Hu Jintao and our railroad to progress

This morning, at about 9 a.m., our Samahang Plaridel of which this writer as chairman, and Manila’s Mayor Lito Atienza will unveil a monument of the hero of our revolutionary Propaganda Movement, Marcelo H. del Pilar, known by his nom de guerre or nom de plume (take your pick) of "Plaridel".

It’s ironic that del Pilar – Jose Rizal’s contemporary, colleague, and quondam "rival" in letters and opinion – is called the "father of Philippine journalism," but it’s only now that a statue is being erected in his honor in our national capital.

The Samahang Plaridel is, of course, an association of senior journalists (editors, publishers, columnists and writers) and, thanks to the cooperation and support of Mayor Atienza, we’ve managed, within a year, to get the park between Quirino avenue and corner M. Adriatico, renamed Plaza Plaridel, and now have a statue of the hero himself rendered in bronze by the noted sculptor Julie Lluch.

So, see you there if you can make it to pay tribute to the man whose incendiary Tagalog writings in Bulacan, and then his editing and publishing of La Solidaridad in Barcelona, Spain, drove the colonial Spaniards and the heavy-handed Friars to distraction.

A word about the statue. If you see Plaridel, alias M.H. del Pilar sticking his finger up, it’s his forefinger in a noble upwards gesture, not his "dirty finger". Remember the movie, E.T.? You get the message.

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The only thing that concerns us a bit about this morning’s launch is the fact that a few hundred yards down the street is the Century Park Hotel, where China’s President Hu Jintao, his Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and other Cabinet officials are headquartered.

It’s significant that the President of the People’s Republic of China chose Taipan Lucio Tan’s 5-star hotel as his place of sojourn during his three-day visit to Manila. When former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and former Prime Minister Zu Rongji, earlier came to the Philippines on separate visits, they were also billeted in the Century Park Hotel – and also hosted by "Kapitan" Tan. Lucio, indeed, knows President Hu well, just as he was close to his predecessors in Beijing.

In contrast, Lucio was hated by the Kuomintang, the late Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s party, whose machinations had kept him out of any position of influence in the old Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce.

Now, obviously the opposite is true. Not only did Lucio get to head the Federation the other year, but his friends now run the powerful organization. It’s clear that if close ties are to be fostered between China and our country, Tan will be our virtual "Ambassador-behind-the-scenes" – a task he had already been performing in modest fashion during the past Chinese regime, known as the Third Generation (after Mao Zedong), and now with the Fourth Generation led by Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

President GMA, who knows Mr. Hu fairly well herself, from a number of "summits" and trips to China (they last greeted each other last week-end in Jakarta) has rolled out… well, the red carpet for Mr. Hu. In Malacañang this morning, aside from their cordial meeting, Mr. Hu will be signing a number of accords and agreements. Among them, according to Secretary Leandro R. Mendoza of our Department of Transportation and Communications, whom I met with yesterday afternoon, will be the final protocol of a $500 million Chinese fund underwriting of the completion of our North Rail from Caloocan to Clark. Building railroads is one of China’s specialties, incidentally. Even as early as 1964, the Chinese railway system was excellent, at least on the routes I travelled there as a journalist, from the old Lo Wu bridge in Hongkong to Guangzhou (Canton) to Shanghai, then to Hangzhou. And afterwards, from Shenyang (Mukden) to Anshan in "Manchuria" up north.

By the way, former Vice-President Teofisto "Tito" Guingona was confirmed by Congress as our Ambassador to China. This means that Tito will be going to take up his post there soon.

President Hu’s address to a joint session of Congress this afternoon will be jampacked, according to the House "reservation" list. This just goes to show that closer relations with the leader of 1.3 billion Chinese is being given top priority not merely by the Palace but by our legislators.

The Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, its president, Mr. Francis Chua, informed me yesterday, is tendering a gala luncheon honoring President Hu tomorrow noon at the Manila Hotel. No less than 1,300 of our most prominent businessmen and bankers have confirmed attendance at that affair. This was conveyed to us when the Federation’s officers paid a courtesy call yesterday morning on our Philippine STAR Board of Directors. They were headed by our own board member, Dr. Charles Chante, who is chairman of media affairs.

The group included Executive Vice-President John K. Tan, Vice-Chairman Jose Lamadrid, Vice-President Alfonso G. Siy, Vice-President Tan Tiang Song, and Dr. Alfonso A. Uy.

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DOTC Secretary Mendoza assured me that he had never intended to "involve" the President in his planned "Transportation summit", which he has set for May 4, with all the agency and transport industry leaders. Larry says he intends to tackle the problems posed by the industry then submit his findings and recommendations to President GMA.

He brought with him Ms. Maria Elena "Len" Bautista, Chairperson of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, who explained the misunderstandings and uncalled-for criticisms plaguing the LTFRB.

She pointed out:

"With regards to the perception on worsening graft and corruption at LTFRB, we admit that the presence of a single bad tomato contaminates the rest and it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. However, we have started to implement the following activities under our modest anti-graft and corruption plans and programs, in coordination with the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC):

• Value Formation Seminars under the Aha! Ehem! Program for all senior and mid-management personnel.

• Deployment of a PNP Task Group to apprehend fixers and erring LTFRB personnel.

• Installation of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and monitors in critical areas of the LTFRB building.

• Streamlining of process and requirements to minimize discretion.

• Establishment of distinct responsibility centers and self-imposed due dates and timelines for the processing of documents and applications.

"With regards to the allegations on astronomically high and oppressive filing and legal fees, may we inform you that pursuant to Department Order 2001-82 ‘LTFRB Revised Fees and Charges’ application fee and other related charges remain the same which was pegged at an average of P510.

"What could be alleged as astronomical fees are actually penalties for violations of the terms and conditions of the CPCs which was explicitly mentioned under Section 21, Chapter 4 of the Public Service Law (Commonwealth Act no. 146 circa 1936) that "Every public service violating or failing to comply with the terms and conditions of any certificate or any orders, decisions or regulations of the Commission shall be subject to a fine of ‘not exceeding two hundred pesos per day during which such default or violation continues’ xxx, after due notice and hearing."

"It may be noted that the current penalties being imposed under such violations are relatively lower than our estimates, should we literally apply the above provision of the law. Since it is also provided under our mandate (EO 202) that we are authorized to impose and fix penalties for violations of the CPC or franchise.

"With respect to the allegation on month-long delays of processing and release of documents leading to mulcting by traffic enforcers, may we reiterate that under our streamlining program for processing of applications and other documents, we have adopted a single responsibility center and timelines to pinpoint what specific process stage is lagging. May we also inform you that we are upgrading our process computerization under the P20 million "Frontline Units Services Enhancement and Upgrading Project (FUSE-UP)" which we submitted to the Commission on Information Technology and Communications for funding. Should this project is established, we project a considerable reduction of processing time by 60-70 percent."