772K teachers stranded in deadend positions for lack of higher ranks

05 October 2019, Comment are Off
Nearly 772,000 public teachers are faced with a career roadblock because of a curable problem in the DepEd plantilla system. Many are stranded for years, or even forever, in deadend positions where promotion is delayed or impossible because of missing rungs in the DepEd career...

Thousands of college students face forced vacation due to P11.6-B cut in CHED budget

04 October 2019, Comment are Off
Delikadong ma-endo ang pag-aaral ng daan-daang libong mga estudyante sa kolehiyo kung matutuloy ang balak na tapyasan ng P11.6 bilyon ang budget ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED) para sa taong 2020. Instead of diplomas, government will be handing out dismissal slips. The...

PGH to get P456 M budget cut, unless Senate, House restore it

30 September 2019, Comment are Off
Funding for the Philippine General Hospital is the national barometer of our health priorities. It is the national hospital, so the money it gets from the government reflects the importance government gives to health. But for 2020, PGH will be getting a P456 million budget cut....

2/3 cut in hospital equipment funds must be restored

29 September 2019, Comment are Off
Ang Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) ang gamot sa kulang at bulok na mga pasilidad sa mga pampublikong pagamutan. Sa taong kasalukuyan, ang budget ng HFEP ay P15.9 billion. Ngunit magkano ang nireseta ng DBM para sa HFEP sa 2020? P5.9 billion. Two-thirds ang kinaltas....

‘Time to end the national bad habit of frequently scrapping brgy polls’

27 September 2019, Comment are Off
We have postponed the barangay elections six times since 1988. The proposed scrapping of the one scheduled in May 2020 will be the 7th. If it pushes through, it will be the 3rd under the Duterte administration, and the first three-peat of its kind in history. House and Senate...

DOH shortchanged of P28.3 B in sin tax shares

26 September 2019, Comment are Off
The Department of Health and PhilHealth should not be begging for funds. They should automatically be getting what is due them from the TRAIN Law. But for 2020, the two agencies’ sin tax dividends are P28.3 billion short of what Republic Act 11346 guarantees. This results in...

‘P3 M to produce 1 PMA grad, P507K for UP’

24 September 2019, Comment are Off
PMA cadets are “Iskolars ng Bayan” too, whose studies are shouldered by taxpayers. In fact, on a per student subsidy, they occupy the top tier in the country’s million-plus public college student population. Using the previous four years’ appropriations and reported number of...

P7.4 B science scholarship budget to include 1,927 PhD, 4,264 MA students

22 September 2019, Comment are Off
Government will be funding the studies of 44,475 science scholars next year – including 1,927 in PhD and 4,264 in Masters programs – as part of the “national talent pool the country needs to win the future,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said. The 2020 cost of the...