Broken

When the Philippine peso slumped to its lowest value in seven years to P48.41 to a US dollar last Monday, I was a bit worried. How can the new President have caused the fall in such a short span of time? Media has created this ripple effect of Duterte bashers and has exaggerated to the point of being inaccurate.  So, I had to know more about this looming financial crisis in the country.  So lo and behold, as I began to read more about the currency crisis, I found out that this crisis is not a localized one but a global one.

The Business Insider reported a few days ago that: European bank stocks are in the red amid fears of a collapse of the Deutsche Bank; the Swiss currency is down by 0.8% at 0.9736 per dollar; the Japanese yen is down 0.2% at 101.19 per dollar after consumer prices in Japan dropped for the sixth straight month; the British pound is little changed at 1.2976 against the dollar after the UK’s economy expanded by 0.7% quarter-over-quarter in the second quarter; the Russian ruble is down by 0.2% at 63.1807 per dollar.

The Wall Street Journal wrote: Currencies across Asia fall sharply against US dollar; Yuan’s depreciation is largest since January; Singapore central bank eases policy to spur growth as the dollar fell by the most within a day this year; meanwhile, the South Korean won weakened after the ruling party lost its parliamentary majority; Asian currencies had firmed up against the greenback in recent weeks, partly thanks to the Federal Reserve having signaled it would raise interest rates at a slower rate this year than previously expected; Economic policy makers from the Group of 20 nations had pledged at a meeting in February to avoid sparking a currency war through competitive devaluation.

Louis Kuijs of the CFO Innovation, an online publication exclusively for top-level finance managers in the corporate sector in Asia and China in his article Forecasting the Yen, Yuan, Rupee, Rupiah, HKD, SGD and Other Asian Currencies wrote, “Asian currencies have generally depreciated significantly versus the US dollar since mid-2014. Looking ahead, we expect them to weaken further through to mid-2017 amid US Fed interest rate increases. But after that, in the medium term, we forecast most Asian currencies to appreciate versus the US dollar as improving economic growth attracts equity flows while, in the background, productivity-based trend appreciation of the real exchange rate takes place.”

The report also states that Asian exchange rates depreciated significantly versus the US dollar between end-July 2014 and end-January 2016. The weakening ranged from 2.9% in Vietnam and 6.1% in China to 23.9% in Australia, with most Asian currencies falling 10-15% versus the US dollar.

As Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said, “the peso sank not because of President Duterte but as a result of the impending increase in interest rates in the US by the Federal Reserve.”

In these very confusing times, we must always verify the news we read and hear. We must create more sources of information so as not to be swayed by a possible political partisan campaign to demolish the president; a strategic plan by foreign countries to keep us in toe; or a move by some kind of UFO (unidentified flying object) to keep us as their subject.

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Now, let’s talk to about Senator De Lima.  Her outburst last week clearly tells us that she is broken.  She may look hard in the outside but obviously she is cracking and the soft yellow part in her is yoking. This highly charged political drama may continue to become the longest teleserye in political history because the new administration will not budge. They seem to be determined to get down to the truth and by doing so will reveal the dearth in government. Now let me warn this new administration to straighten up as well. There is no room for any corruption if you want to play tough. If you seek the truth and want justice to be done to such corrupt men in power, you should lead by example.  I am giving this administration time and the utter respect (just like I did for the previous one) but if push comes to shove and termites start to show up then clearly this administration would be another basket case.

Anyway, going back to De Lima, I think it is foul for the lawmakers to make a big deal of her alleged sex video.  If they need to watch it then they can do it in private but not make a mockery of it. Susmariosep! Senator Leila de Lima should be held accountable for the inefficiencies of her office when she was the DOJ secretary adding to the bad state of correctional institutions in the country particularly the New Bilibid Prison. But I think that the plan of the House in planning to show this video is way, way too much. In a civil society the objective is to discuss and argue about issues or problems but not to personally attack a person to the point of causing her breakdown. That is inhuman. In De Lima’s case, it can be called misogyny, too much prejudice against women.

I also cannot see how this sex video can promote truth and justice in a congressional inquiry. As a matter of fact this will cause more harm to the institution that is Congress. What a blatant display of disrespect! It is actually illegal. It is a violation of RA 9995 or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009, the law that both the House and the Senate passed. Sanamagan! Where, when and how will this tele-serye end? I suggest De Lima should be accorded due process. I believe it is time for arrests to be made. Give them a day in court. And if proven guilty, put them all in prison.

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The landscape of Philippine politics will never be the same again without Miriam Defensor Santiago. She was the life of every debate. She was one of the few politicians everybody listened to because of her intelligence. She was a vocal critic of the many administrations. She was known for her feisty character. She could have been our president had things worked out in her favor. She was one of a kind.

My dad admired Miriam’s brilliance, and her gutsiness, but he also said that her tongue is too barbed and indiscriminate. She actually reminds me of President Duterte. Since he took office he has been throwing expletives all over the place to emphasize a point or express his disgust or disappointment about how things are and how things should be. He does not care about protocols and respect for the high and mighty. He speaks his mind with conviction.

It is the same with Miriam. She does not mince words. She speaks her mind no matter what the consequences are, for consequences did not bother her at all. She gained enemies because of what she says and what she believes in. She fears no one for she knows that she is on the right side of things. She laughs at the idiosyncrasies of her colleagues and shrugs off what people think and say of her. She is made of steel.

She is the female version of our president.

Now, the lights have turned off on her. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Her death will always remind us that our life on earth is very short. She did her part, she fell once and stood right back and kept on putting us back on track with her wit and candor. Rest in peace, Senator Miriam Santiago.