In fairness to Sen. Ralph

Curtain-raisers:

*Somebody who smiles like Tom Hanks, who walks like Tom Hanks, who talks like Tom Hanks, who moves like Tom Hanks and who looks exactly like Tom Hanks will grace the opening of the Bubba Gump (shrimp) restaurant in Makati City, owned and operated by Bert and Carol Nievera, on Saturday, Jan. 25. The guy will arrive from the US Friday evening. The flyers for Bubba Gump (obviously inspired by the Tom Hanks starrer Forrest Gump) looks exactly like the print ad of the movie. Now, is Tom Hanks really coming for the Bubba Gump event? Let’s wait and see if that guy is, well, the real McCoy.

*Hans Montenegro seems to have a fixation for women whose name starts with "M" (a "hang-over" from his failed romance with Miriam Quiambao?) Hans’ new date is Miss "M", the actress rumored to have entered into a "walang pakialaman" arrangement with her non-showbiz husband.

*No, it’s not true as Jordan Herrera feels that the world has turned against him. At ABS-CBN alone, Jordan has found a lot of supporters, one of whom is Roderick Paulate to whom, according to a Funfare DPA, "Jordan can run for moral support anytime." Well, that’s what friends are for, isn’t it?

* * *

First, I want to make it clear that I am with the industry people’s fight against the imposition of the 10 percent VAT (Value Added Tax), deferred since its passage in 1997, effective Jan. 1, 2003. As it is, I know that artists are burdened enough by the 20 percent withholding tax slapped on them as per a "revenue regulation" by the BIR that took effect last year. As a "segment" talent of ABS-CBN (The Buzz, you know?), I am also affected by that 20 percent tax, deducted from my "per appearance" fee from the station (not really that much, I assure you, but enough for my monthly gasoline expenses and budget for books/magazines).

There are just certain points that I want to make clear, in fairness especially to Sen. Ralph Recto who has found himself in the eye of the storm (because he happens to head the Senate Committee on Ways & Means tasked to act upon any petition for the further deferment of the controversial 10 percent VAT on professionals, actors included) and for the enlightenment of industry people and those keeping an eye on the issue.

I must admit that a Funfare informer gave me the misleading information, published Thursday (Jan. 16) last week, that Sen. Ralph "sat" on the petition whose deadline was last Dec. 31, 2002. It turned out, according a more knowledgeable source, that the petition hasn’t reached the Senate yet. In fact, according to Leyte Rep. Ted Failon in an on-air interview with Richard Gomez, one of the outspoken anti-VAT leaders, on DZMM yesterday morning, "Tax measures are the business of the Lower House and not of the Senate."

When the Funfare column ("A collective Ouch!!!") came out last Thursday, I got a call from Sen. Ralph who wanted to clarify some points, including the fact that he wasn’t the author of the (1997) VAT Bill and that, even if his wife, Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos, is affected by the 20 percent BIR "revenue regulation" and the 10 percent VAT if and when it’s finally implemented soon (unless a new one-month reprieve approved by Finance Secretary Isidro Camacho isn’t extended and/or doesn’t lead to further deferment of that VAT), he would remain "neutral" and "objective" on the issue. He added that he did file bills favorable to the industry so nobody can accuse him of being "anti-(entertainment)-industry."

Again, I’m reminding everybody that this piece is "in fairness" to Sen. Ralph and not "in defense of" Sen. Ralph as we go to the next point – that is, the "name-calling" issue.

Could it be true that Sen. Ralph called industry people "bobo" and singled out Richard Gomez as an "aso" (a dog)? Not true. In that phone conversation with Funfare and later that Thursday morning on DZBB in a tie-up interview arranged by host Arnold Clavio between Sen. Ralph and Richard, Sen. Ralph explained the nitty-gritty of the issue, prompting some industry hotheads (I won’t name names now, or do I have to?) to comment, "Ginagawang bobo ni Sen. Ralph ang mga taga-industry." Take note: the world bobo was uttered by an industry member and not by Sen. Ralph.

In the same breath, Sen. Ralph said that industry people are "barking up the wrong tree" by fighting for the non-implementation of the 10 percent VAT and not for the scrapping of the 20 percent BIR revenue regulation," which is, said Sen. Ralph, "the worse of two evils." The 10 percent VAT is sanctoned by a law and needs an act for Congress for it to be repealed and/or amended while the 20 percent withholding tax is only a "revenue regulation" and can easily be over-ruled by a new BIR act (with the Finance Department’s approval). As simple as that.

Days later, the phrase "barking up the wrong tree," drastically – and, I should say, tragically – changed meaning as it travelled from ear to ear, from text message to text message, until everything got shortened in the whole process, with the latest "anti-Ralph" text message saying that Sen. Ralph called Richard an aso. Now, there’s a world of difference between "barking up the wrong tree" and calling somebody, anybody, an aso, isn’t there?

So yesterday, while the starry, starry anti-VAT rally was raging in front of the Senate, industry leader Marichu "Manay Ichu" Maceda had her hands full calling down placards bearing anti-Ralph messages. "It’s unfair to Ralph," Manay Ichu told Funfare.

Let’s hope that reason will prevail over emotion, "heads" will rule "hearts" so the whole mess will be sorted out – in favor of the industry, of course. (Keep your fingers crossed!).

Meanwhile, I’m reminding industry people to support a bill filed by Sen. Ralph last year that would, if passed, over-rule the 10 percent VAT. This early, the (industry people) should get hold of copies of that pro-industry bill and rally behind it and not to go out in full force, out into the streets, when everything is almost (but not quite) over, just like in the case of the 10 percent VAT whose deadline of further deferment (Dec. 31, 2002) came and went, catching the industry unawares. (When asked why they didn’t act months before the deadline lapsed, an industry leader sheepishly mumbled, "We forgot all about it!")

Don’t say I didn’t warn you, huh?