Ro-Ro brings
big business

I was at the Bredco port the other day to make reservation for my vehicle to Iloilo. I talked with Bredco director Willy Au and port manager Ramon Trocio.

Looking at the number of big loaded cargo trucks, ten-wheeler and others waiting to be boarded, I asked my two friends how many trips a day make these roll-on, roll-off boat.

I was told, normally, they have 18 trips a day, nine going to Iloilo and nine coming to Bacolod. And all of these are full of vehicles, most of them with goods.

Many are passenger vehicles with passengers paying the trip at a very much lower rate.

I could not get the volume of goods nor the cost because the port, owned by Bredco, is paid by the different ship owners the berthing and wharfage fees.

* * *

The port was realized because of the foresight of one man, Atty. Simplicio A. Palanca who braved all problems to set up the reclamation area and the port which brought in business.

Because of this Ro-Ro the cost of transporting goods becomes lesser and consequently cheaper for the consumers. And the fast crafts are solely for passengers and makes the trip much less with only one hour making one go to Iloilo in the morning and back to Bacolod in the afternoon.

Before, with Negros Navigation boats, the trip would take two hours and on reaching each port, it would take an additional 30 minutes to disembark.

* * *

Sammy Palanca has still many other projects in mind, Strong, healthy, agile, and mentally alert at 85, he still has other projects in mind. I believe he will still be strong at 90. That’s only five years away.

I hope he can realize his dream of making a boulevard along the shore from Banago to Sum-ag. This will not only beautify Bacolod but make the shore areas hum with business replacing many squatter areas there.

If Iloilo had put up a big statue of a British Consul Nicholas Loney at Mielle Loney in the Iloilo port for opening Iloilo to foreign business, there is no reason that Sammy Palanca does not deserve a much bigger statue at the port.

Not now. Sammy deserves many awards but he politely refused them. When he is no longer around, the statue is a must.

I was just very much impressed by the business brought in by the Ro-Ro.

* * *

Meanwhile, we cannot help but commiserate with the great tragedy that struck Burma, now called Myanmar. Some 22,000 died and 41,000 still missing when a cyclone struck Rangoon one early morning when people were still asleep.

It was as tragic as the tsunami that hit Indonesia.

I was alarmed when I heard the news that there was a low-pressure east of Mindanao. I said experience showed that if a typhoon develops with a landfall in Surigao, it would be a strong typhoon and it would devastate Visayas, especially Negros and Panay.

I hope it got dissipated.

Our place is seldom visited by typhoons but when they do which usually happened between November and May, they were always destructive.

* * *

We join Sen. Nene Pimentel in asking for accounting of the funds spent for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program before deciding to extend it.

Sen. Pimentel said government spent “tens of billions of pesos for CARP since it was implemented in 1988” and that there were “reports of allegations of corruption and misuse of money.”

Recently, there was a report of one billion pesos spent for consultants. Consultants? On what? And for what? And why one billion pesos? This is pure and simple stealing of funds.

Meanwhile, CARP beneficiaries never improved their life. They still cannot pay their land taxes nor the amortization of the land.

And that no less than the Supreme Court decided on cases paying a billion pesos for a purchase of land. The purchase may be legal. But how much was the kickback?

What the auditors must look for are the funds in the operation when DAR was paying millions of pesos to non-land reform beneficiaries.

I have my fear, though, that DAR might have enough money to lobby in Congress. A million pesos for each lawmaker will not cost one billion pesos. If DAR is prepared, it can afford to pay money at P5 million per lawmaker.

* * *

Now, our Congress, particularly the Lower House is having problem with absenteeism. Lawmakers just report for the roll call but after 30 minutes make disappearing acts.

Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualde presented an idea of locking the door after the roll call. There were those who said there would be roll call three times. The best is to publish the names of the number of absences of each Congressmen.

Then this will be made the big issue in an election. But, will this issue stick? As long as candidates have the money to buy votes, their chances of winning will always be high.

That is why, our democracy is sometimes disgusting.*

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