Congress’ bicameral committee cut down the respective original 2025 budgets on education and health. 

DepEd’s budget was reduced by nearly P12-billion from P748.6-billion to P737-billion. CHED’s budget was reduced by P3.4 billion from its 2024 budget of P36.7-billion. SUC’s budget was reduced by 5.8-billion, ending with only P122.2-billion. 

It’s a great letdown for the Filipino people, as budgets for the DPWH and the DND were given huge allotments. This was carried out, deceitfully (as social media enthusiasts described it) as the legislators ignored calls for a transparent session open to the public, aware that their tax-money has been funding such legislative meetings.

At the same session, a zero budget was allotted to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). 

Anti-People Decision

This zero budget effectively strips the premium of tens of millions of PhilHealth’s indirect contributors, namely, the poor, the senior citizens, and the PWDs, and thus makes the direct contributors, many of whom are from the working class, bear the sole burden of funding PhilHealth. 

In fact, this anti-people decision by the bicameral committee was strongly condemned with a Public Statement by more than a hundred CSOs, NGOs, Partylist groups, and concerned citizens. They pointed out, among other arguments, that the lawmakers practically decided in violation of the Sin Tax Reform Law and the Universal Healthcare (UHC) Act. 

Noteworthy, too, is that mobilizations were carried out calling for the bicameral committee to meet again to make the necessary pro-people corrections on the budgets of PhilHealth, DepEd, SUCs, UP, Ched, as well as adjustments on the DPWH and DND budgets. 

Surely, the development of people, especially the children and youth, in terms of their physical health and personal educational growth, are obviously much more important than infrastructures and confidential funds for Red-tagging, EJKs, or imagined threats to national security.

A Healthy Environment

Education and Health of the Filipino people are the key foundational concerns of any government administration. The level of education of the people of any nation serves not only as the springboard of creativity, but the necessary steady engine, as it were, of new ideas, new inventions, new technologies that lead to progress in various fields of endeavors. 

Primary target for development, as history has shown, has been the need for eliminating diseases and maintaining the health of the people – to ensure a healthy environment and a robust economy for society. 

With a healthy population, any society with its top leadership can then focus its development efforts in the many key fields of concerns, and most importantly, on the education of the people. 

An educated population cannot but lead to responsible citizens, who are able to acquire decent jobs, be productive and be able to contribute to a healthy economy. 

A sustainable economy can bring about, in turn, a progressive spiral of advances in the various fields of endeavors of society, especially in medical science. This cannot but lead further to maintaining a healthy population – and on to a progressive country.  

Heartless Leaders

Education where knowledge starts and is sustained spells POWER – particularly to minimize, if not eliminate the evils that hound a society. 

An educated and healthy population cannot but lead to a society’s progressively healthy growth in its politics, continuing robust economy and even the preservation and enrichment of its culture. 

Can’t our lawmakers craft laws and come up with realistic budgets that should benefit the people and the country as a whole? Their basic job is essentially to improve the lives of all Filipinos, as called for in their mandate as government officials. Such has been the people’s expectation from their representatives in Congress for too long. 

Are they a heartless bunch of leaders for the people?!

THE BIG PUSH by the Department of Agriculture to sell imported rice (not local ones) and other basic food items confiscated from the ports by Customs authorities in Kadiwa centers smells rather fishy to me.

Smuggling has intensified in recent months, esp. with the approach of Christmas season, and the DA has been confiscating what it calls imported products without the necessary permits from agencies like the bureaus of plant industry (rice, veggies and fruits), animal industry (pork, chicken, and beef cuts) and fisheries (for fisheries and aquatic products) yet most of these are being impounded in ships after weeks that consignees do not claim them.

Instead of allowing these to rot, the DA asked the BoC to release the rice stocks for victims of calamities and other emergencies but the bulk goes to Kadiwa stores, purportedly to be sold to low-income consumers.

Into Whose Pocket

But what is surprising is that in previous Kadiwa operations (of President Marcos, Sr.), the Kadiwa placed a purchase limit of two to five kilos per buyer to ensure that more people will be able to benefit from cheaper rice.

In today’s Kadiwa operation – which by the way also expanded to MRT North EDSA and LRT Monumento stations – there is no limit to the volume of rice to be bought and the DA even allows merchants to resell them which makes it suspicious. 

Exactly what volume of smuggled and seized rice are we talking about for the Kadiwa outlets? Are they really smuggled or just being seized by the government for its own coffers or for someone else’s pocket.

Ensured Access

The Kadiwa was conceived during the time of Marcos Sr. to ensure a ready market for local producers of food crops like vegetables, fruits and rice to be sold to low income consumers with volume limits so that more can buy these items. 

The DA has been hyping that it would be adding 71 more Kadiwa stores by the end of December. There are 108 existing KNP (Kadiwa ng Pangulo)  centers nationwide, which DA aims to increase to 179 by December and 300 by mid-2025 with the ultimate goal of reaching 1,500 KNP centers by the end of the Marcos administration.

As instructed by the President, the DA must ensure accessibility and strengthen KNP operations so more people can buy food products at lower than prevailing market prices.

Prices of agricultural products normally spike after the onslaught of typhoons due to problems with supply. And with the Yuletide just around the corner, prices have been soaring because of heavy demand and short supply from the damage wrought by the typhoons.

Laundering?

The expansion of KNP centers can be done in partnership with other government agencies, such as the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) and National Housing Authority (NHA) which offer venues that can be converted into KNPs.

The DA is also eyeing the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) as a major partner in reaching the target 1,500 expansion of KNP centers.

PhilPost has offices near municipal centers and near population centers and it has trucks that can be used to bring the goods to the Kadiwa stores.

Logistics-wise, Philpost is in the best position to help us be able to transport all these goods in various areas in the country, a DA official said.

With the Kadiwa, all smuggled goods seized by the government will now find their way to the legitimate market making the Kadiwa a bridge for smuggling as it legitimizes the sale of confiscated goods.

Somehow it seems to me like laundering a confiscated illegal product through a legitimate government entity, the KNP.

FOR THE LONGEST time, the national government has been dealing with the perennial problem of the proliferation of squatters, spending quite a huge chunk of its budget and yet hardly showing improvements.

The government’s socialized housing could not seem to cope-up with the rapidly growing number of families wanting to have a decent place they could call their own, mainly because of the magnitude of corruption taking place in the national government agencies delving on the matter. 

These agencies have become a milking cow of political appointees who probably mistook the government portfolio as reward for their “unconditional support” to whoever gave them what seemed to be “a juicy position.”

As such, dubious groups made use of this predicament to go into something lucrative, to the detriment of the hapless Filipino families who only wanted a safe place where they could live. These are the professional squatter syndicates who are enticing homeless families to become beneficiaries of what they claim as an earnest effort to do what the government failed to do – for less.

Compassion and Common Sense

I am no expert in addressing a problem that many scholars have tried, but failed to solve. But from what I have seen in a small lakeshore town in Rizal, addressing the problem of human settlement does not require one to be a genius.

According to a longtime friend, Gerry Calderon, solving the problem only requires two things – human compassion and common sense. By the way, Gerry was Angono, Rizal mayor for 18 years. Her daughter Jerimae has taken over and sustained her dad’s vision for a town that is widely referred to as the Art Capital of the Philippines.

According to Calderon, they too have their share of problems with the proliferation of squatters, and it took years before they got over it.

Calderon said that Angono does not have sufficient resources to buy land and transform it into a socialized housing zone, but they do have in sight a vast tract of idle private lands whose owners they have been talking to for a mutually beneficial tender.

Gerry’s take – mas maigi nang maibenta na lang nila in easy payment term ang lupa nila kesa magising sila isang umaga, pinasok na sila ng mga squatting syndicates. His trick seemed effective. 

Angono has warded off illegal squatting syndicates from taking over somebody else’s property. Angono has also addressed the need for a place for local folks who don’t have a place they could call their own. They have also given what many informal settlers usually prefer — in-city relocation.

Safety of Locals

It doesn’t end there though. The local government is not bent on gambling on the safety of their local folks. 

To ensure the safety of the houses that families would live in, the LGU is somehow being strict insofar as the structural integrity is concerned. Houses should not be in a place that would qualify as a hazard area. 

And most of all, human settlement areas should be accessible to the local government services.

After all, these families are human beings too.

THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE would be better off tapping the existing network of hard discount stores (HDS) – DALI Everyday Grocery, which is funded initially by a loan of $15 million from the Asian Development Bank and another $13 million later, and O!Save of Robinson’s Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) – to augment its network of Kadiwa outlets in the government’s desire to sell affordable food items to low income consumers of major cities in the country. 

Presently, there are 71 Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) outlets, targeted to hit 179 this month. By mid-2025, 300 stores will rise, to reach 1,500 by the end of the Marcos administration.

Dali, the leading HDS, now has 630 stores as of last April. Before the year ends, the goal is 920 outlets.

Location is Paramount

Hard discount store chains, living up to its objective, were set up to make basic goods and food items affordable to the lower classes by sourcing unbranded stocks mostly from local manufacturers. HDS outlets have less marketing, merchandizing and operational costs. 

If you’ve noticed, there are little or no store shelves as items are places in boxes. There are lesser sales assistants, promodisers, and hardly any airconditioning. 

Location is paramount. These discount stores are mostly located in city centers and areas with high foot traffic.

Most Kadiwa stores are located within the compounds of DA agency offices. Others are mobile which have erratic and uncertain schedule of operation.

No Contest

Dali, a Swiss-based retail chain, was first established in Sta. Cruz, Laguna in February 2020. Being small did not cause a stir to its major rival, Puregold. 

But years later, it faced complaints and charges with regulatory agencies filed by Puregold. This did not make a dent in its expanded operations. 

Not even sari-sari stores can approximate the low rates at HDS outlets because the latter sell mostly branded products purchased at wet markets and groceries that had already made a huge mark-up.

Rushing Expansion

In the next 12 months, O!Save, on one hand, expects to more than double its store network in its pursuit to close the competitive gap with HDS pioneer and market leader, DALI.

After doubling its footprint to 318 stores in the 12 months to September, O!Save is gearing to add around 382 stores through end-2025, according to Gina Roa-Dipaling, vice president at Robinsons Retail, in a report of Bilyonaryo.

“O!Save is accelerating expansion. They really need to scale up,” Dipaling said at an investors forum. 

Expanding the store network will enhance O!Save’s capacity to contract manufacturers for in-house or private-label products, a critical factor for hard discount retailers to compete on price and affordability.

Pricing Strategy

The share of private labels in O!Save’s income improved to 17 percent of its $155 million nine-month revenue, up from 13 percent of $64 million in the same period last year. 

However, the hard discount retailer’s profitability depends heavily on how quickly this share can grow.

O!Save was established in 2021 by investors who had previously departed from the emerging DALI, a company disrupting larger retailers with its pricing strategy.  

Since the President’s instruction to DA is to make Kadiwa stores more accessible and strengthen its operations so more people can benefit from its lower-than-prevailing market prices, tying up with HDS would be a logical strategy.

A Business Model

How the competing companies would be able to gain respectable margins from their sales at prices that customers with tight budgets can afford would be an interesting case study for business students.

Other business conglomerates would be closely watching the HDS model of Robinson’s retail group. If this proves to be profitable, everyone would join the bandwagon. See how the generics pharmacy stores mushroomed?

“Give us the names of big-time smugglers—not the small fry,” the solons are wont to demand (more often hollering) from customs authorities or even from the prosecutors during congressional probes.

But, wait! Isn’t smuggling a crime? As such, only the courts can adjudge or pronounce a person guilty of smuggling? The authorities of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) can only investigate, do case build-ups, and whenever this thing called “probable cause” do exist, they file the smuggling case in the appropriate courts.

And before our courts, the desires, biases, and swagger of the BOC and the DOJ are of no moment. Only those evidence—relevant, material, and competent—that they proffer to the court matter. Pending the decision of the courts, no person can be pronounced guilty of the crime of smuggling, let alone be called a smuggler. As the Constitution exhorts, all persons shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved. And the Constitution is the “mother of all laws” and rules—even supreme than the Rules of Congress. 

Thrown Into The Gaol 

For the solons to press their demand on the executive officials—BOC and DOJ, to submit to Congress the list of big-time smugglers is clearly off the mark—“wala sa hulog”. To repeat, only the courts can pronounce a person guilty of smuggling and thus be called smuggler. 

No amount of badgering—even shaming, Customs will force the latter to submit “that list” of smugglers. No one in BOC will have the heart to label people as smugglers until they are adjudged guilty as such. They run the risk of ending in the calaboose for libel ahead of these people whose names the solons want to hear getting thrown into the gaol for the crime of smuggling. 

We are not saying the BOC front liners are blameless. No! What we are saying is: until the courts have convicted the suspects, they are presumed innocent and are to roam free and treated guiltless. This is our sad reality.

The Probable Cause
Perhaps, what the solons can do while the DOJ prosecutors are hard pressed on finding “the probable cause” or the Courts proving the crime “beyond reasonable doubt” is to put to task the BOC leadership on why it continuously disregards Congress’s strict prescriptions in Section 412, 413, among others, that require all “entries” now known as “Single Administrative Documents” to be lodged, allowed, and/or processed only when filed/submitted “under oath” or under pain of perjury or falsification. 

And, please, not by “fake notaries” that abound throughout the length and breadth of the metropolis, nay archipelago. After all, ICT-driven apps, I.e., techOATH and iSWEAR, among others, are now readily available in the technological bureaucracy.

Until this Oath requirement of the Customs Tariff and Modernization Act is done—or Congress wakes up from its deep slumber pursuant to its oversight powers both under Republic Act No 10863 (CMTA) or Republic Act 12023 (AntiAgricltural Economic Sabotage Act) the evils of “undervaluation,” “misclassification,” “misdeclaration,” and other frauds upon customs will continue to haunt us notwithstanding today’s and future quadcom, pentacom/quintacom, or whatever forum their fertile minds can concoct.

And the congressional probes? Well, “all sound, no fury,” many are wont to say.