By Amado P. Macasaet
The Aquino administration has two negative sides that even its political enemies do not seem to notice probably because these “mishaps,” bordering on indecision, are covered by his sterling performance in helping the economy grow and in the more important matter of his regime being so far “untainted” by corruption.
The President is unmoved by the necessity of issuing permits to new mining operations. One company, Sagittarius Mines is committed to invest a whopping $5.9 billion to develop the rich gold-copper deposits in Tampakan, South Cotabato.
The company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in community development for the B’laan tribe and pre-operating expenses. |Sagittarius has not throne in the towel after waiting for permit to operate for five long years but it has markedly reduced community development expenses.
It seems President Aquino has been waylaid, in fact may have been blackmailed, by a few non-government organizations who claim without proof that open pit mining poisons the environment.
If it does, the government has been remiss in implementing anti-pollution laws. Why should the President prejudge the new mining companies as non-compliant of the laws when he would not give them a chance to operate?
That is like putting the cart before the horse.
Two foreign market research firms – A.C. Nielsen and Oxford Economics – have near-identical reports that Mighty Corp., makers of low-end cigarettes could well be cheating the government of taxes in the tens of billions of pesos by not declaring for tax purposes its total production volume.
The Bureau of Customs caught Mighty red-handed in technical smuggling when it persistently declared it was importing tobacco at only $0.68 per kilo when the world average is between $4 and $6 per kilo.
The commercial attaché in the Philippine embassy in Washington DC certified Mighty is not reporting the correct price for acetate tow, the raw material for cigarette filters. The Department of Finance gives a cold shoulder to what appears to be pure technical smuggling that in turn saves Mighty oodles of money in tariff payments.
Customs fined the company more than a billion pesos for the glaring “crime.” Is it enough for “criminals” to pay a fine instead of being charged in court and jailed if proven guilty? To the Bureau of Customs a fine is cruel enough as punishment. Charging a suspect in court is not part of punishing an offense.
For underdeclaring the price of imported tobacco a fine is a drop in the bucket compared to what Mighty allegedly evades by not declaring the correct production volume to the BI|R.
BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares claims the Oxford Economics report is biased because the study was commissioned by Philip Morris International. She should not make a conclusion of bias until she has verified the accuracy of the report.
But she would probably talk about the moon with her neighbors rather than verify the accuracy or lack of it of the Oxford Economics findings.
The reports of A.C. Nielsen and Oxford Economics have been submitted to higher authorities particularly the secretary of finance. President Aquino must have been informed of the alleged tax anomaly.
He pretends he has no knowledge about the problem. He cannot seem to dress his thoughts on the subject of his refusal to issue new mining permits and on the alleged massive tax evasion.
Refusing to do a duty is a heinous crime of indecision. The President does not seem to think the two matters are of national significance.
The new mining companies are missing record high prices of metals in the world market because the President would not allow them to operate.
Allan Purisima, PNP chief, has been variously described as incompetent. Instead of replacing him, the President heaps words of praise on the man saying he enjoys his trust.
The President closes his eyes to the fact that many members of the PNP are involved in crimes. The latest is the arrest of three police officers holding up somebody on the way to a bank to make a deposit.
How does a President trust a PNP chief whose policemen are involved in holdups and other crimes they are supposed to prevent?
He skirted the unconstitutional pork barrel by pooling savings of government agencies and called it Disbursement Acceleration Program. The only accelerated disbursement we know is giving favored senators hundreds of millions presumably for their favorite projects. The Supreme Court ruled pork barrel is unconstitutional. The President replaced it with the DAP. Same dog, different collar.
The DAP money has a political motive. And he said recently he would not seek a second term.
The President’s mind seems to have been poisoned by his own success in making the economy grow.
The Chief Executive has time for little things. He sees the trees but not the forest. In the case of Mighty’s alleged tax evasion and his being taken for a ride by NGOs which claim mining poisons the environment, the President has shown firmness for the wrong reasons.
His psychological makeup is a serious downside on his capability to hasten growth of the economy. He could not even spend enough for infra-structure to hasten growth.
He seems to be so concerned with how taxpayers’ money should be spent. He has become so careful that his government cannot spend enough although the treasury is bursting at the seams with cash – from taxes and borrowings.
I know I sound like a broken record on this subject. I am flogging a dead horse. Unfortunately, I am a firm believer of man’s capability to change. President Aquino is not an exception.
***
email:amadomacasaet@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment