THE BIG CHILL | Who decides who are the oligarchs to be destroyed? Business on edge

By: Jose Bimbo F. Santos, Bloomberg TV Philippines, August 8, 2016

MANILA – From drug pushers, to miners, President Rodrigo Duterte is also training his sights on oligarchs, and singled out Wednesday former trade minister and Philweb Corporation chairman Roberto Ongpin as an oligarch he wants to destroy.

A day after the President’s tirade, shares of Philweb were sold off and plunged as much as 50 percent, the biggest decline on record, and ended the day down almost 37 percent.

Some businessmen say this has a “chilling effect”…on the business community.

Donald Dee, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), explained why the crusade is causing anxiety: “There is a chilling effect, I must say, because hindi namin alam ang [we don’t know how they define] oligarch.”

In a speech last Wednesday (Aug. 3), Duterte described such “oligarchs” as “monsters” who wield influence to push their economic interests, calling out long-time businessman and former trade minister Roberto Ongpin as the first on his crosshairs.

Duterte said: “My order is destroy the oligarchs that are embedded in government. I’ll give you an example, Ongpin.”

The following day, Ongpin resigned as chair of online gambling firm Philweb after the company’s shares posted their biggest plunge on record.

Ongpin’s daughter followed suit and left Philweb as vice chair Friday.

Prior to singling out Ongpin as an oligarch, Duterte had vowed to put an end to online gambling in his first Cabinet meeting.

But for Dee, who heads the ECOP, ambiguity on who qualifies as an “oligarch” may rattle businessmen, including those who support his administration’s bid to further open up the economy to foreign investors.

“Definitely, it is time [to open up the economy,” said Dee, adding, “and there we are with the President. What we are hoping and asking the President to clarify, na hindi personalities ito [is that this is not about personalities].”

Analyst Astro del Castillo said the President’s latest campaign is not surprising as it is in keeping with his push to change the landscape by weeding out entrenched business interests.

“Ang gusto lang naman niya [All we really want] is a level playing field for everyone, [where no one takes] advantage,” said del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Holdings.

Del Castillo asserted that precisely, there is a wide “disparity between the rich and the poor,” because “some people or big individuals are protecting their business and trying to influence the direction of the country.”

Duterte has been known to shoot from the hip, and del Castillo agrees it would indeed be best for the administration to provide clarity of policy.

“Alam mo naman yung background niya na iron fist, hindi na puwede yung kid gloves. Kasi gagamitin na naman nung mga suspect o so-called oligarchs yung kanilang networks, so ang solusyon ni President Duterte is iron fist [You know his background as the iron fist. He knows that the oligarchs will again use their networks to avoid being called to account, so the President’s solution is the iron fist].”

Still, Del Castillo added that it would be good if the President can “lay out properly what exactly his objective is on how to get rid of the oligarchs.”

Although Duterte has enormous political capital to charge headstrong in pushing his policy objectives, del Castillo hopes that “due process” will not fall by the wayside in the long run.