MORE PINOYS ARE RATING THEMSELVES AS POOR

The first time I read this kind of headline, I didn't have the appetite to continue reading for the nature of the headline suggests that the contents were based on quantitative reasoning, which for me, is very subjective.

However, when I finally browsed through the article, I found out that the article is worthy of a serious consideration. All in all, the story is about a survey of Filipinos being made to determine the level of monthly food budget which they deem to be above and below poverty lines. The survey indicated that through the past several years, the budget went down and yet, the incidence of families breaching the floor levels increased.

Conclusion? The people are nowadays poorer.

Here's the complete story.

The SWS said both the self-rated poverty threshold — the monthly budget that poor households need in order not to consider themselves poor in general — and the self-rated food poverty threshold — the monthly food budget that poor households need in order not to consider themselves poor in terms of food — have been sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation.

NEWS FOR TODAY

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WHY I WILL NOT JOIN THESE PRESENT CALL FOR GMA'S RESIGNATION

I don’t like GMA.

However, there are several factors that I think will be the source of blame should GMA not be forced out by these ongoing calls to resign. Here are two:

ISSUES & LEADERS' CREDIBILITY: They blame her for the Glorietta blasts, multiple scandals, sham impeachment process and tainted electoral mandate.

Well, the Glorietta blast is now turning out to be an accident but these guys were so quick to and still continue to put the blame on her. Let me see. Isn’t this turning out to be a case of the boy who cried wolf? Isn’t it that nobody believed in the boy afterwards? Dudes, if I were GMA, I'd simply say, blame it all unto me!

Furthermore, isn’t it that one of the big leaders of this group is confirmed to have led the installation of bombs all over Glorietta 3? Antonio Trillanes, remember? As for most of the other cases, there isn’t solid evidence GMA was behind it, except for the Garci Tapes which the opposition was unable to effectively use against her. During the Garci Scandal, they had their chance BUT THEY FAILED. This is so unlike the Jose Velarde accounts that effectively made the people rise. If my recollection serves me properly, there was no real leader during the first few hours of EDSA 2. We were just a group of people lacking a leader at the dark corner of Ortigas avenue, after the Couples for Christ decided to assemble in the area. There were no lights, sound system, program, food, etc. It was only much later when a semblance of an organization took shape.

MOTIVE: Why are they are dragging the Vice President into this mess? This for me, shows the real motive behind the call. Noli de Castro isn’t among them and a GMA resignation will mean that the opposition will still be without real power. By dragging the Vice President into the call for resignation, the real motive is becoming very clear. These opposition members merely want to grab power for themselves. They are not doing this because they think that GMA is a crook and her resignation is good for this country. They claim to include Noli de Castro in the call for resignation because he supposedly benefitted from GMA’s cheating of the 2004 elections and up to now, he continuous to support her.

Well, well, well... Isn’t it that these opposition leaders also benefitted from Erap’s graces during his term and up to now, they continue to support him? If that’s the case, since Erap was not merely accused but in fact, CONVICTED OF PLUNDER, should they also resign their posts and go to exile?

Despite my hatred for GMA, I will not join these present calls for her resignation. I fought and sacrificed hard just to be able to get Erap and his cohorts out of the corridors of power. I am not about to help these people go back. What we want is a move forward and not a return to the vdark ages.

GMA, if indeed guilty will have her day of reckoning. But never will I work to get the Erap’s boys back!

For the meantime, the people want the Jose Velarde money! WHERE IS IT?