WILLIAM Dar, the country’s leading agri-technocrat and now our Department of Agriculture secretary, is in the wrong cabinet post, if Sen. Ping Lacson is proven correct on his charges.
My favorite senator, Ping, hits DA for recycling officials, says a headline in one major daily.
Sen. Ping criticized the DA for simply reassigning a senior department official alleged to be involved in corruption and other anomalies in the importation of meat.
Reassignment or moving people from one post to another for purposes only privy to the appointing officer is generally known as recycling.
The government agency tasked to encourage recycling to protect the environment is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Shouldn’t DA’s Sir William be recycled to become more useful and transferred to the DENR? Just asking.
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Philippine airlines’ losses hit P65 billion, says a headline in today’s (March 18) news. The air carrier sector of the transportation industry is suffering, describing the pandemic as an “existential threat” to the industry.
Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (ACAP), earlier sought help from President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic managers for some form of relief. Until now no relief has come.
They have repeated this request in the Senate over Congress hearings on measures to stimulate higher business activities, funded by government financial institutions.
Acap says the sector lost about P65 billion last year, putting out of job over 5,000 workers in the industry.
The industry is not unlike the situation in this story.
Beggar: “Please, sir, may I have a coin?” Banker: “I don’t have any change. I’ll give it to you later.” Beggar: “Sir, it’s this kind of credit that has made me bankrupt.”
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It’s not only the air carriers’ sector in the transportation industry that’s looking at the banks for reincarnation. Almost all sectors in this industry are dying. Others that are not in the ICU are now in the emergency room.
Everyone in the industry is knocking on doors of banks as if the latter is the dispenser of life.
I am not surprised, reminded of this story. A bank receptionist received a call asking to be connected to someone to answer for inquiries on bonds.
The receptionist asked the caller: “Conversion or Redemption”.
The caller asked in surprise, “Is this Bank of Commerce or the CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines)?
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I guess the only sector that is not crying in pain in this pandemic is the banking sector. This is the sector that processes payments in online trading that is now firing up the economy.
But this sector is not without problems. Servicing of loans has become very challenging that the number of bad loans had been going up forcing the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas to be lenient if not creative in treatment of this account.
So I don’t blame banks for their repeated reminders on my phone to pay my credit cards.
I have this story from my daughter. After a successful bank loan application, my daughter told the bank officer
“You have been very helpful sir. How can I ever thank you.” The officer answered: “Monthly ma’am, monthly.”