How PSEi member stocks performed — March 18, 2019
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Monday, March 18, 2019.
Philippine Stock Exchange’s most active stocks by value turnover — March 18, 2019.
Key meetings set in Beijing to nail down infrastructure funding
OFFICIALS are set to meet with the Chinese government this week to discuss infrastructure projects under the Build, Build, Build program.
In a statement on Monday, the Department of Finance (DoF) said meetings between officials from China and the Philippines are scheduled this week in Beijing.
The Philippine delegation led by Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea will meet officials of China’s Ministry of Commerce today to “firm up possible new agreements on infrastructure cooperation between the two countries.”
The delegation will also meet with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan.
Meanwhile, other Philippine delegates are set to meet with officials of the Export-Import Bank of China, as well as China International Development Cooperation Agency, the office in charge of China’s foreign aid projects.
A Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) will be conducted in Beijing on March 20 to discuss the country’s macroeconomic developments and opportunities with potential investors.
Last week, National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said the PEB will be followed by non-deal roadshows in Nanjing, Fuzhou, Suzhou and Xiamen.
The DoF has not provided further details regarding the meetings, but Ms. De Leon, who will be in China for the PEB, said the “high-level” talks will be attended by government officials in charge of the Build, Build, Build program.
Officials are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts this week amid the water crisis and public opposition to the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project.
On Friday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III rejected claims that high interest rates are attached to Chinese loans that will fund infrastructure projects under the Build, Build, Build program.
Mr. Dominguez said the Kaliwa Dam project is funded by a $211 million loan from China at an interest rate of 2% per annum. The loan obtained by the administration of former President Gloria M. Arroyo for the Angat Water Utilization and Aqueduct Improvement Project Phase II worth $116.6 million had a 3% interest rate
The loan accord for the Kaliwa Dam project was signed on Nov. 20. Kaliwa Dam is meant to be a medium-term water source for Metro Manila, complementing the current main source, Angat Dam, which supplies about 96% of the Philippine capital’s requirements. Kaliwa is expected to add 600 million liters per day (MLD) to augment the 4,000 MLD from Angat. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal
PPA still awaiting revised engineering plan for Chelsea’s Sasa Port proposal
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said it remains in discussions with Chelsea Logistics Corp. (CLC) for amendments to its proposal to develop, operate and maintain Davao’s Sasa Port before it can be granted original proponent status (OPS).
“Still in discussions with Chelsea as the proponent to thresh out certain adjustments on their proposed engineering design for the development,” Jay Daniel R. Santiago, PPA General Manager, told reporters in Manila on Friday.
“Until and unless they resolve that, the engineering concerns on their proposals, that’s the only time they can proceed for processing it for purposes of granting the original proponent status,” Mr. Santiago added.
Last year, CLC, controlled by Dennis A. Uy, submitted a P11.2 billion unsolicited bid to rehabilitate Sasa Port.
Mr. Santiago said that there is no timeline yet for granting OPS and proceeding with the project, as CLC needs to adjust the design based on the requirements of PPA’s engineering office.
“What we want to happen (is that) PPA has a long-term plan for the development of Davao ports… and we want to make sure that proposal will be compliant with the long term development plans,” Mr. Santiago said, noting that after the proposed concession period, the assets will be owned by the government.
“That’s why we are very critical (of) engineering design,” Mr. Santiago said.
On Monday, CLC closed at P5.95, down 1.65%.
CLC’s net income attributable to the parent fell 72% to P43.01 million in the first nine months of 2018, after a 61% gain in gross revenue to P3.69 billion during the same period. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
US expects 2019 agricultural exports to PHL to grow 10%
AGRICULTURAL exports from the United States to the Philippines are expected to rise 10% to $3.2 billion in 2019, led by soybeans, soybean meal, wheat, dairy products, red meat and poultry, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The USDA noted that US is the largest exporter of agricultural goods to the Philippines while the Philippines is the 11th largest global market for US agricultural products.
“The Philippines’ rapidly expanding food and beverage processing industry presents robust opportunities for US exporters of agricultural raw materials and high-value ingredients. About 65% of total US agricultural exports to the Philippines flow through the food and beverage processing industry,” the USDA said.
“While wheat, dairy products, meat, and poultry comprise the bulk of sales, other items such as tree nuts and other processed fruit and vegetables play an increasingly important role. There is a generally favorable view of US products which Philippine food and beverage processors exploit by highlighting US ingredients on product labels,” USDA added.
“Some US high-value agricultural exports to the Philippines face higher tariffs than competing products imported from ASEAN and ASEAN-FTA (Free Trade Area) member countries such as Australia, New Zealand, China and India. However, the Philippines’ participation in free trade agreements also provide a valuable path for US agricultural raw materials and ingredients to grow in tandem with Philippine exports and penetrate markets throughout the region,” USDA said.
Agricultural raw materials seen as most promising in the Philippines include poultry cuts, mechanically deboned meat, trimmings and beef offal, milk whey powder, cheese and other dairy products.
“The wide acceptance food processors and consumers have for US raw materials and ingredients is a tremendous advantage for US exporters seeking to develop a market in the Philippines,” according to USDA.
The USDA said earlier that wheat imports to the Philippines are expected to rise 8.62% to 6.3 million metric tons (MT) this year, due to strong demand for wheat products amid higher rice and corn prices.
Philippine Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said that such expected growth “is an indication of a growing livestock and poultry industry.” — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
PAGASA expects El Niño to run until June
THE weather bureau, commonly known by its acronym PAGASA, said that El Niño is expected to last until June, suggesting a “slight delay” to the onset of the rains and further threatening the reliability of the water supply for Metro Manila.
“Our climate is now getting hotter and dryer due to the ongoing El Niño,” Flaviana D. Hilario, PAGASA deputy administrator for research and development, said in a news conference on Monday.
She added, “The air temperatures are now increasing as we approach the dry season and the impacts of El Niño are expected to become severe. PAGASA’s monitoring and forecast showed that El Niño will continue until June of 2019.”
PAGASA, or the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration, said that the impact of the approaching dry season will result to “a slight delay to the onset of rainy season.”
Ms. Hilario noted that 11 provinces in Luzon, Palawan and Mindanao are experiencing meteorological drought, when dry weather patterns dominate an area.
The provinces that are affected by drought are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Maguindanao, and Sulu.
Ms. Hilario said that rainfall in Mindanao has been drastically reduced by 60% and weather conditions may improve due to the rain brought by Tropical Depression “Chedeng” which is expected to make landfall on Tuesday in Davao Oriental. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras
Opposition lays out economic agenda based on safety, rural investment
OPPOSITION candidates for the Senate on Monday laid out their economic programmes before business associations, focusing on the need to improve safety, the rule of law, institutions, and the capacity of local governments to accept investment.
On Monday, four candidates from the eight-member opposition slate known as Otso Diretso made their pitches to a joint meeting of the Makati Business Club (MBC), Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI). The candidates present were Samira A. Gutoc, Florin T. Hilbay, Rep. Gary C. Alejano, and Jose Manuel I. Diokno.
When asked if any of the candidates were in favor of amending the foreign ownership restrictions in the 1987 Constitution, candidates said institutions need to be stronger before liberalizing ownership rules.
“There are two fundamental pre-requisites that we have to address. One is that we have to have strong constitutional law. Second is we have to have a justice system that is capable of enforcing the rules,” Mr. Diokno said, adding that he can only consider liberalization if the government can address these two issues.
MAP President Rizalina G. Mantaring said business groups are keen to find out the priorities of candidates for the May 13 elections, especially those initiatives that will affect business and the economy.
“As voters and as business organizations, it’s our responsibility to get to know the candidates and their positions that affect national development and economic progress. The business community has a specific interest in the coming elections,” she said.
Mr. Hilbay called for a greater focus on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), saying that the government should strengthen these businesses which account for more than the 90% of Philippine companies. He also backed supporting rural banks to support MSMEs.
Mr. Alejano said policy needs to be more investment-friendly, which would benefit from improving the security situation.
“We need to have an atmosphere conducive for investment… Even business people are not safe… We have to strengthen our democratic institutions,” he said.
Mr. Alejano backed the dramatically decongestion of Metro Manila by decentralizing government and investment to the regions and developing capacity at LGUs.
“We have to provide economic opportunities outside Metro Manila. We need to (empower) local government units (LGUs) to come up with long-term development plans… I suggest we decongest Metro Manila. I proposed the transfer of the seat of government outside Metro Manila so we can spur development in the areas they will be transferred to,” he said.
Mr. Diokno said that while he does not favor a Federal government structure, “I believe in giving more power to LGUs.”
Ms. Gutoc said that private businesses must be allowed to expand and invest in other regions via a program of incentives for setting up businesses in less-developed areas.
“We need to create incentives for them to go to… provinces where there is a lot of talent,” she said.
Ms. Gutoc added that white-collar jobs are concentrated in Metro Manila and both government and businesses should focus on job creation elsewhere. She said the poorest regions stand to benefit, particularly the newly established Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
On investing in BARMM, she said businesses should consider the region on the strength of guarantees provided by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the safety of their investments.
“We have the MILF guarantee… they have sworn to protect these businesses and they will be the ones to champion these businesses so we need that kind of attitude and commitment,” she said. — Gillian M. Cortez
PCC wants early look at competition issues in PPP projects
THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said it drafted a circular which will allow the agency to address competition concerns at the pre-bidding phase of public-private partnerships.
“We would want to have a more smooth process for reviewing transactions related to government procurement projects particularly those infrastructure projects under BOT (build, operate-transfer) projects… To make that happen its very important that we coordinate our actions with other government agencies in this case PPP,” chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan told BusinessWorld in an interview in Quezon City on Monday.
“Just like in the third telco, the PCC comes in to lay out, to provide the competition lens or the factors that bidders will have to be aware of and have to take into account when they submit their bids. PCC helps in such a way that competition concerns are already incorporated,” Mr. Balisacan added.
The draft is in line with the agency’s mandate under Republic Act 10667, or the Philippine Competition Act of 2015.
The proposed rules will apply solely to solicited projects undertaken by agencies and instrumentalities of the national government, including government-owned and controlled corporations, government financial institutions, and state universities and colleges, pursuant to the BOT Law and its implementing rules and regulations.
It will not cover solicited projects undertaken by local government units; unsolicited proposals; and joint ventures, which the PCC will address with separate issuances.
Under the proposed measure, the PCC may provide inputs “on the terms of reference of the transaction advisor or consultant to be procured by the agency for the development of the project feasibility study.”
The commission may also provide input on how the pre-qualification documents, bid documents, PPP contract, and other related documents for review may affect competition in the markets affected by the project, using the substantive standards and practices as provided under the PCC Merger review guidelines and other PCC related issuances.
The PCC may require undertakings from the prospective bidders, likewise to be incorporated in the project documents. The undertakings are a list of commitments that the PCC will require the prospective bidders to make in order to address any potential competition issues identified by the PCC.
Under competition law, joint ventures are notifiable.
In the proposed circular, agencies may also seek exemptions from compulsory notification in connection with their solicited projects.
The approval of the exemption of the solicited project will be determined by the PCC by considering the nature and scope of the project; the bidding design and process; and competition concerns that may arise from the nature and/or composition of prospective bidders and the winning project proponent.
The PCC is seeking comment on the draft circular until March 26. — Janina C. Lim
Tax treatment of unlisted shares sold for less than fair market value
With the advent of Republic Act (RA) No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, taxpayers and tax practitioners have lauded the amendment made under Section 100 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC). Section 100 imposes donor’s tax on the transfer of property for less than adequate or full consideration in money or money’s worth. The amendment provides an exception to the general rule. In this case, a transaction that is bona fide, at arm’s length, and free from any donative intent will be considered made for an adequate and full consideration, even if the selling price is lower than the established fair market value (FMV).
One year from the effectivity of RA No. 10963, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 30-2019, clarifying the application of Section 100 to the sale of shares not traded on the stock exchange. RMC No. 30-2019 provides that, when shares of stock not traded on stock exchange are sold for less than FMV, the excess of the FMV over the selling price shall be treated as a gift subject to donor’s tax, except for when it is sold at arm’s length and free of any donative intent.
RMC No. 30-2019 emphasized that the issue of whether the transaction is arm’s length is a question of fact and not of law. The parties must present proof of business purpose to fall within the exception to the rule on the imposition of donor’s tax on transfer of shares for less than its FMV. Thus, the facts claimed by the parties must be adequately established by supporting documents. The decision on whether the parties have sufficiently proven the business purpose is solely subject to the discretion of the BIR. While RMC No. 30-2019 has clarified the application of Section 100 and its exception, it did not provide for safe harbor rules or examples of acceptable proof of bona fide business transactions.
This recent issuance is a mere reiteration of the position of the BIR in its rulings prior to the amendment of the NIRC. There have been several instances in the past where the BIR imposed the donor’s tax, despite the transfers being legitimate business transactions, all because there was no exception provided under the old Section 100 of the NIRC. These instances included the sale of shares via public bidding, which resulted in a winning bid lower than fair market value of shares, sale of shares owned by a company undergoing liquidation, and divestment of shares of a company wanting to exit the Philippine market. Given the amended provision of Section 100, investors may now find Philippine tax rules more reasonable, since they would not be subject to unnecessary taxes on the transfer of shares, as long as they have sufficiently satisfied the requirements of bona fide and arm’s length transaction under the law and the regulations.
Further, since RMC No. 30-2019 provides that the difference between FMV of the shares and the selling price will be subject to donor’s tax, does this mean that the transaction shall be eligible for the donor’s tax exemption for the first P250,000? The circular is not clear, but this is the logical interpretation of the phrase “the amount by which the FMV of the property exceeded the values of the consideration shall be deemed as gift and shall be included in the computing the amount of gifts made during the calendar year” under Section 100 of the NIRC, as amended. Therefore, even if the shares were sold at an amount less than its FMV, the transaction may still be exempt from donor’s tax, provided the amount of the difference is P250,000 or less for a given year.
While this added exception is commendable, the rule is prone to abuse by unscrupulous and ingenious taxpayers. Considering that the donor’s tax is a lower rate of 6% compared to the capital gains tax of 15%, taxpayers may just opt to pay the donor’s tax on the difference between the FMV and the selling price. Under current rules on computing for the FMV of shares of stock not traded through the stock exchange, the BIR insists on computing for the capital gains tax based on the adjusted net asset value of the shares. With RMC No. 30-2019 clarifying that the imposition of the donor’s tax is still the general rule absent convincing proof that the transaction was done at arm’s length, can the taxpayer now pay the lower donor’s tax on the difference?
Prior to the amendment of the NIRC, the donor’s tax rate for strangers, which includes corporations, was 30%. The high rate of donor’s tax served as a deterrent for parties against simulating their sales agreement. Given the current rules, we are now facing an absurd situation where, even if the parties simulate the selling price for the sale of the shares by adopting a price lower than FMV, they will still pay the lower donor’s tax. A difference of 9% tax may lead to huge tax savings, especially if the transaction involves millions of pesos.
In view of the change in the rates of capital gains tax on the sale of shares and donor’s tax, Section 100 should have been reconsidered or repealed altogether. The imposition of donor’s tax instead of capital gains tax is counterproductive to the government’s goal of plugging tax leakages and collecting “forgone revenue” for transactions with lower consideration than the FMV of the property.
Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.
JennYlyn V. Reyes is a manager from the Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.
pagrantthornton@ph.gt.com.
Managing change under the RTA law
Despite the rice tariffication law or RA 11203, there is a chance rice prices can go up this year if the government fails to manage well the changes it causes. The law is about a month old. But from what I know, it is not implemented yet.
Its implementing rules and regulations had not been issued yet. Those assigned to issue the IRRs — the DA, NEDA, and DBM, particularly the first two — are still exchanging views on few remaining issues like who decides on and how to set the special safeguards duty; how to allocate the minimum access volume of imported rice; or how to implement the spending from the rice competitive enhancement fund or RCEP, amounting to P10 billion yearly.
There is no question that the IRRs must be crafted well to ensure a good implementation of the RTA law. We all have a stake in it, our food security. But I do hope that they issue the IRR next week.
Why? We are now in the middle of March, three and a half months before the start of the rice-lean quarter of the year. If we recall, under the old policy regime the NFA has to have rice stocks worth at least 30 days by July 1 to stabilize rice prices.
The RTA law assigns the NFA to maintain the country’s rice buffer stocks. But these stocks are meant for emergencies, when the rice markets get temporarily disrupted by natural or man-made calamities.
But what about the task of making sure we have enough rice to keep rice prices from spiking as we approach the lean months of the year? With the RTA law just about ready to be implemented, the NFA management would no longer consider itself accountable for that task.
If we don’t have adequate rice supply by July, then we are back to the situation we were in 2018. Rice prices went up then because the NFA did not import rice on time.
The RTA law replaces the NFA’s imports with private sector imports of rice. It dismantled the import monopoly of the agency in rice. Any one of us can start a rice import business and the only restrictions we have to comply with in importing rice is that we apply for a sanitary and phyto-sanitary clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry, and pay the customs duty, which is 35% if rice is imported from the rest of ASEAN.
Policy analysts would easily agree that private sector imports of rice would effectively ensure that the country can have enough rice by July 1 this year under the new law.
If there is enough time to import rice before then, if we manage this change in rules well. But the problem is the Joint Departmental Circular prescribing the IRRs for the RTA law is not issued yet. Private sector importers could not initiate the import business without the IRRs. And the way we are proceeding, we are getting closer to July 1 without adequate rice stocks. By now the rice imports of NFA last year had already been used up or whatever remain of it is not enough for this year’s requirement for stabilizing rice prices. If the change had not happened, by now the NFA should have placed its order to import rice. But it would not do that precisely because the RTA law has changed the rules.
So there is urgency in issuing the IRRs. There is always time to refine the IRRs. Filipinos would certainly not be happy to see the IRRs in April or May 2019, only to find out also that rice prices would start to go up because there is not enough rice in the country today.
Assuming the IRRs are issued next week, the NFA Council, which remains to be a policy-setting body created by Presidential Decree 4 as amended, has a task to do. It should monitor the supply-use situation in rice. With the IRRs issued, the government may have enabled the rice importers to start importing rice, but do we know for sure all these are ready to bring in, analysts estimated, nearly three million metric tons of rice?
I doubt that the figure would happen this year. But even if we import just half of that volume, there should be enough buffer to prevent price speculation by those who have the local rice stocks this year.
In managing this change, the NFA Council or whoever it would deputize to do this should check with the Bureau of Plant Industry the applications for SPS and the respective volume of rice imports. That should give us a first source of information in finding out intended rice imports in the next few months.
Secondly, it should monitor with the Bureau of Customs arrivals of rice imports. This information is crucial, as it gives policy makers the data to update the country’s supply-use table for rice.
A possible shortfall in rice stocks may happen simply because there is transactions cost that the private sector faces in this import business. They may first try out with a smaller volume, and if all of them adopt this precautionary attitude, then import arrivals may not be enough to stabilize rice prices this year.
Fortunately, the RTA law had prescribed for unlimited rice imports from ASEAN at 35%. The rice importers would not see a need for applying from whomever the right to import the minimum access volume. In fact, the ASEAN rice duty is the lowest we have and that facilitates private sector imports from ASEAN.
Compared with other laws, this one is relatively fast. In about a month from President Duterte’s signing into law of the RTA, there is already a very good draft of the IRRs that is being circulated for final comments. If I am not mistaken it is just about ready to be issued. The agencies responsible for the IRRs had worked very hard to meet this deadline, other laws have had much months spent before the authorities issued the IRR.
But let us just suppose some issue divides the NEDA and the DA, delaying the issuance of the IRRs. The NFA Council has the important task to do in coming up with Plan B, now that there is no longer the NFA which carries out this task. I suppose the NFA can still legally import rice for as long as the RTA is not implemented yet due to a delay in coming out with the IRRs. But the agency just has more to worry for now, after the RTA law stripped it of several regulatory powers under PD 4.
The RTA law is a game changer in how we do agricultural development in our country. We had waited for it for nearly a quarter of a century, since 1995 when we applied for special treatment in the WTO. Now that the reform has finally arrived, it can still evaporate into thin air with the government’s mistake in managing the change it causes, and its benefits snatched away from us.
Ramon L. Clarete is a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.
MORE tax relief in CIT
Starting this week, this column will produce a series of Market-Oriented Reforms for Efficiency (MORE) articles related to recently enacted laws and proposed legislations in the Philippines on various sectors. Thus, recent Republic Acts (RA) and some pending bills for bicameral committee meetings after the May 2019 elections will be discussed.
First on the list is the need to simplify and reduce tax rates for business that create sustained jobs for Filipinos. Currently in East Asia, the Philippines has (a) the highest corporate income tax (CIT), (b) among the highest in withholding tax for dividends and interest income, (c) the highest withholding tax for royalties, and (d) among the highest VAT or gross sales tax (GST).
These non-attractive fiscal policies plus the Constitution restrictions on foreign investments, among others, contribute to the Philippines having the lowest foreign direct investments (FDI) stock among more mature economies in the region (see table 1).
The main bill under deliberation is HB 8083, the “Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities” or TRABAHO bill. Originally it was called the “TRAIN 2” bill but with the generally adverse impact of the TRAIN law of 2017, the DOF changed its moniker to TRABAHO.
Among the important provisions is the reduction of CIT from the current 30% to 28% in 2021, 26% in 2023, 24% in 2025, 22% in 2027, and 20% in 2029. In exchange it intends to remove certain fiscal incentives that supposedly “lower” DOF tax collections, especially the 5% gross income earned (GIE).
The Senate version intends to cut CIT from 30% to 25% in year 1 of implementation and not staggered to 10 years.
TRABAHO bill has been passed on third reading in the House last September 2018, awaiting action from the Senate for a possible bicameral meeting in late May this year.
If the government is sincere in really attracting more local and foreign investments, it should either (a) cut CIT to low, flat 15-16% within year 1 of implementation and abolish the GIE, or (b) cut CIT to 21-25% and raise the GIE to 7%.
There is real, not fictional, CIT competition in the region. For instance, Singapore’s 17% is positioned near Hong Kong’s 16.5%. Socialist Vietnam until 2013 has 25%, became 20% in 2016 (see table 2).
Let us hope that when Senators and Congressmen/women meet for a bicameral meeting after the May elections, or when they refile the bill in the next Congress in July, they will be more aware that capital and people are more mobile these days. Both the national and local governments should not be too tax-hungry and reducing the tax rates, lowering the number of permits and payments, will greatly help in attracting both local and foreign investments, and retaining them for the long-haul.
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers
minimalgovernment@gmail.com
Vox populi, vox Dei?
Vox populi, vox Dei. The voice of the people is the voice of God, so let the people decide come election time, say personages of national stature.
Free and democratic elections were restored after the approval of the new Constitution in 1987. Since then the people have elected as president Joseph Estrada, a college dropout turned actor best known for his portrayal of the underworld character Asiong Salonga, and Gloria Arroyo, who was made to look like the singer/actress Nora Aunor during her candidacy for various national positions, from senator to vice-president to president. Actor Fernando Poe, Jr. claimed he won over Gloria Arroyo in the presidential election of 2004 but the Nora Aunor look-alike, who was the incumbent president then by virtue of the ouster Joseph Estrada, had the results of the election altered.
People have also elected to the Philippine Senate, where the voices of intellectual giants like Manuel L. Quezon, Manuel A. Roxas, Jose P. Laurel, Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo M. Tañada, and Jose W. Diokno once reverberated, celebrities from show business and the sports world. Elected to the Senate by virtue of their popularity as entertainers have been the aforementioned actor Joseph Estrada, Ramon Revilla, Sr., the actor who gained fame and fortune for portraying another gangland character, Nardong Putik, their actor sons Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, Tito Sotto, star of the TV noontime variety show, Eat Bulaga, the No. 1 medium of toilet humor, Lito Lapid, movie stuntman turned actor. Except for Sotto, the men do not have a college degree, some of them never had tertiary education.
There are others who rode to the Senate on the wings of their show business partners like Ralph Recto, husband of Box Office Queen Vilma Santos, and Francis Pangilinan, husband of Megastar Sharon Cuneta. It should be noted though that their academic attainments prepared them better for their role in the Senate. There is Grace Poe, daughter of Da King FPJ and movie queen Susan Roces. Then there are/were TV personalities, newscasters Noli de Castro and Loren Legarda.
Elected to the Senate by virtue of the fame gained in the sports arenas were former Olympic and professional basketball players Freddie Webb, who later went into show business as the star of the TV sitcom Chicks to Chicks, and Robert Jaworski, also a movie bit actor. And of course, Manny Pacquiao, 8-division world boxing champion.
In the senatorial race of 1992, crowded out of the winning circle by the show business people were President Cory Aquino’s Health Secretary Alran Bengzon, Trade and Industry Secretary Joe Concepcion, and Solicitor-General Francisco Chavez. In 1998 it was Yale Law master and Commission on Elections chair Haydee Yorac and University of Michigan master of Business Administration and President Fidel Ramos’ Secretary of Finance Roberto de Ocampo.
The people had spoken. They had elected Joseph Estrada president and subsequently Gloria Arroyo. They had elected Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla, and Lito Lapid senators.
If the voice of the people is the voice of God, were Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo the choice of God? Gloria Arroyo herself has told the Associated Press that “Divine providence put me here. The Lord is a very good manager of my career.” On another occasion, she told Time magazine, “Where I am is where God wants me to be.”
Estrada had been convicted of plunder. Arroyo was also accused of plunder. She was acquitted though for “insufficiency of evidence” — not for lack of evidence. Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bong Revilla have been accused of plunder and Lapid still has to explain the source of the huge amount of US dollars his wife tried to smuggle into the United States. They could not have been God’s choice.
According to Wikipedia, the Latin phrase was first used by Alcuin, an English clergyman, scholar, teacher and adviser of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor who ruled much of western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. Alcuin wrote Charlemagne a letter advising him “not to listen to those who keep saying ‘The voice of the people is the voice of God.’ because the tumult of the crowd is always close to madness.”
“See, judge, and act,” a present-day apostle of Christ, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, exhorts the faithful. The exhortation is unnecessary for the faithful do see, judge and act. But the problem is the frame of reference for their judgment. I read in social media a young woman will vote for Bong Revilla because she finds him handsome.
Ronald de la Rosa has said voters come to campaign sorties not to listen to a discussion of national issues but for the entertainment. That is why he resorts to some comical antics to entertain the crowd. In fact, he was clowning all throughout his stint as chief of police. Public opinion surveys show him to be among the top 15 senatorial candidates.
The latest Pulse Asia election survey indicates that people will elect to the Senate Imee Marcos, Jinggoy Estrada, Lito Lapid, and Bong Revilla. Ah, the voice of the people is indeed always close to madness, oftentimes it is madness.
Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a member of Manindigan! a cause-oriented group of businessmen, professionals, and academics.
oplagman@yahoo.com