You plan to move to the Philippines? Wollen Sie auf den Philippinen leben?

There are REALLY TONS of websites telling us how, why, maybe why not and when you'll be able to move to the Philippines. I only love to tell and explain some things "between the lines". Enjoy reading, be informed, have fun and be entertained too!

Ja, es gibt tonnenweise Webseiten, die Ihnen sagen wie, warum, vielleicht warum nicht und wann Sie am besten auf die Philippinen auswandern könnten. Ich möchte Ihnen in Zukunft "zwischen den Zeilen" einige zusätzlichen Dinge berichten und erzählen. Viel Spass beim Lesen und Gute Unterhaltung!


Visitors of germanexpatinthephilippines/Besucher dieser Webseite.Ich liebe meine Flaggensammlung!

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Showing posts with label Senator. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Senator. Show all posts

Monday, November 27, 2023

TO TRANSFORM THE NATION


 


PRESS RELEASE

November 26, 2023

 

 

To transform the nation, Cayetano says country has to have real change, right vision, values

 

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Saturday said that national transformation will become a reality in the country once individuals and the government become collectively transformed and work together with the right values and vision.

 

In an interview with reporters in Baguio City on November 25, 2023, Cayetano said his goal is to push for these in the Senate in the next few years.

 

“Transformation starts within yourself. Unless there’s transformation, bale-wala y’ung changes dahil babalik din [sa dati],” he said.

 

“And the [end goal] has to be transformation of the nation because if you change but around you the culture is the same, hindi magiging makabuluhan ang transformation kasi lalamunin ka ng sistema,” he added.

 

Cayetano related this in context of the country’s lingering problems on issues like education and the economy, coming off from the plenary debates for the 2024 national budget this past week.

 

“Maraming kailangan i-review sa itatanim [sa 2024 budget], including sa everyday needs ng mga tao. It really starts with values. I’m very happy na inamin ng Department of Education through the Vice President na the education sector is in crisis… because walang masosolve kung hindi aaminin na may problema… Challenge pa rin ang inflation at patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo,” he said.

 

He said he raised the alarm bells during the Senate’s plenary debates so that this will be urgently addressed by the government. 

 

“I want to sound the alarm bells, ngayon pa lang, because unless we fix the deficiencies in K to 12 or we take out the extra 2 years, we will not do justice to the next generation,” he said.

 

As the work continues, Cayetano said he will seek to address such persisting problems by helping the government plan and to have the right values and vision. 


“Isang pinupush ko talaga y’ung values kasi kung tama y’ung values ng tao, kung tama ang itinanim, tama ang aanihin,” he said.

 

He said this is the reason for his trip to Baguio to join a Christian conference that is focused on strategies in transformation.

 

“We are here in Baguio City today for a conference of policemen. We are here to support, pray for them, and to speak [in the conference]… There are several groups locally and internationally with the focus of national transformation right now,” he explained.

 

Cayetano said his group, transformNATION Philippines, which advocated for this by holding conferences nationwide, is also eyeing to hold a conference in the City of Pines next year. ###

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Tourism post-pandemic

Published November 17, 2022, 12:02 AM

by Senator Francis Tolentino

‘TOL VIEWS

Senator Francis N. Tolentino

Because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, global tourism suffered significant losses. International tourist arrivals in January to May 2020 decreased by as much as 56 percent compared to the pre-pandemic records of 2019. This reduction, according to an August 2020 report of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), translates to $910 billion to $1.2 trillion lost in exports from tourism. Similarly, 100 to 120 million direct tourism jobs are at risk of dissolution and 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) lost due to the widespread lockdowns and travel restrictions.

From the same UNWTO report, the Asia-Pacific Region suffered the greatest reduction in tourist arrivals at 60 percent, hence the need for a renewed and revitalized regional strategy for tourism recovery and sustainability. This pandemic has revealed the vulnerability of world economies – even those from more developed regions. Covid-19 exposed the inadequacy of our contingent planning and response capacity as no one could have perhaps foretold the depth and breadth of its impact. 

However devastated global tourism may be, hope for recovery remains high, especially in the light of the expected shift of Covid-19 from pandemic to endemic. With lesser restrictions on domestic and international travel, with accelerated vaccination rates in nearly all countries of the world, with heightened regional cooperation and partnerships to jumpstart tourism and economic engines, we can all hope to transform this health crisis into an opportunity for systems innovation and redesign in order to adapt to the demands of a post-pandemic tourism economy.

For the Philippines, it was projected that tourist arrivals 12 months after the pandemic will be at +9.7 percent, slightly above the average tourist arrivals data of the pre-pandemic years. Some of the figures for most Asian countries will remain on the negative axis when it comes to tourist arrivals and tourism revenue, but the brighter side of this trend is that 6 to 12 months after the end of the pandemic, the road to tourism recovery is clear. As with any other recovery phase in the aftermath of any crisis, the restoration of normalcy in the life of the people in the community will require re-assessment and re-designing of policies, plans, and programs in order to speed up rehabilitation.

Jumpstarting regional economy by strengthening regional tourism require policy response, not only to address the demands of a re-awakened tourism industry, but as well as to meet current and emerging needs. Enabling legislation shall be a crucial element in establishing a more adaptive tourism economy – one that will be vibrant, diverse, and inclusive. Sustainable tourism will entail expanded collaboration not only among national governments, but as well as building partnerships with private and non-government sectors.

The future of the country’s tourism shall be largely shaped by the policy response of today. An integrated regional tourism policy for the Asia Pacific Region will be essential as the policies and actions of one country may have implications on the policies and actions of another.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

How 1951 Case Proves Grace Poe is Filipino

By David Dizon, ABS-CBNnews.com

Is Senator Grace Poe Filipino?
Attorney Katrina Legarda, a law professor and consultant on children's issues, said the case of a foundling after World War II supports Poe's claim that she is a natural-born Filipino.

Speaking to ANC's Headstart, Legarda cited the case of Anthony Hale, a foundling who lost both parents in the Second World War.

She said several Filipinos took care of the boy and tried to get him a Philippine passport. The Department of Foreign Affairs said the Department of Justice must first issue an opinion if the boy could be given a Philippine passport since he is a foundling.

The DOJ then issued an opinion which stated that, following international conventions, a foundling is presumed to have assumed the citizenship of the place where he or she is found.

Since then, the DFA has been issuing Philippine passports to foundlings in the Philippines in recognition of the 1951 DOJ opinion.

Legarda said foundlings in the Philippines cannot travel abroad to adoptive parents if they are not given passports. "Adoption does not give you citizenship. Adoption just makes you a legitimate child of your adopters. Period," she said.

She also noted that actors Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces could not have adopted Grace if she was not a natural-born Filipino because domestic law does not allow adoption of foreign children.

"The courts cannot have jurisdiction over foreigners when it comes to adoption proceedings," she said.

Legarda said it is now up to critics to prove that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino.

THE OSMEÑA CASE

In the interview, the lawyer also disputed losing senatorial bet Rizalito David's claim that Poe is considered stateless not because she is a foundling but because she lost her US citizenship and did not regain her Filipino citizenship.

"Well, that's kinda impossible. The Declaration of Human Rights, which came out in 1948, which we are a signatory, does not want people to be stateless and everyone has a right to nationality. When she took her oath on October 20, 2010, she reacquired the Filipino citizenship she had prior to when she married which is natural born. She retained and has always retained her natural- born Philippine citizenship. (She never lost it?) No, parang dual citizenship," Legarda said.

She cited the case of another prominent politician, the late President Sergio Osmena, who also married an American. This meant that their sons were dual citizens because the father was Filipino and the mother was American.

She said the Supreme Court even ruled that Emilio 'Lito' Osmena could stay as governor of Cebu even though he is a dual citizen. Osmena ran for president in 1998 but lost to Joseph Estrada.

In Poe's case, Legarda said it was only natural for her to assume the citizenship of her husband since his business was abroad.

Poe, however, decided to return to the Philippines after her father's death in December 2004 and said she would stay.

Legarda said Poe enrolled her children in Philippine schools, took a job in her father's business and even bought a house and lot.

"You cannot do that if you are not a Filipino citizen...If she bought a house and lot, she was a dual Filipino at the very least," she said.

LOSING US CITIZENSHIP

The lawyer said she sees no problem with Poe using her American passport until 2009 even though she had a Filipino passport.

"Sometimes, it is just easier," she said.

She also rebuffed David's claim that Poe only lost her US citizenship in the last quarter of 2012 based on the US Registry. David has claimed Poe cannot sit as senator because she does not fulfill the residency requirement of two years for a sitting senator.

Legarda said that under American law, a person can lose his or her US citizenship by voluntarily performing "an act with intent" such as accepting the post of chairwoman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

She noted that it takes time for government agencies to come out with updated information.

"When she took her oath, she already lost her US citizenship. Automatic. The publication of that could take two years," Legarda said.

The lawyer said the residency requirement should not be confused with citizenship.

She said that while Poe lost her US citizenship in 2010, the latter was already staying in the Philippines in 2004.

"She has been here at least 11 years in residence because their kids are here. And that was when she told me: 'I'm going back, attorney, to live here because my mother is alone,'" she said.

THE RIGHTS OF FOUNDLINGS

Legarda said she cannot understand why Poe's foundling status is even an issue.

"Really? Is it your fault that you are born?" she said.

"What? The child flew in all along and dropped? Appeared just like the Holy Virgin Mary?"

She said some people do not give importance to foundlings because they do not understand that foundlings would soon become adults.

"If you really believe that foundlings have no citizenship at birth, that means that no foundling can be a lawyer, can be a doctor, can be a broadcast journalist because you have to be natural-born citizens. You cannot take advantage of public school education. It is not just politicians. The foundling has to have the citizenship, natural born, of the place where she was found," she said. 

Saturday, January 12, 2013

It's Fun to Be A Senator in The Philippines



Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Ever wonder why many are dying to become senators?

Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago posed this question during an interview with Radyo Inquirer Wednesday after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile reportedly played Santa Claus last Christmas, giving gifts using so-called "savings" that she said had become the "grandmama of all scandals."

She then proceeded to outline why nothing beats being a senator.

Related story: Enrile: Cash gifts were 'lambing' not bribe

Imagine a yearly pork barrel of 200 million pesos (US$4.9 million), 2.2 million pesos monthly for staff salaries and office expenses, a 500,000 pesos annual travel allowance and an honorarium that ranges between 30,000 to 60,000 pesos a month as chair of a Senate committee.

And don't forget the regular monthly salary of 75,000 pesos.

An unscrupulous senator can simply make it appear that he or she is using all these perks legitimately and then pocket these. Here is where Santiago wants the Commission on Audit (COA) to come in.

Also read: Like senators, House members got more funds last Christmas

Santiago asked COA Chairperson Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan to instruct auditors assigned to the Senate and the House of Representatives to examine and audit so-called "savings" or "secret funds" available to the Senate President, House Speaker, and other heads of offices, to ensure transparency.

Santiago's revelations followed Enrile's supposedly selective release of a total of 1.618 million pesos in two tranches as additional "maintenance and other operating expenditures" (MOOE) to each of her 18 colleagues from "savings" of the chamber in 2012. Four other senators Enrile wasn't exactly fond of-Santiago included-got 250,000 pesos each.

Nat'l scandal


"The so-called savings of each public office have turned into a national scandal, the grandmama of all scandals. The Constitution allows savings to be used by the office at the end of the year. But in reality, the head of office manipulates the books and creates so-called savings by refusing to fill up vacancies, or refusing to buy essential office supplies or services, or capital equipment. These so-called 'enforced savings' are then distributed among the highest officials, in the guise of Christmas bonuses," Santiago explained.

In many cases, the COA auditor usually accommodates the "enforced savings" ordered by the head of office, because COA auditors are often afraid of politicians, or the COA auditors themselves share in the "enforced savings," she said.

In other news: Aquino rejects gun ban calls

"I challenge the COA to reveal to the public the total income annually of every senator and every representative. This total income should include basic salary, Christmas and other bonuses, monthly honoraria for committee work, monthly appropriation to be spent at the senator's discretion for staff salaries and for MOOE, appropriations for consultants, foreign travel funds, etc.," she said.

Members of each Senate committee are also given an allowance, but she did not give a specific amount.

"That's why some of my colleagues become members of so many committees," she noted. "This amount is given whether or not you attend the hearings conducted by the committee."

The same policy holds true for the 500,000 pesos travel allowance. "We are given that every year, whether we use it or not. It is for official trips such as those to international conferences. But even if you don't leave, you still get that," she said.

Biggest perk

The biggest perk, however, remains the 200 million pesos pork barrel, or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Santiago recalled that when she was still a newbie senator in 1995, she was approached by a contractor who guaranteed her a "clean" 10-percent kickback from her pork-funded infrastructure projects.

Also read: President Aquino Predicted To Fall

She calculated that during a six-year term, a senator can earn 120 million pesos from kickbacks, enough to jumpstart a reelection bid.

"One who wants big money should run for senator," Santiago said.

As for Enrile's "gift," Santiago said she sent it back to the Senate President because he had returned her gift of biscuits to him.

"You don't like my biscuit, I also don't like your money," was how she explained it.

A report by Fe Zamora.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Archbishop Oscar Cruz for Senator?


If giving the chance, would you vote for retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz for senator? This seems indeed to be intent the Archbishop for Senator Movement page, which went live on the popular social networking site FACEBOOK. Yes, I am also there. I am also on TWITTER. But because of other things. Fact is: social networking sites are important for many things, if, yes IF the privacy settings are really working well.

Regarding Oscar Cruz please check out the abs cbn news report HERE:

 Archbishop Oscar Cruz for senator?