And so it begins: Filipino politician says 2012 will be a very difficult year

December 17, 2011 – MANILA, Philippines — Senator Edgardo J. Angara is not optimistic about the incoming year, describing 2012 as a very difficult year due to the economic crisis gripping Europe and the US. He said that the situation on the local front could be aggravated by the impeachment trial by the Senate of Chief Justice Renato Corona come January 2012. “We should be vigilant about this because definitely we cannot escape the effect of the economic crunch being experienced now in Europe and even the USA,” Angara told newsmen who attended the Christmas party he hosted last Friday night. In the country, he said that even more fearsome is the effect of the scheduled impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona in the Senate. He said that definitely, the senators’ focus will be shifted to the impeachment trial instead of important legislative matters related to economic and development programs of the government. Angara expressed sadness that it is the “masa” or the big majority of the Filipinos who will bear the negative impact of the impeachment trial. While he adheres to political processes like an impeachment trial, what is not pleasant, he said, is that our people will be divided again due to what he described as a “painful” political process. According to him, the trial could drag on for several months, and this he said will surely slow down the economic activity while we are watching the trial like a “telenovela.” Earlier, he urged fellow senators who will serve as impeachment judges to look into the possibility of mediating between the contending parties in the trial to ease the political tension. -MB 

Markets in for another beating? Most rich-world stock indexes will recoup in 2012 only a fraction of their huge losses this year, a Reuters December poll showed, with the threat of economic catastrophe in Europe hanging over developed and emerging markets alike. Trillions of dollars have been wiped from share prices in 2011 and only six out of the 19 indexes covered by the survey are expected to finish next year higher than their 2010 closing levels. The quarterly poll of around 350 equity strategists and economists was conducted before major central banks coordinated together in an unexpected move on Wednesday to provide cheaper dollar funding, which sent global stocks soaring. –Financial Express 

Read more at Extinction Protocol: 2012 Earthchanges and News Event