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by Herman Tiu Laurel
Even to doubting Thomases on PeNoy's abilities to lead the nation, my title for this piece might come as a shocker. They'll think, "Incompetence, yes; hypocrisy, certainly; but plunder? Is he capable of that?" To PeNoy's admirers from the Yellow army, such a suggested intent to plunder will most likely elicit remarks such as "Sobra na yang si Tiu Laurel; sobra na (He is going overboard)!''
But as I have listed several of PeNoy's 180 degree-turns on his campaign pledges the past two weeks, such as his reversals on the budget deficit and on cutting the "pork barrel," as well as, his dilly-dallying on his anti-corruption and anti-jueteng drives, the July 14 report of a loyal PeNoy paper, The Philippine Star, rings all the plunder alarm bells. The following are its salient points:
"Privatization of Pagcor eyed, by Delon Porcalla... President Aquino yesterday hinted at turning over the Pagcor to the private sector, saying the government has apparently been shortchanged on the revenues generated by the state-owned gaming firm. Mr. Aquino said the privatization of Pagcor would possibly end corruption in the agency by some officials who make it a milking cow. Pagcor earns an estimated P30 billion a year in revenues for the government. 'We have uncovered several anomalies in Pagcor amid allegations that the government is not really getting its share of the revenues,' Mr. Aquino told reporters during a dinner late Tuesday. Mr. Aquino said it would be more practical to sell Pagcor and have it run by the private sector. He said private entities would be more professional in running the firm that would also translate to more profits for the government."Sure, sure: Privatize Pagcor so its P30 billion revenues go to private pockets. Privatize it to his uncle with whom he partnered for the security agency that cornered all government security contracts, or to the other uncle who set up the jueteng coalition called the Northern Alliance — all during his mother's tenure. Or maybe privatize Pagcor to the Malaysians who have raked in billions from operating lotto in this country at the expense of the government-run sweepstakes lottery which has lost a sizable chunk of its market, thanks to the second Yellow government of Fidel Ramos.
If there has been corruption in Pagcor under the previous regime, then start prosecuting Gloria Arroyo and Efraim Genuino. Follow through by looking into the management systems and correcting the flaws that lead to corruption. PeNoy should also took into his own culpability for supporting Arroyo through five years of her illegal reign. But why privatize?
Too often have we heard these same old lame excuses for privatization and subsequently, the abject failure of most if not all privatization projects. These should help us all wise up to the malicious, duplicitous and larcenous intent of those proposing these privatizations.
Maybe that is why a close buddy and classmate, Bong Naguiat, is being appointed to Pagcor instead of someone more objective and beyond reproach as Erap did when he appointed the venerable Alice Reyes.
Pagcor is the crown jewel of all the government gaming operations that produce billions for government's social projects and programs. The nation's poor should not lose the Pagcor revenues as the PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office) beneficiaries did when the Malaysians' lotto raided PCSO markets.
PeNoy's statements on the corruption in Pagcor parallel his most recent pronouncements on jueteng — all bemuddling, hypocritical and insidious. As several earlier Tribune op-ed pieces have shown, underground jueteng is the root of corruption. Yet PeNoy is still hedging on the issue of its immediate eradication by giving instructions to the Department of Interior and Local Government and Philippine National Police to go after jueteng while at the same time declaring it as a "low priority" because (a) the PNP is preoccupied with peace and order and (b) he wants to prepare alternative livelihood for the many poor people who will be displaced by his drive.
PeNoy is thus admitting that Erap is correct. That jueteng is an important livelihood. Why not legalize it then rather than prevaricate?
As the 25 years of its practice in the Philippines shows, privatization is plunder. We have seen it fail to provide competition, lower rates, and satisfactory supply and service — whether in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, water, toll ways, or telecommunications. We have also seen it happen in the privatization of the election voting and counting operations in the Smartmatic AES (Automated Election System) where the country was gypped of at least P7.2 billion (some say up to P15 billion) with nothing left to show — not even the cog, screw or chip of a voting machine — except for a severely questioned election process.
The privatization of Pagcor will without doubt reduce benefits to government and its most needy recipients, and only fatten the rich corporate predators. The signs are there. The "P" in PeNoy could very well stand for plunder.
(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)
Source:
Herman Tiu-Laurel. From PeNoy to plunder?. The Daily Tribune. 16 July 2010.
URL: http://taga-ilog-news.blogspot.com/2010/07/from-penoy-to-plunder-die-hard-iii.html
