A good friend whom I will not name told me that if smuggling would stop in this country, the prices of basic products would increase. Hmmm, I found that statement a bit odd. Smuggling is one of the major corrupt practices in the government that should stop as soon as possible. But this friend of mine insisted that one of the reasons why the prices of basic commodities have been kept relatively affordable in relation to the salaries of our workers is the reality that with so much smuggling that goes on in this country, it provides the legitimate sellers stiff competition because imported products, although they are smuggled, can really compete with the locally manufactured products as their prices are very competitive.
So this presents some kind of a dilemma with the administration of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III whose noble goal is to get rid of corruption in this country as a means to eradicate poverty. But if getting rid of corruption in the Bureau of Customs would result in the increase of the prices of basic commodities, then he might be facing a problem where it would take him longer to eradicate poverty because of the high cost of living where the poor are the hardest hit.
Anyway, in a somewhat related incident, last Monday I got a text message from another friend, a CEO of a big Manila-based company. He told me that a certain Lito Alvarez who was then being groomed to be the next Bureau of Customs (BoC) Commissioner was apparently caught cheating on his golf scores during the Mango Tee Golf Tournament in Ayala Alabang a few months ago. The text also pointed out that his golfing buddy who is a Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of a multi-national company was fired by his boss when he heard that they were disqualified for cheating.
However, I didn’t care to spread this text from my friend who by the way doesn’t send me texts as often as my other friends, more so that I did not get any similar text messages on the same issue. Good thing that I did not erase that text message because last Wednesday, The Philippine Star came up with a front-page report that indeed businessman and Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Chairman Angelito Alvarez was appointed by Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III as the new BoC Commissioner.
Upon reading that Star report, I checked with some friends from Manila who played in that golf tournament. I learned that Mr. Lito Alvarez and his partner were not only disqualified (they would have won second place) from that tournament but that Mr. Alvarez was given a six-month suspension by the golf club.
It was then I got new text reports which point out that it was the caddy who wrote the wrong score; hence, the caddy should have been suspended. Obviously, this was an effort to downplay this incident, which clearly came from a non-golfer. In golf, even if your caddy wrote the wrong score, but after the tournament you did not care to double check your scores and signed the scorecard, it is the golfer who is blamed for the cheating, not the caddy.
I would like to believe that the Search Committee in the Aquino administration should have been more careful in choosing the right man to head the BoC, which is one of the most corrupt-ridden gov’t agencies. But the news reports from the Search Committee say that it was the partner of Alvarez who cheated on their scores. Whatever their excuses, the fact remains that this golf team cheated during the Mango Tee and were disqualified and suspended. Golf is a gentleman’s game. I believe that those who cheat in golf would cheat anywhere. This incident is Pres. Aquino’s first test of fire. For the nation’s sake, Alvarez should not be given the BoC post!
* * *
While Congress is not yet in session, the battle for the highly-controversial pork barrel has begun. Quezon Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, spokesperson for the Liberal Party (LP) proposed a huge reduction from 35% to 57% percent of the pork barrel given to the members of the House of Representatives. Pork barrel or the “Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) has always been perceived by the public as the legislators’ fund where they can get their usual percentage through their various pet projects.
This proposal got an instant angry reply from Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman (he is infamous for his supporting and now refilling the RH Bill) who is the Lakas-Kampi-CMD’s candidate for Speaker of the House who attacked Rep. Tañada’s proposal as “anti-poor, flawed, cosmetic, counter productive and would reduce countrywide development.” All I can say is, when the pork barrel was distributed during the Arroyo administration, how come it did not reduce nor eradicate poverty? Since we haven’t tried reducing the pork barrel, perhaps now is the right time to do so, so that our poor people won’t be dependent on the largesse given by their political masters.
* * *
Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com