EDITORIAL - Hijacking investments

When you’re competing with other countries for investments, the last thing you need is an SOS from the business community about hijackers, extortionists and pilferers. Those are the complaints of executives of multinational and local companies operating around Batangas Bay. Investors in other parts of the country have also complained about hijackers. And many businessmen have long been harassed by communist rebels for "revolutionary taxes." Those who refuse to give in to communist extortion find their buses, farms and cell sites torched or bombed.

Cargo trucks are soft targets, especially if insiders are involved, and especially if law enforcement authorities themselves are involved. It’s bad enough that the country is tagged as one of the areas of operation of the Southeast Asian terror cell Jemaah Islamiyah. If investors also have to worry about ordinary criminals, they are going to take their business elsewhere – and there are many neighboring countries that can guarantee a safer environment for business.

As in other crimes, the best deterrent to hijacking and extortion is the arrest of the culprits. Authorities must apprehend not just the hijackers and extortionists themselves but also the brains as well as the fences for hijacked goods. Like carjacking and kidnapping, hijacking and extortion are organized criminal activities that will not be neutralized with the arrest only of the foot soldiers.

Once culprits are apprehended, the government must make sure they are swiftly prosecuted and sent to prison. Before hijacking becomes as lucrative as carjacking or kidnapping, the government must send a strong message that stiff punishment awaits those who prey on investors.

The business community has enough complaints about the investment climate in this country. Some of the problems will take time to resolve. Hijacking, however, need not be a chronic problem. The government must make sure this scourge will be dealt with decisively.