Highly irregular

From Ernie Maceda:

The Senate discovered that P27 billion of the recovered Marcos wealth from Switzerland was released and spent in 2004-2005.

This is highly irregular because the public impression was that the money was deposited in the PNB, earning interest. No public announcement was made by GMA or by her spokesman when the money was allegedly released to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). No accounting has been made to date. Malacañang must now disclose the specifics of how DAR spent its P27-billion windfall. Where is the list of lands acquired and paid out from these funds? What projects were funded before the May 2004 elections?

Lack of transparency or secret disbursement of huge amounts has become one of the hallmarks of the GMA presidency. So much money down the drain.

This gives good basis for the Senate to disapprove the many lump sum discretionary funds being requested by GMA in her proposed 2006 budget. By our account, it totals to more than P70 billion, not including Pagcor and PCSO funds that are not submitted to Congress for approval.

The fertilizer funds scam is being investigated. A deeper inquiry into the use of the agrarian reform fund must be made. Still unopened is the dissipation of PhilHealth funds.

GMA's administration is tops in the amount of funds misused or technically malversed. And the Commission on Audit (CoA) is helping her cover-up!

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Providential? Once again in Carmen, Cotabato, GMA has claimed that tax reform, notably the e-VAT, is fueling economic gains including the strengthening of the peso. She claims that the improvement is “not coincidence but providential.”

Pitiful, as many economic writers have written that GMA is taking credit for the improvement of oil prices and dollar-peso exchange rates.

Unfortunately for her, the latest Pulse Asia survey shows that only 10 percent of the population have improved their lives, meaning to say 90 percent have not. Eighty seven percent believe the country is going to the dogs.

The latest Pulse Asia survey taken the last week of October shows that GMA has a 55 percent distrust rating, a 52 percent disapproval rating and only a 24 percent approval rating. A new SWS survey shows no improvement in her approval ratings.

Under these circumstances, it is impossible for a President to govern effectively. The public does not believe anything she says, much more so if she insists it is God-given or providential.

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Good news? OFW remittances surged 28 percent to $7.9 billion in the first nine months of the year. That's the good news. The bad news is that this is due to the fact that many more Filipinos, including professionals, are leaving for foreign jobs. This translates to serious social problems and lesser quality workers left in the country.

One question. BSP Governor Amado Tetangco admits that 30 percent of the remittances go through informal channels (not through banks). That means that whatever figures they release is just an estimate. So even the claimed 28 percent increase must be taken with this reservation.