Greed rears its ugly head

It seems that the President is getting very bad advice these days.

First, she wanted to appoint her husband Mike as special envoy to the OFWs, a move that is not only illegal but also unethical. It is an indirect violation of the constitutional prohibition against the President appointing her spouse and relatives as head of any government agency and corporation. As one of her very first acts, Mrs. Arroyo prohibited government employees from transacting any business with her relatives. The post of special envoy may not be the office contemplated as part of the constitutional prohibition against nepotism, but it certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

There is however one good thing that could result if Mike Arroyo is appointed special envoy. Being a public officer, he would be accountable to the people and would be subject to a lifestyle check. He will be required to submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities and net worth.

Next, the Arroyo administration wants to take over management control of main power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

No less than Fr. Joaquin Bernas, a member of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution, explained that under Section 17, Article 12 of the Charter, it is only in times of national energy when the public interest so requires that the State may temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interest.

Fr. Bernas, dean of the Ateneo Law School, doubts if such a national emergency exists right now and if there is one, who is to declare its "presence and clarity." Under the same constitutional provision, the takeover must be "under reasonable terms" prescribed by the State.

The National Government was seeking the consent of the Lopez family which has been traditionally choosing the management team of Meralco to agree to a government take-over of management and control. If the Lopezes resist, as they are doing now, we can expect the issue to go to court. No less than Meralco president Jesus Francisco has said it was "very difficult" to accept Malacañang’s proposal for government to take over management.

The government’s economic czars are justifying state control of Meralco management to enhance the company’s stature in the investment community a well as in the financial and equities markets, the premise being that the country’s third largest company in terms of sales is being mismanaged by its current management team.

Malacañang, meanwhile, explains that since the National Government owns over a quarter of Meralco, it was only proper that it actively participate in running its affairs. Right now, government has three of the 11 Meralco board seats.

So repelled was the local business community and Congress by Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho’s takeover "template," patterned roughly after the state buy-in into the ailing Philippine National Bank, that the Arroyo administration was forced to back off. Now, Energy Secretary Vincent Perez has been assigned to try his hand in fleshing out a more acceptable alternative plan for Meralco.

Senator Serge Osmeña III has opposed the plan to appoint government nominees to replace key Meralco executives on top of increasing the number of government seats in the board while Senator Loren Legarda saw the Palace move to withdraw the plan as a "tactical retreat" and predicts that the administration officials who crafted the take-over scheme will regroup.

It seems that there are some people who cannot wait to get their hands on what can become government’s biggest milking cow.

Government and business just don’t mix. There are very few government-owned and controlled corporations that are managed well and run efficiently. If government believes that Meralco is mismanaged, then let it prove its allegations. If indeed Meralco is mismanaged, then handing over the reign to government is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. But who are we to dispute Asia Money, the Far Eastern Economic Review, and Businessweek which have consistently cited the company for overall management excellence and performance. People, including this writer, may hate Meralco because it gets money out of consumers who have no choice but to buy electricity from it, but that is not enough reason to let government take over the business. If Meralco is milked dry by salivating politicians, who is going to pay for it later on? Probably not during this generation, but the generations to come.

Real empowerment

There is a silent revolution going on in the countryside.

Rice traders and importers are now scrambling to offer farmers cooperatives partnership or joint venture arrangements to be able to import rice. From always being at the losing end of the deal, farmers now find themselves being empowered and this time placing traders and financiers at their mercy.

As part of President Arroyo’s pro-farmer programs through the stewardship of presidential adviser on agricultural modernization Lito Sarmiento, farmers’ organizations are being given the first crack to import rice. This way, they are not only producers, but are also traders – a sure way of increasing their meager income.

There are three other programs, also developed by Sarmiento, that are meant to empower farmers.

The first one allows farmers’ organizations to act as rice distributors to their members and other buyers under the Farmers as Distributor (FAD) program. More than 1,000 cooperatives have so far participated and so successful was the initial program that a second phase was undertaken.

The second program allows these groups to import special or fancy rice under the Farmer as Importer of Special Rice (FAISR) scheme. Again, the response from the farming sector was unexpected. Around 550 cooperatives have expressed interest in importing the 20,000 metric tons allowed volume.

And very recently, Sarmiento, together with National Food Authority administrator Arthur Yap and Development Bank of the Philippines chairman Lani Nañagas, launched a free warehousing program for palay farmers for six months in San Jose, Mindoro Occidental. This project is also being pilot-tested in Quirino, Iloilo, and Davao del Norte including Compostela Valley.

The program will enable palay farmers to hold on to their stocks while waiting for better prices. They can keep the stocks at NFA warehouses and should they need cash, they can go to Land Bank or Quedancor and use their warehouse receipt as collateral for loans. It is hoped that this program will be launched nationwide in early March of next year.

We sincerely hope that these programs reap success. After all, the farmers deserve to get all the support from government. Representing one of the poorest, if not the poorest sector in the country, the farming sector needs to be empowered if our economy is to rise from the ashes.

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