More on GMA’s ‘Nautical Highway’

When we wrote about our big biking experience in Leyte and back here in Cebu last week, we apparently touched a raw nerve in the Arroyo administration, especially since we wrote about the weakest link of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) in view of the fact that there’s still a lot to be desired with GMA’s backbone program that aims to link this archipelagic nation together.

Please don’t get me wrong. My intention in writing about the weak points of the SRNH is motivated by our desire to see this program take off magnificently and not implemented in a haphazard manner.

That’s because we know old habits die hard, especially when it comes to making easy money. By easy money, I mean, collecting fees for something no one has worked for. That’s exactly what the arrastre services are doing all over many "Roll-on, Roll-off" ports in this country, which I guess is the biggest stumbling block to the SRNH.

Perhaps the President ought to know that much of these arrastre services claim to be the fathers of GMA’s victory. But if these people don’t change their ways, it would spell doom to Executive Order No. 170, which gave birth to the SRNH, signed by President Arroyo two years ago.

Of course, the other weak link is the bad roads along the Maharlika Highway in the island of Samar. Often, much of Samar is neglected because the national media is just too far away to notice or even care. So, when I met Mr. Rhett Piczon, he told me the province’s sob story. Well, here’s a letter from Mr. Piczon in reply to our column a week ago.

"Bobit, the calls you made on GMA to act on her campaign promise to repair the roads in the province of Samar, which form part of the once fabled Maharlika Highway, has been received well among us Samarnons. This roughly 150 kilometers of horrible road condition contributes further to the underdevelopment of the island as this drives away both foreign and domestic tourists from exploring the richness of our environment and culture.

The needed repair or reconstruction has long been overdue. The potholes span the whole width of the road and are large enough to fit a tire of a ten-wheeler truck. The popular joke here is that our roads are even worse than a "sunka." At least the holes in the "sunka" are only in the sides of the board.

What aggravates our situation is the blatant corruption in our provincial capitol. Currently, our incumbent governor, past board members and heads of provincial offices are being investigated by the Ombudsman for plunder as charged by ISOG Han Samar, a cause-oriented organization. No wonder that all provincial roads leading to key towns, with the exception of Calbiga, Basey and Marabut, remain unpaved despite the nearly P200-million annual developmental fund from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the province. The locals from these towns and barangays have not tasted good roads ever, further dampening the potential of these places for eco-tourism. Kindly email me your office address so I can send you the documents of the plunder charge for your perusal. More power...Rhett Piczon"

Well, as if on cue, I found myself suddenly invited to a Conference on the Promotion of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway at the Marriott Hotel last Monday. This forum was sponsored by JICA, MARINA, the Nippon Foundation and the Japan Maritime Science Inc. and the Cooperative Association of Japan Ship Builders. In truth, we spent a lot of time listening to the Japanese sponsors of this forum, a propeller company and a ship engine company which hope to sell their products to this country.

But the open forum gave us the opportunity to air our views, the exact same ones, which we already wrote in this corner and Atty. Gloria Bañas, Deputy Administrator of MARINA dutifully listened to our complaints. The ball is now in the government’s court to implement E.O.170 and perhaps to sanction or penalize participants who refuse to heed the presidential directive. Finally, we hope that GMA would come to Cebu to listen directly to us users of SRNH so she’d know whether reports sent to her are being "sanitized" or not.

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Here’s another letter in response to our article last week about the controversy hounding the Holcim Group that acquired the Union Cement Corp. and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which we all hope won’t turn into the corporate world’s version of a barroom brawl. Here’s this quite self-explanatory letter in full:

"Dear Mr. Avila, I read your March 4 article in The Philippine STAR making reference to a Strong Republic and Holcim’s acquisition of Union Cement. I think it is about time that our government agencies, in this case the SEC, should look after the welfare of small investors.

Everyone seems to be fixated on attracting big business and protecting their rights, but it seems that small investors are forgotten. If we want to develop our capital markets and be less dependent on foreign investors, it is very important to attract the smaller investors in the process. But they have to be confident that they will be treated fairly and their rights protected.

In this particular case, we have seen a foreign company buy out a large local conglomerate without any regard to the minority investors who have contributed the same amount per share as the larger investors. They, too, should be given the same opportunity to sell out at the same price. It is my understanding that Holcim has made similar acquisitions in different countries where they have made a tender offer to minorities. So, why not here in the Philippines? Is it because they feel they can get away with it?

Together with you, I salute our SEC for doing its job and protecting the rights of the minorities with its recent ruling directing Cemco to make a tender offer to purchase the Union Cement shares of the minorities at the same price that they bought the controlling stake. At the end of the day, I am confident that a company with the reputation of Holcim of Switzerland will comply with the SEC’s decision. Mabuhay....Jun Fernandez"

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He hosts a weekly talk show entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8:00 p.m.