Are Filipinos satisfied with our democracy?

A SURVEY conducted by the Social Weather Stations in the fourth quarter of last year yielded a surprising result: 89 percent of the respondents said they are satisfi ed with the way democracy works in the country.

This figure is said to be 11 percent higher than the 78 percent in April 2021 and exceeded the previous record of 86 percent in September 2016.

But the survey group clarified that public satisfaction with the way democracy works in this country is closely related to the results of national elections.

circumstances, while 15 percent said that it personally “does not matter whether we have a democratic or a nondemocratic regime.” expression, and of the press.

This is what’s disturbing, since this demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of what democracy really means.

MeRA25 party failed to garner enough support to make it to parliament. Abstention fears unfounded

As the Sunday ballot was not expected to be decisive, many feared mass abstention. These concerns seemed vindicated when the first turnout was reported at just 31.5 percent of the electorate.

But in the end, nearly 61 percent of Greeks turned up to vote, higher than in 2019.

Greece is

Forgiving voters

Greece was swept by nationwide protests after 57 people died in a collision between two trains in February, the country’s worst rail disaster.

Rumored plans to hold the election in April were scrapped, the transport minister resigned, and Mitsotakis was forced to apologize for the poor state of the railway network.

The government was also under fire over a wire-tapping scandal implicating the state intelligence agency, which is overseen by Mitsotakis’ own office.

The head of the intelligence agency, and a nephew of Mitsotakis who was a top office aide, both resigned over the scandal.

But talk of retribution against the ruling party failed to materializse at

The SWS noted that “satisfaction with the way democracy works had peaks of 70 percent in September 1992; 70 percent in July 1998; 69 percent in September 2010; 86 percent in September 2016, and the current record of 89 percent in December 2022, related to the successful presidential elections of 1992, 1998, 2010, 2016, and 2022, respectively.”

The Ramos administration posted a high satisfaction rating of 70 percent at the start of its term in 1992 but dipped to a low of 46 percent in November 1994 before climbing up to 64 percent in December 1997.

The Estrada administration started with a satisfaction rating of 70 percent in July 1998 but this decreased to 47 percent in October 1999 and even lower to 42 percent in September 2000.

The Arroyo administration started with a 34 percent satisfaction rating in September 2001; this dropped to 28 percent in 2003 but increased to 47 percent in March 2010.

The Noynoy Aquino administration began with a high of 69 percent in September 2010 but ended with 80 percent in 2016.

The Duterte administration started with 86 percent in September 2016 but this dropped to 78 percent in April 2021.

The SWS said that based on their survey, two-thirds or 60 percent of Filipinos would choose democracy over other forms of government.

That’s reassuring, as this shows that the majority of Filipinos still adhere to democratic principles.

But 26 percent also said they would prefer authoritarianism under certain the ballot, where conservative voters re-elected Mitsotakis’ transport minister too.

Youth turn right

For months, it was widely expected that nearly 440,000 young voters taking

Corruption has become systemic and institutionalized, with both elective and appointed officials helping themselves to the public till and getting away with it

For where we sit, democracy means much more than having your favorite candidate win in an election, which is what the SWS survey result implies.

If your candidate wins, there’s democracy, if not, there’s no democracy, since in all likelihood, your candidate was cheated, or spent an inordinate and unconscionably huge sum of money for the campaign to win at all costs.

Genuinely free and fair elections where all candidates have an equal chance of winning public office, of course, is only one component of a real democracy.

Our Constitution contains an explicit provision prohibiting political dynasties, but left it to the lawmakers to decide to make themselves redundant.

The result, as we all know by now, is the proliferation of political dynasties in all regions from north to south and east to west, thus denying opportunities for access to opportunities for public service by those without money to burn in expensive electoral exercises.

There are others, perhaps equally important under a democratic system.

There should be full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

These include freedom of speech, of part in elections for the first time—some as young as 16—would side with the leftist party of Tsipras, 48.

Greece is struggling with high youth unemployment, and even those lucky enough to have a job barely earn enough

There should be no law abridging the right of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.

There should be an efficient, effective and equitable justice system. We do have a double standard of justice: one for the rich, another for the poor.

The rich and powerful can always get away with grand-scale theft of public funds or with murder most foul by hiring the best lawyers to extricate them from legal troubles.

The poor and the uneducated languish in prison because they have no money to defend them in a court of law.

There should be people’s participation in governance, with those in public office regularly consulting their constituents on issues that will affect them and their communities.

There should be a bottom-to-top approach to governance, rather than the top public officials making decisions by themselves without asking for suggestions or proposals from their constituents.

And there should be zero-tolerance for corruption.

We know where corruption exists in our government.

The problem is that the corruption has become systemic and institutionalized, with both elective and appointed officials helping themselves to the public till and getting away with it.

Wasn’t it Abraham Lincoln who defined the essence of democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people”?

But was it Al Smith, the American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party’s candidate for president in 1928, who said: “It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting”?

(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com) to cover their rent.

But in the end, a third of the 1724 age bracket apparently sided with Mitsotakis’ conservatives, Sunday’s exit poll found. AFP

DRONES struck Russia's border region of Belgorod where security operations pressed into a second day after a cross-border raid blamed on fighters from Ukraine, authorities said Tuesday.

The region, which borders Ukraine, has been repeatedly shelled in attacks that have killed dozens of people since Moscow launched its offensive last year.

Several drones struck houses and a government building overnight but did not result in casualties or deaths, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod governor, wrote on Telegram.

On Monday, Russia said its troops were battling a "sabotage" group that entered from Ukraine and introduced an "anti-terror regime" in Belgorod, a first since the start of Moscow's campaign in Ukraine in February 2022. Gladkov said on Tuesday the "defense ministry and law enforcement are continuing to clear the area."

He previously said eight people had been injured, adding that authorities were helping people leave the scene of the fighting. He added on Tuesday that it was too soon for residents who fled to return to their homes and said that authorities would give the allclear when it was safe.

Members of the anti-Kremlin Freedom of Russia Legion have claimed responsibility for the incursion into Belgorod, but Kyiv has denied any involvement.

In a video released by a Telegram channel claiming to represent the group, a camouflaged spokesman, surrounded by

EAST Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao's party won the parliamentary election but is short of an outright majority, official results showed Tuesday.

The opposition National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) led with 41.6 percent of the votes, while its main rival and incumbent coalition leader Fretilin got 25.7 percent, according to the electoral commission.

The result of Sunday's election paves the way for a return to power for the 76-year-old Gusmao, East Timor's first president, if he can form a coalition. If there is no outright winner, the constitution gives the party with the most votes the opportunity to form a coalition.

Voters cast their ballots for 65 seats in parliament, hoping to end years of deadlock in Asia's youngest country.

Notice To The Public

CNRT secured 31 of those seats, and will have to work with one or more other parties.

armed men in fatigues, said: "Russia will be free!" – a slogan frequently used by Russian opposition activists. "We want our children to grow up in peace and be free," the spokesman added, with the channel claiming that two settlements including Graivoron had been attacked.

Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhaylo Podolyak suggested that Russian "guerrilla groups" could be responsible.

"The only driving political force in a totalitarian country of tightened screws is always an armed guerrilla movement," he said on Monday. AFP

SEVEN people, including four children, were killed when a roof over a school sports field collapsed in a storm in Thailand, officials said Tuesday.

The children, aged between six and 13, were playing in the open-sided building at a school in Phichit province on Monday, watched by a number of spectators.

At about 6:30pm (1130 GMT) the storm struck, according to local media, and heavy rain and high winds caused the roof to collapse suddenly.

The fatally injured adults were two parents and a janitor, the provincial office of public relations told AFP, while 18 people were injured.

A video shared on the Facebook page of the local public relations office showed a twisted mess of metal, with poles and corrugated iron lying crumpled on the ground.

The storm also damaged several houses in Sam Ngam district, police told AFP.

"All the houses have been damaged by the storm but this arena just completely collapsed," local mayor Kannika Intarakul told the ThaiPBS broadcaster.

Schools in Thailand commonly have a sports pitch with an open-sided roof to protect children from the fierce tropical sun while they play.

The six-year-old boy was rushed to hospital but died of his injuries.

Those injured remained in two hospitals, where they were receiving treatment. None were reported to be in a serious condition.

The incident comes as Thailand enters monsoon season, with heavy rain forecast for much of the country in the coming days.

"In a blink of an eye, I heard a sound just like in a war zone and in a span of five seconds, the storm reached me," another witness told ThaiPBS.

Neighbouring Myanmar was recently battered by Cyclone Mocha, which swept across Rakhine state, killing 145 people.

Safety and maintenance standards in Thailand are sometimes lax, and building collapses are not unknown. AFP

This is to inform the public that Mr. Jobart Benedito has been appointed as a new Director of Cirrus Global Inc. effective 06 April 2023. (MS-MAY 17/24/31, 2023)

It won the presidential election last year, with Gusmao's ally and Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta taking the post.

But Fretilin, formally the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, led the incumbent coalition government going into the Sunday election.

Fretilin fought for an end to Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, and Gusmao led its military wing. AFP

A MAN accused of throwing an explosive at Japan's prime minister last month will undergo a three-month psychiatric examination, a regional court said on Tuesday.

Ryuji Kimura, 24, was arrested in April for allegedly hurling a pipe bomblike explosive toward Fumio Kishida as the premier campaigned in the western city of Wakayama.

Kishida escaped unscathed, but the incident horrified a nation still haunted

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC by the assassination of Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was gunned down last year while giving a speech.

Notice is hereby given that a Deed of Extrajudicial Partition of the Estates of the late Israel L. Racelis and Bernard D. Racelis, who both died intestate, was executed by their heirs namely, Florita D. Racelis, widow, and the remaining children of Israel and Florita who are also Bernard’s siblings, Noel D. Racelis, Erica RacelisGascon, Aliza D. Racelis and Glen D. Racelis, as per Doc. No. 170 ; Page No.: 36 ; Book No.: V ; Series of 2023 before Notary Public Atty. Chiles Megan M. Areño.

Prosecutors are authorized to detain Kimura until early September for an assessment of his mental state at the time of the attack, a court official, who did not give her name, told AFP. They are expected to decide whether to indict Kimura based on the evaluation.

The suspect has reportedly remained tight-lipped about his motive for the failed attack on Kishida.

Local media reported that Kimura previously filed a lawsuit challenging requirements that political candidates be at least 30 years of age and have a war chest of at least three million yen ($21,600) to run for national office.

An Osaka High Court spokesman told AFP last month that Kimura had sued the government and his claim was rejected by a lower court. AFP

U-Haul driver crashes into barrier near White House

US Secret Service officers detained the driver of a U-Haul box truck in Washington on Monday night after the vehicle crashed into a barrier near the White House, the agency said in a statement.

"There were no injuries to any Secret Service or White House personnel and the cause and manner of the crash remain under investigation," the statement said.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi later said in a tweet that a "preliminary investigation reveals the driver may have intentionally struck the security barriers at Lafayette Square," adding that charges would be filed over the incident.

A local CBS affiliate, WUSA9, reported that what appeared to be a Nazi flag had been found during a search of the U-Haul, though no other information on the flag was provided.

The crash took place just before 10 pm (0200 GMT) on the northern edge of the square, a few hundred yards from the White House in an area home to several upmarket hotels.

A local Fox affiliate reported that some hotel guests said they had been told to evacuate after the crash.

A journalist with the station posted a video from the scene showing a robot searching the cargo area of the truck. AFP