The major news reported in the media this past week had to do with numbers: the cornucopia of bonuses and other perks for directors of the MWSS and other GOCCs; the multi-million return if one exercised stock options one received by sitting in the board of certain commercial companies as a nominee of GOCCs; the huge deficit of about P2 billion in the books of the PCSO; the gargantuan amount of PAG-IBIG funds which have been funneled into the coffers of the Globe Asiatique, a home development company. To be fair, these transactions have not been definitely established as anomalous in the legal sense but how else can should we think of bonuses that are given 33 times in one year? This comes down to bonuses at least twice a month, plus some. This generosity to the MWSS board is outstandingly generous, especially since this same MWSS board has not been able to improve the service to its numerous subscribers.

Our President, Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III did the Filipino people a “major major” favor by accepting full responsibility of the bungled hostage taking as our sovereignty as a nation was affected, since the hostages were foreigners.

POSTPONEMENT OF SINGSON HK ARRAIGNMENT SMART LEGAL MOVE: I am prone to think that the postponement of the arraignment of Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson over illegal drugs charges before a Hong Kong court to October 19, 2010 was a smart legal maneuver to shield the lawmaker from the raging resentment of Hong Kongers against Filipinos in connection with the August 23, 2010 Luneta tragedy.

Three members of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1977 are looming to replace Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa whose early retirement was approved by President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant, is calling for the installation of weight bridges in major seaports to ensure that cargoes being loaded to vessels are evenly distributed to avoid tilting of vessels during voyage.

Airport runway upgrades completed in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, and Jolo, Sulu, through a U.S.-Philippines partnership has led to the establishment of new commercial flights between those provincial capitals and this city.

The administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III could benefit from pursuing public-private partnerships (PPP) through the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to boost the coffers of the cash-strapped government, BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Narciso Abaya said yesterday.

SINGAPORE — The economic recovery has caused Asian consumers to loosen their purse strings and splurge on big ticket items in home technology, local TV broadcaster Channel NewsAsia reported Monday.

Bids for the one-year Treasury bill (T-bill) reached almost six times the P3.5 billion offering of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) Monday on account of continued low inflation environment.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the number of remittance conduits patronized by Filipino workers overseas around the world rose 16.6 percent in the first half of this year, helping make possible substantially lower remittance charges averaging only one percent up to 2.5 percent of the amount sent to beneficiaries in the Philippines.

Police Supt. Orlando Yebra, who was the chief negotiator in the Quirino Grandstand hostage-taking incident, on Monday told the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIR) that the Philippine National Police (PNP) has no official negotiation team.

As the House committee on appropriations continue its budget hearing on Monday for the proposed P1.645 trillion national budget for 2011, lawmakers expressed support to increase the budget of the judiciary and the Supreme Court.

To reduce further the cost of electricity, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has asked Congress to enact a law reducing the tax or royalty on the use of indigenous energy resources in the generation of electricity.

In order to declog the courts of cases which have been dragging on for years, Senator Francis Escudero filed Senate Bill No. 2113 (SBN 2113) that would penalize any public employee who fails to appear and testify in any criminal proceedings.

Silsilah Forum-Pagadian successfully organized an orientation on the Harmony Chain Initiative (HCI) for some 50 faculty members and students of Zamboanga del Sur National High School in Pagadian City on September 3, 2010. This is one of the series of activities that the forum of Pagadian will undertake, with the support of Silsilah Dialogue Movement (SDM) in Zamboanga City. Three (3) of the SDM staff in Zamboanga were invited - Norbert Solina, Aldamir Abdulkahal and Cristina Beltran - to share their dialogue experiences of Muslim-Christian relations, about the Harmony Chain Initiative, and about Silsilah in general.