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Roxas seeks strict sugar price monitoring

Consumers should refrain from engaging in panic buying and government must enforce a stricter and inflexible monitoring policy to address the worsening sugar crisis, Sen. Mar Roxas Tuesday said.

Roxas, Liberal Party president and vice presidential candidate, said that in his experience as secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, prices go up further due to panic buying coupled with hoarding by abusive businessmen.

I will make sure that government will impose an iron hand against scrupulous businessmen who hide away their sugar reserves. At the same time, I am also appealing to the public to be calm and not to engage in panic buying, said the chairman of the Senate trade and commerce committee.

He said he would coordinate with the DTI on what steps it has taken to manage the sugar problem and discuss with trade officials what other measures could be taken to address the mess.

Roxas stressed government officials should have anticipated the situation following the escalation of the prices of basic commodities in the world market.

News reports indicate sugar prices have reached P60 per kilo over the weekend. An advisory from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, on the other hand, white sugar should only cost P52 per kilo and for brown sugar, P44 per kilo.

Noynoy-Mar, CVS top CC mock polls

The tandem of Senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas topped the presidential and vice presidential race while Asst. Secretary Cesar V. Sarmiento was the overwhelming choice for congressman in mock elections held Friday (Jan. 22) by 446 college students of the Catanduanes College in Virac.

Aquino, the Liberal Party’s standard bearer for president, got the nod of 148 respondents, followed by Estrada with 107 votes, and Villar with 106.

Roxas, Aquino’s running mate, got 194 votes as compared to Legarda’s 107. Estrada’s running mate Binay was third with 72.

In the congressional race, Sarmiento was a runaway winner with 225 votes. Wong and Verceles were second and third with 97 and 84, respectively.

In the gubernatorial race between incumbent Joseph Cua and his erstwhile friend, incumbent Congressman Joseph Santiago, which is expected to be closely fought in May, Cua got 286 as against Santiago’s 104.

Meanwhile, former Vice Gov. Vincent Villaluna edged out incumbent Vice Gov. Aquino , 147 – 138, while Baras Mayor Bong Teves got 102 votes in the race for vice governor, also to be tightly contested.

In the race for membership in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, PBM Edwin Tanael was on top in the East District while in the West District, PBM Shirley Araojo-Abundo got the highest vote.

Only the top three candidates in each post were taken into consideration.

The mock election, organized by the CC administration in coordination with the Supreme Student Government of the school, was conducted to determine who among the national and local candidates were the choices of the students of the province’s premier private tertiary institution. The 446 respondents were almost 50% of the college population.

SSG President Vince Tacorda said that the results basically reflected the youth vote in Catanduanes. He added that while there might have been some discrepancies in the results of the mock elections conducted in CSC sometime last year, it was because of the recent swing in youth voters’ sentiments after having heard and met the candidates, especially in the local posts.

Roxas wins youth vote: survey

Liberal Party vice presidential candidate and survey frontrunner Sen. Mar Roxas is clearly the choice of the youth, as shown by recent surveys held in various universities in the country, a press release from his office said.

Roxas had two-digit leads over his rivals in surveys conducted at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City; the Centro Escolar University in Malolos, Bulacan; the Holy Angels University in Pampanga; the Catanduanes College in Catanduanes, Nueva Ecija; and the Negros Oriental State University in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.

At the Negros Oriental State University, some 1,684 students or a rating of 49.17 percent picked Roxas in the survey done during the period December 7 to 11, 2009. Legarda got 22.68 percent and Binay, 15.5 percent. Lakas-Kampi-NUCD vice presidential candidate Edu Manzano’s name popped up with a rating of 12.65 percent.

In UP Diliman, the Visayan senator got 4,582 votes or a 40 percent rating in the survey conducted during the period December 8 to 11, 2009. Vice presidential bets Sen. Loren Legarda (NP-NPC) got a mere 13 percent while Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay (UNO-PMP) got 12 percent, the press release said.

Roxas got a high 56 percent rating in the January 15, 2010 survey conducted in CEU-Malolos. Legarda and Binay were tied at 13 percent.

Sixty-four percent or 3,688 of Holy Angels University students in Pampanga chose Roxas over Legarda, who only got 23 percent and Binay, with only 8 percent. The survey was done last January 13, the press release said.

At the Catanduanes College in Nueva Ecija, a survey conducted on January 22 showed Roxas getting a 44.17 percent rating (or 446 votes) while Legarda got 23.99 percent and Binay, 16.14 percent.

Roxas is running on a campaign for reforms and good governance alongside Liberal standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. He has pledged “not to steal” from the government and to open his bank accounts for public scrutiny once he wins in the May 10 national elections, the press release said.

The 52-year old senator gave up his presidential bid in September to give way to a public clamor for Aquino to run following the death of his mother, the late President Cory Aquino.

He is the author of Republic Act No. 9502, known as the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008, which made quality but affordable medicines more accessible to the people, the press release said.

He is hailed as the “Father of the BPO Industry” for pioneering the establishment of high-technology industry centers and the promotion of the business process outsourcing market in the Philippines, particularly call center operations.

From a mere 2000 jobs at the onset, the BPO industry now provides hundreds of thousands of jobs, putting the Philippines on the map as a major IT/BPO destination, the press release added.*

Netizens 'insert' own thoughts into Pimentel/Roxas exchange

“I’m sure that after your marriage, you had some insertions,” was Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.’s now infamous line to Senator Mar Roxas during Monday’s Senate plenary on the C-5 controversy. Was Senator Pimentel’s jab uncalled for?

Some saw humor in the situation. @MarcMiranda posited that the Senator’s comment was the effect of using too much hair dye, while @Cosan2010 called the plenary a real life teleserye and found it more entertaining than the reality show, Pinoy Big Brother.

But most found the comment inappropriate and offensive, with some even calling for the Senator’s suspension or retirement. Rock Ed Philippines Executive Director and avid Twitter user, @gangbadoy said, “I have no problem with raunchy humor on any given day. That certainly was not the proper forum to play the funny uncle card.” @shalum_u added, “Wit and humor have no place when used against a man trying to defend himself in a public forum.”

Still others chose to let the Senator’s statement slide. @LDrss tweeted, “We Filipinos are too sensitive about this stuff.” Meanwhile, @kayraymundo believed remarks like his should not be censored, adding, “Let the public hear Senators and their crass comments.”

Facebook user, Van Amelio Fudalan, offered another possible explanation for Senator Pimentel’s remarks – that perhaps Senator Pimentel meant his fellow Senator was taking good care of his wife. Fudalan gave the examples: “Mar inserts the straw [in] Korina's orange juice during breakfast,” or “Mar inserts his credit card [in] his wife’s wallet for her to go shopping,” as alternatives interpretations of the statement.

Whatever his intentions, Senator Pimentel sought to end the controversy and apologized for his comment. He offered the explanation that, “In the heat of the discussion, some of us tend to use words that are coarse and vulgar.” He added, "to those who I might have hurt in this Chamber by the use of intemperate language or unseemly expressions, I apologize and beg their forgiveness through you, Lord."

Mar Roxas now officially a Regal Baby!

They exude an aura of perfect bliss – that’s how they appeared when they arrived Wednesday at the dinner presscon hosted by Mother Lily at the Imperial Palace Suites. Sen. Mar Roxas (who presscon host and colleague Ricky Lo said is now officially a Regal Baby!) and his wife Korina, to say the least, were the epitome of a husband and wife who honor each other in every way they act or converse.

In the on-going political campaign, Korina said: “I step aside, I don’t make myself noticeable. I only do or participate in a way that Sen. Roxas would ask me to do.”

Asked what is her reaction or comment to the “insertion joke” of Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., Korina said: “I was not affected at all! I didn’t feel offended. The apology has also no effect on me. What Sen. Pimentel said does not really matter. I just relax.”

As one of the country’s top broadcasters, Korina was used to meeting deadlines hour-on-the-hour. “Since I got married, I have to make a lot of adjustments. Without meeting any deadline now, I feel there was a vacuum in my life, and my body seems to yearn for those hectic schedules. Now I can drink my coffee leisurely in the morning, and I can even wake up late.”

Mother Lily opened the presscon by saying, with an apology to Korina, “that it was love at first sight for me and Mar Roxas.”

Mother Lily explained, “When I first met the young Mar, he readily impressed me with his candid charm and brilliant mind. I know he comes from a reputable family. Both the Aranetas and the Roxases are highly regarded clans.”

Mar’s father, Gerry Roxas was a respected senator, while grandfather, Manuel A. Roxas, was the country’s first president.

Mother Lily added: “I am very happy that Mar is continuing the legacy of his dad and lolo to serve the country. From the time Mar became a congressman, I never doubted his ability to lead and his genuine desire to serve the people.”

Mar’s uncle, George Araneta, is the wedding godfather of Mother Lily’s son Dondon.

“I did not think twice about supporting Mar because I believe in his ideals, his decisions, his vision. He committed himself to education, trade and industry, consumer welfare, the media, giving jobs to the unemployed and many more.

“I trust Mar to also continue supporting local showbiz, so we can uplift the status of Philippine entertainment industry."

In response, Mar vowed not to disappoint Mother Lily! Mar, as everyone knows, is running for the vice presidency of the country, with Noynoy Aquino as the presidential standard bearer for the Liberal Party.

On the local movie industry, Sen. Roxas observed that the only remaining semblance of the industry is the annual Metro Manila Film Festival. Otherwise, the local movie industry is practically non-existent already.

“I don’t promise I can solve the ailments of the local movie industry,” Sen. Roxas stressed. “But there are still some measures that can be undertaken to promote and develop further the local movie industry. A delivery mechanism must be developed.”

He observed that the marketing of local films are still within the country, as it was in the past years or decades. The marketability of local films must be doubled, tripled, or through a delivery mechanism that a movie can be sold several times over.

A Tagalog movie is only sold to Tagalog audiences, because it is produced with Tagalog as its sound track. “But when it is dubbed into or with subtitles in other languages or dialects, the market for that particular movie is doubled or multiplied,” Sen. Roxas said.

Korean telenovelas, dubbed in Tagalog, have been long being shown in the Philippines. But why not also dubbed in Korean our telenovelas or movies? He asked.

Sen. Roxas expressed belief that a mechanism of delivery is one great factor that will sell our movies abroad – in fact – in the entire world, so to speak.”