Crackdown on smuggling

THE crackdown on smuggling of agricultural products ordered by President Marcos Jr. is timely and appropriate considering that prices of onion, among other crops, remain abnormally high.

The president’s directive to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the smuggling of onion and other agricultural products comes close on the heels of the recent hearing of the House of Representatives committee on agriculture and food that confirmed the existence of an onion cartel.

Committee head Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo herself relayed the outcome of the panel’s hearings to the Chief Executive, who promptly issued the order. Quimbo told the President the cartel has been operating through Philippine VIEVA Group of Companies Incorporated (PVGCI). This company is also alleged to be engaged in farming, importation, local trading, warehousing, and logistics.

How come this cartel has been allowed to continue operating by authorities? The public deserves a clear answer.

The President believes there is sufficient ground for an investigation as the operation of the cartel constitutes economic sabotage.

order for the NBI and the DOJ to go after agricultural smugglers as it showed the government’s resolve to clamp down on unscrupulous businessmen preying on hapless Filipino consumers.

“The House of Representatives is ready to provide our authorities with the data uncovered from our committee hearings to provide them a head start in their own investigation,” Romualdez said.

Romualdez also assured President Marcos the House will continue to monitor the prices of agricultural commodities.

“The President’s directive should be enough to deter further supply manipulation of agricultural products and help stabilize prices, especially amid reports that prices of onion are on the rise again.”

In oblique manner, former senator Panfilo Lacson months ago drew a similarity between Diokno’s multi-million salary in the BSP as compared to what a retired general receives as monthly pension.

Others have pointed at the gross disparity between civilian employees and those of the military: one which contributes monthly deductions to gross pay but receives far less than one who contributes nothing at all.

Similarly, a retired justice, or a retired official of the constitutional commissions receives even more, although some have served as such only for a few years through mostly political patronage.

Comes now the mayor of Baguio City who trounced political hegemons in the summer capital after leaving the police force with unsullied reputation and brilliant career, who waded into the debate, unfortunately lost in the welter of copy-cat confusion spawned by the tourism department’s LOVE the Philippines.

Magalong says active and retired military personnel would be willing to contribute their share to avoid Diokno’s “fiscal collapse,” provided “lawmakers do their share by shunning corrupt practices like getting kickbacks from government projects.”

Touche! Pork barrel, which the Supreme Court declared as “unconstitutional” after the massive scandal where practically every lawmaker colluded with Napoles in the scam of the century with ghost projects exposed a decade back, still exists, Magalong charged.

Indeed, sanitized from congressional “earmarks” to “insertions,” thence “identification” and now “built-in” exists in our budget, and bigger, more humongous than ever before.

Pork barrel funds are the raison d’etre of most congressmen, whether district representative or party-listed.

And the executive, realizing that, without the pork, its desired legislation will not see the light of day, has played along, with legislators now slicing their “meat” from DPWH, DA, and other agencies budget. In the current HoR, a cabal of contractors

Not on your life. Not now, and perhaps not ever, given the political system we have, given the depravity of our moral standards as a society. Which reminds me of what once upon a time happened, not in EDSA, but in Portugal.

For far too long after the monarchy was dethroned, Portugal and its colonies were under the grip of an authoritarian regime, the Estado Novo, headed by Antonio de Salazar, who after his death in 1968, was replaced by Marcelo Caetano, in a long reign that lasted more than 40 years.

But on April 25, 1974, the military revolted, surrounding the National Assembly, and the people rallied behind them, placing flowers in the muzzle of their guns, thus the event is immortalized as the “Carnation Revolution.”

What followed were two years of a military junta which later gave way to elections that established a constitutional government led by Mario Soares and the Portuguese Socialist Party.

Despite early transitional bumps, Portugal, now relieved of its former colonies most of which have become economic powerhouses in their continents, has become one of the most stable polities and economies in Europe.

Similar to the Philippines, Portugal’s authoritarian Estado Novo was an economy under the control of oligarchs disguised as corporations, which led to unequal wealth distribution and distorted economic policies.

These families kept the dictator Salazar in power from pre-war to post-war, just as Generalissimo Franco controlled Spain from civil war till 1975.

Now fast forward to our country, which oughtto-be National Artist Lea Salonga decries in heartfelt terms, “Pilipinas, kay hirap mong mahalin,” and a mis-placed LOVE wants to entice.

We had several opportunities in the past for meaningful change.

But always, the leaders we choose, who the electorate thought were the “best,” have become the “least among us.”

And slowly, we have come to endure the system and the leaders, seemingly inured to how the corruption and inefficiency has pauperized the economy, save for the few who profit from it.

Will we ever see real change in our lifetime?

Sir Benjie, what say you?

IT’S 68 minutes before sunrise today, but the 78-year-old retiree is already up, with only a little over six hours sleep – without any change in lifestyle since he has always operated a family business.

The only change has been, the Manila-born Aristeo Lat Jr., former general manager at LBP Insurance Brokerage, Inc., admitted in an interview, he no longer stays behind the steering wheel every day to Makati since “our office has always been in Quezon City since 1986.”

The brokerage firm is a 100 percent subsidiary of LandBank, a government-owned bank in the Philippines with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fishermen.

The liberal arts degree holder from the old San Beda College in Mendiola, Manila admits to taking maintenance medicines since 2008 when he was diagnosed with diabetes which triggers his irregular heartbeats when his blood sugar level shoots up.

The father of four—three daughters and a son, all medical practitioners—and grandfather of 10 grandchildren, is now only allowed to work part time, so he goes to office only on Mondays and Thursdays.

“That is why we are going to be very, very strict about finding these people and making sure they are brought to justice,” he pointed out.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has stated the lower chamber of Congress is ready to cooperate with the authorities who are investigating agricultural smuggling. Romualdez welcomed the president’s

Zero-emission transport policy and infra challenges

ONE of the more positive side effects of the three-year pandemic is that many people all over the world shifted to bicycles and motorcycles to get from point A to point B.

The deadly first variants of the COVID 19 virus forced strict mobility restrictions, paralyzed the public transportation system, and disrupted the whole ecosystem, thereby creating a demand for a viable mode of getting around to do essential errands.

A 2021 Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found that approximately 25 percent of households use bicycles and one in five households use their bikes for necessary trips such as commuting, shopping for groceries and other needs, and to get them to wherever they wanted to go.

SWS data also showed that 20 percent of households owned at least one bicycle compared to only 5 percent who owned four wheeled vehicles. This means cycling households outnumber those that own cars by a 4:1 ratio. The surge of bikes on the road because of its accessibility to the masses has sparked a move to build a sharing infrastructure in the existing road system.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced in May 2023 they are going to expand the building of a protected bike lane network from the current 564 kilometers in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao to 2,400 kilometers by 2028.

Now that the pandemic is over, the traffic jams and air pollution from all the fossil fuelpowered vehicles in Mega-Manila are back. However, the mass transportation system of the metropolis is still in disjointed state and the commuting public must struggle with inconvenience and sit out precious hours of their lives going to work and back home.

The rising price of fuel is another factor that is pushing more Filipinos to shift to electric-powered vehicles (EV) that has the appeal of having zero emissions which works well for addressing climate change of the planet and no more expensive top ups in the gas station.

Last year, Republic Act 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) was enacted to promote the development of e-vehicles industry that will serve this clear trend towards zero-emission vehicles. friendly transportation, as well as create incentives for them to make this shift and that all the indications point to the increased use of electric two-wheeled vehicles.

Complementing this law is the Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry (CREVI) that government regulators are now crafting.

This will spell out the guidelines for incentives to attract investors and importers, and the prospective users of electric vehicles.

This is indeed an important policy move to align with the administration’s pronouncements of transforming the country into a green and blue ecosystem, which is commendably aligned to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions causing temperature rise and extreme weather and the destructive consequences of climate change.

The government is on the right track in conducting an honest-to-goodness probe of agricultural smuggling.

The President has issued clear and unequivocal orders to start the investigation and to stop smuggling and hoarding activities of unscrupulous traders.

The NBI and the DOJ should step up to the plate and give the smugglers and hoarders their comeuppance and send them to jail.

The data is clear on how many more Filipinos are using two-wheeled transports compared to four wheeled vehicles that only the well-off can afford.

So, it really does not make sense to penalize the majority of our working population for opting to invest their limited and hardearned resources in e-bikes as their main mode of transportation. Is there such a strong lobby from the motorcycle industry to keep the tariff barriers for e-bikes to protect market demand?

Given this global trend for zero-emissions, a more logical strategy would be to aggressively develop an e-bike industry that can transform a huge motorcycle riding population to shift.

I am sure even cyclists (like me) will seriously consider e-bikes, especially for longer and hilly rides. Imagine the cleaner air and quieter streets when this happens. There is also some confusion on the Land Transportation Office Administrative Order 2021-039, which is supposed to set guidelines on the use of electric-powered vehicles in the Philippines.

Apparently, there are some e-bikes being sold in the grey market that can exceed the 50kph speed limit and have become a serious safety hazard and questions on whether users of these should be registered and if driver’s license should be required.

However, there is some misalignment in policy that needs to be rectified as pointed out by our convenor in CitizenWatch Philippines, Atty Christopher “Kit” Belmonte regarding tariff policies on the importation of electric vehicles that need to be amended.

In particular, Executive Order 12 provides a five year temporarily exemption from tariff duties for the importation of electric powered vehicles excluded two or three-wheeled vehicles, or the more affordable e-bikes from the 30 percent import tax. In a published statement, Atty Belmonte said government should encourage more Filipinos to invest in more environment

The LTO needs to study this carefully and come up with a new order with safety as a priority.

Another challenge that needs to be anticipated is how we can develop a road sharing culture that will make our existing roads safe fall two, three, four or more wheeled vehicles.

The biggest brands of vehicle manufacturers are already investing heavily and are actually producing their new models of hybrid and pure electric powered vehicles. Though costs will initially be high for early adapters, the prospect of developing an EV industry in the Philippines is an exciting economic and environmental prospect.

Retiree’s philosophy: ‘Honesty at all cost’

But he can always be reached at home every now and then by phone, the man whose philosophy in life revolves around “honesty at all cost (and) help anybody who needs help and you can help.”

Lat, managing editor of The Bedan, his college news publication in his time, acknowledges he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and has since received radiation therapy.

He owns up to having more stress now since he is handling the family business, adding “while in my old job, I worked only within parameters and let other officers handle what went beyond the parameters.”

His meals have remained the same, but stopped short of identifying his menu, although he concedes he drinks eight glasses of water every day and a popular drink, sugar free if possible, but has a checkpoint for alcohol since he develops vertigo if he did.

Lat has signed off on being active in community activities, saying “I have learned that when you perform better, you gain more enemies.”

As from March 2020, when the global health emergency hit the country, he started to feel weak physically after missing his daily exercise “and before I knew it I could not just lift what I used to

Lat says ‘Live and let live. Do unto others what you want others do unto you’ be able to do.”

Then he gets big on falling off a tourist bus in Japan in 2022 when he had eight stitches on just about the right eyelid.

The lens-wearing Lat, who has been wearing glasses since grade 2, has confessed his right eye “had been replaced by an implant from cataract operation (and his) left eye due (due for replacement).

Let’s read his lips.

GG: How do you address biological aging?

AL: I have always been interested in martial arts. I started learning judo at the NBI in high school, then karate during summer and finally Chinese martial arts.

I joined Chin Wu Athletic Association of the Philippines, learning the Wu style of Tai Chi. Unfortunately as I said, during the pandemic, I practically stopped doing my daily exercises.

I just have to accept growing old, i.e., people addressing me “Lolo” or helping me get on the sidewalk or reminding me to be careful, because I experienced it in Japan. I fear (as my wife does) that time will come when I cannot drive my car anymore; when I have to depend on my children to go where I want to go.

GG: Are there things you now remember as an elderly that you should have done when you were younger?

AL: I never looked back. I always moved forward and met what was there. My father used to tell me when I was still very young: “Once you get married, never look at other girls again.”

GG: Do you let your children make their decisions on their own, or do you try to influence their decisions?

AL: I let them make their own decisions unless I am asked about my opinion. They have their own children now and I know they have not forgotten what we taught them.

GG: Your philosophy in life.

AL: Live and let live. Do unto others what you want others do unto you.

GG: What are your thoughts on people who still work after retirement?

AL: I will encourage them but of course no more manual jobs. Make their brains work to avoid dementia.

GG: Do you think early retirement affects an elderly person’s health?

AL: Definitely. That is my experience during this pandemic.

GG: Now that you have retired, your view backward and forward on life.

AL: As I said I don’t look back because it might have a negative result; I don’t look at my neighbor’s grass. As my father’s old partner in the stock brokerage business always said: “Sige lang ng sige.”

Then he talked about his friend who worked in a Japanese-owned firm in Los Angeles in the 1990s. His friend’s Japanese boss was scared of him, because the latter thought the former was a better decision maker.

As some say—intolerant of corporate competition.