FPJ 2016 Platform - Protect the People: Prosecute graft and corruption - Restore the honor and dignity of our men and women in uniform

        

        To protect the people from those who steal and commit crime, we need to strengthen the men and women in uniform. No one person, can solve crime and lawlessness.  Breakdown in law and order is a failure of law enforcement.  A weak and demoralized law enforcement force can not protect the people as intended.

       

Our hope is that the when the men and women in uniform will leave the force, they will have the training and discipline to take their place in the private sector as managers, engineers, lawyers, public servants, businessmen, politicians, etc and succeed in any endeavor they want to pursue.  We want them to be successful in their professions and in their family life.

FPJ 2016 Platform - Universal Home Ownership: Build and sell at cost with little or no down payment

FPJ 2016 Platform: Universal Home Ownership 

Universal home ownership is a failed program in the Philippines. Even among the 1.3 million BPO workers, affordable home ownership close to the work centers is generally not available. In Cebu alone there are over 100,000 BPO employees for whom home ownership remain a distant dream.

FPJ 2016 Platform: Decriminalize Prostitution - Shift criminal liability to clients and exploiters

FPJ 2016 Platform - For Political Justice

Women At Risk - Decriminalize Prostitution : Shift criminal liability to clients and exploiters (pimps, traffickers & establishment owners)

FPJ 2016 Platform - For Political Justice
Empower Women At Risk - with home ownership, skills training & support services.

While there are many sectors and organizations that work hard for the protection of women and children, the efforts fall short and many temporary in nature.  What we need is something that will have long term effect that will empower women at risk and allow them to fully share in the benefits of a growing economy and at the same time free themselves from the chains of poverty and abuse.

FPJ 2016: On protecting the consumers, oligopoly market power and government regulators

FPJ 2016: On protecting the consumers, oligopoly market power and government regulators. Oligopolies can result from various forms of collusion which reduce competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

There are persistent complaints about slow internet connection, poor services and comparably higher prices for connectivity compared to those offered in other leading ASEAN countries.

Another sticking point is the high cost of power and electricity the Philippines.  One question that comes to mind, is why is it that India was able to tender earlier this year 4 Gigawatt  of electricity from solar companies for and average of $0.08 /KwH while in the Philippines, electricity providers would not step up facilities unless they get a subsidized FIT rate of $0.22 / KwH.

When less than a dozen families control the banking, energy, telecommunications and 70% of the market cap of the top 300 companies in the Philippines, the responsibility of regulators to protect the consuming public takes it to higher level of significance.

FPJ 2016 Platform: On choosing Supreme Court Justices who will bring honor, dignity, strengthen the Judiciary and uphold the rule of law.

FPJ 2016 Platform: On choosing the next 11 Supreme Court Justices 

Affordable and Quality Healthcare

Poor are treated as consumers and given the dignity of buying and choice

Affordability:  Affordable word-class products and services for all people including the poorest of the poor.  The poor are treated as consumers and given the dignity of buying and choice.   

Reforms are needed to improve the quality of care and the experience of consumers of healthcare products and services.

The same quality and quantity at 1/10th, 1/20th, 1/50th the price.  Those are the kind of innovations and reforms that are needed if we are to achieve breakthrough innovations. Below are just some of the things that has been quite successfully done in India, something we can definitely learn from

Aravind is able to offer eye surgeries for US$30 or less than PhP1,500.  Philhealth pays PhP 16,000 per surgery.  No wonder, PhilHealth is spending so much more than it should and some health practitioners are taking advantage of the system.

The cost of ECG can be quite expensive and the majority of those who needs the test simply just can't afford it in the Philippines.  In India, the service is brought to the homes and cost less than $2 or PhP100.

345,000 babies are born premature in the Philippines every year.  Families who could afford pay a lot of money for the use of infant incubators.  For most families however, they simply try to just do whatever they can and hope the infant will survive.  With the infant warmer it will cost around PhP 1000 to provide incubation and in addition the bond between the mother and child is not interrupted.

It's amazing what they are able to accomplish at Narayana Health.  We need to somehow attempt to replicate their success for your countrymen.

Sendong 2011 Revisited:

When typhoon Sendong or international code name Washi devasted parts of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City, it left us with images of suffering and human drama that gripped the nation and the world.  A simple Google search brings a flood of emotions of human suffering & sacrifices captured in photos as if frozen in time.  My brother, his wife and two children were living at the heart of the affected area very close to the Bell Church.  At around past 10 pm he was heading downtown to bring some pillows and blankets for friends staying at a chapel for the night due to flooding in other parts of the city, when he saw the level of water drastically rising.  He hit reverse and pulled inside the gate. As he was closing the gate, he realized that many of the neighbors in single story houses and huts might be in trouble if the flooding continues.  He got his wife and kids to the second floor of their rented apartment while he went around and woke up the neighbors to warn them of the pending danger.

In matter of minutes and in darkness the neighbors piled into their apartment as the waters continue to rise and the rushing waters covered the second floor.  They tore up a portion of the roof and the families seeking shelter with them were slowly lifted into the slippery roof, drenched and shivering. Fortunately,the roof managed to hold with even over three dozen people were on it.  They took on all who seek refuge, knowing quite well that the entire structure could come crumbling down.  For the next 5 hours they waited it out, hearing the initial cries and pleas for help from the surrounding houses in total darkness and the pall of death in the community permeating the night as the cries for help disappeared.  The rest is history, morning brought light and finally rescue boats, but they had to push their way through bodies of the dead.  They were the fortunate ones while a couple thousand others perished.

Is it possible to get some sort of a report on how scare resources were allocated and used to benefit the affected families and communities for both major catastrophes? 

Not sure if the failures in the rehabilitation efforts for Sendong still carries weight to many people other than those who were directly affected.  If anything, the lack of vision and the pwede na mentality in the administration validates that in a growing where the poor are left behind, the victory and claimed successes is shallow at best.