PONTIUS PILATES OF THE DEFECTIVE UNGKA FLYOVER
IN THE SHADOW of the defective Ungka flyover, a modern Golgotha rises — not of skulls, but of crumbled concrete and bureaucratic apathy, a monument to the sin of negligence.
As Holy Week dawns upon us, the narrative of suffering and redemption finds a peculiar echo in the plight of this infrastructure debacle — a P680-million cross that the taxpayers of Iloilo are forced to bear. Haslo!
Behold, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), our modernday Pontius Pilate, washing its hands with temporary rails and enclosures, while the people of Iloilo city and province shoulder the inconvenience and danger.
And what penance does DPWH offer? A P296 million flagellation of public funds, a bitter chalice from which Ilonggos are compelled to drink.
Yet, in this passion play, where are the Simon of Cyrenes to help bear the burden? Where is the Veronica to wipe clean the face of Iloilo’s public trust, soiled by the mud of incompetence?
Instead, we find a chorus of bureaucrats and contractors, chanting assurances of safety and repair, while the faithful procession of commuters and motorists navigate the Via Dolorosa of detours and delays. Tonto!
Say mo, Toto Sanny Boy?
THERE is growing excitement about the implementation of Republic Act 11981 or the Tatak Pinoy ( TP) Act — the law that will pave the way for stronger collaboration between the government and the private sector towards the development of Philippine industries, sustainable economic growth, and greater opportunities for our people in their own country.
Under the law, the implementing rules and regulations ( IRR) must be issued within 60 days from the effectivity of the law. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the law on February 26, 2024 so the Department of Trade and Industry and the TP Council should have the IRR ready by April 26, 2024.
As a background, the TP Council is the policy and advisory body to the President and is composed of the Secretary of Trade and Industry as its chairperson; the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Secretary of Finance as its vice chairpersons; and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Budget and Management, Information and Communications Technology, Interior and Local Government, Labor and Employment, and Science and Technology; and four private sector representatives as its members.
Even before the issuance of the
IRR, the agencies that are part of the TP Council are already mandated to start its call for private sector representatives while the DTICompetitiveness and Innovation Group should be working on constituting an interim secretariat for the TP Council.
One of the initial tasks of the TP Council is the issuance of a list of Philippine products and services that will be given preference and priority, pending the formulation of the TP Strategy.
This TP Strategy is a multi-year, multi-stakeholder strategy, approved by the President to expand and diversify the productive capabilities of our domestic enterprises and to empower them to produce and offer increasingly diverse and sophisticated products and services.
There are some misconceptions about Tatak Pinoy (Proudly Filipino) — what it is about and what it aims to accomplish. One of the goals of Tatak Pinoy is to help our industries become globally competitive. It is not about protecting local companies from competition. Neither is it using patriotism to forgive products of poor quality or shoddy workmanship, as well as services that are sub-par of global standards.
The confusion is understandable given that the term Tatak Pinoy connotes nationalism. But at its very core, Tatak Pinoy is about trying to provide whole- of- Nation support to Filipino enterprises that have exhibited the potential and the commitment to become world-Class and globally recognized.
It is also about trying to learn as much as we can from wherever we can, updating ourselves to the world’s most advanced technologies and imbibing the most forward of horizons in our development plans.
Tatak Pinoy is not about being hard-lined for local brands per se. It is about emphasizing our desire to upgrade our capabilities to such a level where Filipino workers are making world-class products HERE in the Philippines.