My heart goes to the victims of three Muslim terrorists, brandishing AK-47s, who invaded the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in the center of Paris and killed 12 people in cold blood, including the editor, Stephane Charbonnier, himself also a cartoonist, four other cartoonists, reportedly among the best in France; and an economist who writes as a columnist. Two of the 12 victims were policemen apparently serving as Stephane’s security. Eleven other people were wounded, one critically.
“Charb” Charbonnier was one of nine people identified in Al Qaeda’s September 2013 Inspire Magazine whom Muslims should kill.
Authorities initially identified the three attackers as Said Kouachi, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, Frenchmen and brothers and are still on the loose at this writing, and Hamyd Mourad, 18 who reportedly surrendered.
The Associated Press said the suspects were linked to a Yemeni terrorist network. Cherif Kouachi was convicted in 2008 of terrorism charges for helping funnel fighters to Iraq’s insurgency and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Though smallish, the magazine apparently has enraged some Muslims for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
The assassinations triggered outraged throughout the world. They were seen as an attack not just on the French government but also on press freedom and democracy.
Charb was dedicated to his craft and profession. As a magazine publisher myself, I know how difficult it is to carry the trade. Only passion and love for the job will carry you through. It is a value strange to terrorists, whether Muslim or Christians.
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More than 600 towns and cities in the Philippines—604 to be exact—do not have a bank. Some 40 million Filipinos do not have a bank account.
This is an anomaly for three reasons: One, the Philippines is a middle-class country; two, the number of cellular phones and cellular subscribers (113 million—70 million by Smart; 42.9 million by Globe; cellphones can transact cash) exceeds the population of 100 million; and three, the Philippines invented banking in Asia.
How old is Bank of the Philippine Islands? It was established in 1851. That’s how old our banking system is—164 years old. BPI used to be the Philippine central bank. It printed and issued money in its own name.
Yet, today, 38 percent—604 out of 1,590 towns—do not have a bank presence at all—no bank branch, no banking office, no bank ATMs.
Not that Filipinos have no money. The national savings rate is 30.2 percent of GDP (output of goods and services). GDP is at least P14 trillion; 30.2 percent of that is P4.228 trillion which divided by the population (100 million) means a per capita savings of P42,280 (about $940). Where does the Filipino stash that cash if there are no banks?
Per capita gross national income (that is, income of each Filipino here combined with income from abroad) is US$7,855 (in purchasing power parity or what the US dollar can buy in local goods and services).
Divide $7,855 by 365, you get a daily income of $39—far above the $1 per day income threshold of a person considered poor.
The Filipino thus saves $940 per year and earns $7,885 per year. And yet, two quarters of the population are not served by any bank. They are instead served by so-called micro-banking offices (MBOs) which are not banks per se but are nothing more than glamorized remittance centers and pawnshops charging very high fees. There were 465 such MBOs in 2013.
If extensive banking were a feature of a genuine democracy, then you cannot say the Philippines is a democracy. Its banks cater only to the very rich and the very few. The very rich of this country are all bankers and all bankers are very rich.
Why are two-quarters of Filipinos and 600 towns ignored by the banks? Simple answer: Money.
It costs money to service the poor and far-flung places. Try transporting money from Basilan to Bongao in Tawi-Tawi, a town of 80,000 people. You will get the Somalia feeling.
In a way, government is partly to blame. The Philippine road system has not been modernized in the past ten years. “Transportation in the Philippines is relatively underdeveloped, partly due to the country’s mountainous areas and scattered islands, and partly as a result of the government’s persistent underinvestment in the nation’s infrastructure,” says Wikipedia.
Most of the modern roads the Philippines has, particularly the Manila North and South Diversion Roads, and the Pan-Philippine Highway, were built during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. They guy was ousted 29 years ago.
Inadequate infrastructure may explain why during the last Christmas season it took 11 hours for motorists to wait and pay for their toll fees at the tollgates north of Manila.
Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco complains that it takes his car 18 minutes to run the highway to his native Pampanga and another 18 minutes just to pay the toll. So the savings in time is zero.
BSP Chief Tetangco has been passionate of late about financial inclusion. He has discovered that despite being one of the world’s best central bank governors, he still must cope with the problem of million of unbanked Filipinos and hundreds of unbanked towns.
According to central bank data, the Philippine banking system’s overall physical network continues to expand. In 2013, there were 9,884 banking offices, up 5 percent, and 14,528 automated teller machines (ATMs) in the country, up 19 percent.
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