JGL Eye
By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA
(© 2013 Fil Am Extra Exchange)
 
C HICAGO (FAXX/jGLi) – Janet Napoles' masterful ability to pull the rug from under 
the feet of unsuspecting Philippine senators and congressmen could be a game 
changer that could also remake a nation that will go into a soul searching on 
how a culture of gift giving has allowed Filipinos to accept starvation wages.

If senators and congressmen are earning a minuscule salary 40,000 pesos (US$952) 
a month, nobody could blame them if they dip their hands into the pork barrel 
cookie jar and other perks just to keep up with their lifestyles and recover 
their election expenses.

If they give themselves a raise (under the Philippine Constitution, any raise 
Congress passes will only take effect after their term of office) but lose 
discretion to pinpoint projects for Priority Development Assistance Fund and 
other privileges, their constituents will no longer bother them to open their 
wallets for health and education expenses among others and gifts for baptism, 
birthdays, weddings, burials and other rites of passage.

This will also prompt politicians from using their own money to bankroll their 
campaign because they had lost the ability to break the pork-barrel piggy banks.

The “porkless” Congress will not only lose its glamor, it will also compel it 
to pass an election reform that will allow political parties to raise and accept 
campaign contributions from donors to fuel their campaign. Names of campaign 
contributors should be posted online.

Any unspent balance of the campaign contributions should revert back to the 
political parties and not to the personal pockets of politicians. The political 
parties will be required to report to the Commission on Elections the amount 
they have raised and the amount of money they have spent, including election 
expenses receipts.

Think of it this way: if you give alms to a disabled person on the street, other 
beggars would also be expecting alms from you. Why don’t the government’s 
Departments of Social Work and Development, Health, Education, Interior and 
Local Government, National Housing Authority, Pagcor, PCSO, etc. come together 
and round up the beggars and informal settlers (squatters) and provide them 
high-rise homes, a place to rehabilitate them and provide them medical, 
occupational and physical therapists, education, training, etc. so they could 
become productive members of society?
 
ERAP’S NOVEL FUND-RAISING
 
T he City of Manila led by my friend, former President and Mayor Joseph Estrada, 
is trying to adopt a novel way of increasing the meager salaries of traffic enforcers by giving them 20 percent commission from penalties paid for by 
traffic violators.

The traffic enforcers, who earn P4,000 (US$95) a month, will no longer be forced to extort from traffic violators. They would now be compelled to turnover their 
parking fees collections.

But City Hall should adopt some mechanisms, like CCTV cameras, on the street that could also monitor if traffic enforcers are abusing their duties.

If employees of both the government and private sectors are given big salary 
increases, like the senators and congressmen, they will not be tempted to look 
for side jobs. They could just go straight home to their families from work, be 
well rested to prepare for work the next day.

Big salaries will discourage Filipinos from leaving the country to seek greener 
pastures.

Big salaries will make them fall in love with their jobs. Big salaries will 
deter them from accepting grease money while transacting business with the 
public for fear of losing their jobs.

If for some reasons, some employees would still look for side jobs, their 
employers should report their earnings to the Bureau of Internal Revenue. These 
employers  can withhold their taxes so that their extra incomes will not form 
part of the underground economy, like grease money, which has remained untaxed.

If all transactions are taxed, including sales, and professional services such 
as doctors’, attorneys’, CPA’s, architects’, engineers’, waiters’, taxi drivers’ 
tips, casino, race track winnings, etc., and are properly reported to the BIR, 
these “new moneys” would not only boost the  collection of the BIR but will flow 
back as salaries and benefits of government employees so they are expected to 
render efficient public service.
 
PUBLIC MAY PAY BY CREDIT CARD, CHECKS OR MONEY ORDER
 
With the computerizations, the public can transact personally less with the 
government employees by letting them pay with credit cards online. There is no 
more need to require employees to report for work without pockets, like casino 
dealers, as one of the public proposals floated around by the Bureau of Customs 
to deter extortion activities of its employees. If the public transacts business 
with the government, the public should be encouraged to pay only in check or 
money order.

If the public would pay in cash, the government employee should all the more be 
required to issue a receipt at all times.

It’s about time the Big Business moderate their profits by supporting the 
legislated wage increase pending in Congress.

The Big Business, which composes the current or probable future income earner at 
the 30-percent of the income distribution, especially those earning one million 
pesos (US$23,809) a month, and the Catholic Church and other religious 
institutions, should join hands in helping the government and the private sector 
raise the salaries of both the government and private sectors.

The revelation by the Commission on Audit about the irregularities and misuse of 
about P113-billion (US$2.6-billion) pork barrel by legislators for 2007 and 2009 
must stop. It easily makes the P10-billion (US$238-million) pork barrel stolen 
by Napoles a tip of the iceberg.

Senators and congressmen may not have actually pocketed about P56-billion 
(US$1.3-billion) of this pork but it is only about .005 percent of the six 
years’ national budget of about P10.6-trillion (US$252-billion) or more.

The business sector should stop defying, threatening and harassing the 
government and Congress over the proposed P125 legislated wage hike for the more 
than 35-million workers in the private sector because of its overflowing profits 
of their businesses.

These businessmen control and own the oil, power/electricity, water, telecoms, 
big shopping malls and many more. Worse, they can increase anytime the rates of 
basic utilities and services despite the cry of hapless ordinary citizens and 
Congress and government be damned!

The powerful ECOP (Employers Confederation of the Philippines) members should 
stop threatening  congressmen, who dare pass this very important wage measure 
that will benefit the working force, who actually build the nation. 

As a Catholic, I will be more impressed if the Catholic Church leaders would use 
their power to push for the approval of the legislated wage hike. They control 
majority of private schools, whose tuition fees are out of reach by majority of 
the Filipinos.

The Philippine population is about the breach the 100-million mark. It’s about 
time the Catholic Church supports the Reproductive Health Bill, which will 
arrest the runaway population. I know the Catholic Church wants an increase of 
population so more poor Filipinos will be making donations during baptism, 
weddings, burials, masses, etc. But why doesn’t the Church advocate for 
responsible parenthood that includes the process of deciding how to choose 
partners, when to form families, when to have the first child, child spacing, 
how many children to have and how to ensure the best possible lives of the 
parents and their children? (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net) # # #

Joseph G. Lariosa
Correspondent
Fil Am Extra Exchange
Journal Group Link International
P. O. Box 30110
Chicago, IL 60630
Tel. 312.772.5454
Telefax 312.428.5714