Tax the elite more, create a stronger middle class

An Agence France Presse published an article which I believe we know already. While, admittedly, the economy right now is pretty much functioning as expected, the gains this economy is amassing is not trickling down to the basic sectors of society. Seventy six percent of this goes to a very small group of elites who are not even one percent (1%) of the 90 million plus Filipinos on this planet.

Fact is, six percent of that wealth goes to two familiar names--Henry Sy of SM and Lucio Tan. Their combined wealth is estimated at about US$ 13 billion.

Credit that to a decrepit system, says Cielito Habito, respected economist. Habito admits that we have a defective system, and even if we improve further, chances are, little will these changes impact on the lives of the people.

Habito is saying that the present system of capitalism does not allow the wealth of this nation to trickle down to the masses. Why? Honestly, one of the sure fire way of getting that wealth out, and into the hands of government unto the basic sectors of society is taxation. We tax those who profit more. The thing is, our system is still very much corrupt, and we don't collect taxes. Lucio Tan, for example, is known to evade payment of his taxes. NUmerous cases were filed against him, and eventually, yes, the government did collect but it was billions of pesos lower than it expected.

And where did government spend all those monies collected? A fraction goes to line up pockets of the corrupt, another fraction to fund projects that are overpriced and another fraction goes exactly where the needs are, yet, came so late that the problem has already ballooned to twice the size it was several years ago.

The solution is simply create a stronger and more financially capable middle class that will try to wrestle all these wealth out of the hands of a privileged few. As the economy grows, opportunities abound yet these opportunities are limited only to those who have enough funds.

Government intervention must happen. Government must fund business ventures of the middle class so that it widens or expand the numbers of the middle class. Because as it expands, it widens opportunities still for those who belong to the lower classes to fight they way up the ladder.

Three things: we need to work out a more effective taxation system, get government and the private sector involve in funding business initiatives and create opportunities for the people: more jobs and more credit facilities, so that entering or going into business is not as prohibitive as it is right now.

Chaos at the airport

It's a shame and obviously a big black eye to Philippine tourism, what with what happened at the NAIA yesterday. First off, I don't see nothing wrong with members of the PALEA exercising their rights. It is well within their rights to protest the unfair labor practices of the Tan-led company. It is also within their rights to protest any time they like to protest, like, during a natural typhoon? Anyway, nothing wrong with protests.


What is so wrong is the cavalier way government handled the entire situation. Since the start of the PAL-PALEA dispute, government went this way and that way, without a clear policy direction. Curiously, if you look at the Labor Code, that book says that the State or the government sides with Labor---that is as clear as day. That's why we have a labor code anyway--so that workers know their rights. Now, who implements these rights? It is government.


But when government sides with Capital, that complicates things. Government must be consistent. Early on, government must have realized that it should not deviate from this role as the worker's representative. 


Why is it that government even favored the side of a Marcos crony such as Tan? What has Tan got that workers do not?


Imagine how lucky this guy is---he escaped a BIR campaign for the correct payment of his taxes and several disputes including that with his brother and now this. He brought PAL and forced it into the ground. 


Government must handle this situation very carefully because this concerns national safety and security. We are talking planes here, not just mere buses.

The Aquino Administration's Labor Policy

Past the initial 100 days and we see that things are more "manageable" now for the administration. No big scandal except that stupidity caused by a rambling idiot-writer who tried to portray herself as a wine connoisseur. No big news against any government official. It's all business as usual for a government which still grapples with centuries-old problems of graft and corruption. 


There were, however, insinuations that Aquino would try to re-shuffle his cabinet. I heard from the grapevine that DILG secretary Jesse Robredo is on his way out. And who, do you think would replace him? 


Sources say its either Felicito Payumo or former Cavite governor Ayong Malicsi who is being eyed to replace Robredo. Malicsi, it seems, has many friend backers in the Aquino administration. Allegedly, Malicsi has been bruiting his strong ties with the Aquinos and his possible assumption of the office anytime soon. 


I don't know about you, but Malicsi is no change agent. He is part of the traditional elite groups with links with jueteng, as alleged by many in Cavite. Curiously though, investigation into jueteng seemed to have died a natural death. Again, no one faced the gauntlet. No one was even jailed. It seemed that its again business as usual.


This is the big problem of this administration. It won when it manipulated the feelings and emotions of the masses about change. There was a dominant call for real, meaningful change and it reflected in how the masses voted last elections. This administration won when it deftly positioned itself as a leader in the change movement. It won when it promised that it would eradicate poverty by combatting graft and corruption. 


When it assumed power, the Aquino administration presented a weird combination of personalities in its cabinet. If you looked closely though, there is a big proportion of appointees who serve as stooges of Big Business. 


Big Business reared its ugly head when it appointed the likes of Singson, Henares, Purisima and Alvarez to positions of power. There are several more appointments done quietly and silently but reflects what really is the very nature of this administration---a government which is backed strongly by Corporate Interests. 


I will describe this government as pursuing not change, but CORPORATISM. Corporatism is a strange creature, which essentially means a policy of pursuing capitalist interests over and above the interests of the masses.


This romance with Corporate Interests has been shown with how the Aquino administration treated the current labor row between a thousand employees of the Philippine Airlines and the Tan management.


Imagine the stupidity of even the President announcing that the Department of Labor and Employment, the very agency tasked to protect the interests of Labor, is allowing the Management of PAL to effectively fire a thousand protesting employees and replace them with robots, err, new applicants willing to lick the asses of PAL's capitalist bosses.


Look at how stupid the Labor secretary Baldoz looked when she announced that government is siding with PAL management. 


Is it because Lucio Tan is a strong backer of Chiz Escudero, a self-proclaimed Kingmaker in this administration? Is it because Tan has strong links with personalities running the show inside Malacanang? Why protect Tan, who has shown his unpatriotism as a big-time tax evader and one of the biggest unfair labor buster and inhumane employer in this country?


Instead of siding with the toiling masses, this administration decided to side with Big Business, with Big Money. Is this the way to treat Labor?


We, as a People, must resist this government. 


We, the People, must show this government who really is the "boss".


IN his inaugural address, Aquino told us that, we, the Filipino Masses, are his "boss". Now, we know better.


Aquino is no different from Arroyo. He is an ass-licker of Big Business. 


I call on all labor unions and labor leaders to resist the Aquino administration's attempt to legalize the illegal labor practice of the Philippine airlines. 


I call on all labor organizers to unify behind the popular movement against the Aquino administration. 


Let us, for once, set aside our ideological differences, and unite against the growing anti-labor front now being represented by the Aquino administration. We are fighting for the rights and welfare of our ranks. We are fighting against this manipulation being undertaken by this corporatism practised by the Aquino administration.


Resist corporatism. Unify for the Upliftment of Philippine labor. 

Davide in cahoots with former leader Arroyo, Estrada charges

Mikey Arroyo expects former Chief Justice Hilario Davide to clear his parents, the disgraced leader Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, former First Golfer, err, Gentleman, Mike Arroyo. Davide, who was appointed by President Noynoy Aquino to head the commission that will investigate the numerous controversies that hounded the Arroyo administration, is a former lapdog of the previous dispensation. 


Shortly after his retirement from the bench, Davide was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations by Arroyo. He was kept away from Philippine politics until 2010, when he reportedly broke away and supported Noynoy during the elections. 


His strongest backer this time is Liberal party chairman emeritus former Senate president Jovito Salonga, who previously asked Noynoy to appoint the controversial Chief Justice to the Foreign Affairs portfolio. Davide was instead appointed to the commission.


Seems like this administration is really not serious in its promise to prosecute Arroyo and her Mafia men from the numerous crimes they committed against the Filipino People. And former president Joseph Estrada believes so. 


In his interview last night over at DZMM, Estrada said he believes Davide will just be used to clear the name of the Arroyos. Estrada accuses Davide of being partial to the hands that fed him for nine years. The ousted leader is still bitter over the treachery of Davide in 2001. 


Estrada admits that he appointed Davide for two (2) reasons: he was most senior among the Associate justices at that time and that tobacco magnate Lucio Tan convinced him to sign Davide's appointment as Chief Justice.


The former leader recounted how he was invited to Lucio Tan's suite where Davide and a host of others were there. Tan reportedly asked Estrada to appoint Davide as Chief Justice. Unknown to the president, Tan allegedly had a deal already with Davide to clear him of the 26 billion tax evasion case which the government filed against him.


Estrada recounted that he ordered the BIR to pursue the case before the Supreme Court. The Davide Supreme Court remanded the case to a lower court where Tan managed to secure a not guilty verdict. 


It appears that Davide was instrumental in clearing Tan from that big TAX EVASION CASE.


Estrada also accused Davide of spending close to 800 million pesos just for the renovation of the Supreme Court building and the rest houses of the justices in Baguio. Instead of using the money to benefit poor employees of the lower courts, Davide reportedly favored the remodeling plan. 


By the way, the Department of Justice secretary Leila de Lima is waiting for the Truth Commission to release its guidelines on the handling of cases filed against the Arroyos. Seems like this early, the present dispensation is arranging the "predicate" so to speak, for the eventual clearing of the name of Macapal-Arroyo.

Imelda's Jewels and Raul Gonzales

It came like lighting. And former Justice secretary Raul Gonzales had, indeed, fallen from the good graces of Malacanang.

After declaring that the 15 billion peso worth of seized pieces of jewelry were owned by former First Lady Imelda Marcos, Raul's decision was immediately assailed and reversed, the very same day the former justice secretary penned the favorable "midnight" decision.

Clearly, what Gonzales' replacement, Agnes Devenadera did was a public rebuke of Gonzales.

These pieces of jewelry, which the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) seized and declared as "property of the government", were part of three big suitcases which the Marcoses left behind when they hurriedly left Malacanang in 1986 and those seized from them in Honolulu. In an Inquirer research, it consists of the following:

The jewelry collection of Imelda Marcos consists of tiaras, necklaces, watches,
earrings, bracelets of rubies, emeralds, jade, gold pieces, diamonds and pearls
made by Gucci, Van Cleef and Arpels, Bulgari and Philippe Patek, among other
jewelers.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has classified the collection into three—Malacañang, Honolulu and Roumeliotes.
The Malacañang collection, composed of some 300 pieces, was left behind by the Marcos family in the Palace when they fled the country on Feb. 25,1986.
The Honolulu collection, around 400 pieces, was confiscated by US customs officials upon the arrival of the Marcos family in Hawaii on Feb. 26, 1986.
As indicated in the US customs inventory completed on March 10, 1986,the most expensive item in the Honolulu collection was a “set of bracelet, earrings and brooch with sapphires, rubies and diamonds” amounting to $1.49 million. (At the time of the US customs inventory, the exchange rate was $1: P25).
In exchange for the dropping of antiracketeering charges filed against her in the United States, Imelda signed a compromise agreement in 1991, and a Honolulu court finally turned over the collection to the Philippine government on Dec. 18, 1992.
The Roumeliotes collection, considered to be the most expensive of the three, was confiscated by airport and Philippine Customs officials on March 9, 1986 from Greek Demetriou Roumeliotes, as he tried to flee the country.
Consisting of 60 pieces, the collection’s most prominent piece is a 37-carat diamond. Cases related to this collection went all the way to the Supreme Court but were decided in favor of the government on May 18, 1994.
The PCGG has possession of the first two collections and they are kept in the vaults of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The Bureau of Customs has custody of the Roumeliotes collection.
In 2006, the Sotheby’s and Christie’s international auction houses estimated the entire lot (the three collections) to be worth P15 billion.
The government tried several times to sell the jewelry to raise money, but court cases and disputes over the venue prevented the auction.
In 1994, the PCGG tried to sell the jewelry but was unable to work out the terms with international auctioneers, Christie’s of New York and Sotheby’s of London. Another attempt was made in 1996, but it did not materialize.
In 2005, another attempt was made, but Imelda asked a Manila court to issue an injunction against the auction, claiming the jewelry belonged to her, with some pieces being family heirlooms.
In May 2009, the PCGG announced once again its plan to auction off a huge cache of Imelda Marcos jewelry, with PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede noting that there was no legal impediment because Imelda had been unsuccessful in getting the courts to issue a restraining order. Lawrence de Guzman, Inquirer Research.

Veteran street parliamentarian and former political detainee Etta Rosales disclosed that there was already a decision to house all these pieces of jewelry in a museum and some to auction. It was therefore, unusual that after years of litigation, a legal technicality suddenly came out from the justice department, favoring the Marcoses.

Clearly, it was a "midnight deal". And Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. wants a probe to determine why DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzales issued that highly controversial decision favoring Imelda Marcos and assailing the PCGG, a co-equal agency of government.

Raul Gonzales has been accused by another Senator, Ping Lacson, of getting a commission from the legal disputes of Lucio Tan and his brother and committing an omission when he bungled his job in the Dacer-Corbito case.

Some sectors believe Gonzales' action was part of Malacanang's "fund-raising" activities for 2010. With Devenadera's act, however, it was clear that Gonzales was on his own when he made that glaringly injurious decision.

Maybe Gonzales has not forgotten his Marcosian links. Remember that Gonzales started his career in public service as a member of the censors board of the Marcos regime. Or, probably, Gonzales thought of raising funds for himself, like what he did when he played as "counsel" to two warring brothers, some wagging tongues say.

Analysis of the Political Situation: The Businessmen

The influential Makati Business Club (MBC) already announced that they are also taking part in the December 12 interfaith rally. MBC spokesman Bertie Lim said that businessmen are sick and tired of what's happening and they'll go "all out" come December 12. Of course, if it's the MBC already talking, then, by deduction, the big Ayala-Zobel group is already there. And you know how things turn when this group is already in the picture. We saw the Ayalas on stage when Gloria the Pretender was being sworn into office by former Chief Justice Hilarion Davide. Now, if the MBC is there, surely the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) will not be very far behind.

Now, we have'nt heard of the Philippine Chinese-Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCCI) which is being influenced by Chinese tycoon Lucio Tan. We all know where Tan stands politically. Tan is a close friend of this administration and there's no way for him to go to the other side. Likewise, the Concepcions, Yulos and garments tycoon Dee are known Arroyo allies. Even the Filipino-Chinese Business Club would dare not to oppose Arroyo. In fact, the very head of this Club revels of his enormous connection with the First Couple, being "allegedly" instrumental in ousting Estrada.

What about the Lopezes and Manny Pangilinan of PLDT? Obviously, some would say that the Lopezes would oppose Gloria and would probably take part, albeit, in the backroom. Yet, there are some insinuations that a deal was forged between Gabby Lopez and the first Couple in Hongkong. It involves the Lopez crown jewel, Meralco. Now, we are not privy to their talks and again, I don't want to speculate. But, there are deafening buzz about the Lopezes allegedly selling themselves out.

Pangilinan, meanwhile, is really not a political guy, but if push comes to shove, we may yet see him, again within the inner circle of the business powers in the likes of the Ayalas and the Cojuangcos. Oh, speaking about Danding Cojuangco. Danding's political machine, the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) has now merged with the Lakas faction of JDV-FVR and you know where that faction stands at this point. So, count Danding in.

Like in previous socio-political upheavals, the likes of SM's Henry Sy, Jollibee Group's Tankathiongs and others would just be fence-sitters. Having no big stake in government transactions, these groups are well entrenched already and it does'nt concern them if this government falls or not. Regardless of who heads this big syndicate called government, these tycoons would not dare rock the boat for fear of future reprisals. This, usually, is the attitude of Chinese businessmen in the Philippines. Politics, for them, is not within the business agenda.

Now, if you see, it seems that there's a stronger force against Gloria at this point. Eventhough Gloria has her Tan, Concepcion, Yulos and Dees, these will not be enough to counter the formidable business alliance ranged against her. Tan is actually a weak component in Gloria's corporate group. Tan is known to have a pragmatic approach to politics. If one or some of these businessmen see that the winds are changing and it's not going the way to Gloria, we may yet see a silent entourage of businessmen going to the other side and striking deals left and right with the Anti-Arroyo group.