The Philippines is viewed as having the most persistent poverty in Southeast Asia. Schools are underfunded and social programs spotty in many areas. For that reason, it is maddening to see the government of President Rodrigo Duterte pull a gratuitous publicity stunt by crushing two dozen valuable classic and luxury cars worth over $1.2 million. Rather than sell the cars and fund schools or hospitals, the Duterte officials stages a show in which a bulldozer destroyed the cars to send a message against tax evasion.
The cars were lined up in a Manila customs yard to be crushed as chest thumping officials grinned with approval. Porsches, Mercedes, Jaguars and Corvettes were reduced to scrap. Finance Minister Carlos Domingue declared “it does not pay to evade taxes in the Philippines so might as well stop trying, because you will never succeed.”
No and it does not pay to have officials burn over a million dollars in an impoverished country to hold a photo op.
