Sell shock

WHAT? Curfew? Again?

Really, the imposition of a five-hour curfew all over the country seemed to be the latest “shock value” that the public has been getting from Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who recently changed his mind, for the last time, hopefully, and decided to run for president.

In a recent broadcast interview, Duterte bared this plan to impose curfew nationwide similar to the one in Davao City.

He claimed of course that the curfew reduced criminality in Davao City. Well and good! Nobody could deny that the public would support any plan to reduce criminality.

No doubt, even in the business sector, “peace and order” would be a big issue in the forthcoming elections.

But nobody in business could honestly back the suggestion that curfew would be our salvation from crimes. Even during the dark period of martial rule in the 1970s, curfew was never the end all of peace and order, and the Marcos dictatorship thus lifted it.

Now, when Duterte talked about another drastic measure such as curfew, he seemed to aim to shock the public, similar to the habit of cursing, or the open admission of having two wives and two mistresses, or the threat to dissolve Congress.

In marketing, such a tactic is known as shock advertising, or “shockvertising,” which aims purposely to astound the audience, or even offend their sensibilities, thereby catching their attention.

It seemed the Duterte camp mastered the “shockvertising” technique. Well, if you believed the surveys, it seemed he was leading the presidential race.

Anyway, many in business feared that, at this stage of our economic development, curfew could only lead several industries to total collapse. No wonder, the business community could find the Duterte pronouncements disturbing.

Off hand, those industries would include the business process outsourcing (BPO), gaming and other entertainment centers (specifically the Pagcor entertainment city at the reclaimed area), construction, transportation and even the neighborhood variety stores.

Those sectors must operate 24/7—by the very nature of their businesses—meaning, those industries would have to lay off thousands of personnel under a Duterte presidency.

I am not sure I want such an anti-business regime.

The BPOs right now employ hundreds of thousands of young people, majority of whom report to work or go home in the wee hours. Just imagine their ordeal from curfew!

To think, the Philippines is already number one in the world in the BPO business, beating the erstwhile leader India, as billions of BPO dollars (estimated at more than $2 billion a month) now flow into the country.

And then think about the trucking business, which now must transport goods late at night until early morning, because of the hellish traffic in all—and I mean, all—urban areas in the country.

Perhaps they would have to go through several checkpoints that, as we all knew all along, could only be a good excuse for…well, lagay. It would mean that the prices of everything, including condom and condo, would just have to increase. Nice.

Even the hotel complexes at the Pagcor entertainment city would lose huge business, which each already invested between $2 billion and $3 billion, because gaming and entertainment would only thrive in a metropolis with a vibrant night life.

Reports might have claimed that Mayor Digong has been rather successful in running Davao City, the governance of the whole country of 100 million people, however, would certainly be an entirely different matter.

But the “scare tactic” of the Duterte camp, perhaps directed at criminals, could also send alarm signals to investors.

In the end, the presidency could never really be just about blood and guts, or street level language, because the leader of any nation would have to exercise prudence, weighing the pros and cons of just about everything.

The best way to curb crime would still be the traditional way—you know, police visibility and strict law enforcement.

As far as I know, no country has ever progressed with the imposition of curfew.

***

DOTC insiders whispered to me that the department seemed to frown upon competitive bidding for DOTC contracts, with its current practice of “emergency procurement negotiation.”

Thus, DOTC contracts would predictably go to some favored groups, or personalities, such as the son of his mother who arranged for his principals, well, including juicy contracts for supplies, maintenance and rehab of the MRT-3 and the LRT-2.

From what I gathered, all those contracts went to the Korean firm called Busan, said to have been represented—quite ably, I must say—by a certain Eugene Rapanut, considered at the DOTC as the “luckiest” agent alive.

Busan was the lead company in the consortium that won those contracts.

From what I gathered, the Busan consortium seemed to be the “certain” awardee for the three-year contract for the MRT-3 rehabilitation and maintenance, worth a sum of about P4.3 billion.

DOTC talk had it that the lucky agent, Rapanut, also represented Dalian, the Chinese company that bagged the P3.7-billion contract to supply the MRT-3 with new trains and coaches.

So far Dalian was able to supply the DOTC with some simple prototype of the train that still had no engine, at that!

The prototype was apparently just the PR stunt of Transportation  Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya to calm down the public on the sorry state of the MRT-3, worsened by the seemingly lack of action by the DOTC.

Talk inside the DOTC had it that the same lucky Rapanut was involved in the P1.33-billion maintenance contract for LRT-2 that the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) awarded to the joint venture between the familiar Edison and Busan.

Incidentally, the National Coalition of Filipino Consumers (NCFC) already file graft cases before the Ombudsman over the contract.

But the question remained: Who in the DOTC should take credit for the questionable awarding of those contracts to the Korean group Busan? Who for instance changed the deadline for the submission of bids that of course favored Busan?

The NCFC even alleged that the late submission of the bid was just one of the infractions ignored by the DOTC in the bidding.

In the “emergency negotiated procurement” for the MRT-3, according to the DOTC insiders, the negotiating team was headed by Transportation Undersecretary Rene K. Limcaoco, who reportedly prevailed upon the rest of the DOTC to award the contract to Busan soon.

Now, in the MRT-3 contract, the DOTC suddenly became rather strict in observing deadlines, which thus eliminated some serious competition against the Busan group, such as the joint venture between the German firm Schunk bahn-und Industrietechnik and the local Comm Builders & Technology Philippines.

To think, this joint venture submitted the only other competing offer, since the DOTC already chopped off another potential competitor of Busan, which was DMCI Holdings with Hamburg Metro of Germany as partner.

Surprise—the last man standing was of course Busan, ably represented by the extremely lucky Rapanut.

Busan was established only in January 2006, although the DOTC itself required that the technical partner in the MRT-3 contract should have at least 15 years of good track record in the operation and maintenance of light rails.

No wonder, in the so-called negotiations between Busan and DOTC, the sons of their mothers did not even touch on the technical aspects of the MRT-3 contract. Patay!