Reyes: Energy is a political commodity

It is one thing to say that it requires great political skill to manage energy policy correctly and quite another to say that energy is a special political commodity, just because price movements can bring political unrest.

Since the deregulation of the downstream oil industry in the second half of the 1990’s (after a supreme court hurdle and a decision I found ignorant), petroleum products pricing has in the main been left to market forces. This is not to say that there is no market power being exercised by the major players. There clearly is, but I do not miss the days of the Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF) and the associated subsidies, when prices were regulated and such regulations were hostage to political acceptability (including by coup plotters).

Just imagine if refined productc prices were still regulated now, with the P/$ exchange rate and the world price as these are now. I’m glad consumers---most of them anyway---are adjusting without taking to the streets. I dare say that even now, petroleum prices are lower than they would be if we considered the full impact of their use on the environment. If prices were still regulated today, the government would be heavily subsidizing oil prices and it would not be beyond the current administration to subsidize prices just to remain in power. This would have been disastrous as oil price subsidies generally benefit the richer sections of the population---regardless of the protestations of the misinformed sections of the Left.

Comes now the newly designated energy secretary, who candidly admits his only qualification to the post is that he is ‘full of energy.’ It is also likely that he is full of something else. It might also be true that he is indeed a fast learner and that thus far, he has not disappointed the appointing power. But if he indeed has the management experience and the IQ to manage difficult government departments, Reyes should have been appointed chief of PIGSA (Philippine Inter-Galactic Space Agency) which needs his skills.

The truth is that Malacanang has just been using him as a convenient football and kicking him to energy conveniently leaves the DENR post vacant for the former mayor of Manila, he I cannot name because I puke because of all his sanctimoniuous and false religiosity---although I might still puke even if the religiosity were sincere. The former mayor would have been more obviously incompetent in the energy post. This does not mean he would be good as environment secretary, or that Reyes would do so badly at the energy post, though this is laden with many challenges that even Lotilla was just beginning to appreciate. But we cannot fault Popo for leaving now. Popo deserves a rest, although the timing is not good, especially with the problems of power sector reforms not really close to resolution. (Manila Standard Today yesterday said Lotilla was fired. False).

Former energy secretary Geronimo Z. Velasco passed away a few days ago and his passing was publicly announced by an acquaintance at the PNOC. It might be that the man did the nation a great service. But comparisons are difficult because he managed the energy sector under radically different circumstances. And he had economic and political resources unimaginable at this time. Our sympathies to his family and friends.

New Inquirer columnists

I’m really glad the Inquirer continually upgrades its slate of columnists. Readers, at least those whom I interact with, had and have been complaining about the dominance of legal ‘experts’ and know it alls, including former justices of the high court with their sanctimonious and annoying catholic religiosity (I dare say that the Philippines cannot modernize without a fully secular Supreme Court).

The recent additions (never mind those whose space allocations have been diminished) are Mahar Mangahas of the Social Weather Stations and the Inquirer blogger John Nery. Both can attract more readers because they have more intelligent commentary and don’t insult readers with their laziness and outright dumbness.

Unfortunately, Mangahas could have been more circumspect and ethical instead of featuring what could easily be misinterpreted as a self-serving column in his inaugural column. (Disclosure: SWS is just a few hundred steps from my place and I have used its services in the past). Still, a more grounded analysis of social opinion is needed and Mangahas’s column will hopefully provide that. Also, his outfit can also probably provide more insights on how social opinions are shaped...

As for John Nery, all I can say is that he is diligent and provides a much-needed short-term institutional memory, sorely lacking in the country’s political scene.

I hope the Inquirer succeeds in stopping the decline of newspaper readership bedeviling all newspapers worldwide.

Also, I hope the producers of Manolo Quezon’s ANC program do something to spruce up the format of his ‘Explainer.’ It is easy to see the effort put into it but they should get more feedback and adjust. Otherwise, all the effort will be wasted. Last night’s on scams was useful but could have been designed much better.

Human Rights? Really?

I earlier misattributed this to my friend Robert Francis Garcia, who says the article is by Susan 'Toots' Ople

Our Times
How to pick up a pen from the floor

HOW does one pick up a pen that he or she accidentally drops to the floor? If it’s a woman, more often the man nearest to the pen picks it up and hands it over to its owner with a smile. If it’s a man, he just bends a bit or stoops (depending on his height) to pick it up. No big deal, right?
Apparently, not in the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office, if letters and complaints from aggrieved staff are to be believed. It seems the head of this office, a woman named Nileema Noble dropped her pen. A male staff who happened to be in the room when this happened was about to pick the pen from the floor. The lady boss motioned him to stop and proceeded to call out her secretary’s name. The secretary, who was seated in her desk outside the boss’ office, went in. She meekly picked up the pen from the floor and handed it to her boss. And this, my friends, is one particular example of how a UN official based in the Philippines prefers to pick up her pen.

I write this piece with malice towards none, but with a firm belief that all people – regardless of nationality – must treat people with respect. This is the foundation of decent work. Aware that the official being complained about has her rights, too, I promise her an equal right to rebut the information volunteered by her staff, through this column.

But first, here are the points raised by a group of Filipino staff members who recently sought the help of the Blas Ople Policy Center so that they could ventilate their grievances:

1. The head of the UNRC, without minimum courtesies as expected in any other organization, unceremoniously terminated two UN Staff, one, an assistant resident representative for operations, and the other, a UN coordination specialist. They were given only a few hours to leave the UN premises after they were sacked. Adding insult to injury, they were told that if they keep silent and don’t contest her decision to pre-terminate their contracts, they can have other opportunities to work within the UN system. However, if they talk, she will make sure they never get to work for the UN again.

2. The unpopularity of the UNRC head is reflected in the UNDP’s Global Staff Survey where she came out last among the UNDP resident representatives in terms of approval rating. She scored 43%, a much lower score than the global average of 60%. Majority of UN resident representatives in Manila received 90%+ in approval ratings.

3. UNRC personnel continue to be traumatized in her presence. For example, she would throw documents on the floor when she was angry and then order her secretary to pick them up for her. She would also go into a flying rage whenever someone argues or tries to correct her. On another occasion, she literally shook another staff that dared proffer an explanation during one of Mrs. Noble’s foul moods.

4. This dynamic has spilled over to implementation of various government-UN projects with the disbandment of project management staff offices to help bridge these projects. Several government implementing agencies were surprised to learn about the UNRC’s unilateral decision to change implementing partners without due process, disband project management offices even at the risk of affecting results and imposing new program realities despite earlier agreements reached with stakeholders.
These are just some of the complaints raised by a group of staffmembers who came to see me a few days before my column deadline. One of them, former coordination specialist, Robert Francis Garcia, said he has written the Department of Foreign Affairs, the UN Ombudsman and the rest of the UN Country Team members and the UNDP Headquarters in New York. He also gave me a copy of his letter.

In it, he wrote: "The Coordination Specialist position was designed to assist the UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC or simply RC, officially the highest-ranking UN position in a country) in harmonizing work among various UN agencies. The post as vacated successively by two other people (the first one, temporarily). I won’t hazard a reason for their premature departure, though it is particularly telling that people under Nileema’s watch are leaving in droves. More than 20 people have left the UNDP since she came, and counting. I also cannot speak in their behalf, but I can speak from my own experience."
"Tolerance and understanding are basic human values. They are essential for international civil servants, who must respect all persons equally, without any distinction whatsoever. This respect fosters a climate and a working environment sensitive to the needs of all. To achieve this in a multicultural setting calls for a positive affirmation going well beyond passive acceptance." [Article 6 of the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service, The United Nations Ombudsman’s Office.]"

"There was never an instance when she did not raise her voice. The surreal "meeting" (when he learned he was being sacked) on May 4 was not unusual – it was a daily occurrence with Nileema."
I am convinced that the staff members who came to see me are telling the truth. I hope that the United Nations look into their complaints. The Department of Foreign Affairs could also help by calling the attention of the UNRC on how our nationals should be treated. We talk about protection for Overseas Filipino Workers. Here at home, we must be just as passionate in protecting the rights of our own workers.

Sometimes a simple gesture speaks volumes about the humanity of a person. So tell me, how do you pick up your pen from the floor?

Something fishy? Maybe not...

I don’t know if the fish vendors in Minglanilla were just pulling my hair, but when I asked them where the mall-mall in the market came from, they answered ‘just there,’ meaning just off Cebu island. For so many years, seafood in Cebu markets were claimed to have come from neighboring Bohol, where the descendants of Dagohoy thrive and are not only gentler and brighter, but are also not arrogant like Cebuanos. Maybe the vendors were telling the truth to my tortured face. Maybe some good things are being done to restore the productivity of Cebu marine life. Maybe the efforts of Tony Oposa and the deceased Mario dela Victoria are really paying off.

Actually, it is not so difficult to imagine, especially if government gets the incentives right and enforces the rules. In a recent BBC documentary, the heroic efforts of dela Victoria, Tony, and Mayor Osmena were acknowledged. I hope this is not a mirage induced by bacteria from the fish, shrimps, squid, and crabs I ate during the visit. When I was a grade schooler in the sixties, the waters off Talisay were teeming with all kinds of marine life, from jelly fish and all sorts of molusks, and shallow water fish. And then the feces and other waste from the exploding population in the city drifted to where we used to swim and cavort in the water.

By the way, when you are in Cebu, you should try out the fare at ZONE360 in Grill Avenue on Mango avenue. It is operated by friends, but my judgment is not clouded even if they served me free wine and lechon Cebu .

'extra-judicial killings'

You have to give it to the intrepid Ricky Carandang of ANC. He always manages to interview the most unlikely guests, and last night’s were truly exceptional: Chief Justice Reynato Puno and Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna. Listening to the justices reassured me that the judicial branch has at last and at least have been seized by the problem of extra-judicial killings, actually an inappropriate phrase since we no longer have the death penalty, and for good reason, and thus we cannot have judicial killings. The two justices were only being diplomatic in refraining from publicly castigating the two other branches---especially the executive---for their inaction and perhaps, even complicity in the murders and disappearance of political activists. Our alleged president would not have shown any concern had not human rights organizations mobilized international opinion on the spate of killings and disappearances. One can only wish that the supreme court had the power to fire justice secretaries, because the one we have does not know the meaning of shame.

Azcuna enlightened mewith a discussion of the Minnesota protocol, where, if the victims are last seen with military or state agents, it is the burden of the latter to explain and extricate themselves. After all, it is the state which is supposed to have a monopoly of the gun. This protocol becomes more relevant in the case of a government which has taken Donald Rumsfeld’s logic: the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Thus, the state can arrest you, torture you, and bomb other countries to kingdom come on mere suspicion of terrorist inclinations.

I don’t know if the justices volunteered to be interviewed, but if they did, they chose the interviewer well. Carandang is competent, prepares well in advance, and has exemplary interviewing skills. More likely it was he who approached them and the justices could not refuse. In any case, the interview was to bring attention to this Monday’s summit on extra-judicial killings and one can only hope it succeeds.

Also yesterday, Conrad de Quiros discussed his frustrated search for the movie ‘Missing’ which affected me too. It was played not too long ago in one of the cable movie channels. I think it is available from the many movie websites abroad.

And before I forget, I really appreciated The Big Picture’s interview with the officials of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) and former economic planning secretary Felipe Medalla on problems with the estimates of GDP growth. Unfortunately, this was not carried intelligently by the national papers. Among the respectable columnists, only Ciel Habito mentioned the problem and the discussion but he did not have the space for a satisfying follow-up. ( I asked my niece Charo Logarta whether she found the latest estimates credible and her response was to the effect that these were not estimates but ‘actual’ figures as she understood them from a press conference. I had to remind her that figures based on a survey or sample should be treated as estimates.)

I will say my piece on these issues some other time.

where in the world is pablo john garcia

Living in a hole in the wall in Quezon City is hardly the ideal way to live but I find living in Metro Manila notches higher than in Cebu, where the parochialism and pettiness is magnified many times over. In Cebu where I’m from, the Cebu City mayor and the governor are locked in battles over so many petty issues and many important ones (garbage, transport, education, environmental issues, water). But do they know the difference? While I generally side with the governor on the issues, I still find her petty and barriotic and onion-skinned.

I used to be able to claim friendship with one of the governor’s brothers. Pablo John, bright, humble when I pretended to know him, with a way with language, and an unsurpassed sense of (self-deprecating; that is the best kind of humor) humor. I wonder where Pablo John is now and whether he is starting to take himself too seriously, which would be the end of hunor.

I would like to imagine Pablo John making fun of the way the governor and her advisers are running the province. He can and could always use his formidable IQ against his former client when drunk or sleeping or any combinaton of the two states. Were he in some other and fundamentally different set of circumstances, Pablo would poke fun in original ways and there is no lack of subjects to poke fun at. Cameras monitoring the demeanor of employes, the Fuente park, ‘outlawing’ frowns, etc. I admit not knowing the details of policies which can be the butt of jokes and insults but let’s grant the governor is right on every issue. I would still miss Pablo’s humor brought to bear on them and his relatives.

Right after I learned he won the contest in Cebu’s third district, I naughtily sent him a message: “Cebuano voters voted for you, your dad, and your sister because they found your anti-dynasty program compelling.” His response was to the effect that only people with mediocre minds and who are unelectable would harbor such a view. True, but not absolutely.

I am disgusted with Joe DV and I wish the elder Garcia can wrest control of the House. And I am being Filipino, not a Cebuano, and least of all being friendly to Pablo John. But as a Filipino, let me say I miss Pablo John’s humor and warmth. And most of all I wish he’ll do well in the House.

Cheap Phil Corporations 2: PAL

Philippine Airlines

In the nineties some friends used to joke about the pre-landing announcement of Vietnamese Airlines which went something like this: “Comrades, we are landing, immediately!” It was just the culture and there was no emergency landing by a Harrier jet, or worse, a crash.

More civil airlines usually had and still have much longer and graceful announcements advising passengers of safety regulations and other flight information. But what got my goat was the PAL pilots’ advice that ‘our flying time will take us approximately X hours and Y minutes. Having been the OC I was (and still am), I would write notes on napkins meant for the flight staff saying “either you say ‘ the flight is approximately X hours and Y minutes’ or ‘flight time is around X hours and Y minutes.’ About ten years ago I finally heard the announcement said correctly and wrote a complimentary note to the staff. Just before disembarking, I was approached by the graceful chief flight attendant who gave me a complimentary fruit basket.

But on a recent flight from Cebu to Manila, yikes, the pilot made the dreaded and jarring announcement. As I was conversing with a fellow traveler, I had no time to write but this is what I should have and would have written as a suggestion: ‘Our flight time is sufficient for you, dear passengers, to think of creative ways to torture us ala Jack Bauer, or insult us into speaking correct English.’

In the so-called age of information technology and the alleged productivity and time-saving procedures for customers, PAL gives us the option to reserve and purchase tickets electronically through the internet. But then, after paying by credit card, the airline still requires you to go to a ticket office and secure a hard copy of your electronic ticket. The whole procedure really is moronic.

I remember that in the nineties, way before internet transactions, I could make a reservation by phone, be given a booking number, and allowed to pay by ATM, and use the ATM receipt as the flight ticket at the airport counter. Ahhh, progress is so slow, and sometimes it even goes backward.

But there are some good things to be said about PAL, especially the check-in staff. I was supposed to pay some amount because my checked baggage weighed twice the ‘free’ allowance. But as I was able to espy friends who had some allowance to spare, the PAL staff arranged usage of the excess allowance without incident and efficiently. But the airport check-in computers are so slow you could have a massage while in line.

(Here’s an aside. I told one of my friends that availing of his baggage allowance would have the effect of lowering GDP figures for the year but lead to an increase in human happiness in Philippine society. Think about that and the limitations of GDP as a measure of social welfare. We can be kinder to our fellows and GDP would be lower. And I can think of so many ways GDP can be higher and people poorer. Believe me, I’m a lifelong student of economics).

Cheap multi-billion dollar Philippine Corporations:PLDT

It bothers me that one of the multibillion-dollar Philippine corporations and that is a market bellwether doen’t respect its customers enough to maintain friendly and clear websites. Worse, those who maintain the sites murder the queen’s English with instructions to the effect that they wouldn’t process your application if you don’t give them all the required ‘informations.’ But they do assure you that the ‘informations’ you provide would be treated confidentially.

I had concluded that I was getting a very bad deal from Bayantel for landline services and Pacific for the internet, especially after reading MyDSL ads of PLDT (print ads which did not give any number to call). So I visited the PLDT DSL website and behold and lo, it was such a taxing experience. For one, it was only then I found out that you would first have to have an existing PLDT landline to avail of the promo DSL rate, when the impression you get from the ads was that the rate covered both. I was referred to another site to apply for a landline. But this site also wasn’t clear about the overall package cost! And the websites don’t provide phone numbers for those who’ve lost patience after unsuccessfully navigating around them for useful ‘informations.’ PLDT prides itself as a world-class communcations company. This really makes me puke. I wonder if Mr. Pangilinan even knows the ‘informations’ I require. I feel like putting all the ‘informations’ about my ‘frustrations’ and sticking them up his ‘informations’ highway. The truth is, the whole experience just gave me ‘indigestions.’

Are Men Necessary?

ARE MEN NECESSARY?
(When Sexes Collide)
Maureen Dowd

(Berkley, 2005, 338 pp; $15)



When Maureen Dowd first ‘googled’ her name in the internet, she claims, the first return was a video of her giving Bill Clinton a job, probably because her coverage and commentary on Clinton’s impeachment and trial over the Monica Lewinsky affair were what clinched the Pulitzer for her in 1999, and she was perceived as critical of the deranged and hypocritical Ken Starr. But her ascerbic columns on the Bush dynasty and the stupid Republicans were what really caught my attention four or five years ago.

In ‘Are Men Necessary’ I am a bit disappointed but I had been forewarned. In her introduction she dowsed expectations with the usual warning that she was going to raise questions but did not necessarily have answers. To be fair, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because the questions she raises are questions I also ask, as a man with doubtful claims as a feminist.

What strikes me as most relevant at this time is her ambivalence over Hillary and Bill. Although she castigates them both for their failings, and the latter for her betrayal of feminist principles and aspirations for pragmatic and other political aims, her liberal bias still shines through, and her bias is my bias too. If I understand Dowd, she would still probably prefer Hillary winning against the Republicans in 2008, although the timeframe in the book excludes the dawn and rise of Obama.

One thing which really confuses me about the dilemma over principles vs. pragmatism is that the opposing forces never really make their priorities clear, although the clash implies that there has to be a prioritization of principles which one holds dear and that pragmatism merely means that one gives up lower principles over higher ones, at any particular time. In practice, however, one may appeal to the lowest common denominator to get the support of a plurality or a majority to implement a common agenda.

The only solution I can propound at the moment is that ‘principles’ held by individuals and groups may not really be internally consistent and it will take some time to sort them out.

Take for example, Dowd’s plaint against the aspiration of western feminists to be ‘equal’ to men only to later find out that what men wanted was not worth it (at) all. For when the doors were opened, many actually opt to stay home as their version of fulfillment.

In the political sphere, the Philippines can superficially be called more advanced than the U.S. because we have already had two women presidents while there is still a ‘macho’ bias in the U.S. Dowd covered the campaign of Geraldine Ferraro for the vice presidency and recounts the experience in the book, from which I learned a lot of the details.

Yet, the Philippines remains an obviously backward country in terms of equality between genders. Even the so-called Left political parties---especially the party-list parties---are hesitant to advocate genuine divorce laws out of fear of the backlash from the Catholic church, of which many of them still swear allegiance to., and which is why the Philippines still remains as backward as ever. Obviously, gays and lesbians, according to segments of the Philippine Left, don’t belong in hell. But women who escape from unhappy marriages and abusive husbands do. And that is pragmatism.