THE Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) tapped the audit firm PwC Philippines-Isla Lipana & Co. to get the pulse of Cebu businessmen on areas of competitiveness. The firm has been around for 97 years, serving both private business and government.
“The survey aims to highlight obstacles and enablers directly impacting the competitiveness of Cebu,” said CCCI president Virgilio Espeleta in a press conference this week.
The survey, however, comes out as double-edged, exposing the otherwise unsayable dark twin of doing business in this part of the world.
The 204 business owners and executives identified two major concerns: 1) Transparency of dealings with various government agencies; 2) informal payments.
Around 20 percent of respondents admitted to having made informal payments to government agencies in the last 12 months. Of this 20 percent, 17 percent shelled out money because agency officials asked for it. Seventeen percent admitted they made involuntary informal payments to gain favors or advantage over competitors. Around 45 percent said they made informal payments due to delays in transactions with government agencies.
Isla Lipana’s survey distributed respondents to categories: micro (21 percent), small (24), medium (25) and large business (21).
The 204 respondents identified the top five agencies where respondents gave informal payments: the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, local government units, the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The agencies with the lowest transparency ratings were Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Fire Protection, Department of Transportation and the Philippine National Police.
Why isn’t the public surprised? The rather informal term for “informal payments” is “payola” or “padangog” in Cebuano, unfortunately an open secret, a perfunctory practice, almost like a painful tradition each time business transacts with government.
Isla-Lipana’s survey exposed likewise the complicity among a sector of business owners and executives as far as dealing with government agencies is concerned. If there had been “informal payments” in the last 12 months, they ought to be exposed; remove these reprobates in the bureaucracy.
Perhaps, the CCCI should work with concerned government agencies and even media to expose corruption in government. For a better business climate in Cebu, remove these pollutants.