This Pinoy Entrepreneur site had a (poll) regarding the most problematic factors in doing business in the Philippines. The most problematic factor, based on the poll, is graft and corruption (63.9%). Surprisingly, no one considered “crime and theft” as a problematic factor.

This post was originally published more than two years ago, in May 2008, during the RCBC bank robbery. The robbery resulted to the loss of millions of pesos and the gruesome death of ten people. It illustrated that even the innocent early bird who should get the worm, or the early depositors who go to the bank first thing in the morning to avoid the rush, is not safe. Maybe you haven’t seen the photos of or the reports about the massacre and maybe that’s not important.

We patterned a poll after that of the World Economic Forum — which also showed “corruption” as the most problematic factor in doing business in the Philippines, with “crime and theft” somewhere at the bottom with 2.30% (we broadened the matter from “crime and theft” to general “peace and order”, important ingredients to foster a healthy business environment).

The poll: Do you believe that the authorities are doing enough to maintain peace and order in the Philippines? When the poll was closed in 19 June 2008, a total of 19 votes were tallied, broken down as follows: No (23 votes, 67.6%), Yes (8 votes, 23.5%), Maybe (2 votes ,5.9%), and I don’t care (1 vote, 2.9%).

Now that peace and order — particularly the competence and capability of our police authorities to maintain peace and order — it’s time to reopen the poll. In the morning of 23 August 2010, a Monday, Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza held hostage more than 20 Chinese nationals in a tourist bus. The tourist bus, boarded by Mendoza in Fort Santiago, stopped in the middle of a wide-open Quirino Grandstand in Manila City. The whole world saw how the police authorities handled the matter, from start to deadly finish, which makes us think, yet again:

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You may voice out your opinion through the comment section below. This is a business-oriented site, so there’s no problem if you limit your assessment or opinion to the business side of the equation.

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