Hay, si Zubiri nga naman oh. (tgsh!)

I believe that education should be given a lot of importance. I admit that I find the system of Education deteriorating in terms of standards. The sad thing is that the students come 2010 will be greatly affected by this.

On Media, I think Media practitioners by that time (and that includes YOU) should be treated more respect and more security. They are already risking their lives getting the most important scoop everyday of their lives, and yet they are killed for reasons only the detractors know.

On JPEPA, it should be discontinued!

However, economic principles aside, there is a political issue behind our oil, don’t you remember? There’s the cartel, and even if the oil companies or the government doesn’t admit it, it’s obvious that it’s there. And you cannot discount the fact that that cartel controls the price of our oil, and, subsequently, our other commodities.

Without the Oil Deregulation law, there will be no cartel. And you know what? The government right now is part of that cartel, because it owns shares in Petron.

Re:Nuclear Energy I agree with you on that one. Although like you’ve said, extensive research talaga, looking into the intricacies of nuclear power to make sure that it’ll be safe, cost-effective and not counter-productive.

Thanks for sharing, Gian!

I believe (and a very limited one at that) na it’s OK to explore these possibilities and eventually implement it pero extensive research should be done first. Sabi sa nabasa ko (I really can’t remember where) that, even if PGMA approves the use of nuclear energy now, it will take at least 15 years before we can have a fully functional plant.

Many people are afraid na baka mangyari ulit yung nangyaring meltdown sa Chernobyl but what they do not realize is that the Chernobyl plants were made out of Soviet Union engineering and not the kind of nuclear technology we have today. Marami nang gumagamit nito. We can never be 100% sure, though, kaya kailangan talaga ng extensive studies.

Oil is one of the commodities whose price you should never control. Oil price is unstable because of external factors like the weakening American economy, rising demand in India and China, and the strife in Nigeria (a major oil producer in Africa), among others. It is so volatile that some speculate that it may reach $200 a barrel by the end of the year.

Mas lalo na sa Pilipinas. Unfortunately, we import our oil. I think, unless I am mistaken or not updated anymore, 99% of our energy needs are derived from foreign sources. If we regulate the price of oil in this country and not let the market go its own way, there is a chance (I sound so pro-capitalism when I say this haha) that many oil companies, especially the smaller ones, will go bankrupt or, at least, cut on supplies, because of the lack of autonomy. If they go bankrupt or cut up on oil supplies, an energy crisis will occur. If an energy crisis occurs, supplies of other basic commodities like electricity, water, food, and others will go down. When the supplies go down and the demand does not go down with it, prices will go up, so says the textbook formula. Prices will spiral up and we’ll suffer more. A pretty pessimist outlook, I know, but would you like that?

I am aware that the present hike in oil prices is taking its toll on our economy. But we are not the only one ssuffering. Unfortunately for us, we do not have any ’say’ over the matter as we are only depending on them.

What we can do to reduce the effects of the rising oil costs is, again, looking for alternative sources of energy. Regarding the Biofuels thing: Probably the government got its model from the Brazilian ethanol project. One can argue, however, that they have the luxury of land space to keep this project going. I dunno. I cannot decide for myself if it is really worth it.