Bangon Marawi
The five-week conflict in Marawi City between government troops and Islamist terrorists is nearing its end. President Rodrigo R. Duterte foresees the siege to be finished “in a matter of days” or just before delivering his second State of the Nation Address (SoNA) — with the Armed Forces of the Philippines winning the war against the Maute Group, which is aligned with the Islamic State (IS).
Setbacks in Iraq and Syria have prompted IS’ shift to Southeast Asia, where the extremists want to establish a hardline jihadist “caliphate” starting from Marawi and spanning the rest of the Philippines as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, Mr. Duterte’s designated martial law administrator in Mindanao, said it could be over in one to two weeks. He looks forward to start the recovery and rehabilitation efforts in Marawi, setting his sights on helping the residents rebuild their homes and repair the damaged infrastructure.
A P20-billion budget has been earmarked by the chief executive to rebuild Marawi from the ashes, plus more funding if necessary. According to Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said half of this amount would come from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
Where can the government get the other half? It need not look far, since there is a standing offer from cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. to settle its tax evasion cases with the Department of Justice (DoJ) to the tune of at least P13 billion.
As of June 30, the DoJ has completed its preliminary investigations on the first two complaints filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against Mighty, and is now investigating the third tax case involving cigarette packs with fake stamps. The combined amount of the three cases has reached almost P38 billion stemming from three raids conducted by the BIR and the Bureau of Customs.
What happened to the two white knights that offered to rescue the damsel in distress? It can be recalled that London-based British American Tobacco (BAT) and Geneva-headquartered Japan Tobacco International (JTI) came forward a few months ago to express interest in acquiring Mighty from the Wongchuking family of Bulacan.
Acquired from US tobacco giant R. J. Reynolds (RJR) in 1999, JTI is an operating division of Tokyo-based Japan Tobacco (JT). The Japanese Ministry of Finance, in turn, partly owns JT. In 2007, it completed the largest-ever foreign takeover in Japan’s history through its acquisition of UK-based Gallaher Group.
On the other hand, BAT is the biggest listed tobacco company in the world and owns 42% of Reynolds American, Inc., of which RJR is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary. BAT is listed on the stock exchanges of London, Johannesburg, and Nairobi. Over the past decade, it acquired majority stakes in Italian, Serbian, Turkish, Indonesian and Colombian tobacco firms.
Both JTI and BAT have no manufacturing facilities in the Philippines, unlike their rival Philip Morris International (PMI), which is the world’s number one tobacco company in terms of income. Aside from operating factories in Batangas and Metro Manila, PMI also has a local distribution network by way of its joint venture with the LT Group known as PMFTC, Inc.
Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III, Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin M. Drilon and Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian have given their support for President Duterte’s commitment to rebuild Marawi City.
They suggested that the House of Representatives and the Senate pass a law authorizing the transfer of funds that would augment the calamity and contingent kitties being eyed by the Department of Budget and Management for the “Bangon Marawi” rehabilitation plan.
But with Mighty’s settlement offer, there is probably no need for Congress to legislate the proposed supplemental budget. Besides, the President can exercise his power to realign funds in accordance with a recent Supreme Court decision on the use of budgetary savings.
Mr. Diokno said the budget of slow-moving projects from the departments of Public Works and Highways, Environment and Natural Resources, Education, and Agriculture will be reprogrammed to address the relief needs of the besieged Lanao del Sur capital.
So let the rehab begin!