A social order based on deception

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
4/15/2005



The finance pirates know that the expansion of the Value Added Tax is anathema to the people, so they are trying every form of deceit to get it. News reports and surveys show that people know its to pay for the fiscal crisis from debts they have no hand in, while government fails to correct the revenue losses due import tariff removal and plugging of tax leaks. Solons and senators know the unacceptability and injustice of additional burdens on the people and a few raise spirited objections, but they turn out to be mostly frauds feigning resistance and scheme to pass on the burden under disguise.

One new tax raising is removal of the IPP’s VAT exemption. Each percent of tax on this sector could raise P 1.6-B since their total sales are around P 160-B. A ten percent VAT on them would raise P 16-B. My criticism is this, because of the IPP’s unbelievable windfall profits from their PPA they could actually be taxed up to 50% and still be profiting handsomely. There is, however, a problem and the solons know this and that is why even “conscientious” senators limit their call for removal of VAT exemptions from the IPPs. They can’t deliver on their promised “no pass on” provision.

It turns out that the Senator’s bill proposing that IPPs be prohibited from passing on the VAT only if it is residential consumers involved, but the pass on will still be allowed for commercial and industrial consumers. That is ridiculous if the bill was intended to protect the vast majority of electricity users from increased rates. The IPP’s VAT payments will still be reimbursed by consumers through purchases of goods and service from commercial and industrial establishment that will be paying the IPP’s VAT! What do those senators think of the public, stupid?

The legislators’ problem is that the Ramos IPP contracts contain guarantees that taxes will not be imposed on them. Challenging the guarantees would bring down the might of Western political and Big Business interests on the heads of these legislators. The simple fact is, even if some of the senators occasionally pretend to stand up to foreign interest they actually do not have the wisdom, the courage, the political will to do hang tough for the welfare of the people. Malacañang, of course, does not even pretend to show even a modicum of shame in showing its enslavement to foreign interests.

Malacañang is at least honest that it is absolutely the slave of its International Board of Advisers coddling these IPPs - led by the racketeer Maurice “Hank” Greenberg who’s AIG credit rating may be reduced to junk bond when the U.S. SEC finds more frauds now amounting to $ 1.7-B. The senators, particularly Joker Arroyo and some so-called opposition men, pretend to fight for the people but in reality are the same obsequious dogs with a different collar. They have proven this obsequiousness by passing the deceitful “no pass on” bill that does nothing to save the public from further taxes.

The new VAT bills are a powerful deceptions that legislators have crafted with Malacañang and the oligarchy-controlled media. None has been more blatantly deceiving than the Manila Sub-Standard Today (MST), the merger of otherwise excellent newspaper Today and that society tabloid masquerading as a newspaper Manila Standard. It headlined that Pulse survey said, “68% for VAT” which was an unashamed lie. As Ducky Paredes of Malaya correctly said, that was the Pinoy saying OK “kapag pumuti na ang uwak”; that is, VAT is OK when hell freezes over.

Pulse Asia said that the Pinoys conditions for more VAT are that corruption be eliminated and tax leakages be plugged first. As we all know, those are not conditions that can be met today. Yet, Manila Sub-standard Today deliberately distorted the Pulse Asia information. MST owner Razon, an oligarch himself and Arroyo crony, obviously ordered that distortion. We cannot let this pass without criticism; hence, we name the paper here. No wonder, the quality journalists there like Chuchay Fernandez have left the paper.

Establishment newspapers Inquirer and Philstar were as “distortionist” of Susan Roces’ reaction to the Supreme Court’s on FPJ’s electoral petition. The papers made it appear Susan accepted the decision. Ellen Tordesillas of Malaya puts it correctly: " ‘The Honorable Tribunal …chose NOT to, and instead, and oddly, opted to take the simple and easy way out by deciding to go technical… such washing of hands and easy way out could easily serve as the very fuse for a continuing instability.’ Roces' statement is a warning.” As I wind up this column Susan Roces is at the Club Filipino to tell it as it is.

Our society is one ruled by an oligarchy that needs to constantly deceive the people to control its government and its powers to exploit the nation’s wealth. Never mind if they impoverish the people in the process, the poor people can turn to religion anyway. This became even truer after Edsa Dos, an event that is demonstrably built on deceptions like Clarissa Ocampo’s lie constructed by Makati Business Club gofer Dick Romulo on Jose Velarde’s account that now has been incontrovertibly debunked by Equitable Bank’s VP Beatrice Bagsit. The people, however, have shown that they are not fooled.

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