When toilet paper is the story

In government, it’s often the smallest things that reveal the biggest truths. Take toilet paper, yes, toilet paper. The Commission on Audit (CoA) found that the Social Security System (SSS) had bought P143,424 rolls for P13.195 million, some 116,000 of which never even reached SSS warehouses. They remained with the supplier under nothing more than a verbal agreement, as disposable and invisible as the paper itself and apparently the funds that paid for it.

At roughly P92 per roll, this wasn’t just overpriced — it was reckless. CoA said the amount could have funded the pensions of 2,000 retirees or paid for hundreds of funeral benefits — ironically two areas where SSS was also flagged for underpayments and for releasing P24.8 million to deceased beneficiaries.

SSS manages over P200 billion in assets and just released P18.8 billion in 13th-month pensions this month. That scale demands precision, not procurement that evaporates into undocumented handshake deals.

SSS insists it is addressing the findings. But when pensions are sacred, and trust is fragile, even a roll of toilet paper becomes a symbol of what the government wipes away, and what the public should never overlook.           

Palace PR move of the week

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s latest stunt — ordering Congress to “prioritize” anti-dynasty and reform bills — is the PR move of the week. When a presidency is cornered by scandals, the easiest way out is to pretend you’re the hero cleaning up the mess you helped create in the first place.

The prince of a dynasty suddenly championing an anti-dynasty bill? You’re forced to agree with him. How can anyone oppose it without looking complicit? Psychological manipulation!

Then he adds the Independent People’s Commission Act to the list, a measure meant to investigate infrastructure anomalies, the very scandal currently strangling his administration. 

He echoes Chel Diokno’s call to give the ICI “more teeth,” parrots independence, non-partisanship, transparency. Again, he boxes everyone into agreement. Another strategic checkmate from the Palace’s PR machine.

But here’s the catch, PR only works when it’s backed by action. If Marcos is serious, he won’t just “prioritize.” He will certify these bills as “urgent” and pressure his own dynasty-packed Congress to pass them.              

Hassle and bustle

In a country where traffic problems seem unsolvable, those in power continue to propose solutions that are hard to make sense of.

On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) appealed to mall owners not to hold simultaneous mall-wide sales, blaming these events for the massive traffic gridlock during the holidays.

“Pinagbabawal natin ang mall sale dito sa Kamaynilaan. Iyon po iyong reason, dahil sa may parteng Rizal ay mga nag-mall sale, nagkasabay-sabay iyong paglabas [ng mga tao],” MMDA chief Don Artes said. (We have banned mall sales in Metro Manila. That’s the reason they are in Rizal, where all the people go.) 

It’s laughable that in a country plagued by traffic gridlock, the government’s solution is to tell malls to stop holding sales at the same time. Avoiding simultaneous sales as a “solution” to traffic? Groundbreaking. Another classic, easy fix.

When the prices of basic commodities couldn’t be lowered, the government promoted the P500 Noche Buena package. Hardly a solution to the underlying problem.

Instead of proposing practical, logical and comprehensive alternatives — like promoting online shopping, encouraging carpooling, mapping alternate routes, boosting public transport through extended train hours or free rides, or even deploying more traffic enforcers — why target mega-wide sales?

Traffic drives you crazy, indeed.