Slow to act

After three weeks, President Aquino has not filled the vacancies of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman, 2 Comelec commissioners, Commission on Audit (COA) chairman, Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairman, a permanent secretary of Department of Health (DOH) and a new director general of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

A ranking Cabinet member told friends that so many papers are pending for months on the President’s desk.

The President has not also released the list of recipients of the Malampaya Fund and the President’s Social Fund (PSF).

President Aquino should act double time on all pending contracts, especially the public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

Deputy Speaker Georgidi Aggabao has issued a statement that President Aquino’s endorsement power has suffered a downward trend.

Many objective observers have also criticized the President for not removing non-performing Cabinet members, among them Budget Secretary Butch Abad and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

Sorry folks, it looks like nothing good will happen in the remaining months of Aquino’s term.

Slow power resolutions

With summer starting in a few weeks, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla warned of two-hour rotating brownouts for two weeks in March as shortages are expected in the Luzon grid and other parts of the country. Power plants could fail and go offline without warning.

Since 2011, President Aquino was alerted on a forthcoming power crisis in Mindanao. Again, the President has been slow to act on the problem.

With P130 billion available from the Malampaya Fund, there is no excuse for the lack of action to solve the power problem.

To add insult to injury, energy consumers will have to pay more as electric bills are expected to spike up next month. Reports said electricity rates are expected to increase by P1 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

As summer nears, the Energy Department is urging the public to conserve energy.

Erap running for reelection

Former president and now Manila City Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada is seriously considering running for reelection as Mayor of Manila, with Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno running for senator.

Surveys show Moreno landing in the top ten senatorial winners. Erap, with Danny Lacuna as running mate, will be opposed by Congressman Amado Bagatsing who is running with Councilor Ali Atienza for vice mayor.

Also, thinking of running is former Mayor Alfredo Lim, with Congressman Tony Asilo as his running mate.

Protest for higher salaries

The Alliance for Concerned Teachers (ACT) members and the Manila Public School Teachers (MPST) will be holding a sit-down strike tomorrow, to call for a salary increase and the resignation of  President Aquino, who, they said, prefers to set aside the salary hike bill which was co-authored by more than a hundred congressmen.

Teachers and other government employees have been demanding salary increases the last three years. For them, they see strike as the only means to call on the government after being deaf and blind to their heed.

Ordinary laborers are also asking for a higher minimum wage. High prices of basic commodities have gone up the last 12 months.

Even in the United States a higher minimum wage has been effected.

It is time for President Aquino to grant salary increases.

4th hearing on Mamasapano

The fourth hearing of the Senate committee on peace and order and illegal drugs revealed the following admissions:

1. That former PNP Director General Alan Purisima informed the President by text of the progress of the “Oplan Exodus” operation between 6 to 8 a.m.;

2. SAF Police Director Getulio Napeñas got the approval of General Purisima to set the operation from Jan. 23-26;

3. That the government peace panel have not made a formal demand to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to surrender the rebels involved in killing the Special Action Force (SAF) troopers killed;

4. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas informed the President at 8 a.m.; and

5.  AFP Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. General Rustico Guerrero informed General Purisima that Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reinforcement was already coordinating with the SAF on 8:03 a.m.

Tidbits

The Floyd Mayweather – Manny Pacquiao fight has been signed to take place at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas on May 2, 2015.

Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is considering Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as its candidate for President in 2016.

300 students – from Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, Colegio de San Juan de Letran and Universidad de Manila – are urging President Aquino to resign for his handling of the police debacle in Mamasapano town and other issues of national importance.

Some groups, including President Aquino’s uncle former Tarlac Rep. Jose Peping Cojuangco, have already launched protests against P-Noy at the EDSA Shrine last Sunday, calling for his resignation.