"The Plan for the Future of the Philippines"

     For every advancement, there is a plan and for every plan there is a purpose behind it. What is our plan for this kind of advancement? Who will make this plan? We know that in the political structure of every country the president is always the one who plans the economic advancement of their respective country. Our honorable president, Benigno Aquino III who is the current the President of the Philippines, assumed his office in June 2010. Each president has their own plan for economic advancement and in our country it is called as the “Medium Term Philippine Development Plan” or also known as the MTPDP. What is a Medium Term Philippine Development Plan? Would it help the Philippines? To find out more about the MTPDP, let us go back in the terms of the previous presidents of the Philippine Republic.

      Each president has their own plan that can change the situation of our country. Presidents like Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo are great examples when you want to know more about the definition of an MTPDP. Let us study the MTPDP of President Fidel Ramos which is called the Pilipinas 2000. The Pilipinas 2000 was approved in December 15, 1992. President Fidel Ramos mainly focused on livelihood projects and improvement of the economy.

The Philippines 2000 platform largely hinged on five major areas:

• Peace and Stability
• Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
•  Energy and Power Generation
•  Environmental Protection
•  Streamlined Bureaucracy

     Let us now the study the MTPDP of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo which is called the “10 Point Strong Republic Agenda” or also known as “10 Point Agenda”. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo mainly focused her plan to macroeconomics, domestic economy and OFWs.

The 10 Point Agenda platform focuses on different areas:

• Gross Domestic Product of 7-8%
•   Investment in Gross Domestic Product of 28%
• Annual Work Openings with a budget of 1.7 Million
•  A Balanced budget for 2010
•  20% Poverty Incidence
• Implementation of agri-business
•  RVAT/ Refined Value Added Tax

   Now we know what an MTPDP is, we can say that it is a plan for any advancement and has a purpose behind it. The only question is “what is the MTPDP of our current president?” The MTPDP of President Noynoy Aquino is also called “10 Point Agenda”. He mainly focused his MTPDP on the assistance of the public society.

The current president’s 10 Point Agenda platform focuses on different areas:

• 10% Poverty Incidence with a target of 16.6% in 2015
• 7-8% GDP growth rate
• Share Investment
• Universal Health Care
• Self-employment assistance
• Student Financial Assistance Program

The different MTPDP of our presidents have changed the belief of people of what really change is. In my own opinion, the public society have not yet experience these so called plan even with our previous presidents. We are almost midway in the term of our current president but we are not yet seeing change but we are still hoping for the best to come for the Philippines.

   “I HOPE THAT THESE BLOGS HAVE OPENED THE HEARTS OF EVERY FILIPINO CITIZEN ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS. I CAN NOW CLEARLY DEFINE WHAT ECONOMICS REALLY IS…. ECONOMICS IS THE NATION ITSELF, IT WILL FALL IF WE ARE DIVIDED AND IT WILL RISE IF WE ARE UNITED”

                                                                                                                             -- Anton Miguel Jordan

"New Tiger, A New Reputation for the Philippines"

     Our country, Philippines, has shown a great potential in the economic competition against other bigger countries. We could say that the Philippines is like a “wheel” for it has its ups and downs nevertheless we are continuing to improve our methods or ways of handling our economic funds. Over the course of the years, our country has improved our economy but not just our economy but also our reputation outside the Philippines by decreasing the rate of unemployment, continuously paying our national debt to the World Bank, maintaining the standards of our tourism and other methods. Due to the fact that these factors have changed the reputation of the Philippines turning it into a much better one than the previous years, the Philippines is now one of the “New Tigers” in the Southeast Asia together with Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan which are all world-recognized Asian Tigers.

       What does the nickname “New Tiger” means? Does it change the reputation of the Philippines? To find out more about this nickname, let us define what the nickname “New Tiger” is. New Tigers are economies that have been overlooked in the past and are now "poised to drive future growth and grab more economic power. New Tiger simply means an improvement from the past problems or crisis and having the potential to become a great country in terms of economic growth. If the nickname New Tiger means an improvement from the past problems then what is this big or major problem that we have solved? Let us go back to 1997 where a great financial crisis happened which is known as the Asian Financial Crisis. It started in May 1997 when Japan threatened to raise their interest rates to protect yen so the different investors began selling their Asian currencies through the threat of Japan although it did not happen. We were given an extension of credit by the IMF or the International Monetary Fund in the amount of 1.1 Billion Dollars. Different Asian currencies have declined because of the crisis which has greatly affected the Philippines.

       

      Because of our perseverance and unity, we were able to get back up from the ashes of the crisis. Because of this, Philippines is named as one of the New Tigers in the Southeast Asia together with Indonesia who was also greatly affected by the crisis and has improved their economy.

Market Watch said it selected Indonesia and the Philippines because of several shared characteristics:

1.   Large, young and dynamic populations

2.   Relatively low levels of national debt

3.   Expanding middle classes

4.   Diversifying economies

5.   Stable, elected governments with policies that inspire investor confidence

6.   Top performing stock markets

    We have changed our reputation and we have shaped it into a better one. The Philippines is now one of the contenders due to the fact that we are as brave as a tiger and that is why our country is considered as one of the New Tiger. Even with all the problems or risks that our country would be facing in an unpredictable time, our country is still on the right path on achieving a good economic growth.

                                                                                                                              -- Anton Miguel Jordan

"Choosing the Leaders of the Next Term"

       What does it take to become a good leader? How does one become a leader? When would we experience a new and unique leadership? The Philippine Nation experiences every time a change of leaders in our government but does this change makes the leaders deserving of their position? Some, because not all leaders have the compassion to serve their nation and their goal is just to steal money or to corrupt the very foundation of our government. One example of this change that we experience every time is the Philippine Election. There are many various terms or period of leadership like the election for president, senators, mayors and government. The election may be local or national. One of the most discussed topics for this year is the Philippine Senate Election 2013. Let us discussed more about the Philippine Senate Election to learn more about it and determine the aura of the possible leaders of our nation.

    The Philippine Senate Election 2013 will be the 31st of the Philippine Senatorial elections. It will be conducted on Monday, May 13, 2013 to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. The newly elected ones and the past elected ones in the last election of 2010 will form the 16^th Congress. The senators who were elected in 2010 will serve until June 30, 2016, while the senators who were elected in this election will serve up to June 30, 2019. Philippine Senatorial Elections are done via the plurality at-large-voting system: the entire country is one at-large "district", where a voter can vote up to twelve people (one vote per candidate), with the twelve candidates with the highest amount of votes deemed being elected. During the course of the election, the different coalitions or groups are campaigning by showing the public advertisements, posters or tarpaulins, flyers and other public campaigning methods to promote what they have done.

       

  Some candidates violate the rules and regulations in campaigning which are set by the COMELEC (Commission on Elections) by posting different ads in prohibited places or displaying the name or image in products such as food, canned goods and other products. One of the most visible part in campaigning is the representative color or political color of each coalition for example Yellow for Team PNoy, Orange for the UNA (United Nationalist Alliance) and other political colors of the coalition. These coalitions sometimes argue with each other in a way that they throw off different controversies to tarnish the name of the candidate to the public. These candidates will be the next generation of leaders that will take us to a nation not divided but united but some leaders may have different goals on why they ran for that position. They do not need to be so competitive but what they need is to give their real intention which is supposed to be to serve our nation not to steal from our nation. The Senate Election 2013 is near. We should all be wise and knowledgeable on whom we choose as our leader of our nation. It needs proper discernment.

                                                                                                                               -- Anton Miguel Jordan

"The Secret Behind the RH Bill"

News Article 1
News Article 2

     The Reproductive Health Bill is one of the most talked issue over the past years. An argument between the Church and the Government has risen through the course of enforcing the law. What is really the purpose of the Reproductive Health Bill? Would it improve our country's economic performance? These questions might be answered over the course of the coming years. According to the National Statistics Office, our country is overpopulated with a growth rate of 3 to 4 percent every year with a Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 1 to 2 percent every year. It seems that a lot of problems have arisen of continuous growth of our population. According to the government, The Reproductive Health Bill was said to be the solution to this rapid population growth but is it really the only solution to solve this problem? To answer this question, let us know more about the Reproductive Health Bill or also known as Senate Bill No. 2865.

   The Reproductive Health Bill is a law in the Philippines which guarantees universal access to methods on contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. The Department of Health is proposing 13.7 billion pesos to be fund the RH bill if it is passed in 2012, according to Senator Pia Cayetano. According to the senate policy brief titled promoting reproductive health, the history of reproductive health in the Philippines dates back to 1967 when leaders of 12 countries including the Philippines. President Ferdinand Marcos signed the declaration on population. As you can see the Reproductive Health Bill aims to teach the uninformed ways on how to use contraceptives to stop an increase in the birth rate. It also teaches the people about sexual education to have knowledge on what is sex all about. 

      Now we know what Reproductive Health Bill is. We can move now to the secret agenda the Bill contains. Based on the countries all over the world, the countries have enforced similar laws like the RH Bill in the Philippines. It means that our country is the only country that has not enforced this kind of law. Some economic experts say that the RH Bill should be enforced because it is the only way to borrow money from the World Bank. With an increasing population growth rate, it was said that if the Philippines does not enforce this law then the World Bank wouldn't let us borrow money because if there is still an increase in the population growth rate in the Philippines then the more money we would need to borrow to meet the needs of our citizens who are suffering because of the rapid population growth rate. The Reproductive Health Bill is now enforced in our very nation. This law has left scars between the church and the government but is it worth it? We can find the answer if we see economic advancements in our country. The RH Bill has affected the economic status of our country through the means of finance. 

                                                                                                                              -- Anton Miguel Jordan