Business Insight
from MALAYA
http://www.malaya.com.ph/05242010/busicircuit.html
Sometime in the 1990s, the Iglesia ni Cristo expressed interest in acquiring a huge tract of land from the University of the Philippines where the Ayala IT buildings now sit. It turned out that the land was earlier acquired by a certain Mallari, who, some people say, was really acting for and on half of the INK.
The word I get is that Mallari or the INC approached Antonio Carpio, then a member of the Board of Regents of the UP. In the first place, they told Carpio, they have already won in the Court of Appeals but a settlement would be more expeditious and less troublesome.
But Carpio told them that their title is fake. The case reached the Supreme Court. In the pen of Associate Justice Reynato S. Puno, the Court ruled that the Mallari or INC title was indeed fake. They lost the land.
Everybody thought that the ruling had the effect of a final resolution of the case. In the sense that for Mallari or whoever he was acting for is concerned, the case has been finally resolved.
But to some people, revenge, even without a cause, is sweet. That is why there is speculation over the persistent attacks on the Firm which Carpio worked for before joining government first as chief presidential legal counsel of President Ramos and then as associate justice of the Supreme Court appointed by President Arroyo in 2001.
I hazard the guess that this might be why Carpio is under siege from media particularly from a morning TV program hosted by a young man.
Concerted attack
I have never heard or seen a law office, known as the Firm but now called CVC law, going through relentless but most of the time baseless criticisms from media – television, radio and print.
There must be method to this madness. I suspect that some people are scared the Firm might again cede some of its best lawyers to the service of the Noynoy Aquino government like it did to the Arroyo administration.
Do not fear, folks. You can grab by whatever means any position in the Noynoy government but none of the lawyers of the firm will be in any of them. They have learned enough lessons serving the Arroyo government.
They had to dump President Arroyo when the going got hot. The lawyers, including Avelino J. Cruz, began to feel that powerful people in Malacañang were forcing them to make look right what was patently wrong and therefore might not pass the scrutiny of the Supreme Court.
Personally, I do not think any of them want to go through it again. We will soon see. My informant told me that Nonong Cruz has been sounded out to become the next executive secretary. He has a good mind to decline it.
Except for Sylvette Tankiang, senior partner of CVC and daughter of my friend and compadre, the late Antonio V. Tankiang, I do not personally know any lawyers of the Firm. What is beyond me to comprehend is why Malacañang refused to file charges against them if they did wrong.
On the other hand, we should look deeper into whether or not they left Malacañang – all 10 or so of them – because they refused to do the bidding of powerful people. Or did they line their pockets thick early enough and left when the going got rough? Figure it out. Or get witnesses with proofs, not hired hacks.
Disbarment case
I am in New York for a two-week rest. I keep getting info from my sources in Manila. The last I got is about an alleged disbarment case against newly-retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno filed by a RTC Judge Forentino Flores of Malabon who, as all judges, was appointed by President Arroyo. The case is now in the hands of Associate SC Justice Mendoza.
My own inquiry yielded the information that the judge was dismissed because he admitted obviously before the Supreme Court that he decides cases only after consulting dwarves and friends.
The twist is the Firm is suspected to be behind the dwarves. What dwarves are those? There are some who live earth mounds with termites. Malacañang itself is known to have one but does not live with termites although this one has a stronger appetite.
Vist Google to get the fun of your life.
But seriously how can ex-Chief Justice Puno be disbarred for firing a judge who consults dwarves before making a ruling?
Everybody knows there is hardly any justice this country. But dwarves should not figure in arriving at rulings, if what was fed to me has any ring of truth.
Not Cruz, its Ochoa
Since Malacañang might already have known that former chief presidential legal counsel and former secretary of national defense Avelino J. Cruz may not accept an impending offer to be the executive secretary, the eyes of President Noynoy and his friends have turned to Joey Ochoa.
Ochoa, law partner of Liza Araneta Marcos, wife of Bongbong Marcos who has just been proclaimed senator, has the best qualification. He is the barkada of Noynoy but his name does not ring so loud a bell as the other lawyers. There are downsides and upsides in Ocho’s impending appointment. It can facilitate a reconciliation between the Marcos and Aquino families. That is the upside.
The downside is such reconciliation may not sit well with the people who continue to blame the deceased dictator as the tyrant who brought this country to ruin, although the nine-year no-mandate reign of Gloria Arroyo did a better job of bringing this country on its knees.
In any case, in my book the executive secretary must necessarily be as good a lawyer as the chief presidential legal counsel so that the two of them working together can save the president from the embarrassment of losing cases in the Supreme Court.
What boggles the mind of President Noynoy is his apparent inability to rein in the conflicts for perks among his supporters, notably the members of the Hyatt 10, the Kamag-anak Inc. and lately the “Kaklase” (classmate).
Refusing a Pl.5 million monthly pay
This Eldon Cruz obviously does not know his arithmetic when it comes to money. I was told here in New York that a suddenly-rich Chinese Filipino businessman offered him P1.5 million a month to do nothing.
He refused it. He instead accepted an offer of P500,000 a month to become president of a thriving nickel company. Why did he settle for less? Because he trusts the man who made him the offer.
He may more comfortable with P1.5 million month but he cannot trust the man giving him the money. He knows that the man will ask for favors in exchange. Favors he may not be in a position to give.
On other hand, he knows the mining man head to toe. He may also ask for favors but they will be reasonable.
Who in heaven’s name is Eldon Cruz? He just happens to be married to Ballsy Aquino, Noynoy’s sister.
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