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GOCCs expected to tap internal resources for salary hikes

FUNDING for increased salaries designed to make hiring more competitive at government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) will be sourced from the companies’ operating budgets, the Secretary of Finance said.

The Governance Commission for GOCCs on Friday issued the guidelines of the Compensation and Position Classification system, which implements an executive order making salaries at GOCCs comparable to those offered by the private sector.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said salary adjustments will be handed out based in part on the financial health of each GOCC.

“This will definitely be sourced from their COB (corporate operating budget) and in no way should be a reason for additional National Government subsidy,” he told reporters in a Viber message on Friday.

Executive Order No. 150, signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in October, said the commission is in charge of recommending competitive compensation that can attract and retain talent while keeping GOCCs financially sound.

The implementing guidelines show what is covered and excluded in the compensation system, the benefits and incentives, and procedures.

GOCCs must use the new system once they receive authorization from the commission.

This authorization will prescribe an appropriate compensation system to be used by the GOCC, based on the nature of its operations and its finances.

“Upon receipt of its authorization, the GOCC Governing Board shall approve the appropriate salary schedule under the CPCS with due consideration of the GOCC’s capability to afford and sustain its implementation,” the commission said.

The implementing guidelines cover all regular, casual, and contractual positions of GOCCs and their subsidiaries.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, state universities and colleges, cooperatives, local water districts, and economic zone authorities are not included.

Subsidies extended to GOCCs fell by 46% year on year to P12.33 billion in November, the Bureau of the Treasury said.

Despite the year-on-year decline, the Treasury said GOCC subsidies in November 2021 more than doubled the P5.2 billion seen in October.

Subsidies are granted to GOCCs to cover operational expenses not supported by their revenue. — Jenina P. Ibañez

DoE sees possible yellow alerts on Visayas grid

YELLOW ALERTS on the Visayas grid are possible due to thinning reserves, the Department of Energy (DoE) said in a power outlook briefing on Friday.

It cited the need to put the Luzon grid’s reserves on standby in the event reserves in the Visayas fall below advisable levels. Should more power be needed, the Visayas can draw power from Luzon via high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission links, though Luzon reserves may also be thin at times.

“HVDC should always be available to provide support, as outages outside of the provided maintenance schedule may result (in) the thinning of reserves in Visayas or Luzon, since both grids support each other at peak times of the day,” the DoE said in a statement.

Grids maintain a reserve in the event of power plant outages, with the typical level of reserves deemed prudent set at the capacity of the largest generating unit. Yellow alerts are triggered when that reserve level is breached. The system moves to red alert when power demand exceeds the level of power generated, making the rationing of electricity necessary.

Meanwhile, the DoE said it does not expect yellow alerts in Luzon and Mindanao, even after allowing for power plant maintenance.

“The availability of stable and reliable power supply is of grave importance. There should be no surprises this year, especially given our continuous battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, regions that have been affected by Typhoon Odette are rebuilding themselves, and of course, because we are in an election year,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said.

During the briefing, officials said that according to the Grid Operating and Maintenance Program (GOMP), generation companies must submit their proposed maintenance schedules in advance in aid of power supply-demand forecasting. Advance notice for maintenance activity required under GOMP is three years.

“In addition, sound forward planning would allow the energy family to identify potential issues and formulate appropriate contingency measures to prevent potential power interruptions,” the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

DENR to establish training center for solid waste management

BW FILE PHOTO

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it plans to establish a National Ecology Center (NEC) to serve as a training hub for solid waste management.

In a statement, the DENR said the center will be run in conjunction with the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC).

The commission, which is chaired by the DENR, derives its authority from Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

“With the eventual establishment of the NEC as the prime organization for information dissemination, consultation, education, and training, solid waste management in the country will certainly progress. Local government units and industries will be further capacitated, solid waste management systems will improve, and the public will be educated and contribute to the overall goal of environmental protection for the country,” Undersecretary and NSWMC Alternate Chair Benny D. Antiporda said in a statement.

In coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry, the NEC will establish a solid waste management database and consolidate best practices for solid waste management, including practices observed in other countries.

The NEC is tasked with developing a model for waste minimization and reduction auditing procedures, and establish a “national recycling network” that will build the market for recycling materials.

It will also develop an accreditation and certification system for solid waste management programs of various training institutions.

The NEC will be headed by the director of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau and will be staffed by solid waste management experts, including academics, inventors, and scientists.

“I’m elated that another achievement under solid waste management will finally soon come to fruition. It’s been 20 years since the enactment of RA 9003 which mandated the establishment of NEC,” Environment Secretary and NSWMC Chair Roy A. Cimatu said. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

Accelerating the integrity agenda

(First of two parts)

Played out against a landscape of evolving social expectations from businesses under current conditions, corporate integrity is foundational to fostering trust among the various stakeholders in an organization. The importance of corporate integrity has also grown in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, as revealed by the EY Global Integrity Report 2022.

Conducted between June and September 2021 by global market research agency Ipsos MORI, the EY Global Integrity Report 2022 surveyed 4,762 board members, managers and employees from large organizations in a wide spectrum of industries, including financial services, government and public sector, consumer products, manufacturing, life sciences, professional services and others from 54 countries in North and South America, the Far East, Western and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, India and Africa. The report shows that 97% of the respondents indicated that they value corporate integrity. Companies are also intensifying their reinforcement of integrity through training and communication; 37% of respondent companies now have a statement of organizational values in place, 46% are investing in integrity training, and 53% have a code of conduct in place.

While the report did not include respondents from the Philippines, we believe that the insights from the report offer much food for thought for local business leaders who place great emphasis on corporate governance and integrity.

Respondents are placing greater responsibilities on their corporate leaders, with as much as 68% expecting CEOs to tackle societal problems unaddressed by government and 65% saying that CEOs should be accountable to both the public and shareholders. These rising expectations have led to organizations being asked to more formally report on the non-financial aspects of their operations. These include not just philanthropic or corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that fall outside their core businesses, but also environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures that determine how the core business impacts the community and the planet.

The report also shows that organizations are struggling to close the gap between what they say and what they do. As organizations start taking steps to rebuild the economy, rewriting processes for digital transformation and recalibrating how and where work is performed, an opportunity to close the gap between reality and rhetoric presents itself. Integrity in business does not merely refer to ticking boxes in compliance and risk management; it is about securing the organization, its reputation, and its assets — all of which drive sustainable, long-term value.

The EY Global Integrity Report 2022 provides insights on accelerating the integrity agenda, and in the first part of this article, we detail how companies must define and embed integrity into their culture.

EMBEDDING INTEGRITY INTO THE CULTURE
Because ethical dilemmas are different for various organizations and situations, no two companies will have the same definition of integrity, nor will they utilize the same mechanisms to instill integrity into their organizations. It then becomes imperative for integrity to be a fundamental component of corporate strategy in any organization.

The report reveals that only 33% of its respondents believe that integrity means behaving with ethical standards. Meanwhile, 50% define it as complying with codes of conduct, laws and regulations. Somewhat alarmingly, the results also show that of the 442 board members, 15% were more likely to falsify financial records as their employees, and 17% were more likely to ignore unethical conduct by third parties. This makes it unsurprising for 58% board members to be fairly or very concerned if their decisions were to come under public scrutiny, compared to only 37% of employees.

Though it should be noted that this is only a single snapshot of board behavior, which can vary considerably by country, region and industry, the data showed a significant change in emerging markets: the propensity of board members to act unethically increased from 34% to 41% between 2020 and 2022. There are also differences in how management and staff see integrity values within their organization: 77% of board members and senior managers are confident that employees within their organizations can report wrongful acts without fearing negative consequences, yet 20% of employees disagree with this. This year’s report even revealed a drop in survey respondents who reported misconduct, from 23% in 2020 to 19% in 2022.

A large majority of surveyed companies at 93% also have codes of conduct, with a mix of training and whistleblowing policies in place. However, even though 59% of the respondents say that they do have “training for employees,” 15% of those employees are either unaware that these measures exist or claim that they do not exist. This shows that although organizations are investing in more training and communication programs to instill integrity, the messaging may not be effective. Though 60% of board members say that their organization frequently communicated about the importance of integrity within the past 18 months, only 30% of employees remember these communications.

These findings reveal the danger that organizations are relegating their integrity agenda to box-ticking without giving real attention to deepening their integrity culture, which rests on actual behavior and organizational intent.

The pandemic has only increased the challenge as well, with 54% of board members saying that the pandemic is making it more difficult to conduct business with integrity. Disruptions have added to the challenge of corporate survival, while increased digitization, which moved more of a company’s operations to the cloud, has further tested risk management processes. The risk landscape itself has become more disrupted, with another report, the EY Global Board Risk Survey 2021, saying that 87% of more than 500 board directors around the world think that market disruptions are now more frequent, while 83% say they are more impactful. The 2021 EY Global Information Security Survey also found that many businesses have sidestepped cybersecurity processes to facilitate flexible and remote working in the wake of COVID-19.

Because of an increased focus on surviving the disruptions and uncertainty caused by the pandemic, companies have let go of non-essential activities — possibly including integrity agenda. Leaders will have to rethink of procedures for a post-pandemic era with a pivot to full digitization and a distributed workforce.

In the second part of this two-part article, we will discuss how companies can create an optimal environment that encourages integrity, and how the integrity agenda can be innovated and transformed to minimize external threats while protecting value.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional advice where the facts and circumstances warrant. The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of SGV & Co. 

 

Roderick M. Vega is a partner and the Forensic and Integrity Services leader (FIS) of SGV & Co.

Philippine COVID surge outside capital, says OCTA

A HEALTH worker talks to a patient at a COVID-19 field hospital at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila in this Jan. 13 photo. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

CORONAVIRUS infections in the Philippines are not about to peak “any time soon” because the surge was now being felt in regions outside Metro Manila, according to researchers from the country’s premier university.

“The surge is no longer just in the National Capital Region Plus,” Fredegusto P. David, a fellow from the OCTA Research Group of the University of the Philippines, told ABS-CBN TeleRadyo on Sunday in mixed English and Filipino. “It’s now all over the Philippines. It would not peak in the entire country even if we say that cases have peaked in the region.”

He said the daily growth rate in Metro Manila dropped to 2% on Jan. 15 from 3% a day earlier. He said it was possible that the region had reached its peak and infections were decreasing. But it could also mean that testing volume was insufficient.

“The trend of new cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) is close to peak, or new cases in NCR are limited by testing capacity,” he said in a report posted on Twitter.

Mr. David said if cases in the capital region start falling this week, the drop in the growth rate was probably caused by the peak.

“In the second case, we will see the number of new cases continue to hover around the same level, until the downward trend happens.”

The government should continue to improve access to coronavirus tests to encourage Filipinos to get tested, said Joey Francis Hernandez, treasurer of the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians.

“Restrictions on mobility and opportunities for crowding might be warranted considering the surge in cases,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “However, these are short-term and won’t hold. The call for streamlined contact-tracing is still there.”

The Philippines posted 37,154 coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the total to 3.21 million.

The death toll increased by 50 to 52,907, while recoveries rose by 30,037 to 2.86 million, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a bulletin.

It said 47.4% of 81,381 samples on Jan. 14 tested positive for the coronavirus, way above the 5% threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

There were 287,856 active cases, 9,212 of which did not show symptoms, 273,924 were mild, 2,940 were moderate, 1,475 were severe and 305 were critical.

DoH said 98% of the latest cases occurred from Jan. 3 to Jan. 16. The top regions with new cases in the past two weeks were Metro Manila with 15,591, Calabarzon with 8,384 and Central Luzon with 3,232 infections.

It added that 60% of deaths occurred in January, 2% each in November and October and 24% in September.

The agency said 137 duplicates had been removed from the tally, 85 of which were reclassified as recoveries and one was tagged as a death. Twenty-seven recoveries were relisted as deaths. Twelve laboratories failed to submit data on Jan. 14.

The Health department said 49% of intensive care unit beds in the country had been used, while the rate for Metro Manila was 57%.

The government has banned unvaccinated people from using public transportation in Metro Manila. Critics including the Commission on Human Rights have said the ban violates basic human rights.

“We are still experiencing spikes, and these will still happen in the future if we do not halt opportunities for disease transmission,” Mr. Hernandez said.

He said the government should improve the welfare of health workers, noting that some hospitals were on an “emergency hiring.”

“Proper compensation and nonmonetary incentives should be in place to attract healthcare workers and ensure they are treated fairly,” he said. “There should also be support for those employed in the private sector, as well as engagement of employers to give what is due them.”

“There might be little opportunity to mitigate these longstanding issues now, but definitely we can start doing the right thing now,” he added.

Transport marshals amid ban ‘overkill’ — congresswoman

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE USE of transport marshals amid a ban on unvaccinated people in public transportation that starts on Monday is overkill, a lawmaker said on Sunday.

The government should instead provide separate public transport for the unvaccinated, Party-list Rep. Bernadette R. Herrera-Dy said in a statement.

“The Department of Transportation must stop its deployment of ‘mystery passengers’ lest it stirs up martial law ‘secret marshal’ fears,” she said. “That would be overkill.”

The lawmaker said quarantine measures should be clarified and excessive measures avoided.

“Unvaccinated Filipinos are taxpayers too and they pay for all the public transport systems. They have every right of access,” she added.

The government would deploy the marshals to monitor compliance with its no vaccination, no ride policy in public transportation starting Jan. 17, the Transportation department said last week.

“That’s how we can implement this program on a daily basis without them knowing really that there’s an enforcer,” Transportation Assistant Secretary Mark Steven C. Pastor told an online news briefing on Friday.

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade on Jan. 11 issued an order limiting public transportation access to vaccinated people in the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 3 or higher.

The policy applies to all public domestic travel within Metro Manila by land, sea and air. The marshals would pay for their own fare.

The policy does not apply to people who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus for medical reasons.

Passengers must show physical or digital copies of their vaccine cards issued by their local governments or by the Department of Health. 

Drivers and operators who fail to enforce the ban face fines of P1,000 to P10,000. They may also get suspended or their franchise revoked.

The agency can’t penalize the unvaccinated for boarding public transportation since these are outside their jurisdiction, officials said.

Violators can be punished under city ordinances that bar them from going out and other laws.

About 30% of Metro Manila’s more than 13 million residents are unvaccinated, according to the Interior and Local Government department.

The agency has ordered village officials to submit a list of unvaccinated residents, in line with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s order for them to stay home amid a fresh surge in infections spurred by the highly mutated Omicron variant.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles at the weekend said the government should intensify house-to-house vaccination.

He said the success of the country’s vaccination drive depends on the coordination among the central and local governments and the public.

He said not all Filipinos have access to vaccination centers, particularly the elderly and the sick. — JEGT

Unvaccinated banned from flights to and from Metro Manila

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

TRAVELERS who are not fully vaccinated against coronavirus will not be allowed to board flights to and from Metro Manila starting Jan. 17, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) announced Sunday. 

The policy is in line with the Transportation department’s order issued last week banning unvaccinated individuals from public transport services. 

It “will be applied to all individuals entering CAAP-operated facilities and to domestic passengers traveling to and from the National Capital Region (NCR) via any domestic or foreign air operator,” the agency said in a statement.

CAAP operates most airports nationwide except the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

The rule will be in effect until NCR is under Alert Level 3 or higher.

Full vaccination is defined as two weeks after receiving the 2nd jab for a two-dose vaccine or a single-dose brand.

“In a time as sensitive as a pandemic, prioritizing safety is a must. CAAP believes that the DoTr’s ‘No Vaccination, No Ride’ policy will reinforce the importance of ensuring that public spaces such as airport terminals and aircraft remain as safe spaces for everyone that utilizes them,” CAAP Director General Captain Jim C. Sydiongco said. — Marifi S. Jara 

UN says typhoon Rai damage ‘comparable’ to super typhoon Haiyan

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DAMAGE to livelihood and infrastructure caused by typhoon Rai, locally known as Odette, is similar to the destruction left by super typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda in 2013, according to a United Nations (UN) agency’s assessment a month after the calamity. 

“(T)he sheer extent of the typhoon’s destruction is now all too clear. It damaged infrastructure and livelihoods on a comparable scale to Typhoon Haiyan,”  UN Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez said in a statement on Sunday.

At the same time, Mr. Gonzalez noted preparedness measures undertaken such as preemptive evacuation that “saved countless lives.” 

At least 406 people were reported to have died and 65 others still missing in the aftermath of Odette, based on the Jan. 16 update from the Philippine national disaster management council. In comparison, about 6,300 people died during Haiyan.

However, the UN official underscored that survivors of Odette, described as the second deadliest disaster to hit the globe in 2021, continue to struggle amid ongoing relief and recovery operations. 

“Typhoon Rai pummeled 11 regions of the Philippines… forcing 2.7 million people from their homes, damaging almost 1.4 million houses, and affecting 514 towns and cities, 100 of which still have power outages or no power at all,” he said as he appealed for sustained assistance.

“We need to urgently scale up support to put people on a path to rapid recovery and reconstruction. If we do not, their resilience will be compromised,” said the UN humanitarian coordinator in the Philippines. 

The humanitarian community launched on Dec. 24 a six-month response plan that would need a $107.2-million fund.

“One month on, this response is just 39 per cent funded… On behalf of the UN and the Humanitarian Country Team, I call on everyone to support this Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan to complement ongoing national efforts and bring help and hope to the people of the Philippines,” Mr. Gonzalez said. 

The Philippine government, private companies and other local entities have so far delivered almost P700 million in relief goods, according to latest data from the disaster management agency. The national government has also released P4.8 billion for cash assistance.  

Mr. Gonzalez said the fresh surge in coronavirus cases in the country has also posed mobility and supply chain constraints, among other challenges. — Marifi S. Jara 

Residents blame laterite mining for discolored Davao Oriental river as DENR probes incident

BEFORE and after photos of a segment of the Mapagba River in Barangay Maputi, Banaybanay. — EMELYN Q. MORILLO

THE DAVAO regional office of the Environment department has started investigating a heavy siltation and discoloration incident of a river in Davao Oriental province.

Photos posted by several residents online on Jan. 14 showed the Mapagba River in the town of Banaybanay turning red-orange in color following heavy rains. 

The discolored water flowed all the way out into coastal areas as the Mapagba River drains into the Davao Gulf.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Davao (DENR-Davao), in a statement issued late Friday evening, said it “immediately created an investigating team that will be deployed in the area tomorrow (January 15)” to evaluate the cause of the incident.

“The large volume of water allegedly may have resulted in such siltation that caused discoloration of the said river,” DENR-Davao said, noting 111 millimeters of rain was recorded within a 12-hour period from Jan. 13 to 14.

Davao Oriental resident Rudolph Dela Cruz Espe, an advocate against mining activities in Banaybanay, said this is the first time they have seen a discoloration of the river.

“There is no other reason for this except the present laterite mining activity in Puntalinao/Pintatagan mountainous area. I lived here since birth and I can attest that we never experienced such discoloration of rivers before. Obviously because of the ongoing laterite extraction ongoing in the area,” he said in a text message.

Other online reports indicate that river discoloration was also seen in Barangay Pintatagan.

The provincial board passed a resolution in July 2021, numbered 16-754-01-2021, “interposing no objection” on a permit for mining operation covering the barangays of Puntalinao, Causwagan, Pintatagan, Maputi, Panikian and Mahayag in Banaybanay. 

In March 2019, the Davao Oriental local government expressed opposition to the declaration of another area in the province as a mineral reservation site. 

Gov. Nelson L. Dayanghirang said then that the proposed mining area is “in close proximity to Davao Oriental’s crown jewel, the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary,” which is Mindanao’s first and only declared UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The proposed mineral reservation area, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, covers around 8,497 hectares with rich deposits of chromite, nickel laterite, and copper.

Mr. Dayanghirang said while mining would provide an economic boost to the province, the cost on the environment and communities in the surrounding areas is far greater. The mayor said the provincial government is working on bringing in more investments in other sectors such as agriculture and tourism, which would provide a more sustainable development. — Maya M. Padillo

House rep says media protection bill advancing in Senate

ONE of the principal authors of a proposed law that seeks to provide media workers more protection and benefits is optimistic that the bill will be passed by the Senate before Congress goes on recess from Feb. 5 to May 22 for the May elections.

Rep. Rowena Niña O. Taduran, who authored the proposed Media Workers Welfare Act, said the House of Representatives is currently discussing the bill with the Senate labor committee chaired by Senator Emmanuel Joel Villanueva for any adjustments in the bill.

“As of this time, Sen. Villanueva and his committee promised to bring the Senate version of the bill in the plenary for further deliberation and committed to pass it before the election campaign begins,” Ms. Taduran told BusinessWorld in an email. 

“We are in constant communication with the Senate to ensure the passage of the bill,” said the representative of the Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) party-list.

“This law is way overdue. Our media workers have been overworked and underappreciated. Especially during election period, which is a very dangerous time to be out in the field,” 1-PACMAN Rep. Enrico A. Pineda, who co-authored the bill, said on Viber. 

The bill aims to give media workers more benefits, including job security, provision of protective equipment and hazard pay when covering dangerous zones or events, and insurance coverage in case of death or disability. 

Under the bill, the Department of Labor and Employment will create a News Media Tripartite Council for settling conflicts and crafting mutually beneficial policies. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan

BBM’s eligibility, the rule of law and economic catch-up

FREEPIK

The long-term prosperity of the nation — in our case the capacity to catch up with countries at the frontiers of progress — depends in no uncertain terms on its capacity to institute pro-value creation rules and to uphold those rules. The message of the 2012 best seller Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson was that countries that fail to protect property rights and enforce contracts — the precis of the rule-of-law — are bound to fail. In the modern world, it is the courts of law that either uphold or rubbish the rule of law.

At the dawn of Prussia’s catch-up with the industrial leader, Great Britain, the lore goes (T. Kugler version, 1856) that Emperor Frederick the Great could not sleep from the clatter of a grain mill which predated his Sanssouci Palace and demanded that the mill be sold to him. Gravenitz, the miller, refused. “Does he not know that I can take the mill from him… without paying a single groschen?” the emperor asked. Whereupon the miller replied, “Of course… if… it were not for the Supreme Court in Berlin.” The reply, it was said, so surprised and impressed the emperor — who himself was instrumental in the court’s founding — he inscribed it as a header on the palace gate. A piece of lore it may have been but one that fired the warning shot to frontrunners: Prussia had discovered the magic formula, one which China under Deng also discovered, and A. Smith preached in the Wealth of Nations — give comfort to market agents that the pro-value creation rules will be enforced and they will produce. Prussia had institutionalized what Machiavelli in The Prince (1532) had identified as a touchstone for state progress and power: “What’s more, he (The Prince) should reassure his subjects that they can go calmly about their business as merchants or farmers, or whatever other trade they practice, without worrying that if they increase their wealth they’ll be in danger of having it taken away from them, or that if they startup a business they’ll be punitively taxed.”

Property rights of Prussian citizens will now be sacred even against the whims of emperors. You can wager your capital to build a windmill or a water system and the profits are yours to keep; if the political powers think otherwise, they have to prove their case in court. And if the penalty for a transgression meted by proper courts is perpetual forfeiture of a right, this right will be denied you in perpetuity, whosoever you are.

The Philippines has law courts that swear by “due process” among the cornerstones of the rule-of-law. But in the byzantine world of the Philippine courts, different, even zombie, variants of “due process” can masquerade as rule-of-law and spew out decisions that outrage common sense. Thus, it outrages common sense that ex-National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director Romulo Neri was the one convicted in the NBN-ZTE case and perpetually disqualified from holding any public office while his principals and the promoters of the scam are walking unblemished and even holding public office. It violates common sense that “Kerwin” Espinosa and associates are basking in legal innocence despite all common-sensical indications to the contrary. It violates common sense that only minor functionaries are convicted in the PDAF scam while their principals are free and holding public office. In such instances, the court system is as much convicted as convicting.

In the Bong Bong Marcos (BBM) eligibility case, it is clear that BBM was convicted of tax evasion in 1995 by the regional trial court for failure to file his income tax returns in 1982-1985 while he was vice-governor and then governor of Ilocos Norte. This conviction was affirmed by the court of appeals although it also removed the imprisonment penalty. No one disputes that he was a public officer as vice-governor and governor from 1982-85. BBM appealed the decision to the Supreme Court but subsequently withdrew the appeal, making the conviction by the lower courts final and executory. These are known facts of the case.

Now, for all violations of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), Section 286 of PD 1994, the Code that was violated, says: “Any person convicted of a crime penalized by this code shall in addition to being liable for the payment of the tax, shall be liable for the penalties imposed herein… if he is a public officer or employee, the maximum penalty prescribed for the offense shall be imposed and, in addition, he shall be dismissed from the public service and perpetually disqualified from holding any public office, to vote and to participate in any election.” Perpetual disqualification as an accessory penalty for conviction for crimes penalized by the PD 1994 applies to all public officers, whether or not moral turpitude is involved and whether or not the convicted paid the imposed penalty.

By PD 1994, Section 286, the law applying at that time of the tax evasion and by the uncontested facts of the case alone, rule of law demands that BBM is “perpetually disqualified from holding any public office, voting or participating in any election.” Legal snares will be hoisted by legal eagles to confuse and suggest otherwise. But BBM’s eligibility can be legalized only by a subversion of the rule-of-law. Other considerations such as the certificates of candidacy misrepresentation, moral turpitude, or non-payment of fines may be made to additionally bear but their necessity is secondary.

Due process is one of the cornerstones of the rule-of-law, but it is its diseased variant, the “dupe process” as it were, that in the Philippines repeatedly delivers the rule of men in the guise of the rule-of-law. Is it even conceivable that Commission on Elections and/or the Supreme Court will in this case uphold the rule-of-law? That will be a massive surprise and a welcome one as rare as such a courageous upholding of the rule-of-law which will signal a national rebirth. It will reverse somewhat what the newly departed National Artist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, F. Sionil Jose, identifies as one of the maladies that keep us shackled as a nation: “This is what ails us all — we do not ostracize them, we do not punish them — no we anoint these vermin instead.”

If they don’t, we continue our commerce with vermin and once more the prosperity of the Filipino is the casualty. The stakes cannot be higher.

 

Raul V. Fabella is an honorary professor of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and a retired professor of the University of the Philippines. He gets his dopamine fix from hitting tennis balls with wife Teena and bicycling.

Beyoncé for President: Popularity is not a free pass to the Presidency

PCH.VECTOR-FREEPIK

There are statements making social media rounds that view the qualifications of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. — his eligibility to run for President — as a political question. The argument goes that a political question cannot be decided by the Commission on Elections, and ultimately by the Supreme Court. This is incorrect.

These statements also promote the view that a candidate (Marcos) who is leading in election surveys cannot be disqualified, ostensibly, because the people will be deprived of their choice for President. This is also incorrect.

Both views are supposedly grounded on the “political question doctrine.”

Political questions are those questions which, under the Constitution, are to be decided by the people in their sovereign capacity or in regard to which full discretionary authority has been delegated to the legislative or [to the] executive branch of the government (Mamba v. Lara, G.R. No. 165109, Dec. 14, 2009). These are questions that are left for the people themselves to decide or which are to be decided by the other branches of government.

Political questions are concerned with issues dependent upon the wisdom, not legality of a particular measure (Estrada v. Desierto, G.R. Nos. 146710-15 & 146738, March 2, 2001).

Where the controversy refers to the legality or validity of the contested act, that matter is definitely justiciable or non-political (Sanidad v. Commission on Elections, G.R. Nos. L-44640, L-44684 & L-44714, Oct. 12, 1976).

There is no Supreme Court decision saying that a candidate’s eligibility for public office is a political question.

An issue is not a political question simply because votes are cast by the electorate. In Miranda v. Aguirre (G.R. No. 133064, Sept. 16, 1999), the Supreme Court held that a plebiscite to approve Republic Act No. 8528 (downgrading the City of Santiago from an independent component city to a component city) is not a political question. The issue in that case was whether Republic Act No. 8528 complied with the requirements of the Constitution which is a question that the Supreme Court alone can decide.

A basic rule in political law is that a candidate for public office should have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications for office.

A person who garners the highest number of votes in an election, if disqualified under election laws, cannot be declared the winner. The Supreme Court has been very clear on this.

In Maquiling v. Commission on Elections (G.R. No. 195649, April 16, 2013), the Supreme Court held:

The ballot cannot override the constitutional and statutory requirements for qualifications and disqualifications of candidates. When the law requires certain qualifications to be possessed or that certain disqualifications be not possessed by persons desiring to serve as elective public officials, those qualifications must be met before one even becomes a candidate. When a person who is not qualified is voted for and eventually garners the highest number of votes, even the will of the electorate expressed through the ballot cannot cure the defect in the qualifications of the candidate. To rule otherwise is to trample upon and rent asunder the very law that sets forth the qualifications and disqualifications of candidates. We might as well write off our election laws if the voice of the electorate is the sole determinant of who should be proclaimed worthy to occupy elective positions in our republic.

Then in Halili v. Commission on Elections (G.R. Nos. 231643 & 231657, Jan. 15, 2019) the Court held that:

Where a material COC (certificate of candidacy) misrepresentation under oath is made, thereby violating both our election and criminal laws, we are faced as well with an assault on the will of the people of the Philippines as expressed in our laws. In a choice between provisions on material qualifications of elected officials, on the one hand, and the will of the electorate in any given locality, on the other, we believe and so hold that we cannot choose the will of the electorate.

Maquiling also emphasized that the qualifications prescribed for elective office cannot be erased by the electorate alone. The danger of allowing the election results to erase election laws was spelled out in the same case:

What will stop an otherwise disqualified individual from filing a seemingly valid COC, concealing any disqualification, and employing every strategy to delay any disqualification case filed against him so he can submit himself to the electorate and win, if winning the election will guarantee a disregard of constitutional and statutory provisions on qualifications and disqualifications of candidates?

If this is the rule — if a candidate who garners the highest number of votes can be disqualified — it should also apply to a person whose claim to the popular mandate has not been tested in an election.

The idea that popularity in an election survey converts a legal issue into a political question is preposterous. If we adopt this view, Beyoncé can run for President of the Philippines because her popularity will trump the requirement that the President should be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. Or American actress and singer Zendaya no longer has to meet citizenship, age, or residency requirements of the Constitution (Article VII, section 2 of the Constitution).

The pending disqualification cases against Mr. Marcos should be resolved by examining the allegations against him, and by determining with impartial minds, whether Mr. Marcos has all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications for holding public office. The popularity of a candidate, however measured, should never be a factor in settling these disputes.

 

Dante Gatmaytan is professor at the University of the Philippines, College of Law and a fellow of Action for Economic Reforms.

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