WITH less than two weeks to go before 54 million voters troop to the polls, all the national candidates, from president to vice president and senators, are promising the moon and stars to the people in the hope that they would prevail in the upcoming political exercise.
What’s interesting to note is that the closer we move to election day, May 9, the candidates are offering voters basically the same things: an end to pervasive corruption; more public infrastructure; better and more efficient delivery of social services, such as education and health; protection of the environment, among many others.
What this tells us is that the political party system in this country does not offer us a real choice. While the Democratic Party in the US adheres to a liberal ideology and the Republican Party is conservative by nature, here, the various parties are distinguished only by name, not by unique platforms or political philosophies.
The dominant party or coalition in one administration can easily break up in the next, as members shift loyalties to those who wield political power. In other words, in our political system, it’s the personalities that count, not platforms.
This development—or retrogression—bodes ill for real choice in hilippine elections.
In any event, if all the candidates can offer us are empty, bombastic or flowery promises, it’s our turn to ask: How do you propose to finance all your high-falutin promises?
That’s precisely what former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, lead convenor of the budget watchdog Social Watch Philippines and University of the Philippines professor, wants to know.
After all, infrastructure projects cost billions in taxpayers’ money. So do education and health facilities. You need to pay for additional police personnel and equipment to effectively maintain peace and order. And you need billions more to acquire jet planes, sophisticated naval vessels and missile systems to defend our territorial integrity from foreign aggressors.
What is likely to happen is that the next administration could end up imposing new taxes and resorting to heavy borrowings to finance all the projects that it promised the electorate.
Briones suggests that, for the next administration to fulfill its promises, it must ensure that all government-owned and -controlled corporations remit 50 percent of their income to the national government as mandated by law; streamline the brackets for high-earning tax payers; reform or rationalize excise taxes, investment incentives; and implement reforms in tax administration and efficient tax collection.
The Philippines is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals enumerated by the United Nations. These consist of 17 sustainable goals and 169 targets. Among the goals is to abolish absolute poverty by 2030. Can we do it within a span of 14 years?
If the next several administrations are really serious about ending absolute poverty, they will have to harness more resources, whether through new taxes, borrowings and stricter implementation of tax laws.
Piracy and kidnappings in Sulu Sea a disturbing development
RECENT news reports indicate that the Abu Sayyaf has adopted a new terror tactic in addition to engaging government forces in combat, kidnapping innocent foreigners for huge ransom and beheading captives.
This is kidnapping in the high seas, particularly in the Sulu Sea that links our southernmost islands with Indonesia and Malaysia. Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen have reportedly abducted 18 Indonesians and Malaysians in three attacks on tugboats in Philippine waters. They are now demanding P50 million ($1.1 million) for the release of the Indonesian crew.
The route to the Sulu Sea carries $40 billion worth of cargo each year. This route is taken by supertankers from the Indian Ocean that cannot use the crowded Malacca Strait.
Concerns over maritime attacks by suspected Islamist militants have disrupted the coal trade. Two Indonesian coal ports have already suspended shipments to the Philippines.
The Indonesian Navy has instructed all commercial vessels “to avoid piracy-prone waters around the southern Philippines.”
Malaysia has also warned ships sailing in the Celebes Sea and northeast of Sabah on the island of Borneo to stay clear of suspicious small vessels.
The recent incidents of piracy and kidnapping in the Sulu Sea are reminiscent of what happened in Somalia years back. Somali pirates intercepted cargo vessels at will and took crewmen as hostages in exchange for huge sums of money. But piracy incidents waned when shipping firms hired private-security details and international warships began to patrol the high seas to deter further attacks.
That’s also the same tack that the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia should take, after they meet to discuss possible joint patrols against piracy and kidnapping on a shipping route along their sea borders.
The joint seas patrols are consistent with the principle enunciated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that there must be free and open navigation in the region.
The Abu Sayyaf appears to be stretching itself too thin by making its presence increasingly felt in the Sulu Sea. So we welcome the move by the three countries to conduct joint patrols to stop piracy and kidnapping in the high seas. The Abu Sayyaf must be brought to heel to deter them from committing more terror activities in our southern shores.
E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.