Bagman

By Rey O Arcilla
August 18, 2009
Malaya Opinion

---

MS. Arroyo’s chief mouthpiece, who is unable to tell the difference between a "simple" meal and a gourmet repast with caviar and a $510/bottle of champagne to boot, said he will no longer "glamorize" (I think he meant "dignify") criticisms of the two dinners savored by Ms. Gloria Arroyo and members of her entourage in New York and Washington.

Well, how about three dinners?

Congressman Danilo Suarez revealed there was a third dinner enjoyed by the entourage which also cost a bundle. (Suarez claimed to have paid for the $15,000 dinner in Washington. Of course, nobody believed him.)

"Perhaps, even that, the papers might discover," he said.

Indeed. My spy in New York said the third dinner was also held at Le Cirque, a high-priced French cuisine restaurant. He said at least a total of 50 people feasted at Le Cirque for two nights running.

My spy also said Arroyo’s suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel cost $3,500/night and $950/night each for the 60 rooms occupied by the entourage in the same hotel. That’s a whopping $181,500 (P8,712,000) for three nights for hotel rooms in New York alone. How about those in Washington?

My spy reported as well that several stretch limousines were rented for three days for the party.

But the most revealing of all was my spy’s report that all the expenses in New York were actually charged to the consulate general which, he claimed, might result in the staff’s salaries and allowances being delayed once again. Evidently, the costs of Arroyo’s past forays in the Big Apple were also charged to the consulate general. (NOTE: As this piece was being written, the consul general in New York said nothing was charged to her office. Yeah… right.)

***

An Arroyo junior mouthpiece who is obviously still wet behind the ears, said: "We get hurt, of course, because they are attacking our president and the presidency. In other countries, they respect the president and the presidency. They put them in high esteem."

In other countries, my dear fellow, they don’t have someone like Arroyo as president. Critics attack Arroyo, the person, because of her misguided ways and what she has done to the presidency. It was she who has been disrespecting the office through her abusive and corrupt ways. Get it?

The junior mouthpiece also reportedly said that the money spent on Arroyo’s trips abroad (P2.7 billion so far, according to COA) is "but a tiny fraction of the billions of pesos she has committed, and will continue to commit, to the alleviation of hunger and amelioration of poverty in our country."

Huh? Do those billions of pesos belong to her personally? Aren’t they government funds intended specifically for the benefit of our people?

How dumb!

***

Who is Remedios "Medy" Poblador? Media reports say she is the bagman and, therefore, closest (?) confidante of Ms. Arroyo. She was among those brought by the latter to the Oval Office of US President Barack Hussein Obama, allegedly at the expense of DND secretary Gilberto Teodoro. Or was it Finance chief Margarito Teves?

Poblador who carries the title of Presidential Assistant on Special Concerns (quite apt if reports of her relationship with Arroyo are true) was reportedly dispatched by Arroyo to Syria direct from New York.

The Philippine Star front-paged a picture of Poblador being received by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Poblador must have been given a very important brief by Arroyo for a minor functionary like her to be received by Assad no less.

Could it possibly have anything to do with the fairly recent presence of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) owned by Enrique Razon, a known Arroyo ally, in the seaport city of Tartous in that Middle Eastern country? Just asking.

It will be recalled that when Ms. Arroyo went to Brazil last June, she made a "secret" side trip to Colombia. From there, she proceeded to Brazil where she made a quick stopover at the port city of Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco, before going to Brasilia for the official start of her state visit.

Well, it so happens that ICTSI operates the Port of Buenaventura in Aguadulce Peninsula, Colombia and the Suape Container Terminal in Pernambuco, Brazil.

Coincidence? Your guess is as good as mine.

ICTSI also operates and controls major container terminals in Indonesia, China, Argentina, Poland, Madagascar, Japan, Georgia, Ecuador and Brunei.

***

Now that she has only ten months left of her stolen presidency, Arroyo suddenly decides to buy a presidential jet.

My goodness, the woman never ceases to spring surprises.

It is not the right time to buy one. The economy is bad, per Finance Secretary Teves himself. Many people are going hungry.

She talks about effecting economy and safety with a presidential jet. She should have thought of that soon after she was bitten by the travel bug and embarked on her 50-odd foreign trips, many of which were junkets.

Economizing could be done by first, cutting down on junkets between now and June 2010; second, drastically trimming down her entourage; and third, no more $15,000 and $20,000 "simple" meals.

I get the impression that Arroyo wants a brand new presidential jet now so that she can enjoy its luxuries before she steps down. I do not believe for one moment she’s doing it because she wants to cut costs, or for her successor to have one. If it was up to her, she wouldn’t even have anyone replacing her. (NOTE: Arroyo cancelled the order for the plane as this piece was being written.)

***

Twenty-three valiant government troops lost their lives and scores were injured when they were ambushed by some MILF rebels in Basilan last week.

And the government still wants to engage the MILF in peace talks? With Malaysia as facilitator?! Get real naman!

The government troops reportedly outnumbered the rebels 2 to 1. So how come they had, proportionately, more casualties?

I hope it has nothing to do at all with shortage of ammunition.

It will be recalled that Defense chief Teodoro cancelled the award to the winning bidder who would supply ammunition to the military. The courts ruled against Teodoro’s decision. The cancellation of the award has resulted in the delay of supplying our troops with much-needed ammos.

That the rebels have more modern and superior weapons is, of course, well known.

***

I do not buy former NEDA director general Ralph Recto’s stated reason for resigning – that "NEDA does not need a leader who is also a job applicant"…. that he was letting go of his post because he felt that being NEDA chief was a full-time job which he could not give justice to if he was preparing for an election campaign. (Recto has declared his intention to run for senator next year.)

I think he was asked to leave, fired if you will. The remarks of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita were a dead giveaway. He said Recto was no great loss to the Cabinet.

Recto’s first mistake was tangling with one of the most "influential" of Ms. Gloria Arroyo’s cabinet members, former DILG, DENR and now Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Reyes has never been confirmed in his past and present positions by the Commission on Appointments. He is known for reasons other than being effective in his job. But Arroyo keeps reappointing him. If that is not "influence" I don’t know what is.

The second, and probably bigger, mistake Recto made was when he voiced his opposition to the Laiban Dam project. He said it was done in "haste" and "lacked transparency". He also described as "illegal and immoral" a take-or-pay provision in the proposed deal between the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and would-be operator San Miguel Bulk Water Co., Inc., an affiliate of giant San Miguel Corporation. Does he not see or know the obvious cozy relationship between Arroyo and the number one crony of President Marcos, Danding Cojuangco?

I think Recto committed another mistake by not being forthright about the reason for his leaving the Cabinet. Had he done so, he would have had his ticket to joining the Senate again. He would have rid himself of the stigma of being an Arroyo lackey which, I maintain, is a kiss of death for most everyone aspiring to win a Senate seat or the presidency.

Of course, his stated reason for quitting made him look like someone with delicadeza – unlike some of his ertswhile Cabinet colleagues who are using their respective positions as a bully pulpit and source of funds to promote their candidacies, declared or otherwise.

***

The Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations headed by Mr. Hilario Davide, former Supreme Court chief justice who administered the oath of office to Ms. Arroyo in 2001, has standing instructions to look out for a job opening within the UN system for Senator Miriam D. Santiago.

After her failed bid for a seat in the International Court of Justice, the Mission reportedly looked at the post of director general of the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, then at the post of Rector of the UN University in Tokyo. Apparently, neither one worked out.

Now, Santiago says she has been recommended by Arroyo to the position of UN Deputy Secretary General for Internal Audit. I tried getting confirmation from the DFA and the Mission on the matter. No one seems to know or is willing to talk about it.

I then checked the UN website. There is no such position. However, there is an Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). Its head has Under-Secretary General rank, not Deputy Secretary General.

The General Assembly resolution creating the OIOS provides that the officeholder "shall be an expert in the fields of accounting, auditing, financial analysis and investigations, management, law or public administration." Further, he "shall be appointed by the Secretary General, following consultations with Member States and approved by the General Assembly" and "with due regard for geographic rotation". He "shall serve for one fixed term of five years without possibility of renewal."

The incumbent is Mrs. Inga-Britt Ahlenius of Sweden whose five-year term will end on 14 July 2010. She was the former auditor general of Sweden.

Santiago would be well-advised to first decide for herself if she is qualified for the job. She should also ask the DFA to find out if the UN mandatory retirement age of 62 would be applicable to her. I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be disappointed again should she find out later that she does not qualify for the post.

***

There are 316 days left before the end on 30 June 2010 of Ms. Arroyo’s stolen presidency, courtesy of "Garci", et al.

***