Execs should earn their pay

In the wake of PNoy's challenge to the MWSS board to resign over their excessive pay, Congress will investigate the salaries and allowances of other executives of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs). Pnoy himself has gone easy on the highly paid execs since his Sona, but the Inquirer picked up a COA report, prompting the Senate/Congress to start the circus of investigations.

I think PNoy has no beef against the seemingly high pay. It's just that he cannot put his trusted men into  high-paying government jobs. His predecessor has stuffed them with her appointees. That is PNoy's concern. How can he run his program of government if he can't trust the men in those agencies?

Can the execs get away with their pay? There's no problem with their pay, they earned it. The problem lies if they're midnight appointees without the requisite qualifications for the job; and if their agency does not contribute at all to the government coffers.

	MWSS	Central Bank
function	regulates Metro Manila water concessionnaires Maynilad and Manila Water	the nation's central monetary authority, provides policy directions in the areas of money, banking and credit; supervises operations of banks and financial institutions
board members	an unqualified GMA midnight appointee; a brother of a former witness against Mike Arroyo; other friends of GMA	respected people in the financial circles, qualified career service executives
what could be PNoy's beef	he cannot put his trusted men in	-
can PNoy still put his trusted men in the board?	not until they resign or their term expires	PNoy has appointed 1 (DoF Sec. Purisima)
declared dividends to the government	P53M in 2002; P65M in 2003; P131 M in 2006 (anywhere from 5%-50% of net income)	P4.5 Billion in July 2010; P60 Billion since 1993

Now, why are GSIS officials not in the COA report? I suspect COA has not completed its audit of the GSIS, hence they don't appear anywhere in the report. But it is well known that GSIS officials are the highest paid execs. It's chairman is rumored to command close to P10M in salaries alone. COA was booted out of its office space in the GSIS when they called for the Ombudsman to probe irregularities in the agency.

Hopeless Pagasa XXII

Pnoy kicked upstairs the Pagasa director. Technically, Prisco Nilo was not sacked. He was even named to head an office of special studies. But quicker than Pagasa can declare a storm, Pnoy critics decried the relief order, citing the poor equipment that the agency has as the culprit for the bad forecasts.

I do not know what Pnoy critics want. I think they are not really concerned with Nilo being retained at Pagasa. I think they support Nilo now because deep inside they are truly Pnoy bashers.

I am sure everyone wants better performance from the weather agency. Would the Pnoy critics (and Nilo supporters) rather have the same setup? And thus the same performance? They received a tongue lashing a month ago but there is no indication that things will be better. The forecast for the Sona was again way off.

I am sure Nilo is a dedicated weather man. I'm sure their equipment is antiquated. Pnoy is sure there is somebody who can make use of the existing equipment and churn better forecasts. It may be Nilo himself. After he leads a study of why Pagasa failed in the past.

My women's tennis album - August 2010

White hair chronicles XXXI - White hair is in

Early this year, more mature models starred at previews of fall fashion - chic, retro styles. Consider this line up in recent fashion shows: 45 year old and grey haired Kristen McMenamy; '90s models and now mothers – Stella Tennant and Kirsty Hume; 47-year-old Elle Macpherson. We also still see other models like 41-year-old Christy Turlington and 39-year-old Claudia Schiffer in print ads.

Now Kristen McMenamy appears on the cover of a magazine with her striking silver locks proudly on display. She stopped dying her hair six years ago and will flaunt her tresses in the August issue of Vogue. She says 'You can get older and still be rock 'n' roll. I thought all that grey hair would make a beautiful picture.'

Younger celebrities have gone grey too. Lady Gaga, Kelly Osbourne, Kate Moss, Pixie Geldof and Pink sport silver locks, aided by hair dye.

White hair chronicles XXX - The Youth Pill: Scientists at the Brink of an Anti-Aging Revolution

David Stipp's The Youth Pill is now a hot topic. Much more so, I guess, in the health, wellness and ageing conscious age bracket of white hair chroniclers. Stipp says “Gerontologists sense that their field is finally in a position to develop medicines that truly slow aging. This book is the story of how it all happened”.

From Gilgamesh to Ponce de Leon to modern day Belo clients, man has always been on the lookout to forestall the inevitable. Stipp's book chronicles the advances made by science in the study of ageing.

Lab tests show that giving near-starvation diets to lab animals can extend their lifespans by 40% or more. In human terms, our lifespan could reach 150 years. Stipp theorizes that low-calorie diets activate genes designed to help animals endure hard times, which boost cellular repair mechanisms. Proponents of this theory are searching for drugs that can produce these effects without years of non-stop dieting. The new science gives hope to some white hair chroniclers that these advances could indeed lead to increased longevity.