Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:48:00 07/25/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Public skepticism of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) has grown, with only one in every 10 adult Filipinos saying that her past speeches in Congress had been truthful, according to the latest survey of Pulse Asia Inc.

This “now makes it difficult” for the President to make full use of her SONA’s “political value” when she speaks to the people at the opening of the 14th Congress’ regular session on July 28, Pulse Asia said.

Only 13 percent of the 1,200 respondents, aged 18 years old and over, said Ms Arroyo’s previous addresses had been truthful, and about the same figure (14 percent) expected the forthcoming SONA to be truthful as well, Pulse Asia’s “Ulat ng Bayan” survey showed.

The survey was conducted from July 1 to July 14 using face-to-face interviews with a multistage probability sample of the respondents. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

11-point increase

The survey found an 11-point increase in the proportion of those saying that the July 28 SONA would not be truthful (from 29 percent in July 2007 to 40 percent in July 2008), alongside the drop in the proportion of those undecided about its truthfulness (from 55 percent to 46 percent).

“The low proportion of believers … has not grown in the past three years and cannot possibly represent much political capital for her and her administration,” the research outfit said in a statement released Thursday.

Considering the survey’s margin of error, there was virtually no change in the proportion of those who were expecting the forthcoming SONA to be truthful—from 16 percent last year to 14 percent this year.

“A marked, double-digit reduction in public vacillation between July 2007 and July 2008 (from 52 percent to 41 percent) did not do President Arroyo much good as many among the undecided public apparently resolved their doubts in favor of a more negative assessment of her past SONAs,” Pulse Asia said.

Mindanao most skeptical

Skepticism of past SONAs was highest in Mindanao (53 percent) followed by Luzon outside Metro Manila (47 percent); Metro Manila, 44 percent; and the Visayas, 39 percent.

Across socioeconomic classes, the view that past SONAs had been untruthful was “most apparent” among respondents belonging to Class D (46 percent) and Class E (49 percent). The same opinion was held by 41 percent among those in Classes ABC.

Regarding Ms Arroyo’s July 28 speech, the survey showed “markedly higher proportions” of undecided respondents in Luzon outside Metro Manila (52 percent), compared to the Visayas (47 percent), Metro Manila (45 percent) and Mindanao (35 percent).

Across classes, indecision was higher among Classes ABC (49 percent) than Class D (47 percent) and Class E (43 percent).

The proportion of respondents who said Ms Arroyo’s previous speeches were truthful declined by 3 percentage points (from 16 percent to 13 percent), while that of people who were undecided likewise decreased by 11 percentage points (from 52 percent to 41 percent), the survey said.

It said the proportion of those who believed past SONAs were not truthful increased by 14 percentage points (from 32 percent to 46 percent).

Still same sentiment

Moreover, the survey found that with three in every five (60 percent) of adult Filipinos aware of Ms Arroyo’s SONAs, over two in every five (46 percent) of them believed that the speeches had not been truthful, and about the same percentage (40 percent) expected the coming SONA would not be any different.

An “almost equally large number” (41 percent) of the respondents were undecided about the truthfulness of previous SONAs, and “a large plurality” (46 percent) were unable to anticipate the truthfulness of the coming speech.

The respondents were asked to complete the sentence: “In your opinion, President Arroyo’s previous SONAs were __.” They were to choose from “Truthful,” “Not Truthful” and “Undecided.”

Indecision among youth

Among the youngest respondents aged 18 to 24 (60 percent), indecision over the truthfulness of Ms Arroyo’s past SONAs was highest among those with some college education (55 percent) and the self-employed (53 percent).

“Over time (from July 2005 to July 2008), public awareness of SONAs delivered by President Arroyo has remained fairly constant (around 60 percent nationwide),” Pulse Asia noted.

Awareness of past SONAs was 83 percent in Metro Manila, 64 percent in the Visayas, and 54 percent each in Luzon outside Metro Manila and Mindanao. It was also higher among members of Classes ABC (87 percent) than among Class D (61 percent) and Class E (48 percent).

Gov’t execs at a loss on issue of smuggling

By Michael Lim Ubac, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:14:00 07/25/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Who’s afraid of JPE?

Malacañang Thursday clammed up when asked about administration Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s statement challenging a Supreme Court ruling that upheld Executive Order No. 156, which bans the importation of second-hand vehicles into the country.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza begged off from commenting on the issue when asked at a press briefing in the Palace.

A day before Dureza clammed up, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Enrile’s home province, Cagayan, was not a haven for smugglers.

“I’m not so familiar about your data yet. So I won’t comment one way or the other. I have to validate the data that you’re saying,” Dureza said when asked by the Philippine Daily Inquirer about the violation committed by Enrile in allowing the importation of used cars into Port Irene in Cagayan.

Enrile, the martial enforcer of the Marcos regime, earlier said the Supreme Court made a mistake when it upheld the legality of the EO banning the importation of used cars into Subic for resale in the country. The court ruling shut down the multibillion-peso, used-vehicle import business at the Subic Bay Freeport.

SC ruling final

Sought for comment on Enrile’s views, Supreme Court spokesperson Midas Marquez said the ruling that the senator was questioning was already final.

“The views of the good senator are respected, but the court has already spoken, and has even denied the separate motions for clarification and reconsideration. Unless this decision is revisited and reversed, it remains as case law, and it will be up to the executive officials to implement and enforce it,” Marquez said.

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) claims that the Cagayan Export Zone (CEZ) has displaced the Subic Bay Freeport as the country’s entry point for imported second-hand luxury vehicles, undermining the business of car assemblers in the country.

Enrile Thursday said he would not participate in the Senate hearing next Tuesday on the alleged smuggling of used-luxury vehicles in Port Irene in Cagayan.

At the weekly Kapihan sa Senado, Sen. Francis Escudero, chair of the ways and means committee, welcomed Enrile’s decision to inhibit himself from Tuesday’s hearing on the alleged smuggling activities at Port Irene.

Escudero said that the guests at the hearing included representatives of Amcham (which sent a team to Sta. Ana, Cagayan, in May to look at its used-car import business), the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and Cagayan Export Zone Authority (CEZA).

Also invited to the hearing was Enrile’s son-in-law, James Kocher, who runs the five-hectare (not 50-hectare) auto yard, the center of Port Irene’s used-vehicle-import business.

Enrile started probe

Enrile, who instigated the Senate investigation of smuggling in the country last month, was active at the past two hearings of the Senate in which he virtually accused local car assemblers of smuggling completely built-up vehicles under the guise of getting incentives for developing a domestic-automotive industry.

Escudero said the hearing would focus on the operations of the CEZ compared with those of Subic and Clark Freeports, specifically on who was authorizing the second-hand vehicle imports, determine its legality, check whether proper valuation and taxes were paid, and who was the leader of the operations.

Enrile claimed that the Tariff and Customs Code did not specifically ban used-vehicle imports and that the President was not authorized to include such vehicles among the banned items.

While he agreed that only Congress could declare any item as a banned import like used vehicles, Escudero said the Tariff and Customs Code also gave the President broad authority to change its provisions, including the tariff levels as long as Congress was in recess.

Customs also defender

Before the Senate ways and means committee could look into the alleged smuggling at Port Irene, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said there was no smuggling of cars at the port.

“The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (which has jurisdiction over Port Irene) has been faithful in collecting taxes and other duties for imported cars. We have no reports of any car smuggling because importers are really paying their taxes,” Morales said Thursday.

The importers of the used vehicles at Port Irene paid not only the 30-percent customs duties but also the 12-percent value-added tax and 100-percent excise tax, Morales said.

He said he had asked the Department of Finance for a legal opinion on whether the Supreme Court decision on the Subic case may be applied to other economic zones.

Morales said he made the request in December 2007 but had yet to receive a reply.

He said the Bureau of Customs could not implement EO 156 or the ban on second-hand motor vehicle imports at Port Irene, after importers questioned the constitutionality of the order and EO 418 (2005), which modified the tariff and duties collected on imported used vehicles, before a Cagayan court.

Morales said Malacañang wanted P500,000 paid for an imported second-hand vehicle on top of the duties and taxes.

“But we’re maintaining the status quo and we can’t impose EO 156 and even EO 418 at Port Irene pending the decision of the court. For the meantime, we’ll continue collecting taxes at the usual rate without the P500,000,” Morales said.

No basis yet

Told that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself issued EO 156, Dureza said: “I’m not prepared to make a determination, or a statement on that because it’s not easy to immediately issue a comment when I have yet to validate the data that you’re citing. So at another time, I will give you my take on it.”

Dureza said as much when asked about the Palace position on whether to sanction Enrile, or his son-in-law James Kocher, for using Port Irene as a haven for second-hand vehicles.

“Well, there is no basis on my part to give a statement on that one way or the other because I don’t have basis yet,” he said.

Dureza was interviewed after the President sworn in Enrile’s wife Cristina as the Philippine envoy to Vatican. The senator witnessed the 2 p.m. event held in Malacañang’s Rizal Hall.

Enrile’s wife

Cristina was among those who participated in the oath-taking of 47 generals and flag officers, 27 star-rank police officials, and other newly appointed officials, including former Sen. Vicente Sotto III, who is now chair of the Dangerous Drugs Board, Commission on Audit Chair Reynaldo Villar and four ambassadors.

reynz’s last blog post..Is the thrill in blogging gone?

reynz’s last blog post..When I grow up paglaki ko

reynz’s last blog post..When I grow up paglaki ko

an layo ever nang comparison sa Bohol. kahit na nasa luzon kami, Mars ang itsura nang barrio namen, samantalang kayo Super Uber City na compared sa Barrio Siete. ateng, yon nga ang reason ba’t andaming NPA samen anak nang iniwanan nang kidlat kami dun!

pero kwidaw, sementado rin nang konti ang talahib highway, yong malapit sa national highway, PERO kal-hati lang at siguro ilang inches laang. tunay na pang-show off at photo opp hahaha

reynz’s last blog post..When I grow up paglaki ko

Ely’s last blog post..meme: better late than never

reynz’s last blog post..Dog drinking problems

reynz’s last blog post..Dog drinking problems