Pnoy's fight against graft is getting stronger and bearing fruit

Contrary to popular perception, the fight against graft and corruption is actually gaining ground, thanks to the tireless efforts of these men and women who now serve the Aquino administration. 

For one, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) thru the leadership of Commissioner David has managed to lessen the incidence of graft in the bureau by rotating their personnel and keeping in the freezer or filing cases against erring personnel. David, a military man, has already kept in check, numerous cases of graft in the bureau.

The Immigration bureau also successfully conducted entrance examinations meant to hire new blood for the bureau. Years ago, when the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) decided to put a stop on graft, they hired new blood and re-organized themselves. Now, the BIR is now one of the agencies with less graft and corruption cases. Fact is, in the graft and corruption fight, the BIR right now is the model to emulate. 

The DOTC or the Department of Transportation and Communication is now a very highly organized and highly efficient organisation, thanks to the efforts of Mar Roxas, Jeary Sison and the bunch of undersecretaries who now put in check the previous graft practices of people there. 

The only blight spot in the DOTC is the Land Transportation Office (LTO) whose personnel continues to do their graft-y ways. 

There are still some form of graft at the Department of Agriculture, yet, compared with the previous dispensation, operators there are now afraid of entering into multi-million deals. 

Other agencies who have turned a new leaf is the Department of Energy, the Tesda, the POEA and the OWWA. Yes, procedures at the POEA and the OWWA remain underpar, but they are in the right direction.

I highly commend the men and women of the Social Security System or SSS, the GSIS or the Government Service Insurance System and the Department of Foreign Affairs passport division for improving their services. Yes, the long lines are still there at peak hours, yet, they are manage-able. I just applied for an SSS ID and it only took me about ten minutes to get one. Kudos to the patriotic men and women of the SSS!

I will restrain my praise to the Bureau of Customs. Some say I criticize the bureau because of personal interests. What? I am a private citizen with no business whatsoever at the bureau. The information I get come from Patriots working inside the bureau of Customs. They are the ones who tell me about what's happening there. And I write about it--without adding anything, even an opinion. 

Meralco and PLDT: Marriage of Convenience?

There'll be no fireworks today. The Lopez group will continue to head Meralco. And sources say, that's courtesy of Manny Pangilinan, the top PLDT honcho. He entered the scene, reportedly as a "white knight" to save the diminishing hold of the Lopezes and prevent it from falling into the hands of San Miguel, led by Ramon Ang.

Meralco, undoubtedly, is a critical industry, a prized possession so to speak, for those who want to control the entire economy. It's just a power distribution utility, yet, it commands great power. It holds the key to our boom-bust economy, and failure to supply, means billions lost, or billions gained.

Why the Lopezes hate the guts of the San Miguel group is an enigma. Maybe because of Cojuangco's past. Why are they willing to serve Meralco on a silver platter for a local representative of a foreigner is beyond me. Is the Lopezes more than willing to serve a foreign master than let a local success continue the legacy of the firm? Pangilinan is the local representative of Salim of Indonesia and by entering Meralco, Salim has a majority stake in another country's power distribution utility. Government should have been more sensitive in the sense that power should have been viewed as one of the most critical and security-sensitive infrastructure that, control should be delimited to local control, instead of allowing this situation where the most critical sector has now been controlled, indirectly, by a foreign business entity.

But, as they say, business here is personal. And the Lopezes hate both Cojuangco (due to his Marcosian past) and Mrs. Arroyo (because she released her attack dog, GSIS President Winston Garcia who failed because of public pressure).

Now, I fully understand why GSIS wants Meralco.

On the reverse side, it's actually beneficial that a more effective management group heads Meralco. Meralco has had its fair share of financial hemorrhages and best to leave this with those who know how to crunch numbers rather than those who just know how to count profits.

Businessmen expect the PLDT takeover to lower electricity rates, which, I think, is not going as planned. Electricity prices here are more expensive than other Asian countries. And rates continue going up.

It remains to be seen how PLDT will fare now that they are the majority. Will Pangilinan, the "white knight" save the Filipinos from further price hikes. Or, will Big Capital with the "BIG PROFITS" in bold letters continue to be the rule instead of the exemption, being public welfare as paramount? Let's see in the next few months.

GSIS should reveal their investments

GSIS says it has about a billion dollar worth of exposures in global markets. US$ 300 million went to fund managers of ING, another US$300 million are being managed by Credit Agricole. From these, they gained P 1.2 billion. Question--where's the US$400 million?

Being a government institution, GSIS should feel accountable and reveal where they invested the remaining global funds. Winston Garcia is not managing his own financial institution. He's still a government official. He should be reminded by Gloria that he should be honest and tell the people what happened to all those monies.

In the same vein, financial institutions such as the SSS under Neri and the Pag-Ibig funds should likewise reveal their investments. These people should be reminded that it's not their monies that are at stake here. It is the people's money.

GSIS winning fight against Meralco

Whatever people say about Winston Garcia (that he's a slob, a big-time operator, a company raider, etc.), there's now a big chance for him to win this fight against Meralco. Why?

First, Meralco just won the case against GSIS yet the victory seems more pyrrhic than anything. Charges of corruption and high-stakes bribery have tainted the victory. In fact, it seems too obvious that Meralco is falling into a pathological trap.

ABS-CBN is reporting about the row between CA Justice Jose Sabio and his friend, De Vera. In the end, all suspicions will definitely lead to Meralco's doorsteps because the conversation is favoring government who maintains its silence while Sabio and his friend fight it out for space to be heard. Eventually, GSIS will enter into the picture to demand another chance to appeal the case. And, by that, I believe, GSIS will win this war of attrition.

The Lopez Group is also starting to employ an old PR crisis tactic--shifting the blame to another. Read Geny Lopez speech. He's blaming ABS-CBN for its woes. He alleges that politics is behind government's attempts at destroying the Lopez crown jewel. He points to another of their assets--ABS-CBN 2--as the one to be blamed since the network reportedly maintain an advertorial stance against Arroyo.

This is obviously a tactic for the public to forget that the main issue is its monopoly of the power distribution sector. That monopoly, obviously, is hurting millions of families because Meralco charges exorbitant power rates. Meralco wants the people to forget that it's charging so much and all of these are mainly due to ABS-CBN versus Malacanan.

Such is NOT the case because, as we know, Meralco is really charging so much against the people. And government should definitely do something about it. It is government's job to safeguard the people's welfare. By going after Meralco, government hopes to lower at least, these high electricity rates.

Going back, public sympathy is actually shifting in favor of the GSIS. In the next few days, when this Sabio-De Vera verbal fight simmers down, we expect GSIS to file a reconsideration. When that happens, expect the Court of Appeals to issue a favorable ruling for GSIS. And Winston Garcia will have the last laugh going to the bank.

GSIS winning fight against Meralco

More than Ousting the Lopezes

Stockholders dumped Meralco shares today, bringing down the price to 60 pesos per share. The market remains jittery over the long-term effects of a prolonged Meralco-GSIS row. Winston Garcia's threat against Meralco chairman Manolo Lopez that he'll better relinquish the chairmanship to govermment or else sends a different signal to private enterprise. This row has long-term implications not only to the business sector but even in the political stability of this country.

I am surprised though on the muted reactions of political figures in this fight. In fact, I am not hearing anything from any politician in defense of Meralco. By maintaining silence and positioning themselves as "neutral", these groups are de facto siding with the government against Meralco. Groups should realize that this fight is not about the Lopezes losing control of the firm. No. This is actually a fight of principles. It is a debate between the prevailing global practice of open societies against closed ones. It is a fight between government's creeping totalitarianism against free enterprise.

Whoever controls the distribution of energy controls the country. By allowing Gloria to destroy Meralco, we are actually allowing her to reconsolidate her powerbase, thereby ensuring her continued stay in power. Civil society groups believe that this is just a fight between elites, hence, not fit to intervene.

I see otherwise. I see this as a ploy by Gloria to further strengthen her base and enable her to perpetuate herself in power beyond 2010. We should not be misled by this issue. More than ever, we need to be very vigilant because, let me repeat myself, whoever controls the distribution of electricity controls the very lifeblood of industry in this country. A government running both generation and distribution of power can very well use this as an extortion tool against any business enterprise critical of its governance style.

Groups critical of Arroyo should set aside partisan political or personal animosities against the Lopezes and unite against this government slowly turning more powerful by the day. A more powerful Gloria, as history shows, would further move brazenly against enemies--perceived or otherwise.

Aboitiz and Garcia to benefit from Meralco takeover

Friends and colleague read this: http://tongueinanew.blogspot.com/2008/05/meralco-vs-mafia.html. It hits the nail in the head and reveals a ton of stuff about this government attempt to break Meralco.

As we wrote here, there's really an insidious plan to takeover Meralco, not to lower these electricity rates. No. What government wants is to give this firm to the Aboitiz and the Garcias of Cebu, staunch allies of Madame devil infant, Gloria.

As what a reader commented on Tongueinanew's blog, this is the highest tongpats ever!

Imagine something like this, bigger than the water concessionaire bidding a few years back.

This is probably the reason why there's a multi-million propaganda funds being brandied about by propagandists of Garcia and the Aboitizes. It's a miniscule amount compared to the billions they'll earn from breaking up Meralco.

WE SHOULD STOP GOVERNMENT FROM DOING THIS. YES, BREAK THE HOLD OF THE LOPEZES, BUT GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SELL THE FRANCHISES AND MERALCO NOW! IT SHOULD BE DONE AFTER THE MAY 2010 ELECTIONS, NOT NOW!

Garcia's Dream

Now, the cat is out of the bag.

Sensing no public outrage or opposition to government's plan, GSIS President Winston Garcia told the Inquirer that GSIS plans to break up the Meralco concessionaire franchise into two or more sub-franchises. He says it worked before, when government divided Metro Manila into two franchises. Why will it not work now?

However, here's the catch which would explain why Garcia wants to break Meralco free from the Lopezes--it's not good, says Garcia, that so much wealth has been concentrated in the hands of just one family. He says, everybody should earn from Meralco's franchise.

Well said Winston. So, it's not government who'll manage Meralco--it's still the private sector. Question--will the sale of Meralco be above-board? Being a lucrative one, so many predators will definitely ask for their share of the pot?

Winston's dream is commendable provided that the bidding for the sub-franchises will be above-board.

After Meralco, what now?

Is government planning to break the oil industry since this sector is also being blamed for inflation due to high gas prices? Is government also planning to break the rice/food trading industry since food prices are abnormally high also?

Predatory governments a threat to democracy

Our government tried dipping its hands in the corporate pot during the dictatorship. When effective controls were lifted in the post-Martial law regimes, government owned and controlled corporations lost profitability and closed down. This affected growth which forced government to institute privatization to generate revenues.

When governments such as ours assume a predatory nature, foreign investments tend to get affected. If you look at the figures, the more predatory a government becomes, the less FDI flows in.

However, in the case of Meralco, this regime thinks it can do a better job managing electricity rates than what the Lopezes are doing. In the interest of the public, says Ermita and Gloria poster boy Winston Garcia, it's time to seize the utility firm from private hands. This policy is a reversal from the previous government privatization stance.

If this happens, what now with oil companies? Surely, this sends a chilling message to all those companies directly transacting with the public. Next to Meralco, will Gloria run after oil companies such as Shell, Petron, Caltex, etal? All the more she should do that. These oil companies rake in billions of pesos of profits.

How about telecommunications companies? With high call rates, all the more should Gloria and her misfits seize them to effectively lower rates. They should be seized as well.

Its a laudable effort on the part of Gloria to call for a lowering of electricity rates since compared with our Asian neighbours, our power rates are higher than them. A lowered electricity rate brings in more investments since the investment climate is perceived to be better.

Gloria's efforts at enhancing our competitive advantages as an investment site are sterling accomplishments. Nonetheless, Gloria should not be targetting just Meralco. She should also target PLDT, Bayantel and Globe Telecommunications. She also should take over Shell, Petron and Caltex, the three big players in the oil industry. Next to them, she should also seize food companies, especially those rice importers since they directly affect Pinoy lives. And even those wheat traders. All should be fair game.

As expected, we tend to like reverse growth instead of progressive growth. Predation is an anti-thesis of democracy. This is an extreme form of nationalism, an aberration in an increasingly globalized world.

Meralco takeover a play of words?

Executive secretary Eduardo Ermita just denied a purported palace plan to takeover Meralco. Ermita told journalists in a media forum that, though the Palace has the numbers to force a takeover, he denies that they intend to dislodge the Lopez Group from the power distribution firm. Ermita said they're just forcing Meralco to reveal and "open its books for scrutiny" so that Meralco will be forced to lower its electricity distribution rates.

This is a stark departure from the "war-like" stance of Gloria when the little dictator faced a group of businessmen a few days back. Could this be the result of what GSIS President Winston Garcia revealed during Ricky Carandang's show "News on 8" over ANC this morning?

Garcia told Ricky that he has been in contact with the Lopezes and he assured Ricky and the public that "there'll be no fireworks" come May 27.

However, if you analyze what Garcia told Ricky and what Ermita told the palace media, there seems to be a stark difference.

Garcia wants a change in the management of Meralco. While Ermita says all of these noise is just "pressure" from the palace to lower electricity rates.

Ermita knows that you can't just "shout" at the Lopezes to get their attention. No. They've been entrenched already and so callous and so haughty enough that they'll not bulge in their seats even if your voice turns hoarse. Garcia knows this. That's why he's targetting a management change, not a company takeover.

I think Garcia is telling the truth that government does not intend a corporate raid. What is certain though is government is eyeing a management change which is an under-handed tactic to effectively control the firm.

What's certain is this---government has achieved what it wants when it played the takeover card. I mean, it exposed how vulnerable the hold of the Lopezes is in Meralco. It remains to be seen though if this thing will lead to what Ermita says as a lowered electricity rate.

Probably, Meralco chairman Lopez is correct. Garcia is just shaking Meralco down to probably prop it for a ripe picking in the future, not now when the issue is still hot. Garcia is creating this fuzz to force a diminution of Meralco stock. That way, investors can still buy in and eventually dilute Lopez stocks more.