Sarmiento: Coop NATCCO Filed Opposition to ATING KOOP Partylist

Commissioner Rene Sarmiento of the COMELEC said in an interview that (of the 256 partylist applications) only one partylist application received a filing of opposition. He disclosed that Coop NatCCO had filed an opposition against ATING-KOOP. He however added that he was told that the parties have entered into a compromise.



"JUDGE THIS!!!"

One of my previous post that exposes something on YouTube. I copied and embed the video again

"coop-natcco party-list promises P1M" is the title of this in YouTube. I won't add anything to that instead watch and hear it and be the judge.

Listen carefully at 7:50 to the end of the talk and hear it for yourself.

B Fernando's Cash Gift from MMFF - Technical Malversation

MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando has been the subject of an investigation by the Senate for receiving cash gift from the Metro Manila Film Ferstival’s executive committee. He was defended by MMDA Atty Emmanuel De Castro, assistant general manager for operations and concurrent head, MMDA’s Legal Service Department, cited that Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code defined that the act itself of receiving cash gifts does not constitute technical malversation.

“Technical malversation is the use of a public fund or property for any public use other than for which such fund or property were appropriated by law. How come there could be a technical malversation when the Metro Manila Film Festival’s executive committee did not use its funds intended for its beneficiaries,” De Castro asked.

Revenue of the film festival and fund-raising activities sponsorships and donations were the sources of the MMFF income. Atty de Castro said in Fernando’s case, the nominal amount given to him by the MMFF’s executive committee was sourced from the MMFF’s sponsorships and private donation. Fernando was not even aware of the deliberations of the MMFF’s executive committee on the grant of the honorarium to him, he said.

Source: Philstar Jose Rodel Clapano

How do we really say a transaction is subjected to technical malversation? If a public official receives some cash gift are they answerable to it? cash gift I should say would be different from his honorarium.

Hawaiian Punch Retains Title

Brian “the Hawaiian Punch” Viloria fought until the very end to successfully defend his IBF junior flyweight champion against Jesus Iribe on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Filipino-American Viloria triumphed in his hometown via unanimous decision with the judges scoring 118-110, 117-112 and 117-111 in favor of him.

Philstar: RPs Rich Getting Richer! (and the Poor?)

Forbes magazine edition released Aug 26, tagged Henry Sy as the country's richest person. 3.8 Billion net worth SM shopping malls appreciated 28% from last year.

25 other tycoons became richer, aside from Sy, the other moguls in the top 10 richest Filipinos include Lucio Tan ($1.7 billion), Jaime Zobel de Ayala ($1.2 billion), Andrew Tan ($850 million), John Gokongwei ($720 million), Tony Tan Caktiong ($710 million), Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. ($660 million), Enrique Razon ($620 million), Manuel Villar ($530 million), and George Ty ($515 million).

Forbes also reported that among the 40 richest in the Philippines, another big gainer was David Consunji, whose net worth increased from $105 million to $300 million after the stock price of his construction firm, DMCI, more than doubled.

The Sy's also control the top bank of the country - Banco De Oro (Universal Bank) network banks.

The gap now becomes farther and farther, as the rich become richer, the poor becomes poorer. There really is not enough justice where to few have too much and too many have too little. on the contrary if we have to ask ourselves is this their fault? Are we going to blame them that they get richer everyday and we get poorer each day? We can blame our selves, our leaders, or our government, but I believe this misery can best be taken as a challenge, yes the evidence is clear, social inequality has gotten deeper and deeper. It has deeply penetrated that some Filipinos seeing a hopeless Philippines and look opportunities somewhere.

Are we really hopeless? Can you suggest a solution in your own small way? 2010 is coming how should we select our leaders?

Rural Bank of Talisayan now RBT Bank Inc., A Rural Bank

Last August 17, 2009 The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued Circular Letter No. CL-2009-060 approving the Change of the Corporate name of the Rural Bank of Talisayan into "RBT Bank Inc., A Rural Bank).

The Circular Letter is signed by Deputy Governor, Nestor A. Espinilla Jr.

10 Billion Government Properties for Sale!

Philippine - Government is set to sell at least P10 billion worth of real estate properties in 2010, according to Finance Secretary Margarito Teves.

Bilibid property in Muntinlupa, 18-hectare Ortigas property (held by the Presidential Commission on Good Government) and its real estate lot in Welfare Ville in Mandaluyong City. A word of caution some of these properties have pending administrative issues and Sec Teves said it could be larger than P10 billion once issues are resolved.

On the other hand, the government had hoped to raise only P2.5 billion from the privatization of government assets next year. Thus, the government is eyeing a total of P12.5 billion in revenue from privatization of state-owned assets.

The sale of these real estate properties is necessary as the government has raised next year’s budget deficit to P233.4 billion from P208 billion previously.

Consequently, the government raises targets of revenue generation by BIR (from P798 Billion to 875 Billion in 2010 or a 9.6% increase), the BOC (from P273 Billion to 309 Billion in 2010 or a 13.2% increase).

Now Take This...

Our government is justifying that the expected increase in the BIR’s tax take is due mainly to the expected improvement in the economy next year. qoute "EXPECTED" Improvement. Oh really?

Who would rather believe that these real estate sale could possibly be use to fund the election next year?

And how about this?

Earlier, The DBCC announced that the economy may grow anywhere from 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent in 2010, higher than the revised projected growth range for the year of 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent. Economic growth where? and the tag line... "Ramdam and Kaunlaran!" (Feel the Progress) well I say this in Bisaya "Ramdam ang Kaunloron!" (Feel the Sinking).Now let me hear what you have to say...

54th GA Approves By-laws Amendment, Stand-by Line

The series of 16 branch assemblies held in two weekends, March 8, and March 14 and 15, 2009 unanimously approved the amendment of the By-laws of FICCO. With the approval of the amendment, business centers serving at least 1,000 members will be able to elect their own credit committee, and audit and inventory committee.

By having its own credit committee, a business center will be able to service the loan needs of its members faster. It will also reduce the cost, on the part of the members, of transacting business with FICCO. Thus, the members of the Lugait Business Center will no longer travel to Naawan Branch just to undergo interview with that branch’ CRECOM.

The amendment also allows the 1,000-member business centers to have their own audit and inventory committee. As the main function of the AIC is to protect the assets of the Coop, it is hoped that the presence of a watchdog body like the AIC at the business center level will ensure that transactions are above board and slippages are minimized.

A highly contested issue was GA resolution 2009-03 that will allow FICCO to establish a P 100 million stand-by credit line with either DBP or LBP. With FICCO’s highly liquid cash position, those against the resolution questioned the need to set-up the line. The resolution proponents explained that with FICCO’s drive to play catalytic and developmental roles that calls for infusion of funds, e.g. coop banks, COWD, the stand-by line will serve as a back up to ensure no disruption in FICCO’s operation.

The arguments posted against GA resolution 2009-03 seek to focus FICCO only to its existing services and devices. “We have grown slowly, without the need of external funding, so why do we borrow money now?” and “why do we need to rescue coop banks and water districts?” were the common refrain of those opposed to the resolutions. Those for the resolutions argue that as a leading coop, FICCO has a responsibility to take up the cudgels of those coops (and their members) in need of help. With FICCO’s proven systems, procedures and culture, it is very capable in taking up the challenges of helping others.

Given FICCOs cash position, it is hoped that the stand-by line will not be availed of but will merely serve as a psychological cushion assuring smooth operation of the Coop’s banking operation. GA resolution 2009-03 was approved by a vote of 21,312 for and 2,578 against.

Daba chairs FICCO

Dir. Isagani B. Daba was elected FICCO Chairman, replacing the now National PFCCO Chair Atty. Proculo T. Sarmen. The Board reorganization was conducted last March 28, 2009 at the Little Theater, Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City.

As FICCO Chair, Dir. Daba advocates the Building of an Integrated Coop Financial System (ICFS) with FICCO taking the lead role. The ICFS intends to build a strong National Coop Bank and supports a stable coop insurance, among other structures, that will ensure that the coop money circulates within the coop system.

In a separate interview with Rose Ferrer, FICCO's EDCOM Coordinator, the new set of officers for the following major task are; Enterprise Development, Dir. Cecille M. Laguna, chairman; Dir. Chito S. Yap, chairman; Risk Management, Dir. Percianita G. Racho, chairman; Asset Risk Recovery, Dir. Jesus G. Cornito, chairman; Asset Management, Dir. Eduardo E. Sambaan, chairman; and IT and Communications, Dir. Ricky C. Cagalawan, chairman.

For Good Governance and Political Action, the officers are; Dir. Fermin V. Jarales, chairman; Dir. Jesus G. Cornito, member; MAF, Dir. Arturo R. Albamia, chairman; Bids and Awards (for the committee to come up with policies and guidelines, purchase beyond the specified shall be submitted for BOD('s) approval, Mr. Nicholas Veronilla, overall chair; Dir. Fermin V. Jarales, member; RM Elmo C. Bautista, member. Branch Committee Bids and Awards officers are; AIC chair of the branch, Chairman and the members are the Management Representative of each branch and BOD in the area.

A new set of Board Resolutions were presented and approved during the said event, one of it is the approval of the scholarship grant to incoming college students who belongs to top 10 students during their High School graduation.

FICCO Scholarship

FIRST COMMUNITY COOPERATIVE (FICCO) deals not only with economic benefits to the society but will now be offering scholarships for fresh high school graduates for the incoming first semester school year 2009-2010. This was approved by the Board of Directors during its regular board meeting held last April 18, 2009 per BOD resolution no. 130. Applicants will need to possess and submit the following requirements:

* Applicant shall belong to the Top 10 of the graduating class duly certified by the principal;

* Must have a weighted average of not less than 90% but with no grade below 85%;

* Parent’s combined annual income shall not be more than P120,000, provided, subject to background investigation to be done by any FICCO staff upon request;

* Applicant must be of good moral character; and

* Applicant’s parent/guardian must be a member of good standing with FICCO.

Out of the total applicants, FICCO will be selecting two (2) applicants whi will qualify from the screening that they will be conducting during the month of May (TBA). Selected scholars will be allowed to pursue the priority courses: Accountancy (BSA) and Information Technology (BSIT). One-slot is available for each course. Interested applicants may submit their requirements to: FICCO Main office, HR Department, c/o Ms. Hazel Abrogar.

FICCO's Prudential Planning

Reaching the summit of perfect existence in collaborative financial business, requires efficiency in showing care and forethought of the years to come.

Provident thrift

FICCO had gone through it and proven such for 54 long glorious years. Its secret--diligence and consistency in being thrift. In our own native language, we call it "kuripot" or "inot". It sounds nice to some, to some maybe jocular, but this is how the cooperative had survived and had helped many families and businesses. Prudent, or the act of showing care and thought for the future is the right term why FICCO had existed for fifty-four years.

3 billion mark

While the world suffers from extreme financial meltdown, FICCO's careful prudential planning architectures a state of liberation from this recession. FICCO had escaped this second great global recession which traced back in 1929 the hardest hit, when the world was in distress from the devastating effects of economic downturn. As of end of 2008's financial calendar to the beginning of 2009, the coop hit the P3 billion dot. Yes a mere three-billion peso mark in assets with a benefited-members of over a hundred thousand across the southern island of the Philippines. It had uplifted many businesses through its *0.75% interest per month scheme or less than 1%--the lowest interest in all of the open-type coops in the Philippines.

Saving and Tender Care

Through its education committee, members are taught on the value of saving. Its staff and officers working inside its corresponding branch and business centers play the lead role of a providential prudent member. They always suggest loan for a productive use. They are keen in qualifying a member who religiously saves money, because these kind of people will help protect the existence of the cooperative. A prudent example, produces prudent members and the cycle continues.

Sympathetic stewardship

Today, the board recently extended compassionate concern to its members by removing the withholding tax on **savings and time deposits. More interest from deposits can now be gained. It is the right time for to open one now.

You can be rich

Director Isagani B. Daba, vice-chair of FICCO for 2008-09 once said that the meaning of the word saving is money received minus deposit equals expenses. He means that save first before you spend. Example you are an employee receiving regular salary, the first step to do is to cut a portion of your salary for deposit and the remaining portion is for expenses. By religiously doing this, you won't notice your money had gone far beyond what you expect. Say you are a minimum wage earner, you save P1,000.00 for a 15-day salary, in the month, you have P2,000.00 and in a year you have P24,000.00. By joining FICCO, you learn its culture, the habit of saving money.

United in one goal

To help is the basic goal of FICCO. By increasing its assets, more Filipinos benefit from its prudential education curriculum--to save for productivity. To assist members financially for productivity.

*based on the 1 year loan category of 9% interest per annum

**based on 54th annual general assembly report

To Serve is an Opportunity

"Many Are CAlled But Few Are Chosen"
Twelve years ago, this corner came out with an article of the same title. That article shared some insights gained from a Holy Week retreat, a retreat that centered on the Good Samaritan's deed's vis-a-vis a victim of robbers, in contrast to the reactions and actions of the Priest and the Levite. Recall that Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan in response to the question, "Who is my neighbour?" by a teacher of the law.

The article reads: “Both the priest and the Levite were holy men, but compassion was absent in their hearts. In contrast, the Samaritan, who is supposed to be an outcast of society at that time, responded to the need of the victim and even went beyond just providing first aid.

The story actually did not end when Jesus was able to force the teacher to discard his own biases against outcasts. He challenged him to put God’s commandment into practice. Actually, Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, refined further the commandment by changing the measure by which we love one another. From using as basis the way we love ourselves, He teaches us to love others the way He loves us. And what greater love is there…

Reflecting on all these, my mind shifted to the role volunteers play in a coop. I have always maintained that volunteers give coops the competitive advantage. Can you imagine how coops will price its services if their officers’ honorarium is high?

And my mind went to the next question: How much should coops remunerate their volunteers? What is enough? If we go by the original concept of coop volunteers, they get no pay. They are just reimbursed of actual expenses incurred in pursuing coop business. Coops in Western countries, and in South Korea still practice this.

This corner always stands for an honorarium that approximates a volunteer’s actual cost in pursuing coop business. Anything beyond is no longer volunteerism. The argument that our coop is already big and can afford to pay bigger honoraria is over-stretching the meaning of volunteerism.

The other arguments why we should not pay extra to our volunteers are: a) volunteers volunteered to serve; they were never hired; b) the extra honorarium is an attraction to those who are not really out to serve, sometimes easing out those who really have service in their hearts; c) dissensions happen prompted by desires to get the or cling to positions because of high honorarium; and last but not least, d) to serve is actually an opportunity to serve God in others.

Let me just dwell on the last argument. All of us are called to serve, to extend ourselves to others, and to be good Samaritans. Serving the coop therefore, without pricing our services beyond what is necessary is an opportunity. And very few are actually given that chance. The priest and the Levite were offered the chance to serve God beyond rituals but turned it down. The good Samaritan, despite being an outcast, grabbed the chance and earned God’s favor.”

With a new set of officers assuming the leadership mantle in our coops, it is good to revisit the importance of volunteerism to coops. It was already pointed out that volunteerism is the competitive advantage of coops. The absence of real volunteers leads coops to fall prey to opportunists. Decay follows.

In a recent gathering of coop leaders in Manila, one well-meaning national leader stated, matter-of-factly, that it is important to give good honorarium to coop leaders. “If you give peanuts,” he said, “you will attract monkeys.” To this, one of the participants retorted: “If you give cheesecakes, you will attract mercenaries.” The laughter that followed the witty exchange ushered in a deeper realization on the part of everyone in that meeting of the importance of real volunteers to coop stability and growth.

Excessive campaign spending, even vote buying, are now present in many coop elections. Some are prompted by the prestige that comes with leadership. Others hope to use the coop as springboard to capture political positions. Still others just want to have the position, including the opportunity to travel, even if they offer nothing to justify his/her pursuit of it. Worse are those who just want the honorarium. Of course, all of them readily proclaim that they want to serve.

The aforesaid motivations of aspiring leaders surely clash with coop values that call for selflessness, service, good governance, volunteerism, and sacrifice. The sad thing that could happen is when the real volunteers, usually laid back people, recoil from the aggressiveness of the opportunistic aspirants and withdraw or just give way. The coop movement ends up the loser.

The same thing is happening in our country’s political governance, at all levels. Well meaning people with the heart to serve are reluctant to run for positions. Even if they have money, they are not willing to spend to buy votes. Their principles limit their actions. But the buayas will always be at the forefront in vote buying and cheating knowing that they can easily recoup their expenses once elected.

Let us all pray that our coops will not fall into the hands of mercenaries or opportunists. Let us watch the actions/actuations of those who are now in leadership positions, even as we pray that they will realize that to serve is an opportunity. Let us hope that they will recognize that they are now important building blocks in the building of God’s Kingdom here on Earth.

To coop volunteers, we see how those less in life struggle amidst the exploitations that abound. We can be just like the Priest or the Levite concerned only of our own needs and ignore them. Or we can be Good Samaritans by making sure our coops are refuge of those in need at affordable cost by becoming real volunteers.

This is something we can look back to with pride as we relate our contributions to our grandchildren. Let that realization be our just reward for the services rendered to the coop.

This article started with a biblical quote as sub-title addressed to coop volunteers. We are in the season of lent, so let us end with another, this time addressing both the coops and the volunteers. “Those who can be trusted with small things can be trusted with bigger things.”

Here’s hoping that we will all have a deeper appreciation of the meaning of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ this Lenten season. Only through that that we can have a real HAPPY EASTER.
by: Isagani B. Daba

Noli's Pagibig Infor-mercial Justified?

The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and Pag-IBIG Fund chairman Noli De Castro boast to leave legacy of accomplishments in both agency under his leadership. He was caught up further saying “I will step down in 2010 with accomplishments and nobody could question them,” over his radio program “Para sa Iyo, Bayan”. He made the statement after his appearance before the Senate hearing investigating the “info-mercials”of Cabinet officials last Friday.

The info-mercials is said to have spent 172 million on advertisements was commented by Sen. Loren Legarda that it could have been spent on low-cost housing and in addition quoted “Nobody has a monopoly of talent and voice in this country,”. Sen. Loren Legarda, losses over De Castro in 2004 for vice president.

Conversely, HDMF (Pagibig Fund) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jaime Fabiana defended the P 172 million to bring upon positive results in the Pagibig fund operation saying it brought a total of P 78 billion housing loan approvals. The ads expenditure comprises only around one-fifth of one percent in terms of total housing loan approvals, the CEO quoting it as conservative.

De Castro came out to be instrumental in the pick up of the 6 percent interest rate reduction campaign, and did not receive a single centavo in the info-mercials.

Figures presented by CEO includes greater income for Pag-IBIG – P7.3 billion in 2007, P9.5 billion in 2008, and in 2009, on track to make P11.5 billion.

It is to be noted that Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, initiated the investigation over the increasing number of infomercials being aired featuring Cabinet members who are perceived to be presidential candidates. De Castro quoted “I never promoted myself because I have been promoted,” and he said his predecessors in the HUDCC and Pag-IBIG also appeared in the television ads.

So tell me what you think? Is the advertisement justified?



Source: Philstar News