How much does the Philippine President get paid? Currently, the Philippine Republic President is receiving Php60,000.00 (about USD1,333.33 at Php45.00 to 1 USD exchange rate) monthly. This is how much I pay for a mid-senior Developer/Programmer (PHP/Java) monthly. If compared to the President of the United States, as of 2001, the US President’s salary is about USD400,000.00 annually - or almost 3,000% higher than his Filipino counterpart.

But it doesn’t make sense to compare the salaries of a US President against a Philippine President. It doesn’t make sense at all why for just Php60,000.00 monthly, politicians are “dying” and spending millions and even billions of pesos to become a Philippine President.

Of course the reasons are obvious, aside from being the “Most Powerful Person” of the land, you get the opportunity to serve. (Laughing my ass out loud). Plus, you get to live in the Malacanang Palace, the most secured residence in the country. Also, you get Billions of pesos in Discretionary and Development funds, and other Budget Allocations at your disposal.

If you are greedy and play with the Devil, you get access to billions of pesos worth of contracts and government spendings and purchases - which perhaps could offer you some nice commission and “tong-pats.” If you are not greedy and shun Evil, chances are some of your relatives and friends and even family members do the tango and dance the cha-cha with the Demons.

There’s more and take the Poll after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you want to know the latest posts, you can subscribe using your favorite RSS feed reader or get them delivered to your email inbox. Thanks!

Finally the Government is doing something sensible and smart - raising the salaries and wages of Government employees to a competitive level. The Department of Budget Management (DBM) through its Head, Sec. Rolando Andaya has endorsed to Congress a proposal to increase next year’s budget for Government Services, amounting to Php426 Billion, or 42.3Billion pesos up from the budget allocated this year.

This will translate to an increase for Grade Level 1 10 (thanks to Promdiliving for the correction) Government employees (ex. entry level Teachers, Nurses) from the current salary of Php12,000 to about Php18,000 - at least a bit competitive to entry level in the Call Center Industry.

Would this be enough? Probably not, but at least it should help. Still Government salaries is among the lowest in the Philippines - an ironic reality when in fact running the government is much more like running a business. Yes it has become a business - a business of getting kickbacks and graft on most government projects for politicians and government officials. No wonder even our Policemen and Military suffered major credibility problems - when some of their members directly involved in crimes and illegal activities just to “augment” their financial resources.

While it is an unacceptable reasoning, still low income, which is most of the time not enough to cover basic needs have enticed some policemen to be “creative” in the streets. Low government salaries made the teachers got buried in debts from loan sharks and opportunist lenders, forced government health workers (doctors, nurses) to seek employment overseas as helpers, caregivers, or nursing aids.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you want to know the latest posts, you can subscribe using your favorite RSS feed reader or get them delivered to your email inbox. Thanks!

Oddly enough, the Philippines finally had its taste of automated elections in one of the most ‘troubled” areas in Mindanao, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao or ARMM.

Amid heavy security by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the first automated elections drawn 84% voters turnout, more than twice of the expected 30-40% based on previous elections. The test run of the election automation machines saw action with an added constraint - disruptions due to war. During the elections, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) launched an attack on various areas and settlements including bombing of telecommunication lines, cell site towers and bridges.

There were two types of these election automation machines deployed: the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) and Optical Mark Reader (OMR). Obviously, the former is better as voters are provided with a Voting Pad where the photos of candidates can be selected by pressing on the desired picture. Once the vote is final, a receipt is generated after pressing ‘BOTO‘. The receipt is kept by the Board of Election Inspectors just in case there are complaints raised. However, DRE Technology can only be deployed in areas where communications is available and reliable.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you want to know the latest posts, you can subscribe using your favorite RSS feed reader or get them delivered to your email inbox. Thanks!

Lately, the “most unpopular” President (of all time?) based on the recent survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS) delivered her annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) in front of both Houses in Congress and was shown “live” on National Television.

As with previous SONA (and even on previous administrations), some people are marching in the streets protesting against the “lies” and “deceptions” and “fairy tales” contained in the SONA message. Some, as expected, delivered their own Kontra-SONA. While some were having a grand time of their lives in the “hallowed” halls of Congress on their best clothes and jewelries - in short, it was another circus on nationwide TV. Call it entertaining, boring show, horror flick, or an action-adventure-fantasy combo entertainment.

But President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo, this time, earned my admiration. Whether her actions are good for the country is one thing every Filipino will reckon with once her term is up - but the fact that we Filipinos NEED a President (and Politicians) who doesn’t care if their actions are popular or not. Now going back to the SONA details - and why those deserved a space on this blog - precisely because those decisions made by the President affect us all - the way we earn our daily wages either from business, or employment.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you want to know the latest posts, you can subscribe using your favorite RSS feed reader or get them delivered to your email inbox. Thanks!

Whoah, Bloggista.com is kinda spiritual today. Well, almost. I am sure most of us are familiar with this popular poem ‘Footprints In The Sand‘. Widely adapted by many Christians to uplift people in times of needs and despair.

Many people though are not aware who authored this poem. Some claimed it was Mary Stevenson, while Wikipedia said its either her, or Ella H. Scharring-Hausen, Burrell Webb, Carolyn Joyce Carty or Margaret Fishback Powers. But whoever wrote it, certainly it was an awesome piece of literature that captivated lots of people around the world. There was a popular song adaptation, and currently, another adaptation by Leona Lewis which is featured at the latter part of this post.

During this Easter Sunday, I felt Filipinos deserve some feeling of hope and a comforting message after all the circus that Philippine politicians staged lately. But just to make it a little ‘appropriate’ for Filipinos, I made some ‘fitting arrangements’ myself. Every Pinoy and Pinay should very well relate to this one.

Here it goes…

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with a Politician.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you want to know the latest posts, you can subscribe using your favorite RSS feed reader or get them delivered to your email inbox. Thanks!