Cito Beltran
Philippine Star

The exposé reportedly authored by members of the American Chamber of Commerce concerning “car smuggling” in Port Irene is now construed as payback for the insults that Senator Juan Ponce Enrile hurled at them in a previous Senate investigation.

On one hand the exposé may be intended to embarrass and steal the thunder from JPE, but on the other hand it could be a red herring intended to distract JPE and the public from focusing on pressing matters such as the speculative prices of fuel.

The public has to realize that such a bold move that was short of implicating Enrile, as the Godfather of smuggling in Port Irene is not something that foreign businessmen enjoy or sanction. Losing face may be a big deal but it is not enough ground to risk long-term corporate interests and investments.

Whatever motivated the exposé I can say from my vantage point that those people made a serious miscalculation. This open attack against Enrile will have very serious fallout and the most visible players will be the first to suffer for their folly. Unfortunately non-aligned or apolitical companies are sure to be affected when their particular issues and concerns become public in the coming months. In other words, the AMCHAM boys just dragged every American company into their disaster.

If certain American businessmen thought to discredit Enrile, they should have remembered a phrase that was coined by American politicians: “He may be a son of a bitch, but he is OUR son of a bitch”. There is sufficient nationalistic fervor seething in the ground that could immediately be released against such trouble makers particularly companies that have a history of abandoning the country during its difficult times and returning when the harvest was plentiful.

From the looks of it the expose’ will seriously backfire because it has stirred up and shed light on an even greater sin: The creation of state sponsored monopolies.

For all intents and purposes Port Irene is metaphorically just another pocket of resistance put up by rebellious entrepreneurs who believe in the right of Filipinos to import, to sell and to buy used vehicles. From the Port of Manila, Clark, Subic, Davao, Cebu and now Port Irene, we have seen a long running battle between the big car companies who have repeatedly influenced government to shut down small businesses involved in the niche market of imported used cars.

The government, particularly officials of the Arroyo administration have acted as proxies, dummies or fronts for the car manufacturers by crafting executive orders, tax edicts or filing legal cases from the lowest court all the way to the Supreme Court. In effect they have become “Replacement Assassins” determined to wipe out any attempt to provide Filipinos with alternatives to meet their automotive requirements.

Many people may be surprised and misled into thinking that the Supreme Court had decided that all second-hand car importations are forever banned. The opinion apparently concerns SBMA or Subic as a free port but not all ports of the Philippines, at least that seems to be the argument of JPE.

This piecemeal legal war happens because the issues are quite ticklish if not illegal. On one hand you have the presumed right of every individual to buy a used vehicle as long as you pay taxes. On the other hand you have the commitments of a state to the monopoly they created in exchange for tax revenues, job creations and business development.

But in our consumer driven economy, he who has the cash is suppose to be the King. Unfortunately the State and the monopoly it created wants to grab the money any which way they can even if the monopoly no longer provides jobs or creates added business. In fact with the imposition of VAT on all products, the state no longer needs to honor its commitment to a dishonorable monopoly.

Now that the Amboys have pissed off  “Super Lolo” we can probably expect questions of constitutionality, separation of powers and privilege, as well as abuse of authority to impose taxes and restrictions related to free and fair trade. Senator Enrile may also want to investigate the very industrious officials of the automotive monopoly on how they managed to solicit and enforce a P500,000 mandatory excise tax on any car imported into the Philippines.

JPE can ask how the Arroyo officials perform with such fervor like trained attack dogs, yet are unbelievably blind and unconcerned about how the car manufacturers in the Philippines continue to benefit from so much incentives yet abandoning all of their previous commitments to support tire and battery manufacturers in the Philippines.

Almost all brand new vans, pick-ups and SUVs sold in the Philippines are CBU or Completely Built Up units which means no more manufacturing, which also means no more local contents. The fact is the automotive monopoly of the Philippines are actually importers of brand new cars who just want to grab and force the secondhand buyers to buy their over priced vehicles designed to be obsolete or excessively expensive to maintain after five years.

So even American companies such as Goodyear tires which have maintained a manufacturing facility in the country for 50 years can’t benefit from the state sponsored monopoly. Motolite, which has displaced foreign brands for car batteries, also can’t benefit. Yet all the incentives go to the monopoly.

When Enrile took up the cudgels for the right of Filipinos to import second hand vehicles, he unwittingly nominated himself as their champion to fight the state sponsored monopoly of automotive manufacturers. Who better to fight this war than a man who knows every aspect of legislation, taxation and has most recently emphasized that his remaining years will be “for country”.

God willing, Manong Johnny can give every Filipino consumer the gift of having the right to choose. Perhaps when the war is won, every Filipino who has worked hard for his money and paid his taxes can get the respect they deserve from a government that is preoccupied in respecting foreign monopolies and their dummies.