Allocate calamity funds to rehabilitate fingerlings industry

We urge Malacanang to allocate funds to fast track the recovery of losses incurred by the agricultural sector in the wake of typhoons Pedring and Quiel.

We need immediate restocking of bangus fingerlings in small fishpens in Bulacan and other areas damaged by the typhoons. Left alone, it would take them 60 to 75 days to restock. That would take too long. If we don’t act fast, this will impact our food supply chain.

We also urge the Department of Agriculture to give away fingerlings for free to fishpen owners to help them recover.

Most of these fishpen owners are left with nothing. Wala na rin silang pambayad para mag-restock. Instead of subsidizing, the DA should give away fingerlings for free.

Data from the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food (PCAFI) show that more than 36,000 metric tons of bangus and tilapia were lost due to typhoon Pedring alone. In Hagonoy, over 7,000 hectares of fishponds were destroyed. Figures are expected to go higher as officials tally the damages. BFAR can get fisherlings from their stock as well as private hatcheries. The government needs only to allocate funds for the DA to be able to give away the fingerlings to fisherfolk as soon as possible.

Let us prioritize small fishfarmers and help them get back on their feet and help mitigate the damaging effects of the typhoon. If we don’t do so soon, we will feel the immediate effects on our food supply chain. We urge the government to allocate and release funds now for the immediate restocking of our food.

Yes, "nobody home" in Malacanang passing off pay-offs and diverting funds

Yes, GMA is right that nobody is home. Nobody is home in Malacanang passing hundreds of thousands of cash to pay off political allies in exchange for votes--or calling COMELEC commissioners on the cellphone for election fraud. Nobody is home receiving calls from cabinet secretaries who report about P200M bribe offers for government contracts, or instructing undersecretaries to divert funds meant for fertilizers to election campaign funds.

Malacanang has been exorcised of all these with GMA stepping down and as such we are truly grateful that nobody's home who's willing and capable of doing all that.

My 12 Christmas wishes for our country and our leader

1. For peace talks to start: “An end to the armed conflict around the country could lead to the emergence of cities such as General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao city.”


2. A new image for the country’s tourism industry: “We must attract tourists; not criticisms. Our people are by nature extremely friendly and hospitable. We are only doing/achieving some 3M tourist arrivals annually while our neighbors are doing four or five time more with 12 to 15 Million tourist visits annually. It has been said that other countries in the ASEAN are doing so much more with so little in terms of natural wonders and beautiful sites while we are doing so little with so much.”


3. For the CCT to be implemented ASAP: “I share the President’s fervor in lifting our countrymen out of poverty. We would like to see the CCT be implemented the soonest so we can assess right away its impact on our nation’s marginalized sector and tweak the system as necessary.”


4. A girlfriend for PNoy: “I hope all the best for our President, but more than that, I wish for him to finally find that special someone so that the media can focus their stories on the more substantiative aspects of being the leader of a nation.”

5. A united Malacanang: “We would like to see A more disciplined and cohesive team working towards achieving progress in the country. Let us be rid of the factions within. Filipinos are naturally resilient and love to laugh. But it does us no good to laugh at the follies of those who represent PNoy.”


6. Stable gasoline prices: “We make an appeal to those controlling the prices of this very important commodity: Let us give our countrymen a chance to rise above subsistence. Let us find a compromise wherein your business can still thrive without the poor suffering at the end of the consumer chain.”


7. For Filipinos to start thinking of fishing as a viable industry: “There is more to the country than agricultural farming. We have one of the longest coastlines in the world and a treasure trove of aquamarine resources. The Philippines can easily be the aquamarine resource powerhouse of the world.”


8. To be rid of garbage: “The tragedy of Ondoy should serve as a powerful lesson to us all. Cleaning up the environment also gives one a sense of pride and dignity, no matter what social class he or she belongs to.”


9. For families to be informed of their choices on family planning: “The fact remains that unless we are able to address the issue of population management, we can never realize our true potential as a nation. The government can only provide for so much of its citizen before there is chaos. An informed choice is what Filipinos need to manage the booming population.”


10. More private-public participation in worthy projects: “ The Gawad Kalinga is an exemplary example of how the synergy of government and private sector partnerships can bring about sustainable reforms for our communities and indeed, the whole nation. We all hope for a better nation, and as a people we will collectively realize these hopes only when more of us are willing to make a stand, take the risk, move out of our comfort zones and pledge to commit to doing our share in helping shape our communities and in helping move our nation towards a new direction.”


11. For smugglers to go to jail: “Smuggling affects the sustainability and profitability of our trade industry. It has been pervasive for far too long. We would like to see these unscrupulous traders finally put to jail. Smuggling is an indication of pervasive corruption in the country. We hope to stamp out all forms of corruption in the Philippines, and we need to make examples of them by punishing them.”


12. For our staple to have price stability: “Rice has been the cultural staple of Filipinos. And yet not all of our countrymen are able to afford to have them on their tables. For us to have economic stability, we will need to have food security. Addressing the gaps that affect the prices of rice will greatly improve the lives of our impoverished people. One cannot dream of prosperity after all if one has an empty stomach.”

Our statement on the no-fly zone incidents

Kung totoong sinasadya ng Malacañang ang ganitong paraan, dapat nilang malaman na walang anumang panggigipit ang maaaring pumigil sa pagnanasa ng milyon-milyon nating mga mamamayan na tahakin ang Landas ng Pagbabago, na siya namang tinatahak ng kandidatura ni Noynoy Aquino.

Di natin papayagan na maunsyami ang martsa tungo sa malinis at tapat na pamamahala na patuloy na itataguyod hanggang sa Mayo 10. Nagkakamali sila kung inaakala nilang kaya nilang banggain ang puwersa ng pagbabago at reporma.

Ang payo natin sa kanila ay tumabi na lang sila nang maiwasan nila ang pinsalang naghihintay sa mga humaharang sa tagumpay ng mamamayang naninindigan at kumikilos para sa pagbabago.

Who are they to lecture us?

Senator Noynoy Aquino said that if he is elected he will not recognize an illegal appointment. We fully support his position. There is nothing presumptuous about this and he is certainly not ill-advised.

Senator Aquino believes that a President should never tolerate illegal or unconstitutional edicts. How we wish we could say the same for the present occupant in Malacañang.

All that Senator Aquino did was to say what a President ought to do should he be faced with an unconstitutional act. Obviously, Malacañang cannot understand this because for quite some time now it has miserably failed to perform its constitutional duty, which is to uphold and defend the Constitution and the rule of law.

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Now, however, GMA's allies are criticizing Senator Aquino's statements on the Chief Justice appointment, and they themselves are citing respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. Look who's talking. With the NBN-ZTE scandal, payola, and fertilizer scams hounding Malacañang (among many others), who are they to lecture us about respect for our courts, our Constitution, and the rule of law?

JBC should refuse to be made a tool for the violation of the Constitution

In order to prevent Malacañang from making a midnight appointment for the post of Chief Justice to the Supreme Court, all the JBC has to do is refuse to submit a shortlist to Malacañang. By doing this, Malacañang will have no basis to issue an appointment, as a shortlist prepared by the JBC is a constitutional requirement for a valid appointment to the Judiciary.

The JBC should refuse to be made a tool for the violation of the constitutional ban on midnight appointments spelled out in Section 15 Article 7 of the Constitution. We urge the JBC to maintain its independence as a constitutional office. Let the next President make the appointment.