The Poor, the VAT (Increase) and the Exemptions

All politicians say they are pro-poor when they take whatever side on any other issue that are brought before them. I think the mere use of the word "poor" should be banned from public, in congress most especially, vocabulary as it is the most abused word in our country. Let us take the case of this looming VAT increase. Both sides, those rejecting it and those in favor of it, say they are pro-poor. Yet we know, whatever form of taxes are implemented, the poor, the rich and the shrinking middle class, all are burdened by it.

Of course, the poor will feel it more, them always first and foremost being at the bottom of our economic pit. But addressing the plight of the poor is not and should not be the problem of taxation, but should be addressed by other government programs, such as free education, free healthcare, more employment opportunities, etc.

A good principle is that taxation, and government for that matter, should be like lady justice, it should be blind, not favoring the poor nor any other class.

So I wonder what is the governments' criteria on considering VAT exemptions for different industries. Where is the logic in exempting petroleum products and IPPs from VAT while many food products (such as noodles) are not? Where is the logic in exempting medical services exempted from VAT while medical equipment importation is not? What could be the reason why actors and artists are exempted from VAT while while marketing and management consultants are not? What is there in one thing that exempts it from VAT which the other thing has not?

I think that the matter of exemptions are there just at the whim of the legislators, and does not follow any stream of logic. As usual the press covers the controversy of the VAT increase drama, not its logic nor lack of it. And that is what burdens the people, poor and rich alike.

Increasing VAT is pro-poor and anti-poor?

How can one thing be good and bad at the same time to the same people? How can a two percent increase in VAT is pro-poor and anti-poor at the same time?

The problem with our country is that politicians always use the "poor" for whatever agenda they have. And the "poor's" vanguards, the media, let these politicians get away with it. Look at this news report (Senator Arroyo digs in to block VAT) from Inq7.net and one would know what I mean. The news report contains all the press releases from different sides of the VAT debate, balancing the spins from all directions while keeping the truth out, at the expense of the poor.

But the truth is, any kind of taxes burdens everyone, the poor included, always, first and foremost.

FPJ, The Inquirer’s Filipino of the Year 2004

Last Sunday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer picked Fernando Poe Jr. as their Filipino of the Year (2004). The PDI did not clearly explain the criteria for selection, and the choice, but went on to say that the Filipino of the Year is someone who made a major positive impact on the lives of the Filipino for the year just passed.

I wonder what positive impact the Inquirer attributes to FPJ in 2004.

In the same issue, and perhaps to explain their Filipino of the Year choice, the Inquirer printed on its front page a purely positive article on FPJ. I took note some of the nice things they say about FPJ and may I share my comments below each of them:

“(FPJ)…heeded the summons to be brave and did what no Filipino had done in quite a while. He gave the common folk hope.”

I am not sure that what he did (run for the Presidency, that is) is brave, for what’s brave in being popular and then running for the top government post? When a job seeker applies for a very important job but one which he/she does not know anything about, is it brave or foolish? When the same job-seeker knows he can win the job even if he is not fitted for it, is it being brave or opportunistic? Well, I agree he gave the common folk hope, if false hopes count.

“…The hero of his movies always fought for his rights, romanced only one woman, kept his faith and never ever died…” “…Offscreen, the bent of his life was just as right. FPJ went by a code of conduct that inspired awe in the people around him: Do good but never talk about it, work hard but never talk about it, take care of your own but never talk about it, treat a woman as if she were the most beautiful one in the world but never talk about it…”

How can the bent of his life be just as right as in his movies? The movie hero who “…romanced only one woman” is converted to “treat a woman as if she were the most beautiful one in the world”, “as if” meaning untrue? His “code of conduct inspired awe in the people around him”? Which code of conduct? It is good to “do good and not talk about it”, but not be able to talk or even remember them is another thing!

“…In some respects he was perfect for the task (leading the people). FPJ was of the rabble, had represented the ordinary Filipino in countless movies because he was one of them.”

He is not one of us. A brief walk in Mega-mall or at the Central Market tells me he is not, for how many of us is good looking as he is? How many of us are born of an American mother and a Spaniard father? How many of us have a father who is a known actor and whose name recall alone would give us the opportunity to work in the same high flung film industry?

“…he went along in this new role as the people's voice, the people's champion…”

How can he be the people’s champion when the only thing he did is repeat what we all know already, the problems that our country has? Did he ever propose a well thought off solution to the problems, to be called a champion?

“…The media, the academe and the business sector questioned the tenor of his thoughts and ridiculed him because he could not be profound, as if Philippine politics were some high-brow enterprise when in truth it was a realm far shallower than show business…”

Was he ever ridiculed by the media in general? I contend that he would not have been popular if he was ridiculed by the media. In fact, he rode with the media, and some people in the academe and business, who accommodated him, and gave him credibility. No one ridiculed him. He was asked what he could do and he could not answer. For that, he ridiculed himself.

It is right and proper to praise a man for what he is, especially now that the man is dead. But saying high praises for what a man is not is propagandizing a lie. Such false praise will never give a dead person rest, rest which we all pray for FPJ.

Bloggers' Ethical Standards

It goes unnoticed that bloggers are subjected to ethical standards by our own critical readers. Yes we are, and it is good. The ethical standards we impose on other medium such as TV or radio should naturally be imposed on bloggers, who are growing in influence as the country joins the world in the internet age.

I found this news on Yahoo which dwelt interestingly on this topic.

Is this how the Inquirer own up to a mistake?

Yesterday, the Inquirer brandished the story on its headline: "RP no. 2 on corruption list: ADB survey covered 800 firms." Now if you use the same link I provided yesterday, you will not anymore see the original report online but the same was changed to: "RP no. 2 on corruption list: ADB survey covered over 700 firms in 2003"!!!

...and with a note saying: "Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the Jan. 20, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. A subhead of this story said earlier 800 firms were covered by the survey. A total of 800 firms were sent the survey, of which 716 responded."

Now the report has been changed, and what a shame, there was no admission of any mistake at all! Did they say they had a mistake in printing the incorrect number yesterday? No! They just say it matter-of-factly as if it is just part of the news. In fact, the inq7.net seems to have changed the news item, now improved with a link to an ADB PDF file (4MB file) from which they apparently base the report. I took note that inq7.net changed the number of firms covered but reitirated that the ADB had RP in no. 2 on its corruption list.

Now today's front page story on the Inquirer says: "Not our study, not our corruption list, ADB clarifies". I also found this on inq7.net: "Graft list from World Economic Forum, not ADB" which seems not in the front page of today's edition of the Inquirer. Again, no admission of any mistake from the Inquirer.

quote from inq7.net:

"In the third edition of the Inquirer issue on Jan. 20, the banner story said: "A study conducted by the Asian Development Bank showed the Philippines ranked second to Bangladesh among 102 countries in terms of the magnitude of irregular payments, including bribery, in public contracts."

In a letter to the Inquirer, Dalisay S. Maligalig, statistician at the ADB Development Indicators and Policy Research Division, said: "Although this was cited in the full report of the ADB study, this finding was taken from the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR2003/04) and was based on the Annual Executive Opinion Survey conducted by the World Economic Forum.""

Now the above clip from the news item tend to support the Inquirer claim that the data was in the ADB study, although it is apparent that the ADB study just cited it out from "the Global Competitiveness Report and was based on the Annual Executive Opinion Survey conducted by the World Economic Forum", and not subject of the ADB study itself!

And now this, note that at the beginning of the clip it says, the "third edition of the Inquirer issue on January 20...". Wo...wo...wo.. what??? The Inquirer has not only one, not only two, but three editions of the same issue on the same day of their newspaper???

This is a major blunder by the Inquirer and their way of handling it shows the value they place on credibility - zero! As I have said before, news organizations are indeed part of the country's leadership. Sadly, I do not anymore wonder why the country is poor and what our future will be.

Today/ABS-CBN checking on Inquirer news report?

Now this is good news, one news organization checking on the veracity of a news report of another.

The Inquirer headline today posts: RP No. 2 on Corruption List: ADB survey covered 800 firms. Then, I saw this flash report from the abs-cbnnews.com site: ADB denies it ranked RP second on corruption list!

This is really good news. However, abs-cbnnews.com also says that ADB denied that they covered 800 firms in their survey, pointing out the Inqiurer's "mistake" but did not mention that they also reported that earlier with their RP firms spend 2% of sales on bribes headline!

quote from newsflash from abs-cbnnews.com:
"She (referring to Ms. Dalisay Maligalig, the source from ADB) added that the Manila-based bank's report, "Improving the Investment Climate in the Philippines," only surveyed 716 companies and not 800 as reported by the Inquirer. "

quote from the earlier headline story from the same abs-cbnnews.com:
"Maligalig said the study, which surveyed 800 establishments in the manufacturing sector, showed that “gift-giving or informal payment” or bribery is associated with a 7-percent reduction in sales."

Hmmm...

What is meningo coccemia doing? Part 2

Again, this disease is rampaging our headlines lately. What the disease lacks in ability to turn into an epidemic, it makes up by stirring our imagination, and making more damage. It is true what they say, what we do not know can kill us. Thanks to the local brand of news reporting, what we do not know remains unknown.

I have a lot of things to say about Meningo. Unfortunately, I am obviously more talented in thinking only than writing about it, so I just read what the others have to say. And I found this opinion by Manuel A. Alcuaz Jr. of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which I agree to.

I think our press people are leading our country to self-destruction. Do they think that they can sell more newspapers or advertisement by scaring us with disease?

I am back!

After a month long of rest, I am finally back! Or am I really? Well no one would really know, not even myself, if I can continue doing what I have been doing here. There are plenty of obstacles: financial, physical, technical or even mental, and what have you.

But what am I doing here, actually? Whew, I do not have a sure answer to that as well. Maybe I am here just to pass my time, or maybe something better.. I am here to lead the country to a better future. Wow, that's heavy, heavier than me!

And Oh boy what did I miss? ...Well, I just missed that small tsunami over down south asia. God bless the poor souls there, both the dead and living.