Fiscal (Tax) Policy Wishlist

Income tax. Maintain as progressive as mandated by the Constitution using the bracket and exemptions system. The minimum personal income tax should still be at 5% but the maximum should be lowered to 25% to increase compliance of professionals. The brackets should be adjusted to match the inflation rate and should be automatically readjusted every 3 years to minimize income erosion. The corporate income tax should match the highest personal income tax rate at 25% to be competitive with other Asean states. The personal exemptions should be adjusted based on the cost of living.

On UNCLOS, EEZ, and the PCA Ruling

We cannot demand the Chinese out of our exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

EEZ Delimitation in SouthEast Asia

Malaysia and Brunei had their overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) delimited through a bilateral agreement in 2009. The Philippines and Indonesia had our overlapping EEZs delimited through a bilateral agreement in 2014. The Philippines and Malaysia should have our overlapping EEZs delimited through a bilateral agreement. The Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei should join and cooperate in the submission of Vietnam and Malaysia for extended continental shelf (ECS) in the South China Sea. The application for ECS, if granted, should be delimited equidistantly from the five ASEAN states' EEZs. These should be done notwithstanding our claim on northeast Sabah to strengthen our position that UNCLOS and the tribunal ruling is not about sovereignty and to show unity among coastal ASEAN states. Vietnam should also file a case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the status of islands and features of Paracel to clarify if any is entitled to an EEZ.

http://www.southchinasea.org/files/2011/08/eez3_full.jpg

Political Alphabet

Presidential aspirant B forms political party U less than a year before elections. Here in the Philippines, political parties are more of election vehicles. Politicians come and go to different parties for convenience. In other countries, alliances of parties are instead created as party switching is taboo. In places with strong political parties, alliances formed during elections will also become parliament coalitions. Most often, they are created post-elections to form government. U can also be described as an election alliance. But here, election alliances are not guaranteed to be parliament coalitions or congress allies.

Multo ng Tagalog 2

*Sagot sa isang die-hard fundamental na regionalist na tinawag akong "evil" dahil Tagalog ako at hindi pa marunong ng ibang wika sa Filipinas.

Basahin ang unang bahagi: Multo ng Tagalog

Hindi si Quezon ang pumili sa Tagalog para maging pambansang wika.

Magsisimula ang kasaysayan ng pagpili sa pambansang wika noong 1934 nang ginagawa ang Konstitusyong 1935. Sabi ng 1935 Konstitusyon, Article XIV:

Section 3. The Congress shall take steps toward the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages. xxx

Ang mga delegado sa Constitutional Convention ng 1934 ay binoto ng mga Filipino. 50 lamang sa 202 mga delegado ang galing sa mga probinsyang Tagalog at ang mga leader naman doon ay mga Cebuano kaya imposible na may monopolya ang Tagalog sa Kumbensyon ng 1934. 96% ang naging boto para aprubahan ang Konstitusyong 1935 sa isang national referendum. Walang monopolya ang mga Tagalog sa isang national referendum.

Multo ng Tagalog

Kung sa mga linguistic test, totoo na ang Filipino at Tagalog ay iisang wika lamang dahil wala pang masyadong pinagkaiba (mutually intelligible, parehong grammar, at napakalapit na lexicon). Pero totoo nga ba?

Ang kailangan lang natin malaman, sa depinisyon at sa batas, ang Filipino ay maaaring maging iba sa Tagalog. Ang Filipino ay "gawa-gawang" (synthetic/ nang dahil sa batas) wika lang naman e. Isang proyekto kumbaga. Ang proyektong Wikang Pambansa na tinawag na Filipino. Hindi pa natin naaabot yung Filipino na gusto natin kaya nga ang tingin natin parang pareho pa rin yung Filipino at Tagalog.

Marxismo at Wika sa Lipunang Filipino

*unang iniulat noong Agosto 2011

Mula sa Marxismo at mga Problema ng Lingguwistika
ni Joseph Stalin
Salin ni Mario Miclat

I. Ang wika ba ay superistruktura?

A. Base at Superistruktura
1. Base – istrukturang pang-ekonomiya. Relasyong pamproduksyon [2]. Mga halimbawa: pyudalismo, merkantilismo, kapitalismo, sosyalismo, komunismo.
2. Superistruktura – panlegal at pampolitika. Pananaw ng lipunan at mga institusyon nito. Mga kategorya: kultura, politika, batas, relihiyon, sining, pilosopiya.
3. Ang base ang nagtatakda ng superistruktura, ngunit ang superistruktura ay nakakaimpluwensya sa base.

The PDAF as Question of Policy

Read the first part: On the Constitutionality of the Priority Development Assistance Fund

Pork barrel is, according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary:

"government projects or appropriations yielding rich patronage benefits"

A more technical definition removes the negative connotation and simply means legislative appropriations for specific districts or sectors. The PDAF is pork barrel.

Is patronage intrinsically evil? Is it corruption when a public official served people and those people voted for him afterwards? Is there not a leeway for public officials to make policy on which districts or sectors to prioritize?

Trends 2012: Pusong Bato

I did say I like Original Pinoy Music. To some extent, OPM is P-pop or Pinoy-pop.

They say music is the language of the soul. If this must be true, music should be in the native tongue of the listener for it to delve into the deepest of the soul. One could enjoy music with foreign lyrics, yes. Did it became rooted in him?

Campus: Bahay ng Alumni

Exactly two years ago. It was another exhausting yet fulfilling Saturday morning. We jogged around the Acad Oval, listened to a tactics lecture, and did some platoon exercises. The rest of the morning we spent by cleaning the hall.

I could have stayed longer and bond with the other cadets but I was hurrying to get home. D, an architecture student whom I met before that semester started, invited me to a party later at night. I would get home, rest, and prepare for the party.

Trends 2012: Popularizing the DILF

Trends 2012 will make an extended series due to the busy schedule of December.

'Daddies' are generally 40+ year-old fathers (ie. have children) and bulky, tough, hairy, and huge. But that image is for a genre of gay porn.

The beast-DILF need to be domesticated if to be shown on popular media. And so the DILF was slimmed to fit into a longsleeves, gentleman-ed, trimmed, and [who says can't stay to be?] huge.

The best example of Pinoy-DILF I can think of is Richard Gomez and, for the Hollywood-DILF, it's Brad Pitt. If you think otherwise or just want to add please do comment.

The modern-DILF was so, as they call it, feminized that it might border on metrosexual sometimes. Yet popular media didn't stop at that. They continued to introduce DILFs even on children.

Trends 2012: Plague Inc.

The world was supposed to end a week ago.
Who would believe that
the end of a long and rather accurate, celestial-based calendar of an ancient American civilization
would coincide with the end of the world?

Trends 2012: BJ and BS

Before anything else, Buko Shake and Buko Juice.
These two are nothing new really but they did trend well this past year.

I won't deny it. I love BJ!
Sweetened is good but I like the aftertaste of the unsweetened variety better.
I love it on the spot, in the nut but a cool one won't be bad after a tiredly day in the sun.

Trends 2012: Aussie Christmas

What an Aussie Christmas!

Christmas season at the southern hemisphere is always summer.

Andres

Mabuhay ang Hari ng Bayan!

Mabuhay ang Haring Bayang Katagalugan!

Crossroads

Pinoyadonis is currently experiencing a crisis.
What I have feared years ago is happening now.

Would I turn to become a rebel to the kingdom or be a traitor to the cause?

I hope I would find the answer soon as it is staring to be disturbing. For now, I would just enjoy learning from both sides.

In Defense of the Cyber Penal Code of the Philippines

Read the first part: In Defense of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012

Disclaimer: This opinion is not of a member of the bar nor of a law student.

The Cybercrime Prevention Act actually seeks to protect the free and safe use of information and communications technologies (ICT), including the Internet. In Section 4 of the law, the various cybercrimes were defined. These include hacking, e-tapping, spreading of computer virus, and spamming, among others. Being a poser, use of registered tradenames, and using of ICT for child pornography are also punishable.

The one thing I did not like  in Section 4 is the wording in (c) Content-related Offenses:

(1) Cybersex. — The willful engagement, maintenance, control, or operation, directly or indirectly, of any lascivious exhibition of sexual organs or sexual activity, with the aid of a computer system, for favor or consideration. (bold and underline supplied)

In Defense of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012

Disclaimer: This view is not of a member of the bar nor of a law student.

Here is my position on the most contested Republic Act No. 10175. I am taking the unpopular side of this much heated topic. I am aware of the risk of being infamous very early on the life of this blog because of this view. I usually take unpopular stands on topics in the hope of espousing democratic discussion. In this way, not only you learn, but I also. That being said, please be open also in your thoughts on things you are against.

I do not think the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 should be repealed.

New Beginning II

You will get to know me much more in this post. I will discuss here my interests, my ideologies, my self. These would be the topics of what I would mostly post here in the future, of course besides gay topics.

Casual

We meet them, know them, then say goodbye after sharing a small part of us with them. They are the first and last goodbyes. We will never talk with them again. Not even see again. We hide. We reason that we are being pushed into the shadows. Or we just really like it in the shadow?

Faceless. Nameless. The idea of anonymity. The idea of something new. Fresh. Lust at first sight. The convenience of fun then forget. One mouthful then he, with my full view, spit it with head slightly twisted to his left.