Interview at Bloomberg TV Philippines

This morning, I was in a very short, live, one on one studio interview by host Quintin Pastrana at Bloomberg TV Philippines. Bloomberg is available only for Cignal cable subscribers.

A friend, Reuel Hermoso, was able to watch it and posted a photo in fb with a note, “Watching Noy sock it to government on Bloomberg PH TV.” Thanks Reuel.

I know, I know, I'm not a good public speaker or telegenic on tv, that is why I persist on writing. Anyway, how did I get there, well, segment host Quintin Pastrana said he found my article last week interesting, so he asked for an interview. It was Bloomberg staff Skipp Victor Macadagdag who invited me by email.

I agreed to the interview partly because I was also curious how Bloomberg studio looks like inside. :-). Not big but lots of lights and cameras. 

With just 3-4 mins interview, I delivered my main message in the 1st minute -- as people get more access to the web and more info, they become more impatient with government corruption, taxes, permits and bureaucracies. Government should cut those taxes and bureaucracies.

A friend suggested that with high corruption in PH government, "that could be the reason they want our internet to remain in Jurassic Park."

Actually if you check Table 1 of my article, you will see that the PH has the fastest expansion in internet access in the ASEAN and the rest of East Asia from 2010-2014. Coincidence, the PH also has the biggest improvement in global ranking in the ASEAN, reduction in corruption perception, from 85th to 134th, Table 2.

Thanks for the invite, Bloomberg PH.

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See also: 
Business Bureaucracy 10, WB's Doing Business 2016 Report, October 29, 2015 
Business taxes, Makati vs. Taguig, November 01, 2015

BWorld 21, More internet use means lesser corruption?

* This is my article in BusinessWorld Opinion last October 28, 2015.

Many Filipinos and Asians now are getting more vocal about their frustrations regarding government (inefficiencies, wastes, corruption, plunder, etc.), corporate monopolies and duopolies, politicians and/or political parties, and so on. One of the explanations is that people have more information and have increased access to the Internet and events happening in their country and abroad.

Table 1. Mobile phone subscribers and internet users in East Asia, per 100 population 

Source: ADB, Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2015.

The column on multiple is not part of the ADB report, it is only added in this paper.

More affordable laptops, tablets, and mobile phones plus greater access to the Internet, are big contributors to this.

In the past, news about a political scandal or a murder can take days or even weeks to be disseminated to the rest of the country. But now, these events can be broadcast within minutes and hours. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms have helped transformed ordinary citizens into spontaneous reporters of important community events and stories and national issues.

For this piece, I wish to test this hypothesis: “Increased publicly available information, broader access to the Internet, result in lesser government corruption.”

This is not an exhaustive academic paper but another short attempt at explaining what contributes to greater or lesser wastes and corruption in governments, in the Philippines and other Asian countries.

Two sets of data will be used: Internet use and mobile phone subscription data from the Asian Development Bank and corruption perception index by the Transparency International (TI). So the data set is limited and hence, its conclusive function is also limited and hence, may be inaccurate for some countries. Nonetheless, the numbers should give readers more ideas by which they make their own conclusions.

In the table below, note the multiple -- meaning the number of times the figure in 2014 have expanded over the same figures in 2010 or 2000. This is a good indicator for the people’s greater access to information.

From the data shown, if the aforementioned hypothesis is true, the following countries should experience reduction in corruption in 2014 compared to 2010, at least in corruption perception: Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.

Let us now check TI’s data for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Brunei is not included in the report.

Table 2. Transparency International (TI) corruption perception index in the ASEAN

Source: Transparency International,

http://www.transparency.org/cpi2010/results

http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results

The following can be gleaned from the above table:

• Significant improvement in global rank and score in just four years by the Philippines (134th to 85th);

• Mild improvement in global rank by Malaysia (56th to 50th) and Laos (154th to 145th);

• Decline in global rank for Singapore (1st to 7th) and Thailand (78th to 85th);

• Eight of the nine ASEAN countries have experienced improvement in scores, which is an indicator of overall decline in corruption perceptions. The reason why many of them have not improved significantly in global ranking is because other countries have also improved their scores;

• Overall, there is reduction in corruption perception in ASEAN countries. Singapore might have slipped in global ranking and score, but it remains in the top 10.

The hypothesis seems to be confirmed by the above data except in Thailand, which remains under a military junta and dictatorship since 2013 or 2014 with no electoral and popular mandate, nor plans to hold any election in the near future. Corruption perceptions therefore, declines overall.

As people become more empowered with more information, they become more demanding and more politically impatient. People want quicker changes in the socioeconomic conditions of the country. And muted in various political and economic analysis, is the desire by many people to have less government -- less regulations and taxation, less permits and bureaucracies.

More information means people can manage their own lives, their own households and communities better. More information is improvement in people’s welfare itself.

Ignorance partly due to inefficient public education system can be compensated by the people having access to the Web, where people can download and read almost any type of information and skills upgrading they want.

The people’s impatience with government inefficiencies, wastes, and corruption should be a signal for government leaders and officials to reduce and shrink their intervention and assault on the people’s pockets and free will.

So long as people do not resort to violence and deception to expand their income and wealth, there is little or no justification for governments to keep their high degree of regulations and taxation, permits, and bureaucracies.

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the head of Manila-based Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc., and a Fellow of Kuala Lumpur-based South East Asia Network for Development (SEANET).
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See also:BWorld 17, More on the Philippine electricity market, August 30, 2015 
BWorld 18, Non-tariff barriers in the ASEAN, September 12, 2015 
BWorld 19, Taxation and regulations in PH mining industry, September 24, 2015 
BWorld 20, DOE Circular to raise electricity prices, October 25, 2015

Welfarism 29: Is Poverty Government Corruption-Created or Self-Inflicted?

This photo was posted by ANC last July this year, and a friend reposted this in his fb wall. My comments below, plus some comments at the ANC fb page. This is mostly in Filipino, so sorry non-Filipino readers, this is too long to be translated. Nonetheless, the man's t-shirt says, "We are poor, because... they are thieves, Senator, Congressman, Governor, Mayor, Barangay Captain..." 
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Eh bakit naman hingi ng kung ano ano sa gobyerno ang marami sa inyo? Kayo mismo may sabi kawatan halos sila lahat, tapos maski condoms and pills hingi pa sa gobyerno?

Ibang mahihirap, marami naman sa kanila nagta-trabaho. Maski ambulant vendors ng buko, fishball, banana-q, or sari-sari stores, tiangge-tiangge, dumidiskarte sa buhay. Kaso lang, dami permits kailangan. Permit ni Brgy. Capt, permit nila Sanitation dept. and Fire dept, permit ni Mayor, permit ni DTI,...

Pero may iba, gusto lang hingi ng hingi, kasi yon din naman pinapangako ng mga politiko sa kanila. At may problema din madaming intellectuals and middle class. Hindi naman basta hinihingi ng mahihirap, lobby sila ng lobby na dapat daw ibigay sa mahirap. Tulad ng CCT; mga architects and lobbyists nyan mga may PhD in Econ, social welfare, etc. Palakpak naman sila ADB and WB, laki ng kita nila sa CCT loans eh, tig $450 M yata sila na loan each.

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(Some comments at the ANC page. The 2 other photos were posted by other people, I just inserted them here.)

Lui Yuri Lai Lumaki ako sa mahirap na pamilya pero hindi naging hadlang ang aming kahirapan sa aking pangarap na magkaroon ng maganda at komportableng buhay. Nag-aral akong mabuti habang nagsisikap ang aking pamilya na ako ay mapagtapos. Sa awa ng Diyos, natapos ko ang aking pag-aaral. Ngayon, ako ay isang guro sa America. Nakapagpatayo ng magandang tahanan para sa aking mga magulang at ang buhay namin ay maayos at sagana sa mga pangangailangan. Hindi hadlang ang kahirapan sa pag-asesnso sa buhay. Sigasig, tatag ng loob, tamang edukasyon at paniniwala sa Diyos at sarili ang susi.

Questions and comments to Lui and his reply:

1. ang tunay na mahirap, halos hindi makabili ng pagkain... papa ano po kau nkapag tapus ng pagaaral?

– scholarship. I worked hard and studied hard to get to where I am now. I valued my family's effort to send me to school.

2. ok lumaki ka sa hirap nakapagtapos ka nang pag aaral bakit sa America ka nag work? bakit hindi sa pilipinas?

-- Why not? Coming to US to teach is the best thing ever happened to me and my family. It changed my life and the lives of the people I love for a lot better. I taught in the Philippines for 6yrs before coming to US. I have served my country and still doing it a huge favor through my remittances. Philippines is my home and I always love to come back for a visit. But America is the land of dreams and opportunities. And I am reaping what I sow. I enjoy living here.

My family was once poor (when I was growing up) but yet I didn't see my family asked nor blame the government for the life we have. My parents told me and my siblings that "People make their lives. We are the products of our very own life's choices." My Tatang worked day and night to feed us and provide for us. We as a family worked together as a team. We cleaned houses, fetched water for rich neighbors, sold our harvests in the market... My Tatang said "Mag-aral kayong mabuti at maging matalino sa buhay dahil yan ang susi niyo sa pag-asenso. At kapag kayo ay masagana na... Manatili kayong mabuti sa inyong kapwa maging sila man ay mayaman o dukha." I can say na utang ko ang lahat sa aking pamilya na nagpalaki sa akin. Bagamat kami ay mahirap at salat sa maraming material na bagay noong ako ay bata pa, nde kailanman nagkulang ang aking pamilya sa pagmamahal at tamang paggabay sa akin at sa aking mga kapatid... Hindi ang gobyerno o kahit sino ang may hawak ng buhay ng tao... Life is what YOU make it. Your life. Your rules.

3. Batang Logan lahat ng tao may ambition! pero ang taong nagsasabing mahirap sila patunay lang walang ambition sa buhay...ang gusto nila "magic agad".pero taong may ambition sa buhay,hindi hadlang ang kahirapan para matupad ang pangarap....

desesyon ng tao kung bakit gusto nya mag abroad.iyan ay opportunidad nila,diskarte nla yun,labas na ang gobyerno dito..nasa tao naman kung gusto nya mag umasenso sa buhay na hindi umaasa sa gobyerno at hindi lahat nag abroad umasenso mayron din naghihirap pero sa daming dahilan ,kung bakit?...sa totoo lang para sa akin, Ang buhay ay parang sugal ,mapanegosyo,mapa politika,magsaka o kaya pag aabroad lahat ito may puhonan,kailangan lang sipag at tiaga para umasenso sa buhay.kaya wag natin isisi sa gobyerno kung bakit may naghihirap na pilipino sa bansa natin.cguro tamad maghanap ng trabaho o kaya marami umaasa sa palad ng politiko o kaya sa jueting lords.iyan marami hindi nila naintindihan ng mga kababayan natin mahihirap .na tao din nagdadala ng gobyerno kaya kung ang ibinoto mo ay magnanakaw na politiko natural magnakaw iyan dahil babawiin ang puhunan nila sa election .kaya ang masasabi ko mula noon pang martial law hanggang ngaun ay may magnanakaw parin sa gobyerno.pero kaya kailangan sa susunod na election bomoto ka ng tamang politiko para hindi ka magsisi sa huli.dahil ako hindi ako nagboboto after 1998 election hanggang ngaun.kahit 10yrs na wala akong trabaho noon as in tambay ,kahit halos kamag anak ko nakaupo sa pwesto sa lugar namin hindi ako himihingi ng tulong o umasa sa kanila...

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See also:

Welfarism 25: Centenarians and Populist Legislators, May 30, 2013 

Welfarism 26: John Mangun on Economic Decline of the West, July 31, 2013

Welfarism 27: On Support for Single Mothers and HIV Patients, November 29, 2013

Welfarism 28: Nanny State Cares Too Much for its Citizens, UK Style, May 27, 2014

Pork Barrel 3: The Silent Idealists, the GFO-NGOs

The pork barrel scam and robbery continues, we should keep the pressure until a big investigation will yield some of those corrupt legislators in jail. Asking for the abolition of pork barrel I think is next to impossible now. But asking for the heads of those who have been implicated so far, past and present, is not impossible, so long as political pressure from the public is sustained.

Also, when many NGOs have become government-funded organizations (GFOs), this is one indicator that corruption has become pervasive. So-called non-governments have become part of government, pasimple lang.

A friend from UP, JB Baylon, has posted several comments and ideas in his facebook wall about the issue. I like his status updates, made from August 7-10, today, so I asked his permission to blog them, below. Thanks JB. Those in parenthesis are my translation.

1. (Pork barrel) Don't you think this issue more than anything else is what we as a nation should focus on? If true, it reveals the ROT that goes to the very core of our political system, and could very well explain why no Filipino believes that with diligence and hard work and by following the rules he will succeed on the merits.

Where are those civil society folks who were "brave" enough to face Marcos, Erap and Gloria? Why is there only silence now? Is is it because their friends are involved and they don't want to hurt or embarrass their friends by speaking up?

Is it because even they are involved???

And then we still complain why things never change in this country?

Buti na lang we can divert our attention and just cheer for Gilas Pilipinas....never mind if the whole country is rotting from the inside.

2. As citizens we should rejoice at this Napoles issue and ensure that it is played out in full and to the bittersweet end. How the administration handles it will be the ultimate test of the Daang Matuwid advocacy.

3. Why should poor we -- the "Boss" -- when we are sick, go to a PUBLIC HOSPITAL like PGH that is straining at the seams, its staff working overtime with over-used equipment housed in a 100-year old structure, while our "Servants" , when they are sick or claiming to be sick check into super-modern PRIVATE HOSPITALS? Don't you see something wrong in this equation??? And the SERVANTS pocket the priority development fund??? No wonder they abolished the death penalty....

4. Nasaan na yung socialite at yung mga kakampi niya na grabe tumira sa mga mining firms? Bakit tahimik sila sa pork barrel??? Ok lang ba magnakaw ng pork pero di okay ang pagmimina? O dahil ba mga kaibigan ninyo ang kasabwat? Ang galing ng network ninyo manggisa ng mga minero, pero tahimik kayo sa magnanakaw na mga kabarkada ninyo?

(Where’s that socialist and her allies who are rabid critics of mining firms? Why are they silent on pork barrel? Is it ok to steal but not ok to mine? Or your friends are linked to it? Your network are good at frying the mining firms but are silent on your friends' stealing?)

5. Nasaan na rin yung mga akala kong idealistic na mga kabataan, na nagmamartsa laban sa China, sa America, sa Apeco, sa mining atbp? Bakit kayo tahimik sa pagnanakaw ng pork? Nakakabingi ang katahimikan na nanggagaling sa inyo....

(Where are the idealistic youth, marching against China, US, Apeco, mining, etc? Why are you silent on pork robbery? Your silence is defeaning.)

6. Nasaan na ang Simbahan? Bakit walang pastoral letter sa pork? Ay, teka, bakit ba ako nagtataka....naaambunan ba sila sa pagbubulsa ng pork?

(Where is the Church? Why is there no pastoral letter on pork? Or they received portions of the pork?)

7. Yung Fertilizer Fund Scam, P700+ Million ang pinag-uusapan. Etong Pork Barrel Fund Scam, P10 Billion ang pinag-uusapan....Nasaan na yung mga nagmarcha laban sa Fertilizer Fund Scam? Di na ba maka marcha kasi puno ng pork barrel ang bulsa? Tanong tanong lang pag may time.

(Where are those who marched against Fertilizer fund scam? You cannot march because your pockets are full of pork?)

8. Yung snatcher sa Quiapo, narurub-out ng pulisya. Yung snatcher ng pork, narurub-out ang ebidensiya! Repeat after me: Pork Para sa Masa, Hindi Para sa Bulsa!

(A snatcher in Quiapo can be rubbed out by the police. The snatcher of pork, they can rub out the evidence. Pork for the masses, not for the pockets.)

9. Ang lalakas mag protesta na ang pagmimina daw ay pagnanakaw sa sambayanan!!! Ang lalakas magprotesta laban sa aggression ng America o ng China!! Tapos tahimik sa pagnanakaw ng pork??? May balato ba kasi sila??? O selective ang idealism nila? Nagkaka-alamanan na ang tunay na kulay ng ilang mga "crusading" mediamen, socialites, religious leaders, civl society, student leaders atbp! The deafening silence reveals the true nature of your "idealism"!

(They protest loud against mining, against US or China aggression. Then silent on the pork robbery?  Do they get a share? Or they have selective idealism?)

10. Nasaan na yung mga kabataan na nung halalan ng 2010 at 2013 ay nagsisisigaw ng Pagbabago? Bakit umiksi yata ang dila ninyo at hindi kayo maka-sigaw tungkol sa pagnanakaw ng pork? Puno ba ng lechon kawali ang mga bibig ninyo? At ang ibig sabihin ba ng pagbabago ay "kami naman"????

(Where are the youth who, during the 2010 and 2013 elections were shouting for change? Have your tongue suddenly got short and you can’t shout against pork robbery? Are your mouth full of lechon kawali? And change means “our turn”?)

11. Bantayan natin ang mga media outlets: ABS-CBN, GMA, ABC, Inquirer, Star, atbp. At tignan natin kung sino ang tahimik tungkol sa pagnanakaw ng pork at kung sino ang may tibay ng paninindigan na mangungulit para sa bayan. Mayroon sigurong ibang matatapalan - pero siguardo ako na may mga iilan na hindi nila kakayaning bilhin.

(Watch the media outlets. See who among them are silent on pork and who have the principled stand.)

12. Kung noon: "The Filipino is worth dying for", ano na kaya ngayon?

Choose one:
a) "Para Que Estamos en Poder"
b) "The pork is worth dying for"
c) "Moderate the Greed"
d) "Everybody cheats (steals) anyway"

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See also: 

Welfarism 15: Abolishing Pork Barrel, February 04, 2012 
Pork Barrel: The Janet Napoles - Legislators' Scam, August 04, 2013 
Pork Barrel 2: Napoles, Legislature and Executive Branches Corruption, August 05, 2013

Pol. Ideology 36: On Capitalism, Akbayan, Drugs Legalization and Toqueville

Facebook proves to be a good venue for exchanging ideas with friends. Below are exchanges on various topics on various dates this month.

A. October 03, 2012

My friend Floro posted this in his wall, our discussions after

I believe the bright minds of the free world unlike the Capitalists and profiteers and the grafters in government who are acting as police for the filthy rich will find easier and better ways to get around with this concern, so much so that governments will run out of resources running after proponents of free access, free information and free exchange of ideas. There are more dumb people in governments and in the police than there are among the street children who survive even if their governments and police do not take care of them...There will be a lot of catching up to do for them...meanwhile we will continue to have fun. Lets work on their loopholes as they try to profit too much!!!!The world has changed and that is why the Capitalist World is slowly crumbling with their ran away deficits because in the west their governments no longer have money...and yet the Capitalist can easily move from state to state with their money...Let us chase them profiteers while the government chase us!!!!

Nonoy: Floro, capitalism invented facebook, youtube, twitter, linkedin, google, yahoo and other instruments of freedom of expression that we now enjoy. BIG governments like a socialist or communist or welfarist government, invent regulations, prohibitions, coercion.

Floro: Yes Nonoy I agree but there are capitalist who have insatiable greed for money and there are capitalist who profit more from the inventions of others. There are laws that regulate but this are supposed to be for greater access of the greater majority not for the control of a few who make their money make money without sweat. while the rest of the world work like slaves getting almost nothing. The worst side of capitalism and socialism had made life more difficult to the free world!

Nonoy Free world means free individuals. People are free to be hard working or free to be lazy. For people who chose to be hard working and ambitious, regulations that prohibit them from starting any entrepreneurial activity unless they get first the signatures and permits of various government officials, from local to national, should be drastically cut or removed. For people who chose to be lazy or irresponsible, they should not be given too many subsidies. For people who chose to become bureaucrats all their lives and have no other skills but regulate-regulate-regulate, tax-tax-tax, their number should not expand as they produce nothing productive.

Floro  Nonoy I agree but I also agree with Paretto Optimality! You can be a greedy capitalist but please pay your workers decent wages and allow them decent lives not slaves...something to that effect I suppose... I also abhor lazy people, mendicants and beggars who do not try to look for options and chances!

Nonoy: The best option for many workers is to quit being workers and become start up entrepreneurs someday, and not demand for endless labor law protections. They should learn where to get the cheapest and stable sources of raw materials, technology, credit, etc; they should learn whom to sell or partner customers, people who will pay them back; they should learn to deal with their own workers being former workers themselves in the past; they should learn to deal with endless business bureaucracies, taxes and fees imposed by the government, local and national, and so on. If people think it is easy to become an entrepreneur and employer, that money is easy to obtain that way, they should try it.

Pilipinas Forum 9: Corruption's Deep Root

This is one of those long papers posted in pilipinasforum yahoogroups -- a fantastic online discussion group that I co-founded and moderated -- more than 10 years ago. I was not fully convinced of the free market philosophy then. Otherwise, I would have posted a long counter-rebuttal to the author of this paper and a good friend, Citizen Kori. I'm posting this because a number of the ideas he raised then still ring a bell up to this time.
-- Nonoy Oplas
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Counting the Cost of Corruption in the Philippines

by citizen kori
June 29, 2001

We must however not only limit the cost of corruption to the monetary value. We must also bear in mind the tremendous hardships of those who rely on state monies for survival have to go through. The plight of the children, the plight of the aged and the plight of the homeless and destitute are but a few that I can mention. This in turn influences the socio-economic climate in the country affecting the unemployment rate and resulting in a rise in the crime statistics.

The message is clear - if we cannot manage our own money and assets, how can we be expected to manage investment from 1st world countries. This was clearly demonstrated by the International Finance Corporation - who in February this year identified corruption as the most serious government-related constraint on doing business in South Africa.

Judge W H Heath Institute for Security Studies Seminar 5 November 1998

Among my very first lessons in business is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody is bound to pay. Always. Especially when it comes to corruption. So how does corruption get to us? Let us count the ways.

1. Loss of government revenue

The first victim of corruption is government revenue. In a developing economy like the Philippines, this can be extremely debilitating. The continuing budgetary deficit of the government results in to cutbacks in expenditures for much needed social services.

2. Education

The gap of classrooms in public elementary schools is estimated to be about 30,000 by this school year. The case of books is even more pathetic, as the lack of qualified teachers further confound the problems. While the population of students keep on growing year after year, these gaps in classrooms, books and teachers keep widening. What do these lead to? Poor quality education in the basic education of the future citizens of the Republic, further undermining their prospects of contributing to nation-building. That is a very high price to
pay for corruption.

3. Infrastructure

With tightening sources of funding for infrastructure development, government has to resort to partnerships with the privates sector. A public good like roads, bridges, ports and airports will necessarily be charging user fees to recover the profit of private capital. Nothing wrong with because he who benefits should share the cost. But a lot of these projects require performance undertaking from government to be financiable to lenders. This result into the contingent liabilities of the national government burgeoning to levels no one wants to even find out. Last count by end of March 2001 it stood at Php465.6 billion. That's about Php30,000 per Filipino household. That is no loose change to pay for corruption.

Party List 4: Why it Should be Abolished

Last August 18, 2009, I wrote this:

Abolish the Party-list system

Here's another reason why the Party-list system should be abolished. Cockers and cockfight gamblers think their staff are marginalized, so they should be in Congress too, to represent their marginalized staff?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090818-220812/Cockers-enter-party-list-contest

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said that so far, 264 party-list groups are seeking accreditation. So many "marginalized" sectors and sub-sectors in Philippine society.

If there are so many marginalized sectors and groups in the country, then the geography-based (congressional district) Congressmen and women are a total failure. They have not addressed the various needs of the marginalized groups in their respective districts.

So either the district-based or party-list system should be abolished. It is not wise to keep both.
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Then on April 03, 2010, I wrote a longer discussion about the subject.

Party-list as a Marginal Concept

It is nice to take long vacation during the Holy Week. But politics and political campaigns would always dent an otherwise peaceful vacation. Among the noisy campaigners nationwide are the party-list groups wanting to represent you and me, on top of elected national and local politicians who want to serve and represent you and me.

The Constitution created the party-list representation in the House of Representatives, because the framers of the Constitution doubted that district-based Congressmen and women will truly fulfill their work of representing the various sectors in their geographical legislative district. Thus, up to 20 percent of the House are reserved for the party-list groups to represent the “marginalized sectors”.

This philosophy is wrong. And here are the reasons why.

One, there are no marginalized sectors, only marginalized individuals. Women are not a marginalized sector. The country had two women Presidents already, a number of Senators and House members are women. Men/males are also a sector, and there are plenty of poor and marginalized men. Youth is not a marginalized sector. Many dynamic legislators and local government executives are young. Workers are not a marginalized sector. The high-paid bank managers, corporate executives and mid-level officials are technically employees and hired wage workers too.

Farmers are not marginalized sector. Among the richest businessmen and women in the country and elsewhere also consider themselves as “part-time farmers” while others are full-time agri-businessmen. Senior citizens are not a marginalized sector. At least one past President of the country was already a senior citizen when he was elected. Indigenous people are not marginalized sectors. Among the most powerful local government leaders (Governors and Mayors) are from indigenous groups who wield political and administrative power over the non-indigenous people who are living in their localities.

There are rich and poor men, women and youth, successful and unlucky workers and farmers, powerful and marginalized senior citizens and indigenous people. The concept of a “marginalized sector” is simply wrong.

Two, party-list system has corrupted the consciousness of many private individuals. We often complain of "too much politics" in our lives, and now we have more private individuals, not belonging to big and traditional political parties, who suddenly become instant national politicians. There are more aspiring politicians now, more welfarists. Instead of more people saying "less politics, less taxes", we now have more people saying "more politics, retain or raise taxes, more subsidies.”

As practiced too, every election period, more and more groups are applying for accreditation as a party-list representing sometimes contrived sector as marginalized. For instance, the group of cockfighters, showbiz and media people, religious groups, electric cooperatives, regional dialects, and so on. In the 2007 elections, about 200 groups applied for accreditation, 93 were accredited. This coming May 2010 elections, more than 350 applied, 187 groups were finally accredited. The increasing number of groups applying and accredited for party-list, does this imply increasing irrelevance of the current and past legislators who failed to improve the lot of so many marginalized individuals in the country?

Because of the stiff competition among party list groups, many of them have acronyms that start with letter A, even AA, to attract voters’ early attention as the party-list are arranged alphabetically and voters have to choose only 1 out of 187. Somehow there is opportunism here. The groups abandoned the first letter of the "marginalized sectors" they want to represent; ie., not W for workers or women, not Y for youth, not S for senior citizens, not I for indigenous people, etc.

Three, the party-list system expands the already bloated bureaucracy in the legislature that necessarily needs to be sustained by more taxes and fees from private citizens. Perhaps this explains why none of those party-list groups and representatives in all congress since their creation in the 1987 constitution, ever advocated the slashing of taxes, if not the abolition of certain taxes.

What many party-list groups and their nominees or reps are after, among others, is a slice in the big pie of the annual budget that congress appropriates to various government agencies and bureaucracies. They want their own pie to distribute as goodies to their political supporters. Plus the usual power to create or expand existing national government agencies and bureaucracies, the power to grant or disallow, franchises to certain private businesses, and so on.

To conclude, the party-list system is a marginal concept. And if there are no marginalized sectors, only marginalized individuals, there is no logic to create a party-list for a non-existent sector. And even assuming for the sake of argument, there are indeed marginalized sectors and they are to be represented by the party-list groups, who are the district-based congressmen/women representing? If we say they only represent themselves and their rich friends, then we better abolish the district-based legislators and only have party-list groups, but we should not have both.

Unfortunately, the party-list system is in the constitution; like the Senate and other constitutional bodies. Whether we like them or not, we have to part with our hard-earned money to sustain those bureaucracies. The only way to abolish them is via constitutional change. But changing the charter even for this purpose is also a gamble. Because it is possible that instead of abolishing the party-list system, we may end up having wordings like the party-list system should constitute “up to 40 percent” of the lower House, versus the current 20 percent.

A friend asked me once, “will you still vote for a party-list?” The temptation is there. Out of 187 accredited groups, there should be at least one that represents the less government, more individual responsibility group. So far, I have not heard or read such group yet. And to simply stick to my belief that the party-list system is wrong in both theory and practice, I will not vote for any.

An example of an opportunist party-list, ABROAD. Joining the funeral of former President Cory Aquino last August 5, 2009, or 9 months before the May 2010 elections.

Today, August 4, 2011, I affirm my earlier arguments above and reiterate that the Party-list system is a mistake, it has encouraged not political maturity but political opportunism and corruption. It has created more hypocrisy than sincerity in public discourses on economic development.

The party-list system therefore, should be abolished. In the next round of Constitutional amendment.

I wish to defend this position in a public debate. So if you know of any group, institute or NGO that organizes a forum on this subject, I wish to participate.
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See also:
Party List 1: Opportunism, 2001 Elections, November 28, 2005
Party List 2: Opportunism, 2004 Elections, December 12, 2005
Party List 3: Marginal Parties Should Aspire to Become Big, January 12, 2006


Political Ideology 1: Liberalism, democratism & authoritarianism, January 04, 2009
Political Ideology 3: Liberalism and social opportunity, July 29, 2010
Political Ideology 5: Liberalism and the squatters, May 17, 2011

The President's SONA 2011

(This is my article yesterday in the lobbyist.biz with original title, SONA bath and the liberal challenge)

The President’s annual State Of the Nation Address (SONA) is always an occasion to enumerate what it has done the previous year/s, what are its goals in the coming year/s, and what it wants from Congress and other sectors to achieve its remaining goals.

Thus, the SONA is an important political event every year where so many people in government meet and talk about past achievements and short-term goals, then only one person talks and almost the entire nation listens, then almost everyone talks as they analyze what the President said and did not say.

In a sense, the SONA is a brief embodiment of central planning thinking in the country. It is the main “roadmap” of the government for the year and the remaining years of its term, and every major economic, social and political actors in the country are watching if their respective sectoral agenda are being upheld, ignored, or contradicted by the President in power.

The President will deliver his second SONA this Monday. I have little idea what he will say or not say in his Address. I only wish that he will speak as a liberal political leader. After all, he comes from the Liberal Party, not from a socialist or nationalist or populist or other political party and ideology.

Liberalism in theory, is opposed to socialism, anti-globalization nationalism, and the populism of forced collectivism. Because liberalism stands for individual freedom, lean government, free market, rule of law and civil society self-reliance. “Good governance” is not the distinctive ideology of liberalism; it is a populist goal by all political parties. Even dictators, despots and authoritarian leaders talk about “good governance.” It is the belief in individual liberty and freer markets that distinguish liberalism from socialism and many other political ideologies.

It is wrong, therefore, for so many sectors to demand that the President should promise them all sorts of “free” or highly subsidized services. When they demand free or highly-subsidized education, healthcare, housing, credit, unemployment insurance, pension, transportation, public works, agricultural machineries and so on, they are asking for socialism. And as mentioned above, the President did not run on a socialist platform during the campaign.

One of the good promises of the President in his 1st SONA last year when he was just three weeks in office, was this:

Ang walang-katapusang pabalik-balik sa proseso ng pagrehistro ng pangalan ng kumpanya, na kada dalaw ay umaabot ng apat hanggang walong oras, ibababa na natin sa labinlimang minuto. Ang dating listahan ng tatlumpu't anim na dokumento, ibababa natin sa anim. Ang dating walong pahinang application form, ibababa natin sa isang pahina.

(Translation: The endless procedures in registering a business name, which takes between four to eight hours a day, we will reduce it to 15 minutes. The old requirement of 36 documents, we will bring it down to six. The eight pages application form, we will make it one page.)

I considered it a real liberal policy and promise. Simply reduce the bureaucracies, reduce the number of signatures by government officials and bureaucrats, and that will enhance individual freedom, the freedom to become economically productive and create jobs for the jobless. And that policy alone will drastically reduce (but not totally eliminate) corruption in the country.

As expected, some groups and individuals considered that policy as “elitist” and “pro-big business.” I don’t think so. That policy is both pro-big business and pro-small business. When there are plenty of bakeshops and food shops, internet and book shops, parlor and barber shops, vulcanizing and machine shops and so on, more jobs will be created. When people have jobs, they tend to become more independent of government. In emergencies, they have their own savings and do not easily run to politicians and government welfare offices. They have the resources and self-respect, self-confidence, to take care of themselves, their families and friends.

After a year, did the President deliver that promise? Sadly, the answer is No. The volume of business bureaucracies did not seem to have decreased. It even increased in some local governments as those units have the power and capacity to create their own business regulations on top of national government business regulations.

I just hope that the next SONA will not sound like sauna bath cleansing or “pagmamalinis” why the previous year’s promise was not delivered. Rather, there is recognition of failure to deliver, and that a stronger resolve will be made to really implement that and other liberal promises.

But honestly, judging from the way many Filipino liberal politicians themselves speak and behave, and from the way they have allied with so many populists and socialists, liberalism as a philosophy has been largely compromised. This is not the way to lift the economy and many poor Filipinos from the endless disease of bureaucratism, corruption and underdevelopment.
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See also The President's SONA 2010

Corruption in the military, Part 3

This news report whirled around the blogosphere the past 2 or 3 days. Marine colonel detained over calls to 'replace government'

He concluded his videotaped statement by quoting Jose Rizal: “If we have bad leaders today and in the past, it is not the fault of the many who know less but the fault of the few who know more but do nothing or who do not do enough.”

“What we soldiers feel is no diffent from what our people see and feel... We have a responsibility that we don't forget, that is to defend the Filipino people” he said.

Mariano added ominously: “At kung ang kasalukuyang pamahalaan ay walang intensyon o kaya walang naisasagawa upang isalba ang buhay ng nakakarami [And if the present government has no intention or could not do anything to save the lives of the majority] – it is the duty, it is the right of every Filipino including soldiers to replace the government, I repeat, replace the government.”

[Let us fight for our right to live and for the good future of our youth. Our aim is to live based on truth, justice, peace, and progress.]

"Let us once and for all build a nation based on truth for without it, there can be no justice. And without justice, we shall have no peace. And without peace, there will be no development," he added.

My immediate reaction when I read that news report was, here we are again, another brand of military corruption, corruption of their own mind and the public mind, that anyone with arms and organized enough can change a civilian government anytime, anyhow they want to. The disrespect for the rule of law -- like the Constitutional law on how we should change government, by the ballot, not by the bullets and bombs, not by armed rebels or mercenaries or bleeding heart soldiers.

And this is another instance or reason why the AFP-DND should shrink. There are too many aspiring politicians in uniform there.

Then I heard or read that the noise by that Colonel "is only the beginning." Beginning of more political destabilization, of more military adventurism at seizing state power?

My unsolicited advice to the new round of military adventurists is this: DO IT. Show how interventionist you are to supposedly change and replace an already interventionist civilian government that you despise. Rule of men, not rule of law. That is the main preoccupation in government, whether in the civilian bureaucracy, or the police and military establishments. Pare-pareho na lang sila.

Rule of law, not rule of men. That is what all of them should understand and respect. The internal mechanisms to control corruption from each agency or department for instance, should be respected. Then restiveness, valid or invalid, can be minimized.

On another note, retired military officers also should NOT serve in any government agency after retiring. They shd work in the private sector. Having been living off subsidized by taxpayers from their Philippine Military Academy (PMA) education to military to post-military career, they should try being net taxpayer, not net tax receiver. Perhaps a law can be passed towards this direction.

A friend commented that in Singapore, military officers would leave the service and take positions in the civilian bureaucracy. Then Switzerland is another example, where virtually all civilian high ranking persons also have had high ranking posts in their military.

Here, many retired AFP generals and colonels do not move to the private sector. They move to become officers in other government agencies, like the BIR and BOC, DFA, LTO, DOTC, etc. Those guys who got lots of money from taxpayers (P500,000 per year per student at the PMA alone or P2M/student for 4 years), then to the AFP with its billions of pesos of annual budget, then to other government positions. They don't understand the plight of ordinary traxpayers and businessmen. They think that for almost ALL problems, government intervention is the solution.
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See also:
Corruption in the military, part 2, January 31, 2011, and
Corruption, robbery investigation and suicide, part 2, February 08, 2011.

DENR, Neric Acosta, and property rights

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is among the corrupt agencies in the Philippine government, though in my observation, not as corrupt as the armed units like the DND-AFP and the police (PNP), and the revenue agencies like the BIR, BOC and LTO.

Dr. Nereus "Neric" Acosta is set to be appointed as the new DENR Secretary next month, when the one-year ban from the last (May 2010) elections will end. Neric is a fellow UP alumni, he finished AB Political Science there, several years younger batch than me. He finished his PhD also in Political Science from the University of Hawaii. During his 9-years term as Congressman of the 1st District of Bukidnon province, I think he was the only legislator with a PhD.

Last May 11, Neric issued this statement:

TODAY, A WELL-FINANCED SMEAR CAMPAIGN WAS LAUNCHED AGAINST ME BECAUSE I AM BEING CONSIDERED BY PRESIDENT AQUINO FOR THE PORTFOLIO OF SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (DENR).

VIA FULL-PAGE ADS AND OTHER MEDIA, THEY PUBLICIZED AN OLD WORN-OUT CHARGE FILED AGAINST ME 10 YEARS AGO BY MY POLITICAL RIVALS WHEN I WAS A CONGRESSMAN OF BUKIDNON.

WELL, MANY PUBLIC OFFICIALS HAVE PENDING CASES BEFORE VARIOUS COURTS, BUT A PENDING CASE IS NOT AN INDICATION OF GUILT.

I PROMISED PRESIDENT NOYNOY I WOULD CLEAN UP THE WELL-PLACED MAFIA GROUPS THAT ARE IMBEDDED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (DENR) – FROM THE ISSUANCE OF FAKE LAND PATENTS RESULTING TO BIG LAND SCAMS TO THE QUESTIONABLE GRANTS OF MINING AND LOGGING PERMITS.

WB governance projects in the Philippines

After posting WB corruption of civil society last week, two things happened. One is that a friend working in WB Manila explained to me the various anti-corruption measures and projects that the bank does and support which will ultimately, limit the expansion of government. And two, I have seen one WB-funded project to assess government procurement of health products, presented this morning.

I was then convinced that somehow, the bank is trying to be serious in reducing corruption in government. It attempts to make government procurement of certain health and other social services as transparent as possible, via electronic posting of information. These include: products and services being procured, from whom, when, legitimacy of the supplier, legitimacy or registration of the product or service being purchased, how much per unit cost, how much total cost, other terms, and so on.

WB lending to the Philippines in social services is huge, around $1.8 B since 2007 alone. Click on this table to view a larger image. I constructed it from the original table in the WB site.

The presentation this morning on corruption in one social service sector is still not available for public release. I don't have the soft copy yet but I can get it once it's been cleared for public release and discussion. When people see those data, I'm sure many of them will get angry at the new set of corruption in government. I was angry when I saw it.

Will post those data later here, probably in more than a week.

Corruption in the Military 2: Gen. Reyes Suicide

If a person is accused of large-scale robbery and plunder over many years as a top government official, the expected action from him is to defend himself from all the accusations and investigations. Committing a suicide can never be considered a "gentleman act."

Former AFP Chief of Staff, former DND Secretary, former DILG Secretary, former DENR Secretary, former DOE Secretary, and aspired but was disqualified nominee as party-list Congressman to represent bus drivers and workers, Angelo Reyes, killed himself this morning.

The on-going robbery scandals in the AFP that dragged not only him but also other former military generals, must have been too much for him to bear. Which is highly unexpected considering how he amassed so many government positions, from military to civilian posts. Meaning He has been in politics and political controversies for so many years now, that he was not expected to be too sensitive with all these investigations and accusations against him.

I will argue, along with other friends whose opinions were expressed in our facebook status, that to commit suicide with these investigations on-going, is never a "gentleman act."

A real gentlemen will admit mistakes and wrong-doing, if he indeed is guilty, then asks for forgiveness, before he will go to prison, or before he will kill himself. If he is not guilty, then he should face ALL those accusations and investigations.

Commiting a suicide is a lousy way out. But then again, the man has also rested. He requested peace from all these political noise and accusations. May he find peace.

But all the accused who are still alive should face the music. The rule of law must prevail. Those who stole and robbed should be penalized. Those who protect and coddle thieves, if exposed, should face the same penalty.

Endless corruption scandals make a mockery of the rule of law in this country and other societies. The law must prevail, people should be afraid of the law -- law against stealing, law against killing, law against many other crimes -- because the penalties are certain.
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Part 2:

Some of my friends in facebook posted their own opinions on the suicide of Mr. Angelo Reyes. Without naming names, here are some of those comments:

* Your greatest adversary is your own conscience, if you have one!

* He should have left a suicide note nalang. Video to be more credible, telling all the dirty deals para naman nasabi nya na he did something right before he died.

* Kung lahat ng nasa gobyerno gagayahin si Reyes eh di wala na ang gobyerno. Sarado na ang executive, legislative, at judicial departments! Babaha ng luha... Ng kasiyahan imbes na kalungkutan! Tears of joy ika nga.
(If all those in government will imitate Reyes, government is gone. The Executive, Legislative and Judiciary departments will be close. Tears will flood... tears of joy, not sadness.)

* Bakit di na lang gayahin ang mga samurai? (Why not imitate the samurai?) Public admission of transgression then the leader and all of his followers (equal guilt) kill themselves.

But there are also suicide sympathizers. These 2 guys are not my friends, but I find their comments worth responding.

1. Dead men tell no tales. Now everyone can blame him and he won't defend himself.

2. It is NOT suicide. It is a redemption of honor tarnished. He paid it with his life like the Japanese Harakiri. Appropriately he chose the site to pay the shame with his life. Redemption and forgiveness is his. We NO longer speak ill of the man. He paid for it with the supreme cost a man/woman can ever do.

On #1, if he was assassinated, then it is right to say that he can no longer defend himself from all those allegatins and accusations. But he killed himself, purposely, when he has all the chance to defend himself if indeed he was not guilty.

On #2, It is too preposterous to deny that it was suicide, that it was an escape from the responsibility of defending oneself from unfair accusations if indeed he did not steal big time from Filipino taxpayers' money. There is no honor whatsoever in running away from such responsibility. He owes it to himself, he owes it to the Filipino people to explain that he was not a theft and a corrupt official as he held so many high positions in government.

Nonetheless, whether it was cowardice or deep guilt feelings and conscience, it caught up with him.

May he rest in peace. It is a prayer that we the living can give him.

But the corruption cases against him, against his wife, against some of his subordinates and peers in the military, will not rest.

The rule of law must prevail. Those who violated the law against stealing, law against plunder, should face the consequences of their actions and crimes.

If we forget those crimes simply because the accused killed himself or themselves, then we will have a government of thieves who steal say P100 million. If he is not caught and prosecuted, he will steal another P100 million. If he is caught and investigated, he will commit suicide and hope that all his crimes and stolen money will be forgotten by the public.
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* See also::
Corruption in the military, part 2, January 31, 2011,
Corruption in the military (part 1), January 28, 2011.

Tobacco Tax 2: Higher Tax + Corruption = Lower Revenue

(Note: this is my article for "People's Brigada News", June 4, 2010)

Out of the top 10 leading causes of morbidity (death) in the Philippines, about 6 are smoking-related, directly or indirectly. These are: acute lower RTI and pneumonia, bronchitis, influenza, hypertension, TB respiratory, and diseases of the heart.

And yet government does not seem to consider smoking as a major health issue. This is primarily because government collects several billions of pesos in tobacco taxes every year. Add to the fact that there is corruption in tobacco taxation, and a number of high government officials and legislators could be recipients of money from the tobacco industry so that certain loopholes and exemptions will be allowed.

Taxation is a tool by the state with two main objectives: To raise revenues, and to negatively influence or discourage, public consumption of a good or service that is being heavily taxed.

Thus, when government heavily taxes so-called "public bads" like tobacco and alcohol products (as opposed to subsidizing "public goods" like education and healthcare), government intends to achieve the dual purpose of taxation as mentioned above.

It looks simple to achieve those dual objectives. In reality though, in countries where there is weak enforcement of the rule of law, one or both purported objectives can be compromised. This is because the higher the taxes being imposed by the state, the higher will be the temptation of those being taxed to simply bribe state officials and tax bureaucrats so that they will pay lesser taxes and fees. So the actual result of high taxation of tobacco (and alcohol) products would be (a) to raise certain revenues and (b) propagate corruption in government.

If corruption will result in effective lower tax rate -- due to various exemptions and loopholes -- then retail price of tobacco products will remain low and hence, tobacco consumption will remain high. And more people will smoke. And public health problems directly or indirectly related to smoking will persist.

This scenario will pour cold water on relying on high taxation to discourage smoking. If this is so, what are the other alternatives?

Believers of individual liberty and free markets have strong belief in greater personal responsibility and lesser government responsibility. In this case, healthcare is first and foremost a personal and parental responsibility. Parents and guardians should teach their kids early that heavy smoking is bad. Individuals should realize that heavy smoking will kill them sooner than later. And if they get sick with dilapidated lungs and other internal organs, they should not run to the state to demand free or heavily subsidized healthcare because "health is a right". Not a logical move.

But persistent view that "health is a right" even for diseases that are lifestyle related will cloud our view and prod us to search for state-sponsored solutions like high taxation of tobacco and alcohol products. We may just end up propagating corruption in government, especially in the legislature where taxation of "public bads" are being discussed or killed, and in the internal revenue bureaucracies.

In view of this, government should send a clear signal to the public that it will cover only limited healthcare, like diseases affecting children, infectious diseases, and people with special health needs (physical and mental defect). Diseases due to unhealthy lifestyle – like those who regularly over-smoke, over-drink, over-eat, over-fight, live in dirty places, etc. – should not be covered with high taxpayers’ subsidy.

Government can compensate for this limited healthcare by encouraging – through less taxation, less intervention and regulation – of private and cooperative health insurance schemes. Those who are less responsible about their body should purchase a second or third health insurance, on top of government-owned PhilHealth insurance. This way, the financial burden when they get sick will be shouldered by them, their family or company, and not by the taxpayers at large.

Civil society groups that advance better public healthcare should also not fall into the trap of advocating more government solutions and intervention. Like lobbying for more government subsidies even for diseases that are lifestyle-related and self-inflicted. There are plenty of issues and concerns that are better left to individual, household and community decisions and should not be brought up as more “government responsibility.”

* See also, Tobacco Tax 1: Telecom and Medicine Taxes Too, September 15, 2009