A government under shortage

As the years pass by, the Duterte administration is beginning to look and sound more and more like a government not under siege but under shortage. It started out short on talent or executives who could help the ship of state run its course toward the “Golden Age of Infrastructure” of the Philippines. President Duterte reasoned that being a provincial leader, he did not have many contacts so he has relied mostly on his aging batch of classmates from San Beda or Davaoeños he knew and trusted.

From the shortage of skilled executives, the administration was short on funds so the solution was TRAIN or Tax Reform or the now controversial loans from China. Then we discovered the shortage of airports, a serious shortage of mass transit system, a shortage of telco providers, and then the rice shortage. But the worst kind of shortage that challenges the Duterte administration is the shortage of power and water that tells us that this administration is a ship full of political appointees who cannot even run their departments or areas of concern that greatly affects the public as well as investors. In other words there is now a shortage of competence among political appointees.

I don’t mean to be rude or disrespectful but even the President has expressed his frustration with his own people pointing out how slow, boastful but ineffective some of them are. If it takes you three years and a crisis to finally admit there is a problem with the way we manage our water and power resources, then the leaders of the MWSS and the Department of Energy and the ERC are validating the observation that people who have no known expertise in a certain science or business should stay out of those agencies or departments.

All the shortages I’ve written above are annual or yearly occurrences or concerns. They are nothing new, they have simply gotten worse every year because political appointees who are appointed to manage these services or resources are generally ignorant. Some agency heads may have the required experience but at the end of the day what they need to get done still need the approval of higher authorities or need to go through an assistant secretary, then an undersecretary, the department secretary and sometimes a cluster of secretaries who have varying ideas or vested interests but lacking in related competence.

So now we find ourselves plodding from one shortage to another and every time a shortage occurs, some economists “brilliantly” suggest fast tracking matters by borrowing more money and bringing in more foreign “experts” from China or the likes. If we manage, as we always do, to pull ourselves out of the water and power shortage, perhaps its about time we Filipinos express our discontent in May by preventing additional incompetents from entering government either in Congress or the Senate. After that, let’s start campaigning for President Duterte and both houses of Congress to impose a minimum requirement of expertise and competence for any person to be politically appointed to a government position particularly to offices concerning utilities, natural resources and public health. Enough is enough! Put an end to shortage in this government.

* * * While reading the Business section of the

a couple of items caught my eye. First was the announcement that the DOTr will soon publish the rules or Terms of Reference for the required “Swiss Challenge” of the SMC Bulacan Airport. This of course is required by law for unsolicited bids. I just can’t help wondering how anyone at the present moment could possibly come up with a better proposal or counter offer to the San Miguel Corp. proposal knowing that the Bulacan Airport proposal covers 2,500 hectares of land already in the “possession” of Ramon Ang who took about five or more years to buy and consolidate.

Unlike other projects where proponents suggest building something on government land, the SMC Bulacan Airport is totally “private” and at no cost to the government. The “Swiss Challenge” should have been waived because any aspirant would have to first buy the land or site that’s not for sale and only then can they attempt at offering a better deal. Unless they are magicians, it is unlikely that they can buy adjacent lands to consolidate 2,500 hectares especially at today’s prices in 60 days. Instead of being innovative and fast tracking a publicly beneficial project that could come under the “Build, Build, Build” program, the DOTR and NEDA Board simply reared the ugly head of bureaucratic red tape and protectionism.

* * * To end on a good note, we’d like to extend our congratulations to our friends at Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. for recently hitting its One Million sales record. The Millionth vehicle sold was a Mirage Hatchback, which was quite fitting given that the Mitsubishi Mirage is a model made in the Philippines. During several speeches the guests were reminded of something that today’s car buyers might not know or remember.

At the height of the fuel crisis, as well as the time when Ninoy Aquino was murdered and all through EDSA 1 and 2, Mitsubishi Motors stayed in the Philippines while many other car brands left for safer places. Not even the siren call of Thailand and all their incentives got MMC and MMPC to pack their bags for better profits and friendlier business environment. MMPC executives dug their heels in and kept investing. Even when the company was falsely accused of having a product that had serious issues in order to destroy its sales and reputation, Mitsubishi stayed in the fight and all that perseverance and determination have blessed the company with even better sales even in these times when traffic and high fuel prices have depressed industry sales. Here’s hoping MMPC hits the next million mark sooner than expected!