'Tis enough he will do no evil!

It was a laundry list, a “fix-it” sort of speech. Perhaps that’s what’s needed because of the mess left by the previous administration. It is also perhaps as much as could be absorbed and appreciated by a weary citizenry. But it underwhelmed me. I was hoping for a big picture towards the end of the speech but maybe that was asking too much. I was hoping for a Jun Palafox... and got Joe the plumber instead.

I guess we must deal with first things first… fix the mess and maybe in the next SONA we can dream a bit about the big picture. For now it is enough that P-Noy reinforced our image of someone who will do no evil… Someone who will improve governance by making sure every centavo of tax money is spent wisely should be more than enough. After all, it was also enough for us that Tita Cory brought back democracy after the long years under Marcos dictatorship.

It was good for P-Noy to give some specifics about the way the past administration wasted our money. But we were not shocked. Perhaps, we should have even been given more specifics as in the case of the “road users” tax. It would have been good to know what projects were funded and who were responsible for the mess. We have to shame the bastards so that future officials will think twice.

There were also a few points that I thought were half baked or required a little more thinking on the part of P-Noy. What he said about the MRT should give us pause on similar build-operate-transfer projects of government, the kind of public-private partnerships that he said he wants to have more of so we can have the infrastructure we need at no cost to the government.

I think P-Noy needs to understand that in the case of the MRT, a public subsidy on mass transport systems is probably necessary to produce other things that are good for the public… like providing affordable transportation for people to reach their inner city jobs as well as to improve city air quality. In fact, he must fast track extending the MRT to Bulacan in the North, Cavite in the South and Antipolo in the East.

I will concede however, that perhaps, that particular B-O-T project was too lopsided in favor of the private sector consortium who acted like typical rent seekers. Their members ended up flipping their interests to financial investors and quickly made their money. While the subsidy coming out of the low MRT fare contributed to the financial mess of the project, the principal cause is in the contract itself.

Too many people made money on the MRT at its inception with nothing more than saliva and connections for capital. But it is there and we must make good what’s a given. If P-Noy knows what good for us, he will allow the GFIs to go buy back the MRT at a discount as planned so we can save more taxpayer money too.

On NFA, what P-Noy disclosed was shocking to many. But it is hardly news. We had already been criticized abroad for overbuying and causing what experts called an artificial international rice crisis. I had written a column on this some months ago. The question now is, will P-Noy go the extra mile and just propose junking this program of the NFA and instead, support an increase in the conditional cash transfer program?

Many economists favor the CCT approach over the NFA subsidy because it will more directly help the poor and cut off all the parasites thriving on the anomalies in the importation and distribution of rice. But the issue is very politically sensitive. Those rice traders and other vested interests are quite entrenched in every administration. Can P-Noy stand up to them?

As for the public-private partnerships he devoted a good part of his SONA to, it really is not that simple in practice. The B-O-T process can be graft ridden too. Then there is the problem of eventually having the political will to enforce parts of such contracts that require the public to pay for the services as they use them. There is a tendency for administrations to renege on such agreements once a public outcry ensues.

The toll roads are good examples. In fact, P-Noy will be tested on SLEX. The Malaysian B-O-T contractor had been waiting to start implementing a rate increase that would begin to pay for the capital used by the foreign investor to improve the SLEX. The SLEX contract may not be as good as the NLEX but the government approved it and must now stand behind it or lose our credibility to potential investors for other infrastructure projects we need.

P-Noy is right that B-O-T will help bridge the gap in public finances that could be used for vital infrastructure. The presence of trustworthy cabinet members at DOE, DPWH and DOTC also ensures that there won’t be any hanky panky that characterized some past attempts to use this scheme. The biggest example of a B-O-T project gone wrong is NAIA 3… which P-Noy must also resolve already.

On MWSS, P-Noy should have named the SOBs who voted themselves such lavish allowances and perks. We should shame them to the point that even their families can no longer face their friends. Of course that will work if those MWSS officials have not developed such thick faces. But the shame approach should be tried not just for MWSS officials but on officials of other GOCCs like the GSIS, LUWA and other such agencies. We must reject the claim these officials will surely make that they are following the rules because they cannot defend the morality of their excessive perks in the midst of a fiscal crisis.

I have the nagging feeling that the staff work provided P-Noy for his first SONA was less than adequate. Supportive as I am of P-Noy, I could sense less than accurate assertions and a lack of understanding of government processes. It would be easy for GMA’s apologists to tear his SONA apart.

This early, they are claiming the calamity fund set aside for Pampanga were just obligated but not disbursed. P-Noy should have pointed that out but emphasizing that even if the money is still intact, the evil intent was clearly there.  P-Noy should have shown his savvy on government operations and not sound like someone still learning the ropes. The staff work given P-Noy is clearly lacking.

Then again, as I said, for now, it should be enough that P-Noy will do no evil.

Right to info

One other thing I missed during the SONA has to do with what P-Noy was going to do about right-to-info. During the campaign, P-Noy expressed disappointment at the failure of the lower house of Congress to ratify the bicameral report on the law that establishes in very clear language our right to information. He suggested that the evil administration didn’t want it passed.

I commented at that time that he could do better than issue a press release expressing his disappointment. He could promise to issue an executive order that takes in all the provisions in the law that covers the executive branch. Transparency could begin with the President and those working under him.

I am not sure if he reacted positively to the suggestion. I recall that there may have been a press release from Malacanang after P-Noy took power that mentions an intention to release such an Executive Order. My question now is, why is it taking too much time to do that? This is one low hanging fruit that proves they mean what they said and they are taking time to harvest it. Why?

Did P-Noy got quickly infected by the cover up virus that had been infecting past Palace tenants? P-Noy had been doing a lot of things that seem to suggest a very open Presidency. So I ask again, why the delay?

In fact, the first move on transparency was made by a cabinet member, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo. He posted the budget of the department, including that of the PNP, on their website. I understand this caught even the Palace by surprise.

All I can say is, I am glad there are some people in P-Noy’s campaign who are taking his call for transparency seriously. Let’s have that E.O out soon before it becomes more difficult to do it as they start getting comfortable with power.

Profane word

This one’s from Lal Chatlani.

A man is recovering from surgery when the Surgical Nurse appears and asks him how he is feeling.

“I’m O. K. but I didn’t like the four letter-words the doctor used in surgery,” he answered.

“What did he say,” asked the nurse.

“Oops!”

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>