longcuts archives

The latest round of fuel increase is another uppercut to the already battered consumers.
A right hook, then a left hook and nobody knows how many jabs after that.
And jabs, more jabs after that.
I wonder when the killer jab will be delivered, when the consumers could no longer take it.
That would be a bliss.
An end to the torture finally.

Everyday, there are jabs and punches here and there.
Rising cost of basic goods like rice, fish and other kitchen aids. In fact, fish is no longer a poor man’s fare, it’s now comparable to pork or beef.
Rising cost of tuition and other school fees. Natural consequence of course to the regular demands for increases in minimum wage.
The prices of school uniforms, books, notebooks, ball pen, pencil, writing pads are also increasing.
And of course, electricity and water bills are also going astronomic.
Everyday is always a quest for survival.


If somebody claims nowadays that his life is improving, then he’s probably joking. Or, lying. Or, he belongs to the very few privileged people who belong to the so-called social elite.
Everybody is feeling the heat.
For instance, the economic crunch became very visible last Thursday and Friday (June 12 and 13) in Sibulan, Negros Oriental.
Sometime ago, traffic jams were commonplace. A long line of tail-to-tail vehicles could be seen from as far as St. Paul’s University in Dumaguete to Poblacion, Sibulan as early as 10 in the morning of the 12th, vesper. Or, from Ajong, Sibulan down to the Poblacion area.
That’s about 4 kilometers away from the Poblacion either South or North.
More so on the 13th, the feast day. Traffic worsened dramatically because a lot of visitors and devotees of San Antonio de Padua would visit the town usually on the feast day.
Right in the town, cries of butchered pigs could be heard as early as early morning of the 12th. All through the day, everybody’s busy preparing their foods as visitors would start to arrive early noon of the 12th.
Visitors then had a wider choice because there were so many residents celebrating the feast day.
But not anymore.
This time, there were only very, very few residents who served food on the 12th. Majority served food only in the evening of June 13.
This could explain why traffic on June 12 and 13 was very light. No more of that long pila of tail-to-tail vehicles.
Of course, nobody should wonder.
A sack of rice is more than 2 thousand. A 3 thousand worth lechon is so very, very cute, hardly an impressive sight on the table. The price of spices has also gone up.
And yes, everything in the market is going up.
So no more extravagant fiesta celebration this time. Just enough food on the table for members of the family, no more visitors.
Di na lang ta mangimbetar, makasabot ra lagi na sila, was the common excuse among residents.


The passing on of obligation is becoming a trend these days. Pass on as in making somebody else pay for your own utang.
MERALCO is reported to have passed on systems loss to its consumers.
And the pass on is no joke – the pass on is in billions of pesos. And not for 1 year but for many years.
MERALCO also passed on to consumers the cost of electricity it used in its offices. Remember, MERALCO is also an electric consumer.
Here in Bohol, Bohol Light is also making a pass on to consumers.
Bohol Light plans to pass on to its consumers the franchise taxes paid to the city and national government.
The electric utility company wants to recover franchise taxes it paid to the national government from 2001 to 2006 and to the city government from 2002 to 2008.
These taxes are Bohol Light’s utang to the government. But it wants the Boholanos to pay for these utangs.
Fair?


Actually, Bohol Light has 3 pending applications with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
One application is to increase its electricity bills in order to recover the costs of franchise taxes.
Another application is for unbundling of rates.
And the latest is of course the recovery of franchise taxes.


Many Boholanos have expressed opposition to the applications filed by Bohol Light.
They are very vocal in their opposition either on the airlanes or in text messages.
But they were nowhere during the time when their presence counted much – during the hearing when ERC commissioners were present.
Fence-sitters?


A gasoline-filling station in Dao and owned by the Ayengs was victimized last week.
Reports say the owners were boarding their vehicle on the way to the bank when the holduppers struck. So effective and so silent was the attack that the helpers did not notice anything amiss that morning.
It was only when the holduppers were already fleeing the scene on board a motorcycle that the helpers were notified by the Ayeng couple.
Too late, they disappeared in the many road arteries leading to Corella town.
And they are probably laughing their way to the market right now using the loot.


Quick and very simple.
Precision all throughout the operation.
Apparently, they knew the ropes of the trade. They must have studied the movement of money long before the actual attack. They learned everything either thru personal surveillance or somebody provided the info.
Yes, somebody from among the helpers could have helped the holduppers.


If the report that there were no security guards hired by the owners despite the fact that this was the second time for the gasoline station to be victimized is true, then, the owners were partly to be blamed. If they were cost-cutting, saving some thousands of pesos in salary in exchange for the presence of armed security guards, then they had it coming.
It was accident waiting to happen.
Though, it does not follow that the presence of security guards would prevent such from happening. But just the same, deterrence works.
The presence of an armed guard whose job is to provide security would deter criminals from committing crime.
Anyway, I hope the owners will now learn a lesson or two.
They can praise the heavens that they came out unscathed, no injuries whatsoever.
They can also live another day to learn the brutal lesson of the past.


I had the opportunity to read through the local papers in Dumaguete during my stay there last week. One item that caught my attention was the news that 3rd district solon Henry Pryde Teves (yes, the same congressman who survived the blast in the Batasan complex last year) vowed to speed up the formation of a lawyers' group that would work for the defense of policemen who face charges in connection with the performance of official duties.
He was reacting to reports that policemen are being harassed by "high-profile" criminals who can afford to hire topnotch lawyers to defend them and at the same time, file administrative charges against the policemen before the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM).
Sounds familiar, right?
Because while Negros Oriental is still forming this lawyers' group, the province of Bohol already has an existing body that performs similar functions, and more.
Indeed, the Legal Assistance for Effective Law Enforcement Program (LAELEP), a joint project of the province of Bohol and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Bohol chapter has long been in the forefront of providing legal and monetary assistance to policemen facing administrative charges while in the performance of duty. Apart from that, LAELEP also provides regular training to policemen-prosecutors so they could adequately perform their prosecutorial duties in their respective municipalities.
During my incumbency as IBP-Bohol president (2005-2007), Governor Erico Aumentado increased the annual budget from P350,000 to P450,000. More than enough to answer the legal fees and 10,000 financial assistance to the policemen.
We even approved a resolution for the purchase of law books (Revised Penal Code 1 and 2) and an annotated book on Criminal Procedure, with an accompanying budget for the purpose, for distribution to the different police stations in the province.
Of course, I am saddened by reports that nothing came out from the resolution, for still unknown reasons.
Yes, we are miles ahead when it comes to providing legal and financial assistance to "harassed" policemen.
And yes, I am also saddened by the fact that there appears some problem when it comes to claims for reimbursement from the IBP-LAELEP on legal fees.
For several times now, claims for reimbursement have been stalled, no budget kuno.
This is very problematic for lawyers who defend policemen before Cebu courts. They spent for transportation and other incidental expenses but time comes for reimbursement and there's none.
I hope the incumbent IBP president can help. More specifically, I hope he is doing something to address this problem.


Another report that attracted my attention was the raid on a cyber den in Bagacay, Dumaguete City that victimized young girls who were made to pose nude before the webcam and beamed worldwide through the internet.
When interviewed, the young victims spun an otherwise familiar story. They were duped by the promise of high-paying and decent job only to be forced to pose nude before the camera for business purposes.
The victims came from poor family. As such, daily survival was always a very critical issue. Came offers of money and the parents reluctantly agreed to part with their young daughters.
But how can you expect high-paying jobs for students who have not yet finished high school or college?
Of course, we are posing this query to parents who still have the chance to ponder on things like these because they have the means and the resources to do so. But we are not referring to parents who can only close their eyes and become practical because there is no other way.
Very unfortunate indeed.
Do we have similar problems in Bohol?
Longcuts hopes there is none. But reality tells us that we will know of such occurrence only when actual raids are conducted. Minus the raid, and minus the information from victims, then there is no way to tell if this problem does or does not exist in Bohol.
More when we return, stay tuned for more. Comments, suggestions, write to salvadiputado@yahoo.com