Think about it
The nationalist option
By Jun Velasco
TWO friends who have no love lost for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund swear that the United States government has acquired a vulture image because of these two giant funding institutions.
Nationalist writer Alejandro Lichauco and Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay on separate occasions have blamed the WB and the IMF for the harrowing poverty and corruption that have plagued the poor especially borrower countries.
In a spech at the Manila Bay Breakfast Club Friday, Ding Lichauco tagged the banks as much, much worse than the much maligned corrupt officials of the government. He said there are more corrupt countries than the Philippines and yet enjoy greater comfort, and that people are not suffering from hunger and are not mired in poverty. Why? Because they have not been bled dry by the world bank.
For his part, Butch Pichay – now the top honcho of the country’s foremost water provider, the LWUA, has decided to ban the world bank from doing business with LWUA. He said he was applying the finishing touches to his plan to put up a LWUA bank to be called Water Development Bank of the Philippines so there will be uninterrupted funding for big programs of LWUA around the countryside.
Local Rotarians who heard the water czar at their Cluster B meeting last Monday saw Butch’s great plan for the Dagupan district, including a planned increase subscribers from 17,000 to 35,000. GM Mon Reyna must be grinning from ear to ear. Butch told us LWUA is appropriating Pl50 million for the modernization and expansion of the Dagupan district.
A lot of people are surprised at Butch’s executive acumen. What everybody thought was his marination in legislative work. Fact is, he would have won as a senator had not the Iglesia ni Cristo delisted him in the last elections. Political analysts like Boy Rayos say Butch should have landed within the top three berths.
But the LWUA job is a blessing in disguise for Butch. It has opened a new window to his executive talents. Not only that, the LWUA and not the Senate gives him a better opportunity to be of service to the country.
Barely past 50, Butch is one of the more sensible leaders of the Arroyo government, and given his new access for service, he is expected to make a difference in the art of governance. He is not saying it, but if we know his instincts .He’d disappoint political brokers in 20l0 and would rather make a go in his water work.
Knowing his nature, Butch despises the transformation of the Philippine senate into an investigative body if not debating society. The guy is more sophisticated than some senators.
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If true that the political opposition were against everything that is not good for the nation, why did they — we’re referring to former President Erap and his candidates for senator who barnstormed in Pangasinan last Wednesday and Thursday — made a mockery of the spirit of Edsa on its 23rd anniversary by doing their 2-day sorties which, as all of us know, were patently partisan, selfish and unpatriotic.
Observers also find the group’s having lunch at Congresswoman Rachel Arenas’ home in Malasiqui town as a reflection of the kaleidoscopic character of our political system.
Is there still principled politics hereabouts? Come to think of it. Our so-called opposition are making several mis-steps that most thinking observers dismiss as a disservice to their alternative role. No wonder, disgusted voters are opting to just toss the coin when electing their candidates.
Wala namang choice, they say..
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What’s Mayor Sammy Rosario’s secret in being able to achieve so much for his town in so short a time?
Go to Binmaley, and you’ll experience what Alvin Tofler says as a culture shock. The town has jumped from a sleepy town to a first class town. What’s the secret?
Mayor Jojo Binay of Makati City whispered the answer to us. We’ll tell you what it is next week due to space limitation.
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