Disenchantment was in the air

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Friday, November 30, 2007

Rejection of “a morally bankrupt government” by dozens of sectoral leaders presaged yesterday’s insurgence in Makati. It came in the form of a full-page ad in broadsheets Wednesday by, among others, Catholic, Born-Again and Protestant bishops. Jailed soldier-senator Antonio Trillanes, who with Gen. Danny Lim led the call for President Gloria Arroyo’s ouster, was himself a signatory. So were Bishops Antonio Tobias and Julio Labayen, who rushed the Peninsula Hotel to support the mutineers.

Some of the rest: Sen. Jamby Madrigal, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, United Methodist Church Bishop Solito Toquero, United Church of Christ Bishop Eliezer Pascua, Most Rev. Godofredo David of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, Bishop Dan Balais of the Philippines for Jesus Movement, and Rev. Job Santiago of the Philippine Baptist Churches.

They recalled Arroyo’s promise upon taking office in 2001 to usher in good governance by example of honest leadership. Seven years hence, the nation “instead reaped pain and ruin.” Political killings and kidnappings “have heightened (although) the pattern of abuse was brought to the attention of the President.” Billions of pesos are “shamelessly diverted to serve personal political interests”, namely: fertilizer scam, ZTE scam, and Malacañang bribery of legislators and governors. Although declared illegal by the Supreme Court, the government “bludgeons” protesters against such abuses. (The United Nations confirmed in a report also on Wednesday that Arroyo’s administration has done little to stop the human rights violations.)

Also presaging the standoff at the Peninsula Hotel was a statement of the second largest congregation of Catholic nuns against immoral rule. The Religious of the Good Shepherd, in national convention, declared no more succor for the Arroyo administration.

Likewise presaging the face-off was a declaration by major business groups of disgust with the Malacañang bribery. The Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute, Bishop-Businessmen’s Conference, Foundation for Economic Freedom, and Action for Economic Reform urged an independent probe. The chambers of commerce of Cebu, Northern Luzon, Southern Tagalog and Bicol joined in. Earlier, the same groups deplored a growing culture of impunity among Arroyo officials. The ZTE anomaly and other irregularities displayed this, they said.

In short the most influential segments of civil society have expressed disenchantment with the administration. Sadly, the latter apparently has chosen to ignore them.

The initial official retort to exposés of contract rigging for ZTE was to taunt the complainants as sour grapes and intimidate the press. When the story grew just the same and Arroyo was forced to cancel the stinky deal, the new line was that Senate investigators were beating a dead horse.

Anticipating a tough impeachment case against Arroyo from the ZTE scam, allies filed a sham complaint as yearlong preemption. Arroyo’s party offered P2 million each to six opposition congressmen to lend credence to the farce. Speaker Jose de Venecia dared Arroyo to lead a moral overhaul, then promptly forgot it. Malacañang invited 190 congressmen to breakfast and tens of local officials to lunch, specifically to give them P500,000 apiece. And then Arroyo’s party again claimed responsibility for it as cover-up. To Senate summons of Palace subalterns to shed light on the string of scandals, the response was a collective snub on the grounds of executive privilege. There were also Malacañang pretensions of separate probes by the pliable Presidential Anti-Graft Commission and the Ombudsman.

Things were coming to a boil. Something just had to give — and so the clash yesterday at Makati. But it was over in a flash. Since solders were reluctant to hurt fellow-soldiers, police were ordered to subdue Trillanes and Lim with tanks, bazookas and machineguns. Interior Sec. Ronaldo Puno, as field marshal of yesterday’s police suppressors, has endeared himself more than ever to Arroyo.

* * *

Four national artists lead top cultural performers in a tribute tonight to novelist-journalist-unionist Ka Amado V. Hernandez at the CCP, Manila. In the concert “Amado Minamahal...”, Bienvenido Lumbera, Ben Cabrera, Salvador Bernal and Napoleon Abueva will also honor with elegies Andres Bonifacio, whose 144th birthday the nation celebrates. The works of the two patriots will be presented, along with those of the late national artists Lucio San Pedro and Felipe de Leon, 8 p.m. at Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo.

Also top-billed are music, dance and poetry by Bituin Escalante, Robert Seña, Bobby Balingit, Ana Feleo, Nanding Josef, Ramon Acoymo, Tribu, Brown-man Revival, Madrigal Singers, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, and Ballet Philippines Kids.

Organizing the affair is the Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center, which promotes the causes and works of the national artist.

Sundan ang iyong bituin (prinsipyo)

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, November 30, 2007

ANI Karl Marx, hindi tatagal ang anumang bansa na walang pulutong ng mga makabayan na hindi nabibili ng salapi. Sila’y mga taong maprinsipyo, hindi nasisilaw sa yaman, at matatag humarap sa tukso.

Sa librong “Making a Difference” ni Whitney Seymour, isinalaysay ni Colonel Arthur McArthur sa anak na (naging General) Douglas McArthur ang tungkol sa isang hindi nabibiling patriot. American Civil War noon, at inatasan ng Union ang isang heneral na bantayan ang occupied territory sa New Orleans. Kinukulit siya ng mga pangi­noong maylupa na payagan sila maghakot ng cotton sa piyer para ipadala sa England. Kontrolado ng heneral lahat ng kabayo’t kariton, at malinaw ang utos ng White House sa kanya na walang papahintulutang bumiyahe pa-Uropa.

Nagkataong bumibisita si Colonel McArthur sa heneral nang may dumating na dalawang babaing taga-Confe-derate South. Nang harapin sila ng mga opisyal, hindi nagpaliguy-ligoy ang mas matandang babae: “Mabilis maidadala naming mga may plantasyon ang cotton sa piyer, at mabilis ding aalis ang mga barko; walang maka­kapansin. Kaibigan naman ng Union ang England, kaya dapat walang patid ang kalakal ng dalawang bansa miski may giyera-sibil.” Matindi ang sales talk ng babae.

Bilang pagtanaw ng “utang na loob”, inabutan ng babae ang heneral ng gold certificates na $250,000 — malaking halaga noon o ngayon. Dagdag pa niya: “Kung nais mo pa, iiwanan ko siya sa iyo.” Sabay itinuro niya ang napakagandang dilag na kasama at isinulat ang address.

Agad inutos ng heneral kay McArthur na i-telegrama ang liham sa Washington: “Sa Presidente ng Estados Unidos: Inaalok ako ng $250,000 at isang diwata para wasakin ang aking katapatan. Isinusuko ko ang papeles sa pamahalaan. At nakikiusap ako na palitan agad ako rito. Malapit na nila maabot ang presyo ko.”

Ang mahina-hinang nilalang ay malamang na magpadala sa tukso. Pero ang tao na tumatanaw sa sariling bituin — sa matayog na prinsipyo — ay ginagabayan ng katatagan. Kuntento sila sa buhay at tunay na payapa.

Palace vs de Venecia: Moving in for the kill

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Wednesday, November 28, 2007

An affront from Johnny Enrile is something Joe de Venecia perhaps can comprehend; after all, they never were friends. Sniping by his own pals in the House may not upset him; he knows only too well the petty ambition that drives them. But de Venecia must have been deeply hurt when PCGG chair Camilo Sabio, joined in the Speaker-bashing. Sabio, as most politicos know, is his former minion, so he surely was tempted to ask, like Julius Caesar in fatal ambush, “You too?”

De Venecia was in Iran speaking at the Asia Parliamentary Assembly when Sabio launched the verbal assault. It was a surprise that Sabio talked at all. He’s not known to relish press interviews. Only weeks ago he refused to answer in public a subordinate’s exposé of his huge but illicit allowances from sequestered firms; he simply fired the man. Before that he also evaded the Senate’s televised probe of his agency’s activities, and had to be arrested to face inquisitors. Now Sabio not only is yakking, but is even on the same side with erstwhile foe Enrile in pushing de Venecia to the corner. “He couldn’t have done that without orders from on high,” a congressman close to de Venecia said about Sabio’s sneak attack.

Sabio claimed that de Venecia’s defunct Land Oil Corp. had reneged on $120 million in obligations to the government. The amount supposedly represents a behest loan that the company and its subsidiaries obtained through strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Citing an agreement with the PCGG signed 1988 by a Land Oil officer, Sabio said the group had agreed to repay or else face indictment — which is what he allegedly is doing to de Venecia.

The Speaker’s lawyer Raul Lambino doesn’t “know where this Sabio is coming from.” De Venecia had resigned from Land Oil as far back as 1985. In 1986 right after the People Power Revolt, the company came clean and admitted to having Marcos shares. Still, it was then the biggest Filipino overseas construction and manning operation. Surrendering 45 percent to the PCGG, Land Oil also ceded receivables of $160 million from the Libyan and Kuwaiti governments for huge infrastructure works. Another $50 million in construction and factory equipment were thrown in, though pending recovery from Iraq where these were trapped in the war with Iran (up to 1989) and then the Gulf War (1991-1992). Summing up, Lambino points the PCGG to the UN Claims Commission in Geneva, where Land Oil won a suit for war damages.

The last time the Land Oil issue was brought up was in 1998, when de Venecia was about to run for President. Back then he proved that three PCGG chairmen, the Ombudsman, the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court already had cleared him of responsibility for Land Oil’s debts. Why it is being brought up again is traced by both administration and opposition men to Malacañang.

Palace allies are livid that de Venecia’s son Joey III had implicated the First Couple to the infamous ZTE scam. Suspecting that the son did it with the father’s assent, they are plotting to get even with them. Enrile, during Senate hearings, turned the tables on whistleblower Joey and accused the de Venecias of attempting to wrest the telecoms deal from the Chinese firm. He also raked up the Northrail deal that the Senate already had probed in 2005. Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. in turn moved at the House to prevent de Venecia from opening pork barrel projects to public scrutiny as a challenge to Gloria Arroyo to lead a moral cleansing. With other congressmen, he threatened de Venecia with ouster should Joey continue to talk bad about the President. And since Joey is unstoppable, the operation is on to topple the five-term Speaker. Sabio’s attack was but a slowpoke contribution to the effort.

Opposition men eagerly anticipate ripening of the oust-de Venecia move. Some of them are enticing him to move over to their side. Others simply want to see the Arroyo-de Venecia partnership crumble.

They’re all in for a surprise. De Venecia is not likely to put up a fight. If he will, he would already have counterattacked Malacañang by now. Already sensing de Venecia’s downfall, advisers whom he had helped put in executive sinecures are abandoning him.

* * *

If you haven’t watched “Wanders” do so before it ends on Dec. 29 — or you’ll miss a once in a lifetime treat. One hundred minutes of circus and song, Pagcor’s extravaganza is rated the best in Asia. Renowned Filipino musicians swell up the thrill as other Asians perform stunning, enchanting stunts you never thought possible. Acrobats leap from pole to pole clinging with only their legs; contortionists climb nimbly one on top of the other then touch their toes on their foreheads. You’d ask yourself where gravity or their spinal columns went.

With “Wanders”, Pagcor goes the way of Las Vegas in offering entertainment more than gaming. As young as three-year-olds may watch it Wednesdays, Fridays or Saturdays, 8 p.m., at the Pagcor airport complex in Parañaque City. Tickets available at all TicketWorld outlets and Pagcor casinos in Metro Manila.

“Wanders” will surely be a holiday delight for tourists, balikbayans, and thrill seekers or tired souls. There’s talk of extending till Valentine’s, but Macao casinos are avidly bidding to import the production.

Suko na sa giyera kontra katiwalian?

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, November 27, 2007

ISANG dating heneral, hindi basta-basta nasisiraan ng loob si Sen. Panfilo Lacson. Pero bakas ito sa kanyang mukha at boses nu’ng Martes, sa Senate hearing ng Malacañang bribery. Walang ahensiyang interesadong uliratin ang pamamahagi sa Palasyo nu’ng Okt. 11 ng tig-P500,000 sa daan-daang kongresista at local officials. “Susuko na ba tayo sa katiwalian?” aniya.

Paano ba naman hindi sasama ang loob ng senador — at ng madla? Biruin mo, sa 19 kataong inimbitahan sa Senado na magsabi ng nalalaman tungkol sa “cash gifts”, apat lang ang dumalo. Isa si Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza na, tulad ni naunang Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio, nagkomento na hindi suhol ‘yon dahil wala namang hininging kapalit. Sabi naman ng Anti-Money Laundering Council, na akala ng publiko ay matapang, hindi nila tinuring na maanomalya ang nangyari kaya ni hindi pinansin. Ito’y sa kabila ng paglabag sa tatlong batas: ang pagbigay ng perang gobyerno na cash imbis na tseke; ang pagtanggap ng “regalo”, na kontra sa Code of Conduct; at ang pagbigay nito, na indirect bribery sa Revised Penal Code.

Pinasipot ng Malacañang ang hepe ng finance section, dahil wala naman itong sasabihin kundi hindi alam ang pamu­mudmod na pera. Pero hindi nagpakita ang mga napaulat na sangkot na executive officials: sina Interior Sec. Ronaldo Puno at dalawang ayudante niya. Malinaw na pakay ng Malacañang na pagtakpan ang maanomalyang insidente.

May pattern na ang kilos ng ehekutibo. Nang ma-expose ang ZTE scam, pagtatahimik ang unang paraan ng pagtatakip. Nang patuloy ang exposé, tinangkang takutin ang media (pati ako). Nang mag-imbestiga ang Senado, kinansela bigla ang kontrata, sabay sinabihan ang mga senador na ihinto na ang hearings. Nang ituloy ang hearings, iginiit ang E.O. 464, na nagbabawal ang pagdalo ng executive officials sa Congress inquiries nang walang pahintulot ng Presidente. Ipaubaya na lang kuno sa Ombudsman ang imbestigasyon. Pero alam naman ng lahat na ang hepe nu’n ay kaklase ni First Gentleman Mike Arroyo sa law school, at ang mga deputy ay mga kamag-anak ng mga dapat isakdal. Walang mangyayari, suko na lang.

Stop-smoking drugs, modes getting better

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Monday, November 26, 2007

Quitters like me are stauncher advocates against smoking. Knowing how hard it is to kick the habit cold turkey, we often encourage those who are still hooked to try anything and everything. Hypnotherapy, patches, candies — one of them just might work. Fortunately for them, science is fast gaining against substance abuse. Pfizer has done it again, in fact. Following the success of its, no, not Viagra, but nicotine chewing gum, the drug maker has come up with a tablet that’s even better. While the gum gives off small doses of nicotine so that the chewer hopefully won’t need to light a stick for a high, the new pill cancels any more need for nicotine. With the substance varenicline tartrate, it simply dampens both the craving for the addictive ingredient and the withdrawal symptoms.

I’ve seen eager crowds at Pfizer booths in hospitals. The pill gives hope to addicts. Smoking accounts for 85 percent of lung cancer deaths. Smokers are more likely to get lung ailments than non-smokers. In 2003, 56 percent of fatalities from heart attack and 57 percent from stroke were smokers. One premature death is avoided by every two smokers who quit.

I remember my doc assuring me that, after trying for years, my odds of trashing the filthy pack could increase by 65 percent with nicotine gums. The new drug surpassed chance in clinical tests: 65 percent of volunteers quit within 12 weeks.

And the price? At P45 per tablet, it’s about the same as a pack of premium cigarettes — sans the nicotine, tar, disease, bad breath, yellowed teeth, and angry stares from disturbing second-hand smoke. Doctors advise potential quitters to take only one tab a day. But good old will power is still best because costless.

* * *

Margarita “Ting-Ting” Cojuangco, president of the Philippine Public Safety College, reacts to my piece Wednesday on bad cops. Excerpts:

“I would like to answer your questions. First, ‘...do they still give premium to training and performance?’ At PPSC we do. So do our police, fire and jail student-officers. They’re disciplined and studious. PPSC, under the DILG Act of 1990, serves as premiere school for the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management. For better education, we link up with such schools as Ateneo de Manila, de Davao, de Zamboanga; Letran-Calamba; Xavier-Cagayan de Oro; Notre Dame-Jolo. We oppose the transfer of the PNP Academy and the Police National Training Institute, both under PPSC, to the PNP. Training of public safety officers must be concentrated on a bureau.

“Second, ‘...transforming sloppy pulis patola into accessible, attentive and able mamang pulis is easier said than done. Undoing the bad habits of bad cops needs not only re-indoctrination and retraining, but also higher pay and better equipment. Yet there never seems to be enough money for it.’ Even with meager funding, PPSC immerses new officers and inspectors in communities for six months. This bridges the gap between classroom theories and the realities of patrol beat, intelligence and investigation, and traffic duty. PPSC spends, not the officers, for travel to their new postings. We forbid loans during the officers’ schooling so that no one resorts to — I hate to use this word — kotong to augment his pay.

“Lastly, ‘...it’s not evidence they lack, but knowledge of forensics, equipment — and most of all the drive.’ One of PPSC’s six units is the National Forensic Science Training Institute that offers special courses on crime investigation and detection. To beef up skills, we link up with the US Dept. of State, FBI, Japanese, Australian and British police. For livelihood training of policemen, six of every ten of whom are poor, we tap grants from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.”

* * *

University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila made it to the Top 500 Universities of the World in 2007. Graded by the Times Higher-QS World University Rankings, the state-owned U.P. notched 398, while Jesuit-run ADMU was 454th. U.P. scored 34.7; ADMU, 30.8.

De La Salle University of Manila and University of Santo Tomas, which previously made it to the top 500, didn’t figure this year. They scored 23.9 and 20.8, respectively.

The top 20 universities of the world were: Harvard, US; Cambridge, UK; Yale, US; Oxford, UK; Imperial College of London; Princeton, US; California Institute of Technology; University of Chicago; University College-London; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Columbia, US; McGill University, Canada; Duke, US; University of Pennsylvania; Johns Hopkins, US; Australian National University; University of Tokyo; Hong Kong University; Stanford, US; Cornell, US; Carnegie Mellon, US.

Fifteen universities in Southeast Asia made it to the top 500: two in Singapore, five in Thailand, four in Malaysia, two in Indonesia, and two in the Philippines.

* * *

A bishop in Cebu was so scandalized by a giant poster of the Nativity scene with Gloria Arroyo as Mary and Erap Estrada as Joseph that he had it torn down. It’s not true that the cleric is replacing it with a Calvary scene in which two… never mind.

Pagyuyurak sa sining, panununog ng libro

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, November 26, 2007

NITONG nakaraang linggo naulat na nag-censor ang National Press Club ng mural na alay sa press freedom na ipinapinta nila. Napabalita rin na ipinababawi ng isang obispong Katoliko ang librong pang sex education sa Metro Manila.

Magugunita mula sa ulat ang maraming kabanata sa kasaysayan ng pagyurak sa sining at pagsunog ng libro. Libong taon na nang wasakin ng Persians ang arkitektura ng Egypt, at ni Caesar Augustus ang libraries ng Alexandria. Winala rin noon ang mga tula ni Cicero, ninakaw ang obelisks ng Greece. Nito namang modern age, sinu­nog ng Red Guards sa China nu’ng 1960s Cultural Revolution ang mga “librong burgis at piyudal”, at dinurog ng mga Taliban sa Afghanistan ang mga higanteng estatwa ni Buddha na inukit mula sa gilid ng bundok. Sa parehong insidente, sinira rin ng Red Guards at Taliban ang mga “kolonyal” na musical instruments, tulad ng biyulin at piyano.

Bakit nga ba winawasak ng ilang grupo ang mga gawang sining at libro? Hindi ba nila alam na sa Talmud ng mga Hudyo at Koran ng mga Muslim ay sinasabing merong isang Great Library bago pa man likhain ang mundo? Hindi ba nila alam na gan’un na lang ang pagpa­pa­halaga ng mga nag-iisip na tao para sa mga likhang sining at panitikan?

Oo, alam ‘yon ng mga kalaban ng sining at libro. Kaya nga nila dinudurog ang mga likha ay para sirain ang kultura at talino ng sinasakop na lipunan. Batid kasi ng mga ma­ paniil na hari o hukbo na ang sining ay panitikan ay tina­tangkilik ng mga intelektuwal ng bawat lipunan — at ang mga taong nag-iisip ay mahirap supilin. Kaya sinisira ang mga simbolo at produkto ng kanilang talino, para masakop sila. Matatandaang sinira ng mga Kastila ang mga akdang katutubo. Mabuti na lang at memoryado ng ilang sinauna ang mga alamat tulad ng “Biag ni Lam-ang” kaya naipasa ito sa mga sumunod na henerasyon. Matatandaan ding ipinagbawal ng Hapon ang mga akdang Ingles — kaya raw yumabong ang Tagalog short story nu’ng Occupation.

Palace bribery a perfect crime

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, November 23, 2007

An ex-general, Sen. Panfilo Lacson is not one to easily loose heart in battle. But dejection showed in his face and tone Wednesday at the second Senate hearing on the Malacañang bribery. Understandably so. Of the 29 persons invited to bare what they know of the P500,000-“cash gifts” to 190 congressmen and 60 local executives, only four showed up. And those four weren’t helpful to get to the bottom of the P125-million affair of October 11. Malacañang’s finance chief swore she knows nothing about it. Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza mimicked Pampanga priest-Gov. Ed Panlilio’s line that his loot wasn’t a bribe since there were no strings attached. The Bank of Commerce exec said their markings on the bill wrappers meant nothing because other banks could have retained them during fund transfers. And the head of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, an agency people thought is on the ball, claimed there’s nothing wrong with doling huge amounts in cash instead of traceable checks, or accepting gifts of value in breach of the Code of Conduct of Public Officials, right in the seat of state power, with no disbursement vouchers or receipts, but obviously in exchange for the political favor of pooh-poohing the impeachment of the President. No office, except for a handful of senators, seemed eager to find out if the source of the fraud was another fraud. And so Lacson asked the invitees, “What do you intend us to do, just surrender to corruption?”

Crucially absent were Interior Sec. Ronaldo Puno and three deputies. It is Puno’s branch that oversees local officials like Mendoza and Panlilio. An agent of the Kampi party that he chairs was mixed up in an earlier effort to bribe six opposition congressmen P2 million each to endorse a bum rap that would save Gloria Arroyo from real impeachment. Kampi’s secretary-general has also admitted it was she who handed out money to at least two congressmen on that fateful breakfast of October 11 in Malacañang. And Mendoza has said that an undersecretary of Puno was present when a woman handed him his own gift bag at noon of the same day and venue. But those public officials who should be grilled were conveniently barred by an Arroyo order from attending congressional inquiries without her written permission.

Abetted by silence of other officials over habitual receipt of big sums, and refusal of any agency to trace the money trail, the Malacañang bribery would emerge a perfect crime. Which is why Lacson, who once headed the National Police, expressed frustration with it all. As with the ZTE and the World Bank scams, Malacañang spokesmen taunt the senators to just let the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission or the Ombudsman investigate. But that’s because the PACG easily can be gagged. Ombudsman higher-ups are either close friends or relatives of those who must be prosecuted — yet they do not recuse themselves. And that caps the perfect crime.

* * *

Greenpeace is noted for its uncompromising methods of haranguing polluters. But the earth activist does not only intercept whalers in high seas or disrupt coal plants. Greenpeace also puts its money where its mouth is to study ways to clean the environment. Through “Climate Friendly Cities”, it invents eco-friendly public transport. And what better way to do it in Asia than to refit that durable but dirty fixture of Philippine roads: the jeepney. And where better to do it than in the city with the dirtiest air: Makati.

This week Greenpeace introduced its first two units of the e-jeepney that runs on electricity. Seating 12 passengers, the vehicle emits no fumes and so is 100-percent clean-air compliant — with no noise at that. Four more units will be fielded along the Bel-Air-Rockwell and Bel-Air-MRT routes for a six-month test of commercial viability and sturdiness. If things go well, choking Makati will get a total of 50 e-jeepneys to help rid it of smog.

Fabricated by Green Renewable Independent Power Producer, the e-jeepney holds a battery that enables it to run for days. It naturally needs a green recharging and maintenance station, so GRIPP is setting up one. The recharging depot in turn needs a green source of electricity, so GRIPP will also build a power plant that runs on biogas from decomposing organic waste. The system in effect will be a clean waste dump for a Makati that struggles to solve its garbage mess.

Air cleansing will not only be seen in Makati’s skyline but also felt in people’s lungs. Each of the country’s 199,212 registered jeepneys emits 3,140 grams of carbon dioxide and 16 grams of nitrous oxide per liter of diesel. Two of every hundred residents of Metro Manila, Baguio, Cebu and Davao die each year from overexposure to toxic emissions. Nine of every hundred suffer from chronic bronchitis. Hardest hit are jeepney drivers, one of every three (32.5 percent) of whom have permanent coughs; air-con bus drivers, 16.4 percent; and commuters, 14.8 percent.

10 Kautusan ng Mafia

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc , Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, November 23, 2007

NI-RAID kamakailan ng Italian police ang bahay ng isang Mafia boss. At natalisod nila ang mala-Sampung Ka­utusan ukol sa gawi ng mga kasapi ng crime syndicate.

Kabilang sa maraming bawal ang malimit na pagba-bar, at pagtitig sa asawa ng mga kasama. Kabilang naman sa mga alituntunin ang pagrespeto sa mga asawa, at pagiging prompt sa oras ng appointments.

Natagpuan ang listahan ng mga bawal at alituntunin nang arestuhin sa kanyang bahay si Salvatore Lo Piccolo, ang hinihinalang bagong hepe ng Sicilian Mafia. Ipinapa­lagay na nilathala ang mga utos ng Mafia bilang “gabay sa pagiging mabuting mobster.”

Iba pang mga bawal na asal ng Mafiosi ang pagiging mapagkaibigan sa mga pulis, pagiging huli sa takdang oras, at pagbubulsa ng pera ng ibang kasapi ng Mafia o ng ibang pamilya.

Malinaw sa dokumento na hindi maaring mag-Mafia ang isang may kamag-anak na pulis o informer. At miski utos sa mga Mafiosi na igalang ang mga misis, hindi naman sila dapat umasang katabi ang esposo kapag nanganganak, dahil palaging may misyon ang mobsters.

Heto ang Sampung Kautusan ng Mafia:

1. Huwag didiretso sa isang kasapi; humanap ng mamamagitan.

2. Huwag tititig sa asawa ng kaibigan.

3. Huwag makikita sa piling ng mga pulis.

4. Huwag pupunta sa pubs o nightclubs.

5. Tungkulin sa Mafia ang maging handa sa duty kahit anong oras, maski nanganganak ang asawa.

6. Sundin ang appointments kahit kailan.

7. Igalang palagi ang mga asawa.

8. Kapag hiningan ng impormasyon, katotohanan lang ang sagot.

9. Hindi maaring gamitin ang pera ng ibang kasapi o pamilya.

10. Mga tao na hindi maaring sumapi sa Cosa Nostra: Kahit sinong may malapit na kamag-anak na pulis o manloloko at masamang ugali.

Police neglect clear in Mariannet’s case

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, November 21, 2007

There’s something odd about the exhumation of Mariannet Amper’s body a week after burial from suicide. It’s not the speed with which the NBI concluded from autopsy that the 12-year-old had been raped, as suspected. It’s that they did the autopsy only because Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte told them to.

Last time we heard, autopsy is SOP for every homicide, including suicide. It is because a homicide is foul play and needs investigation to prop up a case of the people versus whomever. Every suicide too must be verified, because it may turn out to not be as reported. In this case, the cops had to seek the permission of Mariannet’s parents to dig her up, when they should have done the autopsy as soon as her suicide was reported. Then they would have found out about the lacerations on the private parts.

Mariannet’s suicide due to extreme poverty turned out to be media sensationalism. Her family wasn’t dirt poor as reported, though needy. So it’s not a case here of the authorities neglecting to do their duty because the homicide victim was a person of little means. They neglected their duty, period. Had it not been for Duterte’s refusal to accept the story of suicide to escape poverty, the neglect would have gone uncorrected.

Apathy is a malady that the new National Police chief Avelino Razon needs to cure. Like the NBI of director Nestor Mantaring, his organization has been debased to the point that officers value political connection more than good work. Promotion to senior ranks has come to depend on sucking up the harder to recommending and approving politicos. And that currying of favor is done through illegal means, like highest payola offers from vice protection.

Junior and non-commissioned officers, seeing the dirty game of their colonels and generals, become demoralized and even join in as gofers. In very few police stations and specialized units do they still give premium to training and performance? Mostly it’s the cooperation of cops with the illicit acts of their superiors that matter. And the most obliging of them get the newer firearms, higher bonuses, and lighter assignments.

And so Mariannet’s story is repeated every day in all police stations around the country. Uninspired and shorthanded, cops ignore pressing investigations of killings and kidnappings, more so little thefts and threats. It’s not because victims are poor. Cops just aren’t up to the job anymore. That’s why people doubt the delayed conclusion of investigators that the Glorietta-2 explosion was caused not by a bomb but by ignited methane from a faulty septic vault. That’s why people can’t believe too that cops solved very quickly the Batasan bombing after a coincidental raid on a nearby house.

Razon of course knows that transforming sloppy “pulis patola” into accessible, attentive and able “mamang pulis” is easier said than done. Undoing the bad habits of bad cops needs not only re-indoctrination and retraining, but also higher pay and better equipment. But there never seems to be any money for it. A train of directors-general has been begging for funds for such activities and purchases for decades — to no avail. In 1983 then-deputy chief Hermilo Ahorro of the Constabulary had asked for patrol cars, firearms and batons, only to be lectured by legislators to do what he was already doing — making do with the little he had. Five years ago then-Metro Manila police chief Reynaldo Velasco had shown from surveys that majority of his men live in poverty — yet Congress still did not provide for at least police clinics and cemeteries. (In the ’60s federal auditors noted that New York cops performed better than New Jersey counterparts next door not only because of higher pay but also perks like medical aid or housing.) It took lawyer-criminologist-police general Luke Managuelod (now retired) a dozen years of lobbying before the first of his crime scene replicas was built in 2003 to train both rookies and ace detectives.

Society cannot depend always on strong-willed local executives like Duterte to push law enforcers to move. The police will have to restore its initiative to solve and prevent crime. Watch how Mariannet’s story is now ending. Sure, the lawmen have now proven that she did commit suicide but also had been raped. But they profess in surrender that they can’t proceed any further because of lack of evidence. In truth, it’s not evidence they lack, but knowledge of forensics, equipment — and most of all the drive.

Matagal na tayo inaapi ng iilan

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, November 20, 2007

KASISILANG pa lang ng Republika nang magtanong si Presidente Emilio Aguinaldo kung paano mapagkaka­loo-ban ng asyenda sa Pampanga ang isang kaibigang heneral. Nagitla ang tagapayo na si Apolinario Mabini. Ano’ng sasabihin ng taumbayan, aniya, “kung tayong mga nasa poder ay aabusuhin ‘yon para sa sariling interes?”

Noon pa pala isyu na sa ating mga pinuno ang tung­galian ng interes ng bayan at ng sarili. Noon pa pala may mga pinuno tayo na natuksong paboran ang iilang kapartido — at meron ding kumokontra.

Sa kasalukuyang gobyerno, makikita nating pinaparte ng Presidente at mga alipores ang yaman ng bayan. Kapag napapuwesto ang oposisyon, sila naman ang nagsa­samantala. Nilista ng mga kritiko ang marami nang atraso ng Arroyo administration: Malacañang payolas, ZTE scam, Piatco scam, Impsa scam, Comelec automation scam, Venable deal, Macapagal Boulevard scam at Jose Pidal unexplained wealth. Bilyun-bilyong piso na ang kinurakot nila. Pero nu’ng oposisyon ang nakaupo, pinagkitaan nila ang jueteng, Comelec deals, BW Resources scam gamit ang pera ng SSS at GSIS, sa Piatco at Impsa rin. Sa mada­ling salita, walang pinagkaiba.

Kung itutuloy ang salaysay nina Aguinaldo at Mabini, mababatid na nanaig ang pagka-makasarili kaysa -makabayan. Hindi nga nabalatuan ng lupain ang katotong heneral. Pero, ayon kay historian Teodoro Agoncillo, tina­likuran si Mabini ng mga elitista sa Malolos Congress, at sinolo nila ang pamamahagi ng yaman ng bayan. Pati mga kaaway ng Katipunan at ng Rebolusyon ay ipinu-westo — dahil kaibigan, kadugo o kauri ng mga nauna sa poder. At, patuloy naman ng Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, pinagharian ng iilang pamilya ang mga probinsiya.

Fast forward muli tayo sa kasalukuyan, mapapansin na pinatawad ng nakapuwesto ang dating kaaway na sinentensiyahan ng plunder. At hindi malaman kung sino ang maka-administrasyon o maka-oposisyon. Naghalo, nagkaisa na sila. Ang hangad lang ay makuha ang pork barrel at iba pang komisyon mula sa kaban ng bayan.

How big is your ecological footprint?

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, November 19, 2007

How big is your ecological footprint? Do you consume more than our planet Earth can sustain or replenish? Find out from the simple ecological calculator on www.ecologicalfootprint.org/Global%20Footprint%20Calculator/GFPCalc.html. You will be asked only four questions, with answers from multiple choices:

(1) How do you typically get to work or school? • Walk or bike. • Public transportation. • Carpool, hybrid or electric vehicle. • Car, truck, SUV (alone). • Airplanes and limousines. • Work at home.

(2) Which closely matches your household? • Mansion, all the modern appliances, bells, whistles, 4-10 car garage, etc. • Stand-alone house, larger than average, all modern appliances, 2-3 car garage. • Average size home, some appliances, no garage. • Apartment, some energy efficient appliances and lights, no garage. • Compact green design, energy efficient appliances and lights, and renewable energy powered.

(3) Which mix of foods best describes your average meal? • 5-plus courses, meat, veggies, dessert, brandy, cigar. • Beef, chicken or fish, veggies, fruits, dessert, coffee or tea. • Meat or fish, local organic veggies, fruits, coffee or tea. • Locally produced fruits, vegetables and beverages. • Local sustainable harvested organic fruits, veggies and beverages.

(4) Do you conserve, recycle and reuse resources, such as paper, metals, plastics? • Never. • Occasionally. • Most of the time. • Yes diligently all the time.

As you check a bubble corresponding to your choice, your ecological footprint adds up to the total in a box below. Your “score” is your lifestyle’s equivalent in global hectares. The lower, the better your ecological footprint is; meaning, you are not a burden to Mother Earth. The highest possible total is 109 hectares; the lowest, 4.

Ecological footprint is a measure of human consumption of natural resources against the earth’s capacity to regenerate them. Engineers Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees developed the concept and calculation method. A result of years of improvements, the new footprint quiz is calculated from over a hundred categories of resource depletion.

The global average footprint is 21 global hectares. It means that every person is using up the equivalent resources of 21 hectares. Global fisheries, croplands, urbanization and energy use are far outstripping the earth’s ability to regenerate in a sustainable way.

The latest findings suggest that a sustainable footprint is 15 gha for every person, which test takers rarely match or beat. Sadly on average, we have surpassed sustainable ecological limits by 6 gha per person. The world no longer can renew itself with the way we live, work, entertain, eat and sleep.

So how does your footprint compare to the world average? And what do you think you should do to lessen or balance it?

(If you wish a bit more sophisticated test, try the University of British Columbia’s survey for sustainability and eco-footprint calculator: www.sustain.ubc.ca/eco-survey.)

* * *

With world crude oil prices hitting almost $100 per barrel, local fuel costs can only go up. Gasoline and diesel rates have risen thrice in a month by P1.50 per liter, and LPG by P3 per kilo. And there’s no end in sight, what with the world’s growing demand for crude versus peak production. Not only fuel but also electricity bills will rise. It’s time for these energy saving reminders:

• Plan the route and time of your car trips. As much as possible go on straight lines to destinations and back, instead of retracing directions. Avoid rush hours. If you can walk or take public transport, do so.

• No need to warm up the engine while idling; just start it up and drive slowly for the first three minutes. Avoid jackrabbit starts, and sudden or frequent braking. As much as possible maintain a constant speed; don’t exceed 100 kph. No need to rev up the engine before turning it off.

• Plan your home cooking. Take food out of the fridge to defrost well before cooking time. Cook all the food at the same time, not over intermittent periods. Use the right size of pot or pan for the food volume, and on the right size of flame. Avoid recipes that require long cooking and thus more use of LPG or electricity.

• Replace all incandescent light bulbs with the eco-friendly SL; they’re much brighter even with lower wattage and electricity. Make sure that appliances are of low wattage. Turn off the TV, stereo, lights, computer and accessories, and especially electric fans and air conditioners when not needed. Regularly defrost and clean the ref and freezer. Designate a time to do the machine washing and drying of clothes all at the same time; more so the ironing (during the cooler hours of the day). And this Christmas, do not leave the decor lights on overnight when nobody will see them anyway.

Terorista ang nambomba dahil lang sa away-pulitika

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, November 19, 2007

KUNG napanood n’yo ang action film na “V for Vendetta,” maaalala n’yo na inalala roon ang buhay ni Guy Fawkes. Si Fawkes ay Englishman na nu’ng Nob. 5, 1605, ay ti­nangkang pasabugin ang Parliament sa London. Nai­puslit ni Fawkes at ng mga kasapakat ang tone-toneladang pulbura sa ilalim ng gusali, kaso natiklo sila. Binansagang Gunpowder Plot ang pakana at, nang madakip, dumanas ng torture si Fawkes. Hindi niya itinugak ang mga kasapakat, at ngayon ay tinuturing siya bilang bayani ng ilan at terorista para sa iba. May tula, binibigkas ng mga batang English tuwing anibersaryo ng pagkakatiklo sa Gunpowder Plot, pinamagatang” Guy Fawkes Night”: “Remember, remember the fifth of November/The gunpowder, treason and plot/I know of no reason/Why gunpowder treason/Should ever be forgot.”

Naalala ko ang istorya nang may sumabog sa Batasan nu’ng Martes nang gabi. Si Rep. Wahab Akbar, na namatay sa sugat, ang tinutukoy ng pulis na target ng bomba. Mara­mi siyang kaaway sa pulitika sa probinsiya. Marami ring sunda-long galit sa kanya sa hinalang kinukupkop niya ang mga kidnaper na Abu Sayyaf. Sila ang suspek ngayon ng pulis.

Hindi man sumabog ang Parliament, tinuturing ngayong Catholic jihadist si Fawkes. Galit siya sa mga Protestante. Kumbaga, extremist siya na walang pinagkaiba sa mga Islamist terrorists ng kasalukuyang panahon, tulad ng al-Qaeda at Jemaah Islamiya. Kung sino man ang nagpasa­bog sa Batasan — na ikinasawi ng dawala pang sibilyan at ikinasugat ng dalawang dosena — terorista din ang utak. Kaaway man siya sa pulitika o sundalong galit, gumawa siya ng bomba na napakalakas, at itinanim ito sa lugar na matao — parking lot sa gilid ng South Wing lobby ng Batasan, at pinasabog ito nang naglalabasan na ang mga congressmen mula sa session hall. Ang pakay tiyak ng bomber ay hindi lang patayin si Akbar, kundi takutin din ang madla at guluhin ang kaayusan ng lipunan.

Ibibitay na lang si Fawkes nang tumalon siya mula sa entablado, una ulo, at nagpakamatay. Sana huwag maka­wala ang salarin sa Batasan.

Return the P500,000 if it can’t be justified

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, November 16, 2007

Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio has admitted under oath having received P500,000 cash from Malacañang. But he said it was not a bribe because there were no strings attached.

Panlilio, a Catholic priest, is so candid, which is why his parishioners love him. He is also so naive, which is why the provincial board led by the vice governor and most of the town mayors run circles around him.

Of course there were no visible strings attached to the five bundles of P1,000 bills in a gift bag. That’s because real bribes come masked — for many reasons. The briber doesn’t push too hard lest he embarrass the bribee, or they both pretend it’s innocuous or else they land in jail together. They also employ artifice to clear their conscience. Bribery has become an art, and so has its cover-up. Through the years givers and takers have contrived ways to make the crime acceptable. Worldliness, as David Wells said, is what any particular culture does to make sin look normal and righteousness look strange.

But there was a veiled string to the cash doled in Malacañang on Oct. 11 not only to Panlilio, but also to 190 congressmen and several governors. The legislators were invited there to breakfast and the local execs to lunch to talk about the impeachment rap against Gloria Arroyo. By commonsense, if impeachment is discussed in Malacañang, it is to egg the invitees to resist; it certainly can’t be to persuade them to damn the President. Both meetings culminated in the distribution of cash. Rep. Benny Abante, a Protestant preacher, narrated that men in white barong had filed in from a side door, while Arroyo was still around, to hand out identical gift bags containing P500,000 each. Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza, recounting his own run-in, said he was called to an anteroom, where an Undersecretary of Interior was sitting, and was given two bags, one each for him and Panlilio.

The giver to Abante is a Deputy Speaker and high officer of Arroyo’s Kampi party. The undersecretary in Mendoza’s case reports to the Secretary of Interior who is also the chairman of Kampi. Panlilio swears he is not a member of Kampi (so does Abante), and thus cannot be a recipient of the party’s generosity. There is a parallel claim by the governors’ league that it too gave away money to first-term members who need to endear themselves to constituents. Panlilio doesn’t believe that too, because Mendoza never said anything about it in serving as delivery boy of his share. Besides, the bundles of pesos given to Panlilio were marked Bank of Commerce-Balibago (Angeles City) branch. The bank is not one of the league’s three depositories. Then, there is the certification from the Malacañang finance unit, composed of career officials, that it wasn’t the one that disbursed the funds. With such circumstances, Panlilio should doubt the source of the money. Discounting Kampi, the governors’ league and Malacañang-finance as the giver, it can only be a bribe from another source. Panlilio should look at it from the point of view not of a priest receiving a donation to charity, but of a public official whose loyalty is being bought.

To be fair, Panlilio does now question the source. This is because no credible group has come out to show disbursement papers or demand from him a receipt. Panlilio does not see it from the point of view of law, to which he is bound. Sen. Francis Escudero cited the decree against indirect bribery, its definition in the Penal Code, and the Code of Conduct that forbids public officials from accepting any gift of value. He also read the rule that requires big government disbursements to be made through checks accompanied by vouchers. All the laws were broken because the money was a bribe. To that, Panlilio still begged the senators for new legislation.

Panlilio has been a priest for 25 years and a governor for less than five months. His ignorance of the finer points of law is understandable. But he must know the adage that bribery and theft are first cousins. Money given away that fateful day in Malacañang — at least P160 million by intelligent estimates — could only have come from crooked means. It is such corruption that perpetuates poverty and leads people to despair, sometime suicide.

For this reason, Panlilio has no choice but to return the money. It is the right thing to do. He must give it back to the source, Mendoza, with a note that the latter return it to the briber. Mendoza had said he would accept his P500,000-share only if Panlilio did, so if Panlilio rejects it now even if belatedly, then he must follow suit if true to his word.

Moreover, Panlilio must offer to turn state witness in the criminal case filed against him, Mendoza, Abante and the bribers. That way he can prove that he really is different from the dirty politicos he defeated last May, and the vice governor, the provincial board members and the mayors who want to cut him down. It will be a tough call for Panlilio. But then, true leadership is never easy.

Nasa $100 na kada bariles ng krudo

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, November 16, 2007

MAGKAKA-KRISIS sa buong mundo — pero lalo na sa mga atrasadong ekonomiya tulad ng Pilipinas. Ang presyo ng krudo ngayon ay halos $100 na kada bariles. Ibig sabihin dodoble ang presyo ng diesel at gasolina mula sa nakasanayan natin nu’ng $50-$60 pa lang ang krudo. Lahat ng iba pa magmamahal: kuryente, pasahe, pagkain at iba pang produkto.

Kaya hindi pa matindi ang pagtaas ng presyo sa mga gasolinahan ay dahil sumisigla ngayon ang piso kontra sa dolyar na pambayad sa oil imports. Pero umuurong na parang low-class na tela ang ekonomiya ng America. Di magtatagal, hihina ang pagbili nito ng produkto ng ibang bansa. Lulupaypay ang buong mundo. Hihina muli ang piso — at matulin na magmamahal ang diesel at gasolina.

Kaya ngayon pa lang, magsanay na tayong magtipid. Alam na natin ang karamihan sa mga tips na ito. ‘Yun nga lang hindi natin sinusunod:

• Planuhin ang dalas at ruta ng pagbiyahe ng kotse. Iwasan ang rush hour na umuubos ng fuel pero halos walang nararating. Iwasan ang malimit na pagbiyahe, lalo na kung nag-iisa lang. Kung malapit lang, mag-jeep, bus o tren. Mas mabuti, maglakad; exercise pa.

• Magkarga ng diesel o gasolina sa umaga, kung kelan malamig pa ang lupa sa paligid ng tangke sa istasyon at hindi naka-expand ang laman. Dahan-dahan lang ang pagkakarga; kasi kung malakas ang bulwak mula sa pump, maraming hangin ang sumasama at nakakadagdag sa patak ng metro. Pag kalahati na lang ang laman ng tangke ng kotse, mag-full tank na, para bawas ang hangin sa loob kung saan mag-e-evaporate ang karga.

• Karamihan ng electric power plants ay pinatatakbo ng krudo. Ipatay ang mga hindi kailangang ilaw o appliances sa bahay, lalo na ang makonsumo sa kuryente tulad ng air-con, bentilador at stove. Gumamit ng maka­bagong bumbilya imbis na incandescent. Planuhin ang paggamit ng stove, microwave at electic kitchen gadgets. Mag-defrost ng refrigerator.

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Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Pulido, San Luis earn their place in history

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Wednesday, November 14, 2007

If what people suspect about them is true, Atty. Roel Pulido and Rep. Edgar San Luis must be very happy now. Their alleged sinister designs are coming true. As predicted Congress upheld as sufficient in form the sham impeachment case they had filed and endorsed respectively against Gloria Arroyo. It was all part of their ploy in rustling up an empty rap against the President before the opposition could draft a real one. When oppositionist Adel Tamano tried to save the day by fortifying the three-page Pulido-San Luis scrap with 38 pages of evidence, Congress, again expectedly, rejected him. Tomorrow the last act of the charade will unfold for sure. Congress will declare the work of Pulido and San Luis as what it really is: insufficient in substance. And so Arroyo will be spared 12 months of indictment, under the constitutional rule of one impeachment complaint per year per official. Just like what happened same time 2005 and 2006.

Notably fellow-lawyers who had read Pulido’s complaint were one in concluding that it cannot even be called such. A complaint is supposed to contain allegations of the ultimate facts, not conclusions as Pulido makes. Notably too fellow-congressmen doubt San Luis for endorsing a shabby opus. An endorser is supposed to have studied a real complaint and is convinced of probable cause, not just out “to find out if it’s true,” as San Luis says of the rap. Incidentally, it’s all about rash judgments that since a Cabinet man had warned Arroyo about bribery in the broadband deal, yet she still signed it, then she must be part of the bribery. Tamano had to append crucial testimonies to bolster the charge that Arroyo probably was in on it.

Pulido and San Luis of course tried to disguise their ruse. Political gofers must playact to screen disgusting roles. When the duo presented their hurried complaint, the immediate impression was that they had succeeded Oliver Lozano and Rodante Marcoleta as the new lawyer-congressman tandem of impeachment fakers. Pulido and San Luis sought to live down the shady image. They went about town claiming they would welcome any move to toughen their admittedly feeble charge sheet. When Tamano took the bait, they quickly embraced his supplementary case as their face-saver. A photo in The STAR yesterday showed Pulido and San Luis in a huddle with him, as if they intensely were planning how to make Congress accept their amended rap. Nice drama.

But it was all for show. People will not forget that easy what Pulido and San Luis did. They had presented a fake complaint to begin with, which was why Tamano had to step forward and try to repair it. If they feigned cooperation, people could see through it. Pulido and San Luis can very well be the rats in the race that Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora rues the impeachment has degenerated into. Defending his rebuff of Tamano’s appendix, justice committee head Mat Defensor says the Congress minority had all the time to file its own impeachment rap but didn’t, so Pulido and San Luis scurried in. He’s in effect confirming the rat race. Incidentally, Defensor is all praises for the sham document. His committee’s debates today, sans the minority that walked out of the charade, will show why.

Next year the duo just might do it again — rustle up another fake rap against Arroyo to preclude the real thing. Or some other tandem will try to beat them to it. For, there’s big money in it. Remember, Malacañang operators had offered six opposition congressmen P2 million each to sneak in an inoculating impeachment rap versus Arroyo. It is against that backdrop that Pulido and San Luis have earned their place in history’s dustbin.

* * *

Speaking of which, what ever happened to that attempt to bribe six congressmen? Two of the six already have identified the corruptors: officers no less of Arroyo’s Kampi party. Leaders of both the majority and minority have denounced the criminal act that tainted Congress. The House of Reps ethics body has vowed to investigate. So how come nothing’s going on?

A deputy Speaker from the same Kampi party has admitted that it was she who distributed P500,000 each to congressmen breakfasting in Malacañang last Oct. 11. She swears that the party chairman and president, a former and an incumbent congressman, knew about the cash being given out while they were talking about thwarting Arroyo’s impeachment.

That pattern of bribing by the majority party needs serious probing. But of course that’s too much to expect of congressmen who ran for office only to grab all the money they can, not to serve the country.

Villarosa nakompromiso kalayaan ng esposo

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, November 13, 2007

MAPAGPAHAMAK ang pag-ako ni Deputy Speaker Amelia Villarosa na siya ang namahagi ng tig-P500,000 sa mga kongresista sa Malacañang nu’ng Oktubre 11. Nilalayo niya ang minamahal niyang Presidente Gloria Arroyo sa gusot, pero lalo lang itong nabaon sa pagtatakip niya.

Butas-butas kasi ang kuwento ni Villarosa. Una, sabi niya na pera ng Kampi party ang ipinamigay bilang tulong sa mga baguhang kapartido sa Kongreso. Kung gan’un, bakit binigyan niya si Rep. Benny Abante ng karibal na Lakas party? Kesyo wala raw kinalaman si Arroyo sa pera. Pero bakit nga ba sa Malacañang nagbigayan ng pera, matapos mag-almusal ang mga imbitadong kongresista tungkol sa pagkontra sa impeachment ni Arroyo? Ngayong Nobyembre 6 lang daw siya umamin dahil nasa probinsiya siya ng Mindoro. Bakit, wala ba siyang cell phone para magpaliwanag — para iligtas ang minamahal niyang Presidente na isang buwan nang tinitira sa media ng panunuhol?

Ngayon, ipina-e-expel siya ng kapartidong Rep. Jose Solis dahil wala naman daw pera ang Kampi para ipamahagi. Pinaiimbestigahan din siya ni Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol. At galit sa kanya si Kampi chairman Ronnie Puno dahil hindi umano inabisuhan tungkol sa plano at eskandalosong pamimigay ng pera sa loob ng Palasyo.

Buong-loob niyang haharapin ang anumang imbesti­gasyon, ani Villarosa. Hindi raw niya inako ang eskandalo para ipa-pardon kay Arroyo, tulad ni Joseph Estrada, ang asawang nakakulong sa kasong murder. Wala naman daw sala ang esposo niya, kaya ang gusto niya ay acquittal sa apela sa Korte Suprema.

Huwag nga sanang bigyan ng pardon ni Arroyo ang asawa. Kasi lalabas itong suhol para sa pag-ako sa na­unang panunuhol. Miski nga absuweltong manggagaling sa Korte Suprema, na 13 sa 15 justice ay appointees ni Arroyo, ay magiging kahina-hinala.

Magsabi lang ng totoo si Villarosa at tiyak na lalaya siya. Pero sa pag-akong ito, nakompromiso ang mini­mithing paglaya ng esposo.

This visionary was born blind

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Monday, November 12, 2007

For four years now Fatima Soriano has been inspiring the sick and the troubled. Religious groups seek her out to grace their gatherings. She has spoken in radio and television shows, Holy Masses and prayer rallies, renewing faith in helpless folk — in the Philippines, Indonesia, Korea and Canada. Her constant counsel is to trust in God’s grace. A teleplay has been produced about her. But Fatima is blind; she has been so since birth. She is frail and short for her age of 14, for she has been sick all her life, and once was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure. It is precisely the sufferings she went through that make adults marvel how Fatima can be so bubbly, always smiling, and talking of God’s care. Even more awesome, she melts away their distresses and ailments — through Mama Mary, she avers.

Charismatic Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD, had discovered Fatima by happy accident. He was hosting his radio show “Hello Father” on ZNN Radio Veritas one night in July 2003 when a girl with a strained but determined voice phoned in. How come you’re still awake at this time past nine o’clock, the priest had queried? Fatima replied matter of factly that she was waiting for her next dialysis. Docs had ruled then that only peritoneal cleansing every four hours, five times a day, could save her from renal poisoning, and only by a slim chance. But there she was, then only 10, talking like a grizzled veteran. Fr. Jerry and his listeners were stirred. He told her they just had to see each other soon. Fatima chuckled, “How can that be possible when I’m blind?” All the more the priest became determined to meet her. He was sure she’s godsend in his taxing job as Mission Director for the Society of Divine Word-Philippines.

They became instant friends. Fatima loved having someone other than her prayerful Catholic parents, Danny and Fely, to talk to about the Almighty Father and caring Mother Mary. Fr. Jerry was awed to learn in that first meeting that she led her neighborhood’s nightly Rosary prayer. “Even street urchins would join,” he recalled. More personal, he said, the sickly little girl “made Mama Mary so alive” for a Marian devotee like him. “Fatima would converse with the Blessed Mother,” he explained, “and then relay to me what was said, and these would always come true.” He cited as example a speaking tour to Vancouver, when their visas had not arrived by the end of work hours Friday yet their flight was early Sunday. Through Fatima he was assured everything would turn out all right and it did: the courier not only did deliver the travel documents in time for the flight, but their party even got upgraded to better cabin. “Mama Mary is mostly happy, sometimes sad (because of her children’s behavior), but never angry” is how she described her to him.

After Fatima spoke on hope in Fr. Jerry’s televised Sunday Masses, the media took notice. ABS-CBN’s Maalaala Mo Kaya produced a biopic for television, and entertainment and counsel shows couldn’t get enough of her. How could a girl who had gone through painful treatments for ten months, on the brink of death at a tender age, be so full of joy and infectious faith? The answer remained in Fatima’s purity and innocence. For many she personified the Gospel line: “Unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). A text brigade raised P1.2 million in 2004 to help in kidney transplant. A 23-year-old donor was found with 90 percent compatibility. Still, doctors worried that the donor’s adult arteries and veins would riskily not match Fatima’s smaller blood vessels. But during surgery they turned out to be a perfect fit.

After that experience under the knife, Fatima struggled to be a choir singer. Her fragile lungs and delicate recovery wouldn’t allow it at first. But she prayed for help in her dream. Early this year Fr. Jerry came out with a CD of inspirational songs. Two of the cuts, “Falling Star” and “You’re in My Heart,” were written and sung by her. Two others, written by Fr. Jerry but sung by Fatima too, “Believe Like a Child” and (My Suffering Is) My Offering”, speak about her and others like her with unwavering faith in God and know how to let go for His greater glory. The Catholic Mass Media Awards adjudged their work the Most Inspiring Album of 2007.

Last June during a second trip to Vancouver her parents noticed a heart-shaped red mark appear on Fatima’s lower lip. It seemed like a wound, but Fatima told them not to worry for it was a token given her by the Blessed Mother. Two days later they witnessed something strange during the Mass. People in the church whom Fatima touched would fall on the ground unhurt but “slain in the Spirit.” Fr. Jerry theorized that she had received the gift of healing. The devotees gave testimonies of ailments suddenly vanishing. To verify, Fr. Jerry took Fatima to Naju, Korea, to meet visionary Julia Kim, who proclaimed Fatima is the real thing.

Strange that God would bring into the midst of Filipino devotees and doubters a visionary who is blind at birth. But it is perhaps in the irony that they will sit up and take notice. I couldn’t believe when I met Fatima that a child barely as high as my chest could “fell” adults. But I saw, I experienced. I queried Fatima about her “work” Does she not get drained healing? Talking like an adult, she said no and explained that Mama Mary counsels her to pray to avoid negative vibes. Does she know colors? “Only a few,” she said, because of her handicap. “They tell me that red is hot like fire, blue is like water, and isn’t green a male color?” So what is the color of Mama Mary’s hair? “Sorry, sir, I don’t know,” she apologized, then smiled, “But she’s with us now, she’s always with us.” Tilting her head back as if to listen, she adds, “She says hi.”

Masarap ang buhay ng kongresista

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Monday, Pilipino Star Ngayon, November 12, 2007,

BAGO magbukas ang 14th Congress, nag-briefing si Budget Sec. Rolando Andaya Jr. sa halos 100 bagitong kongre­sista ukol sa mga pribilehiyo nila. Kabisado niya ito dahil tatlong termino siya naupo sa Kamara at chairman ng committee on appropriations. Masarap mag-kongresista, umano’y ani Andaya, “puwede pumasok sa trabaho, puwedeng hindi, pero tuloy-tuloy ang suweldo.” Inabisuhan pa niyang huwag na huwag magkakamaling magbayad ng inoorder sa Batasan South Lounge, dahil libre sa kanila ang pagkai’t inumin doon.

Maaring pabiro raw ang salita ni Andaya. Pero hindi ito nakatutuwa para sa taxpayers na nagtutustos ng gastusing gobyerno. Lalo na kung iisipin na palagi walang quorum ang Kamara. Aba’y 148 batas lang ang naipasa ng huling Kongreso. Dati-rati nasa libo ang produkto nito. Ngayon pababa ang output habang pataas ang input na pondo ng Kamara.

Kasunod na nag-briefing si Speaker Jose de Venecia. At dagdag pang mga pribilehiyo ang tinalakay niya. Aba’y hindi lang pala ang buwanang suweldong P35,000 ang aasahan nila. At hindi lang din ang taunang P70 milyong pork barrel.

Marami pa palang ibang taunang perks: Foreign travel, P220,868; district staff allocation, P650,000; contractual consultants, P120,000; research, P396,000; consultative local travel, P788,764; communication, P129,600; supplies, P120,000; public affairs fund, P308,400; central office staff, P1,982,034; equipment, furniture, fixtures, P21,538; at other maintenance and operating expenses, P600,000.

Total na P5,337,204 pa pala ang inuuwi ng bawat kongre­sista. Kaya ko sinabing puwede nila ito iuwi nang buo dahil walang audit ito. Kung isa lang ang empleyado ng isang kongresista at sampu naman ang iba, tatanggap sila ng parehong halaga. Kung may field office man o wala ang kongresista, dahil taga-Metro Manila, halim­bawa, at hindi taga-probinsiya, gan’un ding pareho ang tatanggapin nila.

Tama si Andaya. Masarap nga ang buhay-kongre­ sista.

This visionary was born blind

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Monday, November 12, 2007

For four years now Fatima Soriano has been inspiring the sick and the troubled. Religious groups seek her out to grace their gatherings. She has spoken in radio and television shows, Holy Masses and prayer rallies, renewing faith in helpless folk — in the Philippines, Indonesia, Korea and Canada. Her constant counsel is to trust in God’s grace. A teleplay has been produced about her. But Fatima is blind; she has been so since birth. She is frail and short for her age of 14, for she has been sick all her life, and once was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure. It is precisely the sufferings she went through that make adults marvel how Fatima can be so bubbly, always smiling, and talking of God’s care. Even more awesome, she melts away their distresses and ailments — through Mama Mary, she avers.

Charismatic Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD, had discovered Fatima by happy accident. He was hosting his radio show “Hello Father” on ZNN Radio Veritas one night in July 2003 when a girl with a strained but determined voice phoned in. How come you’re still awake at this time past nine o’clock, the priest had queried? Fatima replied matter of factly that she was waiting for her next dialysis. Docs had ruled then that only peritoneal cleansing every four hours, five times a day, could save her from renal poisoning, and only by a slim chance. But there she was, then only 10, talking like a grizzled veteran. Fr. Jerry and his listeners were stirred. He told her they just had to see each other soon. Fatima chuckled, “How can that be possible when I’m blind?” All the more the priest became determined to meet her. He was sure she’s godsend in his taxing job as Mission Director for the Society of Divine Word-Philippines.

They became instant friends. Fatima loved having someone other than her prayerful Catholic parents, Danny and Fely, to talk to about the Almighty Father and caring Mother Mary. Fr. Jerry was awed to learn in that first meeting that she led her neighborhood’s nightly Rosary prayer. “Even street urchins would join,” he recalled. More personal, he said, the sickly little girl “made Mama Mary so alive” for a Marian devotee like him. “Fatima would converse with the Blessed Mother,” he explained, “and then relay to me what was said, and these would always come true.” He cited as example a speaking tour to Vancouver, when their visas had not arrived by the end of work hours Friday yet their flight was early Sunday. Through Fatima he was assured everything would turn out all right and it did: the courier not only did deliver the travel documents in time for the flight, but their party even got upgraded to better cabin. “Mama Mary is mostly happy, sometimes sad (because of her children’s behavior), but never angry” is how she described her to him.

After Fatima spoke on hope in Fr. Jerry’s televised Sunday Masses, the media took notice. ABS-CBN’s Maalaala Mo Kaya produced a biopic for television, and entertainment and counsel shows couldn’t get enough of her. How could a girl who had gone through painful treatments for ten months, on the brink of death at a tender age, be so full of joy and infectious faith? The answer remained in Fatima’s purity and innocence. For many she personified the Gospel line: “Unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). A text brigade raised P1.2 million in 2004 to help in kidney transplant. A 23-year-old donor was found with 90 percent compatibility. Still, doctors worried that the donor’s adult arteries and veins would riskily not match Fatima’s smaller blood vessels. But during surgery they turned out to be a perfect fit.

After that experience under the knife, Fatima struggled to be a choir singer. Her fragile lungs and delicate recovery wouldn’t allow it at first. But she prayed for help in her dream. Early this year Fr. Jerry came out with a CD of inspirational songs. Two of the cuts, “Falling Star” and “You’re in My Heart,” were written and sung by her. Two others, written by Fr. Jerry but sung by Fatima too, “Believe Like a Child” and (My Suffering Is) My Offering”, speak about her and others like her with unwavering faith in God and know how to let go for His greater glory. The Catholic Mass Media Awards adjudged their work the Most Inspiring Album of 2007.

Last June during a second trip to Vancouver her parents noticed a heart-shaped red mark appear on Fatima’s lower lip. It seemed like a wound, but Fatima told them not to worry for it was a token given her by the Blessed Mother. Two days later they witnessed something strange during the Mass. People in the church whom Fatima touched would fall on the ground unhurt but “slain in the Spirit.” Fr. Jerry theorized that she had received the gift of healing. The devotees gave testimonies of ailments suddenly vanishing. To verify, Fr. Jerry took Fatima to Naju, Korea, to meet visionary Julia Kim, who proclaimed Fatima is the real thing.

Strange that God would bring into the midst of Filipino devotees and doubters a visionary who is blind at birth. But it is perhaps in the irony that they will sit up and take notice. I couldn’t believe when I met Fatima that a child barely as high as my chest could “fell” adults. But I saw, I experienced. I queried Fatima about her “work” Does she not get drained healing? Talking like an adult, she said no and explained that Mama Mary counsels her to pray to avoid negative vibes. Does she know colors? “Only a few,” she said, because of her handicap. “They tell me that red is hot like fire, blue is like water, and isn’t green a male color?” So what is the color of Mama Mary’s hair? “Sorry, sir, I don’t know,” she apologized, then smiled, “But she’s with us now, she’s always with us.” Tilting her head back as if to listen, she adds, “She says hi.”

Taking us for fools — with our own money

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Friday, November 9, 2007

Having been there, Rolex Suplico knows too well the many ruses the House employs to block any impeachment of a President. So he tried a trick of his own. Amending his old rap against Comelec chief Ben Abalos, long endorsed by three congressmen, he impleaded Gloria Arroyo in the ZTE broadband bribery. Still the House secretary-general hurriedly rejected the addendum Monday for lack of new endorsers. Foiled? Suplico doesn’t think so. He is confident the Supreme Court will overturn the rejection that was based on a non-existent rule.

Oppositionist Adel Tamano filed his own supplement to a nebulous suit of Atty. Roel Pulido against Arroyo. Straight he went to the justice committee, to which the rap was referred weeks ago on endorsement of Rep. Edgar San Luis. Tamano too was rebuffed, this time by the chairman, on grounds that Pulido’s original charge sheet was “irreplaceable”. Is this something for Tamano as well to bring to the Supreme Court? He doesn’t need to, if only Pulido and San Luis were true to their word.

For weeks since Pulido filed and San Luis certified, they were booed for a “deliberately weak case.” Critics took to calling them the new Lozano-Marcoleta tandem of lawyer and legislator who infamously saved Arroyo from serious charges by scurrying to file sham ones two years in a row. To disprove detractors, Pulido and San Luis made the rounds of the media, professing to welcome any help to “strengthen” their admittedly infirm rap. Well, there was the Tamano revision, waiting for their signatures to show the committee it was as much their work and not a replacement. But where were they? Pulido and San Luis perhaps do not value word of honor.

And so, Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora says, impeachment that is reserved only for extreme cases has now become a rat race. Rats not only race at the opening of Congress to file frail inoculating cases to get around the Constitutional limit of one rap per year per official. They also have made impeachment an endless, self-defeating, pointless pursuit.

* * *

It’s fantastic that a congresswoman — a deputy Speaker at that — will own up to the scandalous Malacañang cash doles one month after the fact. Nearly eclipsed was a claim of the governors’ league, two weeks late too, that it was they who handed out at the Palace huge amounts in gift bags. They’re obviously covering up for that one person with a real motive to buy the loyalty of congressmen and governors. But they have to put up publicly this insolent show. As critics decry, ginagago na tayo, we’re being taken for fools. And our taxpayers’ money is even being used for it.

Now why would a Southern Luzon regional officer of Kampi party, which is what Congresswoman is, want to give P500,000 to Manila Rep. Benny Abante of the rival Lakas? She claims it was “regular help” for first-term congressmen, but Abante never asked for it. Echoed is the line of the league that they gave “barangay aid” of P500,000 each to neophytes Govs. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga and Joselito Mendoza of Bulacan, but who never asked for it as well. Again, why would the congresswoman be distributing party money in Malacañang, instead of their offices at the Batasan? And why “admit” all this only now, a month after her beloved President Arroyo already was scorned for bribing 190 congressmen and a dozen governors?

Congresswoman’s incredible tale only implicates Arroyo deeper. In other lands public officials resign for committing much less. The head of Japan’s rising Democratic Party resigned Sunday for “causing confusion within the ranks” in failing to reject post-haste a power sharing offer from the Prime Minister. That may never happen in the Philippines. Here, the longer one stays in politics, the thicker the hide becomes.

Still it’s not wrong for voters to expect even only one of the hundred or so new, presumably idealistic, congressmen to stand up and denounce the damning of the chamber they have just joined. But will that happen? Those tyros reportedly were briefed by Budget Sec. Rolando Andaya, once a three-term congressman, on their incoming perks. On top of monthly pay of P35,000, they’d be getting P5.4 million a year for travel, office rental, staff salaries, and such. Not to forget, of course, the P70-million annual pork for which they ran for Congress in the first place. But those who rock the boat — like the opposition minority — would be starved.

So it’s up to whistleblowers Abante, Panlilio and Mendoza to ferret the truth, if they will. They can start by checking the serial numbers of the P1,000-bills they received, if sequenced. Too, if the bundling came from the same bank, which incidentally is not the depository of either Kampi or the governors’ league. There are leads. The cash gifts — bribes — were all given on the same day, Oct. 11, in Malacañang: to congressmen in the morning, governors in the afternoon, but both groups discussing the impeachment rap against Arroyo. Totaling P100 million, the money couldn’t have come from any party, but the people, in the form of kickbacks.

* * *

She’s blind from birth and almost died of kidney failure at age 14 last June. Inexplicably Fatima Soriano suddenly could heal the sick. Persons she touches would be “slain in the Spirit.” Yesterday at Surigao City cathedral, she ministered to hundreds of devotees. Today, after Mass by Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD, Fatima will strive to accommodate more.

COA, ano’ng ginagawa sa gitna ng anomalya?

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, November 9, 2007

KADE-KADENANG mga proyektong overpriced at kontratang buktot ang naganap: Macapagal Boulevard, Clark Centennial, MegaPacific-Comelec, Piatco-NAIA-3, IMPSA power, fertilizer scam, ZTE-NBN. At pinakahuli, ang kahiya-hiyang pamimigay sa Malacañang ng tig-P500,000 sa 189 kongresista at 60 gobernador — kabuuang P120 milyon na walang resibo. Ganyan na ba kadali mangulimbat sa gobyerno?

Ani anti-graft crusader Marcelo Tecson ng San Miguel, Bulacan, hindi magaganap lahat ‘yan kung nakatutok ang Commission on Audit. Trabaho ng COA bantayan ang gastusing pampubliko, ayon sa Saligang Batas. Independent ito, at may 12,000 personnel, para gampanan ang tungkulin. Pero hindi nagagawa.

Sa pagsusuri ni Tecson, natutunton ng CIA ang katiwa­lian sa huli na. Ito’y pagkatapos mag-post audit sa mga bilihin o bayarin ng ahensiya. At dahil huli na ang pagtuklas sa krimen, hindi na mabawi ng gobyerno ang winaldas o ninakaw na pera. Nakapagtago na ang mga salarin.

Maiiwasan ang corruption pre-audit ang ginagawa ng COA. Ito ang pagsuri sa proyekto at presyo bago pa man isakatuparan.

Kung napakasimple ng solusyon, bakit hindi ginagawa? Maaalalang inalis ng COA officials ang pre-audit nu’ng panahon ng martial law, ani Tecson. Ito’y para maiwasan umano ang komprontasyon ng COA at ng mga nagtamasa sa martial law. Maraming mapang-abusong gastusin at bilihin ang diktadurya ni Marcos at ng burokrasya niya. Nahuhuli lahat ito sa pre-audit ng COA. Kaso mo, tinakot ang mga auditors na huwag nang hadlangan ang mga kalokohan. Binantaan sila ng kulong, pananakit, pagpatay. At para mailayo ang auditors sa gulo, pinasya ng pamunuan noon ng COA na alisin na lang ang pre-audit.

Kung bakit hindi pa rin binabalik ang epektibong pre-audit, ‘yan ang tanong sa COA ngayon? Ito ba’y dahil naki­kipagsabwatan ang pamunuan ng COA sa mga bagong magnanakaw? Panukala ni Tecson, tanggalan ng CPA license ang auditors na napapalusutan ng anomalya.

Progress yes, but at what expense?

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star,Wednesday, November 7, 2007

The TV talk show in which he guested is closing. Mr. Shooli takes off his signature Mongolian hat, peels off fake whiskers. Departing from his comedy routine, he ponders the topic just discussed. “I will be my real self, Jun Urbano, for a while,” he remarks gloomily. “They say it’s economic progress. But is it really, when Father is working as a mechanic in faraway Dubai, Mother is a maid in Singapore, Sister is a japayuki, Brother is tago-nang-tago in America, while only Baby is left home?”

Urbano is no economist. Yet he echoes the thinking of many Filipinos about their nation. Their government is trumpeting an economic upsurge never experienced in a decade. Last quarter’s GDP grew 7.5 percent from last year’s 5.5 in the same period; GNP was 8.3 percent from the previous 6.4. And these have been rising for 23 consecutive quarters. All this because of the administration’s supposed correct economic programs, including the marketing abroad of the Philippines’ top export: labor.

Notably close to 40 percent of GNP comes from employment income abroad. But at what expense?

That government calls overseas workers modern-day heroes is in recognition that their remittances keep the economy alive. If not braving sunstroke in the Middle East, harsh winters in Europe, and storms in all the seven seas, they’d be home jobless and living off the government’s meager welfare budget. But there they are, sending home an ever-growing amount, this year forecast to hit $14 billion. Some churchmen also romanticize the role of overseas workers as supposed spreaders of the Christian faith. In truth the exodus of nine million workers is taking a toll on the family — and consequently on society. Migrants’ associations variously estimate broken homes at one of every three up to one of every five because of overseas separation. Spouses as well as children are stigmatized. The effect on the nation’s moral fabric has yet to be studied.

There are initial findings, though, on the impact of faraway parents on children. Vincent Fabella, president of Jose Rizal University, notices unusually high college dropout rate among children of overseas workers. Colleagues at the Philippine Association of College and Universities, of which he was chairman, experience the same. Psychologists say it’s all due to denial of parent-child quality time. That’s where the irony lies. Parents work their backs off in other lands to earn enough and send the kids to the best schools money can buy. But the kids drop out because their parents are not present to guide and guard.

The folly of government dependence on overseas jobs — instead of creating them — has long been known. Sociologists have been decrying the brain drain since the 1960s. Then as now government couldn’t spur real industrialization. There was no system for industries to give rise to new ones, and for jobs to abound. What was prevalent was for the emigrant to send some cash back to the homeland for some family member to graduate from college and take care of the rest. Today, nurses and teachers are being enticed to uproot their families for overseas placements. The country’s top meteorologist, head no less of the weather bureau, is about to leave with his family for Canada. All that is fine, perhaps, since they will be together to live as complete families. But not the nine million overseas transients, who are not so lucky to depart forever from the hopeless homeland.

And the overseas employment boom may not stay forever. Already there are signs of contraction of the US economy, at four million the biggest hirer of Filipino contractual employees. This would mean less job openings soon.

Ahead of it, the flood of remittances has begun to work against the interest of overseas workers. Because more and more foreign currencies are being sent home, the peso is gaining strength by the day. Many of the workers negotiated their pay when the exchange rate was P50:$1; it is now P44. Money they send home now buys fewer goods than it used to, as a natural consequence of excessive overseas employment.

* * *

It had to happen sooner or later — with the way money flows during Philippine elections. A defeated barangay captain in Sumisip, Basilan, is terrorizing villagers, demanding they return his campaign expenses before he steps down. Police said residents of Barangay Bait have fled their homes for fear of reprisal by armed goons of erstwhile chief Narding Damahan. Trounced by a newcomer in last week’s election, Damahan wants anybody and everybody to reimburse him for costs, like paying off voters. Problem is, the money had long been used for food and fuel.

This fellow may not be the last poll loser to go berserk. In future elections, other candidates who throw money to families that sell votes to highest bidders but double-cross will surely try to exact violent revenge. More so since in the Philippines, politics is associated with private armies.

JDV: Pork barrel linisin mo na

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, uesday, November 6, 2007

BATID ni Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. na bahagi siya ng problemang dumi sa gobyerno. Kaya nang hikayatin niya si President Arroyo na mamuno sa “moral revolution,” nangako siyang maglilinis din ng pork barrel sa Kongreso. Kaso mo, dinedma lang siya ni Arroyo. Ipinabatid nito ang tingin niya sa panukala ni De Venecia nang bulyawan niya ito sa isang pulong para pagbatiin sila. Tapos, nag-press statement ang Malacañang na dapat ay si De Venecia — dahil sa kanyang mas mababang ranggo sa gobyerno at partidong Lakas — ang sumunod sa programa ni Arroyo. At binalewala pa ni Arroyo ang sunud-sunod na insidente ng panunuhol na nagpagalit sa madla na ikinabahala ni De Venecia.

Ngayong mag-isa siya sa pagrereporma, nagdadalawang-isip si De Venecia. Nu’ng una, sabi niya’y pipilitin niya ang mga kongresista na mag-line item disclosure ng pork barrel. Ibig sabihin, sa taunang pagba-budget pa lang ng bansa, ililista na ang mga proyektong gagastahan nang tig-P70 milyon ng mga kongresista (at tig-P200 milyon kada senador). Ngayon, dahil inisnab at inismiran siya ni Arroyo, bumabaliktad na si De Venecia. Sabi niya, huli na raw repormahin ang pork barrel dahil naipasa na ng Kamara ang 2008 budget. Kumbaga, saka na lang ito lilinisin — sa isang taon kaya, kung may makaalala.

Kung tutuusin, kung nais talaga ni De Venecia, kaya pa niya gawing transparent agad ang pork barrel ngayon din. Bilang Speaker, maari siya maglatag ng bagong guidelines sa pag-release at paggasta nito. Una na, dapat lahat ay bigyan, maka-administrasyon man o maka-oposisyon na nagbabalak i-impeach si Arroyo. Ikalawa, igiit niya na idetalye lahat ng specifications ng bibilhing mteryales o ipapagawang infrastructures sa pork barrel. Ipapaskel niya ito sa ilalim ng Electronic Procurement Law, para masuri ng kahit sino. Sa ganu’ng paraan, dahil sa higpit ng pre- at post-audit, mawawalan ng gana ang mga mambabatas na kumikbak mula sa P70 milyon. Ibabalik na nila sa ehekutibo ang pagpapatupad ng mga proyekto, basta nakadikit dito ang mga pangalan nila.