SONA excluded things people are waiting for

Frankly Speaking
By Frank Wenceslao

The Wall Street Journal had an editorial a few weeks ago commending President Aquino for the credit upgrade of the Philippines by rating firms with a caveat though that unless his program fighting corruption continues in earnest, Renato Corona’s impeachment and the corruption cases against former President Gloria M. Arroyo with some small “fishes” won’t be enough to sustain the country’s economic gains the last three years and further attract foreign investors.

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, with largest circulation at home and its widely read inquirer.net, “President Aquino merely glossed over in his 100-minute State of the Nation Address (Sona) the burning corruption issues facing government appointees, lawmakers and the police force that have created roadblocks on his “daang matuwid” (straight path) policy.”

US-Pinoys especially expect a revamp of the Cabinet and other top government offices as this has become traditional for democratic governments like the US to make changes midway the presidential term. In Aquino’s case, three years is more than enough to gauge the performance of his original appointees especially those chosen because of their closeness to him, e.g. DILG undersecretary Puno and his other KKKs (kaibigan, kaklase, kabarilan).

Our fear that Aquino’s touted economic gains may fizzle out after the end of his term stems from the lack of coordination, for instance, among frontline agencies fighting corruption and other financial crimes. I’m afraid they can’t wrap up fast, the trial and conviction of “Pork-barrel queen” Janet Lim Napoles, more so of Marcos’ trade and industry minister, Roberto Ongpin, before he gets someone malakas and spring him out of sure imprisonment unless, of course, he opts for plea bargain and return the Marcos’ loot and its accruals in his custody to the Filipino people.

For the readers’ information, Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth in Ongpin’s custody including the assets of the Binondo “central bank” and accruals could run up to his multibillion-peso investments and control of business projects excluding those abroad that have grown his net worth making him among the ten richest Filipinos today. These investments from a Filipino perspective are mind-boggling and beyond the realm of statistical probability even if the Marcos’ wealth left in Ongpin’s custody has grown in geometric progression from 1986 at the fall of Marcos to date.

One time in my disgust with an ex-PCGG chairman I said in his face PCGG officials were pretending to be asleep in order not to see that Ongpin has been bringing back Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth like knocked-down furniture. Ongpin’s companies would have needed massive capital build-up beyond a single individual’s financial capability during the time Ongpin had, to wit: ISM Communications Corp. with its satellites such as Philweb Corporation granted by Pagcor to operate online casino exclusively, Eastern Telecom chaired by Emil Jurado (Ongpin’s diehard defender), Deltaventures Resources Inc., borrower of over P600M DBP loan for which Ongpin is now on trial for graft; PBCom that even in the 1970s was known to be owned by Marcos with over P3 billion net worth now; Alphaland, the local high-end developer of the P2-billion Alphaland Marina Club and the 32-hectare Bay City between Henry Sy’s Mall of Asia and Ricky Razon’s Solaire gaming and entertainment-hotel complex along Manila Bay; the P4 billion Balesin Island Paradise Club in Quezon Province; the upcoming City Club at the end of Ayala Avenue, Makati; and the Alphaland Tower along Ayala Avenue; on top of buying blue-chip stocks of Meralco, SMC, etc.

I can’t understand therefore why DOJ Secretary de Lima doesn’t give high priority to the fight against corruption over shoot-outs and rub-outs that she doesn’t find time to send a letter designating the president (me) of a US anticorruption movement (Pamusa) as her representative to make and receive the requests of the US Attorney General pursuant to the Philippines-United States of America Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) conformably with the USDOJ’s letter authorizing Pamusa’s active participation in fighting kleptocracy internationally now solely focused on the Philippines. De Lima’s letter is an important element to ensure the efficacy of the cooperative framework (“coop”) to bind the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) with the PCGG and Pamusa in jointly fighting corruption explained below.

Let us all pause for a moment therefore and consider the opportunities the Aquino administration has in gathering evidence with the help of the USDOJ, FBI, US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and other US law enforcement agencies to bolster the DOJ’s, OMB’s, PCGG’s, etc. cases on corruption and other financial crimes pursuant to the MLAT. It is a big wonder De Lima couldn’t spend a few minutes to write that letter when you see her front and center of video cameras whenever the story of a high-profile crime breaks while Chairman Andy Bautista hasn’t the time to take up in one of the PCGG governing board’s meetings paying the members and attendees high per diems provisional approval to launch the OMB-PCGG-Pamusa coop, which can be revoked anyway in case Pamusa gets out of line and acts undesirably.

Thus far, the US has lopsidedly utilized the MLAT, e.g. extraditing ex-Quezon Gov. Eddie Rodriguez, Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez, and other FilAm fugitives who fled US jurisdiction. Consider that the MLAT has been reinforced by the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) that took effect upon ratification by the Philippine Senate in Nov. 2006; the 2008 OECD agreement on the exchange of tax information embodied in RA 20010 re-affirmed in the recent G-8 Summit in Northern Ireland; and the 2009 G-20 London Summit agreement lifting secrecy of bank accounts, which led then British PM Gordon Brown to proclaim, “The era of bank secrecy is over.”

Each of the above developments was reported by international media carried by Manila newspapers especially when the Swiss Banking Authority after some legal skirmishes agreed to grant the US Internal Revenue Service’s request for the names of US citizens and nationals evading US taxes through secret Swiss bank accounts. At that time I offered Pamusa to President Arroyo to turnaround the Philippines’ deteriorating position in the world of getting more and more known the most corrupt in Asia. Of course, she rejected my offer perhaps for fear she, her family members and close associates will be the first in Pamusa’s crosshairs. Thereafter, her media hacks started to spread in LA and maybe at home I was using Pamusa for blackmail because I asked some well-to-do FilAms to contribute to the NGO. The truth is our No. 1 donor’s condition for her continued support that I have assured Aquino is Pamusa will only initiate legal actions in the US, firstly, with evidence provided by the PCGG on Marcos’ and cronies’ ill-gotten wealth or by the OMB on proceeds of corruption during the post-Marcos years.

Our lawsuits in the US will be based on prima facie evidence transferred by the DOJ, OMB, PCGG and other agencies concerned but only when approved by President Aquino. I have committed Pamusa to this condition which is why I suspect the DOJ and PCGG dilly-dallying about the coop because someone else other than the President is leaning on them. There is no better proof than Secretary de Lima washing her hands of the coop knowing full well we need her letter to the US Attorney General. As Amang Rodriguez would say, “I was not born yesterday.”

Could it be that Secretary Paquito Ochoa wants the PCGG’s abolition to push through of which the greatest beneficiaries would be the Marcoses and may enable either Imee or Bongbong to bring in the money and buy votes, thus win the presidency in 2016? Ochoa is on record to abolish the PCGG and in subtle move he must’ve convinced Ombudsman Carpio-Morales to join him in an anticorruption MOA that will serve no useful purpose except to show PCGG’s redundancy.

Be that as it may, let me cite again Edmund Burke who said, “Example is the best teacher of mankind, and they will learn at no other.”

A retired Filipino employee of the US Treasury Department’s financial crimes division has advised me that as soon as the OMB-PCGG-PAMUSA coop becomes operational, the Sandiganbayan case vs. Ongpin should have a change of legal strategy and prosecutorial discretion. Ongpin should be offered a plea bargain to return the public resources Marcos usurped including Ongpin’s. Ongpin and counsel should be told the charges against him will be amended to primarily violating RA 1379 – hence, the properties he will account for will be temporarily restrained by the court on suspicion to have been unlawfully acquired with his personal and controlled corporate bank accounts frozen. After forensic audit is concluded even before the trial is concluded and the properties are proven to have been unlawfully acquired, they will be summarily forfeited in favor of the state but let Ongpin keep a part he has grown. At the same time, the criminal charges against him will proceed under RA 3019 (Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act) if he refused the plea bargain.

Alongside the above actions and the plea bargain isn’t agreed, Pamusa will file lawsuit(s) in the US based on evidence the DOJ, OMB, PCGG, BIR and AMLC have against Ongpin for being deemed to have also violated US laws congruent to those Philippine laws violated particularly the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and related crimes. The FCPA is deemed violated if Ongpin’s illegally earned money in the Philippines was transferred it to the US (money laundering) and used it to buy US properties such as real estate, securities, precious metals, or as capital to organize a US business. He naturally made deposits to his bank account(s) in amounts of over $10,000 which his bank has reported and encoded in FinCEN’s databases which the FBI can access at Pamusa’s behest. His deposits whether entirely withdrawn or not will also be evidence of violating other Philippine and US laws.

When we come to think about it, if only the DOJ and PCGG had done research on the latest weapons to recover the proceeds of corruption, the above legal strategy and prosecutorial discretion against Ongpin can also be used against the Marcoses; Arroyos; Lito Lapid and son, Mark; Gov. Lilia and husband, Bong Pineda and other families in the same situation. Pretty soon big government contracts and the overprice from which disproportionate amounts of kickbacks and commissions are derived may no longer be interesting because the money to be earned cannot leave the Philippines; neither will depositing them be accepted by local nor international banks and other financial institutions.

(fcwenceslao1034@gmail.com)