The Unlawyer

I don’t know if this particular Philippine judge was giving level, sober-headed advice to a litigant in his court, or he was merely being sarcastic. Or, perhaps, both. At any rate, I chuckled at his remarks over morning coffee today: Judge to Defensor: Lozada case may lead to arrest order vs First Couple.

“”[Former presidential chief of staff Michael] Defensor has admitted on TV that this perjury case he is pursuing against Lozada is very bad for his political career. I fully agree with him,” Jorge Emmanuel Lorredo, presiding judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 26 of Manila, said in a five-page order issued on Monday. “Furthermore, I say that it may be very bad for his health and his family as well. If he gets sick like Mike Arroyo, would not that be bad for him and his family?”"

What is more remarkable is that Judge Lorredo actually committed his words in writing! I wonder how Mr. Defensor and his counsel reacted to this.

Enjoy this other gem from the good magistrate:

“”There are those who say that the serious heart disease is some kind of punishment for Atty. Mike Arroyo. I do not know if this is true, for I do not really know how our Lord works, for He does work in mysterious ways,” he said.

“He also mentioned in the order that of all the president’s [sic] he know, only Mrs. Arroyo’s spouse became sickly. “He has a serious heart disease. He even tries to make us believe that he is [in] no condition to attend Senate probes.”"

Thanks to Manuel Quezon III, here is an entry on VERA Files that published Judge Lorredo’s order of May 4, 2009 in People v. Rodolfo Lozada in full.

Moving on.

Having good news about the Philippines published in the pages of the New York Times is as rare as hen’s teeth, but one opinion writer is guardedly optimistic about the country’s prospects: The Philippines: Looking Good for Now. Leading the way are the following economic sectors:

“The relatively strong performance this year will be largely due to what is also the Philippines’ biggest long-term weakness — reliance on overseas worker remittances, which account for 10 percent of GDP and the bulk of foreign exchange earnings.

“Although these are now expected to fall from the $16 billion that Philippines abroad sent home in 2008, such remittances have held up well thus far.

“A second bright spot — in contrast with the woes of Asian electronics manufacturing — can be found in call centers and business process outsourcing, which should keep growing, albeit more slowly.”

Government spending and yes, even agriculture round up the list.

Even Philippine inflation seems to be retreating, to what analysts say was a 16-month low last April at 4.8 percent. While it doesn’t mean that consumer goods will get cheaper any soon, it does mean that prices will remain at their current levels or increase only very, very slightly. Then, there’s this:

“Central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said after the release of April figures that the data gave authorities more room to ease policy, but he also said the central bank was monitoring how previous policy moves have filtered into the economy.”

That usually translates into lower interest rates all around.

Philippine retailers, on the other hand, don’t seem to be reaping the benefits of these trends, not yet anyway: Filipinos cut spending in malls amid economic downturn.

“A recent survey by global market research firm Synovate revealed that in the last six months, 92 percent of residents in Metro Manila, where malls are concentrated, have cut their spending while 61 percent did less impulsive buying. Synovate polled 1,000 residents across all income brackets in the Metro.

“What is more interesting is that 55 percent said they’ve started focusing on food and other necessities and spent less on recreation as well as luxury items like high-tech gadgets, appliances and even fancy dinners.”

This nugget from Synovate’s survey of Philippine consumers confirms that sales of consumer durables are always the first casualty of any economic crisis. Needless to say, I am not very happy at this news.

“It found that hi-tech gadgets (28 percent) and big-ticket items (26 percent) such as plasma television sets and electrical appliances were the first items to be sacrificed, while holiday and leisure travel (24 percent) as well as dining out (21 percent) were next on the list.”

Taking these reports altogether, all I can say is this: it may be true that there may be money in the Filipino’s collective pockets but a lack of confidence in what the future may hold continues to stay the shopper’s hand.

Not everyone, however, is disappointed as I am, but if poor economic conditions continue to bite people where it matters the most, their hopes for growth in 2009 may not come to pass after all.

“In an interview with ABS-CBN News last week, [Philippine Association of Supermarkets Secretary General Federico] Ples said sales of supermarkets have gone down for the first three months of 2009, with only a growth of 1 percent from the average of 5 to 10 percent recorded in the previous years.”