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Friday, June 13, 2008 |
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EDITORIALS
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Unliquidated cash advances
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You’re a government official or head of a public agency who
received advanced money for a trip, a workshop or a similar official
activity. You are supposed to account for it or “liquidate” it
on the completion of the project, right? Not if you are a Filipino
bureaucrat or lawmaker. You take your time explaining how you spent
every centavo. Or you don’t submit any liquidation report at all.
The government owes Filipino taxpayers billions
in unliquidated cash advances, about P4.8 billion in 2005. The
Executive and the Legislative are notorious for receiving billions
and not liquidating them or returning unspent amounts. The
Commission on Audit reported last month, according to a PCIJ special
report, that the Office of the President as of 2007 had millions of
unliquidated cash advances related to official travel, donations and
loans. The Executive Secretary said the expenses were justified and
legal; the Palace was meeting the requirements of COA.
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 Full
Story>>
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O T H E R C O L U M N S A
N D F E A T U R E S
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BIG DEAL
By Dan Mariano
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Woman power at UP Los
Baños
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Next year the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB)
will mark its 100th anniversary. An autonomous constituent
university of the UP System, UPLB was founded by botanist and
agriculturist Edwin Copeland on March 6, 1909 as the College of
Agriculture, one of the first two units of UP, which the Americans
had established a year earlier in Manila.
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HEADS
UP
By Joel P. Palacios
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No need to open
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It’s weird that people of stature don’t open their mouths when
they should. But don’t be misled and think that they’re shy
because they’re not. In fact, if you turn your back at them as you
speak, they would prattle.
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Full
Story>>
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ENTHUSIASMS
& FOREBODINGS
By Rene Q. Bas
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Do you really care
what happens to Ces Drilon?
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THE media kept the news about Ces Drilon’s kidnapping for a day
and then muffled it. This was mainly because we care. Ces is a
co-worker and an outstanding one at that.
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Full
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YOUTHOPIA
By Marylaine Louise Viernes
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Saving a soul or two
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You don’t need statistics to show you that the quality of our
current educational system, especially in the public schools is
disappointing. As a degree and license holder in Education, I have
found this rather degrading.
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Full
Story>>
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DEVELOPMENT
DIALOGUE
By Nora O. Gamolo
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Resurrecting agrarian
reform
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Discordant notes have been heard in recent days about the
resurrection of the agrarian reform program. At least 35 bishops and
several peasant support groups asked in May to extend it.
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Story>>
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AMBIENT
VOICES
By Ma. Isabel Ongpin
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Kingdom of Darkness
in Intramuros
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As it turns out, the Intramuros area of Manila is a Kingdom of
Darkness. There are overlords there who are above the law, hidden
from the law or lawless. Intramuros Administrator Ana Maria
“Bambi” Harper has found this out not at leisure but under
threat of her life.
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Full
Story>>
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