Batuhan: All the righat moves

In less than a couple of weeks, I have heard two of President Noynoy’s cabinet members speak, under the auspices of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex).

The week before last, it was Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Sec. Gregory Domingo, who spoke before the general membership meeting (GMM) of the institute, to spell out his plan of action during his incumbency with the department.

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An alumnus of the elite Asian Institute of Management and the Wharton School of Finance of the University of Pennsylvania, Domingo brings with him an impressive arsenal of credentials for the job. With a healthy mix of private sector drive and business savvy, and public sector passion for service, he seems the perfect man for the job.

Then last week, the man who will perhaps be in the limelight more than anyone else in this administration took his turn at the rostrum. Cesar Purisima, erstwhile top private sector accountant and disgruntled former public servant of the previous administration, is equally as impressively credentialed as the DTI secretary is.

A product of De La Salle University and the JL Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University, he not only brings with him an impressive academic background, but also years of real business experience as managing partner of SGV - Ernst & Young in the Philippines.

With both of them being real-world business leaders, it was no big surprise that they cut to the chase and got right down to the brass tacks, in terms of solving this country’s economic ills. And both hit the nail of the problem right on the head.

The first thing is that we are too complex for our own good.

Too complex that nobody understands what in heaven’s name is going on. And amidst the confusion lies the seeds for corruption, because to cut through the myriad of red tape and bureaucracy, one will have to resort to the services of fixers and middlemen to solve their problems.

Take our system of economic incentives to potential investors, as an example. We have some under Peza, and others under the BOI. There are good and not so good ones in both, but why do we need to keep them separate? What signals do these send to investors – that we cannot get our act together? Domingo promised to address this issue in a positive manner, to streamline the process of investing in the country.

The second observation, this time from Sec. Purisima, is the uneven sharing of the tax burden in this country. More of the share goes to the honest and trustworthy, and only miniscule participation is from the dishonest and crooked. Not that this is an observation worthy of a rocket scientist, of course, but at least we have a leader in the finance arena who acknowledges that there is a problem, and seems to know where it is.

According to him, they will curb tax evasion, and in order to stress the point, they will bring tax evaders to justice (read prison), whether these evaders are big fish or little fry.

According to the secretary, no one has the right to criticize anyone, as long as he or she does not pay the proper taxes.

Which is only right, I think. Too many of us throw stones at others, when we ourselves live in glass houses.

The buck must stop with us. “Ako ang simula” has to be the new statement of accountability of the new Filipino, in the new Philippines. No more of the hypocritical critics who are themselves tax crooks. Either pay up, or shut up.

My warmest congratulations to my brother, Atty. Aristotle Batuhan, on his recent appointment to the post of Undersecretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

(http://asbb-foreignexchange.blogspot.com & http://twitter.com/asbbatuhan)