P23.3 BILLION IN UNCHANGED OLD BILLS: BSP MUST DEFER TIMELINE BY ANOTHER 1-2 YEARS OR NOT DEMONETIZED AT ALL

Did you know that the U.S. doesn’t demonetize their old bills even if the new ones have more security features? There is even a law in the US prohibiting demonetization http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/12/13/1532033/demonetization-demonization). Then why is it that the Philippines’ Central Bank (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP) is demonetizing Philippine currency given its findings that up to date, Dec. 28, 2016, over P23.3 BILLION is still in circulation or hasn’t been replaced?

In retrospect, BSP launched its information drive to demonetize the previous design in 2014, wherein it was announced that 2015 will be the last year that it will be a legal tender and 2016 will be the year banks can change them. It seemed that it was

FIGHT TOBACCO LOBBYING: GOV’T SHOULD QUADRUPLE OR MORE “SIN TAXES” ON CIGARETTES

Smoking tobacco (or cigarette) kills – this is a fact. Worse, it doesn’t affect just the smoker but those who inhale the unfiltered, “second-hand” smoke, too. So why haven’t governments, specifically ours, banned its use?

One reason may be that some in government are already addicted to smoking and have sympathies with the vice. Another is the powerful lobbying by big tobacco manufacturers, sellers and growers (lobbying can take many forms such as persuasion,

NO JAIL TIME FOR MINOR OFFENSES: CONGRESS SHOULD PASS A LAW ALLOWING CANING

Caning is a widely-used form of legal corporal punishment in Singapore. The most severe is judicial-type, this is for male convicts under the age of 50, as substitute for short prison terms or in combination with prison terms and fines, for a wide range of offences under the Criminal Procedure Code. If the offender is under 18, he may receive up to 10 strokes of the cane, but a lighter cane will be used in this case. Boys under 16 may be sentenced to caning only by the High Court.

We should emulate the Singaporean, Malaysian and Brunei form of corporal punishment in our penal code, this way, we don’t have to imprison those convicted of minor offenses that traditionally warranted a few months’ imprisonment. This will help ease

U.S. ACCUSES CHINA OF BULLYING: THE U.S. JUST DON’T WANT THE COMPETITION

The documentary “Princes of the Yen” that aired on ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) last night tried to explain how powerful, moneyed cartels behind international banks that include the Int’l Monetary Fund, World Bank, European (Union) Central Bank and U.S. Federal Reserve manipulated and coerced less powerful nations into economic and political submission. These private groups are so powerful that they have tremendous influence on western powers (European and U.S. gov’ts) which in turn support them with economic, political and military might.

When the U.S. says, “you’re our ally so we will back you up” – it only means that they’re going to go as far as protecting their self-interests but beyond that, you’re on your own. Or in other words, “so long as it serves America's interests, you can count

THOSE WHO PERPETRATE UNIMAGINABLE VIOLENCE TO INNOCENT VICTIMS HAVE FORFEITED THEIR RIGHT TO LIFE

Just a few weeks’ ago, a CCTV in Taguig City caught an incident involving an 18-yr. old Adamson University student, Nick Russel Oniot, walking home who had the unfortunate fate of being the target of two vicious types of criminals. One perpetrator tried to grab the victim’s backpack - who instinctively resisted - but instead of using threats or coercion to make the victim back down, the second perpetrator suddenly and deliberately stabbed him (13 times) to death. In this case, justice was very swift – the stabber was caught within 24 hours and killed as he “resisted” escorting officers during a transfer and the other was also brought into custody but later died in jail.

On Tues., Dec. 13, 2016, a Grade 10 student in Baguio City, Kenneth Velasco, was brutally stabbed 40 times in what seemed like a robbery. The measly heist consists of the young victim’s cellphone and P200 school money. It is unimaginable how

CAUGHT IN THE ACT: 2 BI OFFICIALS IN WRONGDOING THINK WE’RE GULLIBLE

The 2 Bureau of Immigration (BI) Asst. Commissioners, Michael Robles and Al Argosino, were reported to have been caught by camera (CCTV) in the act of receiving P50 million in bribe money from a representative (ex-Gen. Wally Sombero) of fugitive Jack Lam but they insisted on denying it. They are now claiming (after their wrongdoing was exposed) that it was a legitimate “operation” to flush out and catch would-be bribers in Lam’s group.

Legitimate operation? What operation? I think that they’re just divulging it only after they’ve been exposed! Besides, if it was a legitimate operation then proper, timely and ample notifications (with documentations) should have been done. There’s nothing

THE MYTH OF A CLASSLESS SOCIETY

Communism, as we all know by now, is a failed ideology. Why? It was primarily based on the aspirations of a classless society. A classless society is a myth. A pigment of our lofty ambitions – and realistically – of our imaginations.

Human society, just like other non-human groups, is naturally hierarchical. Singapore’s great PM Lee Kuan Yew was merely stating a fact when he said, “The human being is an unequal creature. That is a fact. All the great religions, all the great movements, all the great political ideology, say let us make the human being as equal as possible. In fact, he is not equal,

5 PHILIPPINE PRESIDENTS ALLOWED FOR MARCOS BURIAL AT LIBINGAN TO HAPPEN

Five Presidents had the chance to pass a law or an executive order banning the burial of the late dictator and plunderer at the Libingan ng mga Bayani – but none did. All five presidents are guilty of political accommodation to the so-called “solid north” either for a chance at a political truce or votes or something else. No one wanted to bite the bullet by risking to alienate the (obviously) powerful Ilocano vote but now that Pres. Duterte is fulfilling his campaign promise, they’re blaming him.

This is a campaign promise that Pres. Rodrigo Duterte made and now that he has been elected president probably partly because of it, how can he not fulfill it? We shouldn’t blame Pres. Duterte because his predecessors chose to deliberately sit