Mayors? Negative Or Positive

[sonnyt111]

Bro I think this happens in practically all the cities in MM. But I'm not going to complain anymore after seeing what traffic was like during a recent visit to Hanoi, Vietnam. OMG if you think it's bad here, you should see how people drive over there. Total chaos. I used to complain how lousy our driving habits were epecially after visiting the US. But after seeing the way people drive in Vietnam, all of a sudden I don't think our drivers are so bad after all!!! He he he. Makes me appreciate living here instead of in Vietnam!

 

I've even seen photos of what driving is like in Bangladesh. Bro I think it's even worse over there than in Vietnam.

I visited Ho Chi Minh City about 10 years ago andthe city was filled with motorcyles, scooters, pedicabs, etc. There were no traffic enfocers so you just had to make your way across the street while thousands of motorcylces drove right in front of you. You should never be intimidated by the volume of motorcyles. One must act confidently while crossing the street and not be frightened by the huge number of motor bikes heading you way. It does take some guts to cross a road in Saigon. After seeing the anarchy on the streets, I asked myself how these poor people with this lousy type of driving ever defeat the most powerful nation on earth? I am amazed at the Vietamese people.

Edited January 29, 2013 by sonnyt111

[violetmonitor]

I think our traffic problem is rooted from our public transport not being organized. Mas OK kung isang company lang naghahawak ng jeep and bus. Ngayon kasi, makikita mo maraming bus sabay sabay ang labas, kahit hindi peak hours, kaya nag-aagawan ng pasahero. Sa amin, makikita mo mga 10 jeep nasa kalye, naghihintay ng pasahero sabay sabay. May pila nga pero may ibang bigla na lang nagsasakay. Sa ibang bansa na iisa lang ang naghahawak ng public transport, gaya ng China or US, walang problem.

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

I think our traffic problem is rooted from our public transport not being organized. Mas OK kung isang company lang naghahawak ng jeep and bus. Ngayon kasi, makikita mo maraming bus sabay sabay ang labas, kahit hindi peak hours, kaya nag-aagawan ng pasahero. Sa amin, makikita mo mga 10 jeep nasa kalye, naghihintay ng pasahero sabay sabay. May pila nga pero may ibang bigla na lang nagsasakay. Sa ibang bansa na iisa lang ang naghahawak ng public transport, gaya ng China or US, walang problem.

 

Noong panahon ng martial law, hawak ng gobyerno ang public transportation. Iisa lang and bus company. Gobyerno ang may ari. Sa tingin ko mas maganda kung ibalik sa gobyerno ang pag operate ng public utility vehicles.

Edited January 30, 2013 by oscartamaguchiblackface

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

pinaka-EPAL na Mayor talaga ay si Mister Swabe Recom Echiverri...

 

 

Oo nga. Kahit saan ka tuminingin mukha niya ang makikita mo!

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

 

Speaking of Bistek and QC, what can you say about this? Don't you think this is unfair?

http://newsinfo.inqu...x-hike-approved

 

 

 

Quezon City probably has the largest number of informal settlers (aka squatters) who invade and occupy privately owned lands. The owners of privately owned lands are required to pay real property tax to the city governmnent. In this case, the mayor even increased the amount of the real property tax that land owners need to pay.

 

You would think in exchange for the real property taxes that land owners pay, the city government would somehow protect the rights of these tax paying citizens. But no. The city government allows informal settlers to run roughshod over the rights of hard working productive citizens. These squatters take over the lands of tax-paying land owners in exchange for keeping the incumbent mayor in power with their votes.

 

I'd like to see a law pass protecting land owners. For one, there should be a law excempting land owners from paying realty tax if their properties are squatter infested. Mayors, who rely heavily on property taxes to fund their operations, will be at the forefront of ensuring that squatters do not invade and occupy the lands of property owners.

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

I agree. There is no need to pass a law exempting land owners from paying realty tax but there is a law that should be repealed that protects squatters which is the Lina Law.

 

Yeah that stupid Lina Law.

[sonnyt111]

What I can't understand is that many lawmakers are themselves owners of real property. You'd think they'd either repeal that stupid LIna law or enact a new law exempting property owners whose lands are infested with squatters from paying property or realty tax.

 

These legislators will not be in politics forever. They should think ahead and realize they (or their families) may one day become victims of squatters themselves.

[sonnyt111]

With regards to the streets in QC being parked on my jeepneys, Manila is also a city where jeepneys park. Sidecar drivers counterflow on a couple of main roads of Manila.

I think one of the reasons many side streets are now full of parked vehicles is because of the coding scheme they implemented many years ago. The assumption of authorities when they first implemented this scheme was that owners of vehicles would take public transportation on the day their vehicle is banned from the road.

They failed to take into account that the middle class has a lot of money to burn, courtesy of their OFW relatives.

 

So authorities got it wrong. Existing car owners bought one, two, maybe three additional cars (one for each member of the family). The problem is there's no place to park these additional vehicles so these car owners parked their newly acquired vehicles on the side streets near their residences. Now side streets, are jammed with parked vehicles. Did the coding scheme lessen the volume of private vehicles on the road? No. The total number of vehicles in Metro Manila even rose. Those that are banned now occupy side-streets.

 

This is my observation. Others may have a different take on the effectiveness of the coding scheme. I know that in certain villages, roads are now extremely congested with parked vehicles. In the past, these roads were empty.

 

For me the coding scheme is another example of an idea that wasn't thought through properly. Assumptions were dead wrong. The opposite effect occured.

Edited February 1, 2013 by sonnyt111

[Bugatti Veyron]

I agree. There is no need to pass a law exempting land owners from paying realty tax but there is a law that should be repealed that protects squatters which is the Lina Law.

 

I think another mayor who's bending backward for squatters is Herbert "Bistek" Bautista.

[maxiev]

I think another mayor who's bending backward for squatters is Herbert "Bistek" Bautista.

There was a violent demolition reported on the news this evening in Payatas, Quezon City. Wasn't sure about details of the demolition but several people got hurt. So maybe the perception that Herbert Bautista is coddling squatters may be inaccurate after all.

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

I noticed that there seem to be more squatter evictions today than in previous years. Could property owners be fighting back by paying judges and local government executives to get their land back? Just wondering.....

[maxiev]

I agree. There is no need to pass a law exempting land owners from paying realty tax but there is a law that should be repealed that protects squatters which is the Lina Law.

In the event the Lina law isn't repealed, the next best thing would be to exempt land owners from paying realty tax on properties that are squatter infested. Local governments which coddle squatters will all of a sudden be without much needed realty tax revenue. What good are the squatters' votes if the local government head (ie. mayor) finds his city does not have any funds because land owners are exempted from paying their realty taxes?

Edited February 9, 2013 by maxiev

[maxiev]

You may have wanted to say "exempt land owners from paying realty tax in squatter-infested areas" because land owners have their own properties.

Ha ha ha. I thought that's what I said. Or perhaps a better way of putting is "exempt land owners from paying realty taxes on squatter-infested properties they own...." I don't think it gets any clearer than this.

[sonnyt111]

nick fury, on 10 February 2013 - 10:55 AM, said:

 

You may have wanted to say "exempt land owners from paying realty tax in squatter-infested areas" because land owners have their own properties.

 

Ha ha ha. I thought that's what I said. Or perhaps a better way of putting is "exempt land owners from paying realty taxes on squatter-infested properties they own...." I don't think it gets any clearer than this.

 

I think this is all a matter of semantics.

[maxiev]

Exactly

Touche!!

[maxiev]

I was merely agreeing.

Yeah I new you were bro. He he he. Peace!

[maxiev]

It may seem extravagant, but I wish they do a complete restoration/upgrade of Manila City Hall. It's such an eyesore and whenever I pass by it, I cannot help but to shake my head in shame...

Being the capital of the Philippies, Manila should be restored to its former glory. Not just City Hall but downtown Manila as well. The Roxas Blvd-Rizal Park- Intramuros areas are ok but other sections of the city are due for a make-over.

[Bugatti Veyron]

It seems dynasties are most prominent on the local government level. Good case in point is Mayor Binay and his family. The Binay family has been governing Makati since 1986. If it isn't Jojo Binay who's mayor, it's his wife. Then him again, then his son, etc. Now he's vice president and by the looks of it, he's eyeing the presidency in 2016.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Bugatti Veyron

[sonnyt111]

It seems dynasties are most prominent on the local government level. Good case in point is Mayor Binay and his family. The Binay family has been governing Makati since 1986. If it isn't Jojo Binay who's mayor, it's his wife. Then him again, then his son, etc. Now he's vice president and by the looks of it, he's eyeing the presidency in 2016.

 

There are many political families who have family members in practically all levels of government. Political dynasties are a reality just as corruption is. I suppose where you find political dynasties, you'll also find corruption. Perhaps if political dynasties are banned by an enabling law, the incidence of corruption may decrease. Then again, the successor of a mayor who belongs to a political dynasty may himself/herself be as corrupt if not more corrupt than his/her predecessor.

 

So on second thought, elimination of political dynasties may not be a viable solution to eliminating corruption.

[maxiev]

Actually I beleive it's easier to engage in corruption within local governements than it is on the national government level. The reason being that national leaders (eg. president, senators ,etc.) are under a microscope so to speak. Very close scrutiny by the media makes it difficult (though not impossible) for national leaders to engage in shady deals. In contrast, little attention is focused on local executives who may be involved in anything from grave abuse of authority all the way to illegal numbers rackets (eg. jueteng). In large cities like Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, huge amounts generated by real estate taxes may be subject to pilferage by local executives with little public scrutiny. To ensure silence among the thieves, the wealth is shared among themselves, albeit proportionately depending on local executive's rank. Of course, mayors will get the largest slice of the pie. Councillors, barangay captains and kagawads will get their share though much smaller than that of the mayor and vice mayor. This silence will make auditing and investigating these people very difficult.

 

GMA and Erap realized this fact much too late.

[sonnyt111]

Most of the political killings in this country occur in the local government level. Obviously politicians resort to killing their rivals because these rivals are deemed as threat to the money making activities of these local government officials.

 

Local government officials should not only be investigated for corruption. They should be, when applicable, investigated for murder. And convicted and imprisoned. In the Philippines after an investigation is done, that's the end of it. Even with the blatant killing of over 60 journalists by the Ampatuan monsters, not one has yet been convicted despite the fact that this extremely heinous crime occured in 2009.

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

You can't naively believe that local government officials want to serve their constituents so badly, they resort to killing their rivals. Everyone knows murder is committed by those vying for local government postions because they stand t make a lot of money.

 

If i had a say into the investigation or murdered political aspirants, my primary suspect would be the politician who has the most to gain by the death of his rival. These officials should be treated like any other suspect preferably by the NBI so that police who are loyal to this politician and who are conducting the murder investigation aren't in postition to white-wash the investigation.

[sonnyt111]

You can't naively believe that local government officials want to serve their constituents so badly, they resort to killing their rivals. Everyone knows murder is committed by those vying for local government postions because they stand t make a lot of money.

 

If i had a say into the investigation or murdered political aspirants, my primary suspect would be the politician who has the most to gain by the death of his rival. These officials should be treated like any other suspect preferably by the NBI so that police who are loyal to this politician and who are conducting the murder investigation aren't in postition to white-wash the investigation.

 

Many times local government officials don't only k*ll their rivals. They'll k*ll anyone who gets in their way. Just think Dr. Jerry Ortega.

[prinzmetal09]

i'm wondering what would have happened if the FOI bill was already put into action last year. Would people still want to be Mayors/Government officials if anybody can just get the details about the budgets and spending of the "projects" that they are implementing. It's just sad that all the.hype of the FOI bill is currently stagnant and being buried by all the events that are happening right now

[Bugatti Veyron]

i'm wondering what would have happened if the FOI bill was already put into action last year. Would people still want to be Mayors/Government officials if anybody can just get the details about the budgets and spending of the "projects" that they are implementing. It's just sad that all the.hype of the FOI bill is currently stagnant and being buried by all the events that are happening right now

Assuming that the FOI bill was enacted into law. How does the public really know how accurate the information really is? What guarantee do we have that the information submitted is window dressed, or worse, bogus? I mean the culture of cheating all started in school when students would go to Recto and pay for a term paper which they submitted as their own work. That sort of mentality somehow got passed on through the years until we have the situation we have today. Can we actually trust the figures indicated in the reports? How about ghost projects, ghost employees, etc. How can the public verify if indeed money was spent on actual projects, real employees, etc. ?