1/08/2013

Licensing Strike! Broker closing shop!

You did a lot of effort to become a Broker because you believed that real estate sales in the Philippines generate THRILLIONS of sales each year. Your belief is reinforced with the sight of towering high-rise condominiums all over Metro Manila (that has caused the congestion of the metropolis). You are aware that at present, there are already around 20,000 Brokers. So, you, picked up your 10 digit calculator to estimate the 5% commission from a thillion pesos and divide it by 20,000. Assuming you are equally competent than everyone else, you should be earning around P2.5Million each year, as a Broker -- so you run in a hurry to BIR and register yourself under VAT.

Well, let me tell you the truth. I myself, whom you recognize as one of the powerful Brokers in the Philippines, is not earning that much as a Broker. You, me, all Brokers are not earning that much, right? But our expenses in license, seminar, professional bond, memberships in associations are SURE EXPENSES that we can't escape;and we spend for these things because we believe in legality and righteousness.

Now, where is your P2.5M share of the industry? Where did the money GO? Do you know who raked in the income of that huge agency profession? It's the COLORUMS -- the unlicensed real estate practitioners whose operators are TOLERATED and PROTECTED by the Philippine Government.

Ever since in the 80's there are already government regulations that provide Brokers (and the legitimate Salesperson they supervise) the exclusive proprietary rights to exercise the practice and profession of the Real Estate Agent. But government, whether DTI or PRC or HLURB has never protected our proprietary rights. It appears to me that all of these real estate regulatory laws that promise proprietary rights to licensees are HOAX, a BIG GOVERNMENT SCAM, and FARCE (as one license striker call it). The government is not implementing the entire RA 9646, nor the PD 957, they just want the portions of it where they get money from us -- parang mga sahuran na pa-upo-upo lang mga bantay-salakay na tumatanggap ng pera pa-ilalim mula sa mga mayayamang criminal na nag-eexploit ng services ng mga walang lisensyang real estate colorum agents.

As Lead Convenor of IPORESP, I have thousands of licensed practitioners who follow me. In my previous blogs, I frequently mentioned an encouraging note on getting business licenses, BIR registration, and official receipts, etc. etc.; but time had reached a point when I have so say we had ENOUGH of this cruelty by the government. Now the irony is, yesterday, I went to Manila City Hall to get a Business Retirement Form to close REIBS.COM Real Estate Information and Broker Service. Closing shop, in fact have already stopped operating as a business since 31 December 2010, yet retaining the professional license, is the best decision I ever made since the last time I got disillusioned since the approval of the Real Estate Service Act of 2009. This week, I will also go to HLURB to voluntarily suspend my HLURB Registration so that I will not incur penalties and surcharge later on when I register again. I have the same plan for my PRC license, I will have it voluntarily suspended to escape the yearly surcharge when I renew later on.

I know our sector is frustrating; but I discourage everyone from reaching an extreme point just like the incident of a Broker hanging self last October 2012.

Don't worry, this is no big deal. Brokers who are honest about their finances will sure follow my course of action, no big deal. I am not surrendering, I am just retreating. I will open up the business again in the future; but not until PRC signs the advisory that the same law enforcement procedure that is applied on the other professions will apply to the real estate service.

RE: IPORESP. Everyone will FOLLOW my lead. No one will renew their license. No one will establish a business. No one will pay their taxes. But everyone will continue to operate, serve the people, and bring that scraps that you earn into your family's table. Lalangawin ang PRC and HLURB. That's what will happen. We call it Licensing Strike. Only those who tolerate the corruption of PRC and HLURB will renew their registration, and we want to know WHO THEY ARE -- they can never become pillars of the IPORESP. Definitely, no rally in the streets.

No comments: