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Saturday, February 25, 2006
Cebu business sector slams latest coup try
By Aurelia l. Castro
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) “condemned” the reported latest coup attempt against the administration of President Arroyo.
Having received reports of another coup attempt, President Arroyo declared the country under a state of emergency yesterday.
Cebu’s business leaders, however, expressed hope that the declaration would be lifted soon. The CCCI, during a general membership meeting, released an official statement on the reported coup attempt.
Setback
“Again, it (coup attempt) sets back our economy, which was already showing positive signs of improvement. The international ratings agencies have upgraded the Philippine rating. Foreign investors are taking a second look at the Philippines,” CCCI president Robert Go said yesterday.
“Cebu is experiencing a boom in inbound tourists and investment in tourism and ICT-related businesses,” he said in an interview.
Go met separately with CCCI’s board of trustees (BOT) during the membership meeting. In the meeting, the CCCI also held the election of a new set of BOT.
Go said the CCCI BOT gave a “unanimous” support to the state of national emergency declaration of the President but stressed that it should be good only for a short time.
“Hopefully, it will be over soon. A week would even be too long. Anything that (paints) a picture of fear would lower our tourism efforts,” he said.
Downgrade
He said the latest political development would cause the country’s credit rating to be downgraded again and will discourage foreign investors. The value of the peso against the dollar will again depreciate, he added.
“The CCCI continues to support the duly constituted government led by President Arroyo and its actions in protecting the state,” the statement read.
In a separate interview, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry Eric Mendoza said what the President did was just a “crowd control” measure.
“But we are concerned. We in the business sector hope that it will end soon and that it will be handled properly,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
While the declaration of a state of emergency is discouraging for business, it can be good in stabilizing the situation when there’s civil disobedience, he said.
Stability
But Hernan Streegan, chief executive officer of Rhine Marketing Corp., said even before the recent threat against the country’s political stability, his company has been suffering.
“Since the second semester of 2005 up to present, things have not been well. Sales are down because people would rather spend whatever money they have on food,” he said.
Cost of transportation, food and other basic needs went up, making people more frugal with their money, he said.
“The implementation alone of RVAT (reformed value-added tax) put down our purchasing power. This state of emergency declaration will make things worse for us. I’m really hoping this will end soon,” he said.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 25, 2006 issue)
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