Is ‘new’ GMA beyond mere image?

I caught a portion of President Arroyo's interview by Pia Hontiveros on the ABS-CBN News Channel the other night. I must say that I liked what I saw. Ate Glo is now angry enough and scared enough to be effective. She seemed angry enough about mindless opposition not just from her critics but more important, from a bureaucracy bent on corrupt business as usual. She is also scared enough that she is running out of time to make a difference before the 2004 campaign really heats up.

At the same time, however, there is this natural skepticism in me that wonders if this is all just image making for 2004. After years of hopes being raised prematurely, it is not easy to suspend disbelief and convince yourself that this time, this is it. But at least, she is saying the right things and seems to be acting in the directions that ought to be taken.

We certainly need a strong Republic, if by that we mean a government that is willing and able to enforce its own laws and to act decisively on the critical problems at hand. I am sure most of us are weary of seeming to forever be floating aimlessly in a sea of mediocrity.

Forget all the wailing from the left about the imminence of martial law and similar stuff. Those guys are hardwired to complain in such a manner for any little thing. Nothing will make them happier than to see a state of total anarchy that will give them a chance to grab political power. They still dream of the state withering away.

Having taken the right public posture, Ate Glo must now deliver. Those high profile busts of kidnap gangs and drug lords suggest a good start. The tough thing about this phase of Ate Glo's act is that people are impatient to see quick results.

And she must deliver big fish in terms of smugglers, drug lords, kidnap-for-ransom gangs, etc. In a month or less, even those who suspended disbelief will revert to total skepticism again that she means business after all. When that happens, she will be in a worse state than she is now and may find 2004 a real uphill climb.

For me, she simply must deliver because that's what we need right now to bring back credibility in our institutions and in our ability as a people to govern ourselves. That ability is simply not obvious right now.

Picop

Sometimes, effective government is merely a situation where the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. That full page ad of Picop, signed by its president Teddy Bernardino is a good case in point. The President talks about job creation and here, a government bureaucracy is being accused of destroying some 8,000 jobs for no obviously valid reason.

I know Teddy from our high school days at UP Prep as a quiet, decent, highly intelligent and no-nonsense kind of guy. He is also not one who gets himself in a fight unless he is sure he has all his bases covered. This is why when he complains that he is being had by the government bureaucracy, there is this strong inclination for me to believe him.

What makes his case special is that President Arroyo has already given it her personal attention, concerned as she was, with the loss of 8,000 jobs in the rebel-infested Caraga area of Mindanao where jobs are difficult to come by. It also affects the competitiveness of what could be a viable local industry in the production of linerboard used in packaging fruits for export.

Since the President is already well versed about the issues in the Picop case, it should be easy enough to take action, one way or the other. If it turns out that the bureaucrat in question has valid grounds to go against Picop, all the more reason government should make a decision once and for all. The delay gives rise to unsavory speculations that may prove unfair to the official concerned.

Time is of the essence here, as in any business endeavor. I am sure Teddy will appreciate the President's quick final decision so that he can move on. Picop, after all, is no fly-by-night company. It has decades of experience in tree farming and its technology in newsprint and linerboard production can help spawn the growth of a job-creating industry in the hinterland, where jobs are desperately needed. Picop should probably explore the possibility of operating abroad too, if our government does not want its investment here. Their expertise should not go to waste.

Credibility

Last Tuesday evening at CNN, the anchor and the reporter on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange were exchanging banter as they waited for the opening bell to start the day's trading. They were anticipating the trend of the day's trading and wondered what effect the statement of President Bush on the state of the market and the economy would have on the day's trading.

Well, the reporter remarked, unfortunately mostly bad. It is as if every time President Bush opens his mouth to talk the market up, it quickly goes the other way. On Wednesday morning, I found out the market did go South again, breaking another five-year record low.

I guess television has something to do with it. When I saw the video clip of Mr. Bush as he tried to extol the positives of the US economy, his face showed an element of disbelief himself. It is almost as if he desperately wanted to believe what he was saying is true. It didn't help that he cited the US fiscal situation as a positive, when every one knows they have serious budget deficit problems too on the federal and state levels.

I suppose that if someone like Allan Greenspan failed to talk the market up, what chance does Mr. Bush have? It surely doesn't help that both Bush and Vice President Cheney have ethical question marks hanging over their respective corporate business careers. This is a good example of the medium being the message. The public perception of the messenger says it all regardless of what he is trying to say in words.

What America needs to turn the tide is a credible leader. This time, the corporate business management credentials of America's President and Vice President work against them. Al Gore, with his early campaign rhetoric, would have done better. Blame those stupid Florida voters who couldn't follow simple voting instructions, I guess.

Solid investment advice

Feeling bad about your stock investments? Here's something someone sent me over the Internet. Note, however, that the values of the stocks mentioned, but not the beer can deposit, are actually lower today than indicated in this "analysis".

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.

With Enron, you would have $16.50 of the original $1,000.

With WorldCom, you would have less than $5 left.

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Budweiser (the beer, not the stock) one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the 10 cent deposit, you would have $214.

Based on the above, my current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle!!! Solid investment advice.

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