A Mona Lisa?

There were two amusing newspaper stories that appeared last week in the front pages of several dailies. The first involved Sen. John "Sonny" Osmeña who reportedly blew his top, threatened to resign from the Senate majority bloc, when he saw the reaction of Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho to Sonny O’s demand. Sonny O wanted the customs collector of Cebu to be sacked from his post — and Secretary Camacho’s unsaid reply, as the news story said, was a smile. Yes, a smile, and one wonders what kind of smile Secretary Camacho flashed when Sonny O aired his demand.

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Usually, a smile can be interpreted as signifying acquiescence to something said or something done. Secretary Camacho did not frown; he merely smiled. What kind of smile then did he display on his cherubic face that enraged the oftentimes emotional Sonny O? A Mona Lisa smile? A devil’s smile, if there is such a thing?

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Apparently, Sonny O is going to get his wish. He is so important in the Senate leadership equation that he cannot be sacrificed in favor of the Cebu customs collector. Moreover, Sonny O chairs the committee that handles the national budget. Thus, he cannot be taken for granted. And Secretary Camacho must henceforth learn to display the smile that can ease and soothe the temper of Senator Sonny O. NO, not a toothpaste smile but, yes, a Mona Lisa smile.

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The second amusing newspaper story last week was the psychological warfare involving the controversial Terminal III project. Did you notice how the strategists of the Philippine Air Terminals Co. Inc. (PIATCO) came up with that gimmick that focused on a photo op with the family of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.? PIATCO unveiled a statue of the great Ninoy at the grounds of Terminal III which is still undergoing construction and the entire Aquino family — former President Cory, Rep. Noynoy Aquino, and daughters Viel, Ballsy and Pinky (Where was Kris?) — graced the unveiling. They were all smiles in the photo op.

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But weren’t the smiles too early? For one, Ninoy deserves more than a statue at NAIA. For another, the Terminal III project is still mired in controversy and scandal. And, of course, the PIATCO contract is being objected to by a large segment of Philippine society. Right now, the contract is being reviewed by Malacañang, Congress, and various courts.

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Some admirers of Ninoy and President Cory say that the Aquino family should have waited until the questions on the PIATCO contract are resolved and the alleged scam laid to rest before agreeing to the photo op. For should the oppositors to PIATCO be sustained in their vociferous objections to the contract, the statue of Ninoy might be tarnished.

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But tit for tat. The stakeholders of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga are planning to put up a statue of Cong Dadong at the former American facility. Their thrust is to honor Cong Dadong whose image might be dishonored by that provision in the PIATCO contract limiting the passenger capacity of DMIA, thus chocking its development as a premier international airport.

A battle of statues in the PIATCO controversy? What next?

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At times when local products are getting clobbered by dumped imports, and jobs are lost because of the loss of market for local industries, the recent decision by Trade and Industry Secretary Mar Roxas to impose a provisional increase in tariff on imported cement is bringing hope to other industries in a similar situation. The DTI decision, according to former Sen. Wigberto "Bobby" Tañada of the fair Trade Alliance (FTA) is a small but significant victory for local industries struggling for survival against the deluge of imports. Tañada is hoping that the DTI acts as well as on the other industries hobbled by the entry of unrestricted imports. These industries include tiles, battery, footwear, cassava, textile, rice, corn and many others.

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Such a move does not mean we are reneging on our commitment to globalization. In fact, other countries are doing more than that to protect their national industries. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia was right when he noted that the billions of dollars ordered to be released by the United States government to pump-prime its economy, particularly to help its beleaguered airline industry after the Sept. 11 tragedy, is tantamount to infusing subsidies. Which is a no-no in globalization. But what kind of government is one that would merely sit and watch as its economy goes to shambles just because of its commitment to globalization?

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While the Tariff Commission is beginning to hear complaints by the cement industry about injuries and lost markets because of the dumping of imported cement, there are indications that the government has been cheated of revenues by cement importers. It was Jesus Arranza of the Confederation of Homeowners Associations for Reforms in Governance and Environment (CHARGE) who opposed the increase of tariffs on imported cement and who brought out the issue of under valuation and technical smuggling by the importers.

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It is estimated that based on the 3.5 million tons of cement imported since 1999, customs taxes allegedly evaded ranged from P105 million to P175 million. Findings of the Bureau of Customs indicate four techniques in cheating government — duplication and alternation of invoices, undervaluation, under-declaration of import quantities, and misclassification.

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During the recent congressional hearings on the cement industry, importers testified under oath that their landed cost is P100 per bag. But based on previous import entries filed before the customs bureau, some importers have been declaring landed cost at as low as P52 per bag, or less than half of the amount they testified to in Congress. Likewise, if there is cheating in value, there is also cheating in quantities.

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Because of the provisional increase in tariffs on imported cement, the government is expected to earn about P300 million in 200 days. But this is dependent on how the government can tighten the screws to prevent unscrupulous importers from evading paying the right duties and taxes. Actually, the cement industry is going the way of the rice industry. Sometimes ago, the government relaxed its rule on rice importations by allowing the importation by the private sector of fancy rice, in limited quantities. Now rice smuggling has proliferated. It is not only fancy rice that is being brought in, but ordinary rice. In other words, our own farmers are now being displaced.

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THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:

Life is like a book.
Every day has a new page,
with adventures to tell,
lessons to learn, and tales
about good deeds to remember.
May you have a good chapter today!

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Valuing someone does not necessarily entail
seeing each other everyday but giving time
to greet them even in our busiest days.

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My e-mail addresses: [email protected] and [email protected]