MVP’s bridge of progress

During the groundbreaking ceremony of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway or CCLEX with President Rodrigo Duterte as guest of honor, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. chairman Manny Pangilinan informed the President about feasibility studies being made to link Cebu with Bohol through a 17.5-kilometer friendship bridge, as well as plans to convert Visayas into one huge economic region by connecting Eastern, Central and Western Visayas.

In his speech during the groundbreaking ceremony, the President also spoke about plans to link the provinces of Visayas to Mindanao through bridges. Aside from fast-tracking progress, these interconnected bridges will help decongest traffic and lower population density in many urban areas because people will not be flocking to cities as it would be possible to travel from one point to another – perhaps even from Aparri to Jolo – by car. 

The President and MVP also discussed matters of the economy, which is not surprising since Manny has always been at the forefront when it comes to helping spur progress and development in the country regardless of who sits in Malacañang.  Manny was already a successful technocrat-businessman in Hong Kong before he decided to return to the Philippines and since then has been actively promoting the country as a viable investment destination, putting his money where his mouth is by continuing to do business here that generates jobs for fellow Filipinos.

In fact, his partner Anthony Salim at one time even remarked to a business associate that he was wondering whether Manny was really a businessman or a nationalist. Of course, people who know MVP very well say he is both, as seen in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cebu-Cordova bridge that was also attended by executives of the MVP Group that include MPIC president Joey Lim, MNTC president Rod Franco, Maynilad president Mon Fernandez, PLDT’s Ricky Vargas and MVP Media Bureau chief Mike Toledo.

The P27.9-billion CCLEX (targeted for completion before 2020) can be considered a “trailblazer” since it is the first bridge venture of MPIC, aside from the fact that it is also the first public-private partnership (PPP) project outside of Metro Manila which also underscores the MVP Group’s full support for the President’s inclusive growth agenda anchored on a six-year, massive infrastructure plan worth P270 billion. According to Manny, the bridge project is expected to generate 5,000 jobs in the construction phase.

The fact is, projects like CCLEX should be encouraged because it could boost tourism and spur development in an isolated place like Cordova which is also said to be the smallest town in Cebu – something former Cordova vice mayor and now Presidential Legislative Liaison Office head Adelino Sitoy averred. Certainly, the project will also benefit travelers as the bridge will provide a direct link between the City of Cebu and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Technology can avert tax evasion

The seizure of P2.2 billion worth of counterfeit and smuggled tobacco products including cigarette brands (manufactured by a Bulacan-based tobacco company) with fake tax stamps underscores the huge amount of revenues lost by the government due to illicit trade in tobacco and cigarette products. Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez has given marching orders to both the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs to go after tax cheats and investigate the possible connivance of government employees in these large-scale tax evasion schemes.

The Bulacan-based company has already been implicated several years ago in tax evasion controversies with the BIR alleging that as much as P5 billion in government revenues have been lost due to the illicit trade where cigarette products are sold without the payment of applicable government taxes.   

Several years ago, a Swiss-based technology company was proposing a state-of-the-art technology that would prevent illicit trade through the use of “strip stamps” on all cigarette packs that would enable the BIR to “track and trace” the stamp and the corresponding security code from the time it is printed to the time the cigarettes are sold to retailers. The technology is very sophisticated that the security features of the stamps will not be susceptible to counterfeiting – which is what happened with the seized cigarette products that had fake tax stamps on them.  

Donald Trump 10; Xi Jinping, 7

Donald Trump is planning to ramp up military spending by about 10 percent from last year (or $54 billion) for a total of $603 billion this 2017 – which the US president described as “historic” as it would “rebuild the depleted military of the United States” and send a clear message of “American strength, security and resolve” to other nations.

China, on the other hand, is planning to increase military spending by only seven percent (slightly lower than the 7.6 percent in 2016) for a total of $147 billion this year, the lowest increase in China’s military budget in the last seven years. Does this mean the arms race is tilting toward the US?

PSG: Need food tasters, but no takers 

Intelligence sources say reports about offshore drug lords planning to assassinate President Duterte are very real. This has prompted the Presidential Security Group to intensify measures to secure the President.

Aside from a sniper’s rifle, another method of assassination would be through poison. According to our Malacañang insider, the PSG needs food tasters – but no takers. 

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