CONGRESS just passed the bill lowering the age of criminal responsibility to age 12. Pediatricians and physicians released statements criticizing the bill, saying children in their immature age make mistakes and cannot be called criminal. This explanation does not apply though to politicians who always make the mistake of pocketing pork.
Pediatricians and physicians want better discourse with lawmakers to come up with evidence-based programs to address this issue. But in a House where evidence of pork or human rights or common sense are ignored and bashed, doctors need a stronger prescription to knock sense on these “honorable.”
Surveys show that the President is rising. At the same time, floodwaters in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley provinces are rising. Fuel prices are rising. The only thing not rising is your daily wage.
Surprisingly, the president’s rating is up, he can’t provide jobs for his people. IBON Foundation reports that in the first two years, the Dutertenomics only provided 81,000 jobs for Filipinos, the lowest of all post Edsa presidents. The only citizens enjoying more jobs now under Duterte are Chinese construction workers and DDS keyboard netizens.
A report says Filipinos spend the most time on social media on an average of 10 hours a day. Internet is the new distraction. This time could be better spent studying, learning skills rather than following chismis, memes, jokes or fake news.
Duterte diehards are proud of the cleanup of Manila Bay. But environmentalists said government should plug the source of this pollution, the companies dumping waste. Netizens also want to plug the source of online garbage in Malacañang.
A friend had a practical question, where did they put all the trash that was cleaned up in Manila Bay?
This week, bombs exploded in a church in Jolo, a mosque in Zamboanga, and at the box office where the biopic of General Bato flopped badly.
The probe on the Jolo bombing showed a new style of investigation, trial by CCTV. Two young people were spotted running and authorities summarized they were the bombers called “AjangAjang”. These two people showed up and clarified they ran because they got scared. There goes our defense budget, proving people who are running are guilty.
The bombings in Mindanao is like déjà vu for church, Moro people, Lumad, Mindanawons where division and “un-peace” is expected. It seems our country is going on recycling the wrong way. Let us pray, stay vigilant and unite for our peace.
“Peace is the capacity to transcend past hurts - to break cycles of violence and forge new pathways...” - NoeleenHeyzer, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations