Snap election is an idiotic idea

The tragedy of democracy in this country is that the opposition is so bad we are forced to make do with an administration that has obviously failed and badly tainted with corruption as well. Nothing is more pathetic than that front page picture of a bunch of old men and women who badly fumbled their time at the bat, now thumbing down the current administration, as if they did better.

Now they are calling for a snap election, an absolutely idiotic idea that not only has no basis in our constitution but is guaranteed to worsen our current political and economic instability. With election less than a year away, it makes sense to just wait for it to happen. A snap election aggravates our international image as a politically unstable country that habitually disregards even its own constitution to justify power grabs.

Granted that EDSA 2 might have been a case of extra-constitutional power grab too, compounding that with a snap election when a regular election is close at hand is simply idiocy. It seems to me that having failed to grab power at Oakwood, some elements in the opposition are getting desperate. If there is any last remaining bit of patriotism in their beings, these opposition leaders should just try and make the next few months until May tolerable in terms of the decibel level and quality of political noise.

The worst thing that could happen is for the opposition to overplay their cards to the point that the public will feel the current administration is still a better alternative to change. As it is, the increase in the rating of Ate Glo is already an indication that the people would rather have her, Mike Arroyo notwithstanding, than a bunch of discredited old men and women who should have faded in the background when Marcos fled to Hawaii.

Ate Glo’s administration may have its faults, some pretty serious. But the current instability that is punishing our economy from the falling exchange rate to the negative investment climate can be traced largely to the recent antics of the opposition. The problem is, we have an opposition that is so desperate to get Erap back in power, even for a moment, that they would make a deal with the devil to get it. There’s no patriotism there at all, despite their posturing.

The way things stand, people are ready to believe Joey Lina that even the recent Citibank incident was largely acoustic, not meant to really rob the bank but more to create the image of a government that has lost control. The tragedy is, that image is turning out to be true and we are all the victims of the unfortunate reality.

The solution however, is not snap election, but everyone banding together to get a grip of the situation just so we can all survive up to the next regular election. Wouldn‘t it be nice if Ping Lacson, the top cop that he is, set aside his ambitions long enough to help get those vicious criminals behind bars and thereafter resume his campaign for the presidency?

Will never happen, right? Why? Because there is no sense of patriotism among our politicians. They are focused on personal power and how to get it at all cost.

Hay naku. No wonder some people are planning to take long vacations away from the country and just come back after the dust settles – hopefully after a regular election in May 2004.

Transco

In connection with my column last week on Transco, I e-mailed Transco President Alan Ortiz for more details about the Transco privatization specially on the much feared fire sale because no one other than a Singapore company was interested to bid. Here is his reply.

Transco is NOT being sold. It remains 100-percent government owned. What is being "privatized" is a concession to operate and maintain the grid for 25 years, renewable by another 25. Pretty much like a canteen or restaurant concession to operate a food facility which remains the property of the building owners. Therefore, we stand to raise up to $2 billion over the life of the concession and another one billion from income taxes, WITHOUT YIELDING OWNERSHIP OF THE ASSETS.

Therefore, there is no ‘fire sale’ in the works. What will be ‘negotiated,’ will be the upfront concession fee which is 25 percent of the $2 billion valuation or about $500 million. This is the entrance fee of the concessionaire.

Further, the concessionaire is required under the terms of the contract to spend at least $225 million. This is the direct equivalent of the P10 billion per year which the concessionaire, and not the government, will spend. The difference between gross income of about P25 billion annually, less capex of P10 billion and opex and mooe of another P10 billion will leave the concessionaire about P5 billion in net net income.

When I came in last January, I learned that we had ZERO inventory of STEEL poles. As of last Aug. 12, we had successfully concluded the bidding for the first batch of steel poles, 1,200, out of a total of 9,000 to 12,000 which we will acquire to replace all the wood poles in the country! This is gross neglect on the part of previous management. The first batch will start arriving in October and we will replace wood poles in Samar, Bicol, Central Luzon, and Mindanao immediately.

AIM and Oakwood

A graduate of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) sent me this e-mail commenting on military officers who studied in that bastion of capitalism.

I may be coming out of left field but my alma mater, AIM, should also examine what it teaches military officers. The problem (or potential problem) is that these officers are taught strategy formulation and problem solving using private sector perspectives – which is as near as it gets to a perfect world when compared to a bureaucratic environment where political factors sometimes count more than practical ones.

I’ve seen PMA alumni come out even more disillusioned when time came to return to barracks after two years at AIM. Mind you, not all became Bonapartists, but the few who did were more than enough. And there were many.

Filipino time

This one is from Marilyn Mana-ay Robles.

A parish priest was being honored at a dinner on the 25th anniversary of his arrival in that parish. A leading local politician, who was a member of the congregation, was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner. But, being a typical Pinoy VIP, he was late. So the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited.

"You will understand," he said, "the seal of the confessional, can never be broken. However, I got my first impressions of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I can only hint vaguely about this, but when I came here 25 years ago I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place.

"The very first chap who entered my confessional told me how he had stolen a television set, and when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. Further, he told me he had embezzled money from his place of business and had an affair with his boss’s wife. I was appalled.

"But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that, and I had, indeed come to, a fine parish full of understanding and loving people."

Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies for being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his talk. "I’ll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived in this parish," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession."

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