Ganid!

...is the Filipino word for GREEDY. I like the Filipino version word as it emphatically points out a deeper meaning for the word greed. If a Pinoy calls you "ganid", it actually means that he is insulting you, cursing you for a greed beyond compare!

Yesterday, the newspapers published the data from the Commission on Audit regarding the highest paid government officials in the Philippines in 2009. I will not round up the whole list, but I will give you the top 20 alone:

1. Arreza, Armand (SBMA) - 26,865,923.20
2. Ricafort, Benigno (CDC) - 14,506,455.74
3. Garcia, Edgardo F (DBP) - 12,718,942.61
4. Tetangco, Amando Jr (BSP) - 10,772,830.14
5. Bitonio, Benedicto Ernesto Jr (DBP) - 9,309,042.75
6. Geronimo, Rolando (DBP) - 9,080,633.12
7. Abaya, Narciso L (BCDA) - 7,654,597.14
8. Templo, Horacio T (SSS) - 7,073,488.92
9. Samia, Armando O (DBP) - 6,983,533.14
10. Quirino, Ma. Therese (DBP) - 6,753,136.41
11. Puno, Isaac III S (BCDA) - 6,010,701.40
12. Guevarra, Jesus II (DBP) - 5,672.395.45
13. Suratos, Armando L (BSP) - 5,525,347.73
14. Maldia, Wilfredo C (LBP) - 5,473,755.94
15. Sarmiento, Andres C (LBP) - 5,406,907.99
16. Garcia, Oscar O (MWSS-CO) - 5,401,391.22
17. Tejada, Benilda (DBP) - 5,216,276.46
18. Allado, Diosdao Jose M (MWSS-CO) - 4,969,239.59
19. Selispara, Crescencio R (LBP) - 4,917,216.99
20. Guinigundo, Diwa C (SSS) - 4,889,136.21

SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority), CDC (Clark Development Corp), DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines), SSS (Social Security System), LBP (Land Bank of the Philippines), MWSS-CO (Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System), SSP (Social Security System), BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas)


Amazingly astounding! It makes you want to puke! The total of the 41 people listed on the COA amounted to over 2 BILLION pesos!

No wonder people want to be appointed in positions in government controlled corporations. My God - their salaries are not only "competitive with the private sector", but shocking by government standards. The perks are gargantuan and what is sickening about the whole situation is that government service is PUBLIC service. You cannot go on claiming that the "best and the brightest" work for the government and need to get compensated in this manner. Gimme a break man! If you think the pay grade is too low, don't join the government. I am sure that there are those who have their hearts and mind to serve the public in a capacity where there is no vested interest at all. And the names that appeared? I don't even know them. They're nobody! Their names don't even ring a bell.

Take Arreza for example. His basic annual salary is only P1.57M. But he received P18.16M in extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses, P6.832M for "others", P145,880 in bonus and incentives and P100,800 in representation and transportation allowances.

Guess what? Under the 2009 budget, the extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses can include all the following: meetings, seminars, conferences, official entertainment, public relations, educational and cultural activities, contributions to charitable institutions, membership in government associations, subscription to professional technical journals, office equipment and supplies, and other similar expenses NOT SUPPORTED BY THE REGULAR BUDGET ALLOCATION.

But how do these people get away with it? Well, they simply sit en banc as board directors, pat themselves in the back and say "we need to approve the following perks and bonuses and extra money and give more incentives to ourselves" and then it is cascaded down to the lowly government employee. Then everybody is happy! And everybody keeps quiet. It's alright their bosses get quintiple or hextuple the pay grade as long as they get the same bonuses (according to how much their salary grade is, of course).

No wonder people in government fight tooth and nail in order to stay in position. Sanamagan this banana republic. It peeves me, because this is not their money to start off with. This is public funds! They're from our sweat, blood, and tears. We work harder than them in order for them to splurge?

Greedy is a light term for these people. Ganid! Sana gisahin kayo sa sarili ninyong mantika.

Economics 101

On CNN the other day, there was a discussion between two newscasters on whom to blame for the global economic depression. Flipping through the cable channels was depressing, to say the least. Of course, one had the choice of going through the local news where the grim specter of kidnapping, murder, the corruption of GMA's government and showbiz scandal make the day more putrid.

But the exchanging banter between the newscasters on the Davos Economic Forum left me thinking - would the world economy crash overnight? And yes, who was responsible for this? Which led me to thinking about basic economics which I learned in high school. The law of supply and demand!

True, notwithstanding all the hooplah about the subprime mortgage the United States had gone through, the spiraling crash of the market worldwide did not seem like it started alone with the real estate disaster spawned from greed among hotshot business yuppies in the US.

The subprime mortgage was only the tip of the iceberg. Fund companies began lending out money to almost every Tom, Dick and Harry. Those with inadequate funds were also allowed to loan. And when the banks began collecting the loans, so much bad debts were eventually uncovered. The rest was history.

Undeniably, the various investigations then led to the discovery that several, if not practically all CEOs and COOs and CFOs and other "chiefs" (what's in a name) were tagged as raking in millions to billions of dollars as their take home paychecks. Far beyond the pay grade of what the ordinary businessman used to get, greed got in the way. And companies were paying million dollar wages to lackeys - those that had a degree, but didn't have the brains or balls for the job.

Unraveling the mystery on the whodunnit first isn't really a challenge. I recall my high school economics teacher etching on our blackboard the need to balance the economy with a seesaw rule where the demand and the supply are on both sides of the tipping scale.

So now I pose the hypothesis. Sure the global economy grew in the past decades. And yes, free trade in a free world surely is the way to go. But at what price? I think that the basic economics where more supply than demand, is the culprit for the worldwide slowdown.

I look at it from a local perspective. When Globe and Smart initially introduced the concept of a cellular phone in the Philippines, the queue was horrendous. Everyone wanted one. The mobile phone was hot business. People didn't mind getting locked into plans that were horrifically paying off only for the phone companies. After less than 5 years in the market, there was a sudden slowdown - in mobile phone units, plans, prepaid concepts - and an increase in the providers. The plans got really cheap and the phone aplenty. From initially a Nokia and Motorola model, came along LG, Blackberry, iPhone, Samsung, Vertu, several China made models, Sony Ericsson...Of 90 million Filipinos, it is estimated that there are about 65 million phones running around in the country (and counting). This includes the toddlers who already have a mobile phone in their hands and the subscribers who have a second, or third, or even fourth mobile phone in tow (one has got to be a Sun Cellular for indefinite texting and calling). I guess, the Philippines did not earn the title of "Texting Capital of the World" for nothing.

The Philippines has had its share of the real estate flop when Fidel Ramos was once president and the first wave of the financial crisis had taken its toll on the Asian region. Properties lost their values. Today we see a wave of growing condominiums and real estates by Ayala Land, MegaWorld, and other developers at leaps and bounds. Properties are pre-selling like hotcakes and the Philippines is about to experience the first bout of defaults when people begin to lose their jobs as companies merge and lay off workers.

Which goes back to my hypothesis - that there is too much of the good stuff running around. Too much supply for a market that is already saturated with material goods. And the demand has decreased because more and more people are not in the financial capacity to buy. With the current situation of a collapsing financial institution, people are holding on to whatever cash they have on hand.

And we're all asking - are the banks safe haven? Remember, all these banks use our money to lend it to other business enterprises and once these businesses begin to shakedown, so do our cash. And it can come full circle where even the biggest local banks can collapse.

The dreadful scenario leaves many of us who have some savings wondering about the future.

But the Filipino is a different race. Resiliency is in their spirit. And they've been through both good and bad times and most know how it is to be dirt poor. And most of us will survive it. The question left is, how? Don't you see the spate of wannabe movie stars, singers, newscasters, and politicians?

Hopefully not through greed and corruption. Karma has its way back home...

JocJoc Bolante...the joke's on us!

So Jocelyn "JocJoc" Bolante, the supposed mastermind of the Fertilizer Scam amounting to 728Million pesos ($15Million) in 2004 is back in the country called the Banana Republic!

If everyone will recall, the allegations of the Fertilizer Fund for the farmers was apparently used by JocJoc (sources have it was that FG had asked him to use the money to "spread" it around to government officials) to assure that Ate Glue would win the presidency.

Whatever! After so many years in the US, after the US justice prevailed on the escapist acts of Mr. Bolante where he was unable to use his money and influence to make sure that he stay in the US, he is back in the Philippines!

But wait. In this country of grease and monkeys, something was amiss. Upon arrival from a Northwest Airline flight from the US, he complained of chest pain (drama queen!!!) and tadahhhhh ... is whisked off to St. Luke's Medical Center (where the first family is observed to have many connections among its doctors and administrators). JocJoc suddenly has a room (suite, ehem...) ready and that's it folks - the poor guy needs to rest, he needs to be worked up, for health reasons he's shitting yet in his pants so he needs private time because he's stressed and anxious and damn this government.

You can't help but wonder how the drama unfolded and who the director and producer of this stunt is. But it's a no brainer that someone in the highest place in government had something to do with his being given the red carpet treatment! JocJoc WAS only an undersecretary for the Department of Agriculture. He wasn't an administration official that held the highest place in the land. Just like Garcillano (remember the Hello Garci scandal?), they were nobody! Nobody! I mean, how can anyone like JocJoc who's a mere undersecretary of agriculture, afford an 80M peso house in Ayala Alabang? Think about it. This government of GMA is so fu**ed up that you can smell the shit when the plane lands in this banana republic. What's so pathetic is that the middle class is more preoccupied with the economy and callused with all the graft and corruption of the government officials, the generals, and whoever has access to the coffers in government that they have been numbed.

So much drama! The Euro Generals being eclipsed by the Joke - JocJoc. And one episode not having and ending.

There is, however, a central plot - GREED! And so much of it!

Showbiz na showbiz si Ate Glue....and the Joke's on us.

Thieves...at a time of poverty

As this blog is being written, Ate Glue is in Beijing. According to the newspaper reports, while Ate Glue may not be popular in the Philippines, she is considered an empress in China. My comment - the Chinese can have her as their president. My dear Chinese comrade-in-arms, you can have Ate Glue!

Anyways, let's cut to the chase and let me update my readers on the state of the nation. F**k the people that run this country. The government officials in this banana republic seem to be enjoying sucking up to Ate Glue for whatever penny that can extract from her highness, since she has only a little less than 2 years left in office. So her court jesters seem to be in high spirits and even the honorable "tong"gressmen are just shitting in their pants, not minding the mess they are making nor smelling the shit they are emanating from defending the palace.

Let's see - the "tong"gressmen are flocking and f**king in numbers, creating an orgy of frenzy against the new impeachment against a sitting president. Of course, Ate Glue has already greased those that need to be greased, so the assholes are sitting and shitting pretty on their asses with all that b**lsh*t defense coming out of their mouths.

Aw common people. Isn't this the very reason why we deserve the kind of government we get? Why every Juan, Pilar and Pepe are flocking out of this country? Why we, as a Filipino race do not even deserve to be looked up to in international communities?

We allow ourselves to get trampled upon. We allow ourselves to be shitted on. We don't care how the people in government beg, borrow or steal. We are a pathetic race and we deserve what we get from whom we voted for. We go on our every day lives and demand from government to bring down the cost of fuel, electricity, basic commodities, rice, text message charges, medicines...yet I have yet to hear our country men rise up and demand from government, their moral ascendancy from all the scandals that are being charged to them.

The "Euro Generals" escapade is the perfect example. Why Ate Glue refuses to touch them is beyond my comprehension. It's probably the fact that there is honor among theives...and that is best exemplified by this case scenario.

Imagine that the money changer who had exchanged the peso into euros for General de la Paz, had come out to say that since early August of this year, the 6.9Million pesos was already with the generals because every week, someone would come to his money change shop to exchange for 3,000 - 5,000 euros - until all that 6.9Million pesos had been transacted! And the reasons that de la Paz had given, together with Puno and the other generals had varied from day to day. Now they are singing the song that they brought the money to Russia to buy spy gear and weapons ----- DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!??!?!!?!? Look who's being taken for a ride. Tweedle dee doo and tweedle dee dumb...

And because Ate Glue had stated that she puts her full trust in her generals IN SPITE of this glaring fiasco, which has Senator Miriam under full throttle against the PNP force (and I hope she does trash Puno to pieces), puts the moral ascendancy of Ate Glue in question. Why and whom is she defending? To the generals, their act of impropriety or theft, let's not be coy about the incident, is simply a "me too" act. If Ate Glue can steal from the coffers of this land, why not them.

In actuality, Ate Glue is to blame. She did a really lousy job at being discreet and she used the money of the Filipinos to cover up all those f**ked up deals she and her men made. At a time when more Filipinos are hungrier than ever, accentuated by the worldwide economic meltdown, it is despotic to be robbing at a time of poverty.

Envy and greed...Filinvest partners with Alabang Town Center and Madrigal

My favorite coffee is the fresh brew at UCC.

I used to frequent UCC at Westgate Alabang Filinvest, but since the started charging P15.00 for parking, it's been a turn-off. No, not UCC, but Filinvest in general.

It's not like that the Westgate Alabang Filinvest (WAF) is a mall altogether, similar to Alabang Town Center, SM Southmall or Festival Mall. It's just a small area where food and services are offered. Akin to The Fort strip in Bonifacio High, Taguig City. What I don't understand is why in heaven's name do customers who bring in business to these establishments have to PAY for parking? Shouldn't that come free? I mean, it's not like we go to the restaurant to sit down and do nothing! Duh!!!

But the Filinvest people are probably learning from the greedy Ayala neighbors. Greed is as contagious as envy. Because they see their Ayala and Madrigal neighbors profiting from simply parking in the area, they have got to get a share of the pie too!

I noticed that I was the only one having breakfast there, when it used to be that when I get to the restaurant at 830AM, it's usually teeming with people. And I found out from the waitress and manager that the sales and the number of people coming into WAF had markedly dropped since Filinvest started charging parking fee.

There goes the last area in Alabang that does not charge for parking.

What is it with the mall owners that they need to charge for parking? The Alabang Town Center for example has a concierge booth, that's practically useless, except the need to employ people to stand there and look like if you get lost in the small mall, you can always ask them for assistance. Why can't the mall owners strike a deal with the merchandisers on validating the parking tickets or provide free parking to those who patronize their establishments? You can always opine to me that it's only P15.oo and if I can afford to spend P30,000 then the P15 is only drop change. But I can always throw back the argument to those that argue this way. Because I spend so much already in the establishments, someone has got to moderate their greed. Provide the customers a slack! Give the P15 back as token for doing business with your establishment.

Imagine all the banking establishments at the Madrigal, ATC and Filinvest area where you need to pay P15.00 for a bank transaction. My golly! The interest rate on the pittance savings account of the average Juan de la Cruz isn't even big enough to cover for the parking fee.

I understand the situation of the mall owners on freebie shoppers. The latter are those that simply hang out in the malls for a whiff of the airconditioning system and don't purchase anything at all. There is a system where you can weed this out and this is easily done by validating parking tickets when you shop in the mall.

But greed is the prime mover of all things. And the mall owners need to moderate their greed. It simply is poor economics to be siphoning off from both parties - the customer and the merchandiser. At ATC alone, there have been so many merchandisers that have come and gone. Of course, the mall owners wouldn't care how many merchandisers came and left. But merchandisers pay for common space, pay for rent, pay for security, electricity, garbage, water and a certain percentage of what they earn!

Just imagine if you had 5000 cars parked on a weekday, that would rake in already P75,000. On weekends, that would be 50,000 cars. That would mean P750,000 on Saturday and Sunday alone. These are regular weekends. Do the math.

I thought that the government wanted to do something about this situation, unfortunately, like many government officials in the country, someone just got paid to shut-up. But knowing the "connections" of these people with government, you all know the story of moderating greed. Our government officials shoo it under the rug if they need to. In the Philippines, politics is a living.

If you think you agree with me on this matter, speak up and let your friends know. Don't patronize malls that require you to pay when you actually patronize their merchandisers anyway. The merchandisers on the other hand should try to work with the mall owners in extending some slack to those that shop with them. Makati Supermarket for example validates parking tickets in selected parking areas. So why can't they? It's not like Rustan's is so poor (with their designer items and Designer Boulevard selling clothing at exhorbitant prices!). We should have a week where we boycott ALL the malls that charge a parking fee to show our indignation! Let's see how this will affect the business climate.

Envy is a basic evil that becomes contagious. Unless we do something now, it will spread like wild fire. And it all begins with Greed.