Gotcha

Guard our money, Neri now in SSS

2008-08-11T03:38:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, August 11, 2008

Moro rebels began pulling out of nine Cotabato barrios six-and-a-half long hours after the military’s deadline Saturday. “Whew,” sighed generals in Manila; “Congrats,” beamed the commander-in-chief from abroad.

But what of the 85 houses the pillagers had razed, plus the hundreds of livestock and sacks of rice they stole, as reported by the military? What about the villagers who are now homeless and hungry?

Manila authorities, invoking “sanctity of the peace process,” forgot all about them. But if the victims organize a posse to recover their possessions and exact justice, expect the authorities to go after them.

* * *

Guard your money. That was Cora dela Paz’s advice to SSS members end-July as she turned over the helms of the provident fund to Romy Neri. It sounded more like an alarm. For, everything about the SSS is tempting to the immoderately greedy.

SSS is bursting with P248 billion assets, mostly forced contributions of 27 million private workers and their employers. Although a private fund, it is administered for the members by government. Malacañang picks the chief and trustees, who in turn flaunt loyalty to the appointer. A string of Presidents have abused the fund for brownie points, ordering nominees to give out doles even if unaffordable, so long as they looked good. When dela Paz assumed management in 2001, SSS barely had 12 years of life left. Erap Estrada had squandered hundreds of millions from it (and GSIS) in 1999 to prop up a crony’s sham stocks. Top managers either partook of the bounty or fell demoralized. But Dela Paz recharged the staff to nurse the fund back to health, extending its lifespan to a cozy 29 years. Members’ remittances were raised slightly and stock earnings sensationally. At present the SSS trades P200 million worth of stocks a day.

Enter Neri as unceremonious replacement. Dela Paz admitted she had long wanted out for health reasons, but that politics caused her sudden removal too. She declined to say more. Three reasons were whispered in political-business circles for her axing — all about shielding private SSS money from sticky fingers. Dela Paz reportedly had refused to have SSS subsidize the Palace’s plan for a universal ID system. This foiled some retired generals’ kickbacks from the ID cards. Then, dela Paz rebuffed a stockbroker close to Malacañang who wanted appointment as sole trader for SSS. Even for only one-percent fee from the P200-million daily trading, the influence peddler would have made a cool P2 million a day. The straw that broke the camel’s back was last May’s Meralco ownership fight. Dela Paz allegedly rejected buying new Meralco shares preparatory to wresting control from the Lopez clan. Neri had led the anti-Lopez campaign, though then with the Commission on Higher Education.

Only Neri can confirm the reasons for his hasty takeover. He pledges to run the SSS well for its members. But his role in last year’s ZTE scandal has left the public doubtful. In a Senate inquiry on the $330-million scam, Neri revealed a P200-million offer from then-Comelec head Ben Abalos to back the deal as economic minister. But when asked why his boss Gloria Arroyo approved it even after he reported the bribery, he clammed up. By invoking executive privilege, critics said, Neri gave weight to secrecy of presidential decision-making than to exposing high crime. He even risked constitutional crisis by siccing the Supreme Court on a Senate itching to arrest him for contempt. Then, he ignored pleas of whistleblower and close friend Jun Lozada for help against police abductors out to silence him.

Can a person of such character run the country’s biggest provident fund? Karina Constantino David, Civil Service Commission chief during the entire affair, perhaps summed it up best: “Like the rotten regime he serves, Neri has a gigantic perception problem. He has little credibility left — as a public official, as a technocrat, and as an academic. His name will forever conjure images of cowardly clueless-ness in the wake of high-level corruption, a failure of nerve in the existential battle with dishonesty and pretense. And now he is put in charge of the P248-billion fund belonging to millions of ordinary workers.”

The official basis for Neri’s move to SSS does not inspire confidence either. He had long wanted to return to the Cabinet, preferably his old post as economic secretary. In Dec., three months after covering up for Arroyo in the ZTE mess, he begged her for a meeting in which to plead his cause. But the boss was cold. Days before, Neri had also met with opposition Senators Ping Lacson and Jamby Madrigal, during which he thrice described Arroyo as “evil”. And there was word that he originally was to join the Nov. 29 siege of Peninsula Hotel by jailed Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim. Still came the SSS posting as Neri’s delayed consolation prize. Palace lawyers felt that he had to somehow be kept in the Cabinet (that despises him), so he can continue invoking executive privilege. Throwing him out could drive him into the open arms of the opposition, which is eager for more evidence on sleaze in Malacañang. So the SSS appointment was accompanied by an unprecedented marching order to put under Neri the GSIS, Dept. of Social Welfare and Development, and Dept. of Health. He was to lead them as a Social Welfare Task Force during the food and fuel crisis. This again sparked worries that Arroyo, thru Neri, would dip her fingers into private SSS coffers to dole to the disenchanted poor.

And so dela Paz was right to warn SSS members: watch your money.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Kasalanan ba ang family planning? (1)

2008-08-11T03:17:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon
Monday, August 11, 2008

TINUTUYA ang abortion sa reproductive health bill. Iginigiit na ilegal ito kaya hindi kabilang sa family-planning services sa mag-asawa. Pero may pahabol na dapat lunasan agad ang inang naghihingalo dahil nagpalaglag — makatao lang. Kaya bakit tinatawag itong pro-abortion ng mga obispo?

Sa totoo lang, kontra ang mga obispo sa birth control. Para sa kanila, ukol lang sa mag-asawa ang sex, bilang obligasyon magparami. Anomang kontra dito, tulad ng pagbunot o pagpapa ligaya sa sarili, ay kasalanan (ni Onan). Sa mag-asawang ayaw magkaanak dahil sa balidong rason, payo nila ay pagtitimpi, tila chastity. Payag sila sa Rhythm o Billings Method dahil nagkataong likas na imposible mabuntis miski nais magparami.

Binabawal ng mga obispo ang artificial na paraan. Anila, imoral ang condom, operasyong vasectomy o tubal ligation, IUD, at iniiniksiyon o iniinom na contraceptives. At dito gumugulo. Anila, ang contraceptives ay pampalaglag din. Hindi ito dahil lang sa kaba nila na “kapag pumayag ang lipunan sa contraceptives, kasunod na ang abortion.” Sa pananaw nila, kapag pinigilan ang pagbuo ng fetus, pinatay na mismo ito sa fetus.

Kahibangan ito para sa mga nag-iisip na Katoliko. Pinipi gilan ng pills, operasyon, IUD o condom ang pagtatagpo ng egg st sperm. Kung walang buhay na nabuo, paano ito naging pagkitil sa buhay? A basta, nagiging dogmatiko ang debate, ‘yan ay doktrina, kaya dapat sumunod. kundi ay magdurusa habambuhay sa lumalagablab na apoy ng Impiyerno.

Kontra-agham ang linya ng mga obispo. Pero balewala ito sa kanila. May tradisyong kontra-siyensiya ang mga sinau-nang obispo. Sinupil nila si Copernicus, monghang nakatuklas nu’ng siglo-1500 na hindi umiikit ang Araw sa Mundo. Ginulo nito ang pananaw na sa Mundo nakasentro ang Paglikha. Nu’ng siglo-1600 kinastigo sina Galileo at Kepler na tumangkilik kay Galileo. Sumulong pa rin ang agham. Ipinagbawal ang turo ni Darwin nu’ng siglo 1600 na evolution. Nilait si Freud na nu’ng siglo-1900 ay sumuri sa utak ng tao, at sina Friedmann at Hubble na bumuo ng teyorya ng Big Bang mula sa General Relativity ni Einstein.

(Itutuloy)

Tiwala sa lider

2008-08-08T15:15:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, August 8, 2008

GULAT na gulat si Senator at dating Olongapo City Mayor Richard Gordon. Nagbayad ang 500 katao nang tig-P25,000 para lang marinig ang talumpati ng ka-initials (na RG) Rudolph Giuliani, dating mayor ng New York City, tungkol sa “leadership in times of crisis.” Sabi nga ni Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco, isa sa mga nakinig, alam na ng mga pinunong Pilipino ang anim na katangian ng lider na binanggit ni Giuliani. Pero hayun, taimtim pa ring nakinig ang mga nagbayad.

Isa sa mga idiniin ni Giuliani ay dapat mapagka katiwalaan ang isang lider. Kaakibat nito, dapat malinis ang mga pinu-no dahil hindi pumapasok ang mga investor sa bansang maanomalya. Simple, hindi ba? Alam na natin ito, hindi ba? Pero bakit kinailangan pa ng isang dayuhan, na umaaming wala siyang gaanong alam sa sitwasyon ng Pilipinas, para ma batid natin ito muli?

Nasa paliwanag ni Sen. Kiko Pangilinan marahil ang sagot. Oo, kailangan nga ng lider na mapagkakatiwalaan at malinis, kaya ito ang hanapin natin sa 2010. Pahiwatig ni Pangilinan wala na ang dalawang mahalagang katangiang ito si Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, kaya sa 2010 pa tayo magkaka-pagasa.

Tama si Pangilinan. Talamak na ang katiwalian at pagbubulaan ng Arroyo admin kaya basag na ang tiwala ng taumbayan. Sa huling SWS performance survey nitong Hunyo, 60 percent ang disgustado kay GMA at 22 percent lang ang aprobado, kaya negative-38 percent ang rating niya. Bago mag-State of the Nation noong nakaraang Lunes, 40 percent din ang nagsabing magbubulaan lang si GMA. At lumabas din ang Pulse Asia survey na 75 percent ang naghirap nitong nakaraang dalawang taon sa ilalim ni GMA.

Bunga ito ng mga anomalya sa ZTE, Northrail, Southrail, ghost fertilizer at piglets, Hello Garci, smuggling, at marami pang iba. Lahat ito hindi maipaliwanag nang lubos ni GMA o mga kamag-anak at alipores na sangkot. Pinagtakpan lang nila sa pamamagitan ng panlilito sa media o ng executive privilege. Akala nila maloloko nila ang taumbayan.

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Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

The man who lived RP nationhood

2008-08-08T03:14:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, August 8, 2008

When I was an iconoclastic student activist in the ’70s, Sen. Lorenzo Tañada was one of few politicians I admired. He came from the landed rich yet would join radical demos, stepping out of his cozy office to be with the poor. At 72 he was tapped to study the unrest that led to the First Quarter Storm of 1970. In a report six weeks later he trashed the Marcos admin line that communists were agitating even moderate campuses. Instead he traced discontent to social ills: a vast gap between rich and poor, resistance of the economic and political elite to change, and colonial nature of RP-US ties. “Welcome dissent,” he counseled riot cops and snooty capitalists. “If we make the right decisions, with courage and compassion, in brotherhood for reform, we will find beyond these crossroads what we have been seeking for so long — prosperity and well-being of all Filipinos.” At Sunday mass our neighbors and I would come up to Tañada with a silent prayer for longer life for such a nationalist.

Tañada did live to 93, marking vital events in the Filipino struggle for nationhood. Born 10 Aug. 1898 in what is now Quezon, he was three days old when American and Spanish forces staged a mock battle for Manila. It was a bitter lesson for Katipuneros whose imminent capture of the capital was thwarted by a new aspirant for colonial reign. At UP some years later Tañada ruffled the rulers by exhorting fellow-ROTC cadets to train well to someday use their rifles against the American trainers. Even then he declared himself to be not anti-American but anti-colonialist. He even went as a government scholar to Harvard Law School to become Dean (later US Supreme Court Justice) Felix Frankfurter’s best foreign master’s student, and returned to Manila to lawyer for some American clients. The Pacific War saw the entry of yet another colonizer. Tañada joined the resistance in his Gumaca hometown. Upon Liberation a fresh appointee as Solicitor General, he brought up charges against Jose P. Laurel and Claro M. Recto for collaborating with the Japanese. A grant of amnesty overtook events. Still Tañada wondered why he couldn’t locate the records he would have needed to prosecute them. Only after reading William Manchester’s 1978 book American Caesar did he realize that Douglas MacArthur, as promiser of Independence on July 4, 1946, had hid them.

As in Rizal’s enlightenment from Europe or Aguinaldo’s defeat in open election or Mabini’s kissing the Stars and Stripes to end exile, a nationalist’s life takes ironic turns. Tañada’s too. At the height of Laurel’s trial, son Pepito Laurel (later Speaker) and several Batangueño toughies cornered the prosecutor and assistants at a cafeteria and challenged them to brawl. Prudence beat valor as Tañada retreated to another room. Pepito would later help ensure Tañada’s win as senator in 1947 and thrice more, to make him the longest-serving senator for 24 years. Tañada also received in 1982 the Dr. Jose P. Laurel Award for constitutional law, conferred at the Lyceum University run by another son, Sotero Laurel. Recto under trial had demolished the authority of Sol-Gen Tañada’s jurors, for an acquittal. In 1957 presidential candidate Recto tapped Tañada as running mate in a (losing) “nationalist alternative”. Tañada endorsed in 1969 reelectionist President Ferdinand Marcos, who capitalized on the senator’s speech in campaign materials. Marcos’s troops later struck down with truncheons, teargas and water cannons Tañada, who in his ’70s led countless marches against martial law. Tañada bore the pain of two sons in political prison, another in exile, and grandchildren underground fighting Marcos. He had the last laugh, so to speak, by way of predicting the dictator’s downfall “three or four years after” the 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino.

“Patriotism is not a frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime,” Adlai Stevenson said. Tañada’s numerous legislations and causes aimed to build a strong nation. He fought the US-built Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and led conferences to end US basing rights. He was at the gallery in Sept. 1991 when his son Bobby and 11 other senators voted against extending the RP-US bases treaty. By the time Tañada passed away the following year, bulk of US forces in Clark and Subic had pulled out.

* * *

Observers wonder why Gloria Arroyo would sign a peace pact with Moro separatists in Malaysia. That country secretly had funded the Islamist secession in the ’70s, to begin with, to weaken RP’s claim over Sabah as part of the Sulu sultanate. Today it acts as a “peace broker” with hidden agenda. Arroyo should have thought twice about letting the fox into the chicken coop, so to speak.

Then again, it may be deliberate. She doesn’t care about the Sabah claim, as was revealed in the autobiography of Tito Guingona, her erstwhile VP and foreign secretary, to wit:

“Before leaving, I had a talk with President Gloria. We spoke about the looming case before the International Court of Justice concerning the claim of Malaysia versus Indonesia covering two islands off Sabah. I informed her that we should perhaps have to file an action for intervention in the international tribunal in order to ensure our rights in the main case with Malaysia over Sabah itself. She remained pensive for some moments. Then she said, ‘You know, Tito, we may have to forego our claim to Sabah at some point in time.’ It was said matter-of-factly, not as a serious proposal, and I just responded that it seemed a controversial issue which would divide the nation. She did not press.

“To me, however, it was an eye opener. When a nation stakes a claim, as was done by us in the ’60s through President Gloria’s father, Diosdado Macapagal, no less, than that nation should stick to the claim because it is a right that is legal and valid.”

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Habitual opacity, low credibility

2008-08-06T03:07:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Senator and Olongapo City ex-mayor Richard Gordon wonders why Filipinos would pay P22,000 to hear fellow-”RG”, New York City ex-mayor Rudolph Giuliani, speak on “Leadership in Time of Crisis.” More so since, as Navotas chief Toby Tiangco, one of the 300 who paid, notes, we already knew what Giuliani had to say yet listened as if hearing them for the first time. “Choose a leader you can trust; a leader must be honest,” the two-day visitor said, adding that he doesn’t know enough of RP domestic issues to speak about it with authority. Still, many felt Giuliani was talking about us, Senator Francis Pangilinan sighed. Or, to be exact, he seemed to know what we don’t have in our leaders.

Trust? Gloria Arroyo cannot claim to have that key leadership virtue. In her latest poll, 60 percent said they were dissatisfied and only 22 graded her okay, for a net rating of negative 38. Before her State of the Nation last week, 40 percent were sure she would lie as usual and only 19 percent gave her the benefit of the doubt. Of her performance under food and fuel crisis, 75 percent said they are worse off today than in the past two years.

The Arroyo admin doesn’t even understand the word trust. When the poor ratings came out, a spokesman scoffed at the surveys, saying, “let the people and not just a few respondents decide.” Strange, but in polls where Arroyo scored well, they proclaimed, “the people have spoken.” Yet they prattle as if she is not forbidden to run again in an election where the people can decide or, worse, as if her last election was not rigged.

Honesty? Arroyo can’t claim to that either. Her admin’s sleazy deals stink to the core. In order to win the Presidency, there were the ghost swine (P2b) and fertilizer (P728m) deliveries. Afterwards, there were Northrail ($503m), Southrail ($692m), ZTE ($329m), cornered telecom frequencies, smuggling, and overpriced coal purchases. And to cover up, there were the P500,000 bribes to congressmen and governors. Not to mention, the buyout of bishops and generals.

Because crooked, the Arroyo admin can’t take constructive criticism. It has taken to maligning even past staunch allies. At ousted Speaker Joe de Venecia, Arroyo’s executive secretary sneers: “He’s beginning to behave and talk like any other opposition member, so we don’t give him credibility.” And ex-President Fidel Ramos they are smearing by text brigade; eg., from 0915-4129036: “FVR shud stop hitting GMA policies n talk abt resignation hyatt10 what he left us r problems up 2 now filipinos remember IPPs, PEA-Amari?”

Instead of being trusty and honest, the admin is habitually opaque. If asked to explain irregularities, cabineteers invoke executive privilege even when no national security or diplomatic ties is at stake. Officials who wish to blow the whistle are kidnapped or demoted or ordered to stay away from the Senate. Investigative journalists are harassed with false raps.

Malacañang ignores transparency. Though claiming to represent the people, it has not bothered to consult Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan folk who will be most affected by ceding territory to armed separatists. It wanted Filipinos to pay $329m (P17b) for telecom tools from ZTE, whose contract it hid on the pretext first of theft, then on confidentiality of proprietary info. It exiled Jocjoc Bolante to prevent testimony on the fertilizer scam that funded the 2004 presidential run. It induced Ignacio Arroyo to own up to the Jose Pidal alias bank account of First Gentleman-brother Mike. Worst of all, Arroyo herself obfuscated about her two-dozen phone calls to an election official while her votes were still being canvassed.

Palace officials are wondering why Arroyo’s survey ratings are so low. They can’t seem to get it: dishonesty has led to public distrust.

* * *

In his talk Giuliani recounted a basic lesson he learned from his dad on human relations. It was to make it a point to attend weddings, which are the most joyous of persons’ lives, but more importantly funerals, when the grieving kin need consoling.

Makati Mayor Jojo Binay, whose foundation was among the sponsors of the leadership talk, knows that maxim well. In his many years in public office since 1986, first as officer-in-charge, then as elected mayor, and once as husband of the mayor, he has made it a point to go to eight to ten wakes a night. To date he has been to roughly 60,000. In the process, Binay not only endeared himself to constituents but also got to feel the public pulse. That, along with regular meetings with business and civic leaders, gave him the best ideas for directions and projects.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Sikretong MILF pact pipirmahan ngayon

2008-08-05T03:05:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, August 5, 2008

HABANG sinusulat ito, patuloy ang paglusob ng armadong Moro Islamic Liberation Front sa mga sibilyang baryo sa North Cotabato. Mahigit 70 kubo ng magsasaka na ang sinunog nila, nagnakaw ng daan-daang baka’t kalabaw, at nanakit ng mga nagtatanggol sa ari-arian.

Habang sinusulat din ito, lumabas ang kautusan ng Korte Suprema sa Malacañang na ibunyag sa mga maaapektuhang mamamayan ang nilalaman ng pipirmahan nitong kasunduan sa MILF ngayong araw.

Palihim pero apurahan sanang pipirmahan ngayon ang umano’y “peace pact.” Wawakasan daw ng kasunduan ang karahasan ng mga armado sa mga sibilyan. Pero hindi maarok ng mga taga-North Cotabato kung paano ito mangyayari, gayong nilulusob sila ng mga MILF pero hindi maipagtanggol ng PNP o AFP.

Kung tutuusin maaring kumalat pa nga ang karahasan. Nakakuha ako ng kopya ng kasunduang pipirmahan ngayon, Agosto 5, at nililista rito ang mga pook na isusuko ng Malacañang sa MILF. Tiyak na hindi papayag ang mga halal na civilian officials sa mga lugar na ito, Kristiyano man o Muslim, na mapailalim lang basta sa lokal ng MILF commander. At tiyak sa igigiit naman ng huli ang kasulatan upang manakop. Kaya gulo ang kauuwian.

Saad sa peace pact na magpe-plebisito sa mga “Bangsamoro ancestral territory” kung nais nilang masakop ng Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao. Kabilang dito ang malalaking bahagi ng: Zamboanga City, Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, at Palawan.

Saad din na pact ang “Bangsamoro territory” — lahat ng lupa, ilog, dagat at himpapawid sa Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan na tinuturing batay sa kasaysayan na homeland o ancestral domain. Miski tituladong lupa, ayon sa paliwanag, ay maaring mapasailalim ng Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

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Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Petisyon na ibunyag ang GRP-MILF deal

2008-08-04T03:03:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, August 4, 2008

NAGNGINGITNGIT ang mga taga-Mindanao. Kasi ni wala man lang konsultasyon sa kanila, pero ipamimigay ng gobyerno ng Maynila sa Moro Islamic Liberation Front ang mga purok nila na nasa ilalim ng sibilyang pamahalaan. Ibig sabihin, biglang mapapasailalim ng lokal na MILF commander ang mga halal na gobernador at mayor.

Lumalaban ang mga halal na opisyal. Sa pamumuno ni North Cotabato Vice Gov. Manny Piñol, nagkaisa ang mga pinunong Kristiyano at Muslim para dumulog sa Korte Suprema. Hinihingi nila sa Korte na ipabunyag sa Palasyo ang mga detalye ng napabalitang peace agreement sa MILF. Bahagi ng petisyon ang pagpapatigil sa napipintong pirmahan.

Panunuya ang naging tugon na Malacañang. Wika nito, saka na lang magsampa ng kaso sa korte ang mga apektadong taga-Mindanao, kapag napirmahan na ang agreement (at huli na ang lahat). At sobra na talaga ang kapalaluhan at pagkamalihim ng Malacañang. Ayaw man lang ipakita sa mga masasakop na mamamayan kung ano-ano’ng lugar ang isusuko sa MILF bilang “bahagi ng Bangsamoro ancestral domain.”

Walang magawa sina Piñol kundi umasa sa galing ng mga mamamahayag sa pagkuha ng detalyes tungkol sa Malacañang-MILF agreement. Isang draft ang nakuha ko. At sa papeles na iyon, itinuturing na bahagi ng teritoryo ng MILF ang Zamboanga City, North Cotabato at ikatlong bahagi ng Palawan — mga lugar ng dominado ng Kristiyano. Ito’y bukod sa walong bayan sa Lanao del Norte na dominado ng Muslim at nais sana sumapi sa Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao — pero hindi tiyak kung nais magpailalim sa MILF.

Kung ano ang pagmamatigas ng Malacañang laban sa Oposisyon, siyang lambot nito sa mga separatista. Pinaaapura nito sa mga alipores sa Kongreso ang pagkansela ng ARMM elections sa Agosto 11, dahil ‘yon ang nais ng MILF. Bakit nagka gan’un bigla ang Malacañang? Ani Piñol, may kinalaman ito sa natural gas at langis sa Liguasan Marsh na sasakupin ng MILF at pagpapartehan sa gobyerno nang 75:25. Pera na naman?

Why is Malacañang hiding MILF pact?

2008-08-04T03:02:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, August 4, 2008

Scores of Moro separatists rampaged last week across two villages in North Cotabato, razing 85 houses and rustling dozens of cattle. The mostly Christian and some Muslim farmers ran to the poblacion for help. When none came, Vice Gov. Manny Piñol decried on radio the military’s failure to repel the marauders. “They told me they were under orders to hold their fire,” he fumed. “They were to not jeopardize the signing of the peace pact.”

That “pact” is supposed to be inked tomorrow in Malaysia by reps of Malacañang and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Ostensibly it will usher in a peace with the 22,000-strong force that has been seceding from RP since 1976. The Palace has been hiding the draft, though. Residents of Mindanao and beyond who will be most affected have not been consulted. Elected Christian and Muslim leaders doubt this early if the accord truly can end war. For, the “Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain” spells a “territory” to be ceded by Malacañang to the rebels. Such territory would cover cities and towns that thrice already – in plebiscites in 1976, 1988 and 2001 – had rejected inclusion in a Muslim zone. The intended resistance of those communities could be met more harshly by the MILF, which will retain its arms. In effect, the peace pact might bring worse violence.

The pillage in Aleosan and Midsayap towns last week could be the preview. Commander Ameril Umbra Kato of the MILF 105th base command led the raiders. Muslim leaders said the terrorism was not about Islamists versus Christians but armed bands against peace-loving civilians. The pact has yet to be signed, but the MILF already is displaying its suppression tactics on areas to be put under its rule, they opine.

There’s confusion on the ground. A government peace adviser said the MILF central command treated the Cotabato incidents as police matters, not ceasefire violations. Kato’s group purportedly is a “lost command”; he is loyal to deceased MILF founder Salamat Hashim, not to present chairman Al Haj Murad, and cannot be controlled. The burning of villages allegedly stemmed from a land dispute. Even then, Piñol asked, “is this what the MOA will bring to us, the rule of roving rebels?” With the Army’s token resistance, a mix of soldiers who have relatives among the stricken farmers reportedly broke ranks to fight off the raiders.

Land is the core of the Malacañang-MILF pact. It sets as Bangsamoro historic homeland all land, rivers, seas and air “embracing the Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan region.” A Bangsamoro Juridical entity – to be led by the MILF, of course – shall have full control over police, trade, mining, forestry and agriculture therein. Extracted natural resources shall be shared 75:25 by the BJE and national government. (The STAR obtained a copy of the MOA, yet unsigned but already initialed by the chief negotiators.)

“Ancestral domain” comes into conflict with landownership as legally understood. Settlers in Mindanao who acquired land by homestead rights in the ’50s and Torrens titles afterwards could find themselves in limbo. A Malacañang executive summary on the MOA states: “Ancestral domain ... is more than just land and its proprietary ownership... At the heart of the concept is respect and acknowledgment, not only of the Bangsamoro people’s rights and freedoms, but also vested property rights and religious and cultural liberties of other peoples.” Critics have challenged the MILF’s authority to represent the Bangsamoro people, since it has not participated in any election. Incidentally the MILF wants Malacañang to scrap the Aug. 11 voting for governor and assemblymen of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.

The MOA vests territory on the BJE. Forming its core are the present ARMM (Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan), plus six towns in Lanao del Norte that voted in 2001 for ARMM membership. Malacañang must hold a new plebiscite within six months from MOA signing to include 721 more barangays. The MILF calls these villages peripheries of the ARMM. But most are in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur and Sibugay, Lanao del Norte, Iligan City, Bukidnon, North Cotabato, and Palawan – not only predominantly Christian but also political divisions created by law.

But this is going ahead of the conflict. Malacañang must first explain to the affected folk what it intends to do with their lives.

* * *

The building of the first of 40 homes for the homeless will kick off the Sigma Kappa Pi Fraternity’s 40th anniversary celebration. The EKIT Alumni Association has tied up with Gawad Kalinga to erect a full housing block at Recomville, Caloocan City, starting Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008.

The nationalist service brotherhood born in 1968 will also hold a two-day birthday fete on Aug. 29 and 30 at the U.P.-Diliman. Holy Mass, Balik-Tambayan, and video-ops will be held on Friday the 29th. A national convention, election of officers, and testimonial dinner-ball follow on Saturday the 30th.

The EKIT 40th will honor the founders and outstanding brods. For details, call Dante Gozum, 0918-9076281; Lito San Antonio, 0918-9014070; or Bing Villarta (40th chairman), 0905-2801782.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

MILF letter to Bush sped up settlement

2008-08-01T03:01:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, August 1, 2008

Mindanao folk are incensed. Without consulting them, the Manila government is ceding to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front their civilian-ruled locales. That means elected officials suddenly will be under the local MILF battalion commander. Christian and Muslim governors and mayors are resisting. A plea has been filed for Malacañang to disclose the details of an impending settlement of the MILF secession. Part of the petition in the Supreme Court is to suspend any pact signing until the affected folk can study the draft.

But the Palace is insistent. Congressional allies have been mobilized to cancel the August 11 elections in the Muslim Autonomous Region, as the MILF demands. In typical opacity and arrogance, Malacañang is taunting the Mindanao leaders to contest the political accord only after the signing. Worse, it continues to keep secret what areas will be yielded to MILF rule, although leaked drafts list Zamboanga City, North Cotabato and a third of Palawan as “part of the Bangsamoro ancestral domain.”

Today’s flurry of events partly was prodded by a letter in 2003 of then-MILF head Salamat Hashim (now deceased) to the US President. No less than a Filipino national security officer helped the separatist leader craft the invitation for American intervention in the on-again-off-again talks. The official US response is its state secret. But soon after the Hashim letter, all US-AID projects in the Philippines were moved to the Muslim Region. Washington also promised millions of dollars in instant and annual help once a settlement is forged.

Following are Hashim’s words:

20 January 2003
His Excellency George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House, Washington D.C.

Your Excellency:

In the name of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), we send our profound and felicitous greetings of peace on behalf of the Bangsamoro People of our historic homeland in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan.

The Bangsamoro People have always looked upon your country, the United States of America, and its people, with esteem as a great champion of freedom and democracy. The founding fathers of the American Nation as firm believers of “self-evident truths” and “inalienable rights” have become inspirations for the Moro Nation in our quest for the right to self-determination.

Your ambassador to the Philippines, His Excellency Francis J. Ricciardone, who recently addressed the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, raised the question of the US Government’s desire to know “what they (MILF) want and how it’s (the Problem) going to be resolved”.

We take this opportunity to inform Your Excellency that the MILF is a national liberation organization, with leadership supported by the Bangsamoro People, and with legitimate political goal to pursue the right of the Moro Nation to determine their future and political status. As part of this process, we have an ongoing negotiation with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines to arrive at a negotiated political settlement of the Mindanao conflict and the Bangsamoro problem, through the mediation and tender of the good offices of the Government of Malaysia.

Your desire to be informed of the MILF goals remind us of the historic, legal and political relationship between the Moro Nation and the US Federal Government as borne out by documents, treaty relations and instruments. Your official policy, under President William McKinley’s Instruction to the First Philippine Commission of 1900, treated the Moro Nation initially as a Dependent Nation similar to the North American Indian Nations under treaty relations with the US Federal Government. Subsequently, the Moro Nation was accorded the political status of a US protectorate under the Kiram-Bates Treaty of 1899, confirming the Treaty of 1878 between the Sultan of Sulu and Spain.

Your policy to consider the Philippines as an unincorporated territory of the United States paved the way for the US Government to administer affairs in the Moro territories under a separate political form of governance under the Moro Province from the rest of the Philippine Islands.

Your project to grant Philippine independence obliged the leaders of the Moro Nation to petition the US Congress to give us an option through a referendum to either by remaining as a territory to be administered by the US Government or granted separate independence fifty years from the grant of Philippine independence. Were it not for the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Moro Nation would have been granted trust territory status like any of the Pacific island states who are now independent or in free association with the United States of America.

On account of such circumstances, the Moro Nation was deprived of their inalienable right to self-determination, without waiving their plebiscitary consent. Prior to the grant of Philippine independence on July 4, 1946, American Congressional leaders foresaw that the inclusion of the Moro Nation within the Philippine Commonwealth would result in serious conflicts in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, arising from the inability of the Filipino leaders to govern the Moro people. This condition or states of affairs have continued to prevail to the present day.

In view of current global developments and regional security concerns in Southeast Asia, it is our desire to accelerate the just and peaceful negotiated settlement of the Mindanao conflict, particularly the present colonial situation in which the Bangsamoro people find themselves.

We are therefore appealing to the basic principle of American fairness and sense of justice to use your good offices in rectifying the error that (sic) continuous to negate and derogate the Bangsamoro People’s fundamental right to seek decolonization under the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 1960. For this purpose, we are amenable to inviting and giving you the opportunity to assist in resolving this predicament of the Bangsamoro People.

With assurances of our highest esteem and cordial regards.

Very truly yours,
Salamat Hashim
Chairman

Through: His Excellency Francis J. Ricciardone
United States Ambassador to the Philippines and Palau
US Embassy, Roxas
Boulevard, Manila

* * *

Constitution and security experts would do well to read between Hashim’s lines. He cites treaties and agreements that the US historically has chosen either to ignore or uphold depending on the need of the time. The first decade of the millennium is marked by the global war against Islamist terrorism and search for new oil sources. North Cotabato Vice Gov. Manny Piñol says the GRP-MILF draft grants the latter 75 percent of extracted natural resources. And there’s natural gas, possibly oil, in Liguasan Marsh.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Gaano mo kakabisado ang iyong katawan?

2008-08-01T03:00:00.001+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, August 1, 2008

ANG pinaka-malaking cell sa katawan ng tao ay ang female egg. Ang pinaka-maliit ay ang male sperm. Kung pagtabi-tabihin ang 2,000 cells ng tao, pupuno ito ng isang pulgada kuwadrado (square inch).

Pitong segundo para umabot sa tiyan ang iyong nilutong pagkain. Kasinlaki ng soft ball kapag puno ang pantog.

Kayang buhatin ng isang buhok ng tao ang tatlong kilo. Kung hindi mag-ahit ang karaniwang lalaki, 13 talampakan na ang haba ng balbas niya sa kanyang pagyao. Mas malamang magka-cirrhosis sa atay ang lalaki na walang buhok sa dibdib kaysa balbon.

Mas matibay pa sa konkreto ang buto sa hita.

Bakit ka may dimples? Dahil sa pagkakakapit ng muscles sa balat sa pisngi.

Tatlong haba ng kanyang hinlalaki ang karaniwang ari ng lalaki.

Mas mabilis tumibok ang puso ng babae kaysa lalaki. Doble rin kumurap ang babae kaysa lalaki.

Karaniwang may isang trilyong bacteria sa paa mo. (Kaya ba mabantot?)

Ang bigat ng balat ng karaniwang tao ay doble ng utak.

Kapag tinititigan mo ang iyong sinisinta, bumubuka ang pupil (puti sa gitna ng itim) ng mata mo. Gan’un din kapag tumititig sa kinasusuklaman.

Hindi mo malalasahan ang laway mo kapag wala itong nilulusaw. Mas maraming namumuong luga sa tenga kapag natatakot ka.

Kapag nakatindig ka, 300 muscles sa katawan ang nagbabalanse sa iyo. Mas mababa nang limang pulgada ang karaniwang babae kaysa karaniwang lalaki.

Ilang nakatutuwang kaalaman lang ito tungkol sa ating katawan. Hoy, kayong mga lalaki, hangga ngayon ba naka tingin pa kayo sa inyong hinlalaki? At kayong mga babae, tinitingnan n’yo ba ang hinlalaki ng lalaki sa tabi n’yo?

Thinking Christians overcome in the end

2008-07-30T02:53:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Both the Senate and House versions of the reproductive health bill reject abortion. Sen. Panfilo Lacson states right off that abortion, being illegal, shall not be among the full range of family planning services to be granted couples. So does Rep. Edcel Lagman’s, with a qualifier that women suffering post-abortion complications shall be treated at once — a humane act. Throughout the text both stress the criminality of snuffing out the life of the unborn. So why do Catholic bishops deem the authors promoters of abortion?

To be sure, the bishops are against birth control. For the Church, sex should only be between married couples, as obligation, mainly to procreate and then be intimate. Anything that goes against that purpose of sex, say, withdrawal or masturbation is a sin (of Onan). To couples that do not wish pregnancy as yet, for a valid reason, the bishops prescribe abstinence, akin to chastity. They allow the Rhythm or Billings Method only because by natural odds the wife won’t conceive anyway even if the husband aims to procreate.

The bishops ban artificial means. Condoms, surgeries like vasectomy or tubal ligation, intrauterine devices, and injectable, topical or oral birth controls are immoral. It gets messier. For the bishops, all contraceptives are also abortifacients. It is not just out of fear that “once artificial methods are practiced, then legalizing abortion will not be far behind.” Anything that prevents the formation of a fetus is, for the bishops, killing the fetus itself.

Thinking Catholics find it illogical. Contraceptives counteract conception, that is, life, so how can it destroy life? Ah basta, the debate turns dogmatic, that is the moral law, and anyone who doubts or disobeys shall burn in the eternal fires of hell.

The Catholic laity is not as obstinate as their bishops. They try to see things from the clerical viewpoint, and review the Pill and IUD. IUDs may on rare occasion induce abortion, like if a user already is conceiving when trying it the first time. In such event, the tool does become abortifacient, though by accident. The lost fetus, more likely to go unnoticed, is one life too many, so out with IUDs. Chemical contraceptives could accidentally and unacceptably abort too. Say, if the active ingredient lingers in the body too long and fatally weakens a fetus. Out with Pills too.

But condoms and surgical birth-prevention cannot by any stretch of imagination abort. It’s absurd. Pray tell, faithful Catholics beg the bishops, how can soft latex or knotted passageways of human egg or semen kill an unborn babe that wasn’t formed?

The bishops’ line defies science. It doesn’t matter to them. They’ve always clung to unscientific notions versus empirical evidence. Earlier bishops had suppressed Copernicus, a monk who observed in the early 1500s that the Sun does not revolve around the Earth as they thought. It simply went against the view that Creation was centered on the human world. A century later Galileo and Kepler separately upheld Copernicus’ findings and boldly began to define the universe. Galileo was tried in Inquisition and Kepler excommunicated for suggesting that the world might only be a speck in the Divine scheme of things.

Science forged ahead despite priestly resistance. In the 1850s Darwin theorized Evolution, and was promptly banned by Catholic educators. Freud in the 1910s analyzed the many facets of the human mind, panicking clerics who felt he was debunking the concept of Soul. Then Einstein developed General Relativity, which Friedmann expounded into the Big Bang, and Hubble supported with proportions of planetary distances and velocities. Bishops branded them enemies of Creationism, forgetting that the trio continued to attribute to a Divine Master the order of the universe.

Following the footsteps of earlier thinkers who eventually prevailed, today’s family-planning advocates push on. Bishops’ threats of withholding from them Communion and other Sacraments, they fervently pray over to melt. They remain steadfast Catholics trying to reform the Church thinking. Those of them who are old enough have seen it all before. In the early ’60s bishops had called rock n’ roll the work of the devil, yet the new art form found its way into the Jazz Mass and bouncy Gospel music. Today’s bishops in the end will come around to accepting that spaced pregnancy is being pro-life as well as pro-quality of life. It saves mothers and infants from morbidity, and improves their families physically, financially and spiritually.

Before that happens, though, there might first be a breakdown of the Separation of Church and State. That principle was conceived not so much to prevent churchmen from involving in politics, than government setting up a state religion. Bishops understandably will try to influence politicians’ thinking on reproductive health. But what if state leaders acquiesce only to Catholic clergymen, ditching other Christians and religionists who want family planning services? Then things will get worse before they get better.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Araw aksayado sa ulat ni GMA

2008-07-28T02:37:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, July 28, 2008

NEGATIVE 38 percent ang performance rating ng madla kay Gloria Macapagal Arroyo nitong Hunyo, mas lumala pa kaysa negative 26 percent nu’ng Marso. Ito’y sa kabila ng pamimigay niya ng kung ano-anong limos na panakip-butas sa krisis: NFA rice na P18.50 per kilo, P500 kada pamilyang gumamit lang ng 50 kilowatt-hours na kuryente nu’ng Hunyo, P500 pa muli sa kada sertipikadong hikahos, at planong subsidy sa fertilizer at diesel.

Anang anak na Rep. Mikey Arroyo, bagsak ang rating ng ina dahil sa pagsipa ng presyo ng gasolina at bigas. Mali siya. Bagsak ang marka ni GMA dahil basag na ang tiwala sa kanya ng taumbayan. Aba’y 40 percent ang nagsasabing mambibilog na naman siya ng ulo sa araw na ito ng State of the Nation Address; 14 percent lang ang naniniwalang magpapakatotoo siya. Mas malala ito kaysa nakaraang SONA nu’ng 29 percent ang nagsabing magbubulaan siya at pareho lang na 13 percent ang palagay ang loob ng magsasabi siya ng totoo.

Milyong-piso ang gagastahin para sa seremoniyas ng SONA sa Kongreso: Bulaklak, dekorasyon at cocktails sa Batasan; parada ng mga sasakyan ng mataas na pinuno, at mobilisasyon ng pulis sa kalsada. Pero makikinig ang taumbayan para lang tuyain ang Pangulo. Alam nilang hindi naman niya haharapin ang mga bumabagabag na isyu:

• Pagsangkot ng kanyang asawa at iba pang kaanak at katoto sa bilyong-pisong katiwalian sa ZTE, Northrail at Southrail deals; Transco sale; fertilizer scam; swine scam; at marami pang iba. Aba’y malakas ang hugong na bumili na raw ang First Couple ng mansion sa Portugal, kung saan tatakbo matapos ang termino. Wala kasing extradition treaty ang Pilipinas sa bansang ‘yon, kaya makakalusot sila sa kasong plunder.

• Binali ni GMA ang batas at proseso para maluklok nu’ng 2004 at pagtakpan ang mga sumunod na pangungulimbat.

• Nagtahimik habang pumatay ang militar ng 800 militante.

* * *

Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Today wasted on her fantasy

2008-07-25T02:38:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, July 28, 2008

Filipinos rated Gloria Arroyo’s performance negative-38 percent in June, much worse than her negative-26 in March. Three of every five (60 percent) were dissatisfied with her; only one in five (22 percent) cheered. She’s now decidedly the most disliked President since Marcos. That’s in spite of her crisis doles: discounted rice at P18.50 a kilo, P500 per family that burns less than 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, another P500 per family that’s certified poor, still another P500 per needy senior citizen, discounted diesel, subsidized fertilizer, and whatever else gimmick.

Remnant loyalists claim that Arroyo’s popularity sagged due to price surges of rice and fuel. The implication is that outside forces beyond her control — OPEC cartel, Chinese-Indian food and fuel demand — marred her.

They’re wrong. Arroyo got failing marks because of broken public trust. Why, 40 percent expect her to lie through the teeth again today in her State of the Nation. Only 14 percent are giving her the benefit of the doubt in her annual report and initiatives. This credibility rating is again worse than last year’s 29 percent who anticipated her to fib, and statistically the same as the 13 percent who had hoped she wouldn’t.

If government were parliamentary, Arroyo’s admin would likely be dissolved by now in a no-confidence vote. Sadly it’s presidential, with not only a fixed term but also virtual control over the House of Reps’ purse. So the pliant congressmen will fete her today in a Batasan spruced up at the cost of P90 million, with P110 million more to come — from her. On top of that, they’ll be splurging millions more on decor, food and wine, fuel for the motorcade of sycophants to her speech, and mobilization of cops to keep citizens away.

All that money will be wasted. If Filipinos will listen to her address at all, it is only to prepare to refute her, They know she will skirt the real issues:

• Her involvement, and that of her kith and kin, in multibillion-peso scams in ZTE, Northrail, Southrail, Transco, fertilizers, swine, coal imports, telecom frequencies, oil exploration, smuggling, and more;

• Her breach of procedures and laws, first to rig the 2004 presidential polls and then cover it up; and

• Her silence over, or tacit consent to, the murder of 56 journalists and more than 800 militant dissenters by roving death squads.

* * *

On the road to the Batasan, take note of Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando’s work. Many call it madness.

Commonwealth Avenue is supposed to be the country’s widest, with eight lanes on each side, and sidewalks and a median with shady trees and flowering shrubs. The shades and flowers have been ditched. BF spent the money instead to cut three-lane U-turns where unneeded. This constricted the national road not to five lanes but only three, because adjacent to the U-turn slots are BF’s pink-colored, fenced-off jeepney stops.

The outermost of three U-turn lanes have been eliminated, cemented with shin-high perimeters. They’re unnecessary anyway, according to BF, because U-turning jeepneys and buses need to eat into the second or third lane. Engineer BF forgets that the extra-wide turning radius is because the old vehicles from Japan are unsafe because retrofitted with inapt gearboxes. His job as metropolitan chief is to weed out such rolling coffins.

The dead lanes have been gathering rainwater, breeding ponds for dengue mosquitoes. BF had a swift solution. He ordered gravel and soil poured in. If talk was true, he might have spent last weekend prettifying the mess with greens for today’s SONA, but later will just cement them all over.

BF justifies his U-turn slots as necessary traffic chokers. Because Commonwealth is so wide, drivers tend to over-speed; at least one pedestrian or motorist is killed everyday, more maimed. BF’s ingenious answer was the hazardous cemented barriers astride fenced jeepney lanes. Cars must now suddenly swerve or screech to rolling stops. The last time people heard, the sane engineering solutions would have been to paint lane markers, build more pedestrian overpasses, and arrest speedsters.

The public works office spent P800 million to widen Commonwealth, Rep. Roilo Golez laments, only to have BF destroy it. USec. Ramon Aquino swore they never gave BF permission to pave the U-turn slots, yet he did anyway. The House oversight committee is girding to condemn him for it and similar damage on Ninoy Aquino Road fronting Manila International Airport in Parañaque.

“We heard that BF has told off the MRT builders on Commonwealth to not touch his U-turn slots,” Golez says. “Designs had to be redrawn and additional costs will be incurred, just to preserve his folly.”

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Salitang pulitiko, salitang nanloloko

2008-07-25T02:36:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, July 25, 2008

MATALINONG tao raw si Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Kaya nagtataka ako kung bakit niya ito pinambungad sa isang talumpati (isinalin sa Pilipino): “Mga kaibigan, nakatira tayo sa pinaka-dakilang bansa sa kasaysayan ng daigdig. Halina’t samahan ninyo ako sa pagsisikap na baguhin ito.”

Hello, Barack? E kung “pinaka-dakila” na pala, e bakit mo pa babaguhin, at nag-aanyaya ka pa ng iba? Hindi mo pa ba narinig ang kasabihang “kung hindi sira, huwag ayusin”? O baka naman nadadala ka lang sa sarili mong mabubulaklak na salita — mga salita ng pulitikong nanliligaw ng boto, mga salitang nanloloko?

Dumako tayo sa Pilipinas, kung saan magsasagawa si Presidente Gloria Arroyo sa Lunes ng ikawalong State of the Nation Address. Asahan nating wala na namang laman ang ulat na ito.

Nang sumumpa si Arroyo bilang Presidente nu’ng Enero Enero 20, 2001, araw na pinatalsik si Joseph Estrada, aniya: “Simple lang ang ipangangako ko sa inyo. Ako ay magiging mabuting Presidente.”

Mula noon, lumala ang kahirapan, katiwalian at kaguluhan.

Kahirapan. Nu’ng una, 3.1 milyong pamilya ang nagsasabing gutom sila; dumami ito sa 3.4 milyon, 3.7 milyon, at ngayon’y 4 milyon na. Parami nang parami ang OFWs — 9 milyon — dahil walang trabaho sa bansa. Limang milyon pa ang walang trabaho at 14 milyon ang kapos ang sahod.

Katiwalian. Dalawang araw pa lang sa puwesto, inaprubahan ni noo’y-Justice Sec. Nani Perez ang maanomalyang kontratang kuryente sa IMPSA, na may $17 milyong kickback, ayon kay Sen. Ping Lacson. Sa kalalabas na talambuhay ni dating VP Tito Guingona, inamin umano ni Perez sa kanya na pinilit lang siya ni Arroyo aprubahan ang IMPSA deal.

Kaguluhan. Sa tala ng National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, 56 na ang napapatay na mamamahayag sa loob ng pitong taon ni Arroyo sa puwesto; 33 ang pinatay nu’ng Marcos martial law. Patuloy ang pagpatay at pagdukot sa mga militante, huwes at piskal sa kanayunan.

SC may be wrong but can we defy it?

2008-07-25T02:31:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc , The Philippine Star, Friday, July 25, 2008

Juan Ponce Enrile avers the Supreme Court is wrong. Like many others, he disagrees with its ban on importing used cars. But unlike them, he defies the ban by abetting importations by his kin in his Cagayan turf.

Where lies the difference? Is it because Enrile is a senator and lawyer; former congressman and assemblyman; minister of defense, of finance and of justice; and commissioner of insurance and of Customs — while most are not as blessed? Is it because they’re them, and Enrile is Enrile?

Enrile must deem the Supreme Court right in upholding Romy Neri’s executive privilege. Many others don’t think so. They fear that the Tribunal legitimized the coverup of crime by letting Neri clam up on the ZTE scam. Neri had refused to tell the Senate what Gloria Arroyo did after he reported a P200-million bribe to endorse the deal. To muzzle him, Malacañang had invoked unspecified, unsupported security and diplomatic reasons, which Enrile echoed in Senate hearings. Dissenters cry that the High Court verdict goes against transparency in government dealings. But they do not ask for Neri’s arrest and wringing by the Senate to flout the ruling. At worst, they grumble among themselves about which justices consistently vote pro-Malacañang. One lawyers’ group even zero in on that one who has failed to explain past minority decisions, in violation of the Constitution. But they generally, though grudgingly, accept the ruling.

Not Enrile in the case of used car importations. He is as passionate with his beliefs on that business issue, as others are about the political and criminal implications of the Neri decision. He cites tax revenues and other economic benefits, just as those against Neri allude to presidential abuse. Most importantly, to demonstrate his point, Enrile does exactly what the Supreme Court prohibits. Others just meekly conform.

* * *

STILL ON CTPL. Illicit Compulsory Third Party Liability insurers do cheat car registrants with fake policies and the government by tax evasion. Some do not report CTPLs to the Insurance Commission and simply pocket the 40-percent fund they must put up to cover indemnities. And the claim that 60,000 people will lose jobs with the GSIS takeover of CTPLs misleads to elicit pity. With these Reymar Mansilungan agrees, as member in 2005 of the IC task force on CTPL. But he adds three points in a long reaction to my piece last Monday:

• “The Insurance Code vests big clout on an insurance commissioner. The commissioner may close down or put under a conservator any insurer for violation of even the most minor order. He can even bar an insurer from issuing CTPLs simply by ordering the IT provider from authenticating the policies. So a commissioner could have solved or minimized the CTPL mess if he wanted to. But a succession of three past commissioners did nothing. Failure to enforce the 40-percent indemnity fund constituted ineptitude. More so since, through computer network, they had capability to verify in real time how many CTPLs any insurer has sold and at what premiums.

• “Was there a hidden agenda? One commissioner prodded non-life insurers to form a consortium to solely handle all CTPLs. It was supposedly to parcel equitably all the business premiums and losses. Like today, small insurers then howled against the entry of big ones who never sold CTPLs before. But the commissioner wanted an information technology firm of his choice to manage the consortium for a fee of 35 percent of CTPL premiums. It would have been a cool billion pesos then. Are you now thinking what I’m thinking?

• “I’m not entirely against the GSIS takeover, if it will really solve the CTPL mess. But we must have rule of law. The Dept. of Transportation and Communication has no power to assign any insurer as sole CTPL provider for private motor vehicles. The Insurance Code vests that authority only on the insurance commissioner. There’s a dictum: a delegated authority cannot be re-delegated. The Code further provides three modes of complying with third party coverage: insurance, surety bond, or cash deposit. The DOTC order removed all these. The Code penalizes insurers who refuse to issue CTPLs. DOTC ignored this. In effect amending the Code, DOTC usurped the power of Congress to legislate and of the commissioner to regulate. It can cure this by going to Congress.”

* * *

Quick, go to YouTube and search for “Christian the Lion — the full story (in HQ).” It’s an incredible story of kinship between a ferocious beast and two men who had cared for it.

After viewing, go to www.snopes.com, the website that verifies tales and exposés hoaxes or urban legends. The entry on “Christian the Lion” not only authenticates the video, but is even more amazing.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Must cops be forced to bring own guns?

2008-07-23T00:54:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, July 23, 2008

It is one of the ironies of lawmen’s life. The Philippine National Police makes hundreds of millions of pesos a year from licensing private firearms. Yet 20,000 cops do not have guns.

That 16 percent of the 125,000-strong PNP is gun-less shows how society has neglected the police that it also depends on so much. People expect cops to straighten out everything from traffic to domestic violence, thefts to coups d’état. And yet they’re given only about P2 billion a year, or P16,000 per head, to guard 18 million homes spread over 298,170 sq. km of land. That budget has to be stretched 90 percent for regional operations and ten for headquarters administrative, crime lab, and investigation work.

Dir. Gen. Avelino Razon can only make do. Before dreaming to buy new firearms, he first had to inventory what’s left every precinct armory. Handguns issued to scene-of-crime investigators, chaplains and medics were recalled and given to patrolmen who needed them round-the-clock. And then he discovered they were still 20,000 short. A good portion who had were bringing personal firearms to work.

Licensing guns is the PNP’s top revenue task, more than certifying vehicles or security guards. It has been raking in a record P335 million a year under Firearms and Explosives Chief Supt. Florencio Caccam Jr. A year’s collection is enough to cover the firearms shortage, But the money goes straight to the national coffers. Nothing is left for the force to buy its own guns, unless awarded funds for it. Caccam strives to raise his take by flushing out unregistered weapons, in the hope that Congress will plow back enough for them to fully arm. If not, then our cops might have to start carrying guns seized from criminals.

* * *

The environment department says the deaths and destruction from floods and landslides of recent storms were acts of God. For one, two months of rain from Typhoon Frank fell on Iloilo province in just 12 hours. Compounded by high tide, rivers overflowed into homes.

But the department shouldn’t blame nature alone. Its own Bureau of Mines and Geodetic Sciences has studied that most poblacions are built in fens prone to slides and flooding. This is because of traditional Filipino reverence for their dead, whom they bury in the town’s choicest, safest high ground. Environment officials must show the maps to local officials who can then relocate endangered folk. Speaking of which, the local officials too shouldn’t allow homebuilding just anywhere, unless verified secure from yearly, thus predictable, calamities.

The department must also take note of what Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico saw, because it’s happening everywhere else. Sawed logs and rocks slid down mountainsides with mud since illegal tree cutting and quarrying go on. In most provinces, small charcoals makers are picking off what’s left of denuded forests. Gravel makers, usually related to town mayors, also quarry public or private lands with impunity, in disregard of environment laws.

* * *

Reader Jose E.J. Flores shares a sad experience with “that CTPL racket” (Gotcha, 21 July 2008):

“You hit another mega issue. In Oct. 1992 my father was struck dead by a ten-wheeler truck. We received neither condolence note nor flowers from the trucker. Following up the compulsory P50,000 indemnity, I learned that he owns a sister-insurance company that issued the CTPL coverage. To this day we have yet to receive that P50,000. There is urgent need to review if not totally abolish that useless law on CTPL. I also believe GSIS will make good in this ‘racket’ — for its members’ benefit.”

Gibet Buenaventura narrates a similar case:

“My soldier-brother broke his left leg last year when hit by a jeepney (plate number TVD 102), which was then out of route. The Manila fiscal dismissed our case, and owner Juanita Germar sold the vehicle. We spent P300,000 for surgery, but got nothing from that CTPL.”

Lastly, this comment from Manuel Espaldon of Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City:

“I was never for GSIS taking over the CTPL business because I do not relish the idea of doing business with it. It will be inefficient. But it was silly of the insurance industry to say that 60,000 people will lose their jobs. That many, just for CTPLs? So that’s why the coverage is so expensive. It is not the responsibility of motorists to support the livelihood of those 60,000. They are appealing to our sense of charity and yet the 60,000 fleece us. If the GSIS can handle the CTPL sans the 60,000, maybe I will change my mind. That is the consensus among us neighbors.”

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Dungo sa pulitiko

2008-07-22T14:19:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, July 22, 2008

NANG dakipin ng pulis ang mag-amang Mayor Alvarez Isnaji at Haider Isnaji ng Indanan, Sulu, sa umano’y pagkidnap kay Ces Drilon, tila nag-iba ang pagkatao ng dati’y matapang na Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez. Aniya, maaring magkaroon ng malagim na kahinatnan ang pagkaso sa mag-ama. “Nakokomplika ang sitwasyon sa Mindanao,” dagdag niya, kasi kung sa pakiramdam nila ay inaapi sila, hindi natin alam kung ano ang maaring gawin ng mga tauhan nila.” At tila nais pa niyang iabsuwelto agad ang mag-ama: “Mga VIP sila (sa Sulu). Respetado. Kaya maaring ‘yon ang rason kaya ginamit silang negotiators ng mga tunay na kumidnap.”

Napaulat nang husto ang animo’y pagkadungo ni Gonzalez. Sa ABS-CBN News Online nu’ng Hunyo 21, ang headline ay “Isnaji, son, charged; Gonzalez warns they may be repercussions”. Malayo ito sa dating ugali ni Gonzalez na pagsalitaan nang mapait at matapang ang mga kaaway ng Arroyo admin.

Ilang araw lang bago ang balita tungkol kay Gonzalez, merong isang kasinglungkot na ulat ukol sa PNP. Umano, 542 na officers na nais ma-promote sa full colonel o one, two at three-star general ay kumuha ng Police Executive Service Exam nu’ng Mayo. Aba’y 149 lang, o 27 percent, ang pumasa; 393 ang lumagpak sa buong bansa.

Karamihan ng bumagsak ay mali-mali ang sagot sa mga tanong tungkol sa dapat na desisyon sa harap ng nakikitang kilos ng civilian authorities. Naunahan sila ng emosyon at pamumulitika kaysa tungkulin.

Ehemplo ng tanong: “Kapag hinirang kang provincial director, wawasakin mo ba ang ilegal ng pasugalang jueteng? E paano kung pigilan ka ng regional director? At paano kung nakapatong sa sindikato ang gobernador o mas matataas pang opisyales?”

Bumagsak ang 73 percent na nagsabing aatras sila sa labanan sa jueteng kapag ‘yon ang nais ng regional commander o ng gobernador o ng Malacañang. Kumbaga, kakalimutan nila ang tungkulin at uunahin ang politika. Hindi ba’t ganoon din ang tono ng pananalita ni Gonzalez? Kung ganyan ang Secretary of Justice at pinaka-matataas ng opisyales mismo sa PNP, e paano na lalabanan ang krimen at itataguyod ang katarungan?

Finally, a solution to CTPL racket

2008-07-22T14:14:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, July 21, 2008

One group of insurers opposes unifying the Compulsory Third Party Liability insurance under the GSIS. They claim that if GSIS monopolizes the coverage of motor vehicles against bodily harm, at least 60,000 workers will lose jobs.

Upon reading that, I asked myself, is that how many — 60,000 people — in the CTPL racket? I call it a racket because many CTPL sellers are fly-by-night. With no permanent offices, they just hang out at Land Transport Office (LTO) branches, then disappear at sundown. You can’t find them when you need to indemnify a person hurt or killed by your vehicle.

But before all that, why is there CTPL? The government in the ’70s required that all cars, jeepneys, buses, trucks and tricycles be covered by such insurance upon registration. It assured that if a vehicle accidentally hurts or kills a person (other than its own driver or passengers), cover of up to P50,000 can be paid. Good objective: the vehicle owner will have a ready source to recompense the victims.

I bet you, though, that in all these years you’ve been driving, with several bumps and scrapes to your name, you’ve never run over a person. You haven’t used your annually renewed CTPL policy. You can only praise God for it. CTPL racketeers thank luck that nobody has noticed them — till now.

For, the question arises: where does the more than P1,000-CTPL paid each year for each of the 5.5 million registered vehicles go?

Before answering that, let’s make this clear: a CTPL costs only P950. You must be wondering why you’ve been paying P1,100-P1,300 each year. That’s because the CTPL sellers, mostly unregulated, tack on all sorts of unauthorized fees to the basic charge. More on that later.

The total take of the insurance trade was P26.05 billion in 2006, based on Insurance Commission (IC) records. Of that, 6.3 percent, or P1.64 billion, came from CTPL. By law, insurance firms must deposit part of the funds in escrow for indemnities. But the CTPL racketeers don’t do that. They simply pocket the payments from unsuspecting vehicle registrants, then disappear.

Most of the CTPL certificates of coverage (COCs) are in fact fake. Comparing LTO and IC records, it appears that CTPL racketeers do not even report the COCs. From GSIS studies, there are more missing COCs than reported ones:

	2004	2005	2006
Registered vehicles (LTO)	4,760,593	5,059,753	5,530,055
Reported COCs (IC)	1,616,689	2,265,040	2,561,806
Unreported/missing COCs	3,143,904	2,794,713	2,769,768

But back to the claim that 60,000 CTPL-dependent employees will go hungry when GSIS takes over the system, figures are available too. The IC 2006 annual report states that there were 10,837 licensed insurance agents and 275 general insurers, all registered as intermediaries. That year about P6.27 billion in commissions were paid out to intermediaries. Of the total, 2.6 percent, or P164.3 million, were commissions from CTPL sales. Distributing the P164.3 million among the roughly 11,000 intermediaries means that they each earned P14,433 that year, or P1,244 a month. That amount was barely enough for transportation costs of a CTPL agent to service the needs of his clients. More telling, that amount could never be called a job. The 60,000 workers, if there really are that many of them, never had decent jobs to lose, to begin with.

In fact, the commission from individual CTPL sales is so small. From private cars and public utility vehicles, which represent 47 percent of total registered units, the commission is only P49 per policy. For tricycles and motorcycles, 48 percent of vehicles, it’s a lower P19 per COC.

Legit insurers consider selling CTPLs an “indispensable nuisance.” They profit so little from it, compared to clerical and administrative costs of CTPL policies. But they must service the clients just the same because the CTPL is required when the latter take out comprehensive insurance policies for motor vehicles, property and marine equipment.

GSIS president Winston Garcia says they will not really monopolize the CTPL business. The agency will still reinsure the policies with private firms, which is why another group of insurers avidly supports putting it under one roof.

The only remaining issue is how GSIS will service CTPL indemnity claims. That’s easy, Garcia says. GSIS has a nationwide network of 48 branches and 78 field offices, a 24/7 call center to all major cities, and accredited hospitals and clinics.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Ayusin na ang sistemang CTPL

2008-07-21T02:17:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipinos Star Ngayon, Monday, July 21, 2008

TUTOL ang isang grupo ng insurance companies sa pag-iisa ng pagkuha ng Compulsory Third Party Liability insurance sa ilalim ng GSIS. Anila sa print ad, kapag minonopolyo ng GSIS ang pag-insure ng sasakyang lupa sa pagpinsala sa tao, 60,000 na empleyado ang mawawalan ng trabaho.

Naisip ko agad, gan’un ba karami — 60,000 katao — ang rumaraket sa CTPL? Sinasabi kong raket itong CTPL kasi marami sa mga nagbebenta nito ay fly-by-night. Wala silang permanenteng opisina; naka-istambay lang sa gilid ng mga LTO branches, pero nawawala sa gabi. At lalong hindi mo mahanap kapag kailangan mo sila magbayad sa nasaktan o napatay ng sasakyan mo sa sagasa o banggaan.

Bago ang lahat. bakit ba may CTPL? Inutos ng gobyerno nu’ng dekada-70 na lahat ng kotse, tricycle, jeepney, bus at trak ay may insurance bago sirehistro. Ito’y para kung, bukod sa sariling driver at pasahero, may masaktan o masawing ibang tao, halimbawa naglalakad o lulan ng ibang sasakyan, babayaran ito nang hanggang P50,000. Maganda ang pakay: Insured agad ang may-ari ng sasakyan kung maka-aksidente sa tao.

Pupusta ako, sa ilang taon na kayo nagmamaneho, at ilang sagi at gasgas na ang naranasan niyo, ni minsan ay hindi pa kayo nakasakit ng iba. Hindi pa ninyo nagamit ang CTPL niyo. Lilitaw ang tanong: saan napupunta ang mahigit P1,000 CTPL na ibinabayad natin taon-taon para sa 5.5 milyong sasakyan?

Dapat, ayon sa Insurance Law, nakatabi sa bangko ang bahagi ng P1.64 bilyon taunang CTPL, para pambayad sa beneficiaries. Pero batay sa records ng Land Transportation Commission (IC) at LTO, karamihan ng CTPL certificates of cover (C.O.C.) ay peke, kaya ibinubulsa lang ng fly-by-night insurer ang pondo. Suriin ang table:

	2004	2005	2006
Registered vehicles (LTO)	4,760,593	5,059,753	5,530,055
Reported COCs (IC)	1,616,689	2,265,040	2,561,806
Unreported/missing COCs	3,143,904	2,794,713	2,769,768

Anwar facing rerun of political stalking

2008-07-18T14:13:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc. The Philippine Star, Friday, July 18, 2008

When I called my diplomat-friend Fernando Tuesday afternoon, my question for him was for a simple yes or no answer. So his reply came unexpected: “I’m in Kuala Lumpur right now and sitting beside Anwar Ibrahim. Good you called. Talk to him.”

Before I could say anything, the would-be prime minister of Malaysia was on the other end, asking me how the weather was in Manila. “Stormy as ever,” I said, gazing out the car window into the second day of Tropical Depression Helen. “But not as bad as it is there, from what I read,” I added upon recalling the news about Malaysian police roadblocking Parliament to prevent a rally of his supporters.

“Yes, it’s not too good here,” Anwar understated.

Malaysia is sitting on a political powder keg. Street protests are about to burst for Anwar, like in 1998. In a sour rerun of ten years ago, police are foisting on the opposition leader 20 years in jail allegedly for sodomizing an aide. Family and friends decry the charge as harassment. For it comes in the midst of Anwar’s backroom talks with past associates in the ruling Nation Front to topple the government that has ruled since the 1950s. In an election upset last March, Anwar’s People’s Alliance shook up the Front’s traditional three-fourths hold on the 222-seat Parliament, leaving it with an edge of only 30 members. His wife and daughter handily won seats in districts held by beefy Cabinet ministers, a sign of Malaysian discontent with their rulers. At least 21 ruling MPs were being rumored to defect to Anwar, and Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi was mulling abdication — and then popped up the sex charge.

“I am scheduled to go to the police at 2 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday,” Anwar explained to me the deadline for him to answer the allegation. “But we were surprised earlier today, when they issued a warrant of arrest. I think that means, when I meet them tomorrow, they will arrest me. From there, I don’t know what will happen.”

Anwar’s voice was calm in the face of uncertainty. He had seen it all before. In 1998 he was finance and deputy prime minister slated to inherit the top post when suddenly unseated for a policy tiff with Prime Minister. Mahathir Mohamad. The aging boss perhaps thought his chosen heir could mess up his envisioned legacy, and so turned insecure and wanted him out. Anwar was accused of sodomizing a driver, booted out of Parliament, and jailed. As followers took to the streets, the government sent out riot squads. The Supreme Court eventually overturned the charge in 2004. But by then he had already overstayed six years for a less serious rap of abuse of power.

Sir, are you sure you should even go (meet the police), I pressed? “I have to” was Anwar’s quick reply, “I have to prove that I am innocent and the charge is malevolent.”

When the new sex rap was filed in June, Anwar dashed to the house of the Turkish ambassador to Kuala Lumpur for sanctuary. A discomfited government assured the diplomatic community of fair treatment to induce Anwar back out. He reemerged into the arms of adoring fans.

The government reneged. On Wednesday, an hour before Anwar was to drive to his 2 p.m. conference with prosecutors, police swooped in and brought him to jail. Nobody would explain the reason for the arrest before the deadline lapsed. Lawyer Ainiah Kamaruzaman only said the authorities could hold Anwar for a maximum 14 days before allowing bail. “That’s what they did in 1998,” she recalled, “and they tortured him on the first four days.” Another aide said the jailors had wanted Anwar to submit to a DNA test. It would have been fine with their charismatic leader, but he distrusted the police and so preferred a court order for it.

At press time yesterday, the jailors had relented and accepted bail. Resting at home, Anwar received calls from worried friends in Manila. Among them was Joseph Estrada, who as Vice President in 1992-1998 had often met deputy premier Anwar as counterpart second-in-command. They see parallels in their common experience of being deposed, jailed and eventually freed.

Anwar is also close to Lakas leaders: founder Fidel Ramos, president Joe de Venecia, and ideologist Joe Almonte. Over dinner recently at de Venecia’s house, with Ramos, Almonte, Senate President Manny Villar and congresswoman-wife Cynthia, he thanked his Filipino friends for their trust and succor. The man who might soon be Prime Minister restated his vision for closer ties between the two lands that owe nationalist beginnings to the great Jose Rizal. Anwar while in prison read Rizal’s novels and biography twice. He has so imbibed the hero’s traits, even the little-known ones, that he now also dunks his bread in his coffee.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail

Kamatayan ipinaliwanag

2008-07-18T02:11:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, July 18, 2008

MALALIM ang tingin ng malalang pasyente sa doctor, na papa-alis na sana sa examination room. “Doc, takot akong mamatay,” aniya. “Sabihin mo sa akin, ano ba ang nasa kabilang buhay?”

Marahan tumugon ang doktor, “Hindi ko alam.”

“Hindi mo alam?” usisa ng pasyente. “Kristiyano kang tao, pero hindi mo alam kung ano ang nasa kabilang buhay?”

Nakahawak ang doktor sa door knob; akmang pipihitin na niya ito. Sa kabila ng pinto narinig niya ang kaluskos at atungal. Pagkabukas niya ng pinto, sumungaw ang aso at tumingkayad sa doktor upang ipakita baga ang labis na pagkatuwa.

Bumaling ang doktor sa pasyente at nagwika: “Napansin mo ba ang gawi ng aso ko? Ni minsan hindi pa siya nakakapasok sa kuwartong ito. Hindi niya alam kung ano ang nasa kuwarto. Ang alam lang niya ay nasa loob ang amo niya. At nang bumukas ang pintuan, lumukso siya papasok nang walang takot...

“Hindi ko talaga alam kung ano ang nasa kabila ng kamatayan. Pero ito tiyak ko: Naroon ang aking Panginoon, at sapat na ‘yon para sa akin.”

* * *

Nasa edad ako kung saan marami akong kaibigan at kamag-anak na nasa balag na ng kamatayan. Mas madalas na nga ako makiramay sa burol at bumisita sa nasa ospital kaysa dumalo sa inuman. Malimit, sa lamay, sapat na ang mahigpit na pagyakap sa naiwan ng yumao para ipaabot ang taos-pusong pagdadalamhati. Sa pagbisita, sapat na ang salubong ng mga mata sa maysakit upang ipaalam ang pakikiisa sa maselang kalagayan.

Paluhang bumubulong ang mga naiwan ng yumao na “nasa langit na siya.” Nagdarasal namang taimtim ang malubhang maysakit na sa langit mapunta. Pero may agam-agam sa sasapitin, tulad ng kaba ng mga naiwan na sapitin ang dinanas ng yumao. Takot sila — ako, tayo — sa kamatayan. Kung anu-ano ang naiisip natin dito: Madilim, malungkot, mahirap. Nakakalimutan natin na sasalubungin nga pala tayo ng Diyos.

* * *

Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Plot to control power sector unraveling

2008-07-16T02:10:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Sadly, the maker of home insecticides loaded in sunken m/v Princess of the Stars is keeping quiet about it. Although its tons of toxic chemicals can harm salvors and fish, the company prefers that authorities discover first before it talks. The insecticides consist of liquids in aerosol tins and plastic pails, and mosquito coils (katol) wrapped in paper and cardboard. The tins and plastic covers could be leaking deadly contents by now; too it takes only a few days for paper to disintegrate in seawater. Aerosols carry more than 50 percent LPG, which can explode if torch cutters are used to get to the cargo hold.

Del Monte has come clean about its poisonous endosulfan pesticide in steel barrels. Bayer Crop Science too admitted to loading into the passenger ship a few samples of farm insecticides. A spokeswoman said the niclosamide, methamidophos, carbefuran and propineb already could have been diluted by seawater. The Coast Guard and foreign salvors have considered the presence of the poisons in plans to either re-float or drag the ship to shore to recover trapped bodies and cargo.

The third chemical shipper thinks silence can save it from liability for its transfluthrin, tetramethrin, d-allethrin and permethrin. But irate employees might squeal — not only about the reckless cargo but also the sweatshops where these were made.

* * *

The truth is unraveling, slowly but surely. A clique in the Arroyo admin is capturing the energy sector for kickbacks.

First, there was a sudden flurry to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. Rep. Mikey Arroyo, the presidential son who chairs the House committee on energy, said it was necessary to bring down consumer rates. His congressmen-brother Dato and uncle Iggy assented as committee members. It turns out, however, that the main amendment is to advance the start of open access from the time 70 percent of Napocor generators are privatized to only 50 percent. While speeding up open access is fine on paper, since it will allow big users to pick their own electric retailer earlier, it would be unfair in practice. State-owned Napocor will still control half the power plants, so there won’t be true competition. Worse, the Napocor mafia will continue to dictate, for multimillion-dollar kickbacks, imports of coal to fuel the plants, whether sold or not.

Then, Gloria Arroyo appointed amiga Zenaida Ducut as Energy Regulatory Board chief. Aside from Ducut being the town mate from whom Mikey inherited his congressional seat in 2004, they have a common friend, the oft-named jueteng lord Bong Pineda. Ducut’s posting jolted the industry because of a recent Napocor scam. The state firm last Feb. awarded to a four-month-old, undercapitalized and flighty broker a P956.4-million coal import from Indonesia. There must have been P258-million overprice, since the bid price was $109.50 per ton, although the Indonesian posted rate then was only $77 (at P40.418:$1 for three shiploads of 65,000 tons each).

Among the listed incorporators of broker Transpacific Consolidated Resources Inc. are Leslie and Ressie Ducut, but Zenaida disclaims kinship. Still, there are many inconsistencies. Napocor faxed the bid invitation two weeks prior to TCRI’s only known address then, the nearby Danarra Hotel’s business center, closed since Christmas. Now Napocor insists it awarded the deal when TCRI moved into a real office — in two short weeks. Paid-up capital was only P62,500, but Napocor says “so what?”, in disregard of the Public Bidding Act that requires congruity of capital with contract price. Ducut says the scam does not matter since, as ERC chair, she will have nothing to do with Napocor operations. But Napocor spokesman admits that the ERC, aside from the energy department and NEDA, needs to approve coal imports.

The capture of the electricity sector is complete — from the executive and legislative branches to the quasi-judicial ERC. From there the clique can move to other energy sectors — say, oil exploration — if it has not already.

* * *

Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico laments the Supreme Court’s basis for declaring as moot his petition to cancel as unconstitutional the ZTE deal. The Tribunal ruled that President Arroyo already scrapped the deal, as reported in October, so there was no need for judicial action. But Suplico says it should have sought official Malacañang verification of the cancellation, instead of just relying on Arroyo’s word. He recalled that Arroyo declared in Dec. 2002 that she would not run for President, but did just the same. So there.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Dela Paz: Bantayan, pera ninyo sa SSS

2008-07-15T02:08:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

AYAW umamin si Cora dela Paz kung bakit tila paspasan siyang inalis ng Malacañang bilang presidente ng SSS. Pero tiniyak niyang may kinalaman ang pulitika. At nang mag-press con siya para batiin ang kapalit na Romy Neri, nanawagan din siya sa 27 milyong kasapi: bantayan ninyo ang halos P250 bilyong pera ninyo sa SSS.

Makahulugan ang babala ni Dela Paz. Kasing tindi ‘yon ng batikos nina Sen. Chiz Escudero, Mar Roxas, Ping Lacson at Nene Pimentel na hindi dapat ang kontrobersiyal na si Neri ang ipinalit kay Dela Paz. Lalo na’t, sa pagtatakip nito sa ZTE scam, napatunayang mas itataguyod ni Neri ang interes ng amo na si Presidente Gloria Arroyo imbis na publiko.

Napatunayan sa kasaysayan na ginagamit ng mga Presidente ang kapangyarihang magtalaga ng SSS CEO para sa sarili. Merong gumigimik na papogi at itinataas ang pensiyon miski hindi ito kayang bayaran ng SSS; merong tahasang kumi-kickback mula sa stock market transactions ng SSS, na pumapalo nang P200 milyon araw-araw. (Naaalala n’yo ang sapilitang pagpapautang ng SSS sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo, na hindi nabayaran? E ‘yung BW Resources stock market scandal nu’ng panahon ni Erap?)

Sa pagka-ganid sa kurakot ng administrasyong Arroyo, hindi nakakagulat kung pag-interesan ng mga buwitre ang private mutual provident fund na pinangangasiwaan ng gobyerno.

Tatlo ang rason kung bakit sinibak si Dela Paz, ayon sa hugung-hugong sa SSS:

• Tinutulan niya ang kagustuhan ng Arroyo economic advisers na bumili ang SSS nang marami pang Meralco shares (pambambo sa Lopezes);

• Tinanggihan niya ang pagtustos ng SSS sa universal ID system; at

• Hinarang niya ang balak ng isang stock broker na malapit sa Malacañang na maging solong trader ng P200 milyon araw-araw ng SSS.

Magbantay tayo, para hindi tayo maisahan sa termino ni Neri.

* * *

Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Sobrang pabaya na sa edukasyon

2008-07-11T02:50:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, July 29, 2008

DALAWANG dekada nang lumulubog ang sistemang edukasyon. Lagpak ang mga Pilipino sa international tests sa Math at Science, at pumupurol na sa English. Naghahabol ang gobyerno sa paglimbag ng textbooks, pag-recruit at pag-train ng mga guro, at pagtayo ng classrooms.

Palpak ang lahat. Sa paggawa ng school buildings, may malalang kakulangan na: mga kubeta. Halos lahat ng 43,000 na public elementary at high schools sa kapuluan ay walang palikuran: gripo para paghugasan ng kamay at kagamitan, at inodoro. At 24,000 sa halos 80,000 na gusali sa 43,000 schools na ito ay tutumba na sa kalumaan at kapabayaan.

Anang Alliance of Concerned Teachers, meron lang isang kubeta para sa kada 51 elementary pupils, at isa kada 102 high school students sa bansa. Pinaka-malala sa Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao: 1:171 sa elementary, at 1:250 sa high school. Miski sa Metro Manila ay kapos: 1:114 sa elementary, at 1:143 sa high school.

Obvious ang masamang epekto nito. Nalalapit sa sakit ang mag-aaral, at tinuturuan sila ng maling asal sa kalinisan at kalusugan. Inaamin ni Education Sec. Jesli Lapus ang kakulangan. Pera ang suliranin. Ang budget nila ay para lang pampatayo ng classroom, hindi kasama ang kubeta. Iniaasa nila ‘yon sa local government units o sa mayayamang kumpanya at indibidwal sa purok.

Sa isang Metro Manila public school 2,031 bata ang naghahalinhinan sa kaisa-isang gumaganang inodoro. Kung lahat sila ay gagamit nang miski tig-2 minuto lang, maghihintay nang 65 oras ang huling bata sa pila para makagamit. Samantala, pinagkukumisyonan ng mga opisyales ang pork barrel na P200 milyon kada senator at P70 milyon kada congressman, at kinukulimbat ng mga taga-executive ang public contracts.

Malimit sabihin na kabataan ang pag-asa ng kinabukasan. Seryoso ba ‘yan, o sabi-sabi lang sa mga pinabayaang mag-aaral?

* * *

Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

CHEd nagpapabaya sa review centers

2008-07-11T02:02:00.001+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, July 11, 2008

NAKIPAGBULUNGAN ako sa taga-Commission on Higher Education. Inusisa ko kung ano ang naging desisyon ng en banc session kamakailan tungkol sa extension ng deadline hanggang Nobyembre 2008 ng review centers para magpa-accredit. Hiniling kasi ng 800 miyembro ng Review Centers Association of the Philippines na i-extend muli ang deadline — pangatlong beses na — para makipag-tie-up sa kolehiyo bago ma-accredit ng CHEd. Pero kinontra ito ng 30 miyembro ng Federation of Accredited Review Centers of the Philippines, na nagsabing delikado ang extension dahil mawawalan ng protek- siyon ang mga reviewers.

Ginawang obligado ang pag-tie-up ng review centers sa pinaka-malapit na accredited din na kolehiyo dahil sa dayaan sa nursing board exams nu’ng Hunyo 2006. Nakita ng CHEd noon na mabisa ang tie-up para pahusayin ang pagtuturo sa review centers. Nagbabala pa nga ang CHEd ilang beses na, kasabay ng pag-expire ng mga dating deadlines, na ipasasara nila ang review centers na hindi tutupad sa bagong patakaran.

Aba, nakapagtataka ang desisyon ng CHEd en banc kamakailan. Kesyo hindi raw sila kumbinsido na mainam nga ang patakarang pag-tie-up — na sila mismo ang umakda nu’ng Nobyembre 2006 at inamiyendahan nu’ng Mayo 2007. Ang pahiwatig ng desisyon ay ito: Hindi na kailangan ang tie-up sa kolehiyo.

Umaalma ang 30 kasapi ng FARCP. Bakit sila ay sumunod sa utos na nakipag-tie-up, kaya na-accredit mula pa 2007, pero ngayon ay magiging maluwag ang CHEd sa mga hindi makatupad na 800? Nasaan ang katarungan sa paghihigpit ng CHEd sa mga masunuring review centers, pero pabaya sa mga maraming suwail?

Lumalakas tuloy ang alingasaw na bumaha ng pera nu’ng Abril kaya in-extend ang deadline na Mayo 2008 hanggang Nobyembre 2008. Nagkaperahan man o hindi, biktima ng pagpapabaya ng CHEd ang libu-libong reviewers sa board exams ng nursing, midwifery, at iba pang kurso. Sinisingil sila nang P80,000 para sa review ng centers na walang batas.

Subsidize fertilizers, not cereal imports

2008-07-09T01:56:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Rice prices are falling. The agriculture office’s flooding of marts with subsidized stocks has cut retail rates by P2 per kilo. And that’s significant, Sec. Arthur Yap cheers, because it’s happening during the lean months of June to September, when farmers are still into the second palay cropping of the year.

That’s good for consumers, but bad for farmers.

Most admin moves since rice prices surged in April have in fact been bad for farmers. It upped the National Food Authority buying price of palay all right, to induce private traders to try to outbid the government. But then it also raided for alleged hoarding private warehouses with big stockpiles, thus dampening private buying during the April harvest. It launched a drive for Filipinos to not waste rice on dinner tables. But it also appended a loopy tagline that farmers are having a hard time feeding the nation, clouding the fact that the more rice Filipinos eat or waste, the better for farmers. Worst, the admin imported 2.3 million tons of rice at $700-$1,300 per ton, also during the harvest. The prospect of competing with almighty government stocks further discouraged private grains buyers. Only farmers from other lands benefited from the imports.

The imported rice was what the admin used to satiate Filipinos with seven million 50-kilo sacks a month more than the usual. NFA chief Jessup Navarro boasts that by saturating 350,000 tons per month, they tripled the stocks on retail daily to 14,000 tons from the usual 3,000.

The admin has been importing at least 200,000 tons of rice since it grabbed power in 2001. It has been pointed out: there are huge kickbacks in rice imports — from the overseas rice sellers, the favored ship owners, and even the jute sack makers. Corruption is habit forming.

At least $600 million a year had been spent on rice imports in seven years. This year the bill will hit $2 billion. Imagine how far that money would have gone if poured into tools and facilities to increase rice yields. These include farm credit, irrigation, dryers, farm-to-market roads and, most important, fertilizers.

Fertilizers have proved to be the single biggest increaser of harvests. Research shows that applying four bags (two of ammonium phosphate and two of urea) per hectare results to 70-80 cavans of palay. Upping the dosage leads to higher yields: five bags (3 + 2) makes 80-90 cavans, six bags (3 + 3) makes 90-100 cavans, and the optimum seven bags (5 + 2) makes 100-120 cavans.

Mostly small farmers cultivate the 1.46 million hectares of irrigated plots and 1.36 million hectares of rain-fed lands. On their own or with local government aid, they use the minimum of four bags (2 + 2) per hectare. But that was before fertilizer prices zoomed. As oil prices spiked from $50 per barrel in 2007 to $140-plus at present, so did fertilizer production costs. So the end products, which used to sell at P700-P800 per bag, now burdens farmers with P1,800-P2,000 per bag.

Malacañang made a lot of noise recently about planning to give farmers P1,500 for fertilizers per hectare. But in the ensuing guidelines, it turned out that local governments were supposed to provide the dole. So provincial governors and town mayors howled where they’d get the money when the Palace hasn’t even remitted their rightful shares of tax collections.

And even if there was money, P1,500 is not enough, given that farmers need P7,200-P8,000 per hectare at the present market rates of fertilizers. In Silago, Southern Leyte, farmers aided by the municipio bought only 1,000 bags this cropping season, instead of the usual 5,000. The penny-pinching is going on nationwide.

Clearly, the effect of fertilizer aid would be felt in just one planting season. Conversely, a rice shortage can be expected with the present drop in fertilizer use.

But the admin is busy gloating over its pyrrhic feat of bringing down rice retail prices, which had tripled in April from P11 to P35 per kilo, by a measly P2 today. It rests its little laurels on rice imports, when the strategy should be to fertilize rice lands.

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Reacting to my piece Monday on national and local officials fleecing foreign investors they have lured in, reader Michael Sola likens them thus:

“They’re no different from extortionate cops inside the airports and hijackers of tourist vans outside. Victimized foreigners are provoked to tell the world to shun the Philippines. Because of our bad name abroad, we lose investors and tourists who can otherwise boost the economy. The big officials and little cops and common criminals are to blame for our poverty.”

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Pinagbintangan lahat maliban ang sarili

2008-07-08T01:53:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon,
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

KUMUKULO ang dugo ng mga sumusubaybay sa Marine Inquiry sa pagbalentong at paglubog ng M/V Princess of the Stars. Kasi naman, lahat na lang ay sinisi ng may-aring Sulpicio Lines Inc., maliban sa sarili, sa pagkamatay ng 200 pasahero at crew at pagkawala ng 600 pa. Kesyo raw tadhana ang sakuna, isang “act of God”. Kinabukasan, kesyo judgment call daw ng kapitan ng barko — na hangga ngayon ay hindi makita — ang paglayag mula Maynila patungong Cebu miski masama ang panahon. Tapos, idedemanda raw ng kompanya ang weather bureau dahil hindi umano sila inabisuhan na dadaan ang Typhoon Frank sa ruta ng barko.

Sulpicio ang may sala sa naganap. Kung tutuusin, sumunod lang ang kapitan sa mga patakaran ng kompanya — na labag sa pandaigdigang safety rules. Ikalawa, isang radyo lang ang komunikasyon ng barko sa pampang, na hindi minamanmanan 24 oras, kaya hindi narinig ng crew ang babala na papalapit ang bagyo sa ruta nila. Ikatlo, hindi balansiyado ang barko; nagkarga ng mabibigat ng cargo pero hindi pinuno ng tubig ang ballast tanks para tumatag ang lakbay; sa halip naging mabuway ito.

Sa kabila ng ganitong mga sala ng Sulpicio, mapanlinlang pa ang mga kilos. Itinago nila sa Coast Guard na may karga pala silang restricted chemicals — nakalalasong endosulfan pesticide — na bawal isakay sa pampasaherong barko. Napahamak tuloy ang buhay ng divers na nagsisikap makapagligtas ng survivors sa pinaglubugan. Buti na lang at inamin ng Del Monte sa awtoridad na may gan’ung kargamento sila. Nag-ikot din ang bise presidente ng Sulpicio para magpapirma ng quit claim sa bawat biktimang inabutan niya ng P200,000, gayong ‘yun pala ang pinaka-mababang halaga na dapat nilang ipagkaloob, batay sa batas.

Ayon sa Lloyds Maritime Industry Union report, malala ang safety record ng Sulpicio. Mula 1980 hanggang 2008, limang barko nito ang lumubog, 15 ang sumadsad sa lupa, anim ang nakipag-bundulan sa laot, apat ang nagkasunog, at tatlo ang tumirik sa laot na may pasahero at mahigit tatlong araw.

Isang salita, nais ng mga dayuhan

2008-07-07T01:51:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, July 7, 2008

HABANG binabagyo ni “Frank” ang Pilipinas, binagyo rin nina President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at 73 senador, kongresista at taga-Gabinete ang America nu’ng nakaraang linggo. Sa bawat hintuan ipinagmalaki ni GMA ang 7% lundag ng ekonomiya nu’ng 2007. Sa $5,000-kada-platong kainan sa New York ibinida niya sa mga negosyanteng Amerikano ang paggawa niya ng infrastructures, at pagsa-pribado ng mga korporasyon ng estado.

Pero tila hindi kapani-paniwala. Dalawang linggo lang na nauna, kabaliktaran ang ipinakita ng mga punong kaalyado ni GMA sa Senado. Ipinaharap sa hearing ng committee on energy nu’ng Hunyo 6 ang mga pinuno ng mga negosyanteng taga-America, Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, at Australia-New Zealand upang usisain tungkol sa liham nila kay GMA kontra sa pag-amyenda sa Electric Power Industry Reform Act. Halinhinan sila binulyawan nina Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile at Joker Arroyo, at hindi man lang sila ipinagtanggol ng nagpatawag na chairwoman Miriam Santiago (kasama bumiyahe sa America). Hindi na nakapagsalita ang mga dayuhan dahil sa pambu-bully ng mga maka-GMA. “Para niyong awa, umalis kayo sa bansa namin kung ayaw niyo makisama,” ismid ni Enrile. At dagdag pa ni Santiago: “Hindi kayo maaring sumagot. Hindi kayo ang magpapasya kung ano ang maari niyong sabihin. Ako ang magpapasya.”

Di tulad ni GMA, malalim ang pagsusuri ng mga negos yanteng dayuhan sa Pilipinas sa pagkamahal ng kuryente. Anila napakataas ng royalty ng gobyerno sa natural gas mula sa Palawan, na pangningas sa 55% ng power plants sa Luzon. Sa ibang bansa, ni walang royalty sa langis kapag pansariling konsumo, pero dito 40% ang cut ng gobyerno. Kung alisin ito, maibababa nang hanggang 20% ang presyo ng kuryente.

Dagdag pa ng mga dayuhan, dapat isa-pribado na ang Napocor power plants, sang-ayon sa EPIRA. Sa gay’on, masisimulan na rin ang pagpili ng malalaking pabrika, instalasyon at ospital ng pinaka-murang supplier ng kuryente. Ang solusyon ay nasa pagpapatupad ng batas, hindi sa pag-amyenda. Nais ng dayuhan na tumupad sa usapan ang gobyerno.

Wooing investors for more bilking?

2008-07-07T01:50:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star. Monday, July 7, 2008

As Typhoon Frank last month battered the Philippines, President Gloria Arroyo took America by storm. To impress, at least $1.5 million was spent on her official train of 73 cabineteers and legislators, and the same amount on personal coterie of 20 maids and bodyguards. At every stop she boasted that the RP economy is soaring, as shown by the 7-percent growth last year. During a $5,000-a-plate dinner in New York she wooed investors with an upbeat presentation on privatization and infrastructure binge.

It all sounded empty to her countrymen, though. More so since, only two weeks before, her top allies in the Senate were singing a different tune. Summoned to the June 6 hearing of the Senate energy committee, the heads of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce were rebuked. Chairwoman Miriam Santiago made sure the investors from the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, and Australia-New Zealand felt unwelcome. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile had demanded that they explain why they wrote the President instead of them about their objections to his amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. When the French spokesman tried to speak, he cut him off repeatedly. “Get out of this country if you can’t live with us,” Enrile snarled. To which Santiago (who later joined the Arroyo entourage) added: “You (foreigners) may not continue. You do not determine what you can say or not say. I determine.” Joker Arroyo punctuated the incident with, “they deserved it.”

The Foreign Chambers’ point would have been easy to grasp, had the senators cared to listen. There was no need to amend the EPIRA in order to bring down electricity costs. All government had to do was implement the law, particularly the provision on open access. That would let big users to buy power from the cheapest retailer of their choice. For that to happen, the state-owned Napocor power producer needs to privatize at least 70 percent of its generators. In fact, it already has sold 48 percent — with “tremendous success and still gaining momentum,” according to multinationals in the Foreign Chambers.

Yet, one of the proposed amendments is to start open access even with only 50-percent privatization. That would leave most of the coal plants, which crank up 32 percent of Luzon’s electricity, still in Napocor hands. Meaning, the Napocor Mafia, coddled by Malacañang and certain congressmen, would continue to take kickbacks from overpriced coal purchases. That certainly is no way to entice foreigners.

The Foreign Chambers, which includes overseas power contractors, would have pointed out another incongruity in the energy sector. The government takes an excessive 40-percent royalty from natural gas and geothermal steam, which fuel 47 percent of electricity needs. Other countries do not tax indigenous fuels used for domestic consumption, but only when exported. If the Philippines follows suit and scraps the royalty, electricity rates could go down by 25 percent.

Supposedly the Foreign Chambers wrote Arroyo and not the Senate because she has been lending them an ear. Maybe so, at least for show. “We don’t sell hype, no quick bucks, no false gains.Just strong fundamentals, good economic stewardship and excellent returns on your investment,” she pitched before the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Council in Washington. “We are the smart, prudent place to place your money.”

That too rang hollow for Manila observers. Only four weeks before, Korea’s largest ship maker Hanjin Corp. pulled out from what should have been a $2-billion shipyard in Mindanao. The mayors of the two towns on which the 441-hectare facility would be built, Arroyo allies both, reportedly had been extorting money. Scolded by Arroyo, the two claimed it was the firm’s fault, for attempting to bribe them P400 million in construction subcontracts in exchange for environmental clearances. Malacañang had a police general investigate, that is, whitewash, with a report of no evidence of either extortion or bribery. Hanjin pulled out just the same, and Filipinos lost 40,000 new jobs. Unexplained to this day, though, is why the Koreans and the mayors were bickering over environment permits, when such papers were not yet needed since the area was still being cleared and no structure was rising. Filipinos will never know the whole truth because Malacañang is hiding the news. But they know it’s one of those frequent incidents of foreign investors disillusioned at not getting the fair treatment promised them.

* * *

For the record. In the period 1980-2008, five Sulpicio Lines ships sank, six collided with other vessels, four caught fire, 15 ran aground, and three stalled at sea with passengers for more than three days.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Tito Guingona’s fight for Filipinos

2008-07-04T01:48:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, July 4, 2008

Everyone cherishes stories from their grandfathers. That’s why they’ll relish a story of the Philippines of the past eight decades as told by grand old statesman Tito Guingona. And he narrates the way grandpas do: in colorful detail all the hilarity and drama and blood and gore, but careful language of the venerable.

Fight for the Filipino is actually an autobiography. Guingona recounts his formative years; stints in the Constitutional Convention, political prison and government; and present role as national critic. But at each stage in life he situates himself with the country’s times. Birth on the 4th of July 1928 for early taste of American rule, on the run as a teenager in Mindanao jungles during the War, Ateneo studies during Liberation, social reformism as a young lawyer, struggle against martial law and for democratic restoration, and serving in the Cabinet, Senate and Vice Presidency. The ebbs and tides of the nation shaped him, as he endeavored to influence its destiny. Guingona writes of giving back to the Filipino what the country bestowed him.

The famous and notorious marked Guingona’s story and RP history. He played in grade school in San Juan with future political pals and foes, like fellow-senator Bobby Tañada and Joseph Estrada, whom he would help depose as President. High school initiated him to social issues with chums Terry Barcelon who became a Jesuit civic worker, Totoy Dans the transport minister, and Ting Roxas the banker-economist. Campus-theater took up much of college life, with Ateneo thespians Vic Silayan, Totoy Avellana and Vic Diaz, under the direction of dramatist Fr. James Reuter and classicist Fr. Henry Irwin. Law school professor Raul Manglapus pulled him into politics as campaigner for Ramon Magsaysay. From there he observed and met more movers and shakers: Jose P. Laurel, Carlos P. Garcia, Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Tañada, Jose W. Diokno, Joker Arroyo, Emmanuel Pelaez, Fernando Lopez, Gerardo Roxas. He learnt of high crime by Harry Stonehill, prosecuted drug lord Alfredo Tiongco and child rapist Romeo Jalosjos, and tussled with police-military generals, some still in the service today. He joined the campaign of and served under Diosdado Macapagal, fought Ferdinand Marcos who then imprisoned him, marched for freedom with and later joined the Cabinet of Cory Aquino, left the Senate to become Fidel Ramos’s executive secretary, bared Estrada’s jueteng connection, and teamed up with but later broke from Gloria Arroyo.

Sharp at 80 — the book launches today, his birthday — Guingona remembers intriguing and instructive twists of his and RP’s advance. At one point, show biz pals nearly convinced him to join the movies; he muses if it would have aided him later in politics as celebrity does now for many. President Manuel Quezon, fleeing from Bataan to Australia, had dropped by Lanao to give Guingona’s father, then-Mindanao Commissioner, final instructions and entrust two chests, one full of playing cards, the other with four million pesos. As Chamber of Commerce head in the ’60s, Guingona defied the Cold War and led a trade delegation to Moscow, where he encountered tall, handsome Russian Colonel Lansang, son of Huk leader Teodosio Lansang whom the American Liberation forces had hounded to exile. When President Arroyo unceremoniously sacked Vice President Guingona as foreign secretary, a man broached to him a plan to assassinate her, but was dismissed as vile. Guingona in the ’50s was a friend and fan of Fernando Poe Sr., whose son FPJ tapped him as presidential campaign strategist in 2004.

A third of the book dwells on 2001 to present — the Arroyo regime. He saw in it at first a chance to cure the dysfunctions of Philippine society, but later realized it was a worsening of traditional politics. Devotion to national interest and readiness to serve fellowmen characterized the pre-War years. Survival to the point of collaboration with Japanese invaders made Filipinos wary even of their neighbors. Post-War politics divided instead of healed and rebuilt the land. Greed began to taint the highest levels of power. The government that succeeded the one Guingona helped oust for corruption turned out to be blacker. He recounts Arroyo’s spineless foreign policy, bribery in the Impsa and ZTE deals, sellouts of Sabah and Spratlys, and killings of dissenters. He also shares behind-the-scenes vignettes of anti-graft and anti-abuse fights he led, like the Commission for Truth and his role in the “Pen Siege”. Chief Justice Reynato Puno opens the book with a foreword that Guingona uses titles — Sen., Sec., Amb., E.S., V.P. — not as ends but as means to win his life’s battle. Guingona closes it with a rededication to fight for his oppressed countrymen.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Nag-e-expire ba talaga ang gamot?

2008-07-04T01:42:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, July 4, 2008

TOTOO ba ang expiration date sa bote ng gamot? Kapag, sabi sa bote na expired na nu’ng July 2006, at July 2008, iinumin mo pa ba? Wala na ba talagang bisa ‘yon? O gimik lang ‘yon ng mga pabrika ng gamot para bili tayo nang bili? Sinaliksik ni Richard Altschuler ang isyu nu’ng Sept. 2002. Kinumpirma ni columnist Dr. Thomas M. Kramer na totoo ang isinulat.

Nakita ni Altschuler ang biyenan na umiinom ng lumang Tylenol, at di siya pinakinggan nito nang sitahin niya. Uminom pa rin ng dalawang tableta miski walong buwan nang expired. Nang mawala ang sakit ng ulo, akala pa nga ni Altschuler ay placebo effect (guniguni) lang.

Pero tama ang biyenan. Sa batas pala sa paglagay ng expi-ration date, hinahayaan ng gobyerno ang gumawa kung hanggang kailan sa palagay nito ang buong bisa o safety ng gamot — nang walang opisyal na testing. Karamihan nga ng doktor ay naniniwalang may bisa at safe pa ang mga gamot miski ayon sa bote ay expired na — maliban sa bihirang ehemplo.

Sa unofficial lab tests, nakita na maaring humina nang 5% hanggang 50% ang bisa pag luma na, pero marami ring sapat pa ang bisa miski 10 taon na. Kaya sentido-komon na lang na kung nakasalalay ang buhay mo sa 100% bisa ng gamot, mabuti pang sunurin mo ang expiration date. Pero kung hindi naman gan’un kalala ang sitwasyon — halimbawa sakit ng ngipin o menstrual cramps — puwede nang magsapalaran.

Isa sa pinaka-malaking pruweba ni Altschuler ang nangyari sa U.S. military nu’ng 1987 (ayon sa Wall Street Journal, Mar. 29, 2000). Nakaligtaan ang halos $1 bilyong bodega ng gamot at nagkuli ang pamunuan kung sisirain na lang ito, tapos magpapalit muli tuwing dalawa o tatlong taon. Kaya pina-testing sa U.S. Food and Drugs Administration ang mahigit 100 uri ng gamot, pawang prescription at over-the-counter. At nakitang 90% ay mabisa at safe pa miski 15 taon na. Kadalasan, naninigurado lang pala ang manufacturer sa pag-isip ng expiration date.

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Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Hanjin has quit Misamis for good

2008-07-02T00:52:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Two locally made electric jeepneys staged inaugural runs yesterday in Makati City as public utility vehicles. Ridden by Mayor Jejomar Binay and Land Transport Office chief Alberto Suansing, the e-jeepneys scooted around the financial district with no nauseous smoke and no imported gas. Top speed: a safe 50 kph, just right for congested cities.

Using batteries charged the night before at only P150 each, the new units joined two Chinese makes that test-ran last year. Local assembler was the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines. Each battery charging will last the vehicle 100 to 120 km, or two to three days, according to e-jeepney innovator Green Renewable Independent Power Producer. This means huge savings in an era of $143-per-barrel crude and P53-per-liter noxious diesel.

Councilor Edwin Binay said city hall is contemplating buying some units to serve as barangay official vehicles. He also praised GRIPP’s plan to sell directly to jeepney drivers at soft financing terms, to encourage a shift to clean and cheap public transport.

* * *

If, on a trip in your car, you come upon a road sign to “Proceed with Caution,” but tell your driver to speed on and, during the bumpy ride, your passengers get hurt and your vehicle conks out, whom will you blame? The driver? Fate? Whoever planted the sign? Everyone else but yourself?

That’s what Sulpicio Lines is doing in the wake of the capsizing of its ship Princess of the Stars at the height of last weekend’s typhoon, in which 700-plus passengers and crewmen were lost at sea. It first blamed its missing shipmaster for following spotty safety procedures and sailing off into bad weather. Then it said the tragedy was “an act of God.” After that, it sued the weatherman for damages in failing to forecast the crossing of the typhoon’s erratic path with the ship’s route.

No apology was heard from Sulpicio for its crew’s lack of disaster preparedness. Or for inadequate provisions in lifeboats. Or for loading proscribed chemicals in a passenger vessel.

* * *

Malacañang is trying to black out the news. But Korea’s Hanjin Corp. has pulled out for good from its planned shipyard in Misamis Oriental. The last word from the Palace — obfuscation as usual — was that the wrangling between the company and two town mayors had been settled. In truth, Hanjin in late May hauled off all its equipment and personnel from what should have been a 441-hectare $2-billion (P90-billion) facility.

Not a single nail or brick was left behind at the bulldozed phases and workers’ barracks — to show Hanjin’s disgust. The hauling crane and crew made sure of it. For the issues were never resolved. The giant ship maker-repairer’s biggest investment outside Korea would have employed 40,000 locals. But the mayors of Tagoloan and Villanueva reportedly made it feel unwelcome.

Whichever side one takes, it’s all messy. The first hint of trouble came via a newsbreak in early May: policemen allegedly were harassing Hanjin engineers on orders of the mayors. When Gloria Arroyo happened to visit the locale, the company also cried extortion in its application for environment clearances from her political allies, the mayors. It was no way to treat a top investor that earlier had plunked $1 billion into Subic — and wangled a permit to build two high-rise condos questionably at the edge of a forest. Confronted by a fuming President, the mayors claimed that their cops stopped the bulldozing precisely because Hanjin still had no environment permit. Too, that they, as party mates against corruption, were incensed by Hanjin’s bribe offer of P400 million in personal contracts for earthmoving.

Malacañang directed a police general no less to investigate. At the same time, it announced it would patch up the quarrel of its friends. The toady general naturally took that to mean he should whitewash, which he did. In an instant report, he said there was no proof of either extortion or bribery. He also recommended relief of the harassing policemen, but with no charges either. Nothing was mentioned of the fact that an environment clearance was not yet needed for ground clearing but only when erection of an edifice started. Nothing too was said of the mayors alleging bribery to newsmen but later clamming up.

This is apparently another episode of immoderate greed. One side wanted more than the law would allow; the other haggled for too high a price to grant it. Both thought they could get away with it since they were only following the sleazy example at the top.

In the ensuing confrontation, one side had to give. Then, the other side’s chances to make a quick buck faded. The big loser is the Filipino people, from 40,000 jobs and support businesses.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Neri: In but out of coveted Cabinet

2008-07-01T02:07:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, July 11, 2008

When opposition Sen. Francis Escudero fretted that Romy Neri’s entry as SSS head “might be used for politics,” even admin insiders silently agreed. Neri during the Senate’s inquiry last September into the ZTE scam famously had sacrificed truth for politics. He exposed Comelec chief Ben Abalos’ P200-million offer to endorse the telecom deal as then-economic secretary in early 2007. But he clammed up from thereon, risking Senate detention for contempt and constitutional crisis from a Malacañang-Senate showdown. Invoking executive privilege, he refused to tell what his boss President Gloria Arroyo did after he reported to her the bribery attempt.

Neri placed Arroyo’s above public interest, Escudero noted. That’s where danger lies in the new posting to head the government-administered mutual fund of private workers. Presidents historically have abused their power to appoint SSS CEOs by using the P250-billion fund for personal gain. Say, for popularity gimmicks like hiking pensions even if the SSS can’t afford it; or for outright kickbacks from SSS stock trading, like the BW Resources scandal under Joseph Estrada.

That’s probably why Sen. Mar Roxas, who had left Estrada’s Cabinet in 2000 due to an SSS mess among others, was pointed. “I would not have made that appointment; these are turbulent times for the country,” he said. “It’s not time to appoint someone with minimal real-life work experience in the marketplace to sit atop the SSS, which has nearly 30 million members.” Having worked with Neri in the succeeding Arroyo Cabinet, Roxas knows: “This appointment will just drive unneeded political controversy.”

Executive Secretary Ed Ermita’s defense of Neri’s administrative skill fell short. He cited Neri’s past jobs as management professor and Congress economic adviser, hardly solid qualifiers as an executive. Neri wears other stars: he graduated magna cum laude from UP-Diliman and speaks fluent Chinese, but those too do not count for organizational savvy. (His clean-up man in the ZTE deal, Jun Lozada, has left him.)

Roxas’ predicted political controversy bears watching out for. Talk is that Neri was moved to SSS to help the fight in Meralco of Winston Garcia, head of the GSIS provident fund of state employees. Garcia has been trying to wrest control of the country’s biggest power utility from the Lopez clan. Combining GSIS’s 18-percent holdings in Meralco with the 15 percent of SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG, he confronted the Lopezes’ 35-percent hold last May. There were reports that erstwhile SSS president Cora dela Paz hesitated to go along, and so had to be removed. Dela Paz wouldn’t reveal the reason, saying only that politics had to do with it.

Neri at the height of the Meralco face-off in May was reported to be orchestrating the admin’s moves against the Lopezes. He lists them among his hated oligarchs who allegedly manipulate the regulatory agencies. The SSS posting gives Neri a huge war chest with which to pound his — and now Arroyo’s — declared enemy. Ermita hinted as much. Neri’s transfer to SSS comes with an unprecedented Cabinet rank. As SSS boss, Neri will act as “social welfare czar” overseeing as well the GSIS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG.

The Cabinet rank is for convenience. Ermita stressed to reporters that Neri will continue to be protected by executive privilege, and may not be forced by the courts or Congress to divulge past or present chats with the President.

Most of all, the appointment is an accommodation. Neri has always wanted to be, and stay, in the Cabinet. Since 1987 he was a congressional economist, first as staffer and later as chief. Resignations by the “Hyatt 10” in the wake of the Hello Garci poll rigging opened up opportunities. Backed by then-Speaker Joe de Venecia, Neri became budget secretary in July 2005 and then economic secretary in February 2006.

In August 2007, however, as the ZTE story was brewing in the press, Arroyo moved Neri to the sub-Cabinet Commission on Higher Education. It was, he proclaimed then, for only six months, to trouble-shoot college curricula to suit job availabilities. But close associates said he was demoted for angering Palace spin-doctors with too candid admissions — three in all — of the admin’s bad economic performances.

Senators suspect that Neri protected Arroyo with silence in the ZTE hearings the following month to prove himself worthy to rejoin her inner circle. He reportedly sought a meeting with the boss in November to beg for reposting to either of his prestigious past Cabinet seats. But distrustful presidential advisers blocked him. He was too close not only to de Venecia, whom they would depose in February 2008, but also to House Minority Leader Ronnie Zamora.

It didn’t help any that Neri’s name was linked to the November 29, 2007 siege of Peninsula Hotel. Supposedly, jailed coup plotters Sen. Antonio Trillanes and Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim left their court trial that day and marched to the hotel on info that Neri would arrive to bare all about the ZTE scam.

Perhaps that was just one of the usual coup rumors, but Neri did commit an indiscretion, by Arroyo-loyalists’ standards, on December 9. He arranged to meet at a secluded Makati diner with opposition Senators Panfilo Lacson and Jamby Madrigal, and their chiefs of staff. The latter two later confided to Senate investigators of the ZTE mess that Neri thrice had referred to Arroyo as “evil”. Queried by Malacañang reporters about it, Neri only said he doesn’t recall if he did call her that.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. suspects that Arroyo is keeping Neri in the Cabinet to placate him. “Why doesn’t she just keep Neri under her bed, so she can continuously monitor him?” he said, half joking.

But that’s just it. Arroyo wants him in, but also out.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Kung opisyales palpak, lalo ang mamang pulis

2008-07-01T00:50:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, July 1, 2008

INEKSAMEN ng National Police Commission nu’ng Mayo ang 542 high officials ng Philippine National Police. Ang Police Executive Service Exam ay para sa mga nais ma-promote na senior o chief superintendent, director o deputy director general. Aba’y 149 lang ang pumasa, 27%, samantalang 393 ang bumagsak sa Luzon, Visayas at Mindanao. Bakit gan’un?

Anang isa sa mga pumasa, nagsilagpak ang mga naguguluhan ng pulitika ang pag-iisip. Ilan kasi sa mga tanong ay panukat sa kakayahan ng opisyal dumesisyon kontra sa emosyon at ayon sa matuwid.

Halimbawa na tanong ay kung merong jueteng sa pook na pinangangasiwaan ng ineeksamen na opisyal. Natural lang na dapat puksain ang ilegal na sugal. Pero merong mga kolatilya ang tanong: paano kung ayaw ng immediate superior na makialam siya sa anti-gambling, o pinahihinto ng provincial governor ang ilegal na bisyo, o ang PNP director general mismo ay nakakaalam ng jueteng sa pook pero ayaw kumilos dahil ang pinaka-mataas na amo mismo ay may “tong-pats”.

Aba’y may mga sagot na natural nilang susunurin ang miski ilegal na utos ng immediate superior, susuwayin ang civilian authority, at gagaya na maling pagtatahimik ng PNP chief. Buti nga at ibinagsak sila.

Pero ang nakakabagabag ay ito: kung 73% ng opisyales ay baluktot mag-isip, paano pa kaya ang ordinaryong mamang pulis?

Ang pulisya ay mala-militar na organisasyon. Tine-train ang pulis na sumunod sa utos at tumulad sa gawi ng nakatataas. Bihirang sitwasyon lang maaring kumontra; at miski sa bihirang ‘yon, maaring mapahamak ang naglakas-loob na magpakita ng sariling isip. Kaya natural lang na ang mamang pulis ay katulad ng pamunuan mag-isip at dumesisyon. Kung ang hepe ay takot o tuwirang nasusuhulan, gan’un din ang tauhan.

Klaro na kailangan ng malawakang re-indoctrination sa PNP para maituwid ang baluktot na pag-iisip ng rank and file. Matagal na proseso ito, pero kaya. Noon pa man, hinuhubog sa tama ang mga tiwali at palpak na pulis — sa retraining camp sa Subic. Idaan dapat doon ang iba pa.

Bridge construction to resume — finally

2008-06-30T01:50:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, June 30, 2008

Just when one of government’s rare successful projects is about to be revived, envious contractors are badmouthing it. It’s a classic example of crab mentality, of pulling down the successful in order to rise. Intriguing in official and media circles, the contractors are claiming that the President’s Bridges Program is about to use untested steel technology. In the process, though, they accidentally might expose their own poor design and works.

Begun in 1995, the Bridges Program has run under three Presidents. Its engineering took off from the post-Liberation Bailey bridges, but with improved technology. Using snap-on steel sheets and rails, construction time was cut to only a month or two. More than that, the bridges were sturdy enough to withstand raging floodwaters, resisted rust, and had no moving parts that could be stolen. The only constraint to work speed was fund availability. Other urgent priorities competed for attention. So soft loans were obtained from the European Union or single members depending on what provinces the foreign governments wished to help. More than a thousand rivers and ravines were spanned in 11 years.

And yet the Bridges Program has barely scratched surface. Regional and national officials in the early ’90s, consulting with local businessmen, had identified at least 15,000 bridges needing to be built then. But with funding always scarce, the construction score has been less than a tenth of target. Then, works abruptly ended in early 2006 reportedly due to quality decline from a British supplier. Complaints of neglect naturally began to mount from rural folk who were left behind. Bridges in adjacent barrios had spurred commerce that put more money in the pockets of fellow-farmers. Not to mention, getting their children to school dry instead of wading across streams.

In Feb. a new steelmaker was found, courtesy of a French agency that would provide fresh financing. Improvements were made in the old design to cut the costs of fabrication, delivery and site assembly. No longer will the steel frame be overlaid with concrete that tends to crack from shrinkage, but with a durable special resin coating. Installation time would take only weeks. The span can hold up to 60-80 tons, and the maker is guaranteeing a lifespan of 100 years with two million vehicle cycles. With the entry of the new French constructor, the quick-assembly steel spans finally will resume.

With still more than 13,000 bridges needing to be built, there’s more than enough room for everybody in the business to participate. That is, so long as they meet public works standards and bidding rules. But some envious contractors wish to ease out the steel technology in favor of their old concrete-encased spans using Japanese know-how. Perhaps they fear that the sample steelwork in bridges eventually will compete as well in the construction of seaports, another growing need in the wake of roll on-roll off transport.

The track record of steel bridges is established, though. The Bridges Program exceeded its original target of 1,128 bridges by 75 units, for a total of 1,203. The additional spans were built from savings from the first batch. The excess weren’t just short spans over narrow creeks; one was the 210-meter Alternate Quirino Delta Bridge connecting Cotabato City to Sultan Kudarat province.

The virtual 106.65-percent accomplishment rate was done cheaply too. Most of the steel bridges cost P480,000 per linear meter, 12 percent lower than the closest foreign bid of P555,000 (which the government later took on when a funder came along). That cost is only a fifth of concrete builders’ prices, at a tenth of the construction time.

Notably most of the envious contractors are also the poorest workers. Cost overruns of 39 to 87 percent mar the spans they are constructing at present, according to a May 2008 report of the President’s Bridges Program. Those doing repair and maintenance have overshot their own bids by three to 43 percent; flood control ways are above budget by 9 to 63 percent. Not one of the steel bridges in the past decade ever exceeded its cost limit.

In fairness, some of the concrete works funded by Saudi Arabia, Korea and Japan also are within budgets and schedules. Only the sluggards are yakking against the silent workers.

* * *

Those who experienced the fury of Typhoon Frank and survived must imagine the misery of countrymen who lost homes, farms or loved ones. Donations are pouring in, but the victims still need clothes; ready-to-cook food; cold, cough and diarrhea medicines; and cash. Search your cabinets for other items for normal living that you can share: kitchen and dining utensils, beddings, toys, musical instruments, and carpentry tools. Many media and church organizations have organized collection drives, so you can go to the one nearest you. You’d feel grat about yourself.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Only 21 lighthouses for 7,100 islands

2008-06-27T02:11:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, June 27, 2008

Reader Herminia Rosales Fajardo asks the question many Filipinos have in mind about the sinking of a passenger ship just off Sibuyan Island. Why, if the vessel was so close to shore as most survivors noted, were they unaware so? Is there no lighthouse on the isle that is clearly on a shipping route? Or if there is, was it malfunctioning as most government facilities are? And have old lighthouses been replaced, apparently insufficiently, with radars and sonar from which government officials make kickbacks?

It will surprise habitual congressional investigators to know that this archipelago of 7,083 islands has only 21 lighthouses. And that the Coast Guard, tasked to man the facilities, is so poor that it put them up for adoption by private firms this time last year. The government intends to replace the lighthouses with movement and sound detectors. But transport growth — along with the number of ship passengers and fishing boats — has far outpaced the modernization.

All 21 relic lighthouses were built during the Spanish and American regimes. Today’s ships navigate by satellite. But millions of fishing bancas, unequipped even with handheld global positioning system, have no option. Same with sea commuters like the more than 800 missing passengers of the capsized Princess of the Stars. For them, the good old reliable lighthouses are lifesavers, not those thingamajigs.

Legislators invariably will come to that conclusion. But will they take the next logical step of allocating funds to erect and maintain lighthouses? That’s another question in the minds of most Filipinos who are tired of congressional probes after each of those frequent sea disasters.

* * *

Another reader, Eddie B., wonders why a 23,000-ton ship went belly-up in internal seas rated as “moderate to rough.” The marine inquiry into the operations of Sulpicio Lines Inc., he says, must look into the possibility of cargo overloading. He gives two tips: one friend confided having lost millions of pesos in goods packed in container vans, while another friend was shipping five brand-new cars to Cebu. “It is possible that the cars or container vans moved due to the big waves, causing the ship to list as officially reported,” the reader says.

Overfilling of commuters and cargo are usual in Philippine maritime transport. No one gets punished for breaking the rules. Dozens of marine inquiries have led to mere slaps on the wrists of negligent shipmasters. Survivors and relatives of fatalities are left begging for financial help with hospital or burial bills. And regulators continue to squeeze grease money from ship owners.

* * *

While we’re at it, here’s a reaction from reader Danny Durmaza to my piece Friday about the new passports:

“What’s with those new machine-readable passports? My cousin here in Florida found out he needed to renew his passport. He logged onto the website to download the application form for mailing — the way it goes in America. But there was a notice that as of June 2 all passport renewals must be made in person. We called the consulate in Ft. Lauderdale a thousand times. When finally we plugged someone there for information, my cousin was told that he needed to go to the embassy in Washington, D.C.: “Wala ho tayong magagawa, batas ’yan.” This is the simple explanation why hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in the States needing new passports have to fly or drive many miles and spend incidentals for a personal appearance at the capital. And yet we also found out later that applicants won’t get their new passports from the Washington embassy either. The embassy does not have special machines for it. So the application forms have to be sent to Manila, in a process that would take six long weeks. What gives?”

* * *

Reader Nomer Obnamia seems to have the answer:

“In tyranny of taxation, the Philippine government concocts revenue schemes not to improve services but to fund pork barrels. The new passport scam is one of them.”

* * *

Don’t let’s end on a negative note. So here’s a reaction, one of many to my piece Wednesday on the Virgin Mary’s house, from Hernan Hormillosa of Elmshurst, New York:

I’ve been reading your columns since your ZTE exposé. Your latest on the Blessed Mother is very informative. I first heard of Mary’s house in Ephesus from a dear departed friend who was instrumental in my present life progress in faith. She went there too and was inspired by what she saw. Your column has given me more info and inspired me too. Your writings reveal both your courage and faith.”

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

CHED mananagot ba kung salbahe ang review center?

2008-06-27T02:10:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, June 27, 2008

DALAWANG beses nang in-extend ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED) ang deadline sa pagrehistro ng review centers. Unang cut-off nu’ng Nov. 28, 2007. Pero nagpalugit ng anim na buwan, hanggang May 28, 2008, sa hiling ng Review Center Association of the Philippines para sa 800 kompanya. Pero nu’ng malapit na ang time limit, humingi uli ang RECAP ng anim pang dagdag na buwan, hanggang Nov. 28, 2008. Pumayag ang CHED.

Umangal ang 30 rehistrado nang kasapi ng Federation of Accredited Review Centers of the Philippines. Kasama ang 50 pang nakapag-file na ng application bago deadline, anila dapat nang isara ang 800 delingkuwente. Hindi raw kasi matupad ng mga ito ang kundisyon sa accreditation — ang mag-tie-up sa isang accredited din na kolehiyo para masegurong mahusay ang pagtuturo. Dinudungisan daw nila umano ang reviewing industry.

Sagot ng RECAP, maselan at magastos ang pakikipag-partner sa basta-basta lang na kolehiyo — kaya hinay-hinay lang sila. Mga malinis at disenteng educators daw karamihan ng 800. Nais din daw nila linisin ang kanilang hanay kaya sineseguro nila ang pagtupad sa CHED rules.

Pero may lehitimong tanong ang mga graduates na nais mag-review para sa board exam. Paano raw nila matutukoy kung ano’ng review center ang matino sa kanilang pook — gayung 50 lang sa buong bansa ang nakatupad sa CHED deadline at 800 ang hindi pa lisensiyado?

Kailangan nila ng sagot dahil magre-review na sila. Takot silang mangyari sa kanila ang sinapit ng 1,067 nursing at 21 midwifery graduates sa kamay ng Northcap-Baguio. Nakapag-tuition na ang bawat isa ng tig-P75,000 para sa tatlong buwang review simula Marso. Nagbayad pa sila ng tig-P1,125 sa nursing at P800 sa midwifery para ipalista sila ng Northcap sa Professional Regulatory Commission, na ang singil lang ay P800 at P600. Aba’y ibinulsa ng may-ari ng Northcap ang pera. Wala tuloy ni isang nakapag-exam. Nawalan ng saysay ang P75,000-tuition.

May garantiya ba ang reviewers na babantayan ng CHED ang review centers, gayung sobrang malambot ang ahensiya sa deadlines.

The house where Mary spent her last years

2008-06-25T02:04:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, June 25, 2008

MERYEMANA — Steeped in Marian lore, Filipino Catholics in Turkey invariably visit this village believed to be the last home of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Yet not only Catholics but also Muslims, who venerate the Mother of Jesus Christ as symbol of submission to God, come on pilgrimage. In Marian revival, Protestants too trek to this fringe of the ancient city of Ephesus.

Meryem’ana means House of Mary, Meryem in the local tongue. An inscription at the shrine entrance prefaces the story. St. John in his Gospel tells us that Jesus before dying on the Cross entrusted to him the care of Mary, saying, “Here is your Mother.” From then on John took her as his own. The Acts of the Apostles relate how, after Christ’s death, His followers were persecuted in Jerusalem. St. Stephen was stoned in 37 AD; St. James was beheaded in 42 AD. The rest divided the world among them to preach the Word, and apostle John was given Asia Minor. Amidst the persecutions, John probably brought Mary with him to Ephesus, capital of the Roman province.

Religious historians point to two pieces of evidence of the relocation. One is John’s entombment in Ephesus. The other is the erection of the first ever basilica dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. In the early days of the Christian church, places of worship were only consecrated to persons who had lived or died in the locality.

The Ecumenical Council of 431 was held in the basilica in Ephesus to define the dogma of the Divine Motherhood of Mary. Nestorius, a council father, wrote then: “…after arriving in Ephesus, where John the Theologian and the holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God….” Oral tradition of Kirkindje villagers, Christian descendants of Ephesus, further confirm the journey. Passed from generation to generation is the belief of Mary’s “death” in the area. To this day they observe Mary’s Assumption into Heaven every 15th of August.

Anna Catherine Emmerich, a stigmatized nun, made some startling revelations in the 19th century. As narrated in the book Life of the Blessed Virgin, the invalid who never left Germany saw visions of Mary spending her last years in a small stone house in the hills of Ephesus. Accordingly, two scientific expeditions were organized, and they found the place exactly as she had described. Experts determined that what is now a multi-faith chapel was built between the first and fourth centuries. Part of the building is of the seventh century, and the last restoration took place in 1951.

The Filipinos I came with were mostly Catholics, with two Baptists, and a Tausog, a Maranao and a Maguindanao from Muslim Mindanao. We prayed separately but to one God, and for Mary the Virgin Mother to intercede for our families. Also in the dimly lit room were a Turkish couple, the wife in traditional Muslim veil, a Caucasian nun in gray, and a monk in brown.

Muslims regard Jesus as one of the greatest prophets of Islam, and Mary as the most chaste and virtuous woman. No other woman is accorded more attention than the Virgin Mother. The entire 19th sura (chapter), out of 114 in all, recounts her life of piety and obedience to God’s wish. Mary is one of only eight persons who have a sura named after them. The 19th includes the miraculous births of God’s Elects: Yahya (John the Baptist) to an aged woman Elizabeth, and Isa (Jesus) to her virgin cousin Mary.

Of late, Evangelical Christian and mainstream Protestant leaders have been drawing from the story of Mary inspiration in faith and good works. The Marian regeneration is growing, with more and more denominations joining Catholics in common veneration of the Blessed Mother as a path to ecumenism. More striking, Anglican and Vatican theologians agreed in 2005 that Marian dogmas are in consonance with Scripture, and so must be spread with each other’s help. Their differences were brought about by 16th-century politics, when Rome excommunicated Henry VIII, whose followers in turn ransacked churches and smashed statues of Mary.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Ancient city reaches out to modern Asia

2008-06-23T00:20:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, June 23, 2008

EPHESUS – Two late nights last week Turkish citizens burst into the streets rejoicing. First was Sunday the 15th, after their national soccer team scored thrice in the last minutes to beat the Czechs and enter the European Cup’s quarterfinals. Again on Friday the 20th it crushed Croatia to make it to the semis. “Insha’Allah (God willing),” the Turkish pray, they will defeat Russia, Germany, and Spain or Italy to become the continent’s champion. The last time Turkey came this close to ruling Euro-soccer was when it also reached the knockout round in 2000. It then landed third in the World Cup 2002.

Those were banner years for Turkey’s economy as well. Anticipating a financial storm in 2000, Turkey borrowed from the IMF-World Bank for damage control. Inflation still hit 49 percent and interest rates 63 percent, bashing consumers like footballs. But it could have been worse had Turkey not swiftly reformed. The government took over insolvent banks and pried into their operations. Several key executives were arrested, including the nephew of a former president, for siphoning off funds in collusion with corrupt regulators. By 2002 the economic weather cleared, brightening the land with a phenomenal five-year rise. Per capita GDP doubled by 2007 from $7,000 to $15,000. “Insha’Allah,” says Rizanul Meral, president of Turkey’s Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists, this will reach $20,000 in two more years. (Philippine per capita GDP, or purchasing power parity, hovered at $4,600-$5,000 in 2002-2007.)

Manufacturing and construction are booming these days. Turkish textiles, televisions, and trucks dominate Europe and Central Asia; road and rail builders are expanding to Asia-Pacific. But tourism remains a top income grosser. More than half of Turkey’s 23 million visitors last year proceeded to this historic city in Izmir province facing the Aegean Sea. The ancient ruins offer an insight not only on Turkish grit but also on western civilization.

The olden city of Ephesus lies in the outskirts of the industrial city of Selçuk. Founded around 2000 B.C., it served as a key port of the Ionian Greeks and capital of Asia Minor (province of Asia). Archeological digs in the sprawling ruins reveal that the colony was inhabited as far back as the Neolithic Period (6000 B.C.). Scholars believe the city was built in the early Bronze Age from the village of Apasa. Legend has it that Prince Androklos founded Ephesus upon leaving Athens on the death of his father King Kadros. The Oracle of Delphi came true on the site: “a fish and a boar will show you the way.” Androkos banished the native inhabitants and united his people with the remainder to join the twelve cities of the Ionian League. He and his dog are depicted on the fresco of Hadrian’s Gate, erected during the Roman conquest. Later visiting historians and poets Pausanias, Strabo, Kallinos and Herodotus assigned the city’s mythological founding to Ephos, queen of the Amazons. (Surrounding Izmir region supposedly got its name from Smyrna, the Amazon princess whose great beauty Aphrodite envied.)

At the center of Ephesus is the Temple of (Greek goddess) Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The many-breasted Lady of Efes, also associated with the Anatolian (old Turkish) goddess Kybele, was venerated in the tall stone shrine. The settlement held other wonders. There was a giant open theater lined with fountains. Public toilets were ranged side by side without partitions. Ephesus housed the first brothel, with etchings on the marble sidewalk of a left foot, a heart and a woman’s head as road signs to veer to the city’s left side to find the woman of your desire. Lysimachus, Alexander the Great and Emperor Constantine had had to rebuild the city in 1000 B.C., 334 B.C., and 330 A.D. from ravages of war. The Ephesians later abandoned the great port as the sea receded from accretion. The ruins are located about eight kilometers inland.

A millennium later the Ottoman Empire emerged and reigned 700 years till 1923. Centered in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) in the north, it spanned three continents, controlling much of southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Turks then numbered only 11 million over 150 million conquered peoples. How did they maintain their rule? “Certainly not through despotism,” educator Sami Sahinduran recounts, “but deference to foreign cultures, strengthened by trade and education.”

Today Turkey is reasserting itself in European and Asian trade via a combined initiative of government and private sector leaders. At national and local levels, officials and businessmen talk of nothing but exchanging goods and joint venturing with other lands. Turkish businesses pitched in to build two elementary and high schools in Metro Manila and Zamboanga grounded in Math and Sciences. Fountain International School director Yusuf Ozdemir says it is his country’s contribution to Philippine progress.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Earn as you search the net

CHED bakit pabaya sa review centers?

2008-06-23T00:10:00.001+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, June 23, 2008

NU’NG Mayo 17 pumutok ang balita: Tinangay ng may-ari ng Northcap Review Center sa Baguio ang P1.2 milyong siningil mula sa 1,067 nursing graduates na nagre-review para sa board exams nitong Hunyo. Pang-rehistro sana nila ang tig-P1,125 para makapag-test, pero dahil hindi umabot sa Professional Regulatory Commission ang bayad, hindi sila pinapag-exam. Nasayang din tuloy ang ibinayad nilang tig-P75,150 para sa tatlong buwang review classes na nauwi sa wala.

Sino ang dapat managot?

Isang krimen ang pagnakaw ng pera ng reviewers. Dapat iharap ng pulis at prosecutors ang salarin sa husgado. Pero hindi sana nakapanloko ang review center kung mahigpit itong sinusubaybayan ng Commission on Higher Education. Tungkulin ng CHED na i-accredit, regulahin at bantayan ang review centers. Matapos ang June 2006 nursing exam leakage mula sa tatlong review centers (sa Baguio rin), inutos ni President Gloria Arroyo na ipailalim sa CHED lahat ng review centers. Ginawa pang kondisyon sa pag-accredit sa kanila ang pag-tie-up nila sa mga accredited din na kolehiyo, para nga naman mahusay ang pagtuturo.

Ani Dr. William Medrano mismo bilang CHED executive director, naiwasan sana ang panloloko ng Northcap. Pero hindi na niya itinuloy ang sasabihin. Marahil naisip niya ang malaking kasalanan ng ahensiya niya.

Nu’ng Nob. 28, 2007 kasi dapat ang deadline na ibinigay ng CHED sa halos 800 review centers na magpa-accredit. Pero nang malapit na ang petsa, in-extend ng CHED ang deadline nang anim na buwan, hanggang Mayo 28, 2008. Nakalusot tuloy ang Northcap sa supervision ng CHED.

Nang i-extend ang deadline, 30 nang matitinong centers ang na-accredit at 50 pa ang nag-file ng application.

Sa huli na lang nakita ng CHED ang pagkakamali. Hindi lang pala 1,067 nursing reviewers kundi 21 midwifery graduates din ang dinidal ng Northcap. Siningil nang tig-P800 ang midwifery examinees at P1,125 ang nursing, gayong P600 at P800 lang pala ang singil ng PRC sa pagrehistro.

Who will protect board reviewers?

2008-06-18T04:52:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The 1,067 nursing board reviewers in Baguio found out only in mid-May. Northcap Review Center, which solicited P1,500 from each one to be signed up for the June professional exam, had run away with their money. No one could take the test scheduled on June 1-2. That meant an even bigger loss: the P75,000 they each paid for the three-month review would go to waste. Northcap reportedly has since refused to talk about the case. Up to now the would-be nurses are at a loss. Fraud is a crime; they want to sue to get justice and their money back. But they don’t know whom to run after as Northcap owner or officer. The agency that is supposed to regulate review centers, the Commission on Higher Education, has no record at all of the Baguio outfit.

No less than the CHEd appeared to have set up the reviewers for duping. Because of a an earlier bigger fraud – the nursing exam leakages from three outfits also in Baguio in June 2006 – the agency was supposed to compel all the country’s 800 or so review centers to register with it by Nov. 2007. But it hemmed and hawed. In Oct., as accreditation deadline approached, the CHEd suddenly extended it to May 2008. And in Apr., after warning review centers that they risked closure if left unregistered, the CHEd postponed it a second time to Nov. this year. It was as if the agency deliberately and unreasonably was delaying its duty to oversee the industry. Thus did most review centers escape scrutiny. Only 30 dutifully secured CHEd accreditation, by tying up as required with equally accredited colleges. Fifty more were able to beat the filing deadline, and are now awaiting CHEd action on their applications. The 720-plus others – and more review centers are being set up each day to cash in on the huge number of raw graduates needing board review, somehow because of another CHEd lapse in imposing quality in college education – are still beyond CHEd’s hands.

The Northcap scam could have been prevented, though. Atty. Rebene Carrera, president of the Federation of (the only 30) Accredited Review Centers of the Philippines, says that sleazy outfits would have been weeded out had CHEd been on the ball. Himself an owner of a review center, Rebene found the agency’s registration process, issued in Nov. 2006, firm but fair. “We are legitimate, genuine educators, so we complied with the new rules at once,” he explains. Dr. William Medrano, CHEd executive director, acknowledged days after the Northcap story broke that his office could have prevented trouble. But that was far as he would go about admitting liability. Chairman Romulo Neri repeatedly had claimed in Feb. and Mar. that there would no longer be any extension of accreditation dates, so the review centers had better submit their papers. He had no coherent explanation for the subsequent flip-flop. Erstwhile economic planning secretary, Neri had been moved to the CHEd in Aug. 2007, a month before he was summoned to the Senate about his approval of the scandalous NBN-ZTE deal. During the hearing he invoked confidentiality of presidential conversations to avoid answering crucial questions. Since then he has been awaiting return to the Cabinet from the CHEd post that he considered “only temporary, hopefully only for six months.”

In Sept. 2006 President Arroyo had directed the CHEd to put all review centers under its wings. The industry previously was unregulated. No one checked the fairness of enrollment fees and other charges. Three months before, in the June 2006 nursing board, three review centers in Baguio allegedly had promised and did deliver to their reviewers leakages purchased from corrupt examiners. Northcap’s review fee of P75,000 for three months is typical in the unregulated industry. It charged reviewers in nursing P1,500 each and in midwifery P800 for exam enlistment with the Professional Regulation Commission. But the latter’s official fees are only P900 and P600, respectively.

Some of the unregistered outfits have banded together under a Review Center Association of the Philippines. A website explains that the members are genuine educators and professionals who only want to improve the industry, and so worked on the CHEd deadline extensions preparatory to a review of the rules. That may be so. But the question persists: how will the hundreds of thousands of board reviewers be protected in an unregulated industry?

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Akusadong pulis hindi puwede ilipat

2008-06-17T04:50:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, June 17, 2008

NAAALALA n’yo ba ‘yung kaso kamakailan ng limang pulis-Maynila na sapilitang pinakain ng shabu ang isang hotel chef na kinikikilan nila? Inalis ng nagngingitngit na pamunuan mula sa mobile patrol unit sina Sr. Insp. Rolando Mendoza, Insp. Nelson Lagasca, at Officers Nestor David, Wilson Gavino at Roderick Lopena. Ihinabla sila sa korte nang robbery, extortion, grave threats at physical injury, at sa National Police Commission nang pag-abuso sa awtoridad. Tapos, ipinatapon sila sa Mindanao, kung saan, ayon sa pamunuan, makatagpo sana nila ang katapat na kriminal.

Sa unang tingin, tila makatarungan ang pasya. Pero heto ang siste: Ipinagbabawal ng Napolcom ang paglipat ng pook ng pulis habang nililitis pa ang kasong administratibo.

Ayon sa Rule 17, Section 11 ng Napolcom Circular No. 2007-001 petsa Mar. 6, 2007, pinamagatang Uniform Rules of Procedure Before the Administrative Disciplinary Authorities and the Internal Affairs Service of the Philippine National Police: “Prohibition of Reassignment of Respondent During the Pendency of an Administrative Case. — A respondent PNP member shall not be reassigned or transferred to another city/municipal police station or unit during the pendency of the case, unless the concerned disciplinary authority or IAS certifies that the presence of the respondent is no longer necessary. Any superior who violates this provision shall be administratively liable for Irregularity in the Performance of Duty.”

Malinaw ang saklaw ng alituntunin: Mga pulis na nasasakdal sa kasong administratibo. Malinaw din ang pakay: kailangang parating available ang sakdal sa paglilitis ng Napolcom. (Kung sa kasong kriminal, maaring ipa-detain ng huwes ang sakdal o kaya’y pagpiyansahin. Kung witness naman, maaari siyang obligahin ng huwes na sumipot sa hearing.)

Ibalik dapat sa Maynila ang limang akusado, pero ilayo sila sa patrol section kung saan maaari nilang gamitin ang impluwensiya para baliin ang kaso. Kailangan ito para malapatan ng hustisya ang mga kawatan.

Will we repeat in 2010 the mistakes of 2004?

2008-06-16T04:49:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, June 16, 2008

Though long retired as national security adviser, Joe Almonte finds it his duty to warn of dangers facing the land. In late 2002 he popped back to public scene with portentous vision. The poor were getting poorer, leaders were doing nothing, and Filipinos were losing hope. The Republic needed rescue from further decline. Presidential-congressional-local elections were just 18 short months away. Malacañang, Congress and the Comelec must lay down a series of reforms to ensure that votes are counted right. If not, people will all the more be alienated from the system of the political and economic elite. Dire consequences would follow.

Nobody listened. Gloria Arroyo at first begged off from that election but ran all the same with help from Virgilio Garcillano and Jocjoc Bolante. Fighting for the top prize of pork barrels, candidates from both admin and opposition fell back on foul electioneering and dagdag-bawas. Provincial and town kingpins employed violence to retain or gain seats. A useless Comelec allowed all that, even after a Supreme Court rebuke for a sham automation that wasted P1.3 billion. Today’s political strife, killings, hunger and greed as in the NBN-ZTE scam can be traced back to the farcical balloting of 2004.

Elections are again around the corner. Conditions that marked the last national-local voting have worsened. Almonte is back with solutions for those who’d care to act. During the recent launching of his book, To Put Our House in Order, We Must Level the Playing Field, he chatted up past and present government officials on choosing a Malacañang candidate. “Make sure he’s a reformist now, because if not he will never be a reformist when he becomes President,” he brought the issue down to basics. On speaking tours, he painstakingly explains the need for a modernizing national leader to match a growing number of achievers in local levels. “In our country, only the President has that kind of transformative political power,” he told Galing Pook members, among them governors and mayors, last weekend.

Almonte has no illusion of a white knight, though. Raising such an exceptional President is beyond the capability of our present-day politics which, he says, rests on long-established patronage. And so he pounds back on the need for electoral reforms. Cleaning up the voting process will not bring deliverance overnight. But it will encourage new leaders to try their hand in public service, and restore people’s faith in democratic exercises. Even just a handful of legislators and local officials can force some of the major electoral changes, to produce still more reformists.

Almonte adds four other urgent reforms of the political economy:

• Open up the economy and reduce state intervention — both to cut down oligarchic influence and to curb opportunities for rent seeking.

• Professionalize the civil service, by raising salaries into rates competitive with the private sector; installing a meritocracy through service grades set by examinations; and stabilizing tenures by transferring the appointing power for officers from the President to the civil service system.

• Strengthen political parties, the best way for which is to switch from presidential to parliamentary.

• Recapture the nation’s political center from oligarchic control, starting with putting in place a system of public financing for presidential elections.

The improvements Almonte advocates are bite-size, not pipe dreams. Serious political parties would do well to adopt them.

* * *

Are big electricity users ready for open access and retail competition? The organization of electrical engineers doesn’t think so. Sure, managers of factories and power-intensive facilities know their bills will drop if given the choice of electricity distributors. But they still have to take the crucial steps in preparing to buy wisely from electric retailers.

Two years of info drives by the engineers showed that potential beneficiaries of open access have been too slow to do what’s needed. Why, even electric cooperatives that distribute to small locales admit they don’t know how to buy from the existing wholesale electricity spot market. Too, of 494 factories, hospitals and facilities in Luzon consuming at least one megawatt, only ten have availed of Meralco’s customer choice program.

Open access requires hiring of electrical engineers adept in plotting the big user’s electricity needs 24/7, then buying electricity futures based on anticipated ebb and peak hours. For this, the users need five engineers for round-the-clock shifts with one day-off per week. First order of the day is to review the user’s electricity consumption for the past year or two, and analyze where to cut power costs through smart buying.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Compressed natural gas imbis diesel sa mga bus

2008-06-16T04:46:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, June 16, 2008

ITINANGGI ni Chairman Tomas Lantion ng Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board ang pagprangkisa sa 2,400 dagdag na bus sa EDSA mula nang maupo siya nu’ng 2007. Aniya 1,097 lang ang idinagdag niya sa 2,487 bus na pinahintulutan ni dating chair Len Bautista sa masikip na main highway ng Metro Manila. Sa 1,097, aniya, 902 ay mga naiwan ni Bautista na nakabimbing late applications for franchise, at 195 ay mga biyaheng roll on-roll off sa barko patungong Visayas at Mindanao. Kabuuang 3,584 bus ang nasa EDSA ngayon, aniya, kumpara sa 5,127 bago mag-rationalization si Bautista nu’ng 2002.

Mas malaking balita, ani Lantion, ay ang pagpasok ng unang 22 units ng bus na tumatakbo hindi sa imported diesel kundi sa lokal na compressed natural gas (CNG). Ang 22 ay pag-aari ng dalawang bus operators sa Southern Tagalog. Ginarantiya umano ng Dept. of Energy na P14.70 kada litro lang ang benta ng Pilipinas Shell ng natural gas mula sa Malampaya Well, Palawan. Dagdag ang gastos sa pag-compress at transport sa mainland Luzon, papalo sa P20 lang kada litro, Malaking kamurahan ito sa P48 kada litro ng diesel ngayon. Hindi na kailangan ang huling taas-pasahe na inaprubahan ng LTFRB. Lalaki ang kita ng operators at tsuper. Ito ang sagot sa tumataas na presyo ng krudo.

Problema, iisa pa lang ang filling station ng CNG — sa Shell-SLEX Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Kaya ng istasyon na kargahan ang 70 bus araw-araw. Pero para sa mga biyahe hanggang Mall of Asia-Baclaran, Valenzuela, at Novaliches-San Jose del Monte, natural lang na naisin ng operators at tsuper na may filling stations din sa kabilang dulo ng mga ruta. At lalong mas mainam kung meron ding mobile stations — mga trak ng CNG na puwedeng magkarga sa mga bus sa tabing-kalye lang.

Bakit ang tagal naman ipasada ang 22 CNG buses, tanong ko kay Lantion. Aniya, bagong teknolohiya kasi ito, kaya wala pang standards at regulations. Kailangan makialam sa simula lahat ng ahensiyang sangkot, tulad ng Department of Science and Technology at Bureau of Fire Prevention.

They belittle yet fear JDV

2008-06-13T01:25:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc , The Philippines Star, Friday, June 13, 2008

“Noah’s Ark” subsidies, better called crisis alms, will cost P316 billion over three years — till Gloria Arroyo steps down in 2010. That money can be better used for basic education and skills training. Since 2001 experts have been saying the educational system is deteriorating and needed a one-time shot of P65 billion to start fixing things. The admin never paid heed. Now it turns out Arroyo can block off five times the amount to give away to the disgruntled poor. Worse, the P316 billion can be just the start of an extra-early election campaign. Meaning, the money will just be secretly given to political allies.

* * *

Didn’t Arroyo allies just sneer that ex-Speaker Joe de Venecia has no credibility? Didn’t Malacañang repeatedly say he has nothing provocative to reveal about his visit with Gloria and Mike Arroyo to ZTE’s China HQ in Nov. 2006?

So why did Palace factotums cook up a newspaper ad decrying JDV’s threat to “bare all” about the ZTE deal when Congress reopens in July? And why did the ad have to attack JDV’s wife Gina and unrelated personalities? Do they think JDV still has sting after all, so they’re using a cannon to swat their pesky fly?

The ad began by raking up JDV’s past: “machinations” for parliamentary, and “overpriced” Northrail and Southrail projects. (Hmm, since Gloria Arroyo backed all those, shouldn’t they hold her liable too?) It even mentioned a “Landoil fiasco”, as if JDV is to blame for a 1981 Iran-Iraq war that caught his conglomerate’s workers in the crossfire.

Then it called ZTE scam whistle-blowers Joey de Venecia, Jun Lozada and Dante Madriaga “shady characters”. (Oh, but survey respondents say they believe the trio, while calling Arroyo, with minus-36 trust rating, dirtier than Marcos.)

Allegedly it was Gina, not Rolex Suplico’s secret witness codenamed “Alex”, who gave the press those telling photos of the Shenzhen trip. (But didn’t Malacañang already harrumph that she wasn’t there?} They seem to know who and where “Alex” is now, after he broke contact with Suplico in fear for his life.

Lastly, it claimed that Jueteng-gate witness Sandra Cam, ex-Cabinet member Dinky Soliman of Hyatt 10, Carol Araullo of Bayan, Sister Mary John Mananzan of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, Bishop Oscar Cruz of Pangasinan, and Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez of Caloocan have been meeting in JDV’s house to “plot his coming out party.”

About five-dozen unknown chapter officers of unknown provincial clubs signed the ad. The concocter intended to make it look like little people were disgusted with JDV’s forthcoming “lies”. But it’s inconsistent. How can such little people be so conversant about goings-on in the big city?

Soliman, just home from a long trip abroad, wondered how they can ascertain where she allegedly goes and with whom she meets? Was she in this supposed democracy being tailed by sinister forces, which then inform the omniscient signatories? For those who’ve seen the trick before, the claims read like an “intel report” drafted to wheedle money from a gullible recipient.

Araullo and Mananzan denied ever meeting in JDV’s house to plot. Like Soliman, they deem JDV big enough a politico to go his own way.

Lawyer Suplico dared the signatories to come forward and prove their charges. Which they can’t and won’t, of course.

As for JDV, before flying off to the US for a health check. he moaned that the hatchet job has begun even before he could talk on NBN-ZTE. But he whispered who exactly concocted the ad — a Palace operator whom he had watched in action before. He knows the knave’s name, financier, and tendency to brag about “secret missions” for the First Couple. Assisting was an ex-President’s publicist who has wriggled his way into the inner circle of the present one.

JDV recognized the modus operandi too. It was in the pattern of the ad barrage by appointees praising Arroyo while the public was seething over Lozada’s abduction in February. It is said that Arroyo was losing heart back then, so worried cronies had to do something to prop up her morale. The operator must think JDV still packs a wallop to warrant an attack ad. Recent reports in Wall Street Journal and International Herald Tribune derided his boss Arroyo’s transactional Presidency — quoting none other than the supposedly incredible has-been JDV.

Tellingly, Malacañang agrees with the factotum’s implicit appraisal that their situation requires pre-emptive strike before JDV talks. That’s why it allowed the ad. Perhaps they foresee that the gimmicks of P500 per poor family for electric bills and P1,500 per farmer for fertilizers and P2-per-liter for jitney drivers won’t work. Things can only get worse and people will be blaming Arroyo for the economic woes.

Moreover, Jocjoc Bolante is about to be deported from the US, and he may have to finally tell the Senate about his P728-million electioneering for Arroyo. NEDA officers are raring to divulge damning documents on admin misdeeds. And an impeachment rap awaits Arroyo in October.

Admin operators must be feeling uneasy sitting on a powder keg about to explode with more exposés of its thievery.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Limos imbis na kilos

2008-06-13T00:27:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, June 13, 2008

‘YAN lang ba ang magagawa ng Arroyo admin sa harap ng krisis pang-kabuhayan — maglimos sa mahihirap? Hindi ba kaya maglunsad ng mga proyektong mag-aangat sa hene-henerasyon? Ni hindi naman kanila ang perang ipinamimi-gay, kundi sa atin. Nagpapapogi sila, pero gastos natin.

Pampalubag-loob ang tig-P500 pang-kuryente sa 4 milyon pamilya. Pantakip lang ang P2 bilyon sa pagkabigo ng admin ibaba ang presyo ng kuryente, na ipinangako noon pang 2001. Kukunin ito sa buwis na natin. Tayo rin ang bumabalikat ng “lifeline rates” ng mahihirap na electricity users. Pero ni hindi tayo sigurado kung ang bebe nepisyuhan kuno ng P2 bilyon ay may mga koneksiyong kuryente. Ang sigurado lang: Ayaw alisin ng gobyerno ang 40% royalty nito sa local natural gas — sanhi ng mahal na kuryente. Pambayad kasi ang royalty sa foreign loans na may kickback.

Kaduda-duda ang tig-P1,500 pam-fertilizer ng magsasaka. Malaking ingay ang pag-anunsiyo nito ng Malacañang — pero hindi masabi kung ilan at saan ang magsasakang tatanggap. Animo’y pampakalma lang sa mga hindi nakapagbenta ng palay sa magandang presyo nitong nakaraang ani dahil sa raids ng admin sa mga guniguning hoarders. Pero dahil walang totoong talaan ng mga bibiyayaang magsasaka, malamang ay nakawin lang ang pondo. Hindi pa sila nakuntento sa P728 milyong kinupit sa pamamagitan ng ghost fertilizer deliveries ni Jocjoc Bolante nu’ng 2004 at P2 bilyon mula sa ghost swine dispersal nu’ng 2007.

Nagkunwaring abala ang Malacañang sa mga unang ipinang-limos. Pinantakip ang murang NFA rice sa mababang ani dahil sa pagkalulong ng admin sa kickback mula sa imported cereals. Pantakip din ang P2-per-liter discount sa diesel ng jeepney drivers na hindi matulu- ngang magpa-convert sa de-bateryang makina. Iba pang panakip-butas: Hiwalay na P500 kada pamilya para pagkain at P300 kada anak, wala nang uniforms sa public schools, walang dagdag-tuition sa state colleges, at pagpuwersa sa mga pribadong grupo na ilibre ang text-messaging at highway toll.

Marangal maglimos. Pero mga obispo mismo’y kontra sa paglilimos ng admin na walang pangmatagalang reporma, dahil nagbubunsod ito ng kulturang palaasa o isip-pulubi.

Is EPIRA fight really for ‘open access’?

2008-06-11T01:49:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star,Wednesday, June 11, 2008

All good attorneys know: “If your case is strong on facts, pound on the facts; if it is strong in law, pound on the law. But if your case is weak, pound the table.” Last week three eminent admin lawyer-senators did just that — slam fists on desks — upon running out of arguments in their own arranged hearing on electricity rates.

Object of ire was the Joint Foreign Chambers, whom Miriam Santiago called to the inquest as head of the committee on energy. Juan Ponce Enrile has a bill to amend the 2001 Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). Investors from the US, Japan, Korea, Canada, Europe and Australia-New Zealand oppose any revision. Enrile wanted to know why they had written President Arroyo instead of the Senate where his bill pends. The guests began to read in reply their self-explanatory letter to the highest official who promises open ears. Santiago cut them off, demanding only answers she wanted to hear. Joker Arroyo, once Enrile’s nemesis against martial law and frequent admonisher against going ballistic, joined the bashing as the foreigners “had it coming.”

And yet it’s all there in the May 28 letter. Enrile’s amendments center on “open access and retail competition,” and the foreigners debunk the need for revisions to make it happen. Both sides avow intentions to bring down power rates. Exchanging views, not browbeating invited resource persons, is the tack for parties with similar aims.

“Open access” would enable big users to buy from power suppliers of their choice via “retail competition.” Under EPIRA, factories and facilities that burn at least 750 kilowatt-hours a month should be able to buy cheap straight from retailers. They will just pay rent for the use of transmission lines, which too can be by free pick. The state-run wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) will be their venue for trading, based on buyers’ hourly needs and sellers’ predicted supply. Businesses can adjust operations based on cheap power periods, while power producers can sell excess supply. Buyers save on power bills; generators run on optimum capacities.

The EPIRA initially estimated a “contestable” market for open access at 25 percent of the entire electricity clientele. Examples: electronics makers, airports, hospitals. The other 75 percent is a “captive” market of homes and offices that use moderate electricity. But smart residential and commercial subdivisions can bid too as homeowners’ associations and store chains.

Open access-retail competition should have commenced three years after EPIRA’s passage, subject to five conditions: (1) founding of the WESM, (2) unbundling of transmission and distribution charges, (3) removal of cross subsidies for generation, (4) privatiza-tion of at least 70 percent of Napocor generators in Luzon and Visayas, (5) transfer of management of at least 70 percent of power plants under contract with Napocor to a private-run IPP Administrator.

Only the first three have been met. Open access-retail competition has been delayed four years because Napocor was too slow to sell off its plants. Enter Enrile with an amendment to lower the open access threshold from 75- to only 50-percent sale of Napocor generation assets. It could spell relief long sought by businessmen who have been bearing for the highest power rates in Asia next to Japan’s. Immediately public hearings were set.

Coincidentally, however, Arroyo launched a squeeze play against the Lopez family that controls Meralco, the biggest power distributor. Senators accused the utility of illegally passing on systems losses to users, although allowed by the EPIRA and so approved by energy regulators. Congressmen led by the President’s son Mikey, House energy chair, flayed “sweetheart deals” of Lopez-owned generators with Meralco.

Energy firms, mostly members of foreign chambers of commerce, grew apprehensive. Congress moves to open the EPIRA may not end with lowering the 75-percent threshold, but touch as well on deals inked under the Emergency Power Act of 1992. Testimonies in the first Senate hearing bolstered suspicions. No less than Jose Ibazeta, chief auctioneer of Napocor plants, swore that his Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. already has sold 48 percent. Moreover, the state firm can bid out up to 82 percent of remaining plants by yearend. There was clearly no need to amend the EPIRA threshold. The foreign chambers and other industry groups wrote to Malacañang and the energy department to say they could even start retail trading at once.

But Napocor continued to press for lower threshold. Industry men wondered if this was to retain its managers’ control of coal purchases for Luzon plants. In Apr. 2007 and Feb. 2008 the Napocor brass imported coal on “emergency” at billions of pesos costlier than market rates. The senators must have heard of this reason for resistance to EPIRA revisions. But the foreigners were not about to confirm it.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Dagdag-bus hindi na kaya ng EDSA

2008-06-10T00:19:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon. Tuesday, June 10, 2008

HINDI lang sa isyu ng e-jeepney kontra-pelo ang DOTC officials. Pati sa pagpapaluwag ng EDSA at pagpapaunlad sa Southern Tagalog, basag din.

Maaalalang sobrang trapik dati sa EDSA. Mahigit 4,800 ang bus, kalahati ang kolorum na walang prangkisa mula sa Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board. Ang tagal ng paghihintay ng mga pasahero sa pagpuno ng mga biyahe. At nalulugi ang mga operator.

Nang mapuwesto sa LTFRB si Len Bautista, nagsagawa siya ng Metro Bus Routes Rationalization Program. Batay sa masusing pag-aaral, napag-alaman na dapat ay 3,500 bus lang ang payagan sa EDSA para mabawasan ang trapik (at polusyon), maginhawahan ang pasahero, at kumita ang mga lehitimong operators. Pero 2,900 lang ang prangkisa ng bus na aktwal na inaprubahan — dahil ‘yon lang ang malilinis ang papeles, at kaya nang isakay lahat ng pasahero.

Inalis bigla si Bautista nu’ng 2006. Ibinasura ng kapalit ang route rationalization. Sa dahilang kaya pa naman daw magdagdag ng bus sa EDSA, nag-apruba ito ng 2,400 pang prangkisa bukod sa naunang 2,900. Pati mga prangkisang mahigit dalawang taon nang abandonado, binuhay. Ipinagmalaki ng LTFRB na wala nang kolorum — dahil may prangkisa na lahat, pati mga nagpapaupa lang ng franchise sa malalaking operators.

Kaya ngayon, 5,300 ang nagsisiksikang bus sa EDSA. Balik ang trapik; nalulugi ang operators. Hindi na naman magkandaugaga si MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando sa pagsasaayos ng trapik.

Samantala, kailangang-kailangan ng mga bus na magdadala ng manggagawa sa mga pabrika sa Sta. Rosa at paligid na bayan sa Laguna, mula sa Quezon, Batangas at Cavite. Dito sana nagbukas ng bagong ruta ang LTFRB, para umunlad ang Southern Tagalog at mabawasan ang paninikip sa Metro Manila.

Hindi maasahan ang transport officials na gawin ang tama. Sa pag-classify lang ng e-jeepneys, na kailangan para mairehistro ito, inabot nang sampung buwan para lang maisip ang itatawag na “low-speed vehicle.”

Doles in lieu of real work

2008-06-06T01:56:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, June 6, 2008

Is that all Arroyo officials can do in the face of economic crisis — give alms to the poor? Can’t it undertake projects that truly uplift generations? It’s not even their money they’re giving away, but ours. They’re trying to earn brownie points at our expense.

Their latest doles reek of gimmickry. The P500 each for four million families, P2 billion in all, to pay electricity bills is meant to mollify the city poor. At the same time, it serves to screen the admin’s failure to bring down power costs as promised since 2001. The money will come from taxes borne mostly by the middle class. That same middle class, the bulk of electricity users, already subsidize lesser users with “lifeline rates”. It’s even uncertain if the P2-billion’s intended beneficiaries have power connections. One thing sure, though, the admin refuses to slash its royalties from local natural gas and thus reduce power rates by P2 per kilowatt-hour. It needs the levy to repay foreign loans, contracted in secrecy in breach of the Constitution, and from which kickbacks were extracted.

The P1,500 for farmers to buy fertilizers is even sleazier. Malacañang announced it with much fanfare Wednesday, but couldn’t say how many farmers and where would receive the handout. At first you’d think it’s to appease rice planters who were prevented from selling high during the recent harvest because of admin raids of imagined hoarders. But with no list of verified recipients, you’d realize that the usual admin thieves are just out to steal the outlay. The P780 million they snatched in 2004 thru Jocjoc Bolante’s ghost fertilizer deliveries has not sated them. Neither has the P2 billion in 2006 from ghost swine distribution.

Malacañang tried to look busy with a swirl of earlier doles. Its cheap subsidized rice papers over its failure to raise palay harvests, due to greed for kickbacks from importing cereals. A P2-per-liter diesel grant for jeepney drivers, still to be implemented, obscures its inability to help them convert to battery-powered engines. Other “Band-Aid solutions” to crisis: a separate P500 per family for food and P300 per child, shedding of uniforms in public schools, freezing of tuition in state colleges this semester, and forcing telcos to un-charge text messages and builders to lower highway tolls.

Giving to the poor is a virtue. But even the bishops are frowning on admin giveaways. They know that doles, because unmatched by projects with long-lasting effects, only breed mendicancy.

* * *

Metro Manila bus operators are grumbling. Their EDSA route is once more a mess. Previously unlicensed buses are crowding out legitimate ones. It’s all because the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has a silly way of promoting new routes.

An earlier LTFRB leadership already had put EDSA in order in 2003. Guided by studies, it decided to limit the route to only 3,500 buses to lessen traffic, pollution, passenger waiting time, and cutthroat competition. But it actually approved only 2,900 franchises since the rest had stayed unfilled for years by influence-peddling holders.

A new team took over LTFRB in 2006. Within a year, it increased the number of buses on EDSA 83 percent with 2,400 permits. The buses aren’t new though, just old “colorums” that plied the route with no franchise and so were eased out in 2003. LTFRB now cites a purported study that the present 5,300 units are just right for EDSA.

Still the operators who dutifully paid franchises all these years groan that they were never consulted. Metro officials are having headaches enforcing a new single-ticketing scheme because the additional 2,400 buses were not part of the original traffic scheme.

Meanwhile, new routes await opening where truly needed. A few dozen kilometers from EDSA are Laguna’s booming industrial zones. Employees need to be transported to work from surrounding Batangas, Cavite and Quezon provinces. Yet the LTFRB is more bent on clogging up Metro Manila than boosting suburbia.

* * *

Patria Buenaflor Deocampo reacts to my piece Monday on historical accounts from Raul Rodrigo’s book, The Saga of the Lopez Family:

“I am concerned about the name of my father, Tomas Buenaflor. A story in El Tiempo’s issue of Oct. 2, 1929 alleged that Gov. Mariano Arroyo and police chief Marcelo Buenaflor, brother of Congressman Tomas Buenaflor, were receiving protection money from illegal gambling. I am the only surviving daughter out of 12 children who can testify to my father’s character. I knew him as a person of integrity and public servant of Dumangas. He began his political career as municipal councilor, 1912-1916, and municipal president, 1916-1922. He was congressman of Iloilo City’s 4th district, 1928-1941. Constituents loved him for his relentless and dedicated service. I never knew him to have been bribed by anyone, particularly from jueteng.”

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Matagal nang hidwaan inuulit sa away-Meralco

2008-06-06T01:52:00.002+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, June 6, 2008

TILA ang banggaan ng Malacañang at Meralco ay away talaga ng angkang Arroyo at Lopez. Sumiklab nang akusahan ni Gloria Arroyo ang Lopezes, imbis na ang mga mangongotong niya sa Napocor, na sanhi ng mahal na kuryente. Sagot naman ng Lopez spokesmen, sinasakal ng Arroyos ang Meralco para gantihan ang kritikong ABS-CBN media network nila.

Walong dekada noon nang unang magtunggali ang pamilya Lopez at Arroyo. Taon 1929 sa Iloilo City binuhay ni Eugenio “Eñing” Lopez, 28, ang diyaryo El Tiempo ng yumaong ama. Agad nitong in-expose ang jueteng sa pamumuno ni Tsinong si Sualoy, na protektado nina Gov. Mariano Pidal Arroyo, police chief Marcelo Buenaflor at kapatid na Congressman Tomas Buenaflor.

Pinaka-makapangyarihang tao si Arroyo sa Iloilo, ani Raul Rodrigo sa librong The Saga of the Lopez Family. Kapatid siya ni yumaong Sen. Jose Pidal Arroyo, kaibigan ni Senate President Manuel Quezon. Pero hindi natinag si Lopez sa pagtuligsa. Napansin siya ng opisyales sa Maynila. Marso 1930, ni-raid ng Konstabularyo ang vice den ni Sualoy; kinulong at pagkatapos ay dineport siya sa China. Umigting ang labanan. Ginulpi ng goon ni Arroyo ang editor-in-chief ng El Tiempo. Dinemanda rin ni Arroyo ng libel si Lopez, na nagsampa naman ng administrative charges.

Nilayuan nina Quezon at mga Nacionalista si Arroyo dahil sa tindi ng exposés. Pina-imbestigahan ni Governor General Dwight Davis ang gusot. Pinawalang-sala si Lopez. Pero sinibak si Arroyo sa puwesto nu’ng Oktubre 1930 dahil sa matinding katiwalian.

Nu’ng dekada-’50 tinatag ni Lopez ang diyaryong Chronicle at ABS-CBN, at binili ang Meralco. Pinamunuan ng anak na Eugenio Jr. at Oscar ang negosyong pamilya. Nag-chairman ng Meralco ang anak na Manuel.

Lumipat ang bumagsak na angkang Arroyo sa Negros Occidental. Isa sa mga anak ni Jesusa Lacson, biyuda ng Senador Jose, ay si Ignacio — ama ni First Gentleman Mike at Rep. Ignacio Arroyo Jr. Ama si Mike ni Rep. Mikey Arroyo. Nasangkot sila kamakailan sa jueteng payola.

E-jeepney can withstand weekly gas price spike

2008-06-04T01:15:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Obviously high fuel prices are here to stay. The factors that pushed crude oil rates to $135 per barrel will remain. Fast-growing China and India will continue to gulp down more oil. Searches for alternative fuels will still be slow. Oil powers will continue to hoard dollars and euros with which to buy the world’s largest food, pharmaceutical and electronics companies. Oil may even hit $200 by early 2009.

So what’s the government doing to ease the jab of fuel price spikes on consumers? Nothing. On the contrary, it even raised jeepney and bus fares to appease its transport sector allies. And it has rejected calls to lower the taxes on imported fuel and royalties on local ones. Cabinet men appear to have lost the creativity they displayed in hiding from the public the details of the fertilizer, NBN-ZTE and swine scams.

One feasible solution is staring them in the face. Oddly they haven’t noticed. The usual “kickbackers” probably see no money in it.

The electric jeepney has been in operation for a year now. Deployed in Makati, Baguio, Puerto Princesa and Bacolod in April to October, it has proved to drivers and commuters its practicability in the face of weekly fuel price hikes. The 15-seater e-jeepney runs not on the usual diesel or gasoline but on battery power. All it needs is an eight-hour charge overnight of its special battery, and it can run 100-120 km at a safe top speed of 40 kph. That means that on a usual five-km jeepney route, say Washington-Ayala in Makati, the e-jeepney can run up to three days on a single battery charge — costing only P110-P140, in lieu of the usual P1,500 a day for fossil fuels.

The savings not only can improve the drivers’ incomes, but also be passed on to commuters.

There are other benefits. The e-jeepney does not emit toxic fumes that cause lung cancer, chronic cough and other respiratory ailments. It does not smog up the city. It does not deplete foreign reserves the way oil imports do.

And since it’s assembled cheap on funding by the environmentalist Green Renewable Independent Power Producer (GRIPP), there’s no room for bribes. The e-jeepney does not induce corruption, and that’s probably why government isn’t so hot about it.

It took the Department of Transportation and Communication all of ten months to classify the e-jeepney and so enable its registration as a road vehicle. The classification was by no means sophisticated, as in rating jet liners for weight and consequent load on airport runways. The DOTC was simply too slow to come up with a unique English term for the e-jeepney: “low-speed vehicle”. Hooray!

Fortunately, the private sector is filling the void left by do-nothing government, Sen. Pia Cayetano reports. The Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines has linked up with GRIPP to produce four-dozen e-jeepneys locally. That will be further foreign currency savings, as the e-jeepneys are presently assembled in China. It can also be an economic booster as well.

But the government doesn’t see that. In has always been slow to support new energy-saving ideas. As far back as 2002, for instance, Shell had announced that it could supply and compress natural gas from Palawan’s Malampaya well to run public transport vehicles. Operators sounded out the Development Bank of the Philippines for loans to convert diesel bus engines into CNG and set up filling stations at depots. Everyone was enthusiastic, except the DOTC.

* * *

Coconut farmers never had it so good. With new but simple know-how, they can now extract three types of biofuels: ethanol from tuba (coco-wine), methane from the decomposing shell, and biodiesel from copra. All three products have ready markets, and mean added cash in the pockets of coco planters. That’s why the Cooperative of Coconut Development Farmers and Expansion Workers is resisting plans to suspend the biofuels program.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Premature campaigning minana natin sa US

2008-06-04T00:13:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Miyerkoles, June 4, 2008

HINDI lang pala sa Pilipinas asal ng pulitiko na kumilos batay lang sa planong kandidatura. Gan’un din sa United States. At nilantad ‘yan sa bagong libro ng walang iba kundi si dating White House spokesman Scott McClellan, tungkol kay President George W. Bush.

Anang dating loyalistang McClellan, puro pansariling propaganda imbis na kapakanan ng mamamayan ang inaatupag ng amo. Permanente silang nangangampanya, aniya, mula nang sumali sa admin nu’ng 2002, matapos ang unang taon sa unang termino ni Bush. Minanipula nila ang opinyong publiko para suportahan ang mga masasamang desisyon, tulad ng paglusob sa Iraq at pagwaldas ng perang pangkalusugan. Aniya, isang mata ni Bush ay palaging nakasulyap sa kalendaryo — sa kampanya nu’ng 2002 para sa Kongreso, at nu’ng 2004 para sa ikalawang termino niya.

Dinetalye ni McClellan ang pagpo-propaganda. Tuwing umaga, nagkakaisa sila kung ano ang magiging opisyal na linya sa partikular na isyu. Tapos, ikakalat ‘yon sa pamamagitan ng e-mail. conference calls at briefings para sa Cabinet, ambassadors, kaibigan sa Kongreso, media at civil society. Kung may lumihis sa linya, sinisibak o sinasabon ni Bush. Gusto niya ayos palagi lahat para sa kampanya.

Dito sa Pinas, pinupuna ni Sen. Miriam Santiago ang mga kapwa pulitiko na lumalabas na endorsers sa product ads. Isang paraan ito ng premature campaigning aniya, dahil ipinapaskel ang mga mukha ng pulitiko sa billboards, TV at pahayagan. Paglabag daw ito sa Omnibus Election Code, kaya hiningan niya ng opinyon ang Comelec.

Aba’y hindi pa nakakasagot ang commissioners, bigla nang sumabat ang Comelec spokesman. Inopinyon niya na walang paglabag ang mga pulitikong product endorsers kung hindi pa sila nagpa-file ng certificate of candidacy. Kapag may certificate na pero nangampanya miski hindi pa nagsisimula ang campaign period, saka lang daw maaring kasuhan.

Makitid na pananaw ‘yun. Sinabi na nga ni Santiago na takpan sana ng Comelec ang loophole sa batas. Kaya lang humaharang si spokesman.

Meralco squabble relives earlier Lopez-Arroyo clash

2008-06-02T04:38:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, June 2, 2008

The Malacañang-Meralco tiff looks more like a fight between the Arroyo and Lopez families. Gloria Arroyo drew first blood in blaming the Lopezes, instead of her mulcting Napocor appointees, for costly electricity. Lopez spokesmen countered that the Arroyos were squeezing Meralco to get back at their other controlled firm, critical media giant ABS-CBN. Full-blown war then escalated in the courtroom, boardroom and newsroom.

Eight decades ago in 1929 a similar battle raged between the Lopezes and Arroyos. Setting: Iloilo, the fastest rising city in the Visayas. Self-rule was top issue nationwide. A National Assembly of Filipino legislators had just convened in Manila under Senate President Manuel Quezon, of Partido Nacionalista. New technologies were spurring changes in traditional sugar regions. Among the young entrepreneurs caught up in the modernization tide was Eugenio “Eñing” Lopez, 28.

Iloilo, as all other cities, had a seamy side. A Chinese mestizo named Luis Sañe, alias Sualoy, operated jueteng with impunity. Bribes to civilian and police officials exempted him from law enforcement. It so happened that Eñing was then reviving his late father Benito’s Spanish-language newspaper El Tiempo. Immediately in Sept. 1929 the paper launched a crusade against vice that corrupted the Iloilo government. The jueteng winning numbers were published each day on the front page, playing up official inaction. Personally leading the fight, Eñing came out with one exposé after another, pointing to the highest officials as Sualoy’s protectors. “Eñing did not choose lightweight opponents,” Raul Rodrigo recounts in the book, Phoenix: the Saga of the Lopez Family. They were no less than Governor Mariano Pidal Arroyo, city police chief Marcelo Buenaflor, and congressman-brother Tomas Buenaflor.

Writes Rodrigo: “Marcelo Arroyo was the most powerful man in the province. He was the brother of the late Jose Arroyo, a Nacionalista senator and good friend of Quezon. As the public’s outrage over the corruption began to mount, Arroyo issued a statement saying that jueteng did not exist in Iloilo. That it did and that local officials benefited from it were matters of public knowledge in the city. The question was not what needed to be done, but who had the courage to do it. It turned out, Eñing Lopez did.”

El Tiempo stepped up the pressure. National authorities began to take notice. In Mar. 1930 the Constabulary stormed Sualoy’s vice den, finding enough evidence to jail and eventually deport him to China. The fight narrowed down to Eñing and Arroyo. As El Tiempo became a hot seller, tension gripped Iloilo. A thug known to be close to the governor beat up the editor-in-chief. Arroyo sued for libel; Eñing in turn filed administrative charges. The Lopez clan worried that local violence that abruptly ended his father’s life might befall Eñing too.

Rodrigo continues: “Fortunately, news of the case reached Manila and attracted the attention of Governor General Dwight F. Davis. Governor Arroyo and his cohorts came under minute scrutiny. As a result of the scandals, the Nacionalistas and Quezon began backing away from Arroyo. When Arroyo asked Quezon to recommend to Davis that he be acquitted of the administrative charges, Quezon refused. Instead, Davis swiftly dispatched Judge Manuel Moran (later chief justice of the Supreme Court) to investigate the libel case. After a series of hearings, Moran established that Arroyo and police chief Buenaflor were in fact heavily involved in illegal gambling. They even ran a gambling den as a means of generating money for the upcoming 1931 elections. Moran concluded that Eñing and El Tiempo had not been guilty of libel.”

More evidence of sleaze turned up in Arroyo’s administrative trial. A compadre testified that the governor coddled jueteng runners not only for bribes but also as political ward leaders. In Oct. 1930 Davis sacked Arroyo for corruption.

It is said that the disgraced political family quietly moved to Negros Occidental. Joining them was Jesusa Lacson Arroyo, widow of Senator Jose Pidal Arroyo, the fallen governor’s brother. One of Jesusa’s sons, Ignacio, became the father of First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” and Rep. Ignacio Jr. “Iggy. Mike would in turn sire Reps. Juan Miguel “Mikey” and Diosdado “Dato”.

Eñing would later establish the newspaper Chronicle and broadcaster ABS-CBN, and buy out the Americans from Meralco. The fruit does not fall far from the tree. Eñing’s sons, first Eugenio Jr. and then Oscar, would lead the family holdings company. Third son Manuel would chair Meralco.

Mike and Mikey would themselves be linked to jueteng payola. Exposed for owning a secret bank account under alias “Jose Pidal”, Mike would deny knowing anybody with such name, but Iggy would own up to it. Gloria Arroyo would then claim it as her excess campaign contributions.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

E-jeepney sagot sa mahal na gas

2008-06-02T00:11:00.001+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, June 2, 2008

SUBOK na ito sa Makati, Baguio, Puerto Princesa at Ba colod: E-jeepney (electric jeepney) ang sagot sa nagmamahalang gasolina at lubricants. Malinis pa ang hangin.

Disenyong Pinoy pero gawa sa Tsina ang e-jeepney. Imbis diesel o gasolina, umaandar ito sa pamamagitan ng rechargeable battery. Ipa-plug lang ang baterya sa charger na de-kuryente, tapos puwede na pumasada. Tahimik ang makinang de-baterya. At dahil walang sinusunog na langis, wala ring usok at nakalalason na emissions ang e-jeepney.

Nu’ng Abril hanggang Oktubre 2007, nag-assemble ng ilang e-jeepneys para i-test run sa apat na nabanggit na lungsod. Ang sasakyang “animan” — ibig sabihin, anim na pasahero sa bawat upuan sa likod, at tatlo sa harap, o kabuoang 15 — ay kayang umarangkada nang hanggang 40 kph. Tamang-tama ito para sa mga purok na masikip ang trapik.

Sa isang charge lang ng baterya, na inaabot nang walong oras sa magdamag, kayang tumakbo ng e-jeepney nang 100-120 km. Kung pamilyar kayo sa ka raniwang ruta sa siyudad na limang kilometro, makukuwenta niyo ang efficiency. Makakailang biyahe ang e-jeepney sa halaga lang ng P110-P140 kada charge, hindi libo-libong piso na halaga ng imported diesel.

Panukala ni Sen. Pia Cayetano na puhunanan ng mga city hall ang pagpapakalat ng e-jeepneys. Sila na mismo ang umorder sa assembler, tapos ibenta sa mga jeepney cooperatives nang installment. Natuwa nga siya sa pasya ng Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines na makiisa sa Green Renewable Independent Power Producer para bumuo agad ng 45 e-jeepneys.

Sa huli, makakatipid ang city halls sa gastusing pagpapagamot ng mga mamamayan. Isa sa bawat pumapasadang tsuper, at karamihan ng malimit magbiyaheng estudyante o empleyado ay ubuhin o may sakit sa baga dahil sa vehicle emissions. Pero kung lilinis na ang hangin dahil de-baterya na imbis na de-gasolina ang jeepneys, ligtas na sila.

People’s right outweighs presidential privilege

2008-05-30T00:24:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, May 30, 2008

The entrepreneur in him makes Manny Villar see opportunity in crisis. The global cereal shortage and consequent surge in prices is the bane of consumers. But for the Senate President, it is a boon for Filipino farmers. Bright prospects await planters — what he calls “agricultural renaissance.”

Where farmers are coming from, rebirth may be hard to see. Decades of neglect of agriculture, food price controls, and consumer subsidies have debilitated farmlands. Low yield, depressed farm-gate prices and lack of wherewithal discouraged planters from plowing on. The best and irrigated lands have been converted into export zones and subdivisions. So, where to start?

Villar scans a roadmap out of the rut. Businesslike, he first lists down the strengths of the rural landscape. Rich soil, rain and rivers combine with hard-working rural folk, plus local and international rice research outfits. Villar then lists what more are needed. These have long been identified: more irrigation, better seed varieties, more potent fertilizers and pesticides, rural credit, far-to-market roads, grains dryers and silos, and technical info and training. What government has to do is put money into these.

Past administrations have tried to boost agriculture. Ramon Mitra Jr., as Speaker in 1987-1992, worked most of his time to “put more money in the pockets of farmers.” In 1995 President Fidel Ramos, Senate President Ed Angara and Speaker Joe de Venecia crafted an Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act. Their efforts didn’t go far because of fund shortage.

Reviewing his predecessors’ works, Villar plans an agricultural push where farmers already have a head start — in rice-producing Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Mindoro, Iloilo, and South Cotabato. Government’s meager resources will be poured into these provinces to boost harvests, cut waste, and teach new techniques. The rest of the country can follow their lessons.

The renaissance doesn’t end there. “When rice farmers begin to earn a comfortable profit margin, not only will their disposable income improve,” Villar forecasts. “They also will become entrepreneurial in outlook because of their success.”

* * *

Apr. 8, 2008, the Senate petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse its defense of Romy Neri’s executive privilege on the NBN-ZTE scam. It noted that the privilege, in giving executive officials an excuse to avoid legislative inquiries, has become a “refuge of scoundrels.”

Apr. 28, Neri commented that the Senate misread the Court’s original ruling and so had no basis for the motion for reconsideration.

May 5, the Senate replied to the comment. Lamenting Neri’s silence, the Senate cited the people’s right to be informed of their government’s acts. From jurisprudence, such right outweighs mere privilege of confidentiality of presidential conversations. The Constitution is replete with provisions guaranteeing the right to be told, not of secrecy. It also specifically compels the President to report to Congress all foreign loans, which the $330-million telecoms caper would have contracted.

Since the people elected the Senate (and House of Reps) to represent them, their right to information therefore extends to Congress. The Senate stressed that Neri’s refusal to answer three crucial questions on the ZTE deal curbed Congress’ duty to craft good laws. Among the works affected was a proposal to delete executive agreements as an exemption from the Procurement Reform Act.

Neri had put on record in the Senate (and in the Court) that Benjamin Abalos offered him P200 million to endorse ZTE Corp. But he avoided three questions: did President Arroyo follow up the ZTE project with him, did she tell him to prioritize it, and did she tell him to approve the project even after he reported to her the bribe offer?

The Senate stated that since Neri admitted the occurrence of crime, all the more he must be compelled to answer. The Constitution requires accountability from public officials and transparency in their dealings. Allowing Neri to clam up breached these principles.

The Senate also lamented Neri’s doubletalk. At one point, he had told the Court that the information he was withholding easily could be obtained from NEDA documents. And yet he knew that NEDA and Malacañang had also invoked executive privilege to hide the papers. (It is in fact the subject of another Court petition filed by Sen. Mar Roxas.) Then, he flip-flopped anew and said there were no records or transcripts of the President’s instructions about ZTE as chairman of the NEDA Board.

A week after the Senate replied to Neri’s comment, the Solicitor General too opined on the Senate motion, taking Neri’s side. All parties have submitted their arguments and are awaiting the Court’s final ruling. Will it continue to defend Neri’s suppression of information on the ZTE deal, or search for truth?

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

P1 bilyon: 8 oras lang gastahin ng gobyerno

2008-05-30T00:20:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, May 30, 2008

KUNG hindi nabisto ang walang-silbi pero waldas na DOTC-ZTE deal, P17 bilyon sana ang pagbabayaran ng taumbayan. At P10 bilyon nu’n ay ibubulsa sana na kickback ng mga may-pakana.

Pero may mga nakalusot na katiwalian. Sa fertilizer scam, halos P1 bilyon ang halaga ng kunwari’y ipinamahaging pataba sa mga kongresista at gobernador na maka-admin nu’ng mag-eeleksiyon ng 2004. At P1 bilyon din ang overprice sa isang delivery pa lang ng uling sa Napocor nu’ng Abril 2007.

Ang hirap para sa ordinaryong tao na imagine-in kung ano ang isang bilyon. Pero ang husay ng pagkakapaliwanag nito kamakailan ng isang US ad agency. Wika nito:

“Nu’ng lumipas na 1 bilyong segundo ay 1959. Nu’ng lumipas na 1 bilyong minuto ay buhay si Hesukristo. Nu’ng lumipas na 1 bilyong oras ay nakatira sa kuweba at nakabahag ang mga ninuno natin. Nu’ng lumipas na 1 bilyong araw, walang lumalakad sa mundo nang dalawang paa.”

At dagdag ko diyan:

Ang lumipas na 1 bilyong piso ay walong oras at 10 minuto lang — sa bilis ng paggastos ng gobyerno ng P1.12 trilyong budget para sa 2008, na galing sa ating ibinabayad na buwis.

Ang P1 bilyon ay halagang kikitain ng empleyadong sumusuweldo nang P10,000 kada buwan sa loob ng 100,000 buwan — o 8,333 taon.

Ang P1 bilyon ay sapat para ipang-patayo ng 2,250 silid-paaralan, 375 rural health clinics, o 7,500 balon sa barangay.

Ang P1 bilyon ay makakabili ng 500,000 sako ng bigas — sapat para pakainin ang isang probinsiya nang isang buwan.

Kung magnakaw ka ng P1 bilyon, at lalo na kung P10 bilyon tulad ng tinangka sa NBN-ZTE deal, hindi mo ‘yon mauubos sa buong buhay mo. Pero maluluklok ka sa puwesto sa apoy ng Impiyerno habambuhay.

* * *

Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Neri’s comment seems to implicate The Boss

2008-05-28T01:32:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Task Force RCBC, the posse hunting the killers of ten bank employees May 16 in Cabuyao, Laguna, is compromised. Its men were involved in the obvious rubout of four “suspects” days later in adjacent Batangas province. That means they silenced them in order to hide something. Shushing is no way to solve crime. The early foul-up only indicates that the massacre may never be fully explained and prosecuted.

From the start the crime was atypical. The robbers did not just take an amount they precisely knew to be that big on that day from the two bank managers who knew the vault combination. They also executed all nine employees and one depositor Nazi-style — with one bullet each in the head as they knelt in line on the floor. Why was everyone killed, when the only usual fatality in bank heists is the security guard who fought back? Did the gangsters feel they were totally identified?

Witnesses came forward to tell what they saw of the massacre. So detectives were able to pinpoint from mug files five gunmen — “two of them from the uniformed service”, most likely cops. Then suddenly, the rubouts.

The task force claimed that two shootouts occurred on May 21 and 22 in Tanauan, Batangas, as operatives were following up leads. In the first, in Barangay 4, a certain Pepito Magsino supposedly shot it out with policemen who had accosted him. Then, in Barrio Pagaspas, Vivencio Javier, Angelito Malabanan and Rolly Lachica did the same. All four allegedly were members of the Lucido-Javier-Galica holdup gang that operates in Southern Tagalog.

Human rights investigators quickly saw the lie in the police report. Ten eyewitnesses swore that Javier, Malabanan and Lachica were killed separately. Javier even shook hands with an officer he addressed as “Sir” before others shot him four times by his bedroom window. Arms raised, Malabanan was shot 14 times at the gate of the farm of Javier’s brother. Lachica was dragged out of bed in the farm hut, and then shot in the head. Presumably Magsino too summarily was executed the night before.

The rights lawyers see no link between the “suspects” and the bank robbery-murders. But they might turn up something on deeper look.

The Lucido-Javier-Galica Gang that the task force is talking about is long dead. Crime boss Armando Lucido was killed by lawmen in mid-2002; “Galica” and “Javier” have been unheard from, probably dead or retired.

The leaderless hoods reportedly have joined Fajardo brothers Rolando and Harold, long-wanted crime bosses in Tanauan’s Barrio Saplang. The Fajardo Gang has political and police connections in Batangas, and so is left untouched so long as it operates elsewhere. It was known to have pulled the PNCC payroll and Jollibee-Calamba heists in Laguna years back.

Did the Fajardos lead the RCBC-Cabuyao massacre? Was the silencing of the bank employees and then of the “suspects” done to prevent exposure of the gang’s protectors?

* * *

Back to the Supreme Court’s defense of Romy Neri’s silence over three questions from the Senate regarding the NBN-ZTE scam:

Neri, as petitioner for executive privilege, was allowed to comment on the Senate’s motion for reconsideration. It was his turn to defend the High Tribunal.

Through counsel, Neri twitted the Senate for “misreading” the original ruling: “As respondents would put it, the Decision emasculates the Senate, renders inutile its power to investigate, vests witnesses from the Executive Department with some kind of blanket immunity from Senate questioning, and made executive privilege a ‘refuge scoundrels’... [They] exaggerate and distort. Speaking less to this Court than to the crowd below, respondents hysterically proclaim that the Decision will pave the way for ‘autocracy in our government’.”

He claimed the contrary: “Properly read, the Decision adds more stringent requirements than Ermita v Senate before executive privilege can be invoked. It requires that the communication relate to a ‘quintessential and (sic) non-delegatable presidential power’, and that advisor be in ‘operational proximity’ to the President. Fortunately, both these two additional requirements were met in [my] case.”

At one point, Neri seemed to implicate Ben Abalos alone to sleaze: “[I am] not covering up or hiding anything illegal. No law on foreign laws or on the NEDA has been violated. The bribe offer was rejected, and both the offer and its rejection were disclosed to respondents.”

In the next, he indicated more culpability: “Respondents speculate that the President’s conversations with [me] ‘may reveal the extent of the President’s participation in the NBN Project despite her knowledge of a bribe offer’... There is actually even no need for respondents to speculate because it is of judicial notice that the President even witnessed the signing if the NBN contract with ZTE after [my] disclosure to her of the Abalos bribe offer. Whatever [I] and the President discussed cannot alter that fact.”

In closing, Neri said he “did not (sic) outrightly refuse to attend the Senate hearings” after invoking executive privilege. He will attend if other matters need to be clarified, provided the Senate submits a questionnaire.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Habang 40% nagugutom, yumayaman ang Arroyos

2008-05-27T01:40:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, May 27, 2008

MAPAIT sa dila. Habang kapos sa pagkain ang 40% ng Pilipino, may yamang P500 milyon ang kanilang Presidente at pamilya nito.

Hindi natin sinisisi ang mga Arroyo dahil mayaman sila. Pero kinakatawan nila ang naghaharing-uring pulitika — at hindi ginagamit ng uri nila ang poder para iahon ang masa mula sa kahirapan.

Dalawa sa bawat limang Pilipino ay tinuturing ang sarili na hikahos sa pagkain, ayon sa 1st-quarter 2008 survey ng Social Weather Stations. Aba’y 7.1 milyon pamilya sila, o 35.5 milyong indibidwal. Ang dami!

Samantala, lumago ng P11 milyon ang yaman ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sa isang taon, mula P88.6 milyon nu’ng 2006 tungong P99.6 milyon nu’ng 2007. Matindi rin ang assets ng dalawang anak na kongresista: Mikey, P155 milyon; Dato, P86 milyon. Ang kongresistang-bayaw na Iggy ay may P153 milyon.

Ang kabuuang yaman na kalahating-bilyong piso ay sa mga Arroyo lang sa national government, hindi kabilang ang nasa ahensiya o lokal na puwesto. Binubuo ang yaman ng mga bahay at lupain, alahas, furniture, pera sa banko, at stock certificates na panaginip lang ng karaniwang tao.

Samantala, itinataya ng mga ekonomista na P8,000 ang dapat na buwanang kita ng bawat pamilya para kumain man lang nang dalawang beses isang araw at may matirang konting pang-damit at gamot. ’Yun nga lang, karamihan sa kanila ay kalahati lang nun ang kinikita.

Katumbas ng yaman ng mga Arroyo ang inuuwi ng 125,000 pamilya na P4,000 lang kada buwan.

Bulok ang sistema natin. Habang naghahari ang mga pulitiko sa ekonomiya, umaasa na lang sa kanila ang mahihirap para sa lunas na hindi naman dumarating. Meron lang paminsan-minsang pabuya sa mahihirap: rice subsidy dito o katiting na wage increase diyan. Pero ang kadalasang inaatupag lang ay ang pagpapanatili sa puwesto — sa paraang legal o ilegal. Aba’y pork barrel at kickback ang kalakaran ng mga pulitiko, imbis na baguhin ang sistema upang magsilbi para sa masa.

Neri's own counsel debunks his claims

2008-05-26T01:29:00.001+08:00

Gotcha by Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, May 26, 2008

Under questioning by Justice Carpio, Atty. Lentejas admitted that the three questions Neri is afraid to answer are innocuous after all. The Senate uses it in pleading for reversal of ruling.

People ask, whatever happened to the Senate investigation of the DOTC-ZTE scam? I can only say, well, the Supreme Court ruling stalled it. That ruling states that Romy Neri's talks with Gloria Arroyo about the deal, even if crooked, enjoy secrecy of presidential communications.
But the Senate also motioned for reconsideration. The plea cites legal precepts and precedents, and uses the very words of his counsel to debunk Neri. For one, executive privilege can be invoked when diplomatic ties and state security are at stake. But Atty. Paul Lentejas admitted in that the contract was never submitted to either the foreign or defense department for review anyway.
The Senate also recounted the exchange between Justice Antonio Carpio and Lentejas. This, to show that the three questions that Neri claims to be covered by confidentiality rights are not really so, to wit:
Carpio: Going to the first question ... whether the President followed up the NBN project, is there anything wrong if the President follows up with NEDA the status of projects in government ... is there anything morally and legally wrong with that?
Lentejas: There is nothing wrong, Your Honor, because...
Carpio: That's normal.
Lentejas: That's normal, because the President is the Chairman of the NEDA Board, Your Honor.
Carpio: Yes, so there is nothing wrong. So why is Mr. Neri afraid to be asked this question?
Lentejas: I just cannot...
Carpio: You cannot fathom?
Lentejas: Yes, Your Honor.
Carpio: You cannot fathom. The second question, were you dictated to prioritize the ZTE [contact], is it the function of NEDA to prioritize specific contract[s] with private parties? No, yes?
Lentejas: the prioritization, Your Honor, is in the...
Carpio: Project?
Lentejas: In the procurement of financing from abroad, Your Honor.
Carpio: Yes. The NEDA will prioritize a project, housing project, NBN project, the dam project, but never a specific contract, correct?
Lentejas: Not a contract, Your Honor.
Carpio: This question that Secretary Neri is afraid to be asked by the Senate, he can easily answer this, that NEDA does not prioritize contract[s], is that correct?
Lentejas: It is the project, Your Honor.
Carpio: So why is he afraid to be asked this question?
Lentejas: I cannot, I cannot fathom, Your Honor.
Carpio: You cannot fathom also?
Lentejas: Yes, You Honor.
Carpio: But is there anything wrong if the President will tell the NEDA Director General, you prioritize this project, us there anything legally or morally wrong with that?
Lentejas: There is nothing wrong with that, Your Honor.
Carpio: There is nothing [wrong]. It happens all the time?
Lentejas: The NEDA Board, the Chairman of the NEDA Board, yes she can.
Carpio: [S]he can always tell that?
Lentejas: Yes, Your Honor.
Carpio: Okay. Let's go to the third question, whether the President said to go ahead and approve the project after being told about the alleged bribe. Now ... it is not the NEDA Director General that approves the project, correct?
Lentejas: No, no, Your Honor.
Carpio: It is the...
Lentejas: It is the NEDA Board, Your Honor.
Carpio: The NEDA Board headed by the President.
Lentejas: Yes, Your Honor.
Carpio: So this question is not correct also ... whether the President said to Secretary Neri to go ahead and approve the project? Secretary Neri does not approve the project, correct?
Lentejas: He's just the Vice Chairman, Your Honor.
Carpio: So why is he afraid to be asked this question?
Lentejas: I cannot tell you, Your Honor.
Carpio: You cannot fathom also.
Lentejas: Yes, Your Honor.
The Senate echoes Carpio's commonsensical conclusion that deflates the nonsensical claims:

Counsel admits he "cannot fathom" Neri's refusal to answer the three questions. He also admits that the three questions, even if answered, will not disclose confidential presidential discussions or diplomatic secrets. Invoking executive privilege is thus unjustified.
Of course, it is possible that follow-ups to the three questions may call for disclosure of confidential presidential talks. But still, executive privilege cannot be invoked on possible questions that have not been asked by the Senate. It may be invoked only after the question is asked. For, what if the Senate does not even ask the question at all? And executive privilege can never be invoked to cover up a crime.
* * *
What's taking Arroyo so long to fill up the two Comelec vacancies? New commissioners need to get a taste of actual balloting. And what better way for it than the one coming up for governor and assemblymen in wild Muslim Mindanao? Spotting and fixing flaws early on would prepare them for the wilder presidential-congressional-local polls of 2010.
Incidentally, a nominee is Wilhelm Soriano, who has just ended a five-year term as commissioner for human rights. In that last post, he displayed independence from interloping executive, legislative and military officials -- a trait needed in the electoral body. He also comes from a political family in Pangasinan, and so understands how the politicos he will referee think. Soriano also twice headed the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
* * *
E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

As 40% of Filipinos starve, Arroyos become richer

2008-05-23T01:59:00.002+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, May 23, 2008

There’s something terribly wrong when 40% of Filipinos go hungry while their President and her family stride P500-million rich.

This is not to say it’s the Arroyos’ fault that they’re rich. Still, they signify the political class, and that privileged segment of society has not used its clout to pull the people out of poverty.

Two of every five respondents rated themselves poor because lacking food, in the Social Weather Station’s first-quarter 2008 survey. That’s 7.1 million families or 35.5 million individuals, spread out all over.

Simultaneously, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s assets grew P11 million in one year, from P88.6 million in 2006 to P99.6 million in 2007. Her two congressmen-sons also notched huge assets: Mikey, P155 million; Dato, P86 million. A third kin in Congress, brother-in-law Iggy, held P153 million in 2007.

The total wealth of half-a-billion pesos is only of Arroyos in national office, excluding relatives in other agencies or local positions. It consists of real property, jewelry, vehicles and furniture, stock certificates and cash in bank that most Filipinos can only dream of.

Meanwhile, economists peg at P8,000 the minimum monthly income a family needs to make ends meet. Meaning, eat thrice a day and have cash left for clothing and medicines.

But most families earn only half that. The Arroyo fortune is what 125,000 families earning P4,000 made do with in a month.

The political economy works unfairly. As the political elite also rules the economy, the poor depends on it for relief that never comes. This has been going on and will go on for a long time.

As the highest representative of the political elite, Ms Arroyo’s assets have zoomed 50% since she took the Presidency in 2001 with P66.7 million. Now 61, she became senator in 1992 and vice president in 1998. Her father Diosdado was also VP in 1957, and President in 1961-1965.

The sons’ riches too grew since 2001. Mikey, 39, entered politics that year as vice governor of Pampanga, then became congressman of its 2nd district in 2004 and 2007. Dato, 33, took up residence in 2006 in his wife’s province of Camarines Sur, and became congressman of its 1st district a year later. Uncle Iggy, 57, is serving his second term as congressman of Negros Occidental’s 5th district. His present wealth is half his P280 million in 2006, probably due to a separation, but the P153-million remainder still makes him one of Congress’ richest members.

By contrast, the Filipinos who rate themselves poor in terms of food have been suffering thinning incomes. Marking its 20-year-long quarterly surveys to the consumer price index, SWS notes: “The monthly food budget that poor households need in order not to consider themselves poor has remained sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation.” Meaning, the poor actually are lowering their living standards. They make do with no viand on rice more often than before.

Comparing the Arroyo wealth and SWS survey results, the old gripe about Philippine society echoes: the rich become richer, the poor poorer.

The system is kind to the political class, cruel to the ruled. Today’s Macapagals and Arroyos would not have gained political capital if not for their elders. Most of the clans that rule the provinces as governors or congressmen have been in power since the Spanish regime. Few new names ever enter the select circle. The rules are such that they’d need tons of cash and armies of goons to dream to dislodge the old elite in election. The poor take sides not as zealots but beggars for morsels that may be thrown their way if their candidate wins.

While in power the dynasts amass more wealth, oftentimes illegally, to enhance political clout. Kickbacks are routine. They also strive to buff their image a bit with populist gigs: a subsidy here, or wage increase there. But look, they’ve managed to make the pork barrel acceptable although it is the source of all evil in public office.

No matter how hoarse the ruled shout for change, the elite only pays lip service. There’s need for true representation by breaking up dynasties, for instance, but Congress has not passed any enabling law in spite of the Constitutional requirement since 1987. There’s need to improve the election system to end cheating and vote buying, yet no senator or congressman is moving for such. In 2010 the poor will vote the same politicos or scions into power. The only difference is that, based on the trend of SWS surveys, there will be more millions of them lacking food by then.

* * *

Dig Pinoy rock? Check out the link, http://yeba2008.blogspot.com, and relive the heady, hippie, happy days of the ’60s and ’70s.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Epekto ng dagdag-sahod

2008-05-23T01:57:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, May 23, 2008

GAANO kaya kasandali tayo magbubunyi sa dagdag-sahod mula sa regional wage boards, bago tayo lumuha dahil sa maramihang layoffs?

Itinatanong ko ito dahil sa nakababahalang statistics tungkol sa paggawa. Dalawampung beses nang nagtaas ng minimum wage sa loob ng 22 taon mula 1986. Umaangal ang mga negosyante na isa sa pinaka-mataas na sa East Asia ang halaga sa dolyar ng daily minimum wage sa Pilipinas. Heto ang listahan: Vietnam, $1.44-$1.77; Cambodia, $1.75; Indonesia, $3.70; China, $3.71; Thailand, $6.01; Pilipinas, $9.15. Ang mas mataas na lang kaysa atin ay ang mauunlad na Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan at Hong Kong.

Ayon sa labor department, mula 2003 hanggang 2007 nabawasan ang dami ng manggagawa sa pormal na sektor — mga pabrika at opisina — mula 6.3 milyon hanggang 4.7 milyon. Samantala, lumaki ang impormal na sektor — trabahador sa bahay, bukid, maliliit na tindahan o negosyo — mula 21 milyon hanggang 27 milyon. Ibig sabihin nito, anang mga eksperto, nagbabawas ang malalaking kompanya, opisina at pabrika ng empleyado. Napupunta ito sa mga hindi rehistradong operasyon. Sanhi raw ito ng mataas na minimum wage, na hindi kayang bayaran ng mga negosyante.

Siyam na porsiyento lang ng 44 milyong work force ang may unyon. Naipaglalaban ng mga samahan nila ang kapakanan ng manggagawa. Samantala, maraming kompanya ang lantarang sumusuway sa minimum-wage orders. Kuwento nga sa akin ng isang labor official, may mga empleyado na nakikiusap sa kanila na huwag nang kasuhan ang amo nilang balasubas dahil baka magsara lang daw ang munting kompanya at mawalan pa sila ng pinagkakakitaan. Saklap!

Hindi ko sinasabing huwag dapat taasan ang mini- mum wage. Aba’y konti lang ang angat natin sa pandaigdigang kahirapan. Sinukat ito ng United Nations sa pagkita ng $2 (P82-P84) lang kada araw bawat pamilya. Pero sana malunasan ang patuloy na layoffs mula sa formal sector, at ang paglabag sa minimum-wage orders. Kasi kung hindi, walang saysay ang 20 beses na increase sa 22 taon.

A billion pesos — what gov’t spends in 8 hours

2008-05-21T00:45:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, May 21, 2008

One crucial item went missing from my “Timeline of NBN scam” last Monday. It must be inserted:

Dec. 5, 2006 — DOTC receives Joey de Venecia’s B-O-T unsolicited proposal, “Orion Network”, $240m. From his testimony, he is called by Abalos to several meetings in succeeding days. In the second, mid-month at Wack-Wack, Abalos offers $10m to withdraw from NBN project.

The Senate Blue-Ribbon might add more items to the linear diagram. Its analysis of the crime and the culpable could include:

Oct. 11, 2007 — Malacañang invites 200 congressmen to breakfast and governors to lunch with PGMA to deflect impeachment rap for ZTE scam. They are handed gift bags containing P500,000 each.

Feb. 5, 2008 — Whistleblower Jun Lozada abducted by airport and police officers upon arrival from Hong Kong, where he was earlier sent by DENR Sec. Atienza to avoid testifying at Senate. While abroad, Lozada receives P500,000 from Palace Usec. Gaite to stay away. Gaite would later claim it was his personal money, and lent it out because he took pity on Lozada, whom he had met only casually twice before. The lawyer cannot produce any loan document.

Feb. 28 — Interviewed by DZRH manager Joe Taruc, PGMA admits fraud in ZTE deal, but that she found out only on eve of signing, and so couldn’t back out lest she offend China. Incidentally in that signing on Apr. 21, 2007 by Sec. Mendoza and ZTE veep Yu Yong, there is no Chinese counterpart of PGMA as witness.

And if the latest photographer-witness codenamed Alex no longer surfaces because taken care of by Palace firefighters, then it will merit still another timeline item:

May 2nd week, 2008 — Shrouded witness tells print and TV news he saw PGMA, FG, then-Speaker JDV and Abalos golfing with ZTE execs in Shenzhen on Nov. 2, 2006. Palace at first denies it, but confronted with photos later admits that First Couple even toured ZTE-HQ. Abalos lawyer and JDV wife separately confirm the Shenzhen trip, made four months after ZTE began negotiating supply of NBN and five months before signing. So there’s no more need to prove it. The order of the day is to ensure Alex’s safety.

* * *

Had it not been exposed and forcibly stopped, the needless yet overpriced DOTC-ZTE deal would have cost taxpayers P17 billion. And the patrons would have earned P10-billion kickback.

Other sleazy deals pushed through. Just one “emergency” purchase of coal by Napocor in Apr. 2007 was overpriced by P1 billion.

It’s hard for laymen to imagine what a billion is. But a US ad agency recently did a good job of putting the figure in perspective:

“A billion seconds ago it was 1959. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. A billion days ago no one walked on the earth on two feet.”

To that I add:

A billion pesos ago was only eight hours and ten minutes — at the rate government is spending taxpayer money. That’s how fast it depletes the P1.12-trillion budget for 2008.

A billion pesos is what a salary man earning P10,000 would make in 100,000 months — or 8,333 years.

A billion pesos is what it would take to build 2,250 classrooms, 375 rural health clinics, and 7,500 barangay wells.

If you steal a billion pesos, much worse ten like in NBN-ZTE, you won’t be able to use it up in your lifetime. But it will earn you a place in the eternal fires of hell.

* * *

Just wondering:

How can priests be acceptable as homosexual, as Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales prescribes, so long as they don’t practice it? Aren’t priests supposed to be asexual as celibates? Isn’t being homosexual, as in being bisexual, already, to use the prelate’s term, “acting out your tendencies”?

Will not their massacring of ten bank employees appall the kith and kin of the Cabuyao bank robbers to turn them in, more so since there’s a P2-million reward?

It’s okay for pollsters to ask Filipinos to rate themselves poor or rich, but can they ask respondents to rate if their English proficiency improved? Isn’t proficiency in language or math or science something for teachers to test? Can I really say my English improved because I now use terms like “comfort room” for washroom, “rubber shoes” for sneakers, or “next-next week” for week after next?

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Admin itinatago pa rin ang katotohanan sa NBN

2008-05-20T00:42:00.001+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon,Tuesday, May 20, 2008

PARANG binubunot na ngipin ang pagpiga ng katotoha-nan mula sa admin tungkol sa ZTE deal. Pilit tinatakpan nina Gloria at Mike Arroyo, Romy Neri, Gabinete, kaalyadong mambabatas, at mga alipores ang mga kaganapan. Halata tuloy na may itinatagong anomalya.

Pagbubulaan ang otomatikong tugon nila sa balitang may bagong witness sa ZTE scam. Kesyo hindi raw nakipag-golf sina Arroyo sa ZTE execs sa Shenzhen nu’ng Nob. 2, 2006. Pero nang lumabas ang retrato ng First Couple sa Shenzhen golf club, bigla nila naalala na nand’un nga sila, at pumasyal pa sa karatig na ZTE headquarters.

Bago ‘yan, sinuhulan nila si Jun Lozada para umalis nang Pilipinas at iwasang tumestigo sa Senado. Nang hindi na matiis ng “probinsiyanong Intsik” ang lamig sa Hong Kong at umuwi sa Maynila, ipinakidnap siya sa airport officials at pulis, at pinapirma ng kung anu-anong panlilinlang tungkol sa “bukol” na $130 milyon. At nang tumestigo na nga, siniraan nila nang husto si Lozada.

Matinding paninira rin ang ginawa kina Joey de Venecia at Dante Madriaga. Pinagtangkaan pang patayin si Joey at ama na dating Speaker. Puros daldal lang sa media ang spokesman ni Mike Arroyo, pero hindi sumumpa sa Senado ang First Gentleman tungkol sa bersiyon sa “back off”.

Inisnab nu’ng una ng mga taga-Gabinete ang hearings. Tapos full-force na dumating sa isang hearing. Tapos, inisnab muli ang Senado.

Si Neri idiniin lang si noo’y Comelec chief Ben Abalos sa tangkang panunuhol ng P200 milyon. Pero nang usisain kung inutusan pa rin siya ng Presidente na aprubahan ang ZTE deal miski iniulat niya ang suhol, ayaw nang sumagot. Pati Korte Suprema ginawa pangkubli sa katotohanan.

Simula pa lang, itinago ng DOTC ang kontrata sa publiko. Nang igiit ko na dapat ilabas ito dahil taumbayan ang pi nagbabayad nila ng $330 milyon, nagpalusot sila na kesyo ninakaw daw ang dadalawang kopya ng RP at China ilang oras lang matapos pirmahan. Nang tinawanan ko ang kuwento, aba’y tinangka nilang palabasin na ako ang nagnakaw.

Timeline of NBN scam shows who’s culpable

2008-05-19T01:32:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, May 19, 2008

Here’s a timeline of events enfolding the needless yet overpriced DOTC-ZTE deal. The linear exhibit can help investigators analyze the crime and the culpable.

Jan. 10, 2006 — DILG endorses “CommNet” to NEDA, to interlink LGUs. Idea is from Arescom of USA with Wireless Facilities Inc., funding by US Eximbank.

May 9 — ZTE takes interest in “CommNet”, asks Alvarion Ltd. to quote fixed WiMAX, an infant technology DOTC later adopts for NBN. DOTC-ZTE contract would jack up Alvarion unit prices three to four times.

June 2 — NEDA refers “CommNet” to CICT, to meld with other government telecom projects.

June 5 — NEDA Sec. Neri and Trade Sec. Favila sign MOU with China Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, including telecoms and police housing.

June 30 — DILG tells NEDA: “CommNet” no longer a priority.

July 12 — Favila, authorized by PGMA, signs MOU with ZTE veep Yu Yong (president, ZTE International) on various projects, including NBN. Witnesses: ZTE chair Hou Weigui, presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor.

Sept. 14 — Joey de Venecia’s Amsterdam Holdings Inc. expresses to NEDA interest in NBN thru “Orion Network”.

Sept. 18 — NEDA compares Arescom’s $135m with two ZTE unofficial NBN proposals, for $273m and $304.9m. Signing ZTE papers are Howard Xue, and consultants Leo San Miguel and Dante Madriaga. “Aug. 6, 2006” is scribbled beside San Miguel’s signature; “Aug. 28, 2006” beside Madriaga’s.

Oct. 10 — Joey submits “Orion” as $240m B-O-T investment.

Oct. 3rd week — “Greedy Group ++” receives $1m down payment.

Nov. 1 — PGMA arrives Hong Kong after five-day trip to Mainland China; Malacañang press corps dismissed from further coverage.

Nov. 2 — PGMA, with FG, Speaker JDV and Comelec’s Abalos motor to Shenzhen, breakfast and golf with ZTE execs, tour ZTE headquarters and lunch with more execs.

Nov. 21 — CICT chief Sales presents NBN concept to PGMA, Cabinet. PGMA insists to Neri it should be B-O-T, privately funded, no government subsidy or outlay.

Dec. 2 — Chinese Amb. Li Jinjun informs Defensor: China Eximbank will provide credit for NBN; Ministry of Commerce designates ZTE as prime contractor.

Dec. 27 — Abalos invites Joey to meet ZTE execs at Kempinski Hotel-Shenzhen to show their “partnership”. Joey incensed by mention of dad’s name and seeing $130m commission in $262m proposal. In attendance: Yu Yong, Fan Yang, ZTE execs; Ruben Reyes, San Miguel, Quirino dela Torre, Jimmy Paz. More meetings of Joey, Abalos and ZTE would take place in next two months.

Jan. 13, 2007 — In meeting of NEDA Board and Cabinet, DOTC told to sort out within four weeks NBN overlaps with other telecom projects.

Jan. 14 — Election Period begins, government banned from awarding contracts till June 13, 2007.

Feb. 2007 — Abalos calls Joey and Jun Lozada separately, says he had wiretapped their conversations and knows what they’re saying about him.

Feb. 28 — DOTC technical working group completes study of ZTE and AHI proposals.

Feb. 2007 — Over breakfast at Wack-Wack (with Abalos, Reyes, San Miguel, dela Torre, Paz) FG tells Joey to “back off” NBN deal.

Mar. 2007 — During golf game at Wack-Wack, Abalos tells Neri, “Sec, may 200 ka rito,” which he interprets as P200m bribe to approve NBN as NEDA sec-gen. “Greedy Group” receives $10m from ZTE.

Mar. 6 — Mendoza, Sales give Neri DOTC bids-awards committee study for single NBN.

Mar. 29 — In joint meeting, NEDA-ICC approves and NEDA Board (PGMA presiding) confirms ZTE deal of P16.474b ($329.48m @ $1:P50). Neri informs Amb. Li Jinjun.

Apr. 16 — Neri asks Amb. Li: expedite NBN loan, for DOTC-ZTE signing during PGMA trip to Boao, Hainan. Police housing scratched from list of projects for funding, as NBN cost increase eats up its budget.

Apr. 19 — Neri endorses NBN to Bo Xilai and Eximbank chair Li Ruogu, plus DOTC’s need for loan of $343m (P16.474b @ $1:P48).

Apr. 20 — Neri writes again to Bo and Li Ruogu stating amount for financing. Only difference is he mentions Dec. 2 letter of Amb. Li to Defensor. Amb. Kristie Kenney questions “undue haste” in awarding NBN, to detriment of U.S. firms.

Apr. 21 — PGMA leaves bedside of very sick FG to witness DOTC-ZTE signing by Mendoza, Yu Yong. Malacañang news release, datelined Boao, states PGMA “came and went like a thief in the night, bringing with her an avalanche of Chinese investments.” It did not state that $329.5m for NBN was loan, not investment.

May 2007 — “Greedy Group” receives $30m from ZTE.

June 20 — Under pressure to produce contract, Mendoza and Asec Lorenzo Formoso claim that the only two copies of RP and China were stolen from hotel room hours after signing. No one prosecuted for theft.

July 26 — DOJ defends DOTC-ZTE contract. By law, DOJ opinion should have come before contract signing, when B-O-T was dropped in favor of negotiated deal with G-to-G loan.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Hindi ba nagtaka si GMA kay Abalos?

2008-05-19T01:23:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, May 19, 2008

NABULABOG ang Malacañang sa balitang may bagong witness na naman sa ZTE scam. Nu’ng una, ngatog na pinabulaanan ng mga tagapagsalita ng Palasyo na nakipag-golf sa ZTE executives sina Gloria at Mike Arroyo sa Shenzhen nu’ng Nob. 2, 2006. Pero nang iharap ang retrato sa diyaryo, naalala nila bigla na naroon nga pala ang First Couple nu’ng naturang petsa. Hindi lang ‘yon, tumungo rin sila sa karatig na ZTE headquarters.

Nagpapalusot na ang admin sa masagwang pasyal ng Presidente sa supplier na noo’y sinusungkit ang broadband project niya. Kesyo raw sosyalan lang ang pagbisita sa ZTE, kesyo kasama ru’n si noo’y Speaker Joe de Venecia, kesyo limang buwan pa ang lumipas bago pirmahan ang telecoms deal. Nag-witch-hunt pa kung sino ang retratistang codenamed “Alex”. (Ani admin Sen. Miriam Santiago si opposition lawyer Alex Avisado ‘yon; pero teka, kung kaaway nila si Avisado, e bakit siya nasa presidential entourage?) Sabat ni bayaw Rep. Iggy Arroyo, tuta ng Lopez family si oppositionist Rolex Suplico dahil namigay ng mga retratong kuha ni “Alex” kaya natabunan ang mainit na isyu ng mahal na presyo ng kuryente ng Meralco. (Aha, e di tama pala ang hinala na biglang nilabas ang Meralco issue para ilihis ng admin ang atensiyon mula sa ZTE scam.)

Iniiwasan ng Malacañang ang maseselang tanong: Bakit sinikreto nila sa press ang umano’y inosenteng sosyalan? Mas mahalaga, hindi ba nagduda ang Presidente kung bakit kasa-kasama ng ZTE execs si noo’y Comelec chairman Ben Abalos?

Tumutugma ang kuwento ni “Alex” kay Suplico sa mga testimonya sa Senado. Sinabi ni Joey de Venecia na nagkuwento noon ang tatay niya mula Shenzhen na sinabihan ni GMA si Abalos na gayahin ang build-operate-transfer proposal niya (Joey). Sabi naman ni Jun Lozada na gusto ni GMA nu’ng una ng malinis na B-O-T deal pero pumirma rin ng maanomalyang utang. At dagdag ni Dante Madriaga na kumubra ang grupo nila ni Abalos ng $1 milyon down payment mula sa ZTE nu’ng ikatlong linggo ng Oktubre 2006.

Palace clearly worried about new ZTE photos

2008-05-16T01:08:00.003+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, May 16, 2008

At first, Malacañang factotums fumbled for denials. But confronted with newspaper photos of Gloria and Mike Arroyo at the Shenzhen Golf Club, they had to admit it. The First Couple indeed was there on Nov. 2, 2006, and even called on the headquarters of ZTE Corp. nearby.

Then came the spin to explain away the President’s improper visit to a supplier that was then angling for her broadband project. Gofers babbled that it was a social visit, the telecom deal was signed five long months later, and Speaker Joe de Venecia was with them. A witch-hunt ensued for the new ZTE scam photographer-witness code-named “Alex”, whom admin Sen. Miriam Santiago claimed is opposition lawyer Alex Avisado. (But if he were with the enemy, why would he be in the presidential entourage?) Brother-in-law Rep. Iggy Arroyo butted in that oppositionist Rolex Suplico must be a Lopez hit man for diverting public attention from Meralco’s high electricity rates by giving out the Shenzhen photos. (Ah so, the power issue really was an admin diversionary tactic after all.)

But Malacañang has been avoiding the real questions: What was so secret about the “social visit” that Palace officials kept the press away and uninformed? More important, did not the President smell something fishy that then-Comelec chairman Ben Abalos was with the ZTE execs?

Whatever the spin-doctors retort, Suplico’s new revelations jibe with sworn, un-refuted testimonies at the Senate. Joey de Venecia has stated that his dad phoned him from Shenzhen after golf to narrate that Arroyo just told Abalos to go by his (Joey’s) build-operate-transfer bid. Jun Lozada averred that Arroyo initially had wanted a clean B-O-T scheme but later went for a questionable negotiated loan. Dante Madriaga said that Abalos’s cabal had received a $1-million downpayment from ZTE on the third week of Oct. 2006.

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A five-time Gold Cross medalist for gallantry in battle, a nurse who treats wounded fighters airborne, two bomb experts, and technicians who saved the Armed Forces millions of pesos in maintenance-repair costs lead this year’s Ten Outstanding Philippine Soldiers. I’ve interviewed them:

From the Army: Scout Ranger S/Sgt. Rodel Bonifacio, who earned five Gold Crosses leading his squad hunt down Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Sulu-Basilan in 2000-2004. M/Sgt. Reynaldo Garcia, explosive disposal specialist, who at one time defused a War-vintage 1,000-lb bomb unearthed in Tanay, Rizal. Col. Joselito Kakilala, distinguished in battle against armed communist in Surigao, in HQ work as media and legislative liaison, and in civic missions heading medical-dental teams to the barrio.

From the Air Force: T/Sgt. Sandy Terania, awardee of the Military Merit and Bronze Cross medals for action against Moro separatists and the Abu Sayyaf, who also retrofitted trainer into attack planes. T/Sgt. Jesus Fabian, explosives expert who once safely blew up a phosphorous bomb dug up in Pampanga, and invented an explosion disruptor and detonation-muffling trailer worth P2 million. Capt. Randy Bance, a combat pilot who got the Gold and Bronze Crosses in campaigns in Sulu, Cotabato and Abra, flying 42 attack missions over 690 flight hours and firing 7,176 .50-caliber rounds without a single accident.

From the Navy: Radarman 1st Class Rosimalu Galgao, who has nabbed smuggling ships, joined naval exercises with other nations, and charted patrol routes to the Kalayaan Island Group. Chief Petty Officer Edwin Palacios, who for 31 years in the service has been maintaining 33-year-old aircraft, and led airborne rescue operations during sea disasters. Capt. Jose Renan Suarez, who participated in naval pursuit and blockades of Abu Sayyaf kidnappers, specializes in surface warfare, and now oversees the Navy’s modernization.

From the Technical Services: Capt. Ana Lisa J. Morata, a registered nurse who cares for wounded infantrymen onboard evacuation choppers; also upgraded the First Aid and Life Support training, and the recruitment of military doctors, dentists and nurses.

Metrobank Foundation awarded each officer a trophy and P250,000. Now on its 14th year, the search began in 1994 as the Rotary Club of Makati-Metro’s recognition of the zeal and skill of fighting men. This year’s judges were: Sen. Noynoy Aquino, Sandigan Justice Edilberto Sandoval, Amb. Francis Chua, Marikina City Mayor Marides Fernando, University of the Philippines president Emerlinda Roman, and DZMM station manager Angelo Palmones.

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Deeply merited are posthumous promotions of Manila police officers Jose Ysmael Santos and Francisco Neri, for heroism beyond the call of duty. A hail of bullets felled the valiant cops as, though off-duty, they responded to emergency. Robbers had shot a businessman outside a bank, prompting Santos and Neri to rush to the rescue. Apart from the promotions, the national police brass must ensure the capture of the killers.

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Oops, I slipped Wednesday in stating the e-mail address of Sir Edward Artis’s Knightsbridge International. Donors of hospital equipment, medical supplies or other health provisions may reach Sir Ed thru this correct addie: Knightsbrg@aol.com. Several Philippine hospitals have received surgical, x-ray and orthopedic facilities.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Maitim na balak sa China Sea

2008-05-16T01:05:00.001+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, May 16, 2008

NABABAHALA ang mundo. Sekretong nagtatayo ang China ng higanteng naval base sa Sanya, sa timog ng Hainan island-province. Strategic ang lokasyon ng base, kaya pakiwari ng military analysts ay igigiit ng China sa dahas ang claim nito sa Paracels at Spratlys, na buo o bahaging inaangkin din ng Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, at Pilipinas. Palalawakin din ng China ang saklaw sa South China Sea ng kanyang pinalalaking navy, na dati’y nakasiksik lang sa mainland base sa Yulin.

Natuklasan ng US at European spy satellites ang itinatayong base. Sa lawak ng pasilidad na nabatid sa malalakas na telescopes, kakasya sa Sanya ang hanggang tatlong aircraft carriers, at siyempre mas maliliit na warships. Inamin ng People’s Liberation Army nu’ng 2004 na maari nga sila magtayo ng base sa Sanya, pero hindi akalain ng analysts na gan’un kalaki. Hindi lang ‘yun. Dahil sa lalim ng tubig, may underground facilities din para sa pagbuo, pag-ayos at pagtago ng submarines. Ginagamit ang war subs para sa mga lihim at biglaang pagkilos ng navy. Hanggang walong subs ang kakasya sa Sanya, at namataan ng spy lenses ang apat na patungo kamakailan sa ginagawang base.

Ibinunyag ng Jane’s Information Group ang satellite reports; inulat ito nu’ng Huwebes sa Wall Street Journal. Ipinaalala sa ulat na nu’ng 1974, 1988, 1995 ay marahas na sinakop ng China ang ilang isla sa Spratlys na pag-aari ng Vietnam at Pilipinas. ‘Yung pinakahuli, tinayuan ng China ng naval facilities ang Mischief Reef, 200 km mula Palawan; hangga ngayo’y may nakatanod du’n na Chinese warship. Nu’ng 2007 nag-naval exercise ang China sa gitna ng Hainan at Paracels, bagay na ikinagalit ng Vietnam.

Ang Spratlys ay nasa gilid ng mahahalagang daan ng mga barkong komersiyal mula Europe, Africa, Australia at America. Mahina ang air force at navy ng Pilipinas, kaya hindi ito napapatrulya nang lubos. Mahigit 350 milyong tonelada ng krudo ang dumadaan sa South China Sea kada taon, bukod sa iba pang kalakal at pagkain. Manganganib ang mundo kung pairalin ng China ang dahas imbis na diplomasya sa rehiyon.

Congress inquiry won’t lower electricity rates

2008-05-14T01:57:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, May 14, 2008

After Congress’ daylong hearing Monday on electricity, Malacañang officials twittered that power rates would go down thence. But why do we get the feeling it won’t?

Maybe it’s because the Arroyo admin’s motive was too obvious. For one, the inquisition co-chaired by a presidential ally and a son bashed only Meralco. The private distributor may well have deserved the thumping — for self-dealing with subsidiaries and excessive executive perks — but it was lacking. Sparing state-owned Napocor from scrutiny, probers ensured they would only dig shallow. Untouched were Napocor’s frequent emergency coal purchases — overpriced by billions of pesos — from suppliers linked to the admin. To avoid exposure of this awkward cause of soaring electricity rates, the inquiry expectedly will end soon.

Too, politicking marks the admin “fight” to lower rates. This shows in the Solicitor General’s belated opposition to the 2003 write-off by Napocor of Meralco’s P37.4-billion debt. The Sol-Gen brands the deal “contrary to law”, meaning criminal; and “grossly disadvantageous to the government”, meaning corrupt. Yet no charges are made against the Napocor directors, mostly cabinet members then and now, who approved the write-off. There are no lawsuits too against the eleven Meralco directors — four of whom were presidential appointees to state-administered funds and banks that own 33 percent. The Sol-Gen’s stand looks more like calibrated pressure on the Lopez clan that controls 33.4 percent of Meralco. Could it be why two ex-bankers close to a Palace biggie are now angling to sit in the Meralco board in case the Lopezes are cut down?

Meanwhile, President Gloria Arroyo is ordering Napocor to halve its pass-on price of generated electricity to Meralco. It sounds pro-poor, but not when recalling a similar directive to Napocor in 2002 to cut its Luzon price by 80¢ per kilowatt-hour and then cap it at 40¢. Napocor lost P1.2 trillion in the three years to 2004, necessitating the levying of the hated 12-percent value-added tax to cover the fiscal gap. Even taxpayers in Visayas-Mindanao, who never felt the cutbacks, had to help save Napocor from ruin. Industry insiders aver that the recent Napocor price rigging at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market was also to offset the losses.

The admin benefits too much from power pricing that real reforms cannot be expected.

One such benefit comes from debatable taxes. During the Congress hearing, admin hit men flayed Meralco for passing onto customers systems losses (due to electricity theft) of 9.65 percent, when the legal cap is only 9.5. They were silent, however, on the admin’s exaction of 12-percent VAT on the same systems loss. So the higher the systems loss Meralco bills, the better for the admin?

Then there’s the tax on natural gas, which fuels 23 percent of power produced in Luzon. Gas from Malampaya well in Palawan is taxed ten times more than imported coal; that is, effectively P1.70 gas royalty versus P0.17 coal tax per kilowatt-hour. Not only is it ridiculous for the admin to tax relatively cleaner indigenous gas more than imported dirty coal, it also defies common practice. Other countries impose royalty on gas or oil only when exported, never when consumed domestically. Even RP minerals when exported are levied only 2-3 percent.

Where do the taxes go? Theoretically, to basic services for the poor. But in the electricity sector, half of Meralco’s four million customers enjoy admin-imposed lifeline rates. Meaning, the other half subsidizes the urban-poor in behalf of the admin, while promoting city migration and squatting.

Of course, taxes go to admin projects and loans. But with the way Malacañang conceals the details of such projects and loans, as in the NBN-ZTE deal, there’s bound to be “tong-pats” (kickbacks).

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My recent pieces on the lack of x-ray machines at Philippine General Hospital touched a kind heart. Sir Edward Artis of Makati-based non-profit Knightsbridge International swiftly hooked up with PGH Medical Foundation to donate two units from America. Pending the shipment’s arrival, Artis gave hospital equipment he has on hand: two rolling gurneys, two ceiling-mounted surgical lights, two wheelchairs, and several boxes of medical supplies. Dr. Gregorio Alvior, foundation president, along with Dr. Rodney Dofitas and Joselito Tetangco, received the donations last week.

Alvior says “at least 640,000 charity patients walk into PGH each year for badly needed medical help.” But the country’s premier tertiary hospital sorely lacks funds. It needs P1 million a month to meet the ever-increasing demand for medical services. The Foundation helps raise the shortage that the government cannot provide. Donors to PGH may reach him at pghmedfoundation@yahoo.com.ph. They may also call Dr. Michael Tee, 0917-8336398; Office of the Director, PGH, (02) 5252584, (02) 5242221 fax.

Donors to other hospitals and causes may contact Sir Edward Artis at P.O. Box 2354 Makati Central 1263, or KnightsBdg@aol.com.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Malacañang now wants Meralco to pay up P55B

2008-05-12T01:31:00.002+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, May 12, 2008

Malacañang has turned around on its old stand. In a move that could bankrupt RP’s biggest electric distributor, it is now opposing a P55-bilion write-off of Meralco’s debts to state-owned Napocor.

The admin’s new stand formally was manifested Thursday by Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera at the Energy Regulatory Commission. Invoking public interest, the government lawyer asked ERC to trash a July 2003 settlement that frees Meralco of a P27-billion obligation to Napocor and collect instead from consumers.

If ERC accedes, Meralco would have to pay Napocor not only the P27-billion principal but also P28 billion in interest and surcharge, for a total of P55 billion. The power firm grossed P150 billion last year. But a Napocor source admits that squeezing Meralco of the P55 billion might sink it to insolvency.

Ironically the government also owns stakes in Meralco, through Land Bank. With state-run provident funds GSIS, SSS, Philhealth and Pag-IBIG, it holds 33-percent shares. The Lopez clan controls operations with 33.4 percent.

GSIS chief Winston Garcia, representing the government bloc in the Meralco board, has been seeking transparency from the Lopezes. His men said last week that Lopez-owned power producers have been charging Meralco up to P150 billion a year for generated electricity. Malacañang alternately has been distancing itself from and avidly backing Garcia’s demand for open books.

Devanadera’s unexpected intervention to collect the P55 billion is viewed as Malacañang’s way of strengthening Garcia’s position. A Palace source said that Commission on Higher Education head Romulo Neri, once economic planning secretary, has been advising President Gloria Arroyo on moves against the Lopezes. Devanadera’s opposition to the Napocor-Meralco settlement supposedly was made on Neri’s prodding.

The Napocor-Meralco settlement came after a two year-dispute starting 2002. That year Meralco unilaterally rescinded its 10-year contract to buy a minimum amount of electricity from Napocor from 1995 to 2004. Napocor cried bad faith. Consumerists said Meralco reneged because in 2002 and 2003 it began buying electricity from new plants owned by the Lopezes — Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo in Batangas.

At first Napocor insisted that Meralco pay just the same P37.4 billion in electricity it had committed but failed to buy in the last three years, 2002 to 2004. Meralco counterclaimed that the unconsumed electricity amounted to only P27.5 billion. It also asked that Napocor recompense it P5.9 billion for delays in setting up transmission lines to the new Lopez plants. Plus, it demanded another P1.6 billion in income lost when Napocor directly connected factories that should have been Meralco customers in its franchise area.

Napocor and Meralco both wanted to avoid costly court proceedings. In 2003 the parties tapped two negotiators, former justice secretary Sedfrey Ordoñez and Antonio del Rosario. Three major points were made:

• Meralco would pay Napocor only P27.5 billion in unused power, but minus the P7.5 billion in Napocor’s transmission delays and direct connections;

• Meralco is to pay the net of P20 billion over five years; and

• Meralco is to collect the P20 billion from its customers, so Napocor must join it in petitioning ERC for a rate hike.

Napocor and Meralco filed the joint petition in March 2004. The National Association of Electric Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore) and Freedom from Debt Coalition opposed them.

Nasecore head Pete Ilagan said that the rate hike, if granted, would burden Meralco’s four million customers with additional 21 centavos per kilowatt-hour over five years. Napocor under the ten-year supply contract was under no obligation from Meralco to connect the Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo plants, he contended. Too, the settlement meant multibillion-peso losses for the state-owned power firm, so Meralco should pay the entire unconsumed commitment of P37.4 billion.

A high Napocor source placed Meralco’s debt at P55.13 billion, including P13.8 billion in interest and P4 billion in foregone transmission revenues.

Apart from a few hearings, ERC has not acted on the Napocor-Meralco petition since 2004. But things started to speed up upon Devanadera’s intervention on May 8. A hearing immediately was set for tomorrow afternoon.

Devanadera stated four reasons for opposing the settlement:

(1) Napocor did not submit it for review by the Office of the Solicitor General. She cited the laws that created the OSG, which represents the legal interests of the government and citizens, and Napocor, which must let the OSG handle its litigations.

(2) The Napocor board overstepped its authority in waiving claims, in prejudice of government interest. She said the board (which incidentally included Neri at the time) had no authority to grant a compromise.

(3) The provision to pass on the Meralco debt to consumers is “contrary to law, morals, public interest, and public policy.” (There was no recommendation for criminal prosecution, however.)

(4) The settlement is “grossly disadvantageous and prejudicial to the government.” (This is one of the legal definitions of graft, but no charges were recommended against any Napocor director, who are mostly Cabinet members.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Napocor mafia sanhi ng mahal na kuryente

2008-05-12T01:28:00.002+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, May 12, 2008

INUUTO ng Napocor mafia ang Kongreso at Malaca- ñang. Pinapapaniwala ang mga mambabatas na dapat kuno baguhin ang Electric Power Industry Reform Act para magmura ang kuryente. Ipinatitira naman sa ehekutibo ang pribadong Meralco na nagtataas umano ng singil. Naitatago ng mafia ang bilyong-pisong pagnanakaw nila — na tunay na sanhi ng pagmahal.

Naisahan na ng Napocor mafia ang madla nu’ng 2007. Pinalabas na kapos sa coal ang apat na planta sa Luzon, kaya kailangan ng emergency imports para maiwasan ang blackouts. Animo’y scripted, bigla pang nag-trip ang kuryente sa buong rehiyon. Gipit sa oras ang “bidding” kaya wala halos nakasali. Dineklarang “failure of bid” kaya nakipag-negotiate na lang ang Napocor. Pumirma ng deal sa Hunter Valley Coal Corp. ng Australia, sa pamamagitan ng Glencore Far East Philippines AG, para sa paunang barko ng uling na 65,000 tonelada. Ang presyo ay $84 kada tonelada, sa palitang P50:$1. Pero ang bentahan noon sa Australia ay $30 lang kada tonelada. Samakatuwid, may overprice na $54 kada tonelada, o $3.51 milyon (P175.5 milyon) para sa unang barko pa lang nu’ng Abril 2007.

Aba’y umorder muli ang Napocor ng apat pang barko ng uling nu’ng Hulyo at Agosto. Kaya ang overprice ay pumalo sa $17.55 milyon (P877.5 milyon). Hinabla ng consumerists si Napocor president Cyril del Callar ng graft sa Ombudsman. Bukod sa lantaran ang pakana, sinuway din ang matagal nang utos ng Department of Energy na mag-imbak ng murang coal. Idinawit din sina Napocor VP-Logistics Eduardo Eroy, VP-Bidding Carlos Guadarrama, at Mancom secretariat head Urbano Mendiola Jr.

Nu’ng una, nangako ang Joint Congressional Power Commission na imbestigahan ang anomalya. Pero nag-abroad ang co-chairpersons, sina Sen. Miriam Santiago at Rep. Mikey Arroyo. Kinalimutan nila ang lahat.

Samantala, inudyukan ng Napocor ang Malacañang na upakan ang Meralco. Mas mahal daw kasi ang singil nito kaysa distributors sa Visayas at Mindanao. E kasi naman, waterfalls kalimitan ang sanhi ng kuryente sa Vis-Min, samantalang sa Luzon 30% ng presyo ay dahil sa coal.

Coal bribes driving up electricity rates

2008-05-09T03:31:00.000+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Friday, May 9, 2008

Naghalo ang balat sa tinalupan, they’d say in Tagalog. Everyone every which way is joining the electricity fray. Sen. Miriam Santiago is to lead a joint Senate-House probe of Meralco’s “antitrust breaches.” Co-chair Rep. Mikey Arroyo rushes back from extended American holiday in time to summon the power distributor’s execs for Monday. Ally Sen. Joker Arroyo (not related) cautions Malacañang against seizing Meralco from the Lopez clan. Executive Sec. Ed Ermita and Presidential Counsel Sergio Apostol deny any such takeover. It’s only GSIS boss Winston Garcia with 33-percent shares who’s squeezing transparency out of Meralco, they chorus, and the Palace has nothing to do with it. Yet Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye butts in that the Palace is backing Garcia all the way. Sensing business unease with the admin harassing a private firm, Gov. Joey Salceda as Gloria Arroyo’s economic guru assures that the President intends no Meralco capture. But party mates led by Rep. Danny Suarez sneer that the Lopezes deserve whatever is about to hit them.

Mrs. Arroyo adds to the din with baffling, baseless remarks. First, she incites industrialists to help her force Meralco to match electricity rates in Visayas-Mindanao. Then she orders state-owned Napocor to cut by half its pass-on charge of generated electricity to Meralco. She also wonders aloud why electricity rates are soaring in Luzon, where Meralco is the biggest retailer, when oil comprises only one percent of overall generating costs.

Mrs. Arroyo’s statements only frighten the businessmen she hoped to enlist. A President-led attack on the country’s biggest power firm means it’s open season on all other private enterprises. It also could hurt the bloc held by Garcia, consisting of mutual funds GSIS, SSS, Philhealth, and Pag-IBIG. Cutting Napocor rates would repeat the fiasco of 2002-2004, when Mrs. Arroyo similarly capped its rates. Napocor’s losses then ballooned to P1.2 trillion, a third of which came from the heady years, pulling down the peso and frazzling the fiscal situation. It had to take a hated 12-percent value-added tax to avert crisis. As for oil for generators being only a percent of Luzon costs, industry monitors fret over where the President gets her figures. Before world crude prices breached $100 a barrel, oil already formed four, not one, percent of generating costs.

And that leads to Napocor’s main generator fuel: coal. Luzon’s four coal-fired power plants produce 35 percent of kilowatt-hours. The dirty fuel accounts for 30 percent of generating costs. And since generation forms on average over 60 percent of consumers’ monthly electricity bill, coal is the real cause of high electricity prices.

Yet, not one of the admin pols now ranting against power costs is about to look at the coal mess. It would be too embarrassing for the Palace. For, presidential appointees at Napocor routinely have been buying coal at overprice, for billion-peso kickbacks. Worse, the Napocor crooks appear to be reporting to a lawmaker closely tied to Malacañang.

In 2007 they filched P877.5 million from five 65,000-ton shipments from April to August. The modus operandi employed top-level deceit. Napocor simply declared a coal shortage and the need for emergency imports to avert blackouts. It tripped the Luzon grid to prove its point, and then called for bids on too short notice so no supplier could conform. To repair the bidding failure, Napocor was “forced” to negotiate directly with Australia’s Hunter Valley Coal Corp., thru local agent Glencore Far East Philippines AG. The agreed price was $84 a ton (at P50:$1), when the going rate in Australia then was $30.

Consumerists sued Napocor president Cyril del Callar for graft. Implicated were VP-Bidding Carlos Guadarrama and two other bigwigs.

The Ombudsman had yet to act on the charges when Napocor again invoked coal shortage early this year. It rushed to buy three 65,000-ton shiploads from Indonesia’s PT Marsitero Marloan, thru skeleton company TransPacific Consolidated Resources Inc. in Manila. Guadarrama faxed TCRI an invitation to bid on Feb. 12 to Danarra Hotel Business Center, which the Quezon City hotel staff says had been shut since December. TCRI was formed only five months prior with P1 million capital, P62,500 paid up. Yet Del Callar awarded it a P956-million contract. TCRI’s price was $109.50 per ton (at P40.718:$1), when the going rate in Indonesia was $77. Total overprice: P258 million.

To pull the trick, Napocor always buys coal on emergency instead of storing up as told by the energy department. Notably, private generators Quezon Gas in Luzon and STEAG in Mindanao stockpiled recently for only P60 to P80 a ton. The hearing on Monday predictably will gloss over this. It will focus on Meralco’s electricity purchases from Lopez-owned generators. Napocor sleaze will be exempted from scrutiny, lest the powerful patron be exposed right there and then.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Solusyon sa trapik

2008-05-09T03:30:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Friday, May 9, 2008

TRAFFIC engineer pero asiwa sa traffic signs si Hans Monderman. Um, okey sa Dutch na ito ang karatulang speed limit o kaya papalapit na kurbada. Pero karamihan ng nakapaskel sa daan ay, sa isip niya, walang silbi. “Tanggalin lahat ng road signs,” aniya. “Gumawa tayo ng mga kalsadang tila peligroso, at titino ang pagmamaneho ng mga motorista.”

Ipinagmamalaki ni Monderman, isang civil engineer at traffic expert na animo’y psychologist at social engineer din, ang isang dati’y magulo’t maaksidenteng kanto sa bayan ng Drachten, population 40,000. Araw-araw, 20,000 kotse at libu-libo pang motorsiklo at bisikleta ang dumadaan sa naturang intersection, bukod pa sa mas maraming pedestrians. Nu’ng 2007 binunot ni Monderman ang mga walang-silbing babala sa kalye, ilaw-trapiko, at pedestrian lanes; pati bangketa binakbak. Ipinalit niya rito ang isang napaka-simpleng rotonda.

Walang road signs o speed limits, sidewalks o pedestrian lanes sa rotonda. Walang karatula ng kung sino’ng driver ang may right-of-way. Nakalilito ang porma, at ‘yon ang pakay ni Monderman. Aba’y natutong magbigayan ang mga motorista, at mag-ingat sa pagsagi sa naglalakad. Sa sulyapan lang ng mga mata, nagkakasundo na sila kung sino ang mauuna. Walang biglang preno o busina o bastos na senyas sa daliri.

Ani Monderman, hindi kayang ipatupad ng mga karatula ang gan’ung pag-uugali sa kalsada. Kailangan daw ipilit ‘yon sa disenyo o engineering ng kalsada. Ginagaya na ang tagumpay niya sa Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Spain, Britain at America.

Sa Christianfield, Denmark, inalis ang traffic signs at ilaw sa lahat nang malalaking kanto; bumaba sa isa mula tatlo kada taon ang namamatay sa aksidente. Sa Suffolk at Wilshire, England, binura ang lane markings sa gitna at gilid ng highways; bumagal ang takbo ng mga sasakyan. Sa West Palm Beach, Florida, ginawang one-way ang makikitid na two-lane streets; naging pasyalan ito ng pedestrians dahil hindi na kabado maglakad. Balik sa Holland, ipinalit ni Monderman ang magagandang fountain rotundas ang iba pang magugulong intersections. Mas mataas ang talsik ng fountain sa mas matrapik na pook. Kumalma ang mga tsuper at nagbigayan.

Focus being diverted from Napocor sleaze

2008-05-07T00:51:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, May 7, 2008

The mafia at the state-owned Napocor has done it again. It succeeded diverting attention from its billion-peso thievery as the real cause of soaring electricity rates. Congress was made busy reviewing the power sector law. Malacañang was sicced on private retailer Meralco. Meanwhile the Mafiosi are laughing their way to the bank.

They had pulled a fast one in April 2007. Claiming acute shortage of coal in four Napocor plants across Luzon, they contrived emergency imports to avert blackouts. On cue power tripped island-wide supposedly because the coal generators couldn’t run full capacity, straining two oil-fired ones. “Bidding” was held on too short a notice so no supplier could meet the deadline to submit quotations. This paved the way for a “failure of bid” and the opportunity for negotiated purchase. A deal was signed with Hunter Valley Coal Corp. of Australia, thru Glencore Far East Philippines AG, for an initial shipload of 65,000 metric tons. The contract price was $84 per ton (at P50:$1 exchange rate). Yet, the going rate in Australia then was only $30. It was overpriced by $54 per ton, or $3.51 million (P175.5 million) for the first shipment in April 2007. Napocor ordered four more similar shipments in July and August. Total overprice thus hit $17.55 million (P877.5 million).

Irate consumerists sued Napocor president Cyril del Callar before the Ombudsman for graft. Not only was machination obvious, the state firm’s managers also disobeyed the energy department’s long-standing order to stockpile on cheap coal. Also charged were Napocor VP-Logistics Eduardo Eroy, VP-Bidding Juan Carlos Guadarrama, and Mancom secretariat head Urbano Mendiola Jr.

The Joint Congressional Power Commission promised to investigate. Somewhere along the way it got distracted, though. Napocor management talked legislators into scrutinizing instead the rising cost of electricity for burdened homes and industries. Blame was put on lack of “open access” for factories and subdivisions to buy electricity from retailers of their choice. To date Napocor has privatized only a third of its plants, instead of all as obliged by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. The act programs open access to commence when Napocor sells off 70 percent. But Napocor now wants Congress to amend it to begin open access even at only 50 percent. Napocor Mafiosi scored double. Forestalled was the probe that could have exposed how much they’ve filched so far and who the patron is. Impending approval of a 50-percent threshold for open access also means they won’t have to speed up the sale of coal plants from which they make a killing.

Malacañang too was fooled to ignore the coal kickbacks. No less than Gloria Arroyo led the deceived. Pointing to Meralco as culprit, she asked businessmen to help her force Luzon’s biggest power distributor to match the lower charges in Visayas-Mindanao. Forgotten was that mostly cheap waterfalls run Visayas-Mindanao turbines. By contrast, coal makes up a third of Luzon’s electricity costs, so overpricing drives up Napocor’s pass-on rate to Meralco and other retailers. Overlooked too was that state-run mutual funds and a bank — GSIS, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, Land Bank — own 33 percent of Meralco. A President-led attack on Meralco would hurt the agencies. (GSIS boss Winston Garcia, leading that bloc in the Meralco board, is sharper in urging open books from the controlling Lopez clan.)

While nobody was looking, the Napocor mafia struck again early this year. Under the old modus operandi, it declared need for rush purchase of coal — a shipload of 65,000 metric tons for Pagbilao plant. One of the firms Guadarrama invited on February 12 to bid was PT Marsitero Marloan of Indonesia, represented in Manila by TransPacific Consolidated Resources Inc. Notably, TCRI was incorporated only in October 2007 with paltry P1-million authorized capital — P250,000 subscribed, P62,500 paid up. Listed address was Danarra Business Center, which the Quezon City hotel staff says has been closed since December.

Three days later PT Marsitero Marloan-TCRI won the “bidding” and was awarded the contract on February 19. Price: $109.50 per ton. Though bogus, TCRI was in for more good luck. On March 5 del Callar awarded it triple the original volume. The contract rose to $23,487,750 (P956,374,204.50) for three shiploads in March, April and June. Indonesian coal was selling then at $77 per ton. There was clear overpricing of $32.50 per ton, or a total of $6,337,500 (P258,050,325). Consumers are now paying for that sleaze, among many others.

* * *

As co-chair of congressional oversight, Rep. Mikey Arroyo should lead in investigating Napocor. But he’s been in America for the past two months. There, Ramon Tulfo wrote, he has four bodyguards and three housemaids each on $300 government per diem. That’s P88,200 a day, P5,292,000 in 60 days, for all seven.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Ospital sa Thailand abante kaysa Pinas

2008-05-06T00:48:00.001+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc , Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, May 6, 2008

NAG-E-MAIL si Francisco mula Thailand. Nabasa niya ang kolum ko nu’ng nakaraang linggo tungkol sa kakulangan ng x-rays sa Philippine General Hospital. Ikinumpara niya ang sitwasyon ng pangunahing tertiary hospital ng gobyernong Pilipinas sa naranasan niya sa Thunburi Public Hospital sa Bangkok.

Nagtatrabaho si Francisco sa Qatar at Thai ang misis. Nagkasakit siya sa trabaho at binigyang lunas ng isang linggo. Pero umuwi siya sa Bangkok kung saan mas tiwala siya sa mga doktor. Hindi siya nabigo.

Inasikaso agad ng doktor si Francisco. Sa loob lang ng isang oras, sa tulong ng nurses, na-check up siya nang husto kasama ang ultrasound at binigyan ng dalawang klaseng gamot. Maraming matatanda at ilang batang pasyente; lahat sila inasikaso agad ng mga nakangiting staff. Bago lumubog ang araw, nakaalis na silang mag-asawa para maghapunan. Malinis ang ospital, ani Francisco at moderno ang kagamitan.

Naalala ko tuloy nang mag-masters ang kamag-anak ko sa London. Nagkatigdas siya at itinakbo sa ospital. Inasikaso agad siya na animo’y British citizen. Pinauwi siya kinabukasan, pero binibisita sa bahay ng isang nurse tuwing makalawa nang sumunod na dalawang linggo. Libre lahat.

Dedicated at masipag ang doctors at nurses sa PGH. Kaso, hindi ito sinusuklian ng gobyerno ng tamang sahod at kumpletong kagamitan. Tulad ng sinulat ko, nasira ang x-ray machines dahil sa init (nang bumigay ang air-con dalawang buwan na ang nakalilipas). Iisa na lang ang natira sa Central Block, kaya nangailangang i-share ito ng emergency at inpatients.

Mahigit 640,000 pasyente ang dumudulog sa PGH kada taon. Isang milyong piso kada buwan ang kailangan para sa medical social services. Dalawampu hanggang isandaang taon na ang mga gusali at pasilidad. Kailangan nang palitan, kumpunihin at i-refurbish. Pero parating kulang sa pondo ang PGH. Umaasa sa donasyon ng pribadong sektor. Inaatupag ng pamahalaan ang pagnanakaw imbes na kalusugan ng madla. Kaya tuloy napag-iwanan na tayo ng Thailand na dati’y backward kaysa Pinas.

Cenizal nominated for National Artist

2008-05-05T01:05:00.001+08:00

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, May 5, 2008

Google-search “Josefino Cenizal” and onscreen will pop up 717 entries, a third of which have nothing to do with the musician. Type in “Hindi Kita Malimot,” a love song he wrote in 1939, and 8,500 articles will appear, including reviews and fond adaptations as concert or ad titles. “Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit” has 11,200 items, showing that the Christmas carol he composed (lyrics by Levi Celerio) is more known than him. But Cenizal doesn’t mind. Weightier for this prolific songwriter-arranger is that Filipinos enjoy the songs as their own. For his dozens of creations that reflect the Filipino character apart from entertaining the Pinoy soul, the Film Academy has nominated him for National Artist.

Cenizal’s works span seven decades. He began arranging and composing music for the movies at age 23 in 1937. He has served as pianist and music teacher, bandleader and musical director. To this day, at age 94, he is active in the music and movie industries, and sits as trustee in the Mowelfund (Movie Workers Welfare Fund), Filscap (Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the United Film Music Directors of the Philippines.

Cenizal best describes his music: “romantic, folksy.” Most are love songs, like “Pagsamo”, “Bakit Mo Nilimot”, “Agam-Agam”, “Wala Kang Kapantay”, “Silayan Mo Ako”, and “Tanging Pag-Ibig”. His balitaw is catchy, as in “Ang Paglalaba”, “Masaganang Kabukiran”, and “Amihan sa Bukid”. Daughter Moppet, herself into music and the arts, categorizes Cenizal’s works into two periods: the early movie era from 1936 to the 1960s, and the “modern ’60s” to the present. The first consists mostly of classic Filipino love songs, usually themes for the early movies. It was during the period that he wrote the music for “Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit”, which Celerio converted into a Christmas song. Cenizal’s first stint was making up the music for Malayan Films’ Nasaan Ka, Irog. Two years later he accepted the lead role with Raymunda Guidote in the movie Rosa Birhen, for which he wrote the theme “Hindi Kita Malimot”. Three directors took turns handling the shootings, but Cenizal ended up seeing to its completion and arranging the scoring. The dimpled, dashing young Cenizal became a star; his song, an instant hit.

The second period mirrors the pop beat and themes of the new era. This includes unpublished inspirations for Cenizal’s wife Olivia, the cinema star of the ’50s-’60s (recently deceased), and Moppet. He also wrote marches for the Rotary and Lions Clubs and top universities, and hymns to St. Paul and the St. Augustine Church in his hometown of Tanza, Cavite. Cenizal rehashed two earlier movie themes into Christmas tunes, “Simbang Gabi” and “Noche Buena”, favorites of the Mabuhay Singers in the ’70s and ’80s. Going strong in 1993, he wrote new pieces and jazzed up old ones into two albums produced by Dr. Demetrio Quirino. Among the interpreters of his songs were Olivia, Ruth Abao Espinosa, and Ayen Munji. Then there was “Nasaan Ka”, another carol in 1995, rendered by Diomedes Maturan. It was distinctive of the day, of two lovers separated at Yuletide by overseas work like millions of Filipinos.

Cenizal still composes on the piano. Sit him by his ebonies and ivories a few inspired moments with his grandchildren, and he’ll come up with ditties about Filipino life and times. Cenizal’s is a national treasure; his songs form part of cultural heritage.

* * *

Caloocan City Rep. Oscar Malapitan retorts to my piece last Friday:

“I will let justice take its course in the complaint against my son and others for the incident involving two minors. But info I received indicates that the minors did not complain of rape. They were apprehended for two curfew violations on two separate dates, but both were not touched. Then, a political rival of my son induced them to file a rape complaint. The father of one of the complainants gave that info to my son and sought help. The rival offered him (father) money to pursue an inexistent case. Even before any complaint reached the police, the Public Information Office of my political rival fed the news to tabloids on Apr. 25. The complaint with the police was lodged only on Apr. 26. That my rival has blown the incident out of proportion is plain from the fact that it was entered into the police blotter twice, the first at 12:38 a.m. and another at 8 p.m. of the same day. A formal complaint was lodged with the prosecutor only Apr. 30. I did not name my rival but surprisingly he made statements refuting his complicity thereof.”

* * *

It would be interesting to read what that father has to say, in case he swears by the alleged bribe for his young daughter to file a rape case. Until then, the word of the two girls stand, along with the medical report on their sexual injuries. Late complaining is not fraud. Meantime, the congressman’s son, brother and co-accused are presumed innocent.

* * *

E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

‘Sorry, napatay kita’

2008-05-05T01:01:00.000+08:00

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, May 5, 2008

SORRY na lang ba? ‘Yan ang mapait na tanong ng mga kaanak nina Andy Natividad, 50, at Vic Constantino, 30, na naipit at napatay sa bakbakan ng pulis at magnanakaw sa Maynila nu’ng Abril 23.

Nang mapatay ng pulis ang pitong lalaki at makasugat ng ika-walo, inanunsiyo agad nila na Waray-Waray gangsters ang mga nakasagupa sa Del Pan Bridge. Binigyan agad ng citations ang 23 officers. Pero di maitago ang katotohanan. Si Andy ay beer sales exec at si Vic ay company driver. Relyebo lang si Vic sa maysakit na regular driver ni Andy. Birthday niya nu’n kaya nag-blowout si Andy ng tanghalian. Pabalik na sila sa opisina nang mapagitna sa sagupaan ng pulis at lima lang, hindi walo, na holdup suspects. ‘Yung nasugatan ay tindero na naipit lang din sa crossfire.

Nag-sorry ang pamunuan ng pulisya sa dalawang angkan. Pero ikinaila agad nila na pulis ang nakapatay kina Andy at Vic. Kesyo raw binaril sila ng isang holdaper sa tangkang agawin ang pickup nila. Kesyo raw lumabas sila sa sasakyan para umiwas sa putukan, at binaril ng mga litong holdaper. Pero sa official report, sa likurang upuan natagpuan ang dalawang duguan; buo ang mga pinto’t bin-tana ng pickup bagamat flat ang isang gulong. Nagkokontrahan ang mga ulat ng pulisya. Kaya sabi ni Carla na anak ni Andy, namatay ang ama niya sa katangahan ng pulis.

Nakapagtataka pa ang autopsy report. Basag daw ang bungo ni Andy. Pumasok daw ang bala sa taas ng noo at, sa pababang trajectory, lumabas sa batok. Anang pinsang surgeon na si Dr. Dubarry Sioco, medico-legal expert, ibig sabihin nito ay nakaluhod o dapa si Andy nang barilin. Kaso walang tumatayong saksi sa katotohanan, aniya.

Lumabas pa ang katawa-tawang paraffin test sa mga pulis: Si Officer Harris lang, 23 ang positive sa powder burns. Imposible namang siya lang ang nakipagbarilan sa limang holdaper, pumatay kina Andy at Vic, at sumugat sa isa pang bystander. Ibig sabihin lang nito ay palpak ang paraffin test ng pulisya.

Pero sa bala malalaman ang katotohanan. Bakit ba hanggang ngayon ay wala pang ballistics matching ng mga balang nakuha sa katawan nina Andy at Vic at bore ng gun barrels ng mga pulis? May itinatago ba sila?