* My column in BusinessWorld on October 15, 2019.
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“In all countries
where there is tolerable security, every man with common understanding will
endeavour to employ whatever stock he can command, in procuring either present
enjoyment or future profit.”
— Adam Smith,
The Wealth of Nations (1776), Book II, Chapter 1, “Of the division of stock”
The father of market economics was referring to private
property rights protection and how people will use such property to either
expand current consumption or future investments. Otherwise, if there is
rampant disrespect for private property and investments, “where men are
continually afraid of the violence of their superiors… they conceal a great
part of their stock,” Smith added.
Among the perplexing things that continue until now is
the government confiscating private property (buses, aircon vans, taxi,
jeepney, private cars, motorcycles, etc.) and having these impounded by various
agencies like Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board, and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in far away
places. Corporate and individual owners of these vehicles must pay a big fine
and a big towing fee before they can get their vehicles, while the vehicles may
suffer some physical and mechanical damage in the process of towing and
impounding.
If one passes by Ayala and Buendia Avenues in Makati,
other commercial areas like Ortigas, Eastwood, BGC, and Cubao, among the
regular daily sights are long lines of people, tens of thousands of passengers,
queuing for a ride in buses, jeepneys, and aircon vans. There is huge
insufficiency in the number of these vehicles daily, in the morning and
afternoon till evening. The inconvenience has prompted many people have to
drive their own cars or motorcycles, which contribute to more traffic
congestion.
So why is the government confiscating and impounding
private property like these vehicles when these are what the public and
commuters need, which further cause inconvenience in public transportation?
Sure the owners of these vehicles have faults and may not
have followed certain government regulations, but the regulations themselves
are often very strict and costly, very bureaucratic and time consuming, they
were designed to force some players to violate them, and that is where more
government harassment and possible extortion comes in.
Then there is the problem with rails. The Philippines has
among the most underdeveloped rail system in Asia (see Table 1).
The government should simply privatize the LRT, MRT and
Philippine National Railways (PNR). After many decades, there is no significant
improvement and modernization despite the huge increase in potential and actual
passengers. The private sector has the financial and technical muscles to
modernize these things without the need for additional taxes and subsidies,
like the P6 billion a year annual subsidy to MRT alone in Edsa (see Table 2).
In addition, the Pasig River ferry needs to be privatized
too. After many years of existence, the project does not appear attractive to
the public.
The transportation bureaucracy, the many agencies,
national and local governments, converge to penalize private sector initiatives
like buses, TNVS and aircon vans with lots of restrictions, penalties, and
impounding. Government needs to step back and focus on its main purpose —
protect the people’s right to life, liberty, and private property. It should
get out being in the business running trains and ferries.
Meanwhile, the global launching of the International
Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2019 will be done tomorrow morning, Oct. 16, at
Fairmont Hotel in Makati. The important speakers will be Department of Trade
and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez as Keynote Speaker, Dr. Sary Levy-Carciente,
an academic economist from Venezuela to discuss the results of IPRI 2019,
Lorenzo Montanari, Executive Director of the Property Rights Alliance (PRA,
Washington DC), and former Department of Finance Secretary and now Chairman of
the Foundation for Economic Freedom, Roberto de Ocampo as Closing Speaker.
Famous TV host and trade lawyer Tony Abad will be the program emcee.
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