PH bureaucracy levels up on the stupid
Credit to Author: BEN KRITZ, TMT| Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2019 16:19:00 +0000
IF there is an award for Dumb among governments, somebody make sure the Philippines is nominated.
On a weekend when there shouldn’t have been much else going on except the Pacquiao fight and retrospectives on the passing of culture-changing retail giant Henry Sy, this government managed to generate three unrelated but similarly lacking in common sense news items that make one wonder if its seriously trying to run a country, or is testing script concepts for a remake of the movie Brazil.
Sour graping from sugar regulator
The first item that crossed my screen was a dire warning from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) that the administration’s plan to liberalize imports of sugar “will spell the demise of the local sugar industry and stir up social unrest in more than 20 provinces.” SRA board member Emiliano Bernardino Yulo made the prophesy of doom after budget secretary Ben Diokno said import liberalization might be implemented later in the year, as price and supply forecasts for the staple commodity are not particularly encouraging.
Due mainly to poor harvests, refined sugar was in short supply last year, and retail prices have remained elevated at P50 to P60 or more per kilo in most of the country. An expected El Niño climate effect will likely have a negative impact on the sugar harvest again this year, so the administration’s plan represents a reasonable contingency.
As with every price or supply issue affecting agricultural products in the Philippines, blame for high sugar prices was directed at “unscrupulous traders and middlemen” by Yulo, who pointed out that raw sugar prices have fallen by a little less than 7 percent since September.
“Let’s go after the greedy traders and retailers who are capitalizing on the situation at the expense of the sugar farmers and producers,” Yulo said in a statement.
But wait, isn’t doing precisely that the job of the Sugar Regulatory Administration?
Since the SRA has already opened the door to imports by failing to ensure adequate domestic supply, it ought to quit complaining that reality prevents it from carrying out its mandate and do what it can for the sector it supposedly represents to at least make its product competitive. If the supply chain is unfairly skewing sugar prices, then regulate it; that’s your job, SRA. It says so in the name of your agency.
And while you’re at it, try putting at least a little effort towards making domestic sugar worth the high price it commands in the retail market. Over the holiday, as part of my Christmas care package, I received a two-kilogram bag of refined sugar of African origin, and was struck by its superiority in every respect to the local product — clean, dry, and of good flavor, and this after being in transit in a shipping box for nearly two months. Sugar production is not exactly rocket science; if Africa can do it, so can the Philippines.
Why does MMDA even bother?
For all those (present company included) who have suffered through massive traffic congestion for nearly two years as a result of the construction of the MRT-7 elevated rail line along Commonwealth Avenue, you’ll undoubtedly be relieved to know that the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has let it be known that unnecessary interference on the part of the contractor will not be tolerated.
MMDA has fined builder Equipment Engineers Inc. (EEI) P25,000 for putting up a 2-kilometer long barrier along the Elliptical Road without the agency’s permission, closing two lanes of the road and turning the already busy thoroughfare into a quagmire.
Yes, you read that correctly. P25,000. That’s $474.96 in real money, probably less than the MMDA managers spend on lunch. And just to make the story even more unnecessarily ridiculous than it already is, EEI apparently waffled about paying the fine for a couple of months before finally agreeing to write MMDA a check.
If there was a point to this other than the MMDA’s flexing its pencil-pushing muscles, I’d love to hear it. The barricade in question, while inconvenient, was certainly necessary. While the MRT-7 construction is making visible progress, it is also visibly way behind schedule; the 22.8-kilometer line from North Avenue to San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan is supposed to be operational by August of this year, and it clearly won’t be. The southern end of the line is nowhere near North Avenue yet, nor is the northern end anywhere close to San Jose Del Monte, and there are large gaps in the route where construction has not even begun.
Rather than raising additional obstacles to getting the job done by pointlessly quibbling over improper paperwork, the MMDA should be coordinating with EEI to find ways to speed up construction. Most affected commuters are willing to put up with the nightmare (a trip from San Jose Del Monte to Quezon City now typically takes about 2 hours) for the prospect of a faster and more convenient transportation option in the near future. They are likely to take a dim view of it, however, if the congestion is being aggravated because MMDA’s feelings have been hurt.
Just give Rio the DICT job
Finally, there is word that acting Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) chief Eliseo Rio Jr. will stay on the post until at least June, as Senator Gregorio Honasan’s appointment as DICT head has been rendered uncertain due to rules on appointments.
President Rodrigo Duterte shouldn’t need another reason to quit acting like a trapo and quietly drop his unqualified political ally in favor of the loyal technocrat who’s been doing the job almost since the DICT’s inception, but this latest development gives him one anyway. Rio has performed competently under some tough conditions, and for the sake of continuity – especially for the all-important third telco initiative – the president should reward him, if the former general wants it, with a permanent appointment. That he has not done so already is unfair, and suggests a rather selective judgment of personality over performance.
ben.kritz@manilatimes.net
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