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Ignoring statistics, gov’t to import more fish

Ignoring statistics, gov’t to import more fish

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

Image from Wikipedia

GOTCHA

written on January 21, 2022

 

 

 

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources already erred last quarter.

It was then the onset of the yearend commercial fishing ban. Forecasting a 120,000-ton catch shortfall, BFAR recommended to import 65,000 tons.

Aquaculturists protested. They had enough tilapia and bangus (milkfish) in lake pens harvestable over seven months. Small fishers howled too; imports would depress prices of their meager catch. Commercial fishers, although prioritized to import during annual bans, sided with them. Together they estimated only 15,000-ton shortage in case of natural disaster, and counter-proposed only 30,000-ton imports.

Agriculture Sec. William Dar ruled to import 60,000 tons of galunggong (round scad), mackerel and sardines.

But what happened? Twenty-five importers were able to bring in only 37,000 tons. By Dec. 31 only 12,000 tons were released from refrigerated warehouses.

The small and big fishers were proven right. Only minimal imports were needed. Fish retail prices rose a bit with the Christmas demand, then dipped. BFAR had it all wrong.

But there it goes again. Early this month BFAR forecast a 125,000-ton shortfall in the first quarter. Reason: Super Typhoon Odette displaced thousands of small fishermen and destroyed fishponds in Visayas-Mindanao last Dec. 16. Proof: a P20-per-kilo jump in galunggong retail price in two city markets. BFAR claimed there is urgent need to import 66,000 tons. Not only galunggong, mackerel and sardines this time, but also bonito and tulingan varieties of tuna. That’s separate from stocks that seafood processors and canners are allowed to bring in year-round.

Jan. 12, BFAR called for an emergency meeting of the 15-man National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council. Sole agenda the next day was the Certificate of Necessity to Import the 66,000 tons. NFARMC nixed any CNI. There was still 25,000 tons of fish in cold storage and 23,000 tons of last quarter’s approved quota to be filled in, it noted. Headed by the Agriculture Undersecretary for Fisheries with an Interior undersecretary, NFARMC consists of five reps from fisherfolk and workers; five from commercial fishers, aquaculturists and processors; two from academe and one from NGOs. It is the highest policy advisor to the Dept. of Agriculture. Nominated by industry associations, the 13 reps have three-year terms.

Jan. 17, Dar signed a CNI for 60,000 tons, and announced it the next day.

At once the fishing sector complained. Artisanal catchers cried that the combined import surplus from last quarter and the new volume would make them poorer than ever. Bangus and tilapia raisers groaned that their farm gate prices will drop below production cost. Commercial fleet owners were puzzled since the closed season is about to end.

Hog and chicken growers, vegetable and fruit farmers joined in. They, too, have been suffering from the influx of pork, poultry and produce from abroad. Why, they asked, was importation the government’s knee-jerk reaction to any food issue?

Dar didn’t make sense to them. The latter had claimed that fisheries had suffered P3.97-billion damage from Odette: “They are the number one sub-sector of agriculture badly hit by typhoon. The capacity of our fishers to catch will be in question. You have to enhance their capacities.”

How can imports enhance domestic capacity? Is not reequipping small fishers the solution to damaged gear? When Super Typhoon Yolanda flattened the Visayas and Bicol in 2013, then BFAR chief Asis Perez and private firms helped repair boats and distributed nets and handlines. When three typhoons successively struck the eastern seaboard in late 2019, Perez, back to his private conservationist advocacy, did the same under Tanggol Kalikasan (featured in this column at that time).

Is not enhancing capacity helping domestic fish raisers to lower production costs and increase harvest? Cheaper feeds and transport would boost their incomes and encourage expansion.

Is not enhancing capacity protecting Filipino commercial fishers against Chinese armed poachers in the West Philippine Sea? Luzon fishers are being driven away from Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal and Recto (Reed) Bank by Chinese coastguards with machine guns and water cannon. In June 2019 a Chinese fisheries militia steel trawler rammed and sank an anchored Filipino wooden boat with 26 crewmen off the Mindoro coast. Last March-May, 330 Chinese militia vessels, each the length of two basketball courts, swarmed Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef and Kalayaan Islands, all in the Philippine exclusive economic zone. It’s BFAR, escorted by the Philippine Coast Guard, that should organize fishing expeditions in the EEZ. The Chinese poachers engage in illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing by the hundreds of thousands of tons (millions of kilos).

The fish that the government imports comes mostly from China. They’re likely stolen from Philippine waters.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Honesty as first yardstick for voters to rate candidates

Honesty as first yardstick for voters to rate candidates

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Sara Duterte

GOTCHA

written on January 19, 2022

 

 

 

“All candidates lie… Honesty should not be an election issue,” Sara Duterte famously said about the 2019 balloting. President-father Rodrigo Duterte was evasive when asked for reaction. The presidential spokesman was mum. Opposition senatorial candidates had decried their opponents’ dishonesty in personal biodata and with public funds. They all lost.

Candidates ignore the constitutional requirement of integrity. Important for them is campaign messaging, derived from surveys. Issues topmost in people’s minds nowadays are livelihood, prices and pandemic relief. So candidates tailor their promises to pollsters’ findings: jobs for all, price control, free medicines. “Never mind the details, those will come later after you elect me.”

The trick works. Candidates know that voters look for five M’s from them: matulungin (helpful), matatas (glib), malalapitan (approachable), marunong (able), malinis (clean), in that order. Helpfulness and approachability often denote the negative or narrow sense: what a voter can get for him/herself. Glibness and ability seem to ask to be set up for the sting. Only the last is for the good of all.

And so the Filipino is unable to get out of the social rut. Thinking of self instead of community on Election Day, he keeps the political class in power for years thereafter. “Hindi naman makakain ang honesty.” The hungry man is not a free man. Pandemic has impoverished more families than ever.

Can honesty be an election issue, the first yardstick for any candidate? Capability and vision are critical, but those will work only if grounded on sincerity. NGOs like KontraDaya and Lente specialize as watchdogs by keeping the campaigns clean. Exposure of dirty tactics reflect on candidates’ character.

Honesty cuts both ways. Voters too need to be clean about their choices, not for cash or favors, but sincere belief in and desire for the common good. A tall order.

Voter educators upholding Honesty First proliferated in the first few post-EDSA elections. Their numbers have dwindled, perhaps by attrition of age, emigration, cooptation or exhaustion.

Last Saturday an 18,000-strong organization resumed its three-yearly crusade for uprightness among candidates. The Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals launched “Tapatan ng Tapat” to champion and defend the values of truth, integrity and transparency in Election 2022. “The challenge is to place the virtue of honesty at the forefront of a person’s moral compass, which becomes his or her basis for choices and actions,” BCBP president PV Beley said.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president, exemplified what honesty is about and what it is not. “Truth is the same as being in the right path as opposed to being lost or misled. Where is this path supposed to lead us? It is the path to fullness of life,” he told the BCBP global breakfast-forum.

BCBP is non-partisan. But Bishop David chided disinformation by some candidates. Example: the claim that Ferdinand Marcos’ kleptocracy were the golden years of the Philippines. “Good heavens!” he remarked of the need to straighten out fakery. “Martial law was simply a democratically elected leader wanting to stay in power longer than the Constitution allowed him… He suppressed freedom of speech and legitimate dissent… We cannot afford to keep quiet when some candidates claimed that the best government we ever had was the Marcos dictatorship… It is not just an alternative narrative but a blatant lie. A misrepresentation of events. It is not just a revision, but a falsification of history. It is every bit morally wrong.”

Tapatan ng Tapat aims to make candidates disclose, when elected, their yearly Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth. It’s a legal requirement, yet public officials concoct technicalities to avoid publicizing their SALNs. “Be honest, even if others are not, even if others will not, even if others cannot,” Noel delos Reyes reiterated the BCBP slogan since 2004.

Pledging SALN disclosure can be a test of officeholders’ honesty. They deserve the honorific “solon” only if they abide by the 6th century B.C. Athenian archon’s dictum: “I would rather be just and trustworthy and follow the path that is right than have all the power and wealth in the world.”

But voters need to rate candidates before going to the polling precincts. Aspirants who are present or past officials can perhaps post online their last three SALNs to show clean intentions. Anyone who refuses can be asked to say why. Those with unexplained wealth can be scratched out of the voters’ choices.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Lacson-Sotto counterplan makes ‘No-El’ infeasible

Lacson-Sotto counterplan makes ‘No-El’ infeasible

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Tito Sotto (left) and Ping Lacson (right)

GOTCHA

written on January 14, 2023

 

Firming up last August their presidential-VP run, Senators Ping Lacson and Tito Sotto scanned the political field. Murmurs were rife about No Election (No-El). Surging pandemic, assassinations, Comelec difficulties, could delay the May 2022 balloting. Plotters, insatiable for power and kickbacks, can use these to prolong themselves in office.

Constitutional crisis can erupt. Except for 12 of 24 senators, all others – President, VP, legislators, local officials – must step down on June 30, 2022. Holdover has no part in the basic law, not even on pretext of continuity of state services and staff salaries. Only the 12 senators elected in 2019 are to remain till 2025.

Sotto broached to Lacson a constitutional alternative. As Senate President (SP) he can convene the 24 members to replace him from among the 12 staying ones. That new SP can serve as the country’s interim leader till a president is elected. A new SP Pro Tempore can lead the legislature during the period. Central government can function. Crisis would be averted.

The SP as interim leader would be constitutionally stable. The 11 others would have no authority to remove him. A majority of at least 13 of the 24-strong Senate is needed to appoint its officers.

Sotto sought counsel from two retired justices. “Finding it feasible, they were amazed how we ideated it,” he told Sapol dwIZ Saturday. Sotto, first elected in 1992, is the most senior of present senators; he would have served 24 years by June. Lacson, first elected in 2001, will notch 18 years by then. Though not lawyers, they have mastered the Senate’s legal powers. That they are among the 12 departing senators negates any ulterior motives.

Lacson and Sotto refined the solution. Selection of the new SP shall be done before the mass step-down on June 30. It can be as late as the closing session after the May election, or as early as the penultimate one next month.

Current indications can dictate the timing. The Comelec has just junked a disruptive bid by a faction of the ruling PDP-Laban to reopen the filing of candidacies and postpone ballot printing. A reported hacking of Comelec computers is being verified. Shortage of flu, cough, cold medicines and COVID-19 test kits is worsening the Omicron wave. Scarcity of disaster relief funds is demoralizing victims of super typhoon in Visayas-Mindanao. Vaccinations have been set back anew. Election Day blackouts loom with Indonesia’s halt of coal exports, on which 60 percent of Philippine electricity depends.

Any one or combination of those can instigate No-El. Let alone terror bombings like those staged by Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 to presage martial law dictatorship.

The interim leader must be tough and prepared, independent-minded and publicly trustworthy, Sotto continued. That person must mobilize the armed forces and police for law and order. He may need to appoint temporary local officials and replace troublesome members in the old Cabinet. He must muster Supreme Court support. He must calm the nation and ensure elections the soonest.

Five senators fit the bill, Sotto said. He prefers two from among Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Bato dela Rosa, Bong Go, Lito Lapid, Imee Marcos, Koko Pimentel, Grace Poe, Bong Revilla, Francis Tolentino and Cynthia Villar.

Inopportune to identify the two this early. But Sotto has sounded them out, along with the 14 other colleagues who made him SP in 2018. “What I was wary of in making my choices was anyone who would overeagerly present him/herself,” he stressed. That would have been a red flag. “Both were taken aback” when he talked to them separately, “both apprehensively debated with me, and acquiesced only when convinced it was for the national good.”

No-El fears and ploys spike towards the end of presidential terms. Occupants of Malacañang and henchmen even fan loose talk. Lacson and Sotto’s presentation of a counter-plan should squelch No-El schemers – for now.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Why evade taxes, perjure, skip hearing, yet campaign?

Why evade taxes, perjure, skip hearing, yet campaign?

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

GOTCHA

written on January 12, 2023

 

What was Bongbong Marcos thinking in skipping his disqualification hearing? On the case hangs his long-planned presidential run. He had announced to be preparing for it. The Comelec had notified him the previous week to attend. Commissioner Rowena Guanzon tweeted: “I will preside over the preliminary conference of Akbayan et al vs Marcos Jr. on Jan 7 at 9 a.m. Lawyers, prepare! I have low tolerance for incompetence… Parties must personally appear. Vax cards, face masks.”

BBM’s absence delayed the proceedings for an hour. Guanzon demanded to know why he would not join even only by Zoom teleconferencing. His lawyer claimed he was on quarantine, being unwell after exposure to two aides positive for COVID-19. Even online appearance was shunned lest BBM infect others.

Was BBM avoiding sticky questions, like his tax evasion for four years, 1982-1985, the reason for his DQ case? Or his publicists’ unverified claims of his having paid deficiencies, surcharges and fines for the criminal conviction?

Not even a medical certificate, Guanzon quizzed? Such excuse slip is basic in missing class or work, much more a hearing, petitioners remarked later.

The publicists posted online a doctor’s report of having visited BBM at 10 a.m. the day before and finding him slightly feverish, 37.8ºC, with “difficulty in speaking due to a painfully congested throat.”

Netizens swiftly retorted that BBM at 4:45 p.m. that same day had lively discussed in a radio show his anti-pandemic platform. There supposedly was no indication of feeling under the weather.

Confirming that, yet also blasting the netizens for “misinformation and lack of empathy”, the publicists disclosed that BBM had an earlier radio interview just before the doctor’s house call.

So why BBM’s refusal to show up for even a moment in that crucial hearing when he could speak at length about himself twice on the day he was sickly? Did he catch Zoomicron, netizens quipped. If Zoom-ing can infect, then why did he do it twice?

Guanzon then required the doctor to have his findings certified true. Notarization is basic in legal submissions. Guanzon’s intolerance of incompetence was evident.

Incompetence was also the point of netizens’ posts. The party’s actions and statements didn’t make sense. But some things are beyond comprehension, Carlo Cipolla propounded in “The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity”, 1976. The Italian professor of economic history advised thinkers tongue-in-cheek to accept that: One, always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation. Two, the probability that a certain person will be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person (eg., wealth, education, position). Three, a stupid person is one who causes losses to another or to a group while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses. Four, non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals; they constantly forget that dealing or associating with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake. Five, a stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

Guanzon intends to resolve the DQ by Jan. 17. Worries are that BBM may protract the case till she retires from the Comelec next month.

For the petitioners it is open and shut. BBM was convicted of tax evasion, four counts, by final Court of Appeals judgment in 1997. The National Internal Revenue Code perpetually bars a tax evader from public office. The Omnibus Election Code disqualifies anyone convicted of crime involving moral turpitude. That BBM was able to run for senator and VP thereafter is inconsequential. There is no court record of his having paid the P36,000-penalty for the four convictions.

What was BBM thinking in evading income taxes as vice-governor then governor for four years? Did he think that as son of then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos he could get away with it? Did he think they would be in power forever? Did he not care about losses he might incur later?

Whatever the outcome in Guanzon’s First Division, a petition pends in the Second Division for cancellation of BBM’s candidacy. That case alleges that BBM perjured twice in his candidacy certificate, hence invalid. He had sworn to be eligible to run and to never having been convicted for an offense that prohibits it.

Ignorance of tax, election, and perjury laws is no excuse, petitioners aver. What was BBM thinking when he “misrepresented” qualification for election? Did he do it by rote having done so before but unquestioned? Will not such a person do damage if he assumes the highest position in the land? Is there no danger of widespread emulation of tax evasion?

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

With no standard-bearers, is ruling party plotting No-El?

With no standard-bearers, is ruling party plotting No-El?

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

stock image

GOTCHA

written on January 7, 2023

 

Electricity has yet to be restored in swaths of Visayas-Mindanao blacked out by a super typhoon three weeks ago. The two highest energy officials are busy with their faction of the ruling PDP-Laban. Sec. Alfonso Cusi and Melvin Matibag are asking the Comelec to reopen the filing of candidacies for Election 2022. Supposedly they need more time to nominate presidential and VP standard bearers. They want the ballot printing postponed due to many pending candidacy issues. Legal basis for their petitioned deadline extensions is allegedly the Omnibus Election Code.

Rival parties and poll watchdogs view the Cusi-Matibag move as laughable and sinister. Laughable, because their faction had bungled the selection of candidates. Sinister, because delaying Comelec deadlines could lead to a dreaded No-Election (No-El) scenario.

Cusi and Matibag had grabbed the PDP-Laban leadership from presidential aspirant Sen. Manny Pacquiao and longtime officer Sen. Koko Pimentel. They then named President Rodrigo Duterte as VP bet, with power to choose his presidential running mate. Duterte subsequently declined. Attempts failed to convince Duterte’s trusted aide Sen. Bong Go to run for president. Duterte loyalist Sen. Bato dela Rosa became the last-minute presidential nominee. Dutifully filing his candidacy, he wished aloud that Duterte’s daughter Sara substitute for him. Long deriding the PDP-Laban, Sara instead filed for VP under Lakas-CMD. Dela Rosa promptly slid out. Duterte and Go then filed for senator and president under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan. Then they withdrew.

Observers thought that was the end of the ruling party’s personality-based politics. Then came on New Year’s Eve the Cusi-Matibag ploy.

At once the Pacquiao-Pimentel wing denounced the “last-ditch effort to subvert the electorate’s will. Their petition may result in delaying and derailing the electoral process … to have failed elections to prolong their hold on power,” said vice chairman and senatorial aspirant Lutgardo Barbo. He urged the Comelec to junk the bid. Messing up the candidacy vetting and ballot printing allegedly aims to extend the terms of incumbent officials.

Prolonging tenures would be unconstitutional. Except for 12 senators elected in 2019 all officials, from president to councilors, must step down at noon of June 30. Any delay would trigger a political crisis.

Sen. Ping Lacson and Senate President Tito Sotto are ready to thwart that, however. The Reporma Party presidential and VP running mates have long thought out a plan. In case of a No-El, Sotto would convene the 24-member Senate before June 30. A new Senate president will be elected from among the 12 whose term will end in 2025. That Senate head will serve as government caretaker until a president and VP are elected and proclaimed. Spokesman James Jimenez assured that the Comelec will block any election foul-up. Still majority of senators are not taking chances.

Sotto has two choices who are independent-minded and trustworthy for the public. Such interim president would come from among Juan Edgardo Angara, Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, dela Rosa, Go, Lito Lapid, Imee Marcos, Pimentel, Grace Poe, Ramon Revilla Jr., Francis Tolentino, and Cynthia Villar.

The Comelec works on tight deadlines under the Election Automation Law. Elections in 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 used machine-readable ballots, with names of all national and local candidates printed on both sides. It is a major departure from mere blank ballots under the Omnibus Election Code.

Automation requires ballots specific to provinces, cities, municipalities, congressional and council districts. Proofreading is done several times of candidates’ names, middle initials, nicknames and parties. Printing cylinders are loaded and unloaded for each of 97,000 precinct clusters; the number of ballots depends on the registered voters plus reserves in case of inadvertent spoilage. Distribution alone takes weeks, including to the remotest mountain and island barangays. Special ballot markers, indelible ink for fingernails, stamp pads and other paraphernalia are delivered to each cluster along with the vote counting machines, standbys and spare parts. Test-runs are held a week before Election Day to ensure VCM running condition, count accuracy and transmission speed. All those necessitated the filing of candidacies and nominations as early as last October and substitutions by November.

The Comelec has yet to rule on the legitimate PDP-Laban officership. Pimentel had won a similar leadership grab in 2019 and is confident of a favorable Comelec ruling again, this time against Cusi and Matibag. The latter two’s claim to ascendancy rests on Duterte being their party chairman. But the other side avers that Duterte lost his PDP-Laban membership and switched parties the moment he substituted as senatorial bet under the PDDS. Under the Omnibus Election Code a candidatecan have only one party membership.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

12 events to expect in 2022, mostly grim

12 events to expect in 2022, mostly grim

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

Photo from Philippine News Agency

GOTCHA

written on January 5, 2022 

If 2021 was the year the world turned back COVID-19, will 2022 see it licked? And what of the pandemic aftermaths, the tightening hold of big tech on people’s lives, and the worsening rivalry between China and America? Global events will shape or shock the Philippines in 2022. So will the general elections and wrong public policies. Some forecasts:

(1) Cures will overtake the spread and mutations of SARS-CoV-2. Pills, recently tested safe, can replace injections as inoculants. Cost will be primal for Filipinos, versus local remedies like virgin coconut oil. Exposing profiteers like Pharmally and their abettors is crucial.

(2) Increasingly greedy Communist China will escalate grabs of neighbors’ seas and river flows. Viewing Manila’s ally America in decline, Beijing will attempt more reef occupations in the West Philippine Sea. Propaganda and kickback from loans will strive to stifle complaints from East, Southeast and South Asian leaders.

3) Beijing’s Manchurian Candidates in the Philippine elections will be apparent. They will discredit as futile any buildup of naval and air strength. Feigning concern for soldiers’ lives, they will discourage patrols in the WPS. That will embolden trespassing Chinese warships to aim gun control directors at Philippine vessels and machinegun and water cannon fishermen.

(4) Fake news and historical revisionism will dominate the election campaign. Candidates with the least credentials will concoct accomplishments and blur dark pasts. Online media will be the primary means for falsities, and computer analytics will be used to pinpoint which big lies to reiterate to look true.

(5) Political dynasts will lead the popularity polls for president, VP, congressman and local posts. Senatorial favorites will be the old names. Party-lists will violate election rules by promoting not their advocacies but names of nominees.

(6) Filipinos, tired of it all, will attempt one big push against traditional politics. Voters will spend their own money, time and talent to promote candidates for real change. People Power-type campaigning will involve organizing as community volunteers, professional and trade groupings, school alumni, parishioners and youth causes. One campaign color will distinguish them from the red that is often misappropriated from the Thailand protest actions to make local crowd photos look big.

(7) Filipinos will doubt the need and duty to pay taxes. They will ask why officials and their families are able to evade taxes and penalties, not just by the tens of thousands but the hundreds of billions of pesos. Increasingly expensive government fees will be questioned.

(8) Political assassinations will escalate. Too many guns for hire are on the loose, having practiced on drug suspects from 2016 to 2019. Sniper fire and bombings will be the modus by dishonorably discharged servicemen and remnant terrorists.

(9) Hog-raisers, poultry-men, fish growers and feed makers will continue to suffer from massive food imports and smuggling. Government priority will be to appease consumers with low prices, to the detriment of domestic producers.

(10) The economy will go on depending on remittances from overseas workers than from exports. Shortage of skilled labor and rising petroleum prices will hamper economic revival. Tourism can lead the way with the reopening of hotels and resorts, though with reduced services. Dine-ins will pick up while restaurants enjoy more volumes from take-outs and deliveries. Work-from-home will be the new normal for many companies, especially for mothers and the pregnant. A downside is that they can be passed up for promotion.

(11) Typhoons, floods and landslides will destroy with increasing ferocity homes, farms and livelihoods. Official reaction will be limited as usual to emergency relief. Resettlement and disaster mitigation will remain buzzwords. No reforestation of mountains and shorelines; no massive shift to renewable energy.

(12) Malnutrition and learning will continue to be the hidden crises. Two in five Filipinos will enter school underweight and stunted. Grade-schoolers will continue to rank lowest in Math, Sciences and Reading Comprehension compared to foreign counterparts. Preoccupation with pork barrels and project kickbacks will distract lawmakers and bureaucrats from immediate and long-term solutions.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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  • If you have already agreed to share your information with us, feel free to contact us via email and we will be more than happy to change this for you.

 

jariusbondoc.com will not lease, sell or distribute your personal information to any third parties, unless we have your permission. We might do so if the law forces us. Your personal information will be used when we need to send you promotional materials if you agree to this privacy policy.

 

II. COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All materials contained on this site are protected by the Republic of the Phlippines copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of jariusbondoc.com or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

However, you may download material from jariusbondoc.com on the Web (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only.

If you wish to use jariusbondoc.com content for commercial purposes, such as for content syndication etc., please contact us at jariusbondoconline@gmail.com.

Links to Websites other than those owned by jariusbondoc.com are offered as a service to readers. The editorial staff of jariusbondoc.com was not involved in their production and is not responsible for their content.

 

III. TERMS OF SERVICE

 

  1. GENERAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS

 

1.1 If you choose to use the jariusbondoc.com service (the “Service”), you will be agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement between you and jariusbondoc.com (“jariusbondoc.com “).

 

1.2 jariusbondoc.com may change, add or remove portions of this Agreement at any time, but if it does so, it will post such changes on the Service, or send them to you via e-mail. It is your responsibility to review this Agreement prior to each use of the Site and by continuing to use this Site, you agree to any changes.

 

1.3 If any of these rules or any future changes are unacceptable to you, you may cancel your membership by sending e-mail to jariusbondoconline.com (see section 10.1 regarding termination of service). Your continued use of the service now, or following the posting of notice of any changes in these operating rules, will indicate acceptance by you of such rules, changes, or modifications.

 

1.4 jariusbondoc.com may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time, including the availability of any Service feature, database, or content. jariusbondoc.com may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Service without notice or liability.

 

  1. JARIUSBONDOC.COM CONTENT AND MEMBER SUBMISSIONS

 

2.1 The contents of the jariusbondoc.com are intended for your personal, noncommercial use. All materials published on jariusbondoc.com (including, but not limited to news articles, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips and video clips, also known as the “Content”) are protected by copyright, and owned or controlled by jariusbondoc.com or the party credited as the provider of the Content. You shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Service.

 

2.2 The Service and its Contents are protected by copyright pursuant to the Republic of the Philippines and international copyright laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as provided in Section 2.3 of this Agreement), create new works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the Content or the Service (including software) in whole or in part.

 

2.3 You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Service for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from jariusbondoc.com or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the Content.

 

  1. FORUMS, DISCUSSIONS AND USER GENERATED CONTENT

 

3.1 You shall not upload to, or distribute or otherwise publish on the message boards (the “Feedback Section”) any libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material.

 

3.2 (a)Be courteous. You agree that you will not threaten or verbally abuse jariusbondoc.com columnists and other jariusbondoc.com community Members, use defamatory language, or deliberately disrupt discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or “spam.”

 

3.2 (b) Use respectful language. Like any community, the Feedback Sections will flourish only when our Members feel welcome and safe. You agree not to use language that abuses or discriminates on the basis of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, etc. Hate speech of any kind is grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.2 (c) Debate, but don’t attack. In a community full of opinions and preferences, people always disagree. jariusbondoc.com encourages active discussions and welcomes heated debate in our Feedback Sections. But personal attacks are a direct violation of this Agreement and are grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.3 The Feedback Sections shall be used only in a noncommercial manner. You shall not, without the express approval of jariusbondoc.com, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, advertising or solicitation for goods or services.

 

3.4 You are solely responsible for the content of your messages. However, while jariusbondoc.com does not and cannot review every message posted by you on the Forums and is not responsible for the content of these messages, jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to delete, move, or edit messages that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or otherwise unacceptable.

 

3.5 You acknowledge that any submissions you make to the Service (i.e., user-generated content including but not limited to: text, video, audio and photographs) (each, a “Submission”) may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by jariusbondoc.com and you waive any moral rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you. You grant jariusbondoc.com a perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty free, sub-licensable license to the Submissions, which includes without limitation the right for jariusbondoc.com or any third party it designates, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify and adapt (including without limitation the right to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies) in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed, any Submission posted by you on or to jariusbondoc.com or any other website owned by it, including any Submission posted on jariusbondoc.com through a third party.

 

3.6 By submitting an entry to jariusbondoc.com’s Readers’ Corner, you are consenting to its display on the site and for related online and offline promotional uses.

 

  1. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE AND LINKS

 

4.1 jariusbondoc.com contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites, resources, and sponsors of jariusbondoc.com. Since jariusbondoc.com is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources, or their contents, you should direct any concerns regarding any external link to the site administrator or Webmaster of such site.

 

  1. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

 

5.1 You represent, warrant and covenant (a) that no materials of any kind submitted through your account will (i) violate, plagiarize, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights; or (ii) contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material; and (b) that you are at least thirteen years old. You hereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless jariusbondoc.com, and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by you or any user of your account of this Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim. jariusbondoc.com reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

 

5.2 jariusbondoc.com does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Service by any user, information provider or any other person or entity. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk. THE SERVICE AND ALL DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

 

  1. COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN JARIUSBONDOC.COM AND MEMBERS

 

6.1 If you indicate on your registration form that you want to receive such information, jariusbondoc.com, its owners and assigns, will allow certain third party vendors to provide you with information about products and services.

 

6.2 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to send electronic mail to you for the purpose of informing you of changes or additions to the Service.

 

6.3 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to disclose information about your usage and demographics, provided that it will not reveal your personal identity in connection with the disclosure of such information. Advertisers and/or Licensees on our Web site may collect and share information about you only if you indicate your acceptance. For more information please read the Privacy Policy of jariusbondoc.com.

 

6.4 jariusbondoc.com may contact you via e-mail regarding your participation in user surveys, asking for feedback on the Website and existing or prospective products and services. This information will be used to improve our Website and better understand our users, and any information we obtain in such surveys will not be shared with third parties, except in aggregate form.

 

  1. TERMINATION

 

 

7.1 jariusbondoc.com may, in its sole discretion, terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Service for any reason, including, without limitation, breach or assignment of this Agreement.

 

  1. MISCELLANEOUS

 

8.1 This Agreement has been made in and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the Republic of the Philippines law. Any action to enforce this agreement shall be brought in the courts located in Manila, Philippines.

 

8.2 Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Terms of Service will serve to preempt the promises made in jariusbondoc.com Privacy Policy.

 

8.3 Correspondence should be sent to jariusbondoconline.com.

 

8.4 You agree to report any copyright violations of the Terms of Service to jariusbondoc.com as soon as you become aware of them. In the event you have a claim of copyright infringement with respect to material that is contained in the jariusbondoc.com service, please notify jariusbondoconline.com. This Terms of Service was last updated on November 7, 2020.