Peace and order, first!

Finance Secretary Lito Camacho reportedly laments the inability of Standard and Poor’s to see the positive things happening in the country. Frankly, they are not the only ones so downbeat about the Philippines. The very talented Ryan Cayabyab has reportedly given up a lifetime struggle as he decided to settle down in New York. Columnist Rina David wants to go on leave of absence from being a Filipino, even if only for a few weeks to take a breather. And I am on the verge of despair at seeing my world crumble around me.

But Lito is right. There had been occasional bright spots. The credit rating agency is among the group of foreign observers who had been nagging the government to pass such reform measures as the Power Reform bill. Well, that one had been tackled and still, it seems even that show of political will didn’t seem to matter. It had been negated by hemming and hawing on many other things.

The ratings boys look at a country as a whole. They see a band of bandits holding the nation hostage for a month now plus a couple of high profile kidnapping cases involving Singaporean and local Chinese and we have an unstable situation for investors. This week, the threat of Erap and his EDSA 3 cohorts making another try for it is also one other thing we must worry about.

I guess they must have also read the article on CNN’s web site that called us the world’s kidnap capital. "In Asia, the Philippines tops the list of countries where kidnapping is a high risk despite government efforts to curb the burgeoning industry. In just a few years, the Philippines had acquired a reputation as the world’s kidnap capital, with a growing number of guerilla groups and gangland organizations seeing the practice a route to easy money." That spells high risk in any language.

And we are not even talking economic fundamentals yet. We have to handle peace and order first and only then can we talk turkey about the economy. This is why that top level peace and order superbody headed by Nani Perez is so important. The Arroyo administration must establish its credibility by tackling the peace and order problem. Everyone must feel secure first.

Unfortunately, statistics saying there was a 10 percent decline in crime will not make people feel more secure. It could only mean people distrust the police so much they no longer report serious crime. Also, the drama of actual kidnap for ransom cases will still be uppermost in our minds. Put another way, Joey Lina and the PNP must think of some other way to ease the psychological predisposition of citizens to doubt the ability of the State to assure their personal security.

Investors, local and foreign, want assurance of safety not only for their money but also for themselves. When this cannot be assured, new investments are not likely to be made and existing ones may move on elsewhere. This is why the PNP and the AFP, even more than the BOI, the BSP and the DOF are the agencies with the biggest responsibility for our economy. If they fail or are perceived to be failing in their mission, there is nothing the BOI, the BSP and the DOF can do that will matter.

Speaker

Our column last week on the contest for House Speaker drew this reaction from reader Ferdie T. Sibal of Tandang Sora, Quezon City.

I thought your column "Is Joe De V good for GMA?" was a fair assessment of the speakership fight. But I’m still rooting for Butch Abad if only because many of our people are asking: Is the country so bereft of good and young leaders that we are about to recycle a two-term speaker?

De Venecia has had his time, why not give the post to other deserving leaders of the House? If De Venecia wins the speakership, is it "good times" again for the congressmen? Remember the overpriced "turon" in the House of Representatives? How about PEA-Amari?

I dread the three years (2001-2004) when we will again her the long winded perorations and hyperbolic statements of JDV on national television, AM radio stations and other media outlets

Well, so much for New Politics.

The flip side of my column last week is that Butch Abad has explained that he has learned from the past and is now a better politician than when he was rejected by the Commission on Appointments as DAR secretary. In fact, he points out, he is now chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and he couldn’t have been selected to head such a vital committee if he didn’t know how to reach out and generate congressional consensus.

I guess, Butch is saying, do not underestimate his ability to make deals for the good of President GMA and the country. At the same time, he keeps his credentials as a principled politician. How he does it is his trade secret. Come of think of it, with Satur Ocampo and Crispin Beltran in the House, it might take a Butch Abad to get them to support an administration bill.

Stupid Question

And now, here’s Dr. Ernie E.

A parrot was in a pet shop with a string attached to each leg when a man walked in looking to buy a pet. The man noticed the parrot. He asked what the strings were for and the shopkeeper replied, "Well, if you pull the right string the parrot says, ‘Polly wanna cracker’. If you pull the left string it says, ‘my name’s Sam’".

The man being of the inquisitive nature tried both and thought it was really neat, but was still curious. So he asked what would happen if he pulled both strings, the parrot piped up, "I’d fall off the perch you idiot!!!" (Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected])