One of the disadvantages of living in the southern part of the Metro Manila area is having to commute to the Central Business District(s), a commute that takes the better part of over an hour on neutral days, even worse when traffic piles up on Wednesdays, Fridays, and paydays.

Fortunately, metropolitan commuters who cannot afford the convenience of a car have adjusted to this reality by taking advantage of a strange mix of light rail transportation, the point-to-point multi-passenger vehicles that leave and arrive on a regular basis, and a melange of the usual options such as jeepneys, buses, and FX vehicles that act like taxis that pick up and drop passengers anywhere along a given route. But the option of a light rail transit servicing people going to or coming from our southern area remains a pipe dream for the present. Pity, because this would be the best way to get to the CBD from the south…..or the north.

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One of the unintended casualties of the free fall being suffered by banks and the finance sector in general is the increasing lack of good places one can expect to park cash and hard-earned funds.

Many banks, especially in the US and Europe, remain in business only because of extreme measures taken by their host governments by way of direct cash infusions (in tens of billions of dollars and euros) and guarantees. As a result, many people are probably contemplating putting extra cash under the proverbial mattress in anticipation of worse days to come.

The folding up of the Legacy group of banks locally calls to mind a similar spate of bank closures that arose from essentially bad management practices and the tendency of many bankers to treat deposits as a private piggy bank into which they can dip their grubby hands. Banking is a business built on trust, faith that the money deposited there will be used wisely by way of loans to productive enterprises or investments in high-grade bonds or other financial instruments. Now, depositors have to think twice before committing funds that may never get back to them.

That is why it pains one when failed banks–that were closed for obvious mismanagement or the use of bank deposits to fund owners’ and management’s personal ventures, adventures, or peccadillios–are allowed by government or the legal system to get away with their crime and even file cases against regulators. In a legal system that is fraught with illicit transactions that favor those who are willing to pay the price, it is highly possible for a failed bank to reopen for business, to the future distress of new and unsuspecting depositors.

I sincerely hope that our local banking system remains fairly solid, and able to withstand the buffeting that they will get because of the malaise that is affecting their counterparts abroad. On the other hand, depositors should be prepared to ask tough questions of their bankers: Their policies on investments and lending, their exposure to bad debts, whether any garbage is hidden away in the contingent accounts, actual exposure in potential land mines like (the bad kind of) derivatives, and so forth. This should set bank managements to thinking too, and keep them on their toes, as both the depositing public and the regulators act to keep the banks and bankers honest.

SOMEONE sent me an article written obviously from the point of view of a member of the Jewish community, lamenting the rip-off pulled by Bernard Madoff against many of the rich and famous denizens of both Wall Street and residents of the rarefied gated communities like Palm Beach in Florida. But what seems to incense the author of the article is that this fellow Madoff scammed even Jewish organizations and charities.

On the other hand, others are simply incensed that this fellow managed to create an aura of investment invincibility around him, to the point wherein people would join exclusive clubs like the Palm Beach Country Club just to have a chance to “invest” in Madoff’s fund…which, of course, turned out to be nothing but another glorified Ponzi scheme.

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By Digoy Fernandez

If only the process of sweeping out the baggage and detritus of the old year could be so simple. Just get a broom and sweep away! Unfortunately, life in real time suggests that the only way to get rid of old baggage is to sweep clean one’s own psyche, more like an emotional cleansing. At the very least, even if the problems of the old year manage to carry on into the New Year, one would be better conditioned, mentally that is, to tilt with the windmills that 2009 promises to bring to bear on one’s already tired shoulders.

A comment was made to the blog on global warming, insinuating that it is a problem of the elite or those who would raise the specter of rising ocean levels just to obtain paltry grants. Well, speaking for myself, I don’t get paid a single cent to blog, nor do I rely on anyone’s largesse to support this private initiative in favor of the environment (among other concerns, of course!).

It is true that the planet has had to deal with catastrophic events in millennia past. But if we just think of the rough time span that homo sapiens has been on this earth, this would be the equivalent of a hiccup in the face of millions – perhaps billions – of evolutionary years. The great difference is that the recent crisis has been largely man-made, mainly through the rapid use of non-renewable resources, the constant emission of effluents into the air and the world’s water systems, and the creation of incredibly large carbon footprints per capita that the world’s dwindling forests can barely cope up with. (FYI, trees generally are able to process carbon dioxide from the air and convert them into oxygen, etc.)

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By Digoy Fernandez

WITHOUT doubt, we now live in interesting times. In fact, the venerable Chinese — who have seen many civilizations come and go over their long and storied history — sometimes use the term in a euphemistic manner, akin to wishing that someone, perhaps an adversary, live in interesting times.

A relative tells of her own well-to-do siblings taking off for a vacation in the US and then Europe. It seems that, in the case of the former, most stores still open are on Sale Mode, offering up to a solid 70 percent off on all goods. Problem is, there are no takers, leading one to realize that genuine belt-tightening is going on. This is not surprising given the problem of lay-offs and company closures that have been taking place in an accelerated fashion. To make things worse, even companies able to weather the economic storm find themselves with dwindling sales as less and less people commit to purchasing anything unless absolutely necessary. The consumer-led US economy is fast sputtering to a halt, and the new president will have his hands full trying to jumpstart the engine by building up buyer confidence by creating new jobs and opportunities for others who have already been laid off. Despite naysayers who claim that the US is no longer the world’s economic locomotive, it is pretty clear that this malaise has began to seep into the other main economies of the world, from Europe, to the Middle East and its oil riches, to the East with “ChIndia” (China and India) and Japan slowly sliding into the morass.

An interesting footnote to that trip taken by our intrepid band is that they found themselves buying a lot of the bargains being offered, proving once again that Cash is King these days.

It is a well known fact to many local country and corporate planners that the saving grace of the Philippine economy has always been the Value Added Tax and the foreign exchange inflows generated by our army of overseas workers. Unfortunately, the spread of economic gloom and a general decrease in economic activity worldwide will probably result in some diminution of the foreign exchange remittances currently propping up the economy. The government, probably prompted by the need to show some backbone in the current crisis, has mapped out a program for public sector spending meant to inject funds into the economy before it throttles downward. Unfortunately, there is little or no surplus to spend, and any program aimed at propping up the economy may be just a short-lived and expensive exercise as we poach into the largesse generated by VAT.

I know of families that have recently gone through a series of sales of family properties, some through the Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS) program under land reform (deformed?). Many of these people believe in paying the right taxes and fees. It is interesting to note that they have always had to pay much more just to get proceeds into their hands. What galls one is that the VOS is supposed to generate tax-free revenues for the selling party, and yet, functionaries find ways and means to make the transactions interesting. It is precisely this type of practice so prevalent today that screams for structural reform. A philosophical observer of the scene once said that, to get rid of corruption in this country, one would have to eliminate almost everyone above the age of 30 and start all over again — hopefully in the right direction.

The coming year promises even more of what will really be interesting times. The country will have to come up with creative ways to beat back the economic malaise that threatens to seep into our own fabric. It does not help that the political process is being thwarted yet again by people who hold on to their public offices like leeches. Like the true parasites that they are, they only know how to suck blood and do the country a disservice by coming up with new-fangled ways to cling to power beyond the mandated election year 2010.

During these interesting times, we are tempted to take a page from our Chinese friends and wish the very best of these interesting times on those who seek to thwart the will of the people and the constitution. Perhaps, in the next process of reviewing the constitution — for it does need some tweaking — it may be wise to put in a provision that NO ONE who has ever held the highest position of the land can ever take on a similar top position, e.g., prime minister or chief janitor, even if the constitution were to be changed a thousand times.