1. What are the main challenges you confronted as former mayor of Lipa and now as governor of Batangas?

2. How would you compare Batangas before you became governor and now?3. How would you compare the performance of Batangas with other provinces in CALABARZON?4. You have been a staunch opponent of mining in Batangas and have declared that no mining will

happen under your watch. Do you oppose all forms of mining or only those that may have adverse effects on biodiversity such as the one proposed in the Verde Island Passage?

5. How do you think the creation of the new legislative districts of Lipa and Batangas City will improve the welfare of the people of Lipa and Batangas City?

6. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, Batangas City and Lipa City breached the 250,000 minimum population requirement as early as 2010, whereas the new legislative districts were only created this year. In your opinion, what are the factors that delayed the creation of these two new legislative districts?

7. What is your plan for 2016? If you run for Congress, what bills do you intend to author or prioritize?

8. Would you say that all your goals for Batangas since entering office have become reality? Which ones have not been fully realized, if any?

9. What projects would you like your successor to start, continue or improve on?10. FAST TALK. Sharon o Nora? Pinya o Balisong? Bayan o Sarili? Etc.

I think questions would depend on the flow of the conversation

3. Creation of the new legislative districts of Lipa City and Batangas City (RA 10673)///

It's the common perception that when new districts are created, it's pure gerrymandering. On the flip side, an ideal Congress is one that is representative of the number of citizens we have. But aside for that very theoretical "pro", what are the tangible benefits (which is, I think, best grasped by the actual people represented by the new districts) to creating a new district? What are the measures that Vilma will be able to implement better, push harder, etc. that would have been much more difficult or impossible if the status quo had been maintained?

That is, if she would indulge us, how do LGUs work on the ground, in such a way that this "shunned" practice of creating new districts is actually a very positive development for the constituents? How do you rationalise it apart from proper representation?

4. Opposition to gold mining in the Verde Island Passage///

5. SC ruling that LGUs do not have the power to impose business taxes on entities that manufacture and distribute petroleum products (Batangas City vs. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., GR No. 187631, 08 July 2015)///

Vilma is against the mining (http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/batangas-governor-leads-protest-vs-planned-gold-mine-in-lobo/) and is claimed to have said that no mining will happen under her watch. (http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/environment/100236-batangas-opposes-gold-mine-verde-island-passage)

I think the two topics are interrelated and it would be good to ask:

1. The basis of the opposition is that the Verde Island Passage is a hub for marine biodiversity, but is the Governor stauchly anti-mining in all instances? For example what if the mining spot is some nondescript, almost forgotten, and BARREN area?

2. In light of that, and since she is said to be planning a shift to the legislature, does she have draft bills she's ready to file along the lines of mining regulation?

3. Which body does she think should have control over mining? (assuming she is for proper regulation and not a stop to mining) The LGU or the DENR/National Government?

4. Does she think the ruling of the SC helps the environmentalist cause? Taxes are also policy enforcers since if you can assess high rates, that disincentivizes an industry. On the flip side, unscrupulous LGU officials can also benefit? And for the latter, the if we fix the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, we also fix the whole (eco)system compared to a situation where one LGU follows environmental guidelines while the neighbouring one is very lax.

Please edit/filter as needed. If you have general questions you think we can add follow-ups to, don't hesitate to message me if you need help.

Asie from these, I think it's also helpful/important if we get some basic information/backstory to the topics. What really happened that wasn't highlighted by the selective Phil. media, ganun

Wednesday 10:17pm

Justin, I just looked at my local copy of the Budapest Convention article and you're right. It's corrupted!

Such a hassle. I won't be able to give detailed comments (although not much naman to begin with), but so to summarize:

1. I understand the comment of the editors that the first part seems unnecessary, or at least not directly related to the topic BUT I also felt that it was the stronger part of the article.

2. Kasi, you notice a distinct line between the two parts. The actual law part (and this is a law journal nga naman) is very dull, full of enumerations without elaboration.

3. The whole segue into the cybercrime law was too long. I wish he brisked through the history and then jumped into comparing what we had under the old law, the improvements in the new law (I think na-mention yung attempt), and what we still lack in comparison to Budapest

4. The actual legal part is also very lacking in style, in contrast to the intro and conclusion. It feels like naubusan siya ng sasabihin, ng inspiration, or 2 different people wrote it. This has to be fixed.

5. The legal part is very lacking, since he did not elaborate much. The article could be summed up in one sentence. And it's not a very general summary. A sentence could encompass everything new the article said. This is bad.

6. What, really, I can recommend is the writer/s to rewrite it. Wait for inspiration. As it is, it reads like every other IL "article" out there. It's more of a news article with some research. It's not a work of scholarship. Amaze the reader.

7. Lastly, he cites Disini and some authors early on. They're very general mentions but the article would be better if he could put capsules of those linked articles into the narrative he's making. As it is written kasi, the format is "this is bad. (see Ordoyo,, Article Title)" . Lead us on a bit.

There. I'll go through it again and see if I missed anything, but that's the stronger points of what I saw nung first reading

additional notes:

1. What is a GLACY?

2. The table is explained by the paragraphs succeeding it. Maybe include a better introductory paragraph and also add emphasis on the relevant terms in the table to aid the reader in comprehending what he should be looking at.

You also wonder what the point is of the article. In one passage it says "One particular success story of this regime of international cooperation, EVEN PRIOR to the widespread acceptance of the Convention"

Does this mean there was cooperation before? (yes) What did the Budapest convention change since the author himself said that that there is no compulsion to cooperate even between signatories.

How did the Convention change the topography