Filipino math whiz kids take Australia by storm

By MADEL R. SABATER

MANILA, Philippines -- Malacanang on Wednesday lauded Filipino math whiz kids who bagged awards and medals during the 2011 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC).

“We are proud to congratulate our Pinoy Math whiz kids for their recent achievements in the 2011 Australian Mathematics Competition,” Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday.

Valte said the recent achievements of these young Filipino math wizards “are testaments to the well-rounded and world-class talent of the Filipino.”

“They, and the many others who have excelled in numerous fields, assure us of our nation’s bright future,” she said.

Fourteen-year-old Adrian Reginal Sy, a freshman at the St. Jude Catholic School in Manila has garnered a perfect score in the competition while 60 other Filipino students placed in the top two percent of the 300,000 participants of the AMC.

Aside from garnering a perfect score in the competition, Sy also bagged the Peter O’ Halloran Certificate, the highest award in the AMC.

Other perfect scorers were from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and China.

Math competitions like the AMC is envisioned to prepare more Filipino  students gifted in Mathematics to consider taking up science, engineering or mathematics careers in the future.

This would further beef up the scientific community’s manpower and replace those who have retired or sought greener pastures abroad.

Centralized gov’t payroll exorcises ‘ghosts’

By Ronnel W. Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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MALACAÑANG has called in the ghostbusters to rid the government books of fund-sucking phantom personnel and spectral spending, a move that could well result in “billions of pesos in savings,” according to Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad.

According to Abad, one of the ways the ghosts can be busted is by cutting short the money trail when making salary payments, mainly through a centralized payroll system for the national government.

“By the end of next year, employees of the executive branch, including policemen and soldiers, will receive their salaries in their bank accounts directly from the Treasury,” he told reporters and editors at dinner at the Inquirer on Thursday night.

The budget chief said this will address fund leakage problems related to compensation, including the nonremittance of premiums to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the state-run pension fund for government workers.

According to Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data, the national government has almost a million employees.

“Before this and for the longest time, the DBM had no record of how many employees we are paying,” said Abad.

AFP, PNP cooperating

Abad said the government was finally able to make the shift in the way state salaries are paid out largely because it was finally able to get the cooperation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The biggest chunk of the government’s workforce is in the Department of Education (DepEd) at about 579,000, but data on DepEd is relatively easy to get hold of compared to that of the uniformed services, said Abad.

There are currently 146,000 people working for the PNP and 125,000 for the AFP.

According to Abad, the PNP and the AFP had previously “refused to provide us data so we could not put up a government manpower inventory system that we badly need.”

“Because of that, salaries come through each agency, but we want to change that,” he said.

Instead of the current system, the DBM will just authorize the release of salary funds and the agencies will only have to prepare the payroll, he said.

“We will work with the Civil Service Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue and GSIS to come up with a single roster of employees. That way we can check if the numbers add up,” Abad said.

“We can save potentially billions of pesos and put an end to ghost employees,” the budget secretary said.

Cashless procurement

He said the government will also be pilot-testing a cashless procurement system where the AFP will use debit cards when purchasing supplies.

The debit cards, which may be issued to a responsible officer, will come with a set list of authorized items for purchase aside from the authorized amount of credit.

“We will do this with the AFP and the Commission on Audit,” Abad said.

He said this will address the long-tolerated practice of “converting” the use of funds, which thrives in the current system where expenses are covered by cash advances.

“With that system that covered 46 percent of military spending, we don’t know where the money comes from and where it goes,” Abad said.

Gov’t supply depots

“This time, we will be using government-run supply depots,” he said.

This has been made possible with Administrative Order No. 17 issued last July, which directs the use of the government procurement service and electronic procurement system.

Abad said the DepEd is already using the depots which are scattered in the regions to buy teaching supplies.

The Army also now buys soldier’s boots from such depots, he said.

“With this system, there is no need for bidding because you are purchasing from the government itself at prices that are 39 percent less (than from private-sector suppliers),” he said.

“More importantly, government officials’ need to hold money will be less and less,” he added.

Cyber critics: ‘Batangas-wood’ topples DPWH’s ‘The Inspectors’ Or how 'Ate Vi na walang malay' woke up with a real nightmare

By: Totel V. de Jesus
INQUIRER.net

3:58 am | Friday, October 21st, 2011

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MANILA, Philippines—Public officials nowadays should be careful of their actions and fear not only activists, incorruptible newspaper columnists and television-radio commentators. Here are the ultra-creative cyber critics—mostly anonymous—ready to crucify them with a little help from Photoshop.

Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto, Vice Governor Mark Leviste II and the rest of the provincial board members are now hot targets in cyberspace after their proposed Hollywood-inspired erection of the word “BATANGAS” on one side of the world-famous Taal Volcano came out in the news.

A day after the photo and story appeared via INQUIRER.net and on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, it gathered thousands of reactions, ranging from the vicious —“stupid idea,” “waste of government money,” “visual pollution”— to the most hilarious, “Being an active volcano, why not put DANGER ZONE,” “Batangas has many letters, why not just put VILMA or ATE VI”.  (A famous actress before she became a public servant, Gov. Santos-Recto was “Ate Vi” to her fans.)

In several blogs, websites and Facebook accounts, different versions of the Hollywood-inspired sign have been as viral as the death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Among the witty entries is the famous line “Si Val na walang malay” (Val the innocent victim) from Gov. Santos-Recto’s hit movie in the late 1980s, “Saan Nagtatago Ang Pag-ibig?”

Vice Governor Leviste tried to answer the reactions of readers in the INQUIRER.net comments section, explaining that nothing is final yet and they were just gathering feedbacks from the public. He also wrote that it was he and the rest of the provincial board members who approved the proposal.

As of Friday early morning, the readers’ comments section of the first Inquirer news story had more than 51 pages with 500 entries and counting, had been “re-Tweeted” 4,450  times and was shared on Facebook more than 22,000 times.

This broke the record of the alleged “photoshopped” news release of three high-ranking officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways or what is now famously called “The Inspectors” posted at 9:37 pm, Thursday, September 29th, 2011, in the aftermath of Typhoon Pedring.  After three weeks on the Internet, the initial DPWH Inquirer story has been shared 14,000 times via Facebook.

Meanwhile, unless another group of government officials will come out soon with more “brilliant” projects, a barrage of delightful versions of “Batangaswood” are expected to come out in cyberspace in the following days.

Eruption of ridicule greets Batangas signage plan

By Bayani San Diego Jr., Jerome Balinton
Inquirer Southern Luzon, Philippine Daily Inquirer

2:32 am | Friday, October 21st, 2011

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SIGN(S) OFF Signs a’la f Hollywood Hills go viral on Thursday. Photos are from Facebook users Dennis Garcia, Peter Pinder, Macky Pamintuan, Chanot Cangao, Ryan Giron, Louie Aquino, and Hollywood Pilipinas Facebook Page.

It triggered an eruption of ridicule.

A plan to erect giant letters on Taal Volcano Island similar to the iconic “Hollywood” sign in Los Angeles, California, drew lava-hot criticism and Internet spoofs on Thursday, mostly directed at its proponent, the award-winning actress and Batangas Governor Vilma Santos.

Netizens with PhotoShop skills particularly feasted on the scheme, which was recently endorsed by the provincial council as a potential tourist attraction. The plan, according to Vice Governor Mark Leviste II, was to put up 14-meter-high letters spelling out  “BATANGAS” along the contours of the scenic volcano.

Taal Volcano, world-famous for its location within a freshwater lake, became a popular trending topic on Twitter and on Facebook pages, which mocked and rallied opposition to the plan.

Parodies quickly went viral: “Photos” of other famous Philippine landmarks marked with white, boldfaced nametags spread across the Web.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Santos on Thursday appealed to the public not to “overreact,” saying the plan was “not yet final” and still subject to consultations.

“It’s not as if it’s a done deal or there’s already an allocated budget for the construction. It was just a plan that was tackled in a meeting,” the governor said on the phone.

Horrific

But the firestorm has already started. Singer-composer Jim Paredes tweeted: “This is horrific. Vilma Santos et al, wake up!”

Controversial tourism and reproductive health advocate Carlos Celdran launched a Twitter campaign dubbed “NOtoBATANGAS sign.”

“Why spoil a natural beauty? Why the need to copy Hollywood? This is God-given natural beauty and nothing can be added to (further) beautify it,” a user named Glenn posted on the Inquirer website.

“I don’t see the logic. It will just destroy and cover the beauty of Taal itself,” said another reader.

Facebook user Bing Yenko Kasilag wrote: “NO NO NO TO THIS!!! Ate Vi, please leave Taal Volcano and the lake alone. Do not mar the natural beauty of the scenery. It doesn’t belong to Batangas alone but to the entire nation. Get rid of the all illegal fish pens instead.”

A newly opened Facebook group named “Hollywood Pilipinas” had one post that asked: “Why not just brand the whole country that way?”

Leviste on Wednesday said the Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved a resolution on October 5 supporting Santos’ idea.

He said having the sign would also assert the “identity” of Taal as part of Batangas and not of Tagaytay City, which has a thriving tourism industry owing to its spectacular view of the volcano and the lake. Tagaytay lies in the neighboring province of Cavite.

Tacky, a waste of taxes

Other netizens called the plan “ridiculous and tacky” and “a stupid, ugly and a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

Ivan Henares, vice president and trustee of Heritage Conservation Society, wondered on Twitter: “How could Taal Volcano be honored as a Unesco World Heritage site if it won’t be taken care of?”

And on his group’s Facebook page, Henares added: “It won’t stand a chance kung matuloy yan (if that plan pushes through).”

‘Don’t be personal’

In a statement addressed to critics and posted on INQUIRER.net, Leviste echoed Santos’ explanation, saying the provincial government was “still in the process of studying the idea.”

“I will welcome and appreciate any and all comments, ideas, suggestions even objections for as long as it is not personal.  Thank you!” said the vice governor.

“That’s why we conducted a public consultation/committee hearing regarding the proposed Batangas sign—to study all possibilities. We also informed the different government agencies about the said hearing so that we can record all their inputs,” he said.

Barrage of comments

Santos said she was greeted by a barrage of “negative comments on the Internet” when she woke up Thursday.

She said the proposal to put up a huge sign on the island had been discussed with the Protected Area and Management Board, which is tasked to oversee the lake and the volcano.

The board, Santos noted, included representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the private sector, fisherfolk organizations and the mayors of the towns surrounding Taal Lake.

In that meeting, various suggestions were made on how to best protect and promote Taal Lake as a provincial treasure. “We wanted a landmark that will identify Taal as part of Batangas,” she stressed.

But Santos said what was actually suggested was a sign that would read “Ala Eh”—a Batangueño expression—and not “Batangas.”

This was contrary to Leviste’s announcement, which was also reported on the website of the government-run Philippine Information Agency on Wednesday.

She said there had been a widespread misconception that Taal was part of Tagaytay since the latter offered “the best views of the lake and volcano.”

But again, she maintained, “we have to study the plan carefully and consult various government agencies, including the DENR and Phivolcs (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology) first.”

Fishkill aftermath

In the aftermath of the massive fishkill that hit Taal Lake earlier this year, the provincial government had been working double-time to come up with  “alternative livelihood projects for those who will be displaced by the closure of fishpens,” Santos said.

It was in this light that the idea of converting the lake into an ecotourism destination was brought up, she said. “Tourism would spell more jobs in the province.”

By reclaiming Taal Lake and Volcano as their own, “the people of Batangas will hopefully learn to cherish and protect it,” she said.

Santos said it also saddened her that the issue got blown out of proportion because of “politicking” and the noise it was generating could be used by her political opponents in time for the 2013 elections.

“Bahala sila sa buhay nila (Let them have their way). I have no time for politicking,” said the governor, who is on her second term and could still run for a third. “I’m not motivated by self-interest. I am just here to serve the people of Batangas the best way I can.”

Also, she said: “We are not fighting with the people of Tagaytay. There’s no bad blood between (its) Mayor Abraham Tolentino and Batangas. In case of a natural calamity, Tagaytay will be our partner in evacuating and saving our people.” With a report from Ana Roa, Inquirer Research