Should we learn something from Mexico?

The nation is relieved that the two young Ledesma children are now safe. But it is wrong to say, as some police officers proudly proclaimed, that they were released unharmed. I hate to imagine the psychological damage such an ordeal caused on their young minds. The kids will not be the same again.

That is the sad and despicable thing about our situation today. The children are not spared. It is also hoped that the release of the Ledesma children will not make the PNP relax on their unfinished mission to catch the perpetrators and finally win this war against criminal elements. Until that happens, that happy event Tuesday morning will not result in a great feeling of security for local and foreign residents of this country.

As I gazed out of my office window overlooking the Alexandra condominium complex, little did I realize that the aftermath of the Ledesma kidnap drama was unfolding next door. It so happened I was reading the front page of the website of The Christian Science Monitor and one of its top stories was headlined "Kidnapping thrives in Mexico."

"In Mexico," the CSM article reports, "a kidnapping occurs every six hours on average. Mexico is now second only to war-torn Colombia in the number of annual kidnappings. While few victims are killed, few perpetrators in this thriving multimillion-dollar industry are ever caught." In Mexico as it is in the Philippines, kidnapping is a business, just like the Galleon trade which tied our countries centuries before.

The CSM article continued: "In the US, the great majority of the kidnapping cases are solved," says Walter Farrer, the Mexico operations chief at the security firm Pinkerton and Burns International. "Here, it’s a business, and as awful as it sounds, it is treated as a transaction."

In fact, Congressman Jules Ledesma's case is not unique. A recent similar case happened in Mexico, except that the Mexican kidnappers were more civilized by sparing the innocent and helpless. The Mexican congressman himself was kidnapped, not his children.

"When Héctor Pineda Velázquez was kidnapped from his ranch in Guerrero state and held by masked captors for more than a month, his family didn’t notify the press or ask authorities to help secure his release. They paid an undisclosed ransom. That may seem strange, considering Mr. Pineda is a federal congressman."

And as it is here, the Mexican kidnap business is on an upswing. The CSM article disclosed that the Mexican business association, Coparmex, which tracks kidnapping, lists 331 reported cases so far this year, compared to 221 in all of 2001. But again, as it is here, the actual figure is estimated to be three or four times higher.

"According to various studies, fewer than a third of families here ever report a kidnapping, apparently out of fear that Mexico’s corrupt and inefficient police are either involved in the crime or will botch any rescue effort." I checked to see if I was really reading an article on Mexico rather than on us.

I was wondering if there is something to our common Spanish colonial heritage with Mexico that could explain why we seem to be so alike in more ways than we care to be. I don't want to blame Spain for our inadequacies, but we have been called the only Latin American country in Asia. In the 90s, when our tiger economy neighbors were doing great, our economy kept on getting into trouble in tune with the woes of Latin America.

But wait a minute. Despite what looks like a major peace and order problem in kidnapping, Mexico's economy is booming. Ours, on the other hand, feels kind of hopeless, which we blame on our worsening peace and order problem, like the kidnapping epidemic. Tourism is also a flourishing industry in Mexico. Is there something we should learn from Mexico? Maybe, Mexico's the place to look for investors. They'd be at home here. Or at least, not be afraid of kidnappers.

What's next?

My newly acquired phone pal, Vivian Y called to reassure me that reforms are not a pipe dream for the PSE. Not only is she committed to seeing these reforms established as ground rules, she is confident these reforms will be accepted as the means to re-establish the credibility of the exchange to investors.

But before everything else, the PSE and the SEC must promulgate those rules. I wondered if Vivian Y and SEC Chairman Lilia B will have enough time to get these done. The one year term of Vivian Y and her board which expires in March 2003 and with only six months left, may not be enough time to institutionalize new rules acceptable to all.

Well, there are no more term limits for board members, Vivian Y explains, under the demutualization regime. Theoretically, they can serve forever provided they are re-elected every year. This means, Vivian Y cannot be considered a lame duck to be ignored as her term comes to a close. Provided the PSE members are with her on the reforms and continue to re-elect her, she can see her program through.

That's a big IF. I didn't have any appointment for lunch last Wednesday, so that after talking to Vivian Y on the phone, I decided to walk over to the next building, Tektite East, and have lunch at the fastfood cafeteria. This used to be a bustling place at lunchtime but today, it looked somewhat sad with a number of stalls closed down.

After lunch, I was munching on my banana cue on my way out of the cafeteria when I chanced upon a group of stockbrokers that included a former PSE board member, trying very hard to amuse themselves with idle talk. They mischievously asked me how Frankie Villaroman was… followed by a hearty laugh. They asked me to hang around with them for a while. In better times, this bunch had lunch at Via Mare on the Tektite East Tower penthouse. Today, they carried their own food trays, making do with P100 lunches.

The problem with the exchange, one of them declared, is that it is over regulated. Yet, neither Vivian Y nor Lilia B are credible to them on the matter of reforms, after Itogon Suyoc. It was acknowledged that the intention behind the avalanche of new rules is alright in the context of a post BW environment. But they were sure the market will remain dead unless the regulators clarify their rules, notably on the so-called market maker. You can't do anything anymore without being called a stock market manipulator, another one rued.

Maybe, someone in the group suggested, it is time to start thinking in terms of being a financial adviser. You can no longer have a career as a stockbroker, they said. They want to be allowed to handle a wider range of investment instruments from primary bond issues, stocks, commercial papers, insurance, etc. That P100- million minimum capitalization now required for brokers is ridiculous and unrealistic unless new income sources are added.

That's a thought. Maybe we, and that includes media, focused too much on how to stop the shenanigans which caused the BW scandal to the point that we killed the stockbrokerage business. Maybe, that's something Vivian Y should now think about too with as much gusto.

Laging handa

Dr. Ernie E strikes again!

While working as a volunteer at our local Boy Scout Council office, one of the professional staff – who was wearing street clothes instead of her usual uniform – was talking about the NATO phonetic alphabet.

She said that she had learned it some years ago and proceeded to recite it. "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta..."

But, when she got to the letter "U," she stumbled and asked for help.

She was offered a hint: "What AREN’T you wearing today?"

"Underwear?" she replied.

(Boo Chanco's e-mail address is [email protected])