Pork barrel i-abolish ba o hindi?

Nakakalungkot para sa ating mga institusyon ng pamahalaan at sa ating bansa ang napabalitang diumano’y paglulustay ng pondo ng Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) o mas kilala sa pangalan na pork barrel sa halagang P10 bilyong piso.

Dahil dito ay umigting ang panawagan na ibasura na ang pork barrel ng mga kongresista at senador dahil sa hindi wastong paggamit ng nasabing pondo. Lubos nating naiintindihan ang panawagan na ito at ang sentimyento kontra sa PDAF.

Kung hindi rin lang matitiyak na ga­gamitin sa maayos na paraan ang PDAF, mas mainam na ibasura na ito. Ngunit ang pagbasura sa PDAF ay isang hakbang lamang para sa pangontra sa tiwali at pang-aabuso sa pondo ng gobyerno.

Sabi nga nila, maraming paraan upang gumawa ng kalokohan o pang-aabuso kung talagang desidido ang isang opisyal ng pamahalaan na gatasan ang gobyerno. 

Naalala ko tuloy nu’ng naging maigting ang kampanya laban sa jueteng at napatigil ito sa ilang mga lugar (kahit pansamantala lamang), umusbong naman ang bagong iligal na sugal na ‘loteng’. Ganu’n din ang pagbasura sa pork barrel.

Hahanap at hahanap ang mga tiwali ng paraan hangga’t makakalusot ang mga ito at gagawa ng paraan upang kumita dahil wala namang napaparusahan.

Simpleng tanong lamang: Bakit nariyan pa rin ang jueteng? Ang sagot ay tanong din: May nakita na ba kayong jueteng lord o pulis na nakulong dahil sa jueteng? Hangga’t hindi napaparusahan ang mga ito, tuloy ang ligaya ‘ika nga.

Ang nais nating bigyan-diin ay habang tama ang usapin na i-abolish ang pork barrel kung hindi rin lang ito maiimplementa ng tama, hindi matatapos ang pang-aabuso sa pondo ng gobyerno ng mga sindikato na kasabwat ang mga opisyal ng gobyerno hangga’t walang napaparusahan o nasesentensyahan ng pagkakakulong. Bilyon diumano ang nalustay.

Matitigil lamang ang paglulustay kung ang mga nagkasala ay maparusahan sa mabilis at patas na paglilitis. 

Mabalik tayo sa usapin ng pag-abolish sa pork barrel. Uulitin natin ang ating posisyon. Kung hindi rin lang matitiyak na magagamit ang pondo sa maayos at sa ligal na paraan, kung ito ay aabusuhin lamang, mas mainam na ibasura na ito.

Marahil may magsasabi na kaya lamang natin sinasabi ito ay dahil wala na tayo sa Senado at tapos na ang ating termino.

Kung tutuusin sa 12 taon natin sa Senado ay halos anim na taon sa ila­lim ng panunungkulan ni dating Pangulong Gloria Arroyo ay wala tayong PDAF.

Ito ay dahil sa pagkontra natin sa ilang tiwaling mga gawain sa administrasyon ni GMA mula 2005 hanggang 2010. Hindi pumayag si GMA na i-release ang alokasyon ng PDAF sa ating tanggapan. Kaya kung tutuusin matagal ding ‘abolished’ sa amin ang PDAF. 

Sa loob ng halos anim na taon, hindi tayo nakapaglaan ng pondo mula sa pork barrel dahil walang alokasyon na na-release sa ating tanggapan at ito ay dahil sa mga kaalyado lamang ni GMA napunta ang PDAF nu’ng panahon n’ya.

Subalit tayo naman ay nahalal muli nu’ng 2007 at bilang indipendyente. Kaya kung ako ang tatanungin, hindi naman kailangan ang pork barrel upang mahalal ang isang opisyal kaya hindi ka na rin magtataka bakit nga ba masyadong atat ang iba dito? Kayo na ang humusga.  

Ang pinakamalungkot sa lahat ay mga bogus na organisasyon ng mga magsasaka pa ang ginamit. Sa ngalan ng mga magsasaka ang naging modus operandi ng mga sindikatong ito. Kung sino pa ang pinaka-api at pinaka-mahirap, ang ating mga magsasaka, ‘yun pa ang ginamit na sektor. 

Sa huling banda, kung hindi maipapatupad ng tama ang PDAF ay dapat lang na ibasura na ito at dagdag dito upang hindi na rin umusbong pa ang iba pang paraan ng pang-aabuso at paglulustay sa pondo ng gobyerno mula sa mga ganid at mga walang pusong mapagsamantala ay dapat maparusahan ang mga nagkasala at hindi mabaon sa limot o sa kupad ng pag-ikot ng hustisya ang iskandalo na ito.

‘Yan naman ay opinyon lamang natin bilang pribadong indibidwal... o s’ya, mabalik na nga sa pag-aararo sa bukid!

Genuine leadership for our nation

Why have other nations in the region succeeded in ending poverty and raising the quality of life of their people? Why have they reached developed nation status while we have lagged behind? 

A major factor is the quality of the leadership and governance. While their leaders have placed the interest of the nation above their own, a menacing number of our own leaders, on the other hand, care little about the nation and our people and care more about expanding their own wealth and power.

For these power hungry and overly ambitious and corrupt politicians, the nation can go to hell for all they care. Do we allow these crooked politicians to decide where to bring our nation? Do we simply watch idly by as they bring our nation to hell? Will we simply watch and allow them to decide the nation's future? No we cannot. No we will not! For the sake of our children, we must do what we can and together with other like minded individuals and groups, we must help chart the course of the nation.

If we are to reach developed nation status in 15 years, we must ensure that the agenda of reform advocated by leaders with integrity, simplicity and selflessness continues and we can only do this if we elect leaders both in the national and local level who serve with integrity, ability and selflessness.

We must look ahead to the next decade and a half if we are to truly transform the nation and for us to do so, we must endeavor to ensure that the reforms and policy initiatives of the last 3 years will continue and be sustained so as to achieve continuity, stability and certainty in governance. This is critical if progress is to be realized. We must be able to look far ahead as we act from day to day.

Today, we must elect more leaders in the mold of our friend and ally, the late Sec. Jesse Robredo and after having elected them into office, we, as a people, must continue to engage our leaders and demand of them the kind of leadership we all aspire for in order to finally have a nation that is progressive, peaceful and focused on the welfare of its people, a nation that we all can be proud of.

May 13 is about where we wish to bring our nation. It is about doing our share to shape the kind of nation our children ought to have and deserve. Let us vote to continue to forge ahead in our tireless effort to achieve genuine change for our nation and our people.

The Turning Point

I was in Minalin, Pampanga today to throw my support for Among Ed Panlilio who is waging an uphill battle there. I remembered my own uphill battle in 2007 when I went solo and refused to join either the administration and the opposition and ran for reelection as an independent.

It was in a motorcade in Pampanga during the early days of the 2007 elections, at a time when I was wondering if I did the right thing by going solo, when a man in a sleeveless shirt, shorts and slippers ran towards our motorcade, grabbed my hand and passed on something to me saying 'Isama mo ito, Kiko!'.

When I looked at my hand to see what he had given me, there I saw a one hundred peso bill. I was deeply moved by the gesture of that man. It was certainly the turning point in my lonely yet necessary solo run. This selfless act of commitment and sacrifice by this nameless citizen inspired me to push on with all my might and heart to campaign tirelessly and win.

Kapag ang taumbayan na mimso ang kumilos, tumaya at maninindigan, walang anumang pwersang maaring maging hadlang sa tagumpay ng bayan

A birthday tribute to my dad

My father turned 80 years old today. In honor of his special day, I am reposting a blog post I wrote on his 76th birthday.

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My Father will be turning 76 years old tomorrow. Happy birthday Dad! I love you dearly.

When I was born in 1963, my father was 30 years old. I am 45 years old now. How time flies. He was an athlete, an amateur boxer in UP and a student leader, corps commander of the UP ROTC in the 50s.

I will always remember the days when he was such a major presence in our lives, the lives of his children. He, together with my Mom, fulfilled what was, to my mind, nearly impossible. They were able to raise and provide for all nine of us and, well, I must say we did't turn out so bad. Of course, I am terribly biased.

Now that he has grown old and has become quiet and no longer as talkative, I miss my father of old. He has since been stricken with illness, he has been sickly for sometime now and his once proud, loud and arrogant demeanor has ceased to be. He was such a commanding presence in our daily lives when we, his children, were younger and he, healthier and stronger.


When he was in his '50s and '60s, he would push us, his children, hard. I thought too hard sometimes. He would challenge us relentlessly to do better in school and in extra curricular activities and at work. He would encourage us to accomplish more, to achieve more. I remember when I was a candidate for Chairman of the UP Student Council in Diliman in the mid '80s. He felt that I wasn't doing enough to campaign vigorously. He bluntly commented that I was perhaps afraid to win.

He was always egging us on, cheering us and providing material and moral support for those day-to-day challenges we faced as children and as young adults. His presence made us confident that we could accomplish all that had to accomplished and more.

I am who I am today, to a large extent, because of his and my mom's support. He was there for me when I lost my 5th grade declamation contest. He and my Mom were there for my championship game in the NCAA volleyball tournament in High School (we won that one) and they were there again for me for my UP volleyball matches at the UAAP. He was there on election day for my candidacy as chairman of the UP Student Council. I would not be here today doing what I do and doing it the way I do it had it not been for his presence in my life.



He pushed us to perform, to deliver. It came to a point that I would feel that what I did was never good enough and would therefor object to his proddings. I knew deep inside, however, that he was doing all this because he wanted us to succeed and be the best that we could be. He was doing it for our welfare. At times I felt a slight resentment when he was in one of those episodes of pushing us to do better. I felt at times that he was overdoing it and yes there were moments wherein we had lively and intense exchanges because of differences in views. Perhaps I was a lot like him and that I was proud and was stubborn too like him.

But today things have changed a great deal. Too much smoking affected his health. He has quit yes, but the 50 years of cigarettes had taken its toll on him. Hypertension and diabetes have adversely affected his overall physical well being. He is mostly quiet now and introspective. His doctors say it is because he had suffered mini strokes that slowly affected his speech, his motor skills and his alertness. Nowadays, he is quiet and less engaging. He has become more withdrawn. I find myself missing the loud, arrogant and sometimes over bearing father that he was. What I used to resent at times, I now sorely miss. What would I give to have my dad's old overbearing self back again and more.


On his 76th birthday I must admit that I very much miss my father's old, loud and arrogant self. As a child, when I was faced with difficulties, he was there to provide the much needed push and the all out support. In times of uncertainty and confusion during my growing up years, my dad was there to help set aside my fears. He was there to provide clarity and direction amidst the confusion. He always knew what needed to be done and always made that known to us. He was generous with his time and with his advice.

Today, as I face the enormous burden of national leadership, as I face the seemingly insurmountable challenges confronting our beleaguered nation and people, as I deal with the uncertainties of politics, as I grapple with the fears that come with the complications and difficulties of national political life, I find myself at this very moment terribly missing my loud and arrogant and proud father. He always knew what needed to be done and always made it known to us that he was there for us. And yes, because he was there for me then, I know now that these difficulties, these challenges, these fears I presently face will all be conquered in due time.

Thank you, Dad for being there for us when we were all growing up. Thank you for being there for me. I am the father, the dad that I am today to KC, Frankie and Miel because that was how you were to me, to all of us.

Tomorrow, the entire Pangilinan clan will be having lunch in my sisters house to celebrate my Dad's 76th birthday. Tomorrow, I will go up to my Dad, I will greet him a happy birthday, I will hug him real tight and kiss him and I will say to him that I miss him so much and that I love him dearly.

Happy Birthday Daddy and thank you for all that you have done! I love you dearly.

Debates regarding guest candidates a waste of time

We urge senatorial candidates running under the Liberal Party not to engage in taunts and other tactics that would make them stray from the administration ticket's vision for the 2013 mid-term elections.

We should move away from engaging in this debate as to whether or not guest candidates should or shouldn't attend rallies of the UNA or Team PNoy tickets. We strongly urge our LP candidates not to engage in such talks and have others frame the issue according to their terms. It would be a waste of the LP candidates' energy and resolve.

There are more important matters that need our focus and attention, such as the urgent need to ensure that the reform efforts of this administration are not derailed by electing those who do not share the vision of the President.

Those presenting themselves to the electorate should focus on raising the level of public debate into that concerning economic and political issues affecting the nation rather than dwell on those matters that have no bearing on the pressing issues of the day.

Mananatili kang idolo ng sambayanan, Manny

Natalo man ang “People's Champ” na si Manny Pacquiao kay Juan Manuel Marquez, wala siyang dapat ikahiya dahil siya pa rin ang kampeon sa puso ng mga Pilipino.

Si Manny pa rin ang pinakamagaling na boksingero ng Pilipinas. Bagaman masakit ang pagkatalong ito, hinding-hindi matatawaran ang kanyang naiambag sa kasaysayan ng boksing. Ang kanyang naabot na tagumpay ay patunay sa kanyang galing—hindi lang bilang isang manlalaro kundi bilang isang pambihirang tao. Siya pa rin ang kampeon sa ating mga puso.

Tungkol naman sa panawagan ng ilan na mag-retiro na si Pacquiao, anuman ang maging desisyon ng pambansang kamao, wala na siyang dapat patunayan pa.

Nasa kanya yun kung magreretiro siya o hindi, pero masakit para sa buong bansa ang pagkatalo ni Manny at marahil lahat ay nagnanasa na bumawi siya sa susunod. Ngunit siya lamang ang makakapagsabi kung dapat na ba siya mag-retiro o hindi.

Kahit magretiro pa siya, wala naman siyang dapat ikahiya sa naging record niya bilang boksingero o Pilipino. Mula sa pagtulog sa sidewalk ‘nung nag-uumpisa pa lang siya, kinaya niyang maging bilyonaryo. Kung nagawa niya ‘yun, walang duda na kakayanin niyang lampasin ang pagsubok na ito.

Hindi pa rin matatawaran ang kanyang pagiging six-time world champion, at mananatili siyang idolo ng buong sambayanan. Taas-noo pa rin tayo sa layo ng kanyang naabot at sa karangalan na kanyang ibinigay sa bansa nitong maraming taon nang nakalilipas.

Eight championship belts in eight categories. That is the measure of the man's worth in boxing history—not this defeat to Marquez. He will always be our champion.


Image Source: Bleacherreport.com

Speed up wheels of justice for Maguindanao Massacre victims

We urge the Philippine National Police to ensure the safety and protection of kin Maguindanao Massacre victims who have been reportedly receiving threats from anonymous entities. We also urge the Judiciary to speed up the wheels of justice in the case, which has yet to achieve more breakthroughs since Ampatuan Sr., his son, former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., his other son, Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were implicated and jailed for the massacre.

The Maguindanao Massacre case will be the benchmark of how far our justice system has progressed from previous administrations, whether we like it or not. It is then extremely urgent that we exert all efforts to resolve this case as swiftly as possible.

The massacre of 58 people three years ago, most of which are journalists, is said to be the worst political violence that took place in the Philippines in recent history.

That act was so brazen and so dastardly—it is horrifying to think that anyone is capable of doing this, and yet it happened. We must not allow this massacre be trivialized and buried in the annals of our history by the slow grind of our wheels of justice.

It isn’t only the Ampatuans and their co-accused that are on trial here, but the entire system of justice. The failure to render a timely and just judgement is an indictment on the capacity of the nation to serve justice.

Bite the bullet, address fisheries sector woes

We call on the government to focus on arresting the slow decline of the output of the country's fisheries sector.

The government needs to designate an Undersecretary for Fisheries as a crucial first step. It would be a waste of an immense natural bounty if we fail to address the issues that hound our fisheries sector.

While the Department of Agriculture has made tremendous headway in modernizing the country's agriculture sector it cannot afford to leave behind the fisheries sector.

Our national territory is 1/5 land and 4/5 water. We must ensure that we achieve a balancing of priorities and not leave fisheries behind. We must allocate a considerable amount of our resources both human and material to address the fisheries sector's many concerns.

There will be no real progress and development without peace

The breakthrough in the peace process between the government and the MILF that brought forth the Bangsamoro will help pave the way for progress and development, and must therefore be given a chance by pundits before jumping to conclusions.

It all starts with a cessation of hostilities. We cannot hope to have progress when there is war. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we can reach developed nation status without ending armed conflict in the countryside.

We have been trying to achieve peace in a certain way for decades, and now we are trying to do it another way. The best thing that could happen is that we have broken the status quo. That is a good start, in my opinion.

We have seen how Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, and other such cities have flourished when a cessation of armed conflict was implemented during the Ramos administration. These regions have since progressed exponentially. Once economic progress sets in, the people themselves will work hard to sustain that progress. We must not forget that poverty is the main reason why there is social unrest.

The government must seize this opportunity and act quickly as soon as that window of opportunity presents itself to introduce and implement economic reforms and development in the region.

Rewriting history

Why does our nation of nearly 100 Million so easily forget the past? Why is martial law no longer remembered? Why do we have a weak sense of history as a people?

Perhaps because history as we know it is written by the elite and the 'educated' and as such reflects the point of view of the elite and the 'educated' and does not reflect the point of view of the common folk such as the farmers, the fisherfolk, the taxi drivers, the cocheros and welders all of whom comprise 90 percent of the population. History as it is written excludes and alienates the vast majority. It cannot be called their history.

Until we extoll the virtues of Juan the farmer, Jose the fisherman, Pablo the taxi driver and Maria the cigarette vendor and show how they struggled and triumphed during these difficult upheavals in our nation's history, only then will history become relevant, meaningful and most importantly remembered by our nation and our people collectively.

We must rewrite history so that we, as a people, gain a real sense of history.

Helping our children overcome their fears

Miguel, our 2 year old, was afraid to use the toilet in the Masters bathroom and so with the use of pretend play I helped him over come the fear.

I got 3 bottles of mouthwash, 3 bars of soap and pretended they were two families. I gave each one a voice and one after the other each 'member' of the family 'went to the toilet' in order to 'take a leak' and

each member of the family would repeat and say that it was fun to use the toilet. After which the toilet was flushed and there was 'laughter and cheers' from 'other family members'.

All the while, Miguel was watching. The little bottle of mouthwash was the 'baby' of the mouthwash family while the smallest bar of soap was the baby of the soap family and both babies said 'even if I am a baby, I am brave' and the two babies went on to take a leak as well.

After all the members of the 'two families' had used the toilet, Miguel comes up to me and says, 'I will also make wiwi Daddy' and went on to do so saying 'I am also brave Daddy'. Pretend play helped him overcome his fear!

Pretend play can also be used to encourage our toddlers to eat their food

When Miguel refuses to eat his food or has his 'moods' that get him distracted and therefore fails to eat the food on his plate, I again employ pretend play. I pretend that the food and Miguel's mouth, teeth, stomach can speak and they begin to converse with one another.

The stomach says 'Hi rice and fish, i miss you. Can we play please? Then the rice and the fish reply saying 'Hi there tummy, we miss you too and we also want to play!' While this conversation is going on, I hold the spoon and the rice and fish close to Miguel's mouth and he too participates by opening his mouth so as to swallow the food. The rice and fish in Miguel's mouth would then start to speak inside his mouth saying 'Yuppy, we will be playing with the tummy!' "We miss him so so much!

After which Miguel responds by chewing excitedly and then he swallows his food with a smile. At this point the tummy, the rice and the fish start conversing with one another inside Miguel's tummy saying hello to each other and saying how they have missed each other so much and how fun it is to be playing with one another.

The vegetables on Miguel's play then join in saying they too want to play with the tummy and so Miguel then excitedly prepares to swallow his vegetables!

Parents can try and create other types of imaginary conversations between body parts like the teeth, the lips, the mouth and the food such as the ever important vegetables to make eating interesting and fun.

K

Learn from CJ Panganiban

There is no need to reinvent the wheel. All that the JBC needs to do is to look at the process implemented by the JBC under the leadership of then CJ Panganiban. Under his leadership, the JBC was able to reduce the vacancy in the judiciary to 16 percent from a high of 32 percent.Today it is back to 25 percent. Instead of pushing on to bring the vacancy to single digit levels, the process regressed under succeeding chief justices and hence the vacancy rate ballooned back to unacceptable levels.

The workshop should review the minutes of previous JBC meetings held during CJ Panganiban's time. Here they will discover that at one point the JBC interviewed up to thirty applicants daily for a period of four months, thereby speeding up the nomination process tremendoulsy. If we, in the JBC, were able to reduce the vacancy rates from 32 percent to 16 percent then, there is no reason why the JBC cannot do it now. We slashed the vacancies in half. The JBC today should be able to accomplish this and more. The target should be to reduce the vacancy rate to single digits in a year's time. This will require an aggressive recruitement effort where the JBC goes to the provinces to urge lawyers to take on the challenge of public service.

CJ Sereno who is young and energetic should lead the charge and undertake an all encompassing search for the best and the brigtest to join the judiciary and help in putting in place the reforms it so urgently needs.

Convene JELACC to institutionalize budgetary support in the judiciary

With a new Chief Justice in place, it is timely for all branches of government to come together to map out a strategic direction for judicial reforms. Of course, in order to implement the reforms that we have long been waiting for in the judiciary, the JELACC must push for greater budgetary support for the Judiciary. The Judiciary simply cannot be modernized by a measly one percent of the national budget.

Government must be able to address the budgetary woes that have been plaguing our antiquated justice system. Matagal nang humigingi ang taumbayan ng reporma sa hudikatura, e hindi naman napopondohan ang mga repormang ito. We call on the national government to put its money where its mouth is, and invest in urgently needed judicial reforms.The country cannot expect a first-world justice system with a Judiciary that is given a third-world budgetary allocation.

It will not do us any good if the Judiciary continues to fall behind as the other branches of government are moving steadily forward. Let all the other branches of government reach out and lift the Judiciary from the quagmire that it finds itself in because of lack of budgetary support and lack of justices. Let us convene JELACC and institute the necessary reforms to modernize our Judiciary.

On Malacanang's appointment of new CJ

We welcome the appointment of Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Punzalan Aranal-Sereno as the 24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

We hope her relative youth and her passion and dynamism will invigorate the moribund and antiquated system of justice in the country. Nothing less than sweeping and comprehensive reforms will do to ensure that the crisis facing the judiciary will be overcome, and we will need the energy, creativity and stamina of a new generation of jurists to do just that.

Salamat at paalam, Jesse

Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala na wala na si Jesse. Isang naging kaibigan sa serbisyo publiko at kapartido ng mahigit na isang dekada. Isang napaka malaking kawalan sa bansa at sa larangan ng govt. service ang kanyang pagpanaw. Nakikiramay kami kasama ang aking pamilya kina Leni at mga bata. Bihira ang tulad ni Jesse sa public service at napakabigat sa aking kalooban ang
kanyang pagkamatay.

After 18 years as mayor of Naga City, Sec. Jesse would still take public transportation coming to Manila or returning to Naga and travelling within Metro Manila. This is the quality of public service that Sec. Jesse displayed. His passing is a terrible loss not only for the party but even moreso for the nation.


Image Source: Inquirer.net

Rice import without NFA permit is clearly contraband

It boggles the mind that those entrusted with closely guarding our ports are not aware of which goods are prohibited from entering the country. When that much rice enters any of our ports, it should automatically raise signals for our officials to be cautious in having them enter the country. This case is extremely disturbing. There were no permits nor pertinent documents presented, yet these goods were allowed not only entry in our docks, but were also allowed to be unloaded without the necessary permits.

Is it too difficult for SBMA officials to know rice import procedures from the NFA? Is it not standard procedure for SBMA to coordinate with concerned government agencies whenever questionable goods enter our country? Four hundred twenty thousand sacks of rice are not exactly mere blimps in their radar.

Galing na mismo sa chairman ng SBMA na si administrator Roberto Garcia na ang destinasyon ng mga bigas na ito ay ang Pilipinas at wala nang iba pang bansa. Malinaw na may balak ibenta ito sa ating merkado. Kawawa naman ang mahihirap nating mga magsasaka. Kayod sila nang kayod at pagkatapos ay papatayin lang ng smuggling ang kanilang hanapbuhay. Binabagyo na nga tayo at nasisira ang ating mga pananim at sakahan, may smuggling pa. Doble pasakit ito sa ating mga kababayan.

Layon natin na tanggalan ng maskara ang mga smugglers na ito upang sila ay maparusahan. Kailangan nating ipakita sa taumbayan na tayo ay seryoso sa pagpuksa ng ganitong tiwali at mapansamantalang gawain. Ang smuggling ay isang krimen. At lahat ng kriminal ay dapat maparusahan, lalung-lalo na dahil ang kapalit nito ay kagutuman para sa marami nating mga mamamayan.

Offer public free short courses on safety training

We urge government agencies such as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to offer the public basic safety training courses for free.

Doing so will not only equip citizens with skills needed in cases of emergency but will also beef up the government's volunteer reserves.

We have seen that with the recent flooding that hit Metro Manila, we are severely lacking in manpower that could help in rescue operations. Even if our countrymen heed the call to volunteer during rescue operations, they are ill-equipped to deal with emergency situations. It would be very much like deploying troops to a gun battle without the necessary firearms.

Alam na nga natin na bawat taon ay tinatamaan tayo ng napakaraming bagyo, ganito pa rin ang nangyayari taun-taon—at palala pa nang palala ang sitwasyon. We should invest a significant amount of resources on beefing up our infrastructure and equipping our people with life-saving skills so that more lives will be saved when disasters and emergencies strike.

Hindi natin puwedeng sabihin na ‘ganyan na talaga’ dahil hindi tama na taun-taon na lang ay nalalagay sa panganib ang mga tao dahil lang sa pag-ulan na ni hindi pa nga ‘supertyphoon.’ For drastic change to happen, then we must also do drastic actions and do things differently. In this case, doing things differently can be literally a matter of life and death.

Go easy on price hikes

As Metro Manila and parts of Luzon struggle to get back on their feet after the massive flooding brought about by days of continuous rain we call on oil companies and dealers of food, vegetables, and basic commodities to "go easy" on price hikes.

Maawa naman ho tayo sa taumbayan sa mga panahong ito. Naiintindihan namin na kailangang mabuhay ng mga negosyo, pero sa panahon ng krisis tulad nito, sana ay ipagpaliban muna ng mga kumpanya--lalo na yung may mga 'buffer', ika nga, sa kita nila--ang pagtaas ng presyo. Lubog na nga ang mga tao dahil sa grabeng pagbaha, ilulubog pa ba natin sa pagtaas ng presyo mga bilihin?

Baka po pupuwede tayong magkaroon ng pansamantalang 'price hike holiday' para bigyan ng pagkakataon ang taumbayan na makabangon muna mula sa kalamidad na ito bago magpataw ng panibagong presyo ang mga kumpanya. At sana ay kapag nag-stabilize na uli ang merkado ay maibalik ang presyo sa dati nitong lebel.

Magtulung-tulong na lang ho tayo sa mga panahong ito. Lahat tayo naaapektuhan--mula sa mga magsasaka't manggagawa hanggang sa mga maliliit na negosyante, hanggang sa mga malalaking kumpanya. Pero kung uunahin natin ang bayan at ang mga nasalanta bago ang pagbawi sa kita, lahat tayo siguradong mas mabilis na makakaahon.

Provide insurance for farmers and fisherfolk

It would be in the best interest of the government to focus on farmers and fisherfolk as the country pushes for food security.

There is an urgent need to include in the national budget crop insurance for our farmers, and also insurance for our fisherfolk. Every year we are ravaged by typhoons and the subsequent floods and destruction that go with them. It is high time we come up with a comprehensive insurance coverage plan for our crops, and even for our farmers and fishermen themselves. The government will save more in the long run as it secures the livelihood of our agricultural communities.

It would be nearly impossible to achieve food security and food self-sufficiency if the country's farmers and fisherfolk remain impoverished.

We should work hard toward giving our farmers and fisherfolk the same prosperity that farmers in countries like Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and China are now starting to enjoy.

We need to break away from the status quo as it has taken us nowhere in the past several decades. We must come up with radical solutions to address and eventually resolve those issues that ail the country's agriculture and fisheries sector.