Lifeblood theory

I live in a part of the city where the road leading to my house is so bad that avoiding the humongous potholes has become a daily grind.

After almost 10 years, a ray of sunshine appeared when bulldozers, concrete mixers and other heavy machines started appearing in our small street and began paving the road. Finally, our prayers were heard.

But imagine my disappointment or rather anger when worked stopped. The part of the road fronting our house was not included in the road repair project because according to the contractor, they’ve run out of budget.

On another note, there is this new flyover very near our place that has become a nightmare for commuters. You see, under the flyover is a U-turn slot that is starting to become the haven for the homeless and members of the Bukas Kotse gang because vehicles have no choice but to slowdown in that part of the road that is very dark at night.

I alerted my more influential friends in the broadcasting field about this growing menace and they informed our good mayor about it. Months have passed since the mayor promised to act on the complaint. Good news. There are now more shanties under the new flyover near the U-turn slot which remains without a street light.

Just recently, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) commissioner Kim Henares, when asked what is the best incentive the government can give to its tax-paying public to continue paying their dues considering that many people are now questioning the point of paying taxes when delivery of public service is worse than ever and corruption in government continues, said “well, they will not be charged of tax evasion.”

That is the worse answer anyone can give to the Filipino public.

True, taxes are the lifeblood of any nation and without taxes, our country cannot deliver government services, build much-needed infrastructure projects including schoolhouses and roads and bridges, etc.

But when we hear of fictitious non-government organizations, favored individuals, and legislators treating public funds like their own, or of a President who seems oblivious to all these, people like me who pay their taxes but can’t even get a decent road or who can’t get a dangerous road lit up become very angry.

Real estate gone bad

The business environment all over Asia appears generally bad.

According to property consultancy firm Colliers International, amid the unexpected slowdown in a number of a major economies around the globe in the second quarter of 2013, weakened business sentiment clouded the office market in the April to June period this year.

The Colliers Asia Office Leasing Market Confidence Index registered 57.6 percent, dropping for the first time since the middle of 2012.

Despite a downward adjustment, the sustained above-50 percent mark of the confidence index reflected that market players still generally held a positive outlook on the Asia office leasing market, according to Simon Lo, executive director for research and advertising Asia at Colliers International.

The confidence index is a consolidation of four sub-indices covering new leasing inquiry, real estate requirements, landlords’ expectations and rental expectations.

Meanwhile, all the four sub-indices fell in the second quarter of 2013. The sub-indices for new leasing inquiries and office rental expectations recorded the strongest fall since the survey began in the first quarter of 2012, registering 53.3 percent and 64.4 percent, respectively in the second quarter of this year.

Lo explained that the decline was due to a decrease in leasing activities with less confident market players amid the weaker-than-expected performance for a number of Asia-Pacific economies.

Relatively, the sub-index of clients’ real estate requirements was the strongest. This index only edged down marginally from 70.9 percent  in the first quarter of this year to 68.3 percent in the second quarter and remained over 50 percent, suggesting that office tenants generally have no change in their real estate requirements.

Also in the second quarter, the banking, finance, insurance (FIRE) and IT sectors continued to be the two most active office tenant groups; while logistics/shipping sector replaced consumer products sector as the third most active tenant group.

Among the four sub-indices, the one for landlords’ expectations was the weakest at 44.4 percent in the second quarter and has kept below the 50 percent mark for four consecutive quarters. Due to the cautious expectations, landlords were more generous in offering leasing incentives to entice tenants during the quarter.

For comments, email at [email protected].