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‘ITAGA
mo sa bato [Bet on it].” There is no question that
despite all the angst and full-throated, acrimonious
debates now enveloping the discussions on the
$700-billion bailout plan, the US leadership will
finally come to terms with itself and pass a package
that will calm the global financial markets and put a
stop to the flow of red ink on all kinds of sectors and
enterprises worldwide.
Nobody,
not even the most strident critics of the wayward
practices of the snooty Wall Street honchos, would wish
the US and the world a meltdown. Not now. Maybe never.
So the cash infusion and the terms that go with it will
come one way or the other anytime soon, not months
later.
By all
indications, the total ante needed to be put up—mainly
by the US taxpayer—to put the US financial house on an
even keel and reassure the markets, will probably reach
a minimum of $2 trillion, maybe even $3 trillion
counting the cost of the earlier rescue package for Bear
Stearns and AIG.
But it
will definitely take more than cash from the other
central banks to repair the damage wrought by this
nerve-wracking development to get the global economy
moving again. And, mark our word, the world after this
bailout will decidedly not be the same again.
For one,
the US will probably have to shed its proclivity for
“easy cash”; shred its misguided imposition of
unworkable financial standards and regulations and share
the burden of ensuring that the global system works for
the benefit of nations and peoples.
This
will definitely require the revisit and perhaps a
complete overhaul of all such guidelines—from accounting
rules to fund reserves to stock trading and trigger
operations—which have been put in place since the
Mexican collapse and the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
As the
almighty US financial house gets a makeover, developing
countries like the Philippines will have to make their
own adjustments. And we are not talking here merely of
the manner by which the regulators conduct themselves,
but the very core beliefs and undertakings of peoples
and governments. For, in the end, it is the taxpayers,
not the regulators and their cronies in the private
sector, who will bear the burden of this near letdown.
In our
case, we have to thank our stars for having a Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) leadership made of steel. The
swift and responsible responses of Governor Amando
Tetangco Jr., his deputies and the BSP professionals to
the financial tsunami served to calm the waters. That
they did not succumb to the “shooting-from-the-hip”
crowd and the misguided bias of the critics more than
made up for the lame and self-serving pronouncements of
the bankers and the trustees, like Government Service
Insurance System president Winston Garcia, of the
people’s monies.
They
will now have to follow through with a complete sweep of
the books of the financial houses, including the covers,
guarantees and arrangements made not only by these Ayala
or Ortigas types but those handed out by the government
financial institutions themselves.
If it is
true, for example, that the Development Bank of the
Philippines has invested or coinvested millions of
dollars with the failed Wall Street banks, then that
should be looked into. And, together with the Securities
and Exchange Commission and the Insurance Commission,
they should review the statements and commitments of all
the banks, insurance, financial and quasifinancial
houses just to insure that we do not get blindsided like
the Americans and the other G-8 countries have been by
their wards in the private sector all along.
But what
we would really like to happen is for the experts and
the people and their representatives to come around and
put a finger on the national budget. Not only to expose
and correct the grave misuse of funds and the corrupted
practices embedded in the entire process, but more to
insure that the real priorities to sustain our
development and, in time, accelerate the access and
responsible sharing of the country’s wealth by our
people.
For, in
the end, it is the enactment and use of the national
budget, perhaps more than any other undertaking, public
or private, which will heavily impact on our development
in the years to come.
So, even
as we feverishly work in shielding our fledgling economy
from the onslaught of the financial tsunami, we have to
make sure that real and sustainable deliverance comes
our way.
It is
the workout of the national budget which will probably
determine how we will perform next year and the years
ahead. After all, P1.4 trillion is a lot of money, and
in a country where government spending, more often than
not, sets the pace for the entire economy, its direction
and use will impact heavily on all of us.
At this
point, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. and the
congressional leadership are well advised to make every
effort to make the process as open and transparent as
possible. Access to correct information on our spending
priorities, as well as the sources of duns for such,
will go a long way in alleviating collective public
cynicism, if not misguided fear. They should be told
that the absence of information and the misguided
pronouncements of the pundits on the true state of
affairs of the major Wall Street players and the
chartered institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
contributed heavily in the near-meltdown.
Thus,
quite apart from the “hot” issue of insertions which is,
of course, par for the course, what we would surely like
to look into are the annual earmarks—from the automatic
allocations for debt service and internal revenue
allocation, for example, to the congressional
development funds to the outlays for intelligence and
the multiyear funding commitments—whose preeminence need
to be reviewed and its use monitored more intensively.
I am
particularly concerned that the automatic debt-service
allocation which, taken altogether, accounts for almost
a quarter of the entire budget, has served more as a
drag on the economy rather than a safeguard for the
proper and responsible use of public funds.
By this
arrangement, we have ceded to our creditors, especially
the foreigners, our ability to negotiate our development
strictures to conform with the fast-changing mores of
the global system. To think that many of these
commitments came under so-called development assistance
which, save for the nomenclature, have really served the
donors more than us.
We are
told, for example, that of the billions of pesos in
Japanese-funded projects, no less than 75 percent get
back to Tokyo through some ruse or the other. Of that,
26 percent is in the form of consultancy services, which
is not only bloated but nonresponsive, as well. That may
well be true for the other donor-countries.
In the
case of our local debts, the arrangement for the
P5-billion “swine- funding program” under Quedancor and
Land Bank of the Philippines should be instructive.
Indeed,
if our leaders are not yet prepared to work on
“line-item budgeting,” which has proven to be the most
responsive and responsible means to use the people’s
monies, then there should be a serious effort to review
the automatic earmarks which populate the national
expenditure program. That will not only be reassuring to
our people but will probably restrain the hackers, in
and out of government, from treating the national budget
as if it were their own piggy bank.
As we
move on . . .
• The
10-day World Ten Ball Championship (WTBC) organized by
the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines
and Raya Sports will commence today at the Philippine
International Convention Center.
Considered the premier championship event in this
increasingly well-patronized sport, the WBTC in
Manila brings together more than 100 of the best players
from 48 countries worldwide. With prize money in excess
of $400,000, this championship leg will also be the
winningest in more ways than one.
Covered
worldwide by ESPN, ABS-CBN sports and The Filipino
Channel, this promises to be the Philippines’ version of
Wimbledon.
• Our
congratulations and best wishes to PNP chief Jesus
Verzosa for his well-deserved appointment. Thanks in
large measure to President Arroyo, Interior Secretary
Ronnie Puno and newly retired PNP chief Sonny Razon.
This is
the first turnover in recent memory which was devoid of
all the nasty maneuverings which heretofore attended
previous ones. That should give Verzosa and the entire
organization a good head start as they buckle down to
work to neutralize the many threats to the country’s
integrity and our people’s peace of mind.
Under
Razon, the PNP managed to up its standing in the public
esteem. We certainly hope that Verzosa will further
enhance the organization’s goodwill and effectivity as
servant and guardian of the people’s welfare.
• Our
best wishes go, as well, to Atty. Nilo Divina and his
partners at the Divina and Uy Law Offices which
inaugurated its newly expanded offices at the Pacific
Star Building in Makati City on Friday. Barely five
years old, the law office has managed to bag minted
clients, local and overseas, and is the pride of the UST
Law School which contributed most of the office’s legal
crew. |
