Blast the Old Boys Club into smithereens

Those screaming headlines about the suspension of trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange rever-berated throughout the world. The stories must have sent shivers down the spines of foreign businessmen who have already invested in the Philippines. And these must have made potential investors think twice, thrice, or even a hundred times before making the final decision to invest here.

CNN had a full-blown account of the suspension of trading at the PSE -- and it attributed the move to what it called a scandal at the Philippine Stock Exchange. Prestigious foreign business periodicals also gave prominent play-up to the drastic move taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission to protect the investing public. In the minds of the global business community, the Philippine stock market must have looked like one big mess.

That trading continued yesterday somehow eased the situation. However, the damage had been done in the eyes of the international business community. How to recover lost ground and regain the investors' confidence will take a lot of doing -- and one wonders how the thinkers in the Estrada administration are going to plot out the master plan to save the tottering stock market.

Definitely, the "Old Boys Club" that has lorded it over the PSE during the past decades should be blasted into pieces. For as long as that clique continues to hold sway at the bourse, investor confidence will never be restored in the capital market. If the abolition of the PSE is necessary to blast the "Old Boys Club" into kingdom come, let it be.

"Inutile" is a kind word to describe that unit at the Department of Public Works and Highways assigned to oversee the Rosario-Ortigas flyover project. Many months after the flyover was opened to vehicular traffic, the westbound approach of the flyover remains one lane, and the lower portion remains a parking area of passenger jeepneys. While some shanties at the foot of Rosario Bridge have been dismantled, very little has been done to turn the approach into two lanes, as originally planned.

I understand Pasig City Mayor Vicente "Enteng" Eusebio has been moving heaven and earth to get the DPWH to do its part of the job in completing the flyover project. But the DPWH has not responded as quickly, and the turtle-pace by which things are moving at the DPWH is a clear indication that the time has come for President Estrada to give the DPWH leadership a rest. Tama na. Sobra na. Inutil na.

If we use the automatic pricing mechanism used during the old days when the local oil industry was regulated, we would now be paying -- on top of current prices -- an additional one peso per liter for gasoline and other petroleum products like diesel and LPG. Note that the oil companies are selling gasoline based on a crude price of $21 per barrel. Yet Dubai, which is their benchmark crude, now retails at $25 a barrel. If you translate the $4 per barrel differential, that would be your one-peso-per-liter savings. Apparently, it is only the Philippines in this region that sells at bargain rates.

What worries me is that the same situation, as in the days of the regulated regime, will happen if we adopt the oil exchange formula of my good friend, Rep. Enrique "Tet" Garcia. Regulation has had its day, but some oil companies might be pining for a return to the regulated environment, just to be able to have guaranteed returns on their oil sales.

At the moment, the oil companies are bearing the losses brought about by the true prices of gasoline. During the regulated days, it was the government, through an oil price stabilization fund (OPSF), that carried the burden. This is ultimately tax money that each and everyone of us pays, whether we use or do not use petroleum products.

I understand the oil companies are squirming in the current set-up. Many of them are saying they are not earning at all, or very little. In many instances, the new oil companies like Total and SeaOil are reporting pricing themselves higher than the major players.

With crude oil prices now 150 percent higher than prices a year ago, energy conservation should be one major solution to the oil price problem. If users of oil are complaining about how their cars are guzzling gasoline, perhaps it is time to think of ways to conserve energy. For instance, there is car pooling, and there are ways to avoid unnecessary trips. If a motorist is used to go outing every weekend, perhaps he can do with a monthly outing instead.

Do you have a child with autism? How will he cope when he grows up? Will it ever be possible for him to have employment options and to learn other ways to make him independent? This topic and more will be taken up when the Autistic Society of the Philippines will hold its 6th annual conference on April 28-30 at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management building at Elliptical Circle, Quezon City.

According to journalist Divina Paredes Japa, who has an 11-year-old son Dinno who is autistic, the conference will feature a main speaker from New Jersey, USA, Dr. David L. Holmes, the head of the Eden Institute, an internationally-renowned center for persons with autism. He will tackle the confab theme of "Adolescents and Adults with Autism: Moving Towards Independence." Other topics that will be taken up deal with a case study on adolescent and adult sexuality of persons with autism.

For the laymen, autism is a pervasive developmental disorder. It usually appears in the first 30 months of life, and is three to four times more common in boys than in girls. People with autism have serious problems with communication, social interaction and behavior. They may display developmental deficits from birth, or they may seem to develop normally for two to three years before symptoms appear.

For more information on the ASP annual conference, please contact Cathy Tanedo at Room 307 ML Building, 47 Kamias Road, Quezon City, with telefax number 926-6941 and e-mail <[email protected]>

Art A. Borjal's e-mail address: <[email protected]>