Thursday, November 15, 2007 Ledesma: A giant step backwards By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
REMEMBER, a couple of columns ago, me grumbling on how the street price of bottled cooking gas - LPG - bears no relation to the government declared "recommended" price?
I was right about the store guy rushing out in the morning to jack up the price but wrong about the increase. P560 to P600 I thought. Wrong. The new price is a whopping P620.
I'll shout it out - SIX HUNDRED AND TWENTY PESOS! A far cry from the other Thursday's declared new increased price of P563. A 12% far cry in fact. Next thing you know I'll be reading headlines that say "Gov says price of basic goods to remain stable."
Rep. Prospero Nograles had obviously noted the disparity of LPG prices as well, thinking that "there is a manipulation of prices among our local LPG dealers," continuing that "we cannot just sit down and watch the LPG dealers increase their prices every month." Ah, but we do Nogi, don't we?
Remaining with commerce and trade and last week there was a gigantic step backwards for the ongoing campaign to attract foreign money and investors to Davao when the SK approved a second reading of a bill specifically aimed at foreign nationals trying to set up a business in the city. Forget Asian trade agreements and friendship and stuff; let's strap some more red tape into place.
The Philippines has to have one of the most terrifying bureaucratic systems in the world - every scrap of paper must be supported by a sworn affidavit testifying that it is indeed a scrap of paper - and here's our honorables adding to the mess.
Covington's Third Law of Certainty states that the more red tape a state introduces the more folks will be doing their best to evade it.
The machinery for any honest individual - Filipino or foreigner - to set up in business exists. It is there already and in quintuplet. Businesses or individuals without the right bits of paper surely have nothing to do with the administrative system and everything to do with the agencies entrusted by the state to sniff about after such things.
More business news, this time shady business, and last week came the tale of a teacher arrested for diddling people out of their money with a US visa swindle. Not really news for this neck of the woods but what was astonishing was the amount of cash people were willing to stump up: P500,000, P300,000.
One guy pledged his house and lot. Can folks really be that desperate to quit the Philippines?
Lastly and there was a wonderful mini-headline tucked away in the Network News section, which read "Wrong winner to sit until Comelec decides."
Apparently a barangay council candidate in the recent elections (not in Davao) was proclaimed a winner when in fact he wasn't but will be allowed to sit on the council anyway until Comelec decides what to do.
I'd say the guy should make himself at home, wouldn't you?
