21 November 2005
OPINION: About time we have an economic rebound
The Pen Speaks
Danny O. Sagun
BUSINESS is supposed to perk up this November after several months of stagnation but small businessmen we have talked to swear they still can hardly make both ends meet up to now.
A trader – friend disclosed he had been making good money up to April this year but everything went downward since then, starting May when the political turmoil brought about by the controversial ‘Hello Garci’ tapes unfolded. I sensed he was talking from the heart because I observed that no customer walked in during the one hour or so that we chatted while waiting for my car to get a fresh look.
Yes, my friend was operating a car wash and accessories business. He said that during the past months of December up to March, he was really making good so that he decided to expand his business, not anticipating the bad times about to befall this country.
Now he is only earning enough for the pay of his men (he used to have eight to 10 people, now he has only three) and monthly shop maintenance. If he nets P500 a day he already feels lucky, he confided. He used to get eight to 10 times more before. Last October he was about to say quits. He made up his mind though to stay for a few months more and see what will happen. He is hoping that the release of bonuses and Christmas gifts for employees this coming December will bring a better business climate.
We ourself feel the economic pinch of the times. Our little store is barely surviving. Our neighbors say the same thing. People seem to be delaying their spending sprees -- if they have money at all to spend.
Lately, our peso seems to be rebounding and the prices of gasoline are going down. This is a positive indication that we may see a better situation than what had been in the last six months at the height of the ‘oust-Arroyo’ attempt.
A trader – friend disclosed he had been making good money up to April this year but everything went downward since then, starting May when the political turmoil brought about by the controversial ‘Hello Garci’ tapes unfolded. I sensed he was talking from the heart because I observed that no customer walked in during the one hour or so that we chatted while waiting for my car to get a fresh look.
Yes, my friend was operating a car wash and accessories business. He said that during the past months of December up to March, he was really making good so that he decided to expand his business, not anticipating the bad times about to befall this country.
Now he is only earning enough for the pay of his men (he used to have eight to 10 people, now he has only three) and monthly shop maintenance. If he nets P500 a day he already feels lucky, he confided. He used to get eight to 10 times more before. Last October he was about to say quits. He made up his mind though to stay for a few months more and see what will happen. He is hoping that the release of bonuses and Christmas gifts for employees this coming December will bring a better business climate.
We ourself feel the economic pinch of the times. Our little store is barely surviving. Our neighbors say the same thing. People seem to be delaying their spending sprees -- if they have money at all to spend.
Lately, our peso seems to be rebounding and the prices of gasoline are going down. This is a positive indication that we may see a better situation than what had been in the last six months at the height of the ‘oust-Arroyo’ attempt.
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The Charter Change (Cha-cha) info drive has begun in the local level.
Vice-Mayor Alvin Fernandez of Dagupan City, who was appointed by Malacañang as member of consultative commission to represent the vice-mayors league, called the first meeting with concerned key agencies last Friday at the sangguniang panlungsod in preparation for the Consultative Commission’s coming to Pangasinan next month. Issues for and against the proposed Constitutional change were brought out for deliberation and enlightenment so that the public would know what to do when the changes are brought to them for approval or rejection in a plebiscite.
Another information campaign on an equally-controversial issue – the EVAT – has been scheduled on November 29, a Tuesday.
The expanded value added tax (EVAT) will be thoroughly tacked by the BIR and partner-agencies in a public forum at the Leisure Coast Resort in Bonuan Binloc, this city, from 1 to 5 p.m. No registration fees will be collected for the fora. The public is thus invited to take full advantage of these fora for their own benefit.
Vice-Mayor Alvin Fernandez of Dagupan City, who was appointed by Malacañang as member of consultative commission to represent the vice-mayors league, called the first meeting with concerned key agencies last Friday at the sangguniang panlungsod in preparation for the Consultative Commission’s coming to Pangasinan next month. Issues for and against the proposed Constitutional change were brought out for deliberation and enlightenment so that the public would know what to do when the changes are brought to them for approval or rejection in a plebiscite.
Another information campaign on an equally-controversial issue – the EVAT – has been scheduled on November 29, a Tuesday.
The expanded value added tax (EVAT) will be thoroughly tacked by the BIR and partner-agencies in a public forum at the Leisure Coast Resort in Bonuan Binloc, this city, from 1 to 5 p.m. No registration fees will be collected for the fora. The public is thus invited to take full advantage of these fora for their own benefit.
