Beggar our future?

Maybe it is because of our "bahala na" mentality. Or maybe it is because we are a generation of heartless, spendthrift, selfish sons of bitches our grandchildren and great grandchildren had the misfortune of having as forebears. What we are currently doing is nothing less than compromising the ability of our future generations to live their lives without our millstones tied on their backs.

I realize that it is a political necessity for this administration to act as it had, but the obligation to pay Napocor’s debts remains even as consumers get some relief from paying the accursed PPA in their power bills. Payment must still be made somehow. One way is to pass the burden to taxpayers. Or, stretch out the payment over a longer period of time, which is equivalent to passing it on to future generations of consumers.

It is clear that someone goofed when Napocor under FVR signed up more independent power producers to provide more megawatts than we need. The emergency powers given to former President Ramos were clearly abused by Napocor and we are now suffering for it. That the Department of Justice is studying the possibility of filing charges against some people is welcome, but of small comfort in the wake of the mess that must be cleaned up now.

But is it fair to pass the burden to future generations, as proposed by energy officials today? Is it the solution to this problem? That’s what a pending bill in Congress seeks to do.

It is bad enough that in the case of Malampaya, we are securitizing future earnings of government in terms of royalties. This means, we will spend money future generations should have earned on Malampaya and to add insult to injury, we are leaving them a legacy of debt instead.

If we find it difficult to develop economically now because of a lack of resources, think how impossible it would be for our grandchildren and great grandchildren because they must first all, pay our debts even before they can take care of their own needs. I think our total debt now is a mind-boggling over a trillion pesos, and rising.

If we care for our future generations, we should instead be taking care of our needs by paying the right taxes, cutting down on corruption and building the infrastructure future generations can use to live great lives. That’s never going to happen.

Now I understand why my 48-year-old cousin decided to migrate to the US even if he isn’t exactly doing badly here. Migrating at his age takes an act of courage. He said he is doing it for his children. He doesn’t see a future for them here.

If I told him what we are doing with the PPA and Malampaya royalties, water rates, MRT/LRT fares, he will just be convinced he did the right thing, for his children. He wants them to have a fighting chance they will never get here in a future burdened by the debts of our generation.

Oh well, I guess, in the long run we are all dead, anyway.

Cruise ships

I received this very troubling e-mail from one of our readers.

I just got back from a 16 day cruise of Asia. When I booked this cruise last year, Manila was included as one of the stops. But when I got the itinerary Manila was no longer on the list (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea and Japan). When we were on board the ship, some of the staff told us the reason why Manila was no longer a stop.

When the Princess cruise stopped in Manila, both the Immigration and Customs officials boarded the ship (on our stops elsewhere, only immigration officials got on the ship). Once Filipino customs officials were on board, they asked the staff for big garbage bags and started to help themselves with food (steak, lobsters, shrimps, cheese, etc) silverware, ship decorations and other things. The Filipino staffers were so embarrassed. They called them "buwaya".

The country lost a lot of revenues: Princess dock fees and the shopping dollars of 1500 passengers. I was so disappointed my cruise did not stop in Manila but I don’t think I would like to see our customs officials doing their thing. This is why some companies do not want to do business in the Philippines. Hopefully this will change in the future.

Bad as the reputation of our customs bureau might be, I can’t believe something this horrible can happen. But then again, why would the Pinoy staff of the cruise line concoct a story like this?

Maybe next time a cruise liner docks here, a welcome band complete with beautiful ladies offering garlands from the Department of Tourism should board the ship with the customs and immigration officers. That should make everyone behave, if only because everyone’s aware the country’s reputation is at stake. I assume of course, that even the most corrupt public official still cares.

Old Lady

There is the danger we may live long enough to suffer the consequences of our actions today. This one’s from Orly Morabe.

In his Sunday sermon, the priest used "Forgive Your Enemies" as his subject. After the sermon, he asked how many were willing to forgive their enemies. About half held up their hands.

Not satisfied, he harangued the parish for another twenty minutes and repeated his question. This received a response of eighty percent.

Still unsatisfied, he lectured for fifteen more minutes and repeated his question. All responded except one elderly lady in the rear. "Mrs. Jones, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?"

"I don’t have any."

"Mrs. Jones, that is very unusual. How old are you?"

"Ninety-six."

"Mrs. Jones, please come down in front and tell the parish how a lady can live to be ninety-six and not have an enemy in the world."

The old lady teetered down the aisle, slowly turned to face the parish, and blurted out, "I outlived the sons of bitches."

(Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected])