Protecting our very own

The Tariff Commission is going to make an important decision this month. It will decide whether to protect the local cement industry from excessive and unfair competition from imports. My fearless forecast is that the commission will protect local interest against foreign interest. This is actually a no-brainer given the pros and cons of the issue. But just for good measure, it was heaven-sent for the locals that President Bush early this month imposed an additional 30 percent tariff on steel imports to protect America’s steel industry.

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It makes no sense to cripple your own industry and throw thousands of workers out of work in the name of free trade. In the first place, it was not free trade but dirty competition that gave imports one-fifth of the local market in four short years. There was smuggling, for one. In the case of TCC Cement, an importer-subsidiary of Taiwan Cement Corporation, the customs bureau found it falsifying its shipping documents so it would pay lower tariff. The bureau cancelled TCC’s import permit. But the damage had been done because TCC had opened the market to imports.

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The industry is asking the government for safety nets in the same way that the US steel industry asked Bush for safeguards. Our Department of Trade and Industry found merit in the petition and imposed an extra tariff of P20.60 per bag which took effect last December 10. Imports still poured in. In fact, imports had only a market share of 13 percent then; now it is 21 percent. The extra tariff did not even dent imports. So what is going to happen if the Tariff Commission decides to protect imports and scrap the P20.60 per bag tariff?

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There were two other major benefits we got from the DTI safety net. The first was that Continental Cement, which recently shut down, re-opened and called back its employees who had already received their separation pay. In Mindanao, plants that were scheduled to be shut down remained in operation – all because the P20.60 tariff somehow cut the cost advantage of imports and allowed local cement to compete on a more level playing field. Second, as the local producers sold more, they were able to bring down their price from P147 per bag to only P125 per bag now.

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And because of stable sales, the local industry offered the government a preferential price of only P100 per bag for its infrastructure projects. Now I have to ask: what have the importers done for this country? In terms of income taxes paid alone, the four largest importers paid only P951,433, a puny amount if compared even with the P3.2 million paid by 97 cement plant workers in La Union.

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Another good coming out of the DTI tariff was the extra revenues the government had generated. Since December 10, more than three million bags were shipped in and paid the extra tariff totaling P65.5 million. This is because our tariff walls are so low that we attract imports. We levy only 3 percent if the cement comes from Asean and 5 percent outside. The tariff in Malaysia is 20 percent; Thailand, 10 percent; and Vietnam 40 percent.

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And if you are still for imports, ponder upon this: two Philippine cement firms exported to Taiwan last year, and about four months and 4 percent of that market later, were found already to have injured that market. TCC asked that Philippine cement be slapped 65 percent tariff for five years. They move fast to protect their industry. Bush was fast too. Here, it has been about two years now. In the case of our steel industry which has been bankrupted by imports, its case for protection remains pending in the courts. Patay na ang kabayo.

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A STAR reader noted that the qualifications or standards set by employers for job applicants are too discriminatory as to age and the schools the applicant graduated from. Want ads abroad merely state the qualifications required and nothing else. But over here, there would be a strict age requirement and some would even have stated that they would only hire those from " reputable schools". For instance, one multinational company even mentioned that they have an entry-level marketing position open and that they would only entertain applicants from only two "reputable schools" – Ateneo and La Salle.

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Does this mean that when these companies sell their products to the general public, they would only sell them to the graduates of those two schools or to those who did not come from "reputable schools"? Are those graduates from other schools, especially the provinces, not as reputable? While the supposed "reputable schools" may have better academic standards and better facilities, these schools do not discriminate against anyone. Remember the recent Ateneo valedictorian who was blind?.

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The reader asks why unduly rule out employment for others also qualified whose only "fault" in life is that they were from families or whose parents are not as financially able to send their kids to a better (higher tuitioned) school. Check out the thousands in the University Belt who honestly strive to make it through school and whose parents and families sacrifice a lot just so their children can attend a university or get a degree.

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The reader and his wife were watching a TV movie weeks ago with Sally Fields in the starring role. Sally Fields went for a job interview with her leg in a cast. Thus, she went to her job interview using a crutch. She had her interview but did not get the job she was applying for. Instead, she was offered the higher position available.

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The reader suggested that we check out the people applying for jobs or waiting to be interviewed at the various companies all over, especially the multinationals and big ones. Not one applicant is in a crutch or a wheelchair. Ask the Personnel Manager how many applicants in a crutch or wheelchair they have entertained, let alone passed the preliminary screening? The answer would be a jolting NONE.

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The reader said people with physical disabilities should not be shunned to low paying jobs and opportunities just because of their disabilities, and they should not be exhibited to the public only when a company is on a public relations campaign. Equal treatment should be afforded to all individuals.

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Thougths For Today:

Love not out of need,
but out of abundance of your heart.
Don’t seek for someone who will fill your heart.
Seek for someone whose heart you can fill.

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Often we stand at life’s crossroads
and view what we think is the end.
But God has a much bigger vision
and He tells us it’s only a bend.

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