Advertising strategies - Denim jeans Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Advertising strategies - Denim jeans - Assignment Example Both market and product segmentation are beneficial to the company in various ways. In order to achieve maximum benefits, some segments in Denim can be helpful. For example, the company can break down its market using demographics where women are grouped according to their ethnicity, income, age, education, marital status and even occupation. For example, for the young people, the company can decide on coming up with fashionable jeans just for this group. The company can also decide to segment the market based on psychographics, where such things as attitudes personality, lifestyle and even hobbies are used to segment the market. Segmenting in such presented manners would not only change the grouping of the product, but advertising would also be changed according to the needs of each of the segment. This would include changes in the information contained in the adverts, but also the budget used in advertising since some segments would require much budgets than others (Farkas, 2011). The media’s aim is for effective and efficient delivery of messages intended to reach the audience. Efficiency is needed in order to deliver the message at lower costs than before meaning that it is common for advertisers to choose mediums that are cost effective in their advertising. This must be done in such a way that quite a number of people are reached using the lowest cost possible. Effectiveness, on the other hand means that influence and enhancing of the message is needed and the correct media for this is needed too. Therefore, reach and frequency must be incorporated by media planners in order to achieve the balance of effectiveness and efficiency. Reach is seen as the number of people and households that a certain media is able to reach or that are exposed to this specific media. Frequency, on the other hand, refers to the times that the discussed people or households are contacted or reached by a

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 171

Summary - Essay Example Books that have been published on food matters have impacted greatly on how people contemplate about food and their lives. Writers like Tracie McMillan, Rowen Jacobsen and others have influenced on how food is cooked, distributed, grown and bought. Monica Bhide a food writer once posed a question asking if food writing really matters and got many views and comments. Among those who commented was a writer of a book named Day of Honey who argues that changes of religion are not as significant as changes in diet. She adds that it is questioning how rarely the significance of food is renowned. Statuses on bishops, politicians are trending nowadays but none about market gardeners and bacon-curers are seen (Ruhlman, 1). People do not take food matters seriously since it is cheap and easily available around them. But in times when they don’t have food is when they think about it. In addition, we only tend think about food when it makes us sick. There are many food related sicknesses in this times. Children have diabetes that can only be seen on adulthood. Obesity also is common and it develops due to eating all kinds of food without knowing their constituents. In my opinion, I agree that food writing is essential for our continued existence. It enables us to understand how food is important and various effects that they have to our body. Lastly, by writing about food, people will demonstrate awareness on how to produce, consume and how to distribute it in ways that do not affect our

Oxfam Essay Example for Free

Oxfam Essay Oxfam does many things to help people. Some of the things they do are: 1) When People need help in an emergency – fast. They save lives, swiftly delivering aid, support and protection; and they help communities develop the capacity to cope with future crises. 2) They help Poor people take control, solve their own problems, and rely on themselves – with the right support. They fund long-term work to fight poverty in thousands of communities worldwide. 3) They campaign to get more money to help people. When people are in an emergency Oxfam come and drop supplies for quick use. They help poor people to take control by providing tools and skills. This enables communities to dig wells and plant seed to grow crops. When they campaign, they make adverts so that people can see the disasters that happen in other countries. Their mission statement is â€Å"Oxfam is a global movement of people working with others to overcome poverty and suffering. † They follow their statement by working with other countries all around the world that can lend a helping hand to their cause. They also go on the news when they do there emergency drops for people. Also, on the website, they publish what they have done in recent years, and what they are doing to help now. You also here about people getting wells and farm land in the paper, along with the company that is responsible for making it happen I think that Oxfam should help people in England as well as people abroad because everyone says that other countries are in a mess, and that 60% of their kids are in poverty, but when you look at our country 1 in every 3 kids are in poverty. So I think that some of the money should be spent on getting our kids out of poverty as well as kids abroad. I asked people if they think that Oxfam should help people in our country and why. One person said: â€Å"I think that Oxfam should help people in our country because we spend millions of pounds to help other countries when we say we have no money, so if we can find that much money to help other countries, then why not use the money first to help our countries.

Situation Analysis For The Nestle Corporation Marketing Essay

Situation Analysis For The Nestle Corporation Marketing Essay In this report itll help to understand the concept and process of marketing, how to use the segmentation, targeting and positioning and understand the individual elements of the extended marketing mix and how to use marketing mix in different contexts. In learning outcome 01, were introducing a new product to the market. In that student is expected to understand and apply marketing planning process to launch the new product. And in this task student must do a presentation to launch the new product to the market. In learning outcome 02, student must do a situation analysis for the organization selected and select target market for the new product and propose a positioning strategy for the new product. In learning outcome 03 students is able to design and recommend the appropriate marketing mix for the new product and in that student is able to design product features, pricing the product, and explain the channels of distributing for the new product. And finally in learning outcome 04 students must discuss the alternative segments to the product and suggest possible market growth options t o the new product. Introduction This report is about the concepts and principles in marketing process. We can use this marketing concepts and principles to introduce a new product to the market. By introducing a new product to the market, organization is able to using the planning process to launch th new product. In this report Nestle Corporation is introducing a new healthy milk powder to the market and they were doing situation analysis to the organization and positioning strategy to the product. Nestle corporation is design good product features, brand name, new distributing ways and pricing the product. Finally they doing some market growth to the product using Ansoffs Matrix. By reading this report reader can have a clear knowledge about marketing concepts and how to use these concepts to a new product. L01 Launching New Product To The Market. L02 Situation Analysis For the Nestle Corporation Marketing Environment The marketing environment surrounds and impacts upon the organization. Internal Environment The Micro Environment The Macro Environment. The Micro Environment Competitors Employees Pressure groups Intermediaries Micro Environment Local residence Customers Financiers Suppliers Owners The Macro Environment SWOT Analysis (http://www.scribd.com/doc/30768475/Swot-analysis-Nestle-Company, 2012) Strengths:- Brand strengths Nestle has very strong brand name and its easy to distribute among the customers. Production innovation The Company has been continuously introducing new products to the market. Research and Development Nestle has worldwide networks of centers 17 locations in four continents. An international staff of 3500 engaged in search for innovative new products and remotivate exist ones. Market Share High level of market share and that people all over the world trust and recognize Nestle as a big brand name. Low Cost They are low cost operators which allow them to not only to beat competition but also edging ahead operating excellence, innovation, renovation, product availability and communication is major strengths. Weakness:- Mature market One major weakness in Nestle is that it is entering into markets that are already major and can give a tough competition to new entrance. Exports Supply Chain The Company has a complex supply chain management. Opportunities:- Expansion potential to expand smaller towns and other smaller geographies, which is parents are famed for like breakfast cereals, smarties chocolates, carnation, etc. Product offering the company has the option to expand its product folio by introducing more products. Global hub since manufacturing some products is cheaper in ASIA than in any other continent. Threats:- Competition Competition from the organized and unorganized sectors. Changing consumer trends increase consumer spending on consumer durable resulting in lower spending on FMCG products. ( fast moving consumer goods ). International marketing standards Sectoral woes rising prices of raw material and fuels and increasing packaging and manufacturing costs. PEST Analysis for Nestle Corporation It is very important that an organization consider its environment before beginning the marketing process. Political Environment:- Nestle is a good political partner in politics. They were donating money for the president candidates in presidential election. Nestle corporation support many programmers and projects essential services and social services. Ex: supporting the tackling the world water crisis project. The government increasing the prices of essential goods and itll affect to the organization and the new product. By the time government change and the policies also get changed, itll affect to the customers behavior and to the company also. Economic environment:- Nestle corporation is a strong brand among the consumers and having a good business cycle in the market. Increasing of interest rate will affect to the customer behavior and itll affect to the company. Income distribution affect to the organization because when income distribution doesnt happened equally customer behavior get changed. The crisis of the world economic prices affect to the country and itll affect to the customers and to the organization. The plentiful in Social Environment:- Family background and their culture will cause to their behavior in buying products, and itll cause to the organization. Customers education level also affect to the organization, because if they dont understand about the product well, they never going to buy it. Customers beliefs, culture, and religion will cause to what they going to buy? Because it get changed customer by customer. The trend of the society will affect on customers behavior, and itll affect to the organization. Technology Environment:- Organization can incorporate the latest technology to their operations. Organization architecture and design has been the evolution of the information technology. The use of technology can build good relationship with suppliers and customers. Technology will cause to increase of the organization and they can improve their sales. Segmentation Criteria Market segmentation is the division of a market into different homogenous groups of customers. Market segmentation is depending on the specific characteristics of the product. These criteria can be divided by such as age and gender, or other distinction such as location and income. Segmenting Consumer Market for Nestle For the newly introduced Strawberry Flavor Sustagen in Nestle corporation, our company using the demographic criteria for the segmentation. Demographic segmentation consist of dividing the market into groups based on such as age, gender, family size, income, occupation, education, religion, race and nationality. In here Nestle corporation use age, gender and income as the demographic criterias for the Strawberry Flavor Sustagen. This product is a low-fat milk powder. Our company targeting the young adults and adults as the target market for the Strawberry Flavor Sustagen, because young adults and adults are using Sustagen mostly in the market and this product is a low-fat milk powder. Strawberry Flavor Sustagen can use both males and females. And Nestle Corporation targeting the consumers below 8000 income, because this product will not highly cost. In this case many customers will attract to this new innovative Strawberry Flavor Sustagen. Positioning Strategy Positioning is a concept in marketing which firstly introduced by Jack Trout. A company, a product or a brand must have positioning concept in order to survive in the market. If you dont position your business your competitor will not let you to survive in the Market. Nestlà © Corporation is chosen the Product Positioning as the Positioning Strategy for the New Strawberry Flavor Sustagen. In the market, there is various kind of healthy milk powder brands that compete with the Strawberry Flavor Sustagen, but nestle will survive as always in the market because Nestle is a good, strong brand name in the market. In this newly introduce product therere various dimensions. This Sustagen is highly possessed of good qualities and its really good for the health and itll helpful for reduce the fat. Most of diabetics patients are young adults and adults, because of that we target the young adults and the adults to the new product. Nestle corporation is going to introduce this product to the supermarkets and were give a free chance to our customers to have an experience with our newly introduced product. By this we can attract more customers to our product. Our company going to introduce this new product to the people in rural area also. Because theres plenty of people in rural areas that have the capability to buy this kind of a product. L03 Design and Recommend the Marketing Mix What is a product? Product is anything that is capable for satisfying customer needs. Features are characteristics of a product that offer benefits to the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Product Features and Developing the Brand Name Nestle Corporation introduced The Strawberry Flavor Sustagen is not like normal old type of Sustagen. Its fully tasted with strawberry flavor and extra with mint. Sustagen is a world famous milk powder, which has customers all around the world. People all around the world know about the Sustagen and they tasted Sustagen. as a product its really easy to develop because it has a strong brand name. Nestle Corporation introduced this Strawberry Flavor Sustagen is the new member in Sustagen family and Its tasted with strawberry and mint. And nestle corporation is expect to attract many customers to this New Strawberry Flavor Sustagen. Nestle Corporation is developing the new product features to attract more customers to the product. Strawberry Sustagen is a healthy milk powder that helps to keep our body healthy and get nutrition for the day. In this product it includes vitamins that we need to our body for been healthy and keeps nutrition and alternative medicines. Its fully tasted with strawberry flavor. Nestle corporation is decided to include more taste of milk and mint flavor to give a good taste to the customers. And also this product has attractive color that everyone like and with a nice mint smell. Distribute the New Product to the Market When an organization going to introduce a new product to the market, they must know how to distribute the new product to customers. And most important thing is organization must know how to hold the product in customers hand. As the distribution concepts, Nestle Corporation is using Consumer Market concept. First of all our marketing team is planning to distribute this product to Supermarkets in municipal and rural areas. Because middle level customers are coming to supermarkets. Our target market is middle level class customers. As municipal areas, there are some middle level class customers in rural areas that can buy these types of products. So our company chooses supermarkets to launch our new products and distribute through the supermarkets. Pricing the New Product Price is the amount of money or goods for which a thing is bought or sold. The way you set the price to your product, will help to stay in the market or itll cause to leave the market. For a pricing method for our new product, Nestle Corporation choose the customer-based pricing. There are two factors that affecting for pricing decisions. They are internal factors and external factors. Internal factors Rs, Market share 100 Maximum profit 150 Marketing strategy 80 Costs 90 External factors Customer and channel Partner expectation 70 Competitive and Related products 90 Government Regulation 20 Final price Rs, 600 This is the best price that our company can charge from the customers, because if our company charge high cost itll cost to have a production lost in the market. So this our company guessed this price is fair and attractive. Nestle Corporation expecting that this product will attract many customers. Promote the new product Nestle Corporation is expecting to launch our new product to the supermarkets and distribute through them to the customers. Before that our company is going to promote this new product to customers well. For that our company chooses new promotion tips. Our first aim is give the main idea to customers that this new product is strawberry flavor and its good for the health. Targeting that first our company is going to made-up a curiosity in customers mind. For that, our company creates a strawberry arch in the entrance to the supermarkets, and when customers come inside to the supermarket, in the front some people with strawberry dresses to give the main idea to customers. After that we give some leaflets to customers by introducing the new product and our marketing team is ready to inform about the product and its benefits. Finally were going to give a chance to our customers to taste our new product. Were 100% sure that our customers will like our new Strawberry Favor Sustagen and the yll surely use this for their day today life. L04 Market Development (http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix.htm) After our new product enters to the market we must know how to keep our sales in a good level and how to develop the product in the market. Nestle Corporation is using the Ansoffs matrix as the market growth option to develop the product. The Ansoffs Growth Matrix is a tool that helps businesses decide their product and market growth strategy. Ansoffs market/product growth matrix suggest that a business attempts to grow depend on whether it markets new or existing products in new or existing market. The output from the Ansoffs matrix a series of suggested growth strategies that set the direction for the business strategy. Market penetration. Market development. Product development. Diversification. Our corporation suggests Market Penetration and Marker Development as market growth options for the new product. Market Penetration is a name given to a growth strategy where the businesses focus on selling existing products into existing market. Market penetration is to achieve another four more objectives. Maintain or increase the market share of current product. Secure dominance of growth market. Restructure a mature market by driving out competitors. Increase usage by existing customers. Market Development is the name given to a growth strategy where the business seeks to sell its existing products into new markets. There are many ways to use this strategy. New geographical markets. New distributing channels. New product dimension or packaging. Different pricing policies for attracts new customers or new markets. Using Ansoffs Matrix our company is going to do some changes in our new product. Our company is hoping to increase the market by selling our new products in the rural areas in the country. Nestle corporation is going to introduce 500g Strawberry Sustagen packets to groceries in municipal and rural areas in the country. Our marketing team is hoping to maintain and develop the market share. And our team is going to do some advertising programmers to develop our product. In that were hope to 5% discount if our customers buy two Strawberry Sustagen. Nestle Corporation is going to introduce this new product in to the International Market. Our marketing team is planning to export this New Strawberry Sustagen country like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. And also were going to use new distributing channels to distribute our new product. Our team uses more agents to distribute the product in towns and by door by door. Theyre fully informed about the product and they always ready to give an instruction about the product. Conclusion In this report we can understand about the various elements of the marketing process and the benefits and costs of a marketing orientation for a selected organization. Understand the micro and macro environmental factors, segmentation criteria, targeting strategy and positioning to the new product. Also how to develop the product features, brand name and how to set a good price for the customers. How to distribute the product to the customers and promote the product to the customers. In this report can have a good knowledge of marketing mixes in different contexts. When doing this report we can have good knowledge about the market and the behavior about the market.

Analysis of Oedipus Rex Essay -- essays research papers

Oedipus did not have a fair start in life. His father, Laius, heard prophecy that Oedipus would one day kill his father and sleep with his mother. In order to prevent this, Laius gave Oedipus to a shepherd to be killed. Fortunately, through a string of events, Oedipus's life was saved, and he even went on to become the honored king of Thebes. Despite this feat, Oedipus still managed to make several decisions that ultimately fulfilled the original prophecy told to Laius, and inevitably sealed Oedipus?s fate. In order to escape the prophecy that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, Oedipus thought it best to leave Corinth. What Oedipus did not know is that the parents he was leaving were not his biological parents. The prophecy stated that Oedipus would commit the crimes upon his natural parents, not his adoptive. Although a valiant effort on Oedipus?s part, leaving the city of Corinth actually enabled the prophecy to become reality. When at a crossroads during his travel away from Corinth, Oedipus happened upon a man and his four servants. After a dispute about who had the right of way, Oedipus killed the man and three out of the four servants. The fourth, a witness that would become an important figure in the future, escaped. Little does Oedipus know that the man he killed was his biological father. Thus, stage one of the prophecy was fulfilled. After solving the Sphinx riddle, Thebans honor Oedipus by crowning him king of Thebes. He also married the widow queen, Jocasta. Oedipus did not realize it, but the widow he married was his biological mother. In that event, the second stage of the prophecy is fulfilled. The tragic event also occurred due to Oedipus?s decision to leave Corinth. In a sa... ...to die, and the shepherd, in an act of pity, gave the infant Oedipus to the Corinthians. Oedipus finally realized how the prophecy had been fulfilled. He rushed off to find Jocasta. When he discovered her dead, he blinded himself with pins from her garment. The final decision in seeking a witness led to Oedipus?s demise. He left the city of Thebes, and finally settled in Cithaeron where he eventually died. It is very true that Oedipus did everything in his power to prevent the prophecy of the oracle from coming true. In his attempts at escaping it, he ended up making several decisions that actually enabled the prophecy to play out. Sadly, there was no way for Oedipus to know of the predicament he was creating for himself. Unfortunately, Oedipus did not realize that his initial decision to leave the city of Corinth would lead to his ultimate downfall. Analysis of Oedipus Rex Essay -- essays research papers Oedipus did not have a fair start in life. His father, Laius, heard prophecy that Oedipus would one day kill his father and sleep with his mother. In order to prevent this, Laius gave Oedipus to a shepherd to be killed. Fortunately, through a string of events, Oedipus's life was saved, and he even went on to become the honored king of Thebes. Despite this feat, Oedipus still managed to make several decisions that ultimately fulfilled the original prophecy told to Laius, and inevitably sealed Oedipus?s fate. In order to escape the prophecy that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, Oedipus thought it best to leave Corinth. What Oedipus did not know is that the parents he was leaving were not his biological parents. The prophecy stated that Oedipus would commit the crimes upon his natural parents, not his adoptive. Although a valiant effort on Oedipus?s part, leaving the city of Corinth actually enabled the prophecy to become reality. When at a crossroads during his travel away from Corinth, Oedipus happened upon a man and his four servants. After a dispute about who had the right of way, Oedipus killed the man and three out of the four servants. The fourth, a witness that would become an important figure in the future, escaped. Little does Oedipus know that the man he killed was his biological father. Thus, stage one of the prophecy was fulfilled. After solving the Sphinx riddle, Thebans honor Oedipus by crowning him king of Thebes. He also married the widow queen, Jocasta. Oedipus did not realize it, but the widow he married was his biological mother. In that event, the second stage of the prophecy is fulfilled. The tragic event also occurred due to Oedipus?s decision to leave Corinth. In a sa... ...to die, and the shepherd, in an act of pity, gave the infant Oedipus to the Corinthians. Oedipus finally realized how the prophecy had been fulfilled. He rushed off to find Jocasta. When he discovered her dead, he blinded himself with pins from her garment. The final decision in seeking a witness led to Oedipus?s demise. He left the city of Thebes, and finally settled in Cithaeron where he eventually died. It is very true that Oedipus did everything in his power to prevent the prophecy of the oracle from coming true. In his attempts at escaping it, he ended up making several decisions that actually enabled the prophecy to play out. Sadly, there was no way for Oedipus to know of the predicament he was creating for himself. Unfortunately, Oedipus did not realize that his initial decision to leave the city of Corinth would lead to his ultimate downfall.

Chopins Lilacs and the Story of the Annunciation :: Chopin Lilacs Essays

Chopin's Lilacs and the Story of the Annunciation  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   When the theologian Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza writes that the myth of the Virgin Mary "sanctions a deep psychological and institutional split" (59) among women in the Catholic tradition, she captures what Kate Chopin also captured in her story "Lilacs." There, sisterhood between secular and religious women appears fragmented and nearly impossible. To scrutinize the division, Kate Chopin fashions her story around the portion of the Virgin Mary myth told in St. Luke's gospel of the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus spoken to Mary by the archangel Gabriel. Working with that text, "Lilacs" mocks a tradition prizing virginity and separating the cloistered from the secular. Irony prevails, but so too does the sorrow born of religious restraint and condemnation. From the tension in the Annunciation between the virginal and the non-virginal comes ages of women divided from one another on the basis of chastity and divided internally into spiritual and physical selves.    Chopin's "Lilacs" plays out this division on the grounds of a Sacred Heart convent and in the apartments of a Parisian mondaine to question whether a life almost wholly spiritual or a life almost wholly physical can be anything but the subject of ridicule. The narrator tempts us to enjoy the ridicule only to have us feel more painfully at the story's end the dolorous effects of con strained desire, effects which diminish both nun and secular woman.    As a story that draws so heavily on the details and symbols of the Annunciation story, "Lilacs," we could assume, would want to remind us of Mary's (and, by extension, woman's) salvific role as the vessel chosen by God to ensure humankind's redemption. But "Lilacs" fails to announce the good news for women as it sees too clearly that what was salvific for humankind ended up dividing women within themselves and within the Catholic tradition because of that tradition's insistence on Mary's virginity before and after childbirth. This insistence separated the ideal virginal mother from real women and mothers whose joyously experienced sexuality closed the doors to work within the clerical ministry even until today. The Annunciation story for Kate Chopin is a story told at the expense of women's sexuality and spirituality, full and complementary as they might have been. The notion of a failed annunciation, then, opens "Lilacs": "Mme. Adrienne Farival never announced her coming.

Freedom of Expression in the Philippines Essay

â€Å"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties. – JOHN MILTON Individual freedom and collective expression in the Philippines, I’d say, is the most exercised and an unmistakable sign of this country’s democracy. Our individual rights and freedoms, the most basic, the essential to the complex and critical ones define our identity as Filipinos, and the basic extension of our humanity. That need to express, to communicate, and to reach out to one another without the fear of judgment or even criminal prosecution. We have the freest press, the most uncensored and unrestricted provisions on our freedom to express ourselves, to seek other people’s take on relevant issues and sometimes just so, because we want to and because we can. And when these are stripped of us, we resist. We react, and to some extent violently and rebelliously just so we can send that fierce message that as a democratic country, with the collective freedoms and rights declared in our charter, no one has the right to deny us of those rights and freedoms. But sometimes, too much freedom can mean abuse of freedom. And restrictions or not, these freedoms aren’t absolute. One is still liable to what he says, especially in public. As professionals and practitioners of the press, they are responsible for balanced views and opinions. Slander, libel, false accusations and any other form with malicious intent is tolerated by freedom of expression. One cannot accuse someone of something and invoke his freedom of expression, and expect it to give him immunity from the law. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: â€Å"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.† Article 19 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights affirms: â€Å"Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include  freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.† Under the Bill of Rights of the Philippine Constitution, Article III, Section 4 declares: â€Å"No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.† But it wasn’t too long ago when the infamous Cybercrime Bill was signed by the president. It bore flawed provisions that largely outraged advocates of freedom of speech. It awakened this fire not only to these advocates but to ordinary Filipinos who was suddenly faced with the possibility of being denied of this freedom. It scared some. And now the Bill is on a temporary restraining order after much protest that involved hacktivists hacking government servers and websites. The President’s website down to other departments weren’t spared from their wrath. Rallies and demonstrations plagued the major government offices. Even the press expressed its dismay on the unreasonable grounds the bill imposed. And thus, this freedom prevailed. Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. – GEORGE BERNARD SHAW How many times have we seen major political figures get away with it? How often have seen them actually pay for their wrongful actions? Seldom, if not never. I’m not going to expound much on the issue of legal independence, though it’s another critical criteria of good governance that somehow connects with this issue. The ‘influence’ of the executive and legislative branches respectively, to our judiciary, though less people wants to admit it, is not unheard of. I would even go as far as saying that appearances aside, alliances between people from these three legs of our system speaks volumes if we want to talk about partiality, of justice being served, or of the  judiciary protecting people from the other two branches. Ex-chief justice Renato Corona’s historic impeachment can attest to this connection. People have been talking about Corona’s alleged alliance with GMA ever since he was appointed by the latter, have sprouted suspicions and dirty allegations and from that standpoint, when the chief justice’s public image is tainted, people will not just talk of injustice. Regardless of its truth or falsity, in their eyes, the then chief justice must no longer be a chief justice. Then came his impeachment, which was on the grounds of not declaring assets and liabilities on his SALN, which then comes to light a public official’s dishonesty or honest mistake of omission, we will never know. After that excruciating days of examining the facts and arguing from point A to point B about this and that in the senate, I don’t think it had achieved much but prove a point. A point that I guess is a starting step into holding a public official responsible for his action. It’s a welcomed change. But let’s look at our former president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Somehow, she’s still out of the clutches of accountability to her grave misdeeds in office. Her audacity not to resign when reasonable proof has been unearthed of her alleged influence on the 2004 Presidential elections. Evidences, though illegal or circumstantial surfaced, or did you forget the wiretapping Hello Garci scandal. Those tapes allegedly suggested that Arroyo ordered the rigging of the national elections for her to win by around one million votes against the late Fernando Poe, Jr. However, she indeed conversed with COMELEC commissioner Virgilio Garciliano, and it was a ‘lapse of judgment’ on her part and made the most talked about apology in television. Her alleged cheating and electoral sabotage induced public protests, to no avail. Several impeachment attempts have followed. Three separate complaints ensued. One in 2005, and then another in 2006. All defeated and trashed in the House of Representatives. Now what does that say of our system under her presidency? In October 2007, lawyer Alan Paguia filed an impeachment complaint against Arroyo in connection with the issue of bribery. Paguia’s complaint was based on the revelation of Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio that various governors received half a million pesos from Malacaà ±ang. The impeachment case, as of the middle  of October 2007, has already been referred to the House of Representatives Committee on Justice. Now what? Is it sitting there somewhere in the House with dusts and was ultimately forgotten? Her presidency, shrouded in controversy, was probably the worse after Marcos, though in the same light, we can’t deny their contributions in the country’s economical improvement. But accountability, CGMA seems to be immune to. We saw progress on November 18, 2011 after a Pasay court issued a warrant of arrest against her, following the filing of a complaint for electoral sabotage by the Commission on Elections. At the time, she was in the hospital, so it was a House Arrest. The Supreme Court had issued a Resolution enjoining attempts by the Department of Justice to prevent her departure from the Philippines to seek medical treatment overseas. But oh well, The House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. issued a travel permit allowing her to have treatment in Germany despite the Department of Justice hold departure order. She was released from hospital arrest on bail and refused to enter any plea on charges she misused $8.8 million in state lottery funds during her term in office. These pile of charges seemed to hang up there again, as she is currently seeking treatment in Germany. Not to be insensitive with her health conditions, nor would I wanna say that her health conditions are just convenient lies to evade prosecution, but one has to admit of it being at the right place at the right time. Joseph Estrada was convicted of plunder and was placed on house arrest. Well at least that is some form of penalization we saw. But then, Manila had to elect him as their Mayor in the recent polls. Now what does that say about us learning from our mistakes? How can we trust a public official who had already broken our trust in the worst way possible and then elect him again and put him into a position where he can do it again? I am but a keen observer and naturally has not enough professional or political mandate to be accusing the lady of anything. However, it is my constitutional right to express myself though facts and informed judgments and personal opinions. At this juncture, if one has to violently disagree with me and confront me in the form of a lawsuit (God, I hope not), I leave the world of Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist, Mahar Mangahas. â€Å"If any citizen is free to openly agree, but not to openly disagree, then freedom of expression does not prevail. An individual’s option to openly express disagreement without risk of any personal injury is a key part of the definition of a free society.†