19 October 2010

Raising the bar of Philippine education

Adding two years to the Philippine education cycle is necessary, but would work only if the shortage for classrooms and books would be met first. It just won’t if Filipino students would spend another two years in school just to be at par with the ‘global standard.’

The proposal has also divided the two chambers of Congress. Party-list representative Antonio Tinio of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers thinks the Department of Education (DepEd) should just ‘come up with a solution on how to increase the number of Filipino students finishing high school.’ The former teacher himself could not see how this plan would ‘keep up with the rapidly growing population.’

Rep. Salvador Escudero 3rd of the House Committee on Basic Education would also support adding two years to the basic curriculum ‘if certain college courses will also be shortened.’ Escudero 3rd obtained a degree in veterinary medicine after seven years when it is only a four-year course in other countries.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, on the other hand, believes that this is ‘needed.’ “Adding two more years is painful for others, but for the country, we have to do it. It is the future of the country. We have to find the money.” The problem lies in the pocket. “We do not want to change course even when it is necessary,”

The chairman of the Senate committee on education, Sen. Edgardo Angara, agrees. “Our graduates, especially in the fields of engineering, nursing, architecture and science, are considered second-class professionals in the global workforce because of our 10-year basic education [cycle], which falls short of the world’s 12-year standard.” Angara is a former president of the University of the Philippines

Pilipina Ako favors adding two years to the Philippine education cycle. Currently, the country ranks 75th among 125 countries in the Education Development Index conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

And at least, the government is considering education in its priority list now. “The few times it crops up in the public discourse are when campus militants protest rising tuition and other school fees,” columnist Dan Mariano observed. “Most of the world’s biggest economies set aside an average of four percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) for education. Others—including Norway, Malaysia, France, South Africa and Saudi Arabia—spend even more. The oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom, for instance, plows back 9.5 percent of its GDP in education.”

That’s a lot greater than the 2.1% allotted to our education sector in 2005! In her study, Rosario Manasan of the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) found out that the country is ‘one of the lowest spenders on education in Asia and worldwide.’ Even Sri Lanka spends more!

Education Secretary Armin Luistro would also come up of a program that would enable everyone ‘to seek livelihood opportunities,’ may they only be high school graduates. The upgrade would be broken into six years of elementary school, four years of junior high school, and two years of senior high school. This would be implemented in 2012.

References

10 October 2010

PNoy's 100th day

On PNoy’s 100th day as head of the Philippine republic, it is just worth noting his leadership and performance based on his State of the Nation Address he himself delivered on the last Monday of July.

Sa isang banda po ay ang pagpili para sa ikabubuti ng taumbayan. It certainly hadn’t been good for our OFWs in Hong Kong when their nationals suffered in a hostage two days after the father of the seating president’s 27th death anniversary. It certainly hadn’t been good for the value of peso pegged to the dollar, which is what Pinoys working overseas earn. It certainly hadn’t been good for PNoy when even supporters of the administration questioned his decisions and actions.

Narinig po ninyo kung paano nilustay ang kaban ng bayan. Ang malinaw po sa ngayon: ang anumang pagbabago ay magmumula sa pagsiguro natin na magwawakas na ang pagiging maluho at pagwawaldas. During his first international trip, PNoy chose to eat hotdogs for lunch, costing him $54only. The trip costs P25 million all in all.

Sa susunod na buwan ay maghahain tayo ng budget na kumikilala nang tama sa mga problema, at magtutuon din ng pansin sa tamang solusyon. Despite that the year is already about to end, there is no approved programme budget yet for 2010. The government sought for $31 billion last year.

Pananagutin natin ang mga mamamatay-tao. Pananagutin din natin ang mga corrupt sa gobyerno. After almost a year, there is no verification yet who should pay for the Maguindanao Massacre. Extrajudicial killings remain a trend as only 1% has been resolved in the last decade.

Ito ang magiging solusyon: mga Public-Private Partnerships. Kahit wala pa pong pirmahang nangyayari dito, masasabi kong maganda ang magiging bunga ng maraming usapin ukol dito. Under his leadership, PNoy intends to compromise the country to public-private partnerships with either local or foreign companies. This is what is being done in Dubai and India.

Paalala lang po: una sa ating plataporma ang paglikha ng mga trabaho, at nanggagaling ang trabaho sa paglago ng industriya. Lalago lamang ang industriya kung gagawin nating mas malinis, mas mabilis, at mas maginhawa ang proseso para sa mga gustong magnegosyo. This, PNoy means, the streamlining of the bureaucracy would be a priority in his political agenda. Most of the Filipinos today have decided to seek their success abroad. Even the young have started working. There are no concrete programs yet to encourage and equip business-mindedness.

Parating na po ang panahon na hindi na natin kailangang mamili sa pagitan ng seguridad ng ating mamamayan o sa kinabukasan ng inyong mga anak. There are millions of Filipinos still living abroad. And the latest scheme of the Overseas Welfare Administration (OWWA) through the Pag-Ibig Fund is criticized by a number of them.

Mapapalawak natin ang basic education cycle mula sa napakaikling sampung taon tungo sa global standard na labindalawang taon. Not everyone—particularly most parents—agrees on extending the basic education cycle. Never mind that this is what the rest of the world calls for. Never mind that there’s finally a leader willing to put his name at stake for an unpopular decree for a gain he himself may not witness anymore.

Tungkol sa situwasyon sa Mindanao: Hindi po nagbabago ang ating pananaw. Mararating lamang ang kapayapaan at katahimikan kung mag-uusap ang lahat ng apektado: Moro, Lumad, at Kristiyano. Inatasan na natin si Dean Marvic Leonen na mangasiwa sa ginagawa nating pakikipag-usap sa MILF. As of now, the government is talking with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) so that the Philippines will eventually be a country at peace and in progress.

Pilipina Ako would rather that PNoy sack who should be sacked, despite of his personal relationships. He has already inspired some Filipinos to get up to their feet and believe in an administration once more. It’s now time for himself to walk his talk. A blunder, no matter how honest, is still a blunder.

Filipinos now, Pilipina Ako likes to believe, can tell an act from an act. And political leaders have the social responsibility to be honest to their constituents.

Crimes that have taken place before PNoy sits in shouldn’t be his problem. But that’s the way it is. Hopefully, the government would willingly pay the price for justice to rule.

Only Filipinos would have sincerity to care for their country. Other countries may help, but not without them eyeing us a business. The Philippines would surely benefit from PPIs. The danger is if these will eventually relied upon solely.

Pilipina Ako just doesn’t appreciate that job creation would be the topmost priority of PNoy’s administration. It would just help foreigners and a few Filipinos who can put up a business. The country would remain poor, and the Filipinos would keep on thinking of themselves.

On the other hand, Pilipina Ako thinks that the internal conflict between the country's only three islands should be PNoy’s topmost focus. Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.

Education is really the most surefire way for a person to achieve success. And if that person could use that to uplift his or her family, and that family represents every family in the Philippines, the country could have progress.

Read my commentary on DepEd’s plan to the education cycle.
Read my commentary on PNoy's State of the Nation Address.

References

Opinion on PNoy's report

"…bawat linggo po ay may bago tayong kasong isinasampa kontra sa mga smuggler at sa mga hindi nagbabayad ng tamang buwis."

As that statement remains to be foreseen, Pilipina Ako would just talk about the agency that would help PNoy remain true to his word.

Commissioner Angelito Alvarez of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) disregarded last July the contribution of the Tax Expenditure Fund (TEF), which accounts to about 10 % of the total tax collection. Though only ‘revenues on paper,’ the TEF had been the reason why the BOC failed to meet its collection goal.

The government raised the agency’s goal to P280 billion this year, P5 billion of which will be in the form of cash collection. Hopefully, this would eventually decrease the country’s fiscal deficit to 2% from this year’s 3.95%.

But sovereign analyst Benard Agost from STANDARD & Poor’s (S&P) thinks our government cannot rely on improving tax efficiency alone. Too late! Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has already ditched the recommendation of the previous economic team.

In the five revenue-enhancing measures crafted by the previous Philippine economic managers, the government would have to (1) raise the value-added tax to 15% and lower income tax rate, (2) streamline fiscal incentives, (3) implement a simplified net income taxation scheme, (4) restructure excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products, and (5) harmonize petroleum products. This would have brought P94 billion and reduce the structural revenue weakness of the country.

Hermilando Mandanas, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives, though has another proposal: include major firms in the equation.

Some corporations whose profits are in the billions pay nothing because of the tax provisions in the present law. It also only depends on the collectors and examiners how much a person or a company had to pay.

In House Bill 1970, 6% would be deducted from the current tax, retired servicemen and policemen would be exempted, and sales of small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) would be increased. It could even obviate the need to levy VAT on toll fees!

All the government has to do is simplify tax provisions. And who knows, every Filipino would develop a friendlier perception to government tax impositions, and foreign investors would see our country more favorably! Singapore has low VAT rates for its people yet its economy remains successful.

But that simple “sales tax” system wouldn’t work in us, Undersecretary Gil Beltran of the Department of Finance, argued. It is good only for single-crop economies that do not produce value-added products and just import their needs, he added. Never mind that that taxation system would abolish the other tax stratagems. It would eventually regress as consumption falls in income percentages.

Currently, government tax revenues derive from corporate and personal income taxes, VAT payments, excise taxes and percentage taxes. The EVAT obliges small sari-sari stores or restaurants that earn more than P1.5 million annually to pay 12% tax.

Although VAST could further reduce tax rates, Pilipina Ako understands Finance Undersecretary Beltran’s worry. He knows better about numbers.

What Pilipina Аko couldn’t understand is Finance Secretary Purisima’s immediate disapproval. Mandanas’ bill seems to be just like the ‘simplified net income taxation scheme’ the former economic managers formulated.

References

06 October 2010

PNoy on birth control

Aside from its grammatically erroneous lead paragraph, a news article on the church’s threat of excommunication for PNoy is worth tackling for Pilipina Ako.

Why? It is just intriguing. The current head of the republic happens to be the child of a former president espoused by the Catholic Church to power. Also, the current head of the republic is a bachelor who has no first-hand experience yet in raising a family.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) maintains that ‘some artificial contraceptives are abortifacients.’ "Abortion is a grave crime. Excommunication is attached to [it]. That is an issue of gravity, that is a violation of God's commandment," Bishop Nereo Odchimar, the CBCP president, said over Radio Veritas.

According to Odchimar, the poverty in the country is not rooted to population growth anyway. It’s in priority-setting. "Ours is an agricultural country. Agriculture should be enhanced. It is ironic that the International Rice Research Institute is in the Philippines but we are importing rice from Vietnam [which was ravaged by the Vietnam war]."

The Catholic Church also opposes the reproductive health bill, re-filed as PNoy set in. "We do not have police power, we don’t discount the possibility of mobilizing the lay organizations," Odchimar added.

Read report on the CBCP's threat to Aquino
Read Jose Carillo's review on the paragraph construction of that news

REFERENCES

01 October 2010

REFERENCE LIST

19 Oct 2010
Raising the bar of Philippine education
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/28260-new-k12-program-comes-under-fire-
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/nation/23396-two-more-years-in-school-almost-certain
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/23618-focus-on-education-at-last

10 Oct 2010
Opinion on PNoy’s report
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business-columns/25209-customs-excludes-tax-expenditure-fund-from-full-year-goal
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business-columns/20792-improving-tax-efficiency-not-enough-says-sap
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/86-special-reports/23771-house-ways-a-means-chair-proposes-simple-6-vat-

10 Oct 2010
PNoy's 100th Day
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/24477-hostage-taking-drags-down-peso
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/42-rokstories/25579-chiz-clashes-with-president
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/24473-chronology-of-events-stand-off-at-quirino-grandstand
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/09/21/10/pnoy-goes-new-york-hotdogs-pizza
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100924-294005/Aquino-party-feasts-on-hotdogs-in-NY-street-pays-54
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/president-sets-p25m-us-trip
http://www.aseanaffairs.com/page/philippines_govt_seeks_31bn_for_2009_budget
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/28261-witness-recounts-beating-of-massacre-victims
http://propinoy.net/2010/09/18/one-percent-of-extrajudicial-killings-in-philippines-solved-in-9-years/
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20100929113743/Executive%20Council%20of%20Dubai%20Launches%20Dubai%20Public-Private%20Partnership%20Agenda
http://www.pppinindia.com/
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/06/02/10/ilo-noynoy-make-overseas-job-hunting-filipinos-unnecessary
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20101011-297112/150-kids-in-dangerous-mining-work-in-Compostela-ValleyDoLE
http://www.dole.gov.ph/secondpage.php?id=1280
http://mabuhaycity.com/forums/pinoys-abroad/11639-overseas-filipinos-ofws-populations-around-world.html
http://remittancesgateway.org/index.php/press-clippings/industry-news/420-pag-ibig-fund-targets-1-m-ofw-members-by-2010
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/28260-new-k12-program-comes-under-fire-
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/21575-up-dean-to-head-government-peace-panel
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/16582-economic-turnaround-seen-to-end-mindanao-conflict

06 Oct 2010
PNoy on birth control
http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=938.msg2984#new
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100930-295226/CBCP-reminds-Aquino-about-excommunication