Our billionaire CJ

BY DUCKY PAREDES

MALAYA

‘(E)veryone can see how dumb the bum is and how, if he was a little smarter, he could have got away with (if not murder) billions!’

SO they found that our Chief Justice has P24 million in a bank and who knows how much more in other banks where he also has deposits. Why am I not surprised?

How much more has to be revealed before the Impeachment trial winds down? How much more must still be discovered before a judgment can be made?

In existing legislation, if a civil servant is found with more money to his name than he could have legitimately earned and cannot explain how this could have happened, the excess is forfeited to the government. This being only an impeachment trial, why not rule on the crook, kick him out and let’s all get on with our lives? What is an impeachment all about, anyway? Isn’t it only to decide whether the bum should continue serving the public? What else do we want to know about this awful person?

Spending any more funds for several more months of impeachment time is impractical and pointless.

Frankly, going on with it will only uncover more dirt and may only serve to inspire crookedness in many of our young. After all, everyone can see how dumb the bum is and how, if he was a little smarter, he could have gotten away with (if not murder) billions!

***

He was cheated in 2007; so, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III wants a better election when he runs in 2013. Now, he is the Chairman of the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation in the Senate and is talking about what he calls “i-PCOS” an acronym for “Improved Precinct Count Optical Scan” machines.

“i-PCOS is a call to the Comelec as well as a challenge for it to do a better job of guarding and ensuring the integrity of the will of the Filipino electorate,” said Pimentel.

“Respect the automated election law by observing all the minimum system requirements and allow freely source code review.”

“It is a call to eliminate fraud altogether,” Pimentel stressed.

According to Koko, raising the quality of safeguards and lessening opportunities for human intervention in the counting of votes, the Comelec would strengthen the democratic process through automation aided by the latest technology.

I believe it also helps a lot that Gloria is no longer president. Koko finished 13th (Migs Zubiri was 12th and a “winner”) primarily because of Gloria, Of course, Koko got his revenge when he helped develop a case of electoral fraud that has now landed Gloria in the suite of the Veterans Memorial Hospital while awaiting her date with the courts.

Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle sees the poll body as either leasing brand new machines or purchasing the machines that the poll body leased from Smartmatic International Corp. in the 2010 polls.

***

Bantay Gloria Network (BGN) sees the petition before the Supreme Court asking for a temporary restraining order to stop the officers or representatives of the Bank of the Philippine Islands and PSBank from testifying on his bank documents as Corcona’s “throwing in the towel” on the impeachment trial.

“Like a boxer who is out-boxed and about to be knocked down, Corona, black-and-blue because of the avalanche of evidence presented by the prosecutors before the impeachment court, is calling it quits. Not even the legal wizardry of Atty. Cuevas can prevent his client from hitting the canvas”, Bantay Gloria co-convenor Risa Hontiveros said.

“Without doubt, the midnight chief justice is giving up even before the people knock him out with an outright conviction. This is what Corona’s petition for a TRO is all about, plain and simple,” Hontiveros added.

“Nandadaya na ang punong mahistrado. Knowing that the impeachment trial is slowly but surely unearthing the truth, Corona is seeking exoneration not by proving his innocence before the impeachment court but by asking the office which he heads, the Supreme Court, to support him through a TRO,” Hontiveros said.

This is from a press release of the BGN. The part I like is this one: “Hontiveros added that Corona appears bent on transforming the Supreme Court into a sanctuary for crooks.”

“Should the high court decide to tackle the petition, it won’t be to uphold the rule of law or to maintain constitutional order. It is mainly to protect honor among thieves. The court will be transformed from a court of last resort to the plunderers’ last line of defense,” Hontiveros said.

For her part, Leah Navarro, leader of the Black and White Movement, said Corona should stop stonewalling: “Corona should man up. Cut and cut clean. If he believes he can no longer defend himself before a legal and constitutional process, then he should not hide behind the high court. We urge him to resign and do the country some good.”

***

We have a letter on my ran on Quezon City and how it mistreats its businessmen: “I read your column almost everyday. I used to live in PH for 35 years and came here to the US in the 80’s. I just want to make a comment on how business permits are handled here in the city of Nashville, Tennessee where I live.

“Opening a business is easy, you can apply online, call the city/county office for a copy of the form or print a copy your self from online. Payment can be done online or by mailing the form and check payment. Acknowledgment and/or receipts can be printed online or are mailed by the city.

“New business permits are emailed or mailed by the city in less than a week from payment date. The first business permit remains valid as long as the business owner wants.

“Every year, returns are required to be submitted and business fees paid based on the return and all of these can be done online or by mail. The good thing is that the city has a different due date schedules for businesses such as: retailers, wholesalers, restaurants, etc. which means that the due dates are staggered or spread throughout the year. Would it be nice if cities in PH would have different due dates for businesses to avoid long lines.” – Jim Bernardez, Madison, TN

***

Hopefully, some mayors, councilors and other officers of LGUs will read this letter and see how simple what they see as complicated things can become if they really want to serve their people better.

***

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com