Philippine National Police Chief Alan Purisima, who has been charged with plunder, graft, corruption and bribery for allegedly amassing P120 million in ill-gotten wealth, opened to the public his property in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija. He claims this is only worth P3.75 million, not P30 million to P50 million as claimed by some people.
The place was visited the other day by members of media and some officials of the Office of the Ombudsman. While Purisima himself was not there, his two cousins were. They tried to explain everything about the controversial property, which was earlier said to be a mansion.
According to some members of media who were there, the property was neither a mansion —if we compare it to the houses in Forbes Park and Dasmariñas Village —nor an ordinary house. Certainly, an ordinary government employee could not have afforded it.
The main house’s fair market value is P2.7 million; the guesthouse, swimming pool, and the perimeter fence, P1.7 million; and the garage, P52,000 and the gazebo, P17,000.
The property reportedly was purchased in 1998 at P52,000 per hectare, and construction began in 2002. But, according to Purisima’s 2013 Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Networth, the property was acquired for only P1.2 million and now has a fair market value of P3.75 million.
Since we all have seen photos of the property and read the details, I leave it to the public to judge.
But, what strikes me as hard to defend by Purisima is the reported P12 million donation of materials and work on the repair of his so-called “White House” at Camp Crame. Does he not know what the ethical standards for government personnel are? Santa Banana, I cannot imagine the fellow masons of Purisima shelling out P12 million just because they are so enamoured with the PNP chief. Not to expect anything in return defies human nature.
I believe Purisia has lost all moral ascendancy to lead the police.
* * *
In the light of the jurisdictional challenge hurled by Makati Mayor Jun Jun Binay at the Senate Blue (I call it yellow) Ribbon sub-committee, it would do well for the Binays to file a case at the Supreme Court to stop the Senate inquiry. We see very clearly that it is no longer being conducted in aid of legislation but in aid of the presidential and vice presidential aspirations of Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes, respectively.
With all the undocumented and uncorroborated allegations against the Binays, especially against the Vice President, that cannot stand in court, the Senate has become a demolition tool against the perceived frontrunner in the 2016 polls.
Only the Supreme Court can stop this.
The issue is no longer a matter of respecting separation of powers as mandated by the Constitution. It’s the obligation of the Supreme Court to uphold the civil rights of people when the Senate abuses its power.
* * *
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) warns Congress that if the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is not enacted soon enough, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has become a global threat, may soon gain adherents in Muslim Mindanao.
My gulay, I say that with or without the BBL, ISIS has already infiltrated Mindanao. Both Christians and Muslims are aware of it. But, it seems President Aquino is not admitting the fact that the ISIS has been recruiting Muslims to fight beside the extremists and terror groups in the Middle East.
On the BBL, the 70-member ad hoc committee of Congress should dig deep into the fact that the last annex of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was on called “normalization” and “decommissioning,” but it was not embodied in the BBL.
And the reason for this, according to inside sources, is that the MILF is against disarming its 20,000 or so forces.
Santa Banana, it was a big mistake that the government panel acceded to the MILF’s wish since disarmament is the final key in achieving peace and development in Mindanao.
Disarmament is a very emotional issue among the Muslims. Without firearms, Muslims would be at the mercy of other tribes and clans. I have been told that if the MILF fighters ever surrender their firearms, it would be the old and useless, not the new ones given them by Malaysia. It is a fact that Malaysia has been arming separatist and secessionist movements in Muslim Mindanao.
Disarming the MILF is a joke, really.
Even now, there are elements in the MILF who are against “normalization” or “decommissioning” under the BBL. This stands to reason because there are so many other Muslim groups that are heavily-armed, like the MNLF, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the Pentagon Gang, that are engaged in kidnapping with reasons, the Sultanate of Sulu, Abu Sayyaf and the followers of ISIS.
I have maintained through the years that unless government succeeds in totally disarming Muslim groups, peace and development will never come to the “Land of Promise.”
* * *
Transportation and Communications Secretary Jun Abaya is intent on a government takeover of the MRT3.
MRTC build MRT 3 during the Ramos administration under a BoT or “build-operate-transfer” scheme, with the government subsidizing MRT to the tune of P6 billion annually. Now, the government wants to buy out the private owners for P53 billion.
The problem as I see it is that while the DoTC operates and maintains MRT 3, DoTC officials led by Abaya are not talking to the MRTC officials.
When the private owners contracted Sumitomo of Japan as maintenance provider, MRT 3 was running smoothly. Then, DoTC contracted the PH Trams and Global APT, a domestic firm, and look what’s happening.
Why Sumitomo was dismissed as maintenance provider is, of course, another story as they say because of corruption. Now, Abaya wants to take over MRT3 entirely. MRT 3 under Abaya can only get worse because government is the worst manager.
No comments:
Post a Comment