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First,
the good news: The Bureau of Immigration (BI) under the
watch of Commissioner Marcelino Libanan is now actively
implementing a pro-foreign investment policy President
Arroyo herself is pursuing.
Libanan
says this does not mean the immigration bureau will
relax its watch on the country’s borders as it will
continue to keep tab on illegal entrants, especially the
terrorists, the illegal trade dealers and, among others,
human smuggling.
Now, the
bad news: Officials of the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC)
who were invited to attend a Senate hearing last week
received a severe tongue-lashing from Sen. Juan Ponce
Enrile for writing a letter to President Arroyo to
oppose the plan of certain lawmakers to amend the
Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).
Under
the proposed Epira amendment, only 50 percent instead of
70 percent of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) would
be privatized, a proposal the foreign chambers—all power
consumers—are opposing but which the good senator says
is tantamount to interfering with the affairs of the
government.
But
first, let’s tackle the new tact of the government to
attract more foreign investments into the country by
making their stay here more pleasant and more
accessible.
Libanan
says the new vision is in line with globalization being
pursued by the World Trade Organization, in general, to
break human barriers; and by President Arroyo, in
particular, who is just as concerned with human
smuggling.
Complaints of foreign investors
Many
times, foreign investors coming to the Philippines
complain, and for good reason, of how difficult it is to
do business with government officials and the agencies
they represent. But not so, it seems, with the
immigration bureau, at least during the term of the
incumbent commissioner.
This is
not to compare other bureaus, such as Customs and the
internal revenue, where doing business is as cumbersome
as ever.
Although
the BI as an edifice, as an office building or as a
structure of steel and concrete needs a quick facelift,
the bureau as an agency has undergone an overhaul that
makes visitors and transients less tumultuous or more
attractive to its clients.
For
instance, the BI has cut down processing time by 80
percent with the use of state-of-the-art computers that
connect them to the main office. Personnel training and
reorientation are now made serious and focused on
building a new integrity culture among BI workers.
It
cannot be said of other countries where many immigration
authorities continue to be rude, impolite and
indifferent despite their education and their upbringing
as a nation.
The BI’s
new vision, says Libanan, is anchored on protecting the
borders by protecting the economic interests of the
country.
It also
recognizes the fast pace of globalization happening all
over the place. The Philippines as a destination is
visa-free to citizens of at least 146 countries. If only
other countries would accord the same treatment to
Filipino nationals, it would be a true globalized world
for travelers anywhere in the universe!
But
being friendly, says Libanan, is not necessarily giving
up the territory to foreigners, particularly to those
who violate immigration rules of the country.
He says
the BI remains aware of the threats of terrorism and
human smuggling, and of illegal drug trade. The BI, he
warns, doesn’t sleep.
The
power debacle
But here
comes the issue of the Epira, which members of Congress
want to amend in such a way that only half of National
Power Corp. (Napocor) would be privatized, contrary to
expectations from the World Bank (WB), the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and the joint federation of
foreign chambers, most of them the Philippines’
creditors and provider of funds.
The
common complaint against the Philippines is the high
cost of power that is driving foreign investors away
from the country. The JFC has time and again asked for
lower power rates traceable to the failure of the
government to privatize Napocor.
But some
lawmakers look at it as meddling. But how can it be
called meddling when the foreign investors are just as
harshly affected by Napocor’s inefficiency and the
ensuing high cost of electricity, a large part of it due
to the value-added tax?
To the
foreign chambers, the Epira should first be allowed to
work before changing it midstream. Changing it now would
mean abandoning the privatization rules set forth by the
Philippine government and multilateral financial
institutions that had gamely agreed to finance the plan.
Senator
Enrile called the foreign investors “carpetbaggers
predators and buccaneers” who had no right to intervene
in the country’s political process.”
Said he:
“To them, I say, the hell with you, get out of this
country.”
Enrile
is the principal author to the proposed amendments to
the Epira, with emphasis on lowering the threshold of
privatization from 70 percent to 50 percent.
On the
other hand, the JFC was pushing for the lowering of
power rates because they are among the biggest power
consumers in the country.
It must
be remembered that the WB, the ADB and other financial
institutions were the ones that extended the loans
because of the passage of Epira, which, they say,
promotes open and true competition.
In the
next couple of years, we need foreign investors to put
up the much-needed power plants to avert a looming power
crisis.
Moreover, the head of the Power Sector Assets and
Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) had already doused
cold water on the amendments, specifically lowering the
privatization threshold of Napocor’s power plants from
70 percent to 50 percent, since Psalm has already sold
more than 50 percent of Napocor’s assets.
E-mail: raulbvalino@yahoo.com.ph |
