House plenary rejects Cayetano's offer of resignation as Speaker

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Cayetano: I am offering my resignation here and now to you, my dear colleagues."

"After Cayetano offered to resign as House Speaker, which follows his past statements that he would honor the term sharing agreement with Velasco, the House plenary rejected Cayetano's offer with a vote of 184-1 and 9 abstentions."

"While the Philippine economy struggles due to the pandemic and thousands of Filipinos continue to get infected with COVID-19, which Cayetano mentioned in his speech, he had the time to air his grievances against his political rival Rep. Lord Velasco."

"Cong. Velasco is appealing to Cayetano to honor their gentleman's agreement on term sharing for Speaker. Well, he made 2 crucial errors. First, he assumed that Cayetano is a gentleman. Second, he assumed that Cayetano has a word of honor."- Sonny Trillanes

Third, "sharing" doesn't exist in Cayetano's dictionary because spouses do not even share the same address with them representing different districts of Taguig. At least they are sharing Taguig, and Pateros as well, amongst their family.

Nagkamali talaga si "Cauldron King." Isipin ninyo naman na pinaniwala nilang mag-asawa ang mga tao na nakatira sila sa magkaibang bahay para lang makatakbo at maboto sa kongreso. Doon pa lang, red flag na.

I would say there's a fourth error: Believing in a Du30 brokered deal.

Among all desiring to become president, he is the most driven, most resolute & most focused. Watch out, Philippines! 

I should have said he is the most devious.

Looks like the proverbial "honor among thieves" is over-rated. If I remember correctly, the original saying is “There’s NO HONOR among thieves”. So the distracting Cayetano-Velasco tiff is NO surprise.

No one will ever believe Allan Peter Cayetano (APC) if he does not honor this agreement. He is consistently becoming inconsistent. his word is becoming 1 cent worth What he said of ABS-CBN is still very vivid in our minds:

'".. no’ng sinabi naming 'di magsasara, 'yan ang paninindigan namin. Kung kailangan physically ako ang mag-on ng transmitter or pumunta doon, gagawin ko 'yan"- Cayetano

Channeling Dutertes love for hyperbole and jetski:

“Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power."

The agreement that was agreed upon in full view of the people should be materialized and honored. They are both public officials and word of honor are always seen in the highest respect for this agreement. People are in the waiting. 

Only this admin allowed term-sharing.  Velasco never knew that Cayetano will not allow him to take over after his term so the agreement will never take effect for sure.

Even if his fellow congressmen want him to remain as House Speaker, he should step down as previously agreed upon. A gentleman's agreement so to speak.

This is proof that there are politicians who would do anything and everything to stay in power.

The vagaries of kaldero poly-ticks at Mordor.

Honor, Dishonor

Truth, Misdirection

Trust, Betrayal

#KalderoPolyTicks

Velasco relied on the support of Sara Duterte. If Cayetano won't step down, Sara Duterte will have to flex her muscles to remove him and put her good friend Velasco as Speaker.

I don't get it why both Duterte and Cayetano need to 'offer' to resign. Don't offer. Just resign, if you really mean it. 

Well, it is obvious both don't mean to resign. They really want to stay forever.

Offer to Resign: The series. Hahaha. Sino kaya susunod?

Farmers cry for help as Palay price drop, Cynthia Villar says they're competitive

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Sen. Villar:  Yung mga rice farmers natin hindi sila competitive relative sa mga rice farmers of Vietnam and Thailand."

When Cynthia Villar throws heartless, trashy, baseless, and shitty comments one after, she goes trending again for her insensitivity towards our essential workers, specifically our farmers, that they're asking too much even though they're being leverage unfairly. How accurate this image can be?!

Obviously your billions can't buy you a heart and brain! Nakakasuka ka, beshy! You don't know how farmers struggle with their everyday living. Palibhasa puro ka kasi convert ng agricultural lands into subdivisions. 

Did you know that Cynthia Villar is the incumbent chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food? Her remarks really contradict her assigned duties. 

I am very much worried and very much disappointed with your recent statements regarding the current status of agriculture in the Philippines especially concerning our farmers.

Madam, you gotta go!  

After our registered nurses, local farmers naman ngayon ang tinitira niya? The audacity of Cynthia Villar to talk about competitiveness. Holy senator go pat yourself on the back for always saying the smartest statements (sarcasm).

Your recent statement on farmers lacking of competition in relation with other countries was very much faulty and undermining. THE FARMERS DO NOT LACK IN COMPETITION specially when the government already killed them and wasted all their efforts by providing laws and provisions that are ANTI FARMERS specifically mentioning RICE LIBERALIZATION ACT that you yourself sponsored and authored. STOP POINTING FINGERS for the things that you yourself created. You are very much educated and even one of the leading senators during the last election. However, you can't even process the real situation that our farmers are experiencing. PLEASE DO YOUR JOB. 

Sen. Cynthia Villar will do anything to paint our local farmers as the bad people. She will dub them as incompetent and lazy. She will compare them to foreign farmer and blame them for their struggles. Is this how a senator must act? For a land grabber, she has the audacity.

Cynthia Villar shouldn't be allowed to voice her opinions out. So privileged, so out of touch from reality. Is she a capitalist pig?

Ang sama sama ng loob ko. Give our farmers their farmlands and resources back.

Philippines was once leading in rice exports. We were not competing, we were once the standard. 

Palay is sold for as low as PhP 12 per sack now. Think of how much that‘s hurting our Filipino farmers and their livelihood. 

PhP 12 per kilo** my bad. Still, the thought remains the same. Luging lugi na ang mga magsasaka natin. 

Pagdating sa pamilihan, almost 3x or 4x ang price. Ang gastos sa abono and bayad sa farmworkers tumataas, pero ang selling prices nila akala mo spaghetti — pababa ng pababa.

Sobrang pagod na nga, lugi pa, tapos pambabayad lang nila sa inutang nilang pangpuhunan para makapagtanim.

May mga time na malulugi pa dahil may bagyo. Kung mamalas-malasin, pepestehin pa yung pananim. Ewan ko na lang bakit hindi nila yun mapansin. Baka pati utak nila napeste na rin.

Help din sana ng government na i-sell ang produce nila directly and less middleman para sila talaga mag-benefit. Kulang din talaga ng interventions, ever since. Very reliant pa rin sila sa middlemen kasi di rin sila aware paano mag connect with consumers. Kawawa masyado.

Iba din kasi priority ng government ngayun pero may department naman din na dapat nag-ha-handle sana sa mga concerns ng farmers.

karamihan po kasi ng mga magsasaka ay small time lang at di walang budget para mag angkat kung kayat ang mga middlemen at landlord ang tumutubo. nakakalungkot lang na kaya pala mag angkat ng dolomite for *beautification* pero ang palay at gulay hindi mapondohan.

And people have the audacity to say that people stay poor because they don’t work hard. Tang*na lang talaga!

Mali ka, Madam Cynthia Villar. Our farmers know exactly what they need for good harvest. They are also willing to learn new farming techniques as long as accessible sa kanila ang programs. Grabe. Alam po kasi ninyo as expertise ay gumawa ng low cost subdivisions with sub par materials. Conflict of interest!

Our lady of subdivision. Cynthia Villar!

Cynthia Villar has not just been expressing her dumb opinions on agriculture. She's also echoing every neoliberal economist's talking points: that PH is not suited for rice farming, that our farmers are not productive enough, that migration from agriculture reduces poverty, etc.

And data may partially support those claims. But beyond the numbers, at the heart of discussions on agriculture is ultimately the question of development. What kind of economy do we want? Where do farmers find themselves in our models of progress? 

Nasa atin ang IRRI, sadyang inuubos lang ng mga developers like Villar ang mga farmlands, pero hindi papatatalo SAN MIGUEL, mega gigantic airport, ilang thousands of agricultural lands ang tatabunan nila. Development is good but not at the expense of a balance for this part of our source of food.

And to think she's heading the Senate Committee for Agriculture. She should be kicked out of that committee and be replaced with someone else who actually gives a damn.

Cynthia Villar shouldn't be the agriculture secretary when she owns a monopoly over stolen agricultural land in a semi-feudal nation. She steals land from farmers who work long hours to make an unlivable income and the food we eat. They are exploited yet they are the "lazy" ones?

Her opinions are all anti-farmer and are invalid as her interest is clearly not in agriculture but rather her monopoly that lives off of the semi-feudalist system. 

Farmers are the most exploited and poorest people in the country yet this is who is assigned to them.

Same as his son who leads the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the conflict of interests are extremely high for the two.  

Naging environmentalist kuno noong sila ang pwedeng bahain? Whatever happened to the lands you converted to subdivisions which displaced people and robbed them of their livelihoods? Did you ever bat an eyelash back then?

If Cynthia Villar will ever be elected to public office again, ang bobo na lang talaga ng mga boboto sa kanya. Not only is she self-serving, she's also insensitive to the plight of the poor & the working class.

The below statement, though was not really said by our farmers, is more appropriate:

Farmers: Cynthia Villar is not a competitive senator relative to those of the other countries.

Cover image © A for Arts

CTTO to all other images

How The Bitcoin Revolution Will Affect Businesses?

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Bitcoin is the first commercially successful cryptocurrency that made its mark for the first time in 2015 when more than 100,000 businesses accepted it as a valid currency. These businesses included industry giants like Microsoft, Dell and Overstock.com.

It has been several years that cryptocurrency is accepted by the masses, but for some reasons, small businesses and entrepreneurs still hesitate to include it in their transactions. Let’s take a closer look at the Bitcoin Revolution and what does it mean for your business.

What is bitcoin?

Simply put, bitcoin is a cryptocurrency which is entirely digital invented in 2009. It might not sound interesting, but the astonishing fact about bitcoin is its purely person-to-person currency with no involvement of any central agency such as banks, financial institutions or government bodies. It relies on a technology known as a blockchain, which keeps bitcoin transactions safe, secure and transparent.

Due to its digital format, bitcoin is extremely fast, cheaper and offer an easier exchange of cash that could benefit many small businesses.

Overall, the main asset of bitcoin is its decentralised nature that frees you from relying on any bank or financial institution to process your financial transactions.

Why must you consider bitcoin?

1. No fees

As a small business, you already struggle with budget and have to compete with deep-pocketed big brands. Levying a 2% to 3% merchant transaction fee will drain out your cash flow and you won’t be able to offer your services or products to customers at a competitive rate.

Bitcoin comes to rescue here as typically transactions with this currency will cost you zero to one per cent. Yes, it is not a typo but how this cryptocurrency operates. You can easily participate in Bitcoin transactions with no fees attached. As there is no bank to verify each transaction, you do not have to sacrifice a percentage of your revenue to these financial institutions.

However, you might have to pay a very small transaction fee to speed up the process.

2. Extremely Fast

Another problem with the usual currency is that you have to wait for long for your money to arrive in your bank account. With bitcoin, as there is no centralised institution to check every transaction, the blockchain handles this requirement, speeding up the process. You don’t have to wait nearly as long to receive your payment as bitcoin transactions are processed quickly, usually within a fraction of time as compared to fiat currency.

3. No borders

Another extremely useful feature of bitcoin is its true global presence. This has to do with its decentralized nature. If your business deals with international transactions, then you can rely on this cryptocurrency to get rid of foreign transaction fees and exchange rates.

As a global currency with no intervention of a government or financial institution, bitcoin completely ignores border restrictions. This benefit can be seen working for the sports betting industry in the United States, for example. 

In the US, the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) Legislature that was passed back in 2006 made it illegal for banks and financial institutions to process online gambling transactions, forcing many big betting sites to exit American markets and drop American customers. 

Bitcoin came as a rescue as it has no restriction of the law and allowed American gamblers to bet with their favorite sites. A bitcoin sportsbook allows you to bet on your favourite sport, even if it is illegal in your country of residence.

4. No payment disputes

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, but it works exactly like cash rather than credit. All bitcoin transactions are final and cannot be contested by a customer later on. For instance, if he or she didn’t enjoy the services you provided, they cannot dispute the payment. If your business is struggling with customers disputing their credit card payments, then switching to bitcoin will be helpful.

5. Great investment opportunity

If you are an investor then you can make money with bitcoin by investing in its value. Just like other currencies, bitcoin fluctuates in value. However, note that it is less stable than gold and other communities and its value fluctuates a lot.

In some cases, fluctuation can be a drawback of accepting bitcoin but as an investment, it has a large upside.

We recommend that you consider bitcoin for your small business as its advantages outweigh its cons to a great extent.