Whom Shall I Vote for Senator on May 2013

The Overseas Voting is already open at the Philippine Embassy here in Singapore. I'll go there this coming weekend to exercise my right. Well, it's not just my right but it's also our responsibility to our homeland as responsible citizens. But I have one problem.... I don't think I'll be able to fill up the whole 12. Another problem? I don't want Nancy Binay to win so it's all the more I need to fill that 12 slots with winnable senatoriables. But more on that later.

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Sotto et. al.

Whenever I see Sen. Sotto on TV,  I can't help to think of Christopher Lao and Paula Salvosa. Actually,  if I see any of them,  the other two suddenly come to mind. To be specific,  it's their stupidities that come to my mind. It's not about what they initially done but more on how they try to twist the situation and make them look right that makes me cringe.

See,  Christopher Lao would not have been ridiculed by the netizens if he did not react the way he did. For those who forgot,  Chris Lao is the guy who drove his car into an obviously flooded street. When interviewed by a reporter,  he blamed everybody around for not informing him. Yes,  everybody else other than himself. He became the laughing stock of Filipino netizens for quite some time. If he accepted that he made a wrong gamble,  then the reaction would have been better. I would have even sympathize with him.

For the case of #AMALAYER, she took a wrong turn and was confronted(rudely as she claims) by the lady guard. She could have just followed the instruction but then she felt she's a higher kind of being than the lady guard and decided to make a scene. Some guy videoed it and uploaded to YouTube. Then she became a 'celebrity' .  To top it off,  she maintains that what she did is just right because the guard was rude.   She was trending for at least three days in twitter - WORLDWIDE. If not for the twitter war between Hamas and IDF,  AMALAYER would still be trending now.

And then there's Senator Sotto.  Caught red handed using a number of copyrighted materials on his speech without attribution,  he responded by retaliating to those who pointed out his mistake. Instead of sincerely apologizing to those agrieved,  he is trying vainly to convince the people that he did nothing wrong. That made him so pathetic. Had he accepted that he did not properly attributed the works of those he copied from,  then the issue must have been done and over with.

But instead,  this issue is very much alive up to now. He recently caught the attention of the family of Sen. R. Kennedy.  Kerry Kennedy even sent a letter about it. Signed,  with letterhead and all the bells and whistles from a respected organization.

He made a pseudo-apology on the senate floor. Little did we know that he's preparing a retaliation. A few days later, Sotto is now attacking the late Senator because supposedly,  the American statesman also plagiarize works of others. I don't know his motives there but that's plain stupidity for me.

I'm hoping that the electorate will give what's due to him this May 2013. He better pack his belongings in the Senate because people will not vote for him. Actually,  he does not deserve to be there in the first place.

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RH Bill Conundrum

Nonoy Oplas, a columnist at interaksyon.com, argues that the country does not need a population control laws particularly the RH Bill. Instead, he says that what we need is a fat-free economics. Though what he says about the fat-free economics is largely true, it doesn't necessarily mean that we don't need population control laws.

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Who is the Davao Court Clerk Convicted on Misdeclaration of SALN?

In the voting for the conviction of Chief Justice Corona today, quite a number of the senator judges mentioned the case of a court clerk who was dismissed from service because she failed to declare on her SALN that she rent out a stall in the public market of Davao. Apparently, this case went all the way up to the Supreme Court which in the end decided that the court clerk erred on her SALN and thus confirmed the decision of the lower courts.

It is that case whereby the decision of some of the senators is partially based on. In the words of Senator Osmena, "the law applicable to Juan is also applicable to Renato". Regardless of the amount, the Chief Justice willingly and intentionally omitted his foreign currency deposits, "co-mingled" accounts and some other properties in his SALN. That alone is a culpable violation of the constitution.

The final vote is 20-3. Before the actual voting, I couldn't care less on whatever will come out of the voting. I can't even decide on whether he's guilty or not on the charges brought against the Chief Justice. It is only during the deliberation on the final day and the explanation of the votes that it became clearer.

But what actually swayed me is the explanation of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. It's detailed and without emotions. The explanation of Senator Bongbong Marcos is also good but weak. It can't hold any water. As always, Senator Judge Miriam Defensor-Santiago was emotional on her explanation of her vote. She as a point but just like Senator Judge Bongbong, her point is also weak.

In the end, Chief Justice Corona is found guilty of culpable violation of the constitutions. Thanks in part on the case involving that court clerk in Davao.


Update:
It is Delsa Flores. See links below. It turns out that she's getting salary for the same position from the municipal trial court as well as from the regional trial court. The SALN is just a part of the case.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2012/05/30/ex-court-worker-happy-corona-s-conviction-224136

Interview in the URL below
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/05/29/12/axed-court-interpreter-welcomes-impeachment-result
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HDB Rental Rate is Sky Rocketing!!!!

So, it's that time again when we need to negotiate for renewal of contract or find another roof over our heads. I've been here in Singapore for four years and every other year (we get 2 year contracts), we create a new contract for the flat we are renting. And the past two years have seen the stratospheric rise of rental rates. It just show how crazy the rental rates here in Singapore can get. It all started at the end of 2007 and went on with its meteoric rise. 

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