DYSFUNCTION: Senate committees, whose main function is legislation, must defer to the Office of the Ombudsman in investigating and determining probable criminal liability of persons linked to the aborted National Broadband Network project.

It is high time every official in this confused nation attended to his constitutionally assigned task. Let us put an end to what Senate witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr. called “systemic dysfunction.”

Another example of legislative dysfunction is pork barrel, which is used by lawmakers in building infrastructure and other projects. That is a job of the Executive branch, not of senators and congressmen who are elected to office to make laws.

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FOLD THE CIRCUS: Anyway, whatever probable cause the Senate may find in the NBN case will be endorsed to the Ombudsman.

Why not short-cut the process and have the Ombudsman get into the heart of the matter right away -- and give senators more time to legislate?

As seen in the televised Senate hearings, while a few senators show sense and competence, many of their companions preening before the TV camera are not equipped to do an Ombudsman's job.

Senate President Manuel Villar should consider folding up his noisy circus in deference to the Ombudsman's finally springing into action.

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INSULATION: The Ombudsman has summoned First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos and several others to its preliminary investigation into the NBN project set to start tomorrow.

President Arroyo expressed confidence in the impartiality of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, her former chief legal counsel and a law classmate of the First Gentleman. There was no need for her to do that.

The impartiality of the Ombudsman, a constitutionally independent entity, is assumed. The President's comment might even be misconstrued as an attempt to influence Gutierrez or to justify in advance the Ombudsman's decision on the case.

The Ombudsman must be insulated from extraneous comments of parties in interest.

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ACID TEST: Also summoned by the Ombudsman were former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., his businessman-son Joey III, and Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri who was NEDA director when the NBN project was passed upon by that body.

Mike Arroyo, Abalos and the De Venecias are facing criminal charges for alleged violation of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. There has been insinuation that Arroyo and Abalos received commission on the $329-million contract.

The Ombudsman's investigation is also an acid test of Gutierrez. Apparently anticipating questions about her partiality, she said: “My relations with the First Gentleman are close and far -- close because he is a former classmate, but far because I am the Ombudsman.”

“My office is apolitical and I am not a politician. I assure the public that we will conduct an impartial hearing, where everyone would be accorded due process.”

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ADVANCE VAT: The Bureau of Internal Revenue plans to require real estate developers to advance the payment of value-added tax on properties being sold. (The proposed scheme will not apply on one-time sale of assets not handled by realty firms.)

The idea is obviously to bring in tax collections earlier. In 2007, the BIR targeted P765.9 billion in taxes, but it turned in only P711.6 billion, falling short of its goal by P54.3 billion.

At present, realty firms pay the 12-percent VAT on property when it is fully sold. Now the BIR wants to require them to pay 3-percent VAT every year.

If the property is paid for in cash, the seller would be required under the proposed regulations to remit the 3 percent on or before the 10th of the month after the sale and the balance of the 12 percent on the 25th.

As expected, industry players are questioning the advance VAT payment scheme.

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POOR BUYERS: What should happen is for the government to crack down really hard on real estate developers, especially those owned by influential families who stack up the cards against buyers on installment.

One big developer with political clout is notorious for selling overpriced but substandard dwellings and then misrepresenting himself as a champion of small homeowners.

Buyers lured to his networked housing projects who are gypped usually do not know where to complain to get payment adjustments and punish unscrupulous personnel.

How does a plain consumer run after a developer who has grown big in business and politics and uses public office as a business shield?

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UNTOUCHABLE: Just to clinch a sale, realty agents sometimes make eager buyers sign falsified documents, including income tax returns, employment certificates or documents purporting to show that they are overseas workers.

For its in-house lending to buyers on installment basis, the real estate firm operates with a bank that charges exorbitant rates from its captive clients.

The unsuspecting buyer is made to sign for two loans: One ostensibly for his deposit (but already paid upfront by the client) and another for the principal loan. In effect, the buyer pays double deposit -- one to the bank with interest, aside from the other deposit paid to the realty firm.

Then the realty firm turns around and uses the loan papers to get cheaper refinancing from Pag-IBIG to rake in more profits. Despite his megaprofits, this developer reportedly has past due obligations piled up with Pag-IBIG, but obviously he is untouchable.

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