1,400 Filipinos, 1,400 families to pay the price

The message read "Hi sorry cannot go to tomorrow breakfast mtg. Am managing Hong Kong C.E.O. . . . they want to pull out after seeing TV patrol we looked like smugglers. Thanks for everything."

The cost of doing business in the Philippines can be as reasonable as a handshake or as regular as the shakedown experienced by exporters who have to transport their finished and unfinished goods from factories to shipyards.

While many kababayans bemoan the loss of employment in Lebanon, little attention is given to the 1,400 jobs that will soon disappear from the province of Tarlac.

It seems that one of the largest garments company in the region and owned by a friend of presidential supporter Nick Alcantara, recently had a run-in with the customs and the CIDG led by someone whom the company had previously complained about concerning the questionable demands of said official.

Rather than canning the guy from the bureau, the guy actually got promoted, and has now become the worst nightmare of the company.

Talk about poetic justice, not only did the company find its container van stopped, they found themselves on national TV as well as Internet. Being a foreigner, the CEO immediately got someone to translate the report, and the transcription from Tagalog to English was deadly: "matagal ng pinaghihinalaan sa pag ismuggle" = Long suspected as smugglers.

What obviously escaped the attention of the authorities and the media is that the company is a publicly listed group, long doing business with the US market.

Anyone who remembers the "Nike sweat shop" controversy would bear in mind that this shakedown in Tarlac will hit the internet which in turn could immediately translate to losses because US buyers stay away from firms suspected of such activities.

The CEO went ballistic upon reading the translation and immediately sent marching orders to his people to initiate a systematic withdrawal from the area.

As you read in the lead paragraph, everything is being done to placate the CEO. Sadly, it is not an isolated case in the industry. According to information given by members of the garments federation, "Its nothing new".

All manufacturers have been taken down some highway either by police or military groups, accused with something or another then released for an average of P150,000. The reason the affected company refused to pay was because they were being charged P1.5 million which went down to P750,000. Things got ugly when the media was called in.

Imagine what a regular source of income Tarlac and Pampanga have been for these highway men. If each factory pays out P600,000 and there are at least 50 factories, these law enforcers make P30,000,000 annually. No wonder a retired police general excused himself by saying the crooks were military.

Why don’t they complain? Well, the cost of delay results in penalty charges imposed by their buyers abroad. What’s $3,000 every three months compared to thousands of dollars in lost revenue if you don’t make the deadline, piss off the buyer, who then drops you and tells their confederation that you are an investment risk or unreliable supplier.

I know all this for a fact because my wife, my previous partner in resort development, and several others were all engaged in garments. Because of the corruption and shakedown, they have all given up.

One friend in church even asked me for advice how to stop the hijacking of container vans full of signature shirts, pants and underwear. How can you even attempt to smuggle when the crooks steal your entire container van in broad daylight in Cavite? I bought some of his shirts in a camp up north.

The question now is who will explain to 1,400 employees why they stand to lose their jobs. Not I, said DOLE. I had nothing to do with it! Not I, said the police general. Ask the military. Hey, don’t look at us, this is not a communist issue said the mistah.

Secretary Teves maybe? Of course not, it’s a Bureau of Customs matter. Perhaps. But while the President is at it she might want to review the state of affairs in the garments industry which has now lost any form of representation ever since the abolition of the GTEB.

Incidentally, if any congressman is interested, they might want to investigate whatever happened to the leftover funds of the GTEB. Something like P750 million, someone from DTI told me. They were mandated by law to transfer the funds under the Department of Finance.

When I asked Sec. Teves, his response was "that’s news to me". That of course was about a year ago. It’s enough time for the money to be restored. That is what an administration congressman told us when he was asked what has happened to the OWWA funds.

"IT’S BEEN RESTORED".

* * *

Not all is lost.

I was in Mactan, Cebu early this week where I met with Governor Gwen Garcia, Mactan wizard Manny Osmeña, Plantation Bay Resort owner Manny Gonzales, architect Joy Onozawa and other business personalities of Cebu.

The purpose of the visit was to "sell" the Philippines to big business in the region. Due to uncertain weather and uncertain schedules, the venture began with a hurried flight to Cebu which was eventually 40 minutes late, a Manila style of driving instead of the placid touristy drive common among Cebuanos. Finally, settling in the Mactan Hilton.

We started with a business dinner with Governor Garcia hosted by Manny Osmeña at the Hilton which lasted from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Not only was Manny an entrepreneur, he was quite a tutor in wines and fine dining and singularly entertaining.

The Governor who was escorted by son Paulo was gracious and equally business minded. Needless to say our guests went away from the table impressed and even more optimistic about the Philippines.

The Mactan Hilton is certainly unique. Imagine two corral pink colored buildings that tower over the tip of the island. It’s the first time I’ve locally encountered a "boutique" hotel. The rooms are furnished more like an upscale private residence with glass panels, lamps, linens that I only see in exclusive villages.

A real must see is the bar by the bay "MANNY O’s". If Makati has the Nielsen Tower, Mactan has an even more impressive MANNY O’s which is a lighthouse inspired bar/dining area sure to impress anybody. Tastefully done, any candlelight dinner there can get you the answer you want. Business or otherwise.

With barely four hours of sleep we headed out to Plantation Bay which should be a required tour for all students of engineering, architecture, resort design and any environmental discipline.

There you will learn the concept of making do with what you have and getting the most out of it. From nothing more than a trashed mangrove area sitting on coral rock outcrops, the developers created a plantation/farm-inspired resort that does away with pool chemicals, firmly practices recycling, and adheres to sanitation like it was a religion.

You could almost imagine the cast and crew of Pirates of the Caribbean to walk by or splash down the water slides. Although a bit distant, I can dare say that Manny Gonzales leaned on the kid in him to build this kids’ paradise.

In four hours we familiarized ourselves with the good side and the hard side of business in the Philippines. We learned the rules and nuances from hands on veterans. We listened as businessmen like Wally Iiu whose family are pioneers in construction and Danny Arcenas whose roots are in rural banking and medicine cautiously shared ideas, dreams and possible ventures.

With so much progress in Cebu, we saw that they were just scratching the surface. It confirmed that Metro Manila and similar cities that try so much to become modern ultimately kill their tourism potential.

Sadly, our political structure and national agenda tend to overlook many of the difficulties and concerns that hamper greater growth. As places like Baguio and Cebu fill to the brim with Korean, Japanese tourists, government still treats tourism as a minor program.

Government positions in the tourism sector is "GIFTED" as political prizes. If by chance we have a hard working Tourism secretary, his power and budgets are tied up worse than a Siamese twin to the Secretary of DOTC who controls airports and shipping ports, to the Secretary of DPWH who builds roads, bridges, airports. And to the DILG Secretary who sits as boss over the minor bosses pretending to be gods in their barrios pretending to be towns.

Can we please redefine the powers of the tourism secretary so he can actually do more than just sell a country that can sell itself!