But ‘Las Vegas’ isn’t really wicked

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

Catholic bishops are opposing Pagcor’s planned “Entertainment City” on Roxas Boulevard because of the label “Las Vegas-type development.” It’s knee-jerk, and it needs correcting lest they begin to sound like the Taliban.

For the uninitiated, everything about Las Vegas is sinful: the topless Folies Bergere, gambling, prostitution, and more gambling. But truth is watching the Parisian cabaret show is restrictive (be at least 18 years old) and prohibitive ($150 per head). The many phone-number billboards of escorts or room dancers give an impression that prostitution abounds; call and be prepared for a female undercover cop to arrive. And gambling is no longer the top earner of Las Vegas; entertainment accounts for 75 percent of business revenues.

Casino operators have long learned that serious gambling is only for an obstinate few, but most visitors would try a few coins on the slots then leave. The real money is in family entertainment: music, theater, arcades, circus, carnival rides, variety and techno shows, art galleries, novelties, etc. That’s why Caesar’s Palace booked Celine Dion in weekend shows for five years at billions of dollars in fees and construction of her own concert hall. That’s why other casinos entice families in with Broadway hits, lion tamers, magicians, video games or rollercoasters. That’s why even Macao, haven of hardcore gamblers, is tapping managers from Las Vegas to transform it into an entertainment hub.

Pagcor chairman Efraim Genuino aims to replicate Las Vegas’ success — 75:25 ratio of entertainment to gaming — via Entertainment City. Into 90 hectares of reclaimed land from Manila Bay beside the SM Mall of Asia, he has been working for seven years to interest foreign investors to build Las Vegas-type family-fun structures and facilities. Every time I bump into him, it’s the only thing he ever talks about, always ebulliently. He has it all down pat — how Entertainment City will employ 250,000 people, boost tourism, earn dollars. And from recent news on groundbreaking rites, his dream is about to come true, although scaled down from $20 billion to $15 billion to construct, and renamed “Bagong Nayong Pilipino (New Pilipino Village)”.

Three retired bishops blessed the occasion. But on reading about it, a fourth one declared that if he had his way he’d have them sanctioned by the Bishops Conference. For, anything remotely linked to Las Vegas is wicked. Hopefully he doesn’t ape Afghanistan’s old mullahs in smashing TV sets, billboards picturing women, and ancient Buddhist statues.

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Quietly but relentlessly the Free Rural Eye Clinics battles blindness among indigents in Northern Luzon. Founding ophthalmologist Guillermo de Venecia scours the barrios for patients blind in both eyes because too poor to afford cataract or other surgeries. Volunteer American and Filipino docs assist in the free operations, totaling 23,062 since 1979, at a two-story eye hospital in San Fabian, Pangasinan. At one point Zambales was adjudged cataract-free due to FREC’s charity work. The World Health Organization replicated the group’s best practices in Central Africa.

Behind every operation lies a human drama. One beggar was at first hesitant to have cataracts removed, lest people stop giving alms, but landed gainful work afterwards. A cornea procedure on a girl blind since birth enabled her to see 20:15; she’s now an honor student. An old couple, totally blind, held hands like young lovers upon seeing saw each other again for the first time in ten years, after their first of two cataract eliminations.

Donations are stretched to assist the most number of needy patients. Business exec Albert del Rosario, former ambassador to the US, chairs that job, with trustees Sec. Alberto Romulo, Oscar de Venecia, Marta de Venecia, Rod Feliciano, Magnolia Oviedo, Voltaire Arzadon, and Ralph Valenzuela. Dr. Antonio Say and Alfred Li of Tzu Chi Foundation also bring volunteers and equipment. Not counting the peso value of donated medical services, facilities and supplies, FREC spent P1,037,500 for operations last year, or about P1,000 for each of the little over a thousand patients.

Since January FREC has done 863 free surgeries. Next set of operations is on the last week of April.

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Pete M. from Cainta, Rizal, wrote: “I cannot help but react, incited by a discourteous aside posted below your Apr. 7 column (Internet edition). We read and follow your crusade for good government, transparency and accountability. Do not be discouraged by malicious remarks of attack dogs of those you’ve been hitting for misdeeds, corruption and lying. Together we will fight them because we know we are on the side of truth. Time will come when the Lord Jesus Himself will intervene and render justice to the Filipino through the Holy Spirit, who assures us that “in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, those He has called according to His purpose.” So please don’t stop writing about Hello Garci, Jocjoc fertilizer scam, NBN-ZTE deal, Comelec automation scam, rice import overpricing — until all these issues are brought to a just conclusion. Ika nga ng isang TV newscaster, huwag natin ‘tatantanan’.”

Yes, readers know: behind those slurs are the Malacañang thieves that I continue to expose.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Saklolo: OFW sa Singapore

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

NAGMAMALASAKIT si Jessie Torres bilang best friend. Naka­ku­long kasi si Mark J. Laguerta sa Singapore sa salang pag­patay sa kapwa overseas Filipino worker nu’ng Feb. Ginaga­bayan ni Torres ang mga magulang ni Mark sa paghingi ng tulong upang masiguro ang mabuting kala­ga­yan sa piitan. Pinun­tahan na nila ang Department of Foreign Affairs at si Vice President Noli de Castro.

Hindi pa rin humihinto si Jessie. Ipinasabi kasi ni Mark sa misis niya, na nagtatrabaho rin sa Singapore, kung puwe­­deng ipa­alam sa iba pang tao ang kanyang sitwas­yon. Nais lang ni Mark ng patas na paglilitis. Kabado siyang mapagkaitan ng hustisya dahil nasa dayuhang bansa.

Heto ang panawagan ni Jessie: “Nagmamakaawa po ako sa inyo na matulungan ang kaibigan ko. Limang buwang buntis ang asawa sa unang anak nila. Bukod sa walang kasama ang mga magulang, karaniwang tao lang sila — na ngayo’y may ga­nito kabigat na problema sa anak. Hindi ko na igigiit na walang kasalanan si Mark. Sumu­­suporta lang po ako sa mithi niyang fair trial. — Jesus Torres, Natural Soap Chandler, 8006 Honrades St., Makati, 8991204 o 0918-5291741, thelittlebluepoet@yahoo.com.”

Hindi binanggit ni Jessie, pero malamang ay nasaisip nila ni Mark ang sinapit ni Flor Contemplacion. Isa ring OFW sa Singapore si Flor na kinasuhan sa pagpatay sa kap­wa OFW na si Delia Maga at alaga nitong batang si Nicho­las Huang nu’ng 1991. Walang suspect ang tatay ni Nicholas, pero napag-alaman ng pulis na si Flor sa pama­magitan ng diary ni Delia. Sa interrogation, inamin umano ni Flor ang pag­­sakal sa dalawa. Hanggang sa huli, hindi itinatwa ni Flor ang ikinumpisal. Pati mga taga-RP embassy ay nani­wala sa pag-amin niya. At sinenten­siya­han siya na ibitay nu’ng 1995.

Bago ang pagbitay, lumitaw ang dalawang kapwa yaya nina Flor at Delia. Tumestigo sila na ang tunay na puma­tay kay Delia ay ang tatay ni Nicholas, sa galit sa pagpa­baya nitong ma­lunod sa bathtub ang epileptic na alaga. Isinang­kot lang anila ang inosenteng si Flor. Hindi pinani­walaan ng korte ang dalawang Filipina. Ibinitay pa rin si Flor.

Hindi na nalaman ng mga Pilipino kung patas ang da­yu­hang korte.

No transparency, no accountability

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, April 7, 2008

Quite expectedly Malacañang refuses to disclose who got P2.2 billion in piggery loans last year from state-owned Quedancor. The stand is not surprising, since the Arroyo admin has always been opaque anyway in financial dealings. What will astound Filipinos is if the executive suddenly turned truthful.

Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol is so adept at it that he can look people straight in the eye while uttering his spiel. As rural lender, he claims, Quedancor operates like a bank and so is subject to secrecy laws. Supposedly like in any bank, deposit records may not be disclosed except on court order. “Quedancor would be liable to the borrowers if it publishes their names without their permission,” he fibs.

One begins to suspect the reason Apostol is twisting the facts is that he needs to hide something. Like, he or a kin is a recipient of a behest loan from Quedancor. Why else would he strive to fool people into believing the agency is a bank, when it’s a mere conduit of rural credit from real banks like DBP or LBP? Why else would he pretend that Quedancor has any depositor at all who must be kept secret? And why else would he invoke secrecy for liable borrowers of government money?

Does Apostol even know the transparency rule of the Constitution, the charter he wanted to “reform” in 2005 via a no-election proviso? Section 28 of Article II (Declaration of Principles and State Policies) clearly states: “Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.” The aim is so plain, save for the fiend who studied the law the better to destroy it.

Full disclosure goes hand in hand with other principles and policies:

• that “sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them” (Sec. 1);

• that “the State recognizes the vital role of communication and information in nation building (Sec. 24); and

• that “the State shall maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and effective measures against graft and corruption” (Sec. 27).

The truthfulness rule radiates as well from the Bill of Rights (Art. III). Sec. 7 requires: “The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded to citizens, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.”

Apostol is not the law. Neither is his twisted presentation.

But his hiding the truth is not new. Only his method is. The Arroyo admin has employed various other means.

In the “Hello Garci” CD, the tactic was a TV apology. Admitted were unfitting calls by a reelectionist President to her Comelec nominee, but only to conceal graver vote rigging and kidnapping. In the jueteng exposé, bribes were used to make witnesses recant from naming the First Family as vice protectors. The flip-flop lasted only till the hush money ran out, though. In the P782-million fertilizer electioneering scam, agriculture office bagman Jocjoc Bolante was made to flee to America from prying senators. By the way, he and his bosses in that nationwide faking of fertilizer doles partly are to blame for today’s rice scarcity and high prices.

In the NBN-ZTE scam, official obfuscation reached new heights. At first DOTC officials kept mum about a $330-million deal whose signing Gloria Arroyo herself witnessed. Then they mumbled they couldn’t show the contract because the only two copies were stolen from a Chinese hotel room moments after the signing. When journalists and telecom competitors urged document disclosure, the officials tried to link them to the concocted theft. They caused the firing of an anti-graft researcher, the wiretapping of whistleblowers, the intimidation of journalists.

As senators persisted in investigating, the entire Cabinet joined the coverup. Some snubbed the hearings by invoking an E.O. 464 that the Supreme Court already had deemed wrong; others blatantly lied under oath. Witnesses were kidnapped or slurred by admin propagandists. They even got justices to declare, against plain Constitutional provisions, that a President’s executive privilege outweighs the people’s right to know. Their justices said further that, although half the Senate stays at the end of each term, it is not a continuing chamber and must thus republish its rules before holding any hearing.

In the wake of that ruling, Malacañang snorted it will no longer send executive officials to Senate inquiries. Obviously it had more things to hide. The Senate was to look into Malacañang’s seismic pact to let China explore RP’s undersea oil and gas resources — against the Constitution. Malacañang cannot allow such probe and be made accountable.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Pruweba ng katiwalian sa pag-angkat ng bigas

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

PILIT pinabubulaanan ng mga manunuya ng admin ang ulat na kickbacks sa pag-angkat ng bigas. Pero records na mismo ang nagsasalita.

Umamin mismo ang admin na gumasta ng $707 per metric ton ng bigas-Vietnam nu’ng Marso. Di raw halos nagbabago ang presyo nitong mga nakaraang taon. Batay sa $707 pmt, bibili pa raw ang admin mula sa Vietnam ng 2 milyong tonelada, sa kabuuang $1.414 bilyon o P58.7 bilyon.

Madaling i-check ang totoong presyo sa Vietnam. I-Google-search lang ang “Vietnam rice export price.” Isa sa mga unang artikulong lilitaw sa screen ay mula sa pahayagang online VietNamNet, petsa Mar. 6, 2008. Ang huling presyo raw ay $430-$460 pmt, at tumaas na raw ito nang $50-$70 mula Feb. at 53% mula parehong petsa nu’ng nakaraang taon.

Isa pang artikulo sa VietNamNet, petsa Aug. 10, 2007, ay nag-ulat noon na tumaas na ang presyong export sa $305-$307 pmt ng 5% broken rice, at $209 pmt ng 25% broken. “FOB HCM” lahat ito, ibig sabihin freight on board o presyong kargado na sa barko sa Ho Chi Minh City. Iba pang artikulo, parehong mabababang presyo.

I-Google-search din ang “Thailand rice export price,” at di naglalayo ang presyo sa pinaka-malaking exporter ng bigas. Anang ulat ng Oryza nu’ng Apr. 3, 2008, nag­simula ang linggo sa presyong $620-$625 pmt ng Thai Grade B, $610-$615 ng 5% broken, at $660-$670 ng medyo luto. FOB rin ito, at umano’y mas mataas na nang $40-$50 kaysa naunang linggo.

Kaya, bakit gumasta ang admin ng $707 pmt ng bigas-Vietnam na mas mura nitong mga nakaraang linggo? Tiyak may kumita, at kikita pa muli — ng $600 milyong kickback mula $300 pmt sa 2 milyong tonelada.

Bakit nakaka-export ng bigas ang Thailand, Vietnam at Indonesia, samantalang kapos ang RP ng 2 milyong tonelada kada taon mula pa nu’ng dekada-’90? Klaro na ang rason ay kickback. Sa ilalim ng Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, naglaan ang Kongreso ng $145 bilyon para sa pananim. Wala ring paglago sa rice productivity. Kasi sinayang lang ang pondo sa kalokohan, para patuloy ang rice imports at kickbacks.