It seems that good news for the country is such a rarity this days — legitimate good news, that is, rather than the press-release-image-building kind generated by media “consultants.” Let us therefore savor every morsel down to the last chew.
First there is the BIR’s Kim Henares finally doing what so many of her predecessors have either done halfheartedly or outright never attempted: go after professionals in the private sector who live high on the hog for everyone to see, and yet report ridiculously low incomes.
And this has been going on for a long time. A DOF study conducted sometime in the early 1990s found that while the wage and salaried professionals earning over P500 thousand a year paid roughly 29% of their gross income in income taxes, the self-employed or non-waged professionals earning the same amounts paid only 3% to 5% (ballpark figures — I can’t put my hand on the study right now). And during the 2011 SONA, PNoy stated: “According to the BIR, we have around 1.7 million self-employed and professional taxpayers: lawyers, doctors, businessmen who paid a total of 9.8 billion pesos in 2010. This means that each of them paid only an average of 5,783 pesos in income tax-and if this is true, then they each must have earned only 8,500 pesos a month, which is below the minimum wage. I find this hard to believe.” The revenue losses of government from tax evasion range from P180 billion to P250 million a year, a substantial part contributed by so-called upstanding citizens.
The culture of impunity is not limited to extrajudicial killings. It is alive and well among some of our most respected professionals, more’s the pity. Which is why Kim Henares’s determination to run after them is most encouraging. Shades of Liway Chato. Yes, she may have fumbled in the beginning, but better to make wrong decisions than no decision at all. And now she seems to be hitting her stride, and what is more, is sticking to her guns — as in her insistence on collecting the VAT on toll payments, despite the posturings and political grandstanding of certain legislators . I sincerely hope that when push comes to shove, she gets all the support she needs from her principal.
Next there is the recent (Sept. 7) Supreme Court decision that represents a well-deserved and long-awaited victory for labor — in this case PAL’s flight attendants and stewards , whose case against PAL for illegal retrenchment (involving 1,400 cabin attendants and pursers) has dragged on for more than 13 years. The Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (FASAP) won the first round when the DOLE’s Labor Arbiter found in their favor. PAL appealed to the National Labor Relations Council (NLRC), which then reversed the Labor Arbiter’s decision (why am I not surprised?). FASAP’s motion for reconsideration (MR) was denied, at which point it brought it up to the Court of Appeals ( CA). The CA upheld the NLRC decision , and then denied the FASAP’s MR.
The FASAP doggedly pursued its case with the SC, albeit without much hope (Lucio Tan’s victories in the SC are legend, some of them snatched from the jaws of defeat) — but they were determined to fight to the bitter end. Lo and behold, in July of 2008, the SC reversed the CA decision (ponente was AJ Consuelo Ynares -Santiago) — which was like a miracle. A motion for reconsideration was filed by PAL, and in October 2009, the SC turned it down, “DENIED with FINALITY” (emphasis and caps theirs).
End of story? No. PAL then filed a second MR (after the first one was denied with finality, mind you), one of the grounds being that it should be considered the FIRST motion, because, it claimed, the SC had not ruled on all the issues it had brought up. I really have to hand it to Estelito Mendoza, PAL’s lawyer. If I am ever in trouble, I’d want him on my side.
Almost two years later — the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow, but it was worth the wait — the SC slapped PAL down (the resolution can be found in www.fasap.net), saying “Thus, PAL appears to us to be less than honest in its claim,” and “To conclude, the rights and privileges that PAL unlawfully withheld from its employees have been in dispute for a decade and a half…. This case has dragged on for so long and we are no more than duty-bound to finally put an end to the illegality that took place; otherwise, the illegally retrenched employees can rightfully claim that this Court has denied them justice.” And denied with finality (again), PAL’s second MR.
I take off my hat to the SC, and the original ponente, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago. And I take off my hat to FASAP, which has worked doggedly and determinedly for the rights of its members through thick and thin, mostly thin, against a formidable opponent. FASAP restores one’s faith in labor unions (a lot of whom seem to care more about ideological issues than their members’ welfare).
If bad news comes in threes, this time good news does also. The third piece of good news must be savored too, if only because it comes from Maguindanao, which will be forever associated with the word Massacre. Who knows, maybe what the women of Dado, Maguindanao, did, will turn out to be not only a turning point toward peace in their village, but will be used as a model by other women who are sick and tired of violence and strife and its effects on their families and way of life. And maybe Maguindanao will at least be known for something good — using non-violent means to end violence. Women waging peace.
Apparently, refusing to have sex with their menfolk unless the latter stop their nonsense of waging constant war, is a strategy of women earliest discussed in 400 BC in Greece. More recent attempts have been in Liberia in 2003 (to end the civil war, and break the peace talks stalemate) — successful ; Pereira, Colombia, in 2006 (girlfriends of warring criminal gangs called it “the strike of crossed legs”) — also successful, with a reported dramatic decline in murder rates; Naples, Italy, in 2008 (strike over New Year’s Day firework injuries — men made to choose between sex or fireworks) — successful but with subsequent backsliding; Kenya in 2009(conflict between President and Prime Minister, strike including prostitutes who showed their solidarity) — resolved within a week after the strike; Belgium earlier this year (over failure to form a government after almost a year) — the strike was proposed, but the Belgian ladies apparently weren’t enthusiastic. Did not push through. And now, the women of Dado, Maguindanao. Successful. Not a bad batting average. Go, ladies.
The reader will note that the three good-news stories discussed above all involve women. And since we’re on a roll regarding herstories, this is as good a time as any to do a follow-up on my column last week about a botched invitation to Malaysia’s World Women Economic Forum (WWEF). It turns out that Mely Nicolas also had to turn down the invitation for basically the same reasons I did. But the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) is not to blame.
Executive Director Emmeline Verzosa sent me a timeline: On May 2, the PCW received the letter from DFA-Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs (ASPAC) dated April 25, requesting PCW to “nominate a distinguished speaker” to participate in the WWEF.
PCW replied three days later, sending DFA a list of five names, together with contact numbers, mind you, of likely women speakers. Nothing inefficient about that. Very quick turnaround time, as a matter of fact. So any bungling that resulted in our receiving news of the invitation less than a week before the forum has to have happened within the DFA.
And it is unlikely to be the ASPAC, because I am told they transmitted the PCW information to the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia on May 13. So now the focus is on the latter. Tsk. But I am willing to bet that no women were involved in the bungling. Any takers?
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By: Solita Collas-Monsod – Calling A Spade
Source: Business World, Sept. 21, 2011
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