This is a re-posted opinion piece.
Carjacking and killings have become an almost daily occurrence in Metro Manila, and yet the Philippine National Police claims that the crime rate has gone down. Even President Aquino seems to believe the police more than he does what the people see over television.
People I have talked to say that they hesitate to travel to Quezon City at night for fear of being carnapped and killed. I, myself, hesitate to accept invitations to Quezon City at night.
Aside from carjacking and killings, drug-trafficking, kidnapping, smuggling, human trafficking and other crimes are now on the rise. But what I cannot understand is why Malacañang appears clueless about all these.
A few months ago, President Benigno Aquino III announced the appointment of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa as the “anti-crime czar” with all the law enforcement agencies under his command. But it appears that Ochoa himself is clueless.
Have we ever heard him say, much less do, anything about the crime situation?
I believe that Ochoa’s appointment as “anti-crime czar” is a mistake in the first place. He is already overloaded with work as “Little President.” He also does not have a background in fighting crime.
Aquino should make himself anti-crime czar instead. He needs to act now.
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It’s difficult to comprehend why President Aquino is cool about amending the 1987 Cory Constitution insofar as its Jurassic and protectionist provisions are concerned. Obviously, he doesn’t want it said that the 1987 Charter, formulated during his late mother’s incumbency, is flawed.
The President has remained intransigent. He does not want to touch the economic provisions of the Constitution despite the push of both Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte to amend the 75-year-old protectionist provisions of the charter.
Read this and weep: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas figures show that while the Philippines obtained $2.928 billion in foreign direct investments in 2007, Malaysia got $8.403 billion; Thailand $9.575 billion; Indonesia $6.928 billion; Singapore $24.137 billion; and Vietnam $8.5 billion. The joint foreign chambers of commerce—European Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce—have complained about the slow arrival of investments here even as our neighbors are booming economically. Obviously, the economic managers of Malacañang, led by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, are not showing the President the true picture on the inflow of direct investments from foreigners.
With the outdated constitutional provision that says foreigners can only have, at most, a 40-percent stake in companies here, the country’s economic growth is stunted. It also gives way to the practice of hiring dummies: foreigners use big law firms as their trustees.
The Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia that has not fully opened its doors to foreign investors.
The fear that Charter change may give scheming politicians the opportunity to extend their terms is baseless. Both chambers would met (sic) and vote separately. And then this has to be decided by the people through a plebiscite.
It is surprising that President Aquino, who has an economics degree from Ateneo, fears Charter change more than he appreciates the country’s need for it.
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Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales was quoted to have said: “We’ll be fair to the former President, now Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is now facing at least five charges of plunder.”
Of course she should be fair. That’s precisely why the public was enthusiastic about her appointment to the post. In her years at the Supreme Court, she showed probity and independence.
The problem is that Morales should get rid of the perception that she is the “friendlier” ombudsman that the President once talked about. Should Morales be friendlier to Aquino than she is to Arroyo?
I am comforted, though, by Morales’ track record of fairness and integrity.
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Are there any serious buyers for television networks RPN-9 and IBC-13?
As early as the Ramos administration, there have been attempts to privatize these networks. But there have been no buyers. RPN-9, for instance, is saddled with a P1.3-billion loan, with 700 employees who cannot be fired because they are political proteges or are protected by a labor union that has the network by the balls.
The only thing going for both RPN and IBC are their congressional franchises.
IBC-13 still has the five-hectare Broadcast City. But it unfortunately has entered into a sweetheart deal with Reghis Romero’s R-II Builders during the last few months of the Arroyo administration. This deal has been found to be grossly disadvantageous to government because the Romero company would have two-thirds of Broadcast City made into a mixed residential-business-commercial establishment. And guess who will be earning?
Before Malacañang goes into privatization mode, the President should look into IBC’s deal with Romero.
The government doesn’t need three networks RPN-9, IBC-13 and NBN-4, the government radio-television network for propaganda purposes. The first two are merely white elephants.
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The Social Welfare and Development Department is asking for an increase in the budget for the conditional cash transfer program, from P21 billion to P39 billion.
Members of the House budget committee should listen to a group of lawmakers who went to Mexico to learn more about the program. Alas, President Aquino seems to believe Secretary Corazon Soliman more.
The lawmakers found out that while Mexican officials adopted the conditional cash transfer program to solve poverty, they failed. And the reason for this is that they originally pegged their program to five years but allowed it to go on for 17 years.
The worst part of it is that they continued to borrow from the World Bank and other governments. Now they are saddled with unpaid loans.
In other words, the Aquino administration should get out of this program now. Otherwise, taxpayers will be bearing the consequences of this quixotic program that only promotes mendicancy anyway.
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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is now saying: “it’s self-rule with a sub-state or nothing.” MILF leaders have been so emboldened by that tryst between their representative and President Aquino in Japan. Now the MILF has even given the President an ultimatum.
The MILF claims it’s no longer asking for independence after its memorandum of agrement on ancestral domain was shot down by the Supreme Court. It says it now only wants a sub-state.
I think, though, that however way they call it, it would still be the same banana.
Who are the MILF trying to fool? They fool Aquinos advisers, but not us, the people who, under the Constitution, must first be consulted. And then, what will happen to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao? The MILF wants it absorbed by the sub-state.
The MILF wants to have its cake and eat it, too.
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I’m not at all surprised with reports that the income of the Development Bank of the Philippines has gone down to a dismal P1.74 billion in the first six months of the year from P2.83 billion in the same period last year under the past administration. This represents a drop of 38 percent.
The bank’s chaiman and other directors have been too busy with the witch hunt against the previus administration. But under the past president, Rey David, the bank earned close to P6 billion.
That’s precisely why the release of the DBP financial audit report for the first six months has been delayed. Nuñez and his cohorts want to hide their dismal performance.
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By: Emil Jurado – To the Point
Source: Manila Standard, Aug. 18, 2011
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