Our President protects her own

Many local businessmen, especially those in manufacturing, heaved a sigh of relief when word came out that the government is now more prone to go easy on the country’s tariff rate reduction commitments with the World Trade Organization.

Reports have it that without necessarily reneging on what many vocally consider as ill-hastened commitments, the government would keep close, if not stay right at the WTO allowable tariff ceiling, even to the point of raising tariffs on those items that are presently lower than the permissible limit.

Of course, this is to the chagrin of those who advocate immediate and strict compliance to WTO wishes and those who are just waiting in the wings to legally dump into our country their production excesses at prices that would definitely slash the throats of local businessmen but would still be viable considering inventory and storage costs of these products in their countries of origin.

Many in the business community are crediting our now ‘non-political’ President for the recent move. It is undoubtedly in protecting the interests of our local businessmen over the ‘big boys’ of international business whose self-serving agenda is to wantonly open all available markets for their products with total disregard for the welfare of local business presently reeling from financial reversals caused by both internal and external factors.

Indeed a big step to economic recovery and national unity.

Wanted: A serious industry regulator

If there is indeed a mounting dissatisfaction against many health maintenance companies for their non-compliance with agreed terms or for sub-standard services, it may really be high time for the industry to have a serious regulator to police its ranks.

Many are reported to find the sector being ‘toothlessly’ overseen by the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Department of Health. The SEC’s supervision over the companies in this sector seems to be limited to their corporate existence and their compliance to corporate requirements while the DOH may have limited authority to some aspects of their operational permits but powerless in making these firms make good their promised commitments to their clients.

As the pre-need companies may soon find themselves being whipped to toe the line by the Insurance Commission by way of a new legislation, these health maintenance companies should probably meet the same fate.

A more focused regulator like the Insurance Commission is logically what the health maintenance firms need in order to ensure the interests of their subscribers.

Thanks for the effort but it’s too late for some

One of the first calls I received since the calendar changed a few weeks ago was from a reader who credited this column for the dramatic emergence of all kinds of warnings in many BPI ATM machines cautioning the users about the dangers that the system faces from the unscrupulous. Although he chose not to be identified, he was heaping praises to this writer for the efforts to warn the public about the presence of con artists who dupe the public of their hard earned money and to inform the BPI management about its responsibility and obligation to do the same.

I don’t really know if what I wrote in my column regarding the scam in the BPI ATM machine that caused a victim to loose more than P80,000 in hard earned money precipitated the posting of warning signs in many BPI ATM machines. I don’t want to flatter myself. But what I do know is that this move of the Bank of the Philippine Islands is a bit too late for many who have been earlier victimized.

Take the case of this aforementioned victim. There were no warning signs when the card was swallowed by the machine. All that appeared in the screen were the words. "This machine does not dispense cash" or something to that effect. There was no advice as to where to go or what to do in such a situation. Being a Sunday, the victim was left with no choice but to wait for the next banking day to try to retrieve the card only to be informed that the card was not there and more than P80,000 have been withdrawn.

And to add insult to injury, when the victim reported to the BPI about what happened, BPI wrote back literally saying that what was reported could not have happened. And the victim could not help but ask, Now the BPI is turning me from a victim to a suspect?

What is also ironic is that the victim had been given by the BPI ‘Preferred Banker Status,’ – a term the victim now calls nothing but promotion and advertising gimmickry – nothing but lip service not customer service.

Many former Far East Bank employees and even a retired senior executive of BPI itself vouch for the victim’s integrity and yet according to the victim all the response that BPI made was a letter that even doubted the circumstances of the case as it was reported.

Is this the kind of customer service that BPI has been advertising and promoting over the radio, on TV and the newspapers? And I even have the highest respect for the Ayalas! are the words that are now constantly in the victim’s lips.

Site of many romantic wedding receptions

This week’s edition of the TV show Business & Leisure (Saturday, 11 p.m., Channel 4 Manila and nationwide via satellite on the National Broadcasting Network) shall emanate from the Ilustrado Restaurant, that most preferred fine dining destination located within the world renowned Walled City of Intramuros and also the top of the list for romantic garden wedding receptions and large scale catering services.

A highlight of the presentation tonight is an exclusive ‘one-on-one’ interview with Manila Mayor Lito Atienza that revolves around the controversial fuel depot of the big three oil companies located at the heart of the metropolis.

Some of the good life features on the show include our travel documentary on Petra, which was made during our trip to Jordan some time ago and a glimpse on the leisure moments of one of the country’s well known beauty gurus Ms. Elvie Pineda. Don’t fail to watch.

Mabuhay! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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