“It’s time President Marcos must put his foot down on corruption if only to show to the people his firm determination to eradicate graft and corruption”
There has been a lot of misunderstanding and confusion in the aftermath of that botched importation by the Sugar Regulatory Administration of 300,000 metric tons of sugar which observers rightfully called a mess.
The confusion arose from the debate on whether or not there is really a shortage of sugar.
It’s now very clear that the alleged shortage of sugar was artificial because it was caused by a lot of hoarding and profiteering, as shown when Customs raided warehouses with a lot of hoarded sugar in Bulacan and Pampanga.
And the so-called hoarded sacks of sugar used recycled import permits.
Santa Banana, these hoarded sacks of sugar were in fact smuggled.
And, my gulay, smuggling through Customs happens every time at the end of a President’s six-year term. Smugglers and profiteers do it to take advantage of the change of people at Customs.
I used to cover Customs when I was Business Editor of the Philippines Herald in the 50s and 60s.
I know for a fact that a lot of monkey business does happen at Customs.
For circumventing the law, I must give it to the geniuses at Customs how to go about it.
My gulay, there had been instances where shiploads of dutiful shiploads just disappeared without reaching their ports of destination.
And I know that every time there’s a change of administration, smuggling occurs.
The worst thing that happens every time a new administration takes over Customs is the smuggling of illegal drugs.
Santa Banana, where do you think illegal drugs reported by media seized almost everyday by the police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency come from? Smuggling through Customs, that’s where.
Going back to the sugar importation mess which created a lot of misunderstanding and confusion, in an effort by President Marcos to help the public following high prices of sugar.
I must commend him for trying presidential persuasion to stop sugar prices from escalating following an artificial shortage.
Insofar as those smugglers are concerned, it would do well for BBM to make heads roll, if only to emphasize his zero-tolerance against all kinds of corruption, especially when they do it to the prejudice of the people by creating artificial shortages.
For those who connived with those smugglers at Customs, BBM also has to drop the ax because they created all this mess about a sugar problem.
As for illegal drugs which are obviously smuggled through Customs, the President should likewise show zero-tolerance on Customs people who tolerate the continuous entry of illegal drugs.
Whoever is responsible must face the full force of the law because the continuous entry of illegal drugs becomes a threat to national security.
It’s time President Marcos must put his foot down on corruption if only to show to the people his firm determination to eradicate graft and corruption.
My gulay, when it comes to illegal drugs, syndicates and cartels will take advantage and take for granted BBM considering the fact that big money is involved in the smuggling of illegal drugs.
It’s basic and this I have learned through years of covering Customs that smugglers will never smuggle anything through Customs unless it’s through connivance with Customs people.
President Marcos must not forget that Customs also allowed the smuggling of vegetables into the country.
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The House of Representatives received this week the 2023 proposed general appropriations act or national budget for the year amounting to P5.268 trillion but nearly ⅓ of which represents interest and principal which will be due next year amounting to P1.6 trillion.
This means that priority budgets which normally goes to education, health, social welfare, agriculture, public works and national defense will have to settle with much less.
Education, for instance, will only get P853 billion; health P296 billion; social welfare P197 billion and agriculture P184 billion.
Recall that the previous Duterte administration had to scramble for loans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which virtually had to adversely affect efforts to reduce poverty and hunger and at the expense of economic growth.
Thus, President Marcos now must reinvigorate job creation and reduce poverty by steering the economy back to its high growth during his six-year term.
The House has until October 2022 to craft the general appropriations act before it goes into recess.
Despite the debt payments under next year’s budget which will include a record P1.02 trillion in principal amortization from P 751 billion, the government’s debt payments will be due this year, on top of P582 billion in interest, up from this year’s P512.6 billion.
In effect, with the reduction of the proposed national budget for next year that will go to payment of debt servicing, it will be a big challenge on the part of BBM to reduce poverty and create jobs, two goals he had promised us in his SONA or State of the Nation Address.
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According to Secretary Erwin Tulfo, beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) who had braved crowds to get their education assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development would have to deduct it from Conditional Cash Transfers and will have to give back what they received from what they got as student aid.
Santa Banana, That is a tall order!
The objective of the program is to promote investments in the education and health of children to help break the intergenerational transmission of poverty, while providing immediate financial support to the household.
According to Tulfo, if they had already used the amount, the agency understands it. “But since they have received the amount, what they received will have to be deducted in a staggered way so that we can just adjust,” Tulfo was quoted to have said. I must give Tulfo an A for his optimism.
In the first place, whose fault was it that 4Ps grantees who already got their share of their education assistance and also their Conditional Cash Transfers?
My gulay, it is very clear that the 4Ps beneficiaries got their share when it was mistakenly advertised that 4Ps beneficiaries would get their allotments and that they were entitled to receive their education benefits.
Under the DSWD policy, 4Ps beneficiaries are not entitled to education aid for indigent people, which amounts to P2000 each for elementary school students, P2,000 to P3,000 for high school students and P4,000 each for college students.
On the other hand, 4Ps beneficiaries receive a minimum of P1,650 and a maximum of P3450, depending on the number of children they have.
Parents may get P300 for every child in junior high and P700 per child in senior high.
Santa Banana, just how the DSWD will adjust this confusion is something that Tulfo has to resolve.
I say this confusion is the result of Tulfo’s eagerness to get credits for trying to help people.
How Tulfo resolves this confusion will be an acid test to his capability to manage a department.
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The rise of COVID-19 cases in other areas outside Metro Manila is clearly the result of many who attend parties and go to the beaches without masks and are unmindful of health protocols.
It is plain and simple stupidity.
