Cut impeach show; put it to a vote now

CUT THE CHARADE: The House justice committee and the entire chamber might as well dispense with the hearings and debates and put to a vote right away the question of filing impeachment charges in the Senate against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

After all, as everybody points out, impeachment is a political and not a judicial process. The evidence and legal arguments do not matter as much as what the political majority wants to happen. What the ruling party wants, it will do anyway.

To save valuable time and resources, let us cut short the debates and go straight to the vote. Even the Senate, which is as political as the House, can just receive the impeachment papers, distribute copies to the senators and set a date for the decisive voting.

Cutting the charade will enable our senators and congressmen to devote their limited time to important and urgent legislation.

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FREE ‘WI-FI’: There is proposed legislation to establish free “wi-fi” (wireless fidelity?) spots in public places — including government buildings, airports, malls, parks, hospitals and campuses — to enable freer and fuller exchange of information via the Internet.

The Congress should lose no time passing this free “wi-fi” measure, together with the Freedom of Information bill that many officials scared of close public scrutiny are opposing.

One practical use of “wi-fi,” which rhymes with “hi-fi” (the “high-fidelity” associated with audio equipment}, is making possible wireless connection to the worldwide web without cables linking devices (such as laptops and cellphones) to the Internet.

Aside from residences and offices with local wireless networks, there are “hotspots” (“wi-fi” areas) in some public places, but users have to pay to use the modems and routers (connection devices) serving the place.

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EDUCATE THE PINOY: The bill wants “wi-fi” use to be widespread and free. But it is expensive? There will be money for it, if we want it. Just cut the hands of grafters in high places, including the military, and we can have the entire country one big “wi-fi” archipelago.

There is already free “wi-fi” in random places, such as in coffee shops, service stations, hotels and schools run by enlightened operators, but these are not enough for a population bursting with progressive ideas waiting to be shared.

Allow free hotspots to proliferate, especially in the urban centers, and this nation addicted to cellphones and computers will vault to the clouds to join the more progressive countries.

Such a big high-tech leap will speed up the education of the Filipino. It will equip him to produce more and to resist exploitation. (Maybe that is why some supposed leaders do not want free hotspots for the people.)

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CREDIT RATES: Concerned consumers, meanwhile, are asking the House committee on banks and financial institutions to focus on making the terms more equitable for credit cardholders reeling from high prices and costly credit.

On several occasions, consumers have expressed also their desire for the committee to look into interest charges prevailing in the alternative credit market such as pawnshops, small investor lending companies, and informal lenders engaged in “five-six” operation.

Deputy Gov. Nestor Espenilla of the Bangko Sentral told a House committee recently that the amended Usury Law has removed the ceiling on interest rates, effectively leaving the setting of the rates to competing market forces.

He said the Usury Law’s suspension has resulted in the expansion of credit, meaning that more people can now borrow. This indicates that interest rates have been reasonable and generally acceptable to credit cardholders since the law was amended.

Espenilla cited data showing that out of 3 million credit cardholders, only .01 percent has complained to the Bangko Sentral about excessive interest and other charges.

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PAWNSHOPS: Other sources of credit — pawnshops, for instance — that charge practically the same interest rates as credit card firms are left alone in their lending business.

While they charge almost the same rates, credit card firms do not require cardholders to provide collateral before availing of their credit facilities. In contrast, pawnshops require borrowers to give collateral.

It looks like that while the credit card business is risky, the pawnshop business is virtually risk-free.

It takes effort and expense for a credit card issuer to collect from delinquent cardholders. Pawnshops simply notify their clients about payment due dates and then auction off collateral items once the deadline for redemption has lapsed.

The policy of the Bangko Sentral of encouraging competition among various kinds of credit houses is a major way of controlling excessive charging.

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MILITARY TRIVIA: This may sound petty, but when President Noynoy Aquino inspected the honor guards at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday, the Commander-in-Chief, the outgoing AFP chief of staff, and the troop commander were not marching in step despite the march music.

I beg the indulgence of the Yellow Blog Brigade, which goes on a rampage when their boss is criticized. Am I referring to him? View the video and check who is out of step. Nagkulang lang siguro ng oras para mag-practice yung isa sa tatlo.

I happen to be very particular about how honor guards stand in the sun, wear their uniforms and head gear, if they roll their eyeballs, if they keep their heels together at attention, and if they follow the drum when they march.

As for military commanders, also the old-soldier retirees and the Commanders-in-Chief, I watch the way they salute.

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