 2006 as a reporter for BusinessWorld, where he covered finance, the Office of the President, the energy sector, House of Representatives and defense.

* Helen M. Flores is a reporter of The Philippine STAR covering politics and science issues. Aside from her regular beat, she also writes stories from survey data of the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia. Flores graduated from Centro Escolar University-Manila with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication major in journalism. She completed her master’s degree in Communication at the University of Santo Tomas.

* Jan Victor R. Mateo, 24, is the education beat reporter of the Philippine STAR. He is a graduate student of development communication, and has an undergraduate speech communication from the University of the Philippines. He is a participant of the 2010 Study of the US Institutes on New Media Journalism held at the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

4. From the Calbayog Post:

* Rommel L. Rutor is a multi-platform Journalist based in Samar, works for Print, Radio, TV and Online, he is on his 20th year in the profession this year. A prime mover of local issues in his own right, he desires to provide more in-depth stories to the public, and be a catalyst of change in Samar.

* Jennifer Sumagang – Allegado graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts major in Communication Arts from the University of the East, Manila. Has been in the media work for more than 12 years now, correspondent of Calbayogpost.com and a radio broadcaster in the City of Calbayog, Samar.

* Jose Gerwin Babon is a media practitioner and communication instructor at the same time.

5. From inquirer.net of the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

* Frances Mangosing is a multimedia reporter for INQUIRER.net for four years. She mostly covers defense, disasters and weather.
Nestor Corrales is a multimedia reporter for INQUIRER.net. He writes breaking news and covers urban transportation, politics, among others.

* Dan Paurom is the one-quarter of INQUIRER.net’s social media team. He consumes reports based on big data almost daily.

6. From The Financial Times-Manila:

* Hannah Dormido, 25, is a senior production editor for the Financial Times. She specialises on visuals and is currently a QGIS sorceress in training.

7. From BusinessWorld:

* Christine Joyce S. Castañeda is a researcher from BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since July 2014. She finished her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines – Los Baños in April 2014.

* Kia B. Obang, earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of the East in 2013. She has been with BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since June 2013, starting off as a Research Assistant before being promoted to Researcher in December 2013.

* Leo Jaymar G. Uy graduated from the University of the Philippines School of Economics in 2013 and is a researcher from BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since January 2014. He has a strong interest in history – particularly with the economic, social and political histories of East Asia, United States and the Philippines.

8. From Forbes Philippines:

* Lala Rimando is a business journalist with expertise in political economy and understands the dynamics of new and traditional media. She headed the business and other news units of investigative media publication Newsbreak, the online news site of Philippine media giant, ABS-CBN, and social media news network Rappler.com before joining Forbes Media’s Philippine edition as managing editor.

* Paul John Caña is a writer for Forbes Philippines and a contributor for various online and print publications. A Journalism graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman, he is a former newsdesk operations staff of GMA Network Inc. and was also the managing editor of a leading lifestyle magazine.

* Lorenzo Kyle Subido is the data journalist of Forbes Philippines, crunching numbers and scouring data bases online and off for the research needs of the magazine’s visual and text stories. He has a Creative Writing degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman and is keen to hone both his right- and left-brain skills.

9. From Bloomberg TV-Philippines:

* Regina Hing co-anchors the daily morning shows First Up and Starting Gate on Bloomberg TV Philippines. The shows aim to connect the dots for a broad audience–between politics and the economy, between macro and micro, between the movement of billions of dollars in the capital markets to the buying power of OFW remittances. Before joining Bloomberg TV Philippines, Regina was a Senior Producer/Evening Editor on the Business Desk at Channel NewsAsia in Singapore, helping oversee the channel’s coverage of business and financial markets globally. She holds a Masters in Business and Economic Reporting at New York University.

* Katria Alampay is a writer and segment producer for Bloomberg TV Philippines. She graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a B.A. in Journalism and previously worked for almost two years at the Korean Embassy in Manila.

* Alay Magno is a segment producer for Bloomberg TV Philippines’ evening news show In The Loop and weekly talk show on Startups, Igniters. Alay obtained his Masters degree in Finance from the University of the Philippines, where he also studied Computer Engineering before working in the tech industry.

10. From ABS-CBN:

* Marie Mamawal is the currently the Associate Dean of the Journalism Academy, ABS-CBN University. Currently a professor/lecturer at the Communication Department of the College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University-Taft. Has been an Executive Producer for ABS-CBN Current Affairs’ investigative programs since 1988. Among them “Magandang Gabi Bayan” and “Assignment”.

* Gigi Grande, Multi-platform journalist for ABS-CBN’s Investigative and Special Reports Group, concurrently news presenter for ANC (the ABS-CBN News Channel.) Since 1997, covered a variety of beats including the Defense department, Commission on Elections, the Catholic Church and Department of Foreign Affairs. Produced documentaries for “”The Correspondents”” between 2003-2006. Proficient in English and Filipino, knowledge of Spanish.

* Rowena Paraan is a former Research Director of PCIJ and currently handling Bayan Mo IPatrol Mo, a citizen journalism/crowd sourcing arm of ABS-CBN. A journalist of more than 25 years.

11. From Rappler:

* Michael Joseph Bueza, or Mike, is a researcher/reporter for Rappler. He geeks out on books, maps, and pro wrestling.

* Gwen de la Cruz is a researcher from Rappler’s online disaster platform, Project Agos. She loves to write inspiring stories.

* Gerard Raymond Lim is a researcher for Rappler’s #PHVote. He hopes to teach philosophy someday.

A three-person team from PCIJ that will assist in the seminar completes the list of participants.

The seminar will be followed by months of mentoring for the participants by OKF and PCIJ so they could continue research and development work on their data-story projects. A public presentation of the participants’ completed projects will be held toward the close of 2015. – PCIJ, July 2015

Binay, Aquino score big still

mcmangahas Leave a comment

By Cong B. Corrales

AMID various, big issues hogging the headlines, only two of the country’s top five national government officials secured majority approval in their performance ratings,according to the latest Ulat ng Bayan survey of the creditable pollster Pulse Asia Research, Inc.

The survey results released today, June 22, 2015, showed that only President Benigno S. Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar C. Binay obtained majority approval ratings at 54% and 58%, respectively.

However, of the two, only Binay scored majority trust rating of 57%, Pulse Asia said.

While Aquino enjoyed majority approval ratings in almost all the geographic areas and socio-economic classes, he did not obtain majority approval ratings in Metro Manila (34%) and Class ABC (43%).

Class ABC gave Aquino and Binay a similar score of 43%, yet still the latter enjoyed majority approval ratings in all geographic areas, and and Classes D and E at 51% to 62% and 56% to 67%, respectively.

INFROGRAPHICS by Cong B. Corrales

INFROGRAPHICS by Cong B. Corrales

In contrast, three other national government officials failed to obtain majority approval ratings. Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno who obtained approval ratings at 49%, 30%, and 31%, respectively.

Amid relentless allegations of graft and corruption against him, only Binay earned the majority trust rating in every geographical area and socio-economic classes (50% to 63% and 55% to 66%, respectively), except only for Class ABC (39%)

“Meanwhile, the only majority trust rating in this quarter is recorded by Vice President Binay (57%). One in two Filipinos (50%) expresses trust in President Aquino,” the latest Pulse Asia Research survey read.

Pulse Asia Research conducted the June 2015 Ulat ng Bayan Survey from May 30 to June 5, this year. It conducted face-to-face interviews among a sample of 1,2000 representative adults aged 18 years old and above.

Pulse Asia said the survey has a 1 to 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level. As for each of the geographic areas covered by the survey, subnational estimates have a ± 6% error margin, also at 95% confidence level.

As in its previous Ulat ng Bayan Surveys, Pulse Asia said that no religious, political, economic, or partisan group influenced any of its processes, and that the no singular entity commissioned the suvey.

The following issues had hogged the headlines weeks prior to and during the conduct of the latest Pulse Asia survey:

* The case of Mary Jane Veloso who had been meted out the death penalty for drug smuggling in Indonesia but was granted a reprieve at the last minute by Indonesian President Joko Widodo as well as the continuing efforts of the Philippine government and civil society groups and individuals to seek clemency for Veloso;

* The observation of Labor Day, with labor groups clamoring for, among other things, higher wages and greater protection for the welfare of domestic and overseas Filipino workers like, especially in the wake of Veloso’s case in Indonesia;

* The report of the special panel of probers created by the Office of the Ombudsman to look into the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building II which seeks to indict Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, Jr., other Makati City government officials and some private contractors for criminal and administrative charges arising from the illegal procurement and payment for the design and construction of the said building;

* The decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) to grant a petition filed by the AntiMoney Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze the bank accounts of Vice-President Binay as well as Makati City Mayor Binay, former Makati City Mayor Elenita Binay, and some of the reported dummies of the Vice-President in connection with the investigations done by the Office of the Ombudsman concerning the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II and Makati Science High School;

* The continuation of the hearings conducted by the subcommittee of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee regarding the alleged anomalies involving Vice-President Binay, with Senator Antonio Trillanes IV claiming that the PAG-IBIG Fund granted loans amounting to P 134 million to four real estate developers allied with the Vice-President;

* The start of a new school year marked by calls for the scrapping of the K-12 program, the building of more classrooms, lower tuition, and more government support for the education sector;

* The killing of alleged terrorist Abdul Basit Usman in Maguindanao during a firefight between his group and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on 03 May 2015, a development which, Malacañang hopes, would restore public trust in the MILF and the Mindanao peace process in the aftermath of the January 2015 Mamasapano encounter;

* The approval by the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) of its own version of the proposed legislation, the Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR), by a vote of 50-17 (with one abstention) and the start of plenary discussions on the matter; the House of Representatives also approved on second reading a resolution seeking to amend the so-called restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution;

* The continuing tensions between the Philippines and China over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea and the reported land reclamation activities of Vietnam on Sand Cay and West Reef which are part of the contested Spratly Islands;

* The appointment of former Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) Chairperson Andres Bautista as the new head of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and those of former Cadiz City Mayor Rowena Guanzon and Atty. Sheriff Abas as new COMELEC Commissioners;

* The helicopter crash in Pakistan which killed Philippine Ambassador Domingo Lucenario, Jr. and six other people on 08 May 2015, with the Pakistani Taliban later claiming they shot down the army helicopter with an anti-aircraft missile, though this claim was denied by the Pakistani authorities who, in turn, attributed the crash to a technical problem with the aircraft;

* A Commission on Audit (COA) report which claims that a total of P 670 million from 49 lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the administration’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which were released through the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), ended up in the hands of several questionable non-government organizations (NGOs);

* A meeting between President Benigno S. Aquino III and Senator Grace Poe in connection with the possibility of the latter running as president or vice-president in May 2016 under the Liberal Party (LP) and the disqualification issue based on her lack of residency raised against Senator Poe by Navotas City Representative Tobias Tiangco, who is the interim president of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA); the exchange of words between Vice-President Binay and Senator Poe with the former saying that the next Philippine president should have experience and the latter replying that quality of service and honesty are more important than length of service or experience;

* The factory fire in Valenzuela City which resulted in the death of 72 individuals and the creation of a panel of state prosecutors who will determine the possible criminal and administrative offenses committed by the factory owner, Kentex Manufacturing Corporation;

* The welterweight division boxing match between Represnetative Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. which the latter won through a unanimous decision; and

* The lowest level of inflation in the country in 20 years at 1.6% recorded in May 2015 – lower than the 2.2% inflation rate the previous month – which, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), was due to sufficient supply of key food items and lower electricity and fuel prices. – PCIJ, June 2015