The End of Filipino Time

 Finally, Philippine Standard Time, Institutionalized...why it took so long???

From an article :

Aquino signs law setting Philippine Standard Time

 @http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2013/05/23/aquino-signs-law-setting-philippine-standard-time-283808

Thursday, May 23, 2013

MANILA -- President Benigno Aquino III has signed into law a consolidated bill setting the Philippine Standard Time (PST) and institutionalizing the first week of the year as the "National Time Consciousness Week."

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, in a press briefing on Thursday, said Aquino signed last May 15 Republic Act 10535 or "An Act to set the Philippine Standard Time in All Official Sources throughout the country, to provide funds for the installation, operation and maintenance of synchronized time devices to be displayed in key public places and to declare the first week of every year as National Time Consciousness Week."

The new law otherwise known as The Philippine Standard Time (PST) Act of 2013 is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 3284 and House Bill No. 164 that was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on February 4, 2013.

The Act mandates all national and local government offices to display Philippine Standard Time on their official time devices, including bundy clocks, in accordance with the official time provided by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) using its network time protocol.

All of these offices shall coordinate, at least once a month, with the Pagasa to synchronize their official timepieces and devices.

The Pagasa's Time Service Unit, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology (Dost), shall be tasked to monitor, maintain and disseminate the PST throughout the country. The Pagasa shall operate and maintain a timekeeping system to perform these functions and shall endeavor to install and maintain sufficiently large and prominently displayed synchronized time devices in all their field stations and in key public places.

The procurement of equipment necessary for the automatic dissemination of time with global positioning system (GPS) shall be in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act). The DOST shall be the procurement overseer of the said equipment. 

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will also require the participation of all government and private television and radio stations to ensure synchronization of timekeeping devices even in the most remote parts of the country.

Owners of private television and radio stations who shall fail to calibrate and synchronize their time devices with the Philippine Standard Time during their broadcast shall, upon hearing and due proceedings, be penalized with a fine of not less than P30,000 but not more than P50,000 in the first offense. A subsequent offense will merit a revocation and cancellation of their franchises to operate.

The fine to be collected as penalty for the violation of this Act shall be deposited in the general fund of the National Treasury.

The law also institutionalizes the first week of the year as "National Time Consciousness Week."

The Pagasa, in coordination with the Dost, the NTC, the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of National Defense, Department of Health, the Department of Education, and the Commission on Higher Education (Ched), shall promulgate the necessary guidelines for the effective implementation of the calibration and synchronization of the timekeeping devices and implementation of this Act within 90 days from the effectivity of this Act. 

This Act shall take effect after 15 days from its publication in the Official Gazette or in two 2 newspapers of general circulation. (SDR/Sunnex)

Pork Barrel - PDAF

Pork Barrel, by definition, is a slang term used when politicians or governments "unofficially" undertake projects that benefit a group of citizens in return for that group's support or campaign donations. This spending mostly benefits the needs of a small select group despite the fact that the entire community's funds are being used. Also referred to as "patronage".

For example, let's say a city has a large number of potholes, spread evenly throughout its communities. If the mayor took campaign contributions from a group of wealthy residents in exchange for a promise to fix the potholes in their neighborhood first, this would be pork-barrel politics.

One possible derivation for the phrase comes from the practice of country stores keeping a barrel of salted pork open and available to the public. Certain high-ranking citizens would come by daily to dip into this common fund.

From an article by Angela Casauay entitled :Senatorial Bets want to abolish pork barrel “A senator gets about P200 million in pork barrel funds each year, an amount that makes up a substantial amount of congressional allocations that lawmakers receive each year.”

Llasos, a lawyer, said the PDAF, or the Priority Development Assistance Fund, and other discretionary funds are the root of graft and corruption and should therefore be abolished.

According to Marwil Llasos  , "I know the function of a senator. The function is legislation, to create laws, investigations in aid of legislation and education on issues. There is no mention of being a contractor,"

Hontiveros said PDAF allocations must be subjected to “the system of ordinary people” so that they can dictate the kind of projects that the pork barrel will subsidize, while Christian Señeres said it should be “scrutinized up to the last peso."

Bayan Muna Rep Teddy Casiño cited a concrete use of the pork barrel: collect all and give to state colleges. In outlining his platform on education, Casiño acknowledged the need to provide more funding for universities, which can be sourced from the PDAF and by re-aligning funds used to pay for the country’s P5-T debt.

Why can’t the PDAF be distributed directly to local government units? For years,  national and local oligarchs have been benefiting millions from this “unofficial fund”. We do not even know for sure if these supposed to be millions of development funds are being used for development projects, or being corrupted. All we know, is that people who  gets into positions gets even richer and richer.

“Every right involves a corresponding responsibility to others and to society?” an assesment.

There is an old argument about rights that has enjoyed resurgent popularity in these days of “spreading the wealth around.” It is the assertion that while human beings undoubtedly have rights, they also have responsibilities. “For every right there is a corresponding responsibility that is its complement.” One should not be surprised that this line of reasoning appeals to statists of all varieties, because they see in it a way to undercut rights and dress up their schemes of plunder and domination as “responsibilities.” However, it does not take the clear-thinking mind long to see through these principle, for they fail to hold up to a moment’s analysis.

What are the characteristics of a right? A right is an absolute and exclusive claim to something. “Absolute” because you cannot partially have a right to something. You either have a right to it wholly or not at all. “Exclusive” because that which you have a right to no one else can claim a right to. A right defines something that you are entitled to. You do not need anyone’s permission to exercise a right. No one can charge you a fee for exercising it. No government can regulate it. You are entitled to exercise rights without interference by or permission from anyone.

Consider the right to life. Is your right to life absolute or do you only have a right to live under certain conditions? Do you have an exclusive right to live your own life or do others have some partial right to your life? Are you entitled to live, or do other people have a right to charge you a fee in return for allowing you to live? Can any government pass a law or regulation qualifying your right to life?

There are different kinds of rights, based upon their origins. Legal rights derive from a contract. While these rights originate with the consent of others, such as your right to a house that you have purchased, that right nevertheless takes on all of the characteristics described above once you have acquired it. The corresponding responsibility to the right of ownership of the house is the obligation to pay for the house. Your responsibility to pay derives from the contract you entered into. You are obliged to pay because you have consented to pay in exchange for the right to the property previously owned by the seller.

Natural rights are inherent in each person. These do not originate with the consent of others, but are part of and inseparable from our humanity. They cannot be taken away. Even if they are violated, they nevertheless remain. When we recognize something to be “wrong,” it is usually the violation of some kind of right. However, when we recognize something as “evil,” it is invariably the violation of a natural, inalienable right.

A responsibility is something that you are obliged to do. It is an obligation that you must fulfill in order to comply with a moral or legal code. Responsibilities do not always conform to our wishes. We may prefer to do one thing, but have the responsibility to do another. Responsibilities are actions that we are compelled to do, either by religious doctrine, our own consciences, or other people.

Marriage Equality Act

If I were a legislator, this would be the bill I'd be pushing for...but I know the country isn't ready for this yet.

Title: Marriage Equality Act

Executive Summary:

           

Homosexuality in our country, the Philippines is evidently not acceptable compared to other developing countries. Discrimination is still very much evident as some people still refuse to accept the existence of the third sex and other times, limit their expectations, assuming that members of the third sex are deemed to be unclean.

Marriage has long been one way that couples express their love for one another and their commitment to their relationship. Despite arguments that so-called “same-sex marriage” seeks to redefine “traditional marriage,” allowing committed gay and lesbian couples to get married does not change the meaning of marriage. Gay and lesbian couples want to get married to make a lifetime commitment to the person they love and to protect their families.

Bill Text:

The concept of equal protection under the law, to be preserved in our Constitution, requires that fundamental rights like the right to marry be made available equally to same-sex and opposite-sex couples. This bill would not only allow same sex couples to get married, but would also serve as an enshrined advocacy on defending LGBT (Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders) rights and broaden the range of civil liberties.

The act would open the minds of the many who refuse to live with the third sex that they have equal rights as straight people, that they have the capacity to love, work, trade as those who are straight. The act would be part of the constitution, thus it would reflect the political principles of government, and thus recognizing the existence and delegating equal rights to the LGBTs.

In article posted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “Nine states plus D.C. allow same-sex couples to marry, two more respect marriages of same-sex couples validly performed in other states, eight provide civil unions or comprehensive domestic partnerships, and two more have more limited domestic partnership systems. That’s 20 states plus D.C. that provide some significant state-level relationship protections, and those states are home to 130 million people.

These facts are heartening, but there is still a lot of work to do to improve laws that will protect all families. Since the first marriage lawsuit for same-sex couples in America in 1971, the ACLU has been at the forefront of both legal and public education efforts to secure marriage for same-sex couples and win legal recognition for LGBT relationships.”

For Philippine Implementation, education is the first step for this act to be recognized and accepted to society. Movements promoting the advocacy of giving equal and distinct rights to the LGBTs must also be strengthened and persisted.

What makes the doctrine of separation of powers workable?

The doctrine of separation of powers divides the institution of government into three separate branches; the legislative, executive and judicial. The  powers and execution of each  vary and carried out by  different individuals. They are not allowed to execute solely for another’s authority, each being interdependent from another.

The division of power should prevent absolutism (like in monarchies and dictatorship where all branches are concentrated in a single authority). The doctrine also prevents corruption. The branches also serve as security or authorities to correct and check upon one another. Each interdependent branch helps keeps the other from exceeding their power, thus ensuring the rule of law and protecting the rights of individuals.

The practice of the doctrine is basically a mechanism to prevent power being over concentrated in one arm of government. This is very much workable in the Philippines since abuse of power and corruption is very much rampant in much country, even within the presence of these three branches. The Philippines is a republican state, meaning, sovereignty resides with the people and it loathes the concentration of one or a few. The powers or basic state authority given to the three branches, were only delegated by the people. “The Executive, the Legislative, and the Judiciary – each branch being supreme in its own sphere but with constitutional limits and a firm tripod of checks and balances” (Atty. Fred)

The Executive branch, headed by the President of the republic, is the approving and implementation body of the supreme government. The President serves as the chief executive and represents the government as a whole. The President exercises general supervision over all local government units and is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

 Being elected by the citizens, the president has control over the executive departments, the bureaus and offices. This means that he has the authority to assume directly the functions of the executive department, bureau and office or interfere with the discretion of its officials. Contrary to the power of control, the President also has the duty of supervising the enforcement of laws for the maintenance of general peace and public order. Thus, he is granted administrative power over bureaus and offices under his control to enable him to discharge his duties effectively.

The legislative branch, which has the authority to make laws is the Congress. The Congress is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of twenty-four Senators, who are elected at large by the qualified voters of the Philippines.

The House of Representatives, on the other hand, is composed of not more than two hundred and fifty members, unless fixed by law, who are elected from legislative districts located among the provinces, cities and the Metropolitan Manila area, and those who are elected through a party-list system of registered national, regional and sectoral parties or organizations.

Judicial Power is vested in the Supreme Court, or any lower courts prescribed by law. The Supreme Court is composed of a Chief Justice and fourteen Associate Justices. While Congress has the power to define, prescribe and allocate the jurisdiction of the various courts, congress cannot deprive the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction provided in the Constitution. No law shall also be passed reorganizing the judiciary when it undermines the security of tenure of its members. The Supreme Court also has administrative supervision over all courts and the personnel thereof, having the power to discipline or dismiss judges of lower courts.