What the??

nash on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 2:58 pm 



that’s just horrible! i hope you contest it. i think one time my mother refused to collect a parcel from the post office due to the seemingly high and arbitrary charges. eventually, the postal people made a ‘recomputation’ then said ‘ay sorry, mali pala’.

markmomukhamo on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 3:51 pm 



raket…when I was there I tried sending something from Manila to the US via the post office there – it costs more than what I was trying to send. My dad sent over something much heavier and it cost him *less*. This was at a different branch of the post office.

Anyway, next time try Johnny Air or a service which accepts a foreign address as the delivery address. The carrier usually foots the tax and bills you when you pick it up/gets delivered to you.

markmomukhamo on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 3:53 pm 



oh and some countries would even give you a discount if you’re sending books and publications via mail. Dyan kasi iniisip pa rin nila na ‘bisyo’ ang magbasa.

BrianB on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 4:18 pm 



Kaya hindi na ako bumibili sa eBay. Pati single-purchase electronics nilalagyan nang duty nang customs.

BrianB on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 4:34 pm 



But where do i go to get informed and discuss the most pressing issues of the day?

Jen on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 4:37 pm 



i used to order books online and i used to claim them at the makati post office. i never experienced any problems. sa qc post office yung hassle. they tried to charge me vat dati pero i told them how come in makati pag books tax free.

i think arbitrary na yung charging nila. kung makakalusot sila, swerte. apparently post office people don’t know which items are taxable and which aren’t. olats

number cruncher on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 5:56 pm 



Yup, I think this is an ongoing racket in the post office; a friend once picked up a package from the post office and when charged with “VAT”, she raised such a ruckus that they released the package without her paying the “VAT!”

If it were the real VAT, the post office clerks wouldn’t have released the book, since the clerks would have to answer to upper management if there was a shortage in official collections. Since the clerks were willing to let her go, it probably was an “unofficial” collection.

I had a similar experience with the MMDA, but I’ll just post that in my blog another time… Hehehe!

number cruncher on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 6:08 pm 



Hmm, were you issued an OR to release the book? If there was an OR issued, you have an official documentation as basis to contest the VAT application.

AdB on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 6:37 pm 



Not surprised. Happened to my sis when I sent her 2nd hand books to give to Mom who was then in hospital.

The Philippine post office has always been in the racket business. One would like to think that with millions of Filipinos abroad, this is one agency that should be making a killing very legitmately. But heck, no, because it’s still one of the most distrusted service agencies in the Philippines. In the end, what happens? They have to make money through official racketeering.

Paul on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 6:42 pm 



The statutory authority granting the VAT-exempt status of books imported into the Philippines may be found in Section 109(y) of the National Internal Revenue Code.

nash on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 8:07 pm 



It’s definitely a racket manolo as I checked my diary and received a book from Australia Amazon to Baguio via the post and was not VAT taxed for it.

And I sent an entire balikbayan box of nothing but books but only paid for the cost of shipping. There was no tax tax eklat.

Niloloko tayo ng post office!

nash on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 8:12 pm 



@aDB

tama ka. I worked for Royal Mail during the Christmas rush season and although kumonti na ang traditional mail (cards, sulat) because people send emails now the business has moved to shifting Amazon and Ebay items. Without it, hindi kikita and Royal Mail.

The Philpost has a really bad PR dahil na rin sa kagaguhan ng iba (hindi lahat) nilang empleyado kaya ayan, the business is going to Aboitiz or LBC. Kahit na nga Fedex and DHL are sometimes cheaper, and for the extra premium you get more security with your parcels.

They really should shake up that agency. It’s a disgrace.

jcc on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 8:28 pm 



so philpost employees have metamorphosed from direct pilfering of boxes and mail to “legalize” banditry by unofficial taxation.

Carl on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 9:16 pm 



Books are non-VATable. But it’s not exempt from other import duties.

Post office assessors would often assume all packages as VAT-able as they are wont to read through every package description that come their way. So always challenge the tax assessment if you’ve bought books from abroad.

I’ve shipped some of my old clothes from Manila to London and got slapped with import duties when the package arrived. So these import duties may seem highway robbery but it’s not something the Philippines has monopoly of.

supremo on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 9:20 pm 



You should have ship it yourself and declared a value of zero.

UP n grad on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 9:44 pm 



Hindi ba common saying — duruan lang iyan. If you argue with self-confidence against an uninformed, the odds are that you will win.

nash on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 10:22 pm 



@supremo

eh di kung sinabi mong Zero eh di binabato bato nalang ng mail sorter ‘tutal zero value’ naman eh



supremo on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 10:57 pm 



nash,

I got the tip from a guy who works at USPS.

Amadeo on Tue, 23rd Sep 2008 11:57 pm 



What, no Fil balikbayan box freight forwarders in UK or the entire Europe? If not, how quaint.

For $75 dollars here (including far-flung provinces), one gets the following: a 20×20x20 box free (big enough to fit an adult), weight unlimited, picked up from your house, delivered to your addressee door-to-door. And in your eager hands in 30 days or so. No post office, no customs, no insurance costs, etc. HiHiHi.

supremo on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 12:16 am 



‘What, no Fil balikbayan box freight forwarders in UK or the entire Europe?’

It’s balikbayan box season again. It’s time to hit the outlet malls and fill in those boxes.

akosistella on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 12:31 am 



Manolo: importation of books are exempt from E-VAT. Here’s the relevant provision of R.A. 9337 (EVAT law)

“SEC. 109. Exempt Transactions. – (1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) hereof, the following transactions shall be exempt from the value-added tax:

“(R) Sale, importation, printing or publication of books and any newspaper, magazine, review or bulletin which appears at regular intervals with fixed prices for subscription and sale and which is not devoted principally to the publication of paid advertisements;

Source: http://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2005/ra_9337_2005.html

Hope this clarifies.

Pedestrian Observer GB on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 2:24 am 



Looks like you’ve been had or the “genius” you dealt with interpreted the “taxation” based on his/her “understanding” of how much you can afford, lol.

The Philippine is really a strange place with strange tax laws, they even tax calendars sent by foreign firms to their representatives there so I am not surprised if they charge taxes and duties on your books even though it is not in the books, hehehe.

supersepoy on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 4:29 am 



Hahaha. What’s funny is they even tax their own charges.

jhay on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 6:01 am 



Had a similar problem way back in high school about my copy of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species which was bought by my grandpa in Italy as a gift. I was almost unable to leave the Post Office because with the book because it almost cost as much as a whole set of Encyclopedia Britannica by the time they gave me an invoice!

Thank goodness a teacher was there to help me wrangle, I mean reason out with the clerk and yes, they ran the numbers again and the fees were cut in half.

Karlo on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 6:26 am 



That things like this happen is really sad. Did you really pay the inappropriate additional charges in the end?

hvrds on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 6:30 am 



Off topic but related to the power of blogs that have linkages to mainstream media.

The Chairman of the Board of CITIGROUP is Sir Win Bishoff.

The Chief Executive Officer of CITIGROUP is Vikram Pandit.

It is sad that mainstream media simply prints goverment handouts without fact checking.

William Rhodes does have an honorary title but not of Citigroup. Citibank merged with other institutions to become Citigroup. There is actually no more Citibank..Rhodes ia a respected commercial banker who had participated in the bail out of countries during the volatile 80’s. Then Citibank had lent loans to contries and had become seriously impaired due to those soured loans. The IMF -WB bailed out Citibank then to the detriment of the Philippines and other emerging markets. Rafael Buenaventura then was Citi’s man in the Philippines. He eventually became CB governor and before that participated in the bankruptcy of PCI Bank which was bailed out by the infamous Equitable-SSS rescue/buyout under Erap.

How little things have changed..

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080924-162508/Citibank-head-briefs-Arroyo-on-US-crisis-fallout-on-RP

By Fe Zamora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:42:00 09/24/2008
NEW YORK—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo received “insights and inside stories” about the US economic crisis during a 45-minute meeting on Monday with Bill Rhodes, chief executive officer of CITI group that includes Citibank, one of the largest foreign banks operating in the Philippines

Rodolfo on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 10:31 am 



Send the BIR tax-question to : contact_us@cctr.bir.gov.ph

Rob' Ramos on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 2:23 pm 



A friend suffered the same fate, MLQ, and we were both surprised that the Post Office (this was in Makati, too) charged her for them.

In her case, it wasn’t even purchased from a bookseller abroad. She’s a member of this org of readers who exchange books. Basically, it was as if your relative abroad snail mailed you books you wanted. Yet she was being charged for customs duties for them.

Even worse, a bit of harassment and intimidation happened, courtesy of the Post Office employees.

marck on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 4:12 pm 



manolo: book sale.

but that much on thinks like stamps? something’s amiss.

Nonoy Oplas on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 5:53 pm 



Multiple taxation is a standard racket by a number of government agencies, especially the BIR and BOC.

Slapping a VAT on other taxes — a tax on a tax — is definitely a racket. Big taxes for a big and bloated government.

BrianB on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 5:55 pm 



Nonoy is a diehard republican. Bloated government? It’s corrupt but I wouldn’t say it’s bloated.

ange on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 5:56 pm 



Right! I think it’s a Philpost racket. As a member of an international academic organization, I am supposed to receive copies of academic journals on a regular basis, which I did in the early years, when they coursed the parcel through Royal Mail. When they changed the process around two years back, I did not receive most of my journals! Not only that, when I wrote and got extra copies from the publisher which they sent via Philpost, I had to pay P35 for them, and then the girl at the claims counter dared to ask the value of the 3 issues of the journal! She claimed that they are taxable, when I told her they were academic journals and are exempted, she denied this to be so then waved me away in a condescending fashion! That happened November 2007 at the QC Philpost, the one near the National Printing Office. Till now, i still am getting these on an irregular basis–around 1-2 issues annually, when they should be arriving monthly! I guess brazen corruption is a staple in Philippine life

tiara on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 9:21 pm 



hi! I had the same problem last year, now, I opt to wait for friends bring the books and cds here for me, or if may balikbayan box pinapasali ko na lang.

Carl on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 9:43 pm 



Off topic, but on to the question in a previous thread regarding exposure of local insurance companies to US companies that got into trouble last week.

The comment was that PhilAm is coy when asked about its asset holdings. Yes, but you just have to do your research.

All Phil insurance companies are required by the Insurance Commission to submit Annual Statements every 15th of April. One of the Schedules require full disclosure of assets held by the company. These annual statements are public documents and a copy can be requested from the Research and Statistics Division of the Insurance Commission in UN Ave.

Unlike banks, the local insurance industry is stringently regulated, thanks to the outmoded and protectionist Insurance Code which has not been updated since Marcos era. Off-shore investments are expressly forbidden or capped to a very small amount that no company ever bothers.

Hence it is highly unlikely that local PhilAm policyholders will ever be affected by AIG Inc’s liquidity problem. Overly stringent rules in measurement of policyholder liabilities, coupled with a risk-based approach to meeting capital, will hardly create any excess assets to repatriate back to the mother company.

cvj on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 10:07 pm 



Carl, that’s useful info, thanks. Does the Insurance Code apply to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)?

Carl on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 10:07 pm 



Consider this:

When a taxpayer
– declares zero value for a shipping item to avoid import duty
– declares less income when paying for CEDULA
– declares less property value when paying real estate tax

why aren’t we as rabid in destroying them as we do with lowly post office employees? When for all we know, they are charging those VAT just simply out of incompetence and laziness to scrutinize the package contents? They remit those taxes to the government anyway unless you’re stupid enough not to ask for a receipt.

The next time you get an unfair assessment of VAT or other duties, challenge it. Don’t huff and puff like the whole system is rotten.

Master Yoda on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 10:14 pm 



It will be good to know how BookSale and other used books stores bring in the second-hand books they sell all over the country. I suppose most of the books are from the United States and shipped via balikbayan cargo. There’s no VAT at the point of sale.

BookSale is quite popular not only to students but also to professionals. If you look hard enough you’ll find a good buy. National and PowerBooks have complained, I believe.

Carl on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 10:24 pm 



cvj – unfortunately not. SSS & GSIS have separate charters.

But being public institutions and their being under the President, Congress should have oversight powers on them. Hence if the public wants certain disclosures like say the nature of their assets and off-shore investments, Congress can compel these institutions to do so.

cvj on Wed, 24th Sep 2008 10:32 pm 



Thanks Carl. I hope such oversight powers will not be trumped by Executive Privilege again.

anthony scalia on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 2:46 am 



Carl,

i don’t think the SSS and the GSIS are under the President. they’re (supposed to be) independent. their presidents have fixed terms, and actually they’re tenured for the term. for practical purposes na din, at para di masabing kapit sa puwesto, their presidents resign at the ’slightest suggestion’

so they cannot claim executive privilege if Congress wants to investigate their investment portfolios. the presidents of SSS and GSIS are not part of the President’s family (not her alter egos), unlike Neri when he was still with NEDA

UP n grad on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 4:38 am 



side-topic (sorry): McCain versus Obama

I am really getting to distrust the ability of McCain to understand the priorities. He now says he wants to skip the Friday presidential debate because he claims he is needed in Washington DC to help Bush get the $700B bail-out package.

McCain’s key job right now is to see through this process of the November-2008 US presidential elections. This means the debate must go on.

“It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration’s proposal,” McCain said. “I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.”

McCain said he has spoken to Obama about his plans and asked the Democratic presidential nominee to join him.


Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid issued a statement saying the debate should go on because “we need leadership, not a campaign photo op.”

The University of Mississippi said it was going forward with preparation for the debate in Oxford. “We are ready to host the debate, and we expect the debate to occur as planned,” the school said, adding that it had received no notification of any change in the timing or venue.


mlq3 on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 5:01 am 



Word is, but not yet on paper so haven’t updated my entry, is that books are exempt from EVAT and that customs duties on books were abolished as part of the provisions of the National Book Development Board Act.

But it seems a combination of not having received the appropriate memo and BIR having to meet quotas means people who get books are getting illegally taxed.

mlq3 on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 5:04 am 



Carl, the package was opened and as with all the packages mailed by the bookstores for their customers, it includes a copy of the receipt.

BrianB on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 5:44 am 



Even notebooks are being taxed, geez!

hvrds on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 9:49 am 



“Hence it is highly unlikely that local PhilAm policyholders will ever be affected by AIG Inc’s liquidity problem. Overly stringent rules in measurement of policyholder liabilities, coupled with a risk-based approach to meeting capital, will hardly create any excess assets to repatriate back to the mother company.”

Partly true. Life insurance companies are required to meet contingencies in normal times. Profits from the operations of Philam Life are remitted normally to the mother company. Probably an offhshore based company owned by AIG. Assets are not remitted..

Actuarial estimates are used to determine the size of the liquid reserves. Hence investments must in highly liquid low risk form of simple derivatives. Please note that currency, bonds, shares of stock are all simple derivatives.

AIG’s life insurance business in the U.S. is also secure. In a bankruptcy procedure the good assets will be spun off while the bad will be the subject of apportioning the residual value amongst claimants together with the proceeds of the sale of the good assets after the main creditor , the U.S. government is paid.

AIG’s still profitable business models will be absorbed by some other company or a new one will be created.

The same thing is going on with Lehman..
However in Lehmans case we now know that the so called SPAV program to allow new investments to come in to buy distressed assets of banks was nothing but a scam.

Once again these so called white knights came in with limited capital and borrowed money from the same banking sector that they were supposed to recapitalize.

The BSP governor should change his name from Rey ‘magician’ Tetangco to Rey ‘tulisan’Tetangco.

Carl on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 6:12 pm 



Ok here we go again arguing about small things that don’t matter…

When I say “assets are remitted to the mother company”, I mean cash which is an asset. It’s cash from operating and investment profit.

AIG’s case at least initially is different from Lehman’s, as AIG’s problem is liquidity, not solvency. Claims from its CDO guarantees cannot be funded fast enough because of the unravelling credit situation.

“AIG’s still profitable business models will be absorbed by some other company or a new one will be created. ”

Highly unlikely. The $85bn revolving credit facility will enable the company to ride out its liquidity problem. The AIG brand will still be there.

Carl on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 6:24 pm 



i don’t think the SSS and the GSIS are under the President. they’re (supposed to be) independent. — Anthony Scalia

They are. SSS contributions are a form of taxation. That’s why the SSS board has to secure President’s approval when contributions and benefits are increased. But unlike any other forms of taxes, SSS contributions do not need to be enacted by Congress.

The fact that public pension systems are affected by politics is not unique to the Philippines. The US has the same problem when politicians routinely increase benefits without increasing contributions to gain public support especially in times when politicians need it most.

broker on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 8:51 pm 



by the way na aliw ako sa topic eto. Pero para maging malinaw po ang lahat at upang maunawaan ng nakakarami at nang sa gayon ay magkaroon narin kayo ng idea patungkol sa pag-aangkat ng ng libro.
Una ako po’y magpakilala muna ngunit hndi ko na ilalagay aking pngalan baka mapag-initan pa hmm… ako’y isang licensed customs broker at nag practice as profession at ng trabaho narin sa maraming forwarding / logistics company for more than two years.
Sa kahit anong importation / pagaangkat mahalaga na kumuha tayo ng isang broker upang mapagaan, mapadali at maiwasto ang assesment para sa pagbabayad ng buwis.

Ayon sa assesment na iyong ibinigay dito wala akong nakikitang mali sa panig gobyerno dahil nasa batas naman ang pagpapataw ng gugulin at buwis sa bawat at lahat at kalakal ng ating ina-angkat yan ang general rule ng tariff & customs laws.

Exemption ay mababasa mo TCCP Vol.1 Sec. 105 – conditionally free importation ( sub-section (s). Philosophical, historical, economic, scientific, technical and vocational books specially imported for the bona fide use and by the order of any society or institution, incorporated or established solely for philosophical, educational, scientific, charitable or literary purposes, or for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for the bona fide use of and by the order of any institution of learning in the Philippines: Provided, That the provisions of this subsection shall apply to books not exceeding two copies of any one work when imported by any individual for his own use, and not for barter, sale or hire.

Bibles, missals, prayerbooks, koran, ahadith and other religious books of similar nature and extracts therefrom, hymnal and hymns for religious uses, specially prepared books, music and other instrumental aids for the deaf, mute or blind, and textbooks prescribed for use in any school in the Philippines: Provided, That complete books published in parts in periodical form shall not be classified herein.

Ang sa BIR naman ay ibang batas naman para sa doon. kong meron kang itatanong o anu man maaring ma email ka. Sanay makatulong ang aking minsahe sa lahat at ng sa sunod kao ay mag-angkat muli wala ng doubt. mabuhay

supremo on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 11:00 pm 



mlq3,

What is the best of way of sending you books from your Amazon wishlist?

anthony scalia on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 12:44 am 



Carl,

“They are.”

no they aren’t

“SSS contributions are a form of taxation.”

no they aren’t

“That’s why the SSS board has to secure President’s approval when contributions and benefits are increased.”

that is because the SSS charter gave the president the power to do that, but that in itself does not make the SSS President the Malacañang resident’s alter ego

“But unlike any other forms of taxes, SSS contributions do not need to be enacted by Congress.”

no, Congress can. it has plenary powers in law-making

BrianB on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 4:08 am 



Anyone has any thoughts on Villar? is he out?

hvrds on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 5:36 am 



“Highly unlikely. The $85bn revolving credit facility will enable the company to ride out its liquidity problem. The AIG brand will still be there.”

AIG brand is one thing but the insurance holding corporation is another…NY state lawmakers are already crafting legislation to require insurance companies to install reserves for CDO’s.

The CDO’s that AIG issued all had trigger clauses based on the equity postion of AIG. Hence the need to constantly raise funds . As long as the underlying asset continues to lose value the CDO’s will require addtional equity to be infused.

Hence the Federal government would like to utilize a one shot shock and awe to the markets to attempt to stablize the irrational depression that is leading to market collapse. Irrational exhuberance led to the bubble but that is now reversing simply because the underlying asset values continue to deflate.

There is an old saying by Keynes, markets may remain irrational longer that you may remain solvent.

Hence the illiquidity probelm which is very fluid now heading downward which will result eventually in insolvency. The Fed and the treasury are desperately trying to command the psychological tidal wave to turn completely around.

The basic problem remains -what is the price of these CDO’s which is tied to many other derivatives.

Bernanke said it very succinctly. The government would like to pay a better price for these CDO’s to recapitalize the valuations on banks books. The markets then probably would react to that price floor to be set by the government. That means banks who have these instruments on their books will have to price these assets to the price set by the govenrment purchase of these instruments.

That is the biggest known unknown of this entire exercise.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160780?GT1=43002

“Love it or hate it, the true cost of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s proposed rescue of the financial system is not the sticker price of $700 billion. Conceivably, the government could make money; with glum assumptions, the losses would probably be less than $250 billion. No one knows the correct answer — not Paulson, not Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke nor anyone else — but here’s how to think about the problem.”

“Under Paulson’s proposal, the Treasury could buy distressed mortgage-backed securities. Consider a batch of hypothetical securities originally worth $100 million and paying an interest rate of 6 percent. They’re no longer worth $100 million because half of the homeowners have stopped making their monthly payments. Suppose, then, that the government buys the mortgages for $50 million. It earns 6 percent on its $50 million, and if it borrowed money at 4 percent to buy the securities, it would make a tidy profit. If the government holds the securities until maturity and all the remaining homeowners repay their mortgages, the government would come out ahead.”

“Would something like this happen? It could, and Pimco’s Bill Gross argued in the Washington Post that it might, but there are several reasons it might not.”Robert Samuelson

Also please note here in the Philippines non-life insurance products are very weakly regulated by the Insurance Commission. The case of auto insurance liability polcies and bonds sold by companies for deffered customs duties. Most of these companies do not have adequate equity for the policies they issue. They in fact sell these to reinsurance companies which is an even bigger scam.

Why do you think the time element is so critical in getting a mechanism in place to set a price for these instruments??? This is a form of price control mechanism being imposed by the state.

hvrds on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 5:43 am 



Taxes are forced confiscation of private property.
SSS/GSIS,Pag-Ibig, Philhealth are called entitlement taxes. They are managed by the state. They are called conrtributions but they are impositions by state fiat.

You have excise taxes, stamp taxes, duties, consumption tax,income tax and payroll tax or entitlement taxes estate tax,capital gains tax etc.

Even the coconut levy was a tax.

hvrds on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 5:48 am 



A perfect example of a CDO being sold and bought by BDO and Mega World.

BDO in turn will sell that to a third party …

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/09/25/08/megaworld-bdo-sign-p5-b-financing-deal

Megaworld, BDO sign P5-B financing deal

——————————————————————————–

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/25/2008 4:17 PM

“Megaworld Corp. told the local bourse on Thursday it has signed a P5-billion financing deal with Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO) that will allow it to sell receivables from previous property sales and provide easy credit for its new buyers”

leytenian on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 6:09 am 



Analyzing the problem at the bottom, homeowners should be allowed to refinance their loans at current market value. Here’s an article why I will answer yes to this question:
Should Congress fund a homeowners’ refinance program after the bailout?

“while lawmakers (and no doubt taxpayers) do not want to reward housing speculators, there’s a large pool of borrowers who will be able to pay their mortgages if they can get out of high interest rate notes, and other burdensome adjustable rate mortgages, and refinance at a low, 30-year fixed rate.

But one argues that:

Under the free market, winners are rewarded and losers are punished — a mechanism that reinforces individual financial discipline and encourages citizens to make wise and correct choices. It also leads to a fitter and stronger society, market absolutists argue, and weeds out the less fit. Quite literally, it’s economic and social Darwinism, a survival-of-the-fittest contest that leads to a stronger society.”

Housing Sector / Economic Analysis: Keeping more homeowners in their homes would not only be a step in the right direction concerning home prices, it would also stimulate the U.S. economy. That’s because citizens who own homes don’t just live in them; they buy furniture, appliances and undertake maintenance — all spin-off sectors that would also benefit from fewer foreclosures. Hence, in the final analysis, the view from here argues that the benefits of home ownership expansion far outweigh its costs.”

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/09/24/should-congress-fund-a-homeowners-refinance-program-after-the-b/

leytenian on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 6:30 am 



“Megaworld Corp. told the local bourse on Thursday it has signed a P5-billion financing deal with Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO) that will allow it to sell receivables from previous property sales and provide easy credit for its new buyers””

the question would be, who will be the new buyers? consumer confidence continue to fall at its lowest level. what about the rising unemployment? How does a real estate business advertise and market it’s Philippine housing products to OF, OFW’s if those OFW’s confidence in the market have also fell? Is the down payment affordable and rent will cover the costs? If new buyers will enter the market , how are they going to sustain to pay if stability of income is unknown. If new investors will enter the market, how can it sustain if ROI is negative due to rental average is below normal rate due to unemployment? Real estate may not be a good investment in the Philippines for now. It’s economy relies on mother america.

On the positive side, friends from Philippines are emailing me that their nieces and nephews are now being interviewed at the embassy for Visa approval ( majority are nurses and therapists)… hmmnnn.. sounds good to me.

leytenian on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 6:47 am 



To Manolo on Books:

Only a suggestion: Create a non profit entity. Register thru SEC with two other members. A goal and Mission must be clear and full disclosure of intentions must be included in your request of incorporation.

This is the only way that books donated to your entity are exempt to whatever tax you paid. Who knows you might be able to attract many donators who need an honest person like you to distribute their donated books around the Philippines. Just a suggestion. Of course , after reading the books, it will not be for sale unless the proceeds are donated to another non profit entity or a public library. I know you are so busy but with your networks , this will be an easy delagation of task to others. Just in case, you like this idea for humanitarian purposes, please blog new project here and hopefully, everyone will input their ideas.

sincerely

hvrds on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 10:52 am 



“Analyzing the problem at the bottom, homeowners should be allowed to refinance their loans at current market value. Here’s an article why I will answer yes to this question:” Once again another prime example of illiteracy…

There is no such thing as fair market value in a marketplace that is deflating……There are almost no buyers and so so so many sellers….

God help the stupid…

Jose on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 11:12 am 



Nabanggit na din lamang ang PhilPost, I was kindda ashamed because while I was dropping a mail at the United States Postal Service I overheard of the clerks there discouraging one person to send an “insured” package “to the Philippines”. An insurance is an indemnity for a possible loss. However, the probability of such event is slim somehow. Pero nung narinig ko yung clerk, naiisip ko na ang loss of package sa Pinas is not a possibility but a reality.

nash on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 5:10 pm 



“Anyone has any thoughts on Villar? is he out?”

Out? I thought he was inserting.

leytenian on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 7:20 pm 



hvrds,

Should Congress fund a homeowners’ refinance program after the bailout?

you mean to say that the economist is stupid for writing the article leaning favor towards the homeowners to refinance?
and you are always correct.?
I thought you don’t like the rich to make money from the bail-out?

Name Calling is a sign of insecurity.

leytenian on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 7:45 pm 



Hillary had a very good proposal in 2007 on home crisis. This will also explain that HVRDS is not always right.

Hillary’s proposal helping the home owners to avoid foreclosures. Dec 2007.

“Hillary will challenge lenders and financial institutions to take three immediate steps today: 1) Voluntarily support a moratorium of at least 90 days on home foreclosures; 2) freeze the fluctuating rates on subprime loans for at least 5 years until they can be converted into fixed rate, affordable loans; 3) Require regular status reports on the progress they’re making in converting unworkable mortgages into loans families can afford so we have real accountability.

Hillary is proposing a comprehensive work out – not a bail out – that would end the foreclosure crisis. If Wall Street refuses to act, Hillary will propose legislation to tackle the problems in the housing market head on.

As we see growing economic challenges – from the housing crisis to rising energy costs– it’s clear that we need a leader with Hillary Clinton’s strength and experience to create the change America needs. Hillary has proposed allocating up to $5 billion in immediate assistance to help communities and distressed homeowners weather the foreclosure crisis, and called for $1 billion in emergency energy assistance for families facing skyrocketing heating bills this winter”

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=4530

FORECLOSURE MORATORIUM: Hillary will call for a moratorium on home foreclosures of at least 90 days so that a rate freeze can take effect and at-risk homeowners can get financial counseling to help them transition to affordable loans.

FREEZE ADJUSTABLE RATE LOANS: The rate freeze must last at least 5 years, or until subprime mortgages have been converted into affordable loans. A typical subprime adjustable rate loan is raising monthly payments by 30% to 40% for many families, causing a wave of housing defaults across the country.

REQUIRE ACCOUNTABILITY: Hillary will ask for regular status reports on the progress Wall Street is making in converting unworkable mortgages into loans families can afford

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=4530

supremo on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 9:52 pm 



‘Two sources with knowledge of the situation but not allowed to speak of it publicly said there was a knock on the door and Paulson, who helped devise the administration’s plan, asked to come in.

Paulson then pleaded with the Democrats not to blow up the deal by criticizing the House Republicans. The Democrats countered that they had been working with Paulson all week amid criticism of the plan from their own party and constituents.

Paulson repeated his plea that they not do anything that would spook the financial markets Friday morning and genuflected in front of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” the speaker quipped.’\

The vultures are hovering above. Chase just bought WaMu’s banking operations for less than $2B. That’s cheap. Buffett got into Goldman Sachs for a song. Barclays got an instant US operations overnight. These cheap takeovers will not stop until there is a bailout of the US financial industry.

Carl on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 10:34 pm 



Can you imagine if the same thing happens to the Philippines, and we ask the help of the IMF for a bail out? I’m sure IMF would have told us to stop any further government spending and balance that budget or else f*ck off.

But that’s exactly the opposite of what the U.S. government is doing to respond to this crisis. The bailouts will increase public debt.

I’m wondering if Washington realizes their hypocrisy? Hopefully with this crisis the world will realize it.

I am not against the bail out. It just makes me angry that we’re being used to swallow a bitter pill by the IMF everytime we need them and now that it’s time for them to swallow the same pill, they are now saying that the pill is ineffective.

supremo on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 10:54 pm 



Bailout Philippine style.

‘When Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986, P31 billion, slightly more than 25 percent of the government’s budget, was allocated to public sector enterprises–government-owned or government-controlled corporations–in the form of equity infusions, subsidies, and loans. Aquino also found it necessary to write off P130 billion in bad loans granted by the government’s two major financial institutions, the Philippine National Bank and the Development Bank of the Philippines, “to those who held positions of power and conflicting interest under Marcos.” The proliferation of inefficient and unprofitable public sector enterprises and bad loans held by the Philippine National Bank, the Development Bank of the Philippines, and other government entities, was a heavy legacy of the Marcos years.
Burdened with 296 public sector enterprises, plus 399 other nonperforming assets transferred to the government by the Philippine National Bank and the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Aquino administration established the Asset Privatization Trust in 1986 to dispose of government-owned and government-controlled properties. By early 1991, the Asset Privatization Trust had sold 230 assets with net proceeds of P14.3 billion. Another seventy-four public sector enterprises that were created with direct government investment were put up for sale; fifty-seven enterprises were sold wholly or in part for a total of about P6 billion. The government designated that about 30 percent of the original public sector enterprises be retained and expected to abolish another 20 percent. There was widespread controversy over the fairness of the divestment procedure and its potential to contribute to an even greater concentration of economic power in the hands of a few wealthy families.’

supremo on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 10:58 pm 



Another bailout Philippine style.

‘The Special Purpose Vehicle Act of 2002 or R.A. 9182 sets out the legal, regulatory and taxation framework for banks and other financial institutions to sell non-performing and acquired assets. The law aims to help institutions securitize their assets by granting tax incentives to asset management companies or special purpose vehicles.’

Carl on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 11:01 pm 



Anthony Scalia — to be honest I’m not very knowledgeable of the SSS/GSIS charter.

But I’m very sure that any increase to SSS contributions does not need Congressional approval, because the last time SSS increased contributions which was during the time of Corazon de la Paz, a friend of mine was actually in the committee and I recall they only needed the President’s approval to effect the increase.

I’m also very sure that MANDATORY pension and health contributions like SSS and Philhealth are forms of taxes. In fact in Canada, the US and the UK they really call a spade a spade: pension tax, health tax, etc.

PSI on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 11:32 pm 



“Another bailout Philippine style. ‘The Special Purpose Vehicle Act of 2002 or R.A. 9182 ”

The Philippine SPAVs were just replicas of the shell companies established by the U.S. investment banks in Cayman islands, Bahamas, in order to protect their balance sheets after issuing the odious CDOs to cover the sub-prime mortgages.

And guess who were advising the Department of Finance and Central Bank: JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, UBS and Lehman Brothers.

Need you doubt?

cvj on Fri, 26th Sep 2008 11:53 pm 



Carl (at 10:34pm), precisely what happened in 1983 under Jobo Fernandez and Cesar Virata. We haven’t completely recovered from that yet.

anthony scalia on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 12:19 am 



Carl,

“But I’m very sure that any increase to SSS contributions does not need Congressional approval, because the last time SSS increased contributions which was during the time of Corazon de la Paz, a friend of mine was actually in the committee and I recall they only needed the President’s approval to effect the increase.”

yes and no

yes because Congress can always amend the SSS charter

no because the SSS charter gives the President the authority to effect the increase

“I’m also very sure that MANDATORY pension and health contributions like SSS and Philhealth are forms of taxes. In fact in Canada, the US and the UK they really call a spade a spade: pension tax, health tax, etc.”

In the US, Canada and the UK a pension tax is a tax on the pension received by the pensioner, the health tax is probably like a VAT on moneys paid to health care professionals. So yes, a spade is called a spade there

What is MANDATORY is the contribution to the pension fund (SSS and GSIS) which ultimately will redound to the contributor’s benefit. Put differently, its a form of forced savings, the SSS/GSIS holds in trust for the contributor. A tax does not do that

supremo on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 12:29 am 



‘Can you imagine if the same thing happens to the Philippines, and we ask the help of the IMF for a bail out? I’m sure IMF would have told us to stop any further government spending and balance that budget or else f*ck off.’

There is a difference.

The US will issue treasury notes to fund the bailout. Still a loan but behind it is the biggest economy at $12 T. The Philippines can also issue treasury notes to fund a similar bailout. But who will buy several billion dollars of treasury notes in one blow if it is backed by a puny $360 B economy? The alternative is to go to the IMF or World Bank and swallow their bitter pill.

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 12:42 am 



Yup, in the USA-dominated system, might is right.

supremo on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 12:58 am 



Even in the Philippines, might is right.

If Henry Sy issues a bond, people will line up to buy it. If CVJ issues a bond, will someone even show up? Probably not. The best alternative is to go to Banco De Oro and get a loan.

supremo on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 1:02 am 



‘What is MANDATORY is the contribution to the pension fund (SSS and GSIS) which ultimately will redound to the contributor’s benefit. Put differently, its a form of forced savings, the SSS/GSIS holds in trust for the contributor. A tax does not do that’

If this is right then contributions to the two pension funds can be inherited.

supremo on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 1:12 am 



anthony scalia,

In the US, a pension tax (Social Security) is NOT a tax on the pension received by the pensioner. The health tax (Medicare) is NOT like a VAT on moneys paid to health care professionals.

In the US, SS and Medicare are payroll taxes.

from wiki
‘The employer’s and employee’s shares of the Social Security and Medicare taxes are known as the FICA tax’

broker on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 1:53 am 



The best way in buying books from other country is to pay duties & taxes in favor of the gov’t. Alam naman natin lahat na ginagawa lmang ng ating gobyerno ang lahat ng paraan upang tumaas ang collection ng buwis isang paraan d2 ang pagpapataw ng 12% vat from 10%, sa BIR at ang pagbibigay ng quota sa bawat collection ng bureau of customs sa buong pinas, isa na ang nabangit d2 na post office, ibig ko pong sabihin ay marahil gnagawa lamang ng isang appraiser ang knyang trabaho na patawan ng buwis ang libro, dahil una nasa batas eto, 2nd upang tumaas na rin ang collection nila sa buwis kong saan my quota sila bilang isang collection district, 3rd gampanan ang kanyang trabaho pabor sa interest ng gobyerno ( loyal). Sa kabilang side naman the customs broker shall defend the interest of its client, gagawa ng paraan ang isang broker upang bumaba o maging free ang pagbabayad ng buwis as possible ngunit naayon sa batas. Basahin po ang general rule ng ng TCCP Vol. – Section 101. Imported Articles Subject to Duty. — All articles, when imported from any foreign country into the Philippines, shall be subject to duty upon each importation, even though previously exported from the Philippines, except as otherwise specifically provided for in this Code or in other laws.

But syempre ang lahat naman ng batas o R.A ay merong IRR at upang ma implement ang isang IRR the DOF / BOC issues CAO, CMO, DO, & president issue proclamation, PD, PO etc.. depende sa pangangailangan o seguredad sa kalakalan at kong anong nararapat ipatupad para sa ikakabuti ng eknomeya.

So akoy naniwala na yon ay legal at nararapat, at bilang isang mamayan katungkulan natin na magbayan ng tamang buwis at sundin ang batas.

At huwag kalimotan maliit man o malaki ang binili o binabayaran humingi ng “RESIBO” ng sa gayon ay talagang masulit naman ang ating pagbabayad at hindi mapunta sa ibang bulsa. Salamat PO!!

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 2:07 am 



Supremo, that’s true of course, but my personal financial capability was not what i was alluding to when i stated ‘might is right’. What i meant was when the Philippines was in crisis, the IMF-dictated policy prioritized repaying the creditors at the expense of our real economy. Now that the USA is in the same situation, its priorities are different in terms of trying to insulate the real-economy from the banking crisis. That reveals a double standard and shows just how unjust the IMF was back in 1983 in favoring foreign creditors and squeezing our economy.

supremo on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 2:33 am 



First, The US did not run to the US-controlled IMF for help. The US government will try to solve the banking crisis by issuing treasury note to fund the bailout. Second, the Philippines ran to the US-controlled IMF for help. Why did the Philippines do that when it knows that the IMF prescribed bitter pill is not to the country’s advantage? Why blame the US or the US-controlled IMF for the failure of Philippine leaders to come up with a better solution?
As I said before, Filipinos should overcome the regrets they may have about the choices that their leaders made for them.

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 3:04 am 



Supremo, the US does not have to literally run to the IMF for the parallels to be valid since what is being compared are the alternative approaches of (1) repaying foreign creditors at the expense of the economy [aka our 'bitter pill' which resulted in a credit crunch] versus the current US approach of (2) prioritizing the real economy by preventing a banking collapse via taking on more debt.

No arguments on the culpability of the Marcos dictatorship (and by extension the Philippines), but that is not what i’m arguing about in the first place. What i’m pointing out is that the US-controlled IMF gave bum-advice which the US itself, as it turns out, is not willing to follow. If the IMF (back in 1983) advocated a similar approach as the US is doing now, then it would have given advice that prioritized keeping the Philippine economy from collapsing while providing debt relief.

I agree with you that there is no point in regretting but I believe it’s important to look back and compare current with historical events because it can be a useful guide to the future . The United States often presents itself as a ‘friend’ but a look back into such double standard that we’re seeing now would give a real insight into the nature of Philippine-American relationship and remove any illusions that others may still have.

anthony scalia on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 3:20 am 



supremo,

“In the US, a pension tax (Social Security) is NOT a tax on the pension received by the pensioner. The health tax (Medicare) is NOT like a VAT on moneys paid to health care professionals”

appreciate your input, but the thrust of my discussion with Carl is the nature of the SSS/GSIS contribution

Carl insists that the contribution is a tax, citing as example that the US, UK, Canada there is a pension tax, health tax etc.

my point is that SSS/GSIS contribution is not a tax, so i pointed out that the ‘pension tax’ he is referring to is a tax on the pension received, and the ‘health tax’ he mentioned might be a tax on payments paid to health professionals

in short, i wanted to tell Carl that his reference to pension tax and health tax in the US, UK., Canada is not apt

wikipedia also cites a view that the FICA payroll tax isn’t really a tax “because its collection is directly tied to a benefit.” (wiki entry on FICA)

here SSS/GSIS contributions are not viewed as tax.

maybe Carl is using the US perspective when he wrote the comment i responded to

“If this is right then contributions to the two pension funds can be inherited.”

thats where the beneficiary comes in. he/she gets the benefits from the contributions (once the covered person dies). the beneficiary has the option of getting back all contributions paid by the covered person, so yes its possible the contributions may be inherited

supremo on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 3:42 am 



cvj,

It’s still a bum advice that the Philippines did not have to take. There might be other options but Philippine leaders took the road well traveled at that time.
Also, the US always protect the broader economy in crisis like this instead of balancing the budget. That happened when Roosevelt became President during the depression and when the savings and loan crisis unraveled in the 1980s.

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 4:00 am 



You’re right, Supremo, the Philippines did not have to take the IMF’s bum advice. In fact i remember that there were already people protesting against the IMF-WB conditionalities (and for debt relief) but they were often dismissed as communists or out of touch nationalists. Turns out they were on the right track.

leytenian on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 5:48 am 



The Brilliance of McCain’s Move:
Instead of signing on with the Democratic/Bush package, the House Republicans are insisting on replacing the purchase of corporate debt with loans to companies and insurance paid for by the companies, not by the taxpayers. That, of course, is a popular position. McCain would be comfortable to debate this issue division all day.
Then McCain comes out of the process as the hero who made it happen when the president couldn’t and Obama wouldn’t. He becomes the bailout expert.

Finally, McCain, as the reigning expert on bailouts, then can take the tax issue to Obama, saying that a tax increase, such as the Democrat is pushing, would destroy the bailout, ruin the economy, and trigger a collapse.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_dick_morris/the_brilliance_of_mccain_s_move

hvrds on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 6:27 am 



In his book Age of Uncertainty, Robert Rubin warned about the “road runner” moment that was to come in financial markets.

That is when the wily coyote would run past the cliff and then realize that there is no solid ground under him.

Wamu went down when people finally saw that there was no bottom on the home mortgages and foreclosed homes that WAMU held on their books. They could and would not be able to sell off the homes (no market)fast enough to meet their reserve requirements or withdrawals. The excutives on WAMU gambled to get a better takeover deal for their shares. They lost their gamble

So someone else with deeper pockets takes over their positions.

How in heavens name are you going to help homeowners when the the valuations of the homes itself is a big unknown????

The principal amount itself is a mystery.

All proposed solutions must take a backseat to the most important reality facing the U.S. economy.

Home values are deflating after a bout of irrational exhuberance. They are now in a state of irrational depression and still declining.

It is a state of mind supported by facts that would tend to show that a ‘road runner’ moment is at hand.

The one characterization most kids have of the wily coyote is that he is an idiot. We love seeing him get pulverized again and again.

hvrds on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 11:25 am 



Someone should pass this on to Alex Magno and the rest of the theologians at the Foundation for Economic Freedom and the U.P. School of Economics – the main Madrassah that teaches the religion.

They still believe in the religion of the free markets.

“Market freedom is not a “fundamentalist religion”. It is a mechanism, not an ideology, and one that has proved its value again and again over the past 200 years. The Financial Times is proud to defend it – even today.”

That mechanism cannot operate effectively without the foundation of civil society which is a tolerable rule of law and financial regulation.. That is where effective politics comes in… Trust with verification…. So help us God…

Without it there are no working markets…..

hvrds on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 11:27 am 



Who trusts Big Mike and GMA?????

UP n grad on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 12:04 pm 



cvj: debt relief to Pinas…. from taxes paid by Filipinos????

because this is the model for the Paulson 700Billion bailout…. from taxes paid by Americans.

KG on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 12:28 pm 



CVJ,
before we approached IMF in 83, we already requested for moratoriums from our creditors.
ilang moratoriums,extended moratoriums,etc.
wala ng gusto mag invest,more interest payments than capital inflows.
That is why we have to resort to an emergency loan by imf-wb.

maybe you are thinking what if we stood our ground and just default ala argentina and repair the system ourselves.

panahon ni cory humingi ulit tayo ng moratoriums at thesame time, we kept on paying for a powerplant that has not produced a single watt.

On undoing the follies of marcos,what has the cory have to offer,The pcgg,ano nagawa nila,wala,kung meron man prang wala ding nagyari.

back to marcos and your advocacies on food security.
you kept on hammering to have food security fist before industrialization.
Marcos tried that,but what happenned, to his masagana 99 even before IMF went into the picture,
madaming farmers ang nalubog sa utang,nagresulta ito sa marami ding banko na lumubog.
idagdag panatin ang nga ibang kapalpakan na nagyari para mabaon tayo sa utang.

so what part of the IMF-WB was ill adviced?please do enlighten me.

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 12:48 pm 



UPn, no i was not referring to the Paulson bailout.

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 12:55 pm 



Karl, the part about favoring austerity which resulted in our economic collapse in favor of paying off foreign creditors.

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 1:14 pm 



…but of course, that’s not the only mistake by the IMF. In the first place, the ideology of financial liberalization [aka financial globalization] was ill-advised and can be considered a failed experiment (just like communism was considered a failed experiment back in 1989).

KG on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 5:34 pm 



Austerity did force us to reduce public spending and subsidies just so we could refinance our loans.

But as early as the Aquino administration we asked for debt forgiveness,but for some reason we were not allowed,because only 20 % of our debt was official and the rest were with commercial banks(1991), US forgave Poland,but they have 69 %official loans .US also forgave Egypt.

We asked to be helped by a global financial institution even as far back as the 60s of course we would be exposed to the “ideology” of financial globalization.

IMF was a lender of last resort,so we fouled up first before they came in.

now you want us to do an argentina, and default.
were would you think we can get our money to spend?
exports?remittances?domestic investment?manufacturing?Isolation? nationalization of everything???

argentina was big enough to export itself out of their problems,we don’t have the capacity to emulate that.

maybe we could just borrow from MetroBank and BDO,and the rest of the banks.If global financial system was not introduce in our country, our banks who lent money to the various spvs(like subsidiaries of lehman,meryll lynch) in order to clean up their balance sheets would never have to happen.

KG on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 5:43 pm 



CVJ,

Since you blame failed experiments; I give you Peter
Senge:

“Systems thinking shows us that there is no outside; that you and the cause of your problems are part of a single system.”

“Today’s problems come from yesterday’s ‘solutions’.”

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 6:10 pm 



Karl, you’re justifying the Establishment [aka the status quo] by saying that they had no choice. I’d attribute it to lack of political will and a misplaced faith in neoliberal ideology on the part of the Macapagal admin, the Marcos Dictatorship and the Aquino, Ramos, Erap & Macapagal-Arroyor admins that followed. It’s not like there was no alternative path being offered by the Left and the Nationalists, for example.

Since you blame failed experiments; I give you Peter Senge:

“Systems thinking shows us that there is no outside; that you and the cause of your problems are part of a single system.” -KG

I agree, and i said pretty much the same thing here.

. A distinguishing property of all systems is that it is closed off from the outside world in the sense that it can perceive only those things that the system will allow itself to perceive….cvj, March 25, 2008 at 1:00am

That’s called autopoeisis.

KG on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 6:55 pm 



What the, I mean what alternative path?

ang inagsak ang rehimeng marcos,aquino,ramos,estrada,macapagal arroyona mga tuta ng imperialistang amerikano?

I read that Niklas Luhmann piece in your blog about Systems theory.

back to the left.

let us take a look a t their preamble:
Preamble, Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines, 1968
“ So long as it resolutely, militantly and thoroughly carries out its ideological, political and organizational building, the Communist Party of the Philippines is certain to lead the broad masses of the Filipino people of various nationalities and ethno-linguistic communities to total victory in the national democratic revolution against US imperialism and the local reactionaries; and bring about the start of the socialist revolution. ”

—Armando Liwanag, Chairman, Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines

What alternative path???
Sino ba ang mayaman sa partido,san ba napunta nag mga revolutionary taxes nila, di ba sa treasurer lang at sa mga higher ups. nasan ang iba na nasa kilusan ? malamang nasa Tate

oo naniningil sila sa mga corporation, pero di sila dun tumitigil pati mahihirap si nakakalusot ,kinokolekthan din nila.So how can they lead masses to prosperity???

you always say that i am justifying,rationalizing and what not, ikaw anong giangawa mo di ba ganun din, justifying and rationalizing???

Still I ask, what alternative path?

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 7:18 pm 



Karl, why is it that when i say ‘Left’, it immediately defaults to Joma Sison? Wasn’t that Ferdinand Marcos scare-tactic as well?

cvj on Sat, 27th Sep 2008 7:38 pm 



Also, I wasn’t questioning your ‘rationalizing’, but pointing out that there were alternatives to the status quo that were not taken. It’s not like there was no choice or that there were no one advocating these alternative choices. I’ve discussed what i believe are the alternatives in my blog.

KG on Sun, 28th Sep 2008 2:20 am 



Chuck,

Marcos was different,he even called farmers communists, I do not want to be associated with marcos, as you don’t want to be associated with the communists.

Since you say no one is advocating the alternative choices,what do you call your self?

Benign0 already has a name for your advocacies,he calls them by describing them as cvjesque.

Ok I don’t want to go 1 to sawa here,till next update..

KG on Sun, 28th Sep 2008 2:22 am 



OOPs, I mean ’til next update

cvj on Sun, 28th Sep 2008 11:22 am 



Karl, i did not say “no one is advocating the alternative choices“. In my blog, i took care to cite the proponents, for example, the Sumilao farmers for land reform.

I know you’re not like Marcos which is why i was surprised when you resorted to bringing up the Communist-bogey. The Left is not just the communists you know. Besides, some of my advocacies (such as the flat tax and removal of minimum wage) cannot even be considered to be coming from the Left.

mlq3 on Sun, 28th Sep 2008 10:36 pm 



have the flu. will uopdate when i get better.

Kg on Mon, 29th Sep 2008 2:56 am 



get well soon, manolo!

hvrds on Mon, 29th Sep 2008 12:02 pm 



One of the most grievous strategic errors that policy makers have committed in the Philippine scenario is the tangential view that macro-economic fundamental solutions can be applied to the Philippine economy. It can’t.

When a country has serious systemic and structural problems in the supply side which results in repeating balance of payments problems applying “Keynesian”
solutions actually exacerbates the problem…

The result of which is clearly and factually documented by the repeating structural adjustment programs imposed by the IMF-WB over the last forty years plus. The repeating need to go back to the IMF for short term BOP support and the resulting continued harsher and harsher WB conditionalities imposed.

The IMF plays the bad cop while the WB played the good cop. The result was the country is now caught in a debt
prison.

The result is a form of economic genocide imposed on the Filipino people.

The Marcos government was already feeling the strong effects of the Volker medicine in the U.S. as he attempted to kill the inflation menace by raising interest rates to double digits that precipitated the debt crisis of the 80’s.

The Marcos government had embraced the McNamara’s
grand plan of the SAP by utilizing the transfer of the surplus of the oil producing countries hoard of dollars through the intermediation of the money center banks of the U.S. to the then countries under the control of the IMF-WB.

Someone one day will write a complete history in the chapter of financial colonization of certain developing markets that entered a new phase during that period.

The Philippines is still trapped in that system…

The international trading system has been co-opted by the U.S. through the almost monopoly control of the contract settlement of international trade in their currency.

No dollar -no- international trade.

It is an old word fact that whoever controls the financial system controls trade.

In 1972-73 we started shipping out human labor to pay for our imports of oil.

anthony scalia on Mon, 29th Sep 2008 6:17 pm 



Lugi si Obama. The Republicans now have a US$700B campaign fund disguised as Wall Street bailout

Wazzup Manila on Thu, 2nd Oct 2008 8:47 pm 



Hi Manolo,

It’s good that the matter was resolved in your favor. Normally, customs officers will assess books based on the standard tariff and will tend to overlook the exemptions, if its not clearly stated in the commercial invoice. A historical material should be declared as such to make the examiner’s job easier.

Another matter is the natural tendency to asses the books based on the normally high tariff rate. Customs collections from books should have declined due to the people’s increasing use of the internet to download e-books, making it quite burdensome for examiners who needs to present high tariff collections.

This is in no way a justification of the erroneous assessment but rather, an attempt to speculate on what really happened.

alan on Fri, 23rd Jan 2009 4:12 pm 



mine is, you may not pay duties and taxes the books sent to you thru mail or by balik bayan box pursuant to sec. 105s of tccp and other laws, provided, procedure are to be followed, such, 1. get a certification from DECS and 2. apply an exemption to department of finance (DOF)requesting in your favor to release to you your books without paying duties and taxes, if the DOF find your request complied with all the requirements, the DOF will issue an indorsement pertaining to your request addressed to the district collector of customs citing the said shipment may released tax and duty free subject to the bureau of customs (BOC) appropriate action, the customs officer now will issue a 2nd indorsement, if after all requirements and procedure are rendered thats the time you can have your book free of duties and taxes but you are not exempt from payment of import processing fee.

The Great Book Blockade of 2009 : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose on Sun, 3rd May 2009 2:49 pm 

[...] brings up my past entry, What the?? concerning the long-standing problem any booklover’s had with our government -which is, its [...]

The Great Book Blockade of 2009: Timeline and Readings : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose on Sun, 10th May 2009 1:56 pm 

[...] 23 My entry on how Post Office and Customs attempts to levy 5% duty on a shipment of books, plus VAT (see a similar experience in The Curious Couch and in Boomarked!). BIR officials opine no such [...]

Current » The Great Book Blockade of 2009: Timeline and Readings on Sun, 10th May 2009 2:12 pm 

[...] 23 My entry on how Post Office and Customs attempts to levy 5% duty on a shipment of books, plus VAT (see a similar experience in The Curious Couch and in Boomarked!). BIR officials opine no such [...]

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