Where do our taxes go anyway???

There is a reason why so many Filipinos, and that includes me, hate paying taxes… we see no benefits from it!

In the news a few minutes ago, a man got hit by a speeding Honda Civic. He was hit hard in the head and needed to be rushed to the hospital right away. Do you know that a couple of hospitals in Parañaque have no ambulance? Grabe talaga! Where can you find hospitals without an ambulance on standby? If it weren’t for the news crew of ABS-CBN, I doubt if help will be given to that hit and run victim. When finally an ambulance arrived, it has no medical crew in it! Thank goodness some well meaning barangay officials helped.

Upon arriving at the hospital, the victim was made to wait once more because the doctors were hesitant in admitting him. My guess would be because of financial concerns. Could the victim pay them? But because there’s the news crew of ABS-CBN, the hospital was forced to admit the victim.

Take a moment and imagine yourself in the victim’s shoes. You are paying taxes to this godforsaken government and you couldn’t even be given first aid???

For more important expenses

It’s really funny how we Filipinos find out how much money our government is wasting on unnecessary expenses. Like the “contingency fund” for the Moscow Interpol trip of the 9 generals of the PNP. And numerous other trips/junkets of government officials with their spouses, sometimes with their whole family in tow. That 9M contingency fund could feed a lot of poor Filipino families. It could be given as Christmas bonus to hard working public school teachers. It could be used to help the families of the OFWs hit by the global financial crisis. It could so much good in the country and yet this corrupt government officials are using the people’s money to pay for their own caprice. Such a shame!

While I was watching DILG secretary Ronaldo Puno do a Pontius Pilate act at the Senate hearing this afternoon, I was ready to puke the contents of my stomach. The words of the secretary is much more potent than alli, I tell you. I was disgusted the whole time I was watching him.

Let’s see what happens to this Euro Generals investigation.

Rate closed today at…

Php47.20 : 1USD

Good for those of us who are into monetizing and earning in dollars. Bad for the economy. I heard this in the news this evening. Also, there was news about the Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street giant, that filed for bankruptcy, and Merrill Lynch who is an even larger Wall Street giant will be taken over by Bank of America. Too bad for the employees working for both these companies. Talks of a take over is never good for the employees’ morale.

Then there is also the possible folding of AIG, the company responsible for the local Philam Life Group of Companies. The reporter of the news program TV Patrol predicted that there will be a clamor for information from policy holders of Philam Life.

US-Peso exchange rate

The exchange rate closed at Php46.95 : $1 today. Hooray for us bloggers who are earning on the side! I was watching the evening news today when I saw it. I know that I should not feel too happy about it because that would mean our economy is slipping. Again. But then, last year, the peso was down and life was so much better for many Filipinos.

Anyway, I will try and withdraw my Paypal money later. I might be getting a good rate today

2008 Beijing Olympics

Philippines standing in the recently concluded 2008 Beijing Olympics: 0-0-0. Pathetic. But we should always keep in mind that there are other countries with the same standing like ours, right? Does it make you happy to know that? Relieved perhaps?

I still feel like we could have done better. Imagine, we got gold in the Wushu demonstration. How come we failed in the other sports? Maybe, there’s too much pressure on the athletes? Or there’s not enough training? I believe there should be a serious evaluation of our national sports department. Are we tapping the right people to head the various sub-departments under it? Are we really exerting all efforts to win in international competitions?

The next Olympics will be held in London on 2012. I do hope we’ll do much better by then. *keeping my fingers crossed

War in Mindanao

It’s find it ridiculous, to say the least, what is happening in Mindanao right now. So many casualties brought on by this all-out war declared by the MILF against the Arroyo government and everybody who comes in their way. Men, women, children. Old and young. No one is safe from the MILF’s wrath.

I pity those people in Mindanao caught in the middle. And I am really furious with the government for using the Bangsamoro deal just to jump start (again) their bid to change the constitution. Look at the cost of this Cha-Cha. So many lives destroyed. So many dreams are shattered.

Is it really worth it? Will the country get any better after the Charter Change?

I knew it!

The Bangsamoro deal/MOA is a prelude to the Charter Change! GMA is a sneaky, conniving b$%ch! Clearly, the Philippine government will go to great lengths to be able to push down our throats the Charter Change that will benefit GMA and her sneaky, conniving f$%%king allies!

I just hate how these people would lie and connive just to dupe the citizens. Instead of serving the people, they are serving themselves, benefiting from the blood and sweat of the masses. Poor people are getting poorer each day while the ones in league with the powers that be are getting richer and richer.

I can go on and on about the pock marks this government has done and is doing to the country. And about that Bangsamoro deal leading to the Cha-cha. But it will all boil down to this… we are f*cked!

Earthquake in Southern California

An earthquake with a magnitude 5.4 that registered on the Richter Scale rocked the Pomona, California area this morning. No casualties were reported (thank God) but the earthquake was felt across Southern California.

For all the bloggers in this area, take care and I hope all of you are doing fine.

*Photo courtesy of www.monstersandcritics.com

2008 SONA and GMA's last minute attempts to save face

It is really funny to watch how and hear about Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s last minute attempts to save face. The State of the Nation Address is coming up and she is doing her darn best to scrounge for something that she can tell the nation that she did for the country. Just imagine these…

• She “appealed” to Petron to make a price roll back when just a few days ago, the fuel companies implemented a price hike.

This is what every Filipino has in mind: if she can arm wrestle the fuel companies into doing price rollbacks, why do it only now??? And what’s with the price hike, the fuel companies are lamenting their profit loss, when they can really forego the 1.50php in the first place? Shady, isn’t it?

• The peso is gaining the upper hand versus the US dollar.

Just last week, the exchange rate averages 45php:1usd, what with everything that happened during the typhoon Frank. And then just this morning, I was surprised to see that the peso grew stronger. I doubt if that is really the reason why the exchange rate dipped like that. If you just read the news, you will know that the economy of the country is making a nosedive. So the stronger peso was brought about by something else.

• The energy subsidy for Meralco clients.

Nakakatawa! As if the 500pesos subsidy will really solve the energy problem. The government is good at providing temporary solutions, press releases… But few have really materialized. Few have provided permanent solutions.

That’s just three of the last minute attempts of GMA to save face. Let’s see what “accomplishments” she will brag about in her 2008 State of the Nation Address.

Do you read?

I love reading. Anything that catches my interest, I read. Even if it’s just a brochure or a flyer from a real estate company, I read it. Reading gives me additional knowledge. It also brings me to new places I’ve never been to. When reading a novel, I get to meet interesting and mysterious characters. I get to meet the author of the novel. Reading also makes my rather sluggish and boring days more interesting. It adds color to my life.

You’d probably ask why I am writing about books right now. I just read the column of Susan Ople in Tempo (Manila Bulletin’s small broadsheet). She talked about how kids these days read less than kids of yesterday. When there was no internet yet, the kids either play outside their homes or stay inside to read. I speak from experience. When I was a kid, I would raid my grandma’s library and read the novels there. I love Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, the classics, Shakespeare and Archie. I remember wishing for grandma to give me all her books. I came from a middle class family where traveling to foreign countries or to Visayas and Mindanao was not the tradition during summer and holidays. We usually stay home and I would either go play with my cousins or read. I loved (still do) reading more than the former. I might not have physically traveled to foreign countries but because of the books that I read, I got to know different states in America, Italy, England, several Asian countries and more.

Susan Ople is telling her readers to read to kids. I believe that kids are missing so much when they opt to play internet games instead of rubbing elbows with The Little Prince. They should at least get to read the classics. Do they even know Rumpelstiltskin? I remember asking a cousin of mine if he knows Shakespeare, or even Archie, and was disappointed because he doesn’t read comics at all. But when you ask him what Ragnarok and other online games are, well, he is the expert. My brother at least knows some of the classics, have been an Archie fan and have read Hardy Boys. But like other kids of his generation, he’s more into games and anime. Which is really sad, if you think about it.

Do you read to your kids? Do you even read books yourself? If you don’t, take the time to read. It will change your perspective of life. It will give your day a new meaning. It will make a difference in your kid’s life, and in yours.

*Originally posted on July 6, 2008

Sulpicio Lines' accountability

We were all devastated when we learned of the tragedy that happened to MV Dona Paz in 1987. According to Wikipedia…

The official death toll on the ferry is 1,565 although some reports claim that the ferry was overcrowded and that the true death toll at least 4,341.[1] The ships would put the death toll at 4,375 although admitting that only 1,568 were on the manifest (still more than the licensed maximum of 1,518). The 21 (or 24) survivors from the ferry had to swim, as there was no time to launch lifeboats.

Sulpicio Lines owned the ill-fated MV Dona Paz. Two more tragedies befell two more of their ships i the following years after that. And then the MV Princess of the Stars capsized during the typhoon Frank. Just like with the MV Dona Paz, more people died but only a few were listed in the passenger manifest.

I was just wondering, when will Sulpicio Lines lose their license after all these tragedies? Or more precisely, when will this company be made accountable for all these blatant breaking of the law? Yes, the company didn’t want all the tragedies that happened but isn’t this just a little bit like history repeating itself, specifically with what happened to MV Princess of the Stars?

I do hope something will be done to this company soon.

Great tax news!

For all my Filipino blogger-friends who are working as a corporate rat here in the Philippines, well, I have some good news for you. Ready?

There will be no more tax deductions for minimum wage earners! Let us thank Mar Roxas for authoring Republic Act 9504. Yey!!!

The law was signed today declaring that for every minimum wage earner here in the Philippines, there will be no more tax deduction in your salaries. Now that is a big help for so many Filipinos earning minimum wage right now. Remember, when a tax law, ruling, regulation is changed within the year, it will become effective for the whole year. It means that for those people who are deducted with tax from their January to June 15th salaries, you can get a refund come December. For minimum wage earners only, okay?

Now, for those who are earning more than the minimum wage, there is a good news for you as well. The personal tax exemptions for single (Php20,000), head of the family (Php25,000) and married individuals (Php32,000) are now fixed to Php50,000! And an additional exemption for qualified dependents has been increased to Php25,000 per dependent from the previous Php8,000 per dependent.

To top it off, the senator added that all holiday, night differential, hazard, and overtime pay would also be tax-exempt.

Sweet!

That will reduce tax deductions by a significant amount. Expect tax refunds or lower tax deductions come November and December of this year people!

When I was still working as a corporate rat, my tax deduction could pay two assistants already. It was that painful to look at when I get my payslip. With this change in the tax table, I might be lured back to work as a corporate rat… Might is the operative word there hehe… If I will not go to work on Mondays, well, that will be a greater pull

*More information on the new tax bill here.