Severely Corrupt Local Officials Should Be Subtly Reminded Not to Misuse or Steal What Remains of the LCF (Local Calamity Funds) - The National Total is in Billions (Tens of Millions of US Dollars)

Overeating and passive lifestyle kill more people in the western hemisphere than natural disasters do in SouthE Asia every year. But for many corrupt local officials, their cravings, fueled by their insatiable greed for easy money, stolen public funds - the temptation is far more powerful…        They can’t resist it.

 

>>> Bohol got far less international media attention - and far less-in-proportion

        aids and assistance from the international community. Next campaign in our

        Causes.com account: How you can help make a difference in the lives of 

        a few there. By being there (hey, it's where Panglao Island is, why not 

        spend your holiday vacation there?) and sharing a meal with them 

        (a family or so) can help inspire them, and momentarily make them very 

        happy. You are fortunate, spend some loose change in Bohol and spend an

        hour or so with a family in temporary shelters. Thank God for your blessings

        by sharing your time (presence) and some spare amounts (in foods) as you

        give words of wisdom, advice to the children 

        (never ever give up on school, for example). 

        Bohol was similarly devastated (earthquake) just before Samar-Leyte 

        (Typhoon Haiyan, Yolanda) but got far less cash donations... 

The last quarter of the year. After misusing major portions of the Local Calamity Funds, many local officials, 2 years before they again splurge on a frenzy of massive vote-buying, are eager to use low-level natural disasters such as simple flooding more to profit and gain votes than to sincerely help the affected families. Exploiting the misery & helplessness of the poor.

Teenagers, no matter how disciplined, can sometimes barely stand the onslaught, barrage of ads for good and junk foods. But who can claim complete resistance to it all? Life is short. I love to eat too. And indulge even in the rather very unhealthy kinds. But oh it’s different when you are causing long-term hunger, and further vulnerability to crisis situations (family or community) among the already-malnourished thousands in your locality. Corrupt crook ones indulge nevertheless. Yummy… Munch munch munch… 

A Pledge. By PNoys.

(Please Pass/Share Now)

I am PNOy.

I did not steal a single peso to enrich myself as your President. Hindi po ako nag-nakaw kahit piso mula sa kaban ng bayan.

I am PNoy. I took the dangerous political risks to take initiatives to seriously curb severe corruption in the country.

My beloved countrymen, let me be damned due to DAP. Alam po natin ang kalakaran ng pulitika sa ating bansa. Indeed, I am partly taking the cudgel for my hardworking team.

Pero DAPat no matter what hindi maantala at lalong hindi matigil ang mga programang kinakailangang patuloy na umusad sa kapakinabangan ng milyon-milyong mahihirap nating mga kababayan at sa ika-uunlad ng ating mga pamayanan at bansa.

I promised you that you will be my bosses. I remain single to this day. But ever since I became an elected official, I consider myself a family man. When my father’s life was cut short, I became the only man in the family. When you elected me your President, you have become my family.

In the name of my late father and mother, I will never ever steal a single peso to enrich myself. And in the name of family, I will never do anything that should harm and deprive any one of them.

I am PNoy. During my administration, my team helped steered and managed an economy that expanded by more than 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion pesos) since 2010, and added more than 100,000,000,000 (100 billion plus) to government programs and projects that directly benefit millions of the poorest families out of the hundreds of billions of additional funds in our national budget (with the biggest percentage for basic social services and direct anti-poverty measures in our nation’s history.)

More than 3 million more poor families will get cash support from the national government, the kind of families that banks will never even consider for a 1,000-peso cash-capital loan. A million more poor Filipinos benefited from the kind of money (billions of pesos) that in a single transaction enriched a few individuals in some past administrations. I did not steal a million pesos.

If you think I have stolen a single peso to enrich myself, if any one of you can reasonably prove it and if you do think you have a better choice, then, let me be impeached that you be governed by someone you think you can trust more. I don’t have money to buy and bribe my detractors, and to silence those who are intent on discrediting me and my administration no matter what.

I re-iterate my pledge: I will not steal a single peso to enrich myself.

Ernest Barraquias Jr.

Rian Igos

We are Pnoys.

(This is for editing)

Shoot to kill? 

The Playing Children?

Are village watchmen, or any one, free to shoot children being suspected of committing a crime? DepEd action and relevant set of guidelines or even new policy essential to prevent another tragedy

Of course there’s no such policy or ordinance anywhere, even in strife-torn Somalia, so-called failed state for so many years. But what about preventive policies or regulations within the schools or the Department of Education. We posted this in our FB accounts too.

I’m writing about this to press the DepEd officials to craft or enforce policies (if there’s any in existence) to prevent any more loss of lives of so young and innocent children like Carlo Torales and Sandro Gonzales. Mistaken for thieves, the two were shot dead by an overzealous village watchman invited by a school to guard its facilities in Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat.

And before it’s all forgotten, I wish to say it’s 2 lives lost too many – due to a preventable tragedy. They weren’t committing theft or burglary, and not stealing billions of development funds.

Working guidelines, practical measures even new policies if necessary should be enforced by the DepEd to prevent another similar tragedy - bound to happen again otherwise. 

Unlike students of La Salle, who have the finest golf courses and sports facilities in the country for their privileged use, not a few of the millions of poor children - especially those in slum areas in cities and poor communities across the nation – sometimes find it irresistible to enjoy the grounds and accessible public facilities as playgrounds and even as parks to idly spend time with friends or playmates after school hours and during non-school days. A stark contrast a rare effective leader and executive that the DepEd Secretary Bro Armin Luistro is certainly very much aware of.

The nation can’t get over with the death of a La Salle student who helplessly died in a hazing rite not so recently – rightly so and for good reasons. But excuse me – the preventable dangers to the lives of poor and innocent children are as worth our attention as other pressing issues hogging the headlines recently. 

Kuya Ernest & I after some basketball games with some locals

Contrasts: The predictable daily sunrise and sunset VS the unpredictable perennial mega-smoke belcher and active Mayon Volcano.

The threat of a low-probability but high-consequence major eruption forced the local provincial government to to be the “most disaster-prepared” in the country. The claim of the local officials is not without merits, as per our own opinions based on our own observations.

But Legazpi City itself, as the regional administrative capital is arguably the seat of atrocious severe corruption in the poor Bicol region in Southern Luzon. And as we will write about in the future, severe corruption in the region brought about greater hardships among a million families and caused deaths far more than Mayon Volcano in the last 50 years...

With ten thousand and one serious violent and or big-time criminals they pro-actively protect or host, we were subjects of misinformation campaign by the rogue elements of the intelligence-agents of a government agency. Spoiling the wonderful experiences we had with kind and loving new acquaintances and friends. And forcing us to leave the place.

This is counter-intuitive – to announce that we’re departing from a place and moving when it’s not a safe thing to do for endangered individuals like us. They have vandalized our published articles too, though we’re not sure about this yet. You idly earn billions-a-year  in combined kickbacks, ‘di na ba kayo naawa sa amin? Nice moves sirs!

In our blog / s and new website, coming soon ...

As millions more Filipinos and other Southeast Asians are set to achieve middle class status in the next few years, the many millions of others in extreme poverty need not be totally left out.

The new millions can now afford more than their basic needs. They will also consume the meat 2-3 times - partly driving food prices, including the staple food rice, up. And up. To record prices.

But severe graft and corruption, exacerbated by other aggravating factors, or simply eclipse negate the positive impact of our record gains in good governance (in the Philippines) and the very strong economic performance we have now under the Aquino presidency - and least to the lives of millions of poor families.

An article we are writing is to give more light on these and other relevant issues. With focus on the aggravating factors ...

____

Our Facebook accounts and this blog site may have been hacked and vandalized. Some of our entries were tampered with? We are to check.

Thank You President Obama, & the American people for all the help your government so generously granted to the millions of poor Filipinos - double victims of Supertyphoon Haiyan & decades of severe-corruption by local officials. Even the (shameless) corrupt local officials of the devastated constituents benefited...

Metrics: Measures of Progress & Success – Helping Save At Least A Total of 999 Lives in 10 Years

Quantitative, numbers. We will declare progress and success based on as close to academic-standards as possible. And we will submit for comments and validations, maybe even simple merits, our results and computations to - as to achieving milestones and ultimate success - both foreign and local researchers and academic personalities. Indeed we mean business here.

If it becomes impossible to determine, however, we will simply cite verifiable anecdotal evidences. Or both.

Because this project is part of a larger and innovative anti-corruption crusade we are initiating, we might not be able to give regular-interval updates as to our progress. One thing - we are doing it all with less than shoestring budget and in extremely difficult circumstances. And while in hardships.

The Missing Link/s in President Aquino’s Epic Fight Against Corruption

First, we believe lasting success can't be through some knockouts. So we believe are the best methods in drastically curbing severe corruption in the Philippines to ensure lasting success and that substantial benefits reach the millions of the poor families.

But winning in broad fronts. Even slowly perhaps, but consistently. Before we go to the topic of what we think are the missing links in President Aquino’s battle against monstrous corruption, let us first give you an overview of the Philippine context. And rare are public officials even allies of the President who can do or accomplish any more than what they already did that can give even more impetus to sustaining or even improving the already successful (at least at strategic level) fight of the President and his top men against monstrous corruption in the country.

Sad FACTS - Severe Corruption in the Philippines

Please keep in mind that this blog is ran by 2 mere bastards and nobodies in the country. They intend to subscribe only to their standards in terms of quality of English writing. As we type from memory almost all of the time, in between noisy, rowdy young gamers oftentimes and during extremely challenging personal circumstances that we are in right now - we can’t be strictly adhering to academic or court standards in terms of writing our thoughts, ideas and activities here. However, we are aware of not a few policy-makers who are to read what we write about in this blog. So we impose some standards on ourselves nevertheless. And we are ready and confident that the plausibility, validity or sense of our ideas can withstand the harshest of criticisms from objective academic persons even at Ivy League universities in the US.

World' Worst Disparity Between Top 100 Tycoons & Millions of Poor Families

We don’t have a small segment of the population vastly influencing or controlling our government, a fact in many major third world countries like Thailand and Mexico, and controlling a disproportionate percentage of our national wealth. We do have only less than 100 supertycoon-families controlling, say, more than 20% of our national wealth and vastly influencing our government – including its mechanisms for counterchecks and balances. More than 5 million families live on $2 a day, in this country of roughly 100 million hostages-people.

A problem of astronomical proportion: Organized crime lords easily flourish in this kind of environment where a few very powerful tycoons, public officials dictate upon or manipulate government policies to favor them, with dearth of exceptions.

Help Save 991 Lives- Insights As To Our Intentions and Thoughts at This Time

What can you expect from this blog? 
Of course with your help, we can help with more probably realized our goal of helping save a total of 991 lives and least in less than ten years

Printing results after weeks of overnight number-crunching work

How Do We Intend to Accomplish Such An Ambitious Goal?
We have a range of initiatives planned - creative, innovative but simple and doable ones. Not all solutions are complex and many are already solutions and hand. 

Yet we can not narrate it all here, as some discretion and prudence during the initiation phase of these project are required to make sure it all proves effective and produce desired results approximated as - help save 991 lives and least in ten years



How Can You Help?
By contributing sensible, maybe even simply wild ideas here. By spreading the word about this initiative.

For one, we will be highly selective and extremely careful as to making any Decisions or actions that can potentially compromise the intended results of our planned courses of actions to take and in the accomplishment of our ultimate objectives - and help save 991 lives in ten least years. 

Please help us obtain more signatures for this petition at causes.com. Thank you.

Photos from respective copyright owners

https://www.causes.com/campaigns/73915-help-samar-leyte-heal-rise-faster-prevent-corruption-now

This aims to Prevent theft of relief and rehab funds for the millions of poor families in Central Philippines. Please invite friends to sign the petition. That will go a long way. And all you need to do is click a "Sign the Petition" and confirm it in your email account. Then please help spread the word ...

Now Showing - The Ugly Faces of Corruption That Kills

Weary and in despair, Agapito (not his real name) narrated to us how he slowly rebuilt the roof of his very old mother's house in Central Philippines without a single nail or a single peso of help from anyone and from any government agency. Though at first he felt rather lucky that none of his relatives perished when Supertyphoon Haiyan struck...

Admittedly, it is a challenge for both the local government agencies, international aid & relief organizations and foreign government aid agencies - to ensure an equitable or even distribution of relief and rehabilitation resources and efforts to... 

But what so dishearten them all in his village, he laments, is a near-decade of bad governance as they think the local chief executive (Mayor) minded only how to enrich himself and not just recover his election vote-buying expenditures. He never embarked on any infrastructure improvements, as he amassed wealth rather fast affording his family to buy several vehicles in a short period of time (a phenomenon so common in the Philippines, anyway)...

This blog is under development and our lives are some danger... We are actually under some clandestine persecution right now but nothing stops us... A courage and risk we're taking as nothing stops the severely corrupt local officials from trying their most ingenious means to steal or profit from even charity money for their constituents, the very ones they deprived of much development funds over the years, including disaster-mitigation funds... 

It's so big a shame for us Filipinos to do nothing as many volunteers who live comfortable lives in their paradise-like communities or countries help to mitigate not only the devastation caused by natural disasters here but by man-instigated or man-exacerbated disasters...

We invite you all to share us stories of destruction caused by corruption in your villages, towns, cities and districts... We need your help. You can help. And we all can help beyond superficial level - that we are all guilty of as we simply shrug-off reports of corruption... Corruption that kills...

Thank you.


Ernest Barraquias Jr.
Rian Igos