WE need broadband in the Philippines. Cyber-Ed is simply abstract for a country who can’t even fulfill its constitutional duty to educate all citizens.
But my question is? Why pay a hefty fee to the Chinese when our own engineers and scientists can solve the problem of connectivity. All they need is a budget. Why spend billions for the Chinese when a hundred million would suffice? A billion spent on research and development within the Philippines itself will give us a return several thousand times that.
Even if the research fails in the end we could always get something out of it, precious knowledge that we will never get by outsourcing projects. In short, I don’t trust politicians and high-powered wheelers and dealers. In my opinion, they make a potentially strong country weak and a potentially rich country poor.
But I trust our engineers and scientists. This is where I want my taxes to go, to Filipino researchers and innovators, not to cheating politicians and rich boys with comb overs. This is my money, our money, not their money.
– Brian Brotarlo, Iloilo City, Philippines (via e-mail)
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February 9th, 2008 at 7:30 am
I have been visiting this site a lot lately, so i thought it is a good idea to show my appreciation with a comment.
Thanks,
Jim Mirkalami
October 9th, 2007 at 9:31 am
have we looked at the education stats before planning such program of wiring our public schools. kulang pa ang classrooms, kulang pa ang teachers, wala pa ngang textbooks yung nakakaraming estudyante, ni walang maupuan yung iba, walang kuryente sa mga liblib na barangay, nbi hindi marunong ng computer anf maraming guro, paano na yun?
tsaka bakit kailangan ibang bansa pa ang makinabang dito, hindi ba kaya ng mga engineers natin at ISPs?
October 5th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
About the ZTE / NBN deal
basically did the Filipino people avoid wasting its bloodsweat&tears taxes on something which reportedly almost 50% represents datung for the voys en gyrl
should we Pinoys not demand a clear legal result (better laws) so as to avoid similar adventurism in the future hence the legislators should make laws and its penal sanctions much more stringent and foolery and corrupt proof
SHOULD WE NOT DEMAND FROM THE PRESIDENT THAT THOSE WHO PLANNED AND EXECUTED THIS INTENT BE PUNISHED UNDER WHATEVER LAW SO AS TO PUT FEAR INTO THE NEXT GENTLEMAN WHO PLANS TO DO SAME
KAWAWA NAMAN AND MGA DE SUWELDO BAYAD NG BAYAD NG TAXES PARA MAY MAPAGLARUAN NG MGA POLITICO
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Senate to continue with ZTE hearings–Cayetano
Many Filipino political observers think that investigations into the aborted ZTE-NBN deal should really be pursued and criminal charges (mukhang guilty, kasi) be made. Let’s find the bridge first and cross it. As I understand from media reports, the original documents related to the deal were either lost or stolen. Let’s say lost because if stolen means we have a thief that nobody probably can name.
In place of the original documents are “RECONSTITUTED” versions that have surfaced. Jacking up figures by some 30 - 40% will easily show- SOLID PROOF- in papers. They cannot be hidden under careful scrutiny. Whatever is the result of the investigations; will the reconstituted papers stand and hold water in court, if used as evidence, should charges be filed? If positive, I guess one of the fall-back positions of those in the defense is that they approved the deal without any idea that they were highly overpriced (as presently assumed). To admit ineptitude who do not deserve to be in office but not plunderers that should land in jail.
Documents to some reported P42 billion PhP transactions got easily lost? I guess somebody must have tossed it idly aside in some office where a rat had chanced upon it. What an expensive nest they must have built! Smartest kind of rat, too, I should say.
October 1st, 2007 at 10:24 pm
ZTE-NBN & DepEd deals that were supposed to cost the Filipino nation some 42 billion pesos in principal(s) alone were reportedly cancelled by Malacañang. Setting aside the programs may be a fine way of putting things as modernization, I think, will always be a need.
Even though there is no more ZTE deal to talk about maybe we should go back to some meat in them. Considering that the Philippines is a very poor country deep in foreign debts, my personal opinion of the deals is that they were over-ambitious and preposterous, asides to their questionable (at such grand scale) sustainability (as I.T. equipments are consumables). Soundness of government priorities has also been put to question.
People need more classrooms and teachers. In urban centers, classrooms are normally over packed affecting quality of education. In provinces, where less children go to school, there are places where sharing room by different grades and teachers still exist. Like, one class is faced one way while the other faces another way. Or, where shortage is both classroom and teacher, one class does assignment while teacher discuss with another, juggling both. There has been a perennial backlog of needed classrooms. Many schools do not have electricity.
Back to ZTE-NBN controversies, what good are the talks in there now that the deals no longer exist?
COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos has announced his resignation today, October 2, 2007. What and who Congressmen Rolex Suplico, Teddy Caseño or Philippine Congress has to impeach now that Chairman Abalos has resigned? Maybe they can use their axe on somebody come another day but surely not today.
What would be the criminal charge or charges against Mr. Abalos, if any, now? Dreaming with others to plunder the nation? Plotting with others in a dream to plunder the nation? Is there a crime of frustrated plunder?
I agree with everybody regarding the seriousness of the whole controversy. Has anybody proof about conspiracy to commit crime; or, maybe more than that? Baka sakali. Whatever, I believe Filipinos are learning many lessons from these ZTE controversies.
Rodolfo T. Jardiolin, (Mason-Carpenter)
Metro Manila, Philippines