Opportunism

Industry watchdog Global Cement recently reported that cement being exported by Vietnam to countries like the Philippines are of poorer quality.

Its source was no less than associate professor Dinh Trong Thinh of the Academy of Finance, an attached agency of the Vietnam Ministry of Finance, who told Vietnam News that smaller and medium-sized cement producers in Vietnam use old technology such as shaft kilns in producing cement and sell such products to pure importers in the Philippines at prices below the cost of production of domestic cement manufacturers.

 The report quoted Trinh as saying that their producers were forced to export cement at lower prices than sold domestically to reduce inventory, adding this was not sustainable in the long run due to production cost.

 This admission that Vietnam is not even using the cement produced through shaft kilns exposes the greed of pure importers who dump them on unsuspecting Filipino consumers. If Vietnam wouldn’t even use their own shaft kiln-made cement, why would we?

 The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) did the right thing when it imposed provisional safeguard duty on cement imports because not only are these exporters dumping huge amounts of low-priced cement here – they are also selling as low-quality cement. From only 3,558 metric tons in 2013, cement imports ballooned to five million tons last year.

We hope that the Tariff Commission will also help local cement producers and users by making these safeguard duties permanent.

Bad state of things

Despite being rich in natural resources, Eastern Visayas is said to be the second poorest region in the Philippines. Worse, three of its provinces belong to the top 10 poorest provinces (Eastern Samar being second, Northern Samar 9th, and Western Samar 10th).

At the Samar Provincial Hospital, it is said that millions of pesos worth of medicines supplies were allegedly stolen and lost to corruption. While the provincial government of Samar (formerly Western Samar) spent millions of pesos for the procurement of medicines (P375 million), Samarenos hardly benefitted.

 According to Samar 1st district board member Julius Mancol, the province has a lot of resources and if properly managed, there would be no health crisis at all, and poverty would be greatly reduced.

Mancol said that despite adequate funding for medicines, delivery of health services is hampered due to misappropriation of resources, with corruption as the number one factor that brings about the gap between the rich and poor in Samar.

 The Commission on Audit has discovered suspicious discrepancies between inventory figures and actual hospital medicine stocks, as well as accumulated expired medicines.

Samar’s social spending on health, social protection, and education is described as shamefully low. and this is reflected in very poor social outcomes for Samarenos.

With at least four members of the powerful Tan family having filed their certificates of candidacy, the Samarenos hope that they can do something to improve their lives by making basic necessities like food, health, education, livelihood, housing, and access to clean water and sanitation available and that they could address the allegations of corruption being thrown at them.

Election issue

Presidential adviser on economic affairs Ramon Jacinto seems to have softened on his stance that there should only be two common tower operators in the country.

According to reports, Department of Information and Communications Technology OIC Eliseo Rio’s position to engage as many efficient tower operators as the market can absorb will prevail.

However, RJ may not be off the hook yet as the Filipino League of Advocates for Good Governance (FLAG) has filed a case against him for conflict of interest and for illegally pushing for a duopoly.

 FLAG founder Ed Cordevilla filed the complaint before the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission for violation of Republic Act 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act, RA 10667 and RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Cordevilla, who is also president of the Ang Tao Muna at Bayan Partylist, said Jacinto’s family is into steel manufacturing, and tower construction is 100 percent steel-based.

RJ may have the best of intentions when he proposed that only two common tower operators be allowed to operate, but concerns raised by these people should also be addressed.

How not to do it

A good education, as we all know by know, has nothing to do with how one can be an effective public servant.

So when Ilocos governor and now senatorial candidate Imee Marcos’ media staff opted to post her alleged educational achievements, people started to question their motivations, especially since the governor was already doing well with or without such academic laurels.

Now, her achievements as governor are being threatened because her media staff were either naïve or ill-equipped for the job at hand.

In her diatribe, Denn Meneses who reportedly heads Marcos’ PR team said a mouthful of scathing words directed at those who questioned her boss’ academic preparations.

She said that being judgmental is the worst trait to own, aside from being clueless and unforgiving. Humans are endowed with the gift of discernment. Use it, or forever be damned to an idiotized existence, she added.

PR experts have pointed out that from a PR standpoint, what she did was politically incorrect, to say the least. She drove away potential supporters, especially those still weighing their options. They said that going after perceived adversaries with reckless fire and fury is tantamount to digging one’s own political grave.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao does not have a college diploma, but nobody cared.

Uploading Imee’s graduation photos on social media was bad move. It was like opening a can of honey for the ants and the flies to feast on.

If money is no object for Imee, then she better hire people who can do the job better.

For comments, e-mail at [email protected]