Action for Economic Reforms (AER)

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman and Public Works Secretary Bayani Fernando beat me to the draw.

Ever since he instituted the new traffic scheme that is now in force
along EDSA and undertook to sweep the vendors off the sidewalks of
Metro Manila, I had been considering writing a column calling for the
lifting of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP). But while I was hemming and hawing about it, Mr. Fernando jumped the gun on me and did it, even if only on a trial basis and with Makati City and, later, Mandaluyong City exempted. He is getting flak for it, though.

In the 1990s, fundamental power sector restructuring swept developing countries around the world. In a workshop held in Bangkok in October 2002, activists from South, Southeast and East Asia shared their country experiences in power reforms.

These are stories with the same plots and progression. They are about increasing the role and power of foreign corporate interest in the provision of a very critical public utility. They start with the
introduction of various schemes for private sector participation in the
early 1990s, such as service contracts, management contracts, concessions and build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts and their
numerous variants.

All over the world, women and men continue to be treated differently at home, at work, and in society at large. Gender inequalities continue to exist and are strongly correlated with poverty in developing countries. As Martha Nussbaum puts it, “When poverty combines with gender inequality, the result is acute failure of central human capabilities.” This picture darkens further when we incorporate vulnerabilities. Poor women with little or no access to social protection are helpless in the face of health crises, economic crises and other risks. The belief that development is a right to which all human beings are entitled makes this failure unacceptable.

The Gospel according to Luke (10:7) says: “The worker is worth his wage.”

But consider a pair of identical twins who go to the same schools, take the same courses, and end up working in the same company. If one twin is stationed, say, at the London office, he is likely to receive a higher compensation package than his brother who reports to the Manila office – even if they are assigned to the same job cell.

If the Gospel speaks the truth, why are workers who are identical in all things except office affiliation paid differently?

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo recently showed Leonardo Montemayor the door and ushered in Cito Lorenzo as the new secretary of Agriculture. So far, 12 men have served as secretary of Agriculture since 1971. Since EDSA1 in 1986, the average period in service of Agriculture secretaries has been a mere 21 months.

The rise of FPJ as a leading presidential contender is phenomenal. Yet, this phenomenon can easily be explained. It has been generally observed that the masses yearn for a messiah in times of crisis and helplessness and in conditions where the elite has lost the capability and the credibility to rule.