“Mister President, there is an imperative and urgent need to rightsize the executive branch to prevent so much waste of government resources”
THIS column has been one of the foremost crusaders against the POGOs or the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations for the simple reason that while there is revenue for the government from it in the form of taxes and permits and the fact that POGO workers, mostly Chinese occupying condominiums and houses, the social costs of their existence in the country far outweigh the revenue they contribute to government.
Time and again, there had been reports about kidnapping for ransom, torture and even murder of Chinese workers in POGO hubs done by some Chinese syndicates from Mainland China in the Philippines.
Santa Banana, this brings up one basic question why the government should totally ban POGOs, which, by the way, are forms of gambling totally banned by Beijing.
PoGOs started to proliferate during the term of President Duterte. And cases of kidnapping for ransom, torture and even murder even existed at that time.
There were also calls for banning POGOs, but the Duterte administration had none of it because of the revenues POGOs were giving to the government.
Again, I repeat what I had been saying against the existence of POGOs. Santa Banana, are they worth it?
Only recently, a massive police raid was conducted on a POGO hub in Las Pinas with 2,714 workers of different nationalities rounded up.
The raid on the sprawling compound of Xinchuang Network Technology Inc. was covered by a warrant for violations of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. Police teams continue to guard the compound along Alabang-Zapote Road where they rescued the POGO workers, 1.534 Filipinos, 687 Chinese, 186 Vietnamese, 140 Indonesians, 135 Malaysians, 83 Thais and 18 Taiwanese, 8 Nigerians, 5 Singaporeans, 8 from Myanmar, 4 from Africa and 1 each from India, Somalia, Sudan, Cameroon and Iran.
Again, I repeat, is the existence of POGOs with their contribution to the government worth it against the social costs, negative image and reputation worldwide as a magnet for criminals from Mainland China to come to the Philippines and make our country their playground to commit crimes?
The Marcos administration must do the right thing and totally and immediately ban POGOs.
Are we so desperate for money to have POGOs run by Chinese from Mainland China when their own country outlaws them?
Santa Banana, we must be, that nothing is being done in the wake of POGOs tarnishing the image of the Philippines abroad.
Unforgivable blunder
I could not believe it, but the Department of Tourism has an advertising agency like the Doyle, Dane and Bernbach Philippines, supposedly a high-ranking advertising outfit committing unforgivable errors and blunders.
Santa Banana, when DDB came out with “stock footages” to promote the DOT latest promo campaign, “Love the Philippines” with audiovisuals not of the Philippines but of other countries, like rice terraces not of Ifugao but of Indonesia, a Thai fisherman, not a Filipino fisherman, when there are millions of them, and sand dunes from Brazil, that advertising agency should be junked right away, and no apology can make up for it.
My gulay, and to think that DOT Secretary Cristina Garcia Frasco had to pay the DDB P49 million of the people’s money for that crap. The DOT had to cancel the contract.
Is the Philippines bereft of audiovisuals like that of the majestic perfect cone of the Mayon Volcano, Boracay and many other island beaches with white sand, centuries old churches that abound the country, Fort Santiago and heritage houses/sites, that stock footages of foreign countries have to be shown?
Obviously, DOT Secretary Frasco did not pre-screen the videos. Clearly she did not, she must also share the blame.
I have no quarrel with the “Love the Philippines” promo.
But for an ad agency to commit such an unforgivable blunder, that P49 million promo contract with DOT is a fatal mistake, and the DOT must cancel its contract pronto.
I hate to say it, Santa Banana, perhaps BBM needs a better DOT chief.
This brings to fore how DOT had its news slogan bidded out.
My gulay, we never were aware of it until it came out.
My gulay, that was a fiasco and a fatal blunder.
Rightsizing
During the first months of the Marcos administration, the President knew full well there was a need to rightsize the bureaucracy because of overlapping functions and the need to prevent massive wastage of government resources.
Among the agencies and offices mentioned for abolition were the Presidential Commission of Good Government (PCGG), the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), and the Climate Change Commission (CCC).
There were also plans to privatize the Philippines Amusement and Gambling Corporation casinos. So what happened?
I don’t know what happened, but Santa Banana, it does seem that Malacanang forgot all about it because of the many threats and challenges that BBM had to face during his first year.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the soaring inflation that caused the rise of prices of consumer goods, the escalation of oil and gasoline prices that had a domino effect on transport fares, consumer foods, etc., and the constant bullying of China in the West Philippine Sea, and the need for the President to travel abroad to attract foreign investors.
PCGG has outlived its usefulness.
In the first place, my gulay, it was created to go after the alleged hidden and ill gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies.
By the way, what has the PCGG done to merit the huge expenses that PCGG incurs for the salaries of its commissioners and lawyers, ending with almost nothing to show for it.
There is also need to rightsize the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and incorporate it with the Solicitor General’s Office since the functions of the many highly paid lawyers of the OGCC as lawyers of the many Government-owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCC) can easily be assumed by the SGO.
Besides, for so many Commission of Audit (COA) had red-flagged the lawyers of the OGCC for constant violations that government lawyers should not receive more than one-half of their salaries they received.
It was found out that lawyers of OGCC receive allowances and perks in violation of the law.
Aside from this, these lawyers also receive bonuses and perks when they appear in court for the benefit of the OGCC they represent, again in violation of law.
Then there is the Climate Change Commission, whose commissioners are all government under secretaries, and its chairman has the rank of a cabinet member, wasting government resources.
And what do they do? Santa Banana, they spend so much government resources just to attend conferences on climate change abroad. I believe it should be abolished.
The privatization of all gambling casinos of Pagcor must be abolished, and the best argument for it is that the government cannot have a casino regulator like Pagcor that is engaged in casino gambling at the same time.
That’s silly, Mister President, there is an imperative and urgent need to rightsize the executive branch to prevent so much waste of government resources.