Why we don’t trust this Congress anymore!

Cebuanos are up in arms against the 13th Congress… specifically Rep. Emilio Macias, chairman of the House committee on local governments, for his arrogant and intransigent attitude in disallowing a public hearing on the pros and cons of the break-up of the province of Cebu. As our Lord Jesus Christ taught us, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!" I wonder how Dr. Macias would feel if a group wanted to break up Negros Oriental into three separate provinces and no public hearing would be conducted on Negros Oriental soil? I’m sure he would complain unless, of course, he agrees to the break-up of Negros Oriental. After all, he is a true-blue tradpol.

This is why many of us in Cebu believe that Dr. Macias is a biased chairman and thus, he ought to step down as chairman of the House committee and give way to someone who can be fair to Cebuanos. Well, since he is a doctor, I’m sure he knows too well that if his patient were to be amputated, he would first talk with that patient. Surely, he wouldn’t just cut off any part of the patient’s body without first asking the patient’s permission. He may argue with my analogy, but that’s exactly how the people here in Cebu think of his intransigence. What’s wrong with allowing a public hearing in Cebu, huh?

Again, let me point out clearly that if we Cebuanos cannot even hope to get fairness in the House committee on local governments, then what can we expect from a Congress that would convene itself into a constituent assembly so they could change our Constitution? I have no doubt that we can no longer trust this Congress. Their credibility is just as bad as the credibility of the folks at the Executive Branch, and we will trust them to change our Charter?

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Talking about losing credibility, last July 29, we wrote about good corporate governance, especially regarding the still unfinished battle between Negros Navigation Co. (Nenaco) and the Tsuneishi Heavy Industries (Cebu) Inc. (THICI). I say it is unfinished because until now, Nenaco (thanks to the help of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46) continues to report new profits… when the reality is, profits can only be had if one has already paid its debts.

Well, the latest I gathered from this controversy is that Nenaco president Sulficio Tagud (remember how embarrassed he must have been when we exposed in this corner that he was chosen as Nenaco’s court-appointed receiver? What a sham!) announced that he expects to earn a net income of P150 million for this year, mainly from the sale of Nenaco’s assets.

Clearly, things haven’t augured well in this ailing shipping company… you simply don’t declare a net income because you’ve sold the proverbial golden goose that lays the golden egg! One ought to be proud when he turns things around in an efficiently run company and through better skills and training and better management practices, with which a company’s finances might just improve. But selling your ships and declaring that you have made a profit is actually deceiving yourself!

This is precisely what we wrote last month… that Nenaco was selling the Princess of Negros, the very same vessel that has a lien by Tsuneishi for P23,389,575, and they count this deception as profit? There is a lien on this vessel because Nenaco still owes Tsuneishi P45 million. It just makes me wonder if RTC Branch 46 is aware of this ploy. Again, let me point out that no one wants any business entity to fold up if we can help it. But the fact is, many companies get into financial difficulties because of two reasons: either the business climate is bad or the management has bad business practices. Usually, like WorldCom or Enron, it’s bad business practices!

I suggest that the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 ought to look at the interest of the creditors of Nenaco before allowing them to declare a profit. I’m only looking at the interest of Tsuneishi Shipyard because they are our guests in Cebu and have given jobs and income to many Cebuanos. But what about the other creditors of Nenaco who are part and parcel of their P2.4-billion debt? I’m sure that they must be just as incensed or indignant as we at the way Mr. Tagud is handling this company. Cebuanos haven’t forgotten Mr. Tagud because when he was running things in Ayala Cebu, he suddenly quit, fueling rumors that he might have been blamed for a botched land deal in the mountains of Cebu. But the next time someone from Metro Pacific lectures you on good corporate governance, you should ask them "how are things in Glocamora?" If you don’t know what Glocamora is, it’s a fantasyland from the Warner Bros. 60s’ musical Finian’s Rainbow.

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Speaker Jose de Venecia has proposed that the leaders of the Group of 8 or the G-8 nations hold an oil summit to take up the issue of oil prices. Why? Does JDV think that by doing so these nations would be able to convince the oil cartel called the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce the prices of oil when business for the cartel has never been this good? I don’t think so. Even the United States of America, which produces its own oil, can’t do anything about this problem, for as long as it is good for the US economy. The reality is, America is largely responsible, too, for the cartel; after all, one of the biggest businesses in the State of Texas is selling oilrigs and other drilling machineries and yes, business for them is just as good, especially under President George Bush!

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The Chatterbox:

If you think that our bad economy has only affected the poor, think again! Here’s the latest rumor spreading around Metro Cebu. A rich Chinese businessman was forced (otherwise, he would have been expelled) to resign from a plush golf club because he was caught stealing towels! No, he just didn’t take one or two… he took a couple of hundred in a few months’ period! Rumor has it that this fellow gave those towels to his farm workers… after cutting off the name of the club on the towels. Now that’s the rich stealing from the rich to give to the poor. He belongs to one of Cebu’s wealthiest families. What about the missing golf shoe? Hmmm, that’s another embarrassing, but interesting story.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.