‘White Lady’

Today being “April Fool’s Day”, you might think this story is a joke or a prank but it’s not. You can call it hearsay if you wish, but if vanity rules your life you may want to double check.

A group of college students recently conducted an “informal study” on the effects of certain products on the behavior or reaction of hamsters to said products. In particular, the hamsters were given 1) alcoholic drink 2) beer 3) skin whitening capsules among others.

The hamsters belonging to the first group all died soon after ingesting alcohol. That’s a no brainer considering their very small livers, kidneys and brains. The second group manifested “drunken” behavior and seeming anticipation for the next meal. That again was predictable especially among beer loving college kids. But what really surprised the would-be animal behavior experts were the results from the third group.

None of the hamsters exhibited any toxic effects nor did any of the animals die. What the students did observe was that the hair color of the hamsters all turned lighter! Obviously the hamsters have much smaller coping or digestive abilities that causes them to be affected faster and stronger by whitening capsules more than human beings.

However, it does raise the question what the actual effects of whitening capsules are for human hair color in the long term? Is it possible that the benefits whitening capsule gives in terms of lighter skin will eventually curse users with premature gray hair? That would indeed be an irony when a person’s desire for fair skin not only turns them into a “White Lady” but also turns their hair white like they saw a “White Lady”.

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When you find yourself stuck with relatives and friends you rarely get together with, for an extended period of time, you quickly realize that even hair color becomes a good enough topic of conversation while waiting for the next big meal.

Of course people will ultimately compare problems and annoyances either to ventilate or just see who can come up with the worst. As far as my personal collection goes, the most recent one has to do with why vehicles, especially cars cost so much more in the northern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao area than they do in Metro Manila.

Because buyers don’t want to buy a car that has already been driven 200 or 300 plus kilometers, many car dealers up north and down south find it necessary to load the cars on multi vehicle car carriers. Unfortunately that option becomes complicated and expensive especially during summer and the longest Christmas season in the world.

I learned that dealers only use the four or five vehicle car carriers or “Lorries” on open highways where there are no “unexpected” vertical obstructions such as Fiesta banners, streamers and home made or local government made “WELCOME” arches. It seems that dealers end up spending more money making detours just to avoid or physically lift these obstructions one by one in order for multi-vehicle car carriers to pass through.

If that is not enough, and regardless what President Noynoy Aquino may say, the road down south going through Southern Luzon and the Visayas are full of crooked men as much as there are crooked roads. The checkpoints don’t look for illegal loggers and their illegal logs, they look for car carriers and cargo trucks they can collect money from. My sources point at TMG/PNP check points, LTO Flying Squads as well as local Traffic Management Officers of cities, towns and barangays. One dealer even mentioned the need to buy a “pass through” sticker for the province of Batangas. Perhaps our friend Governor Vi can explain or investigate if this is a legitimate practice or just someone misrepresenting the province.

In their desire to avoid the corruption and the delays, dealers now choose to ship vehicles from Manila to Visayas and Mindanao. Unfortunately, that option increases the moving cost from 40,000 to 60,000. When I shipped a 1926 Hudson from Bacolod to Manila, it cost me 38,000 just for the boat ride. This according to car dealers is something the DOTC needs to study and regulate because cargo fares tend to be imposed by shippers without rhyme or reason because of lack of competition. Unfortunately the people at the DOTC are more concerned about biddings and contracts than actual regulation.

Going by land, dealers and movers could save customers at least P20,000 on the final price per car, but corruption, and lack of a “corruption and obstruction free highway” to move large products and cargo are their biggest road block. This savings is only for cars, what more for other goods such as tires, cement, construction and housing materials as well as agricultural food products. Getting investment grade is nice but only if corrupt government personnel don’t help themselves with our investments.

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While the BIR is busy reminding mere mortals to pay taxes, it might be a good idea for BIR Commissioner Kim Henares to review the tax payment files of corporations that have been renting, leasing, or profiting from government owned or sequestered properties, especially those that have been running businesses, making money, while refusing to pay government because of on-going litigation that are 10 years or older.

Time and again I’ve heard of companies that have entered into lease contracts with the PCGG in past administrations, managed and operated facilities and business or sub-let said properties and taken government to court while refusing to pay. In the first place if a company believes that the government is not keeping their part of the deal or there is something wrong or anomalous with the terms and conditions, why do local governments as well as national agencies issue permits licenses etc., for these business to continue operating, make money, and run the facilities to the ground?

Perhaps it’s about time for lawmakers to pass a law that will prevent any company from taking advantage of government and its facilities through litigation and judicial delay. No licenses, business permits and approvals should be issued until a contract has been perfected and if any imperfections are discovered, then the entire operations should be placed under the control of the Office of the President or its designated appointee. In the meantime, BIR Commissioner Henares should coordinate with the PCGG and the Office of the President to learn whose Tax files ought to be reviewed.