Businessmen’s dilemma

The word is out. Don’t pay those "revolutionary taxes" exacted by the New People’s Army (NPA) under pain of possible prosecution from the authorities.

 Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita has categorically declared that the government would put the heat on businesses and individuals giving material or financial contributions to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA). The policy applies even if the contribution was made under duress.

Particularly vulnerable to what the military calls extortion are those who are engaged in construction, transportation, logging, telecommunications, delivery of goods and hauling, plantation owners, real estate developers, traders and farmers. For businessmen and entrepreneurs operating in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized areas, this declaration may be fair warning. After all, there is supposed to be ample presence of police and security forces in these centers of business.

But that holds true only if your business operation is limited solely to these secured areas. It becomes a different story if your business is located in provincial areas where armed insurgents operate, or which the military classifies as "under the influence" of the NPA.

Things become much more complicated in cases where a business firm operates nationwide and maintains branches in provincial areas, because then you can be hit in so many places. How often have we read about rebels burning buses, logging trucks and construction equipment? Many of these companies succumb to the threats and pay because there’s a heavy price to pay for defiance. Have you ever wondered, for instance, why cell sites of one giant telecommunications firm are regularly bombed while those of its major competitor stay untouched?

 Military and police authorities in the provinces know the realities on the ground. They know that in many rural areas, businessmen and even municipal and barangay officials live under the intimidating shadow of the NPA. The barrel of the gun is a constant threat that they have to contend with. This much is acknowledged by Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, the commander of military forces in Central Luzon. "I wish the President could be given the information on local officials who are hardly involved in the drive against the enemies," Palparan said.

That is why during election time, even politicians who can afford bodyguards have to cough up "fees" to be able to venture in places outside the town proper, particularly in the isolated barangays and supposed NPA territories. The amount depends on the position that the candidate is aiming for. Sometimes, guns and supplies become part of the bargain. These fees are paid in exchange for what is called "permit to campaign" or PTC.

Whether these politicians continue to give "revolutionary taxes" after they win is open to speculation. The reader is free to let his imagination roam. One thing is sure, though, and it is that once you are considered as openly hostile to the organization, you will be marked for "termination." And you never know when or where you’ll get hit. Or who the hit man will be. It’s a faceless enemy out there, as Maj. Gen. Alexander Yano, commander of the army’s 2nd Infantry Division, said.

Friday evening last week, a TV station aired an interview of a supposed NPA tax collector in Quezon province who disclosed the rebels’ revenue raising activities. He strongly hinted that among the politicians giving them financial support is an incumbent congressman, although he did not reveal the solon’s name. He even showed an alleged letter to the lawmaker. This revelation, assuming it is true, only confirms what the people generally know.

That is also why some policemen in the rural areas are forced to play games with known NPAs or their sympathizers. They realize how vulnerable they are. A young girl carrying books and posing as a student, or who had just bought fish and vegetables in the town market could sidle up to him and open up with a .45 automatic tucked under her blouse. Scenarios similar to these happened so many times. Even here in Metro Manila.

For provincial businessmen and LGU officials, supporting or sympathizing with the rebels is not the issue. When they pay "revolutionary taxes," it is not ideology that impels them to do so. Rather it is the imperatives of survival, and in that sense, survival includes the safety of their families and the welfare of the people depending on them and their business.

Officials of business organizations aired  misgivings over the government’s decision to prosecute companies and individuals found paying revolutionary tax to the NPA. Their concern centered on how the government could protect them from rebel harassment, or possible liquidations, should they refuse to come across.

"Can the AFP or PNP protect us?" asks Donald Dee, the president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. His concern was echoed by the president of the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., Francis Chua. He laments that businessmen are forced to pay what the rebels demand because of the perceived inadequacy of protection from the government.

Businessman Raul Concepcion correctly posits that the government should first strengthen the capabilities of the military and the PNP before pushing its all-out war against the rebels. Implied in his statement is the apprehension that the security forces may not have the pervasive presence needed to protect the business community against threats to life and property. But authorities are not at all indifferent to the fears of those unwittingly caught between the contending forces.

Police Director Vidal Querol who heads the PNP NCR Command, realizes their dilemma. He concedes that many businessmen are unwilling contributors to the NPA treasury and prosecution would make them victims twice over. He says that only those who willingly assist the rebels should be prosecuted.

The President has also acknowledged that businessmen and others who find themselves in similar situations are only victims. She ordered that protection be extended to them and instructed AFP Chief General Generoso Senga to deploy soldiers in areas where such taxation is rampant. The mechanism for extending the protection is a question that both civil and military officials will have to work out.

 Revolutionary taxation is a problem that has festered for so long. Now the President wants this stopped and has ordered an all-out war against the insurgents, releasing an initial P1 billion for this purpose. Understandably, Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senator Kiko Pangilinan criticized this move, saying that the government should instead attack poverty which, they aver, is really the root of the problem.

The two senators are correct in their assessment, but they are being simplistic.

The insurgency and these revolutionary taxes, contribute heavily to the perpetuation of poverty. Business cannot possibly flourish in areas of armed conflict. Provincial folks who made good in Metro Manila do not want to invest in their province for fear of the NPA. These conditions worsen joblessness and poverty. It is only logical to conclude that this is a situation that the NPA feeds on and dearly wants to perpetuate. For there would be nobody to recruit in areas where the economy is vibrant and people are gainfully employed.

As Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. points out, "insurgency is making insurgency permanent because no investments are getting into the critical areas."

The government has announced the release of P600 billion as the socio-economic component of its campaign against insurgency. Social services like education, health and housing will eat up P330 billion, according to Andaya. Economic services will get a P270 billion fund which will go into agriculture, electrification and power generation, infrastructure and tourism.

Hopefully, the P1 billion that the President allocated for the anti-graft fight will help prevent a substantial sum of this huge amount from going into the wrong pockets.

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