Congress pork barrel to land in FG’s hands

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Monday, February 4, 2008

Diverse self-interests of the plotters intertwine to depose Speaker Jose de Venecia today. There’s the ambition of wannabe substitute Rep. Prospero Nograles to seize the fourth highest office in the land. There’s the expansion by Kampi leaders Interior Sec. Ronnie Puno and Rep. Luis Villafuerte of the party’s influence preparatory to the 2010 polls. And there’s the revenge of the Arroyos — Reps. Mikey and Dato, sons of President Gloria Arroyo, and Rep. Iggy, her brother-in-law — for de Venecia’s son Joey’s linking of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo to the ZTE bribery.

Support for either the plotters or de Venecia will depend on another abiding interest: the pork barrel. It is that primary source of income — and sleaze — in Congress that will impel congressmen to go along with or resist de Venecia’s ouster.

Congressmen spend millions of pesos running for office in order to get their hands on the P70-million yearly pork each. They may intone lofty aims for the money and pretend to not have any control over its spending, but they make kickbacks from it. That is why it is paramount whether the head of the House of Reps can get the loot released smoothly to them from the budget office. And because the budget office is under the executive, the President’s endorsement is crucial in their selection.

From de Venecia’s Thursday meeting with Mrs. Arroyo came news that the latter was backing the former. Word was that the President would tell the three Arroyo congressmen to steer clear of the ouster moves. De Venecia intimated that Mrs. Arroyo prefers status quo. All he had to do to keep his post was prevent Joey from further talking about the $200-million overpricing in the $330-million ZTE contract.

That set congressmen thinking of their pork — and vacillating over their choice of Speaker. De Venecia’s close allies, like Rep. Amelia Villarosa, agonized the most. De Venecia had created a fourth Deputy Speakership just for her. The position soon brought her to higher position in Kampi and closeness to Mrs. Arroyo as favorite traveling companion. Villarosa was reported to have signed a Kampi-led resolution of no confidence in de Venecia. But the latter said she has called him thrice to convey support. If de Venecia remains as Speaker, he naturally would replace all House officers and committee chairmen who went against him. Priority of pork releases would change.

Last weekend Villafuerte said Mrs. Arroyo had given no order to her congressmen-kin to stand down. On cue Rep. Mikey twitted de Venecia for “hiding under the skirt” of his mom the President. They claimed that all members of Kampi, Liberal Party and Nationalist People’s Coalition, plus half party-list reps would vote for Nograles. Supposedly 134 of them had signed the anti-de Venecia resolution, well above the 121 needed to elect a new Speaker.

The joke may be on them. It’s one thing to dislike de Venecia; it’s another to replace him with a proxy of the Arroyos. From the start Nograles had banked on the three congressmen for his Speakership dream. Only they know what the quid pro quo is. But it’s safe to assume that it has to do with pork — the language of congressmen.

The annual House pork is all of P16.73 billion for 239 congressmen. With Nograles as surrogate Speaker, control over that amount would land in the hands of the Arroyos — including First Gentleman Mike. That would make their family truly the most powerful in the land — with Mrs. Arroyo in charge of the executive and the other Arroyos lording over the House.

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Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez acted swiftly on the reported P14-million secret wealth of a former Pasay City treasurer. The anti-graft chief has suspended from office Ofelia Oliva, who was serving as city treasurer of Calamba. The six-month forced leave came only days after I cited Oliva as example of how lifestyle checks on officials can net potential grafters.

Superiors had pried into Oliva’s accumulated assets since she joined the government two decades ago. Unearthing real estate, cars, frequent travels and house rentals she cannot afford on a modest government pay, they sought her removal. The suspension is to prevent Oliva from using her position to deter a case buildup. Gutierrez gave her ten days to contest it.

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To the pseudonymous e-mailer who has been sending veiled threats as feedback to my column on The STAR Internet Edition:

If your aim is to scare me, it’s not working, although you do upset some readers.

You e-mail threats whenever I write about the national broadband scam. That means you’re doing it on behalf of the powerful officials who were exposed as $200-million kickbackers. In effect, you’ve put them on record as the culprits if something does happen to me.

Pork barrel ng Kamara mapapasakamay ni FG

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

SAMU’T SARING pansariling interes ang naghahalo sa planong pagbagsak na Kampi kay Speaker Joe de Venecia ngayong araw. Nariyan ang ambisyon ni Rep. Prospero Nograles na humalili sa ika-4 na pinakamataas na puwesto sa bansa. Nariyan ang pakay nina Kampi chairman at Interior Sec. Ronnie Puno, at president Rep. Luis Villafuerte na palawakin ang impluwensiya ng partido bilang paghahanda sa 2010 national-local election. At nariyan ang paghihiganti ng mga Arroyo — sina Reps. Mikey at Dato na anak ni Presidente Gloria Arroyo, at Rep. Iggy na bayaw niya — dahil sa pagsangkot ng anak ni Speaker de Venecia na si Joey III kay First gentleman Mike Arroyo sa mga anomalya sa ZTE deal.

Pero ang pagsuporta sa kanila (o kay de Venecia) ng mga kongresista mula sa iba’t ibang distrito at partido ay batay lang sa iisang punto: Ang pork barrel.

Tig-P70 milyon kada taon ang pork barrel ng mga kongre­sista — o P16.73 bilyon para sa 239 mambabatas. (Bukod pa ang tig-P200 milyon ng bawat senador.) Ang importante para sa mga kongresista ay kung sinong pinuno ang makakapagpa-release ng pondo nila mula sa Department of Budget and Management. Pananatilihin nila si De Venecia o ipapalit si Nograles batay sa kakayahang ‘yan. At dahil ang DBM ay nasa ilalim ng ehekutibo, mabigat ang pasya ng Presidente kung sino ang pina­paboran sa dalawa.

Sa pulong nina De Venecia at Mrs. Arroyo nu’ng Huwe­bes, napaulat na ipinangako raw ng huli ang suporta para sa una. Dagdag pa, paaatrasin daw ni Mrs. Arroyo ang mga kamag-anak sa pagpapatalsik kay De Venecia.

Kung gan’un, e di mananatili sa puwesto si De Venecia. Patahimikin lang niya ang anak tungkol sa ZTE scam, e kampante na siya.

Maraming ayaw kay De Venecia. Pero isipin na lang nila kung si Nograles na manok nina Mike, Iggy, Mikey at Dato Arroyo ang maging Spealer. Aba’y magiging tuta siya ng pinaka-makapangyarihang angkan sa bansa. Mapapasakamay ng mga Arroyo ang P16.73 bilyong pork ng Kamara. Sila ang magdidikta kung kanino ire-release at kung para saan.

Why are they hiding info if NBN is clean?

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Friday, February 1, 2008

Gathering info on the broadband scam is like pulling teeth. Senators are finding this out as key witnesses snub summonses to hearings. Evasion is the name of the game. Defying an arrest order, Sec. Romy Neri insists he has testified enough for 11 hours. Comelec chief Ben Abalos groused after attending once that he would never return for another roasting. Same with Transport and Communication boss Larry Mendoza, and deputies Lorenzo Formoso and Elmer Soñeja. Though recuperating from surgery, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo flew to Europe against doctor’s advice the day he was invited. Even Chinese ZTE Corp. imposed on senators product secrecy to stop them from comparing its overprices with true industry rates.

So now even a minor official thinks it proper to ignore a subpoena he himself asked for. Jun Lozada, a state-firm CEO touted to know everything including who got how much kickback, promised two senators he would bare all if questioned. And then he promptly flew to Hong Kong.

“It’s okay for them to take us senators for a ride, that is our lookout if we let them,” Jamby Madrigal muses. “But they have a responsibility to our people. They should at least show good faith by being open.”

“They”, of course, are public officials, or the spouse of one, or a firm that bagged a colossal $330-million deal that Filipinos would repay. Hence the constitutional rule of transparency binds them, if not the moral duty to tell the truth. Their refusal reveals a pattern. It raises a nagging question too: if the DOTC-ZTE deal is above board as they claim it to be, then how come they’re shunning inquiries?

Neri at first swore that Abalos offered him P200 million to back the DOTC-ZTE deal as economic secretary. That revelation showed fraud that must be averted — and yet he ended his testimony there. Pressed to narrate what transpired later, he merely said he reported the bribery to President Gloria Arroyo, who only allegedly said not to accept it. He then invoked executive privilege to skip retelling under oath what he already spread to the press: that Arroyo had made him endorse the deal in spite of the dirt. (But since Arroyo still stood as witness at the DOTC-ZTE contract signing, did not Neri in effect incriminate her for approving a deal that contained at least P200-million sleaze?)

Abalos could only deny Neri’s detailed accounts of lobbying for ZTE. Citing golf etiquette, he said it was all right to accept travel freebies from the Chinese telecom execs. And upon resigning the next day he said he no longer could be forced as a private citizen to testify.

Mendoza et al failed in earlier hearings to justify an exclusive government broadband network. That simply meant they must try and try again until they convince the lawmakers who will approve the funding of $330 million. Yet they snubbed Wednesday’s resumption. Mendoza only fired off a press release berating senators for having whistle-blowing rival Joey de Venecia III scrutinize the DOTC-ZTE figures.

Extracting info was impossible from the start. What rankled Joey in Mar. 2007 was Mendoza’s refusal to tell him why his superior offer was not being read. Soñeja kept writing him that his submissions were inadequate, but couldn’t say why. Pressed later to reveal the Apr. 21 contract, Formoso claimed in June it had been stolen hours after the signing, perhaps by Joey and this writer. (Sen. Panfilo Lacson later debunked the theft story to be a hoax — an excuse to hide the onerous contract. Other harassments of this writer need not be retold.)

Lozada is unique. He had promised Lacson he would not lie under oath, so senators had better subpoena him. He even said he would resign as CEO of a state firm, so he would not be bound by an Arroyo edict barring executive officials from testifying in Congress without her consent. He had big stories to tell, like how lobbyists divvied up a $70-million advance from the Chinese and that soldiers’ housing would be ditched to give way to the $300-million repayment. His conscience can’t take it, he said.

But when his name came up in newspapers, Lozada caved in from death threats and blandishments. Handed by superiors antedated travel orders and official clearances, he flew to Hong Kong two hours before he was to testify. Lacson has yet to be told of his new intentions.

Arguably courage varies from person to person, so senators must understand Lozada’s plan to first hide his family. In which case, they might as well find out too: why do witnesses have to secure their families to serve the country? Are we at war? Isn’t it like the Japanese invasion, when able-bodied men first ensured their families’ food supply before enlisting in the army?

Sitwasyong 80/20

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Stra Ngayon, Friday, February 1, 2008

“ANG mahahalagang bagay ay di dapat iniilalim ng mahi­hinang bagay,” ani Goethe, ang makata’t imbentor na Aleman, nu’ng mga 1800. Makalipas ang isang siglo, natuklasan ng ekonomistang Italyanong si Pareto, habang sinusuri ang yaman ng Uropa, na mayorya pala ng lupain at kita ay nasa kamay ng minorya ng populasyon. Para eksakto, 20% lang na mayayaman ang may hawak ng 80% ng kayamanan.

Ayon sa kuwento, natuklasan ni Pareto ang “prinsip­yong 80/20” sa iba pang bansa at sa ibang panahon. Aba’y pati sa hardin niya’y napansin niyang 20% lang ng munggo ang bumubunga ng 80% ng ani. Mula noon, marami pang natuklasang kahalintulad ang researchers: 20% ng kriminal ang naghahasik ng 80% ng krimen; 20% ng motorista ang nagtatala ng 80% ng aksidente; 20% ng mag-aasawa ang nauuwi sa 80% ng hiwalayan; 20% ng sahig ang tinatamaan ng 80% ng gasgas; 20% ng mga kalye ang dinadaanan ng 80% ng trapik; 20% ng mga produkto ang nagbibigay ng 80% ng problema; at 20% nga ng mga kliyente ang nagpapasok ng 80% ng tubo ng kompanya.

Marami pang nailista nitong nakaraaang limang taon: 20% ng damit sa closet ay nasusuot 80% ng okasyon; 20% ng manginginom ay umuubos sa 80% ng beer; at 20% lang ng sales force ang nag-uuwi ng 80% ng benta. Maaring ikaw mismo ay makapansin ng iba pang “80/20”.

Pinayo ni Richard Koch sa librong “Prinsipyong 80/20: Lihim ng Tagumpay sa Konting Kilos,” dapat magsanay tayong pansinin lang ang mga konting mahahalagang bagay at huwag nang mag-abala sa maliliit. Sa ganu’ng paraan, matututo tayong tingnan ang gubat imbis na mga puno.

Mahirap ‘yon ugaliin, batid nina Kristine at Richard Carlson sa libro nilang “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” Pero mariing payo nila na huwag tayo magpapadala, mag­papagalit, magpapalungkot, magpapasira, o magpa­pagamit sa mga walang kapararakang tao, bagay o sitwasyon. Sayang lang daw ang oras at pawis sa maliliit o mahihina. Hindi naman ito ang nagpapaikot sa mundo.

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Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com