Lower your expectations

If, like me, you actually hoped, maybe even believed, that President Bongbong Marcos was capable of initiating change or creating results by sheer political will, it only proves that you are an optimist. But other than that, it’s time to lower your expectations.

After miserably losing in the midterm elections, PBBM displayed unusual transparency and humility by acknowledging that his administration failed to meet the expectations of the people and needed to step up.

When PBBM asked for the courtesy resignation of members of his Cabinet and extended this down to agency heads and GOCCs, I was tempted to nod in approval and give open support. But the slow and tentative manner that Malacañang conducted the “cleansing” hinted that something was amiss.

Unpopular and controversial characters were too easily retained, and none of the agency heads of controversial agencies and GOCCs were replaced. Yes, some NPAs or non-performing assets were sent home, but overall, the reshuffle was more like wiping off dust instead of an actual cleansing.

Part of the problem, it seems, is that the President relied on the usual suspects or his cordon sanitaire to screen and filter who stays and who goes. In the end, only those who had no real political or financial capital for the administration were sent to pasture.

PBBM’s advisers simply got rid of the “dead weight” or pals with no purpose, but the rest who are considered undesirables by the public are still sitting comfy and secure. The question that is often asked is: what was the metric used?

Was the selection based on meritocracy, competency, popularity, performance, expected output or did the President simply take the word of his very close advisers and relatives? It seems that PBBM went for “hook, line and sinker,” believing his “We Bulong” brigade of 10 or less.

After a month into their humiliation and defeat, I am hard pressed to find any new and substantial change introduced by the administration that improves the quality of life of ALL Filipinos.

At the Cabinet level there remains several NPAs, under performers or fumblers, both functionally and verbally. The DPWH, DOT, DOE, DILG and DOJ have often been criticized for under performance, at the very least.

As far as GOCCs go, I only need to point to the BCDA that harshly and unjustly kicked out 70 or so investor-residents inside Camp John Hay. Ironically, not a word was heard from PBBM or the administration regarding the expulsion of Korean and Filipino retirees.

If the President is truly sincere about correcting matters, one of the GOCCs he should have placed under the microscope was the BCDA. But it seems that they have protectors and defenders in the corridors of Malacañang.

For all the taxes we collectively pay, Filipinos are still paying for services that are free in other countries. When it comes to working infrastructure, citizens are paying for just about everything they need and use daily.

In order to travel we pay double to triple what Asian neighbors pay for cars, motorcycles, fuel, even mass transit. To get from point A to point B, it is the private sector investments that give Filipinos expressways, airports, ferries – from all of which the government even earns a profit by way of taxes.

In terms of mobility, the LRT and MRT are old systems made even more costly and inefficient by corrupt administrations in the past. Ironically, the government keeps talking about upgrades or improvements but can’t even deliver on Right of Way pledges.

The government correctly wants to introduce the bus modernization program but does not put government money where their mouth is. Government wants jeepney drivers to fork up millions of pesos when drivers can barely make ends meet with weekly fuel price hikes.

In other countries, the government buys or pays a substantial amount to phase out old vehicles. In the US there was a state that bought back inefficient toilet bowls from citizens in order to replace them with toilet bowls that used less water.

The reason there remains many old vehicles in the Philippines is because “patong-patong ang taxes” or government collects several kinds of taxes from importation, delivery, sales, insurance and registration. The resale value of cars remains high in proportion to the inflated value of new cars resulting from taxes.

I’m sure that if PBBM did his own research he would find so many examples where governments put their money where their mouth is. That is the price for modernization and efficiency.

One area of cost and pain for almost all Filipinos is the price of electricity. While Meralco gets cursed and crucified, it is actually the government that has imposed all sorts of fees and taxes on electricity.

And yet, the government will not support or encourage the use of renewable energy technology such as solar power. Many countries give incentive or reduce the type of duties and taxes on solar, so much so that countries in EU now discourage the sale of electricity from home to the grid because of oversupply.

People buying energy efficient inverter refs and aircons pay a whopping amount for VAT and related taxes, leading to a slow transition from old to new technology. At the bottom, we have farmers and fisherfolk who rely on overtaxed fossil fuel to run water pumps and aquaculture operations.

Another area that PBBM has not even said or done anything about is the embarrassing and poverty generating lack of telecommunications technology. If PBBM convinced every congressman in the boondocks to fund cell sites for their districts, we will speed things up faster than a speeding bullet.

Please don’t think I’m being anti-admin. I am simply citing all the missed opportunities PBBM could have used and could use to make real change in people’s quality of life.

*      *      *

E-mail: [email protected]