By Rey O. Arcilla
PRESIDENT Noynoy Aquino has been tagged with different epithets but the one that stands out and persists is “Abnoy”, which I understand is meant to say that he is abnormal.
I do not think he is abnormal in the usual or ordinary meaning of the word. He is merely different from you or me. No two people are the same, either in trait or character.
What I do notice, however, is that his reaction to certain situations seems different from that of the average individual.
For instance, as the self-proclaimed “ama ng bayan” (father of the nation), his reaction to the massacre of 44 (the MILF insists it’s 64) PNP Special Action Force (SAF) was really strange, if not baffling.
First, it took Noynoy three days to say anything about the horrific incident.
When he finally did, he did not even show outrage or condemn those responsible, without having to name them, for the carnage against his “children”. All he said, basically, was the policemen died because they were in pursuit of two notorious terrorists, namely, Malaysian Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan and his Filipino sidekick Abdul Basit Usman. He also promised to bring the two fugitives to justice so that the “fallen 44” wouldn’t have died in vain.
Second, he did not bother to be there when the bodies of the SAF heroes were brought to Manila. The infuriating excuse given by his chief spokesman was that it was not in his schedule, that he had a prior
engagement to be at the opening of a car assembly plant.
No less than former President Fidel Ramos was appalled and expressed grave disappointment over Noynoy’s absence at Villamor air base. Deep in their hearts, I think the chief spokesman and all the others around Noynoy must have felt the same way, not to mention the entire citizenry.
Well, Abnoy siya, remember?
***
While the Japanese owners of the plant may have been happy Noynoy showed up, I’m sure they would have understood if he didn’t and went instead to his slain children.
About ten days ago, their own Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, cut short his official visits to some Middle Eastern countries and returned home to attend to the case of two Japanese citizens held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The hostages were later reportedly killed for the failure of the Japanese government to pay the ransom within the deadline set by the abductors.
That Noynoy should have gone instead to Villamor air base to receive his fallen policemen would have been the normal reaction of a father. His presence at the necrological services for the slain policemen a day later no longer meant much to the kith and kin of the deceased. That was plain to see from the way they received Noynoy. He wasn’t there when his presence really mattered.
***
Noynoy said he would create a Board of Inquiry to determine what really happened and who was responsible for the massacre in Mamasapano.
I will not wait with bated breath for the result of the work of that board. Noynoy had already set the tone and parameters for it. I do not think the official outcome of such an inquiry will deviate from what Noynoy had already defined, i.e., the BIFF and the MILF were not responsible for the carnage; that it was a mere mis-encounter (is there such an animal?); that it was due to the lack of coordination between the forces of the government and the MILF; and that the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law should not be affected by the incident. End of story.
Noynoy did not even give a definite response to a reporter’s question if it was true that it was his favorite cop, allegedly corrupt and suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima, whom he entrusted to lead the operation (confirmed no less by SAF commander Getulio Nespinas). His own friend and presumed “heir,” DILG secretary Mar Roxas and the acting PNP chief Leonardo Espina were also deliberately kept out of the loop.
Wouldn’t that leave Noynoy as the one mainly responsible for the death of the “Fallen 44”?
Incidentally, Purisima has since reportedly left for Saipan, ostensibly to attend a meeting of Masons. Will he be around when the board of inquiry decides to ask him to confirm or deny the statement of SAF Commander Nespinas that he (Purisima) was in full control of and directed by “remote control” the operation from his White House abode in Camp Crame?
Actually, Noynoy himself should be able to answer that all-important question if he chooses to. He admitted that he was in consultation with Purisima who, he said, was the one who knew the “intricacies” and had actionable intelligence on the whereabouts of Marwan and Usman supposedly supplied by the US.
***
Which takes us to the alleged role of the US in the operation. Everyone knows that if she had her way, the US would like the Bangsamoro autonomous (?) region see the light of day as soon as possible.
That was also evident when the US hatched with the Arroyo regime the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. Fortunately, it was aborted after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional.
The speculation is that the US wants a permanent presence in Mindanao. Apparently, she feels she would be able to do that more easily by dealing with a Bangsamoro than with Manila and its pesky nationalistic politicians and others in the media. The US motive should be plain to see.
***
A reader wrote:
“As a retired OFW small condominium owner, I would like to get sympathy, support and help to stop this monthly collection racket of Big Time Condominium developers in connivance with the supposed regulatory office, the HLURB.
“This is about exposing the billion peso monthly collection racket of Condominium developers and their dummies, cronies, puppets (even HLURB top dogs) running their dummy Homeowners’ Associations in all their CONDO operations (like Megaworld, Eaton, Citi. etc), victimizing marginalized condo unit owners like us (retired OFWs, retired ex-pats, employees, fixed income earners, etc) .
“The usual monthly collection/extortion racket run into billions, not subject to periodic audit/performance reports, amount from P4,000 per for a 30sq.m. unit to about P25,000 for a 600-sq.m. den/suite and even more for a larger unit. Taking only the conservative median monthly unit dues of about P10,000 per unit, with total units for just a city like Makati of (again conservatively) about 30,000 units, the monthly take is P300 million per month per city. For Metro Manila alone with almost 100,000 units, estimated unregulated collection for Condo owners’ monthly fees is more than a billion a month or about P2 to 20 billion per year, excluding the cities of Cebu, Davao, Baguio, Tagaytay, etc.
“For us small and limited income unit owners, the P4,000 is a big slice of our fund that could have gone to food, transport, medicine and even improvement of our house/unit. However, only a fraction of the monthly dues goes to the building maintenance and security with the dirty hallways, unkept facade and theft and robberies going on. For 12 long years that we have resided in our unit, not one audited financial report was provided us despite written request for said audited financial statements for the last 12 years.
“I was just wondering, why can’t the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board do their job of protecting the rights of condo unit owners like us. Are they in cahoots/beneficiaries in this multi-billion peso extortion racket or they just don’t know how to do their job? Who profited (developers, HLURB top dogs or both?) from the hundreds of billions of Condo Unit dues collected over the years? Why can’t they produce the needed annual or quarterly Audited financial statements? Some pockets must have been filled so much that purchases of resorts, ranches, houses abroad, Masseratis, Maybacs, Lamborghinis were just like candies bought by the dozens from those bulging pockets of extortionists. Can the HLURB and other government offices do something?
“Thank you for your concern in airing this retired OFW’s burdens and monetary problem that could have helped in my medical needs instead.”
Paging HLURB Chairman Vice President Jejomar Binay, CEO Antonio Bernardo, Ex-Officio Commissioner DOJ Usec Jose Vicente Salazar and all other concerned officials. Please look into the above complaint.
***
Reminders (for Noynoy):
1) Filing of charges against officials of the National Food Authority (NFA) during Arroyo’s illegitimate regime. Noynoy himself said on several occasions that there is documentary evidence to prove the venalities in the past in that agency. That was more than four and a half years ago.
2) Investigation of reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia and order his successor, Robert “Pretty Boy” Vergara, to file the proper charges, if warranted, against the former.
Noynoy should also order Vergara to report to him on COA’s findings that: (a) He received the obscenely excessive compensation of P16.36 million in 2012 making him the highest paid government servant then. He was also the highest paid in 2013 with P12.09 million. I wouldn’t be surprised if he again tops the list in 2014; and
(b) That over a year ago, at least P4.13 billion in contributions and loan payments made by 12 government offices, maybe more by now, to the GSIS had not been credited to the offices as of Dec. 31, 2011.
COA also said that the amount of unrecorded remittances could go much higher because only 36 agencies have at that time responded out of the 186 that were sent confirmation requests by government auditors. Of the 36, 27 confirmed “discrepancies” in their premium and loan payments ledgers when compared with those of the GSIS.
There are three questions being raised when remittances, or parts thereof, of government agencies are not recorded by the GSIS on time: a) Where are these huge sums “parked” in the meantime?; b) Do they earn interest?; and c) To where (whom?) does the interest, if any, go?
Pray tell, Mr. Vergara, what is the present status of these funds, including those that may have been remitted since and not yet recorded by the GSIS? How long do you think you can “dedma” these questions?
I believe it is time for COA to follow up on what Vergara has done on the above findings so that affected GSIS members would know the status of their contributions!
In this connection, I would like to address this question to Mesdames Gracia Pulido Tan and Heidi Mendoza of COA: “Is Vergara one of the sacred cows in Noynoy’s coterie whom you are afraid to investigate?”
***
Today is the 277th day of the eighth year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.
I dread to think of how many more years it will take before Jonas’ disappearance is finally resolved. Or, for that matter, the items in the Reminders above. It is beginning to look like it will not be during Noynoy’s watch.
***
From an internet friend:
Wife texts husband at work on a cold winter’s morning: “Windows frozen, won’t open.”
Husband texts back: “Gently pour some lukewarm water over it.”
Wife texts back 5 minutes later: “Computer really screwed up now.”
***
3 Feburary 2015
Email: roacrosshairs@outlook.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/reynaldo.arcilla.9847
I do not think he is abnormal in the usual or ordinary meaning of the word. He is merely different from you or me. No two people are the same, either in trait or character.
What I do notice, however, is that his reaction to certain situations seems different from that of the average individual.
For instance, as the self-proclaimed “ama ng bayan” (father of the nation), his reaction to the massacre of 44 (the MILF insists it’s 64) PNP Special Action Force (SAF) was really strange, if not baffling.
First, it took Noynoy three days to say anything about the horrific incident.
When he finally did, he did not even show outrage or condemn those responsible, without having to name them, for the carnage against his “children”. All he said, basically, was the policemen died because they were in pursuit of two notorious terrorists, namely, Malaysian Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan and his Filipino sidekick Abdul Basit Usman. He also promised to bring the two fugitives to justice so that the “fallen 44” wouldn’t have died in vain.
Second, he did not bother to be there when the bodies of the SAF heroes were brought to Manila. The infuriating excuse given by his chief spokesman was that it was not in his schedule, that he had a prior
engagement to be at the opening of a car assembly plant.
No less than former President Fidel Ramos was appalled and expressed grave disappointment over Noynoy’s absence at Villamor air base. Deep in their hearts, I think the chief spokesman and all the others around Noynoy must have felt the same way, not to mention the entire citizenry.
Well, Abnoy siya, remember?
***
While the Japanese owners of the plant may have been happy Noynoy showed up, I’m sure they would have understood if he didn’t and went instead to his slain children.
About ten days ago, their own Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, cut short his official visits to some Middle Eastern countries and returned home to attend to the case of two Japanese citizens held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The hostages were later reportedly killed for the failure of the Japanese government to pay the ransom within the deadline set by the abductors.
That Noynoy should have gone instead to Villamor air base to receive his fallen policemen would have been the normal reaction of a father. His presence at the necrological services for the slain policemen a day later no longer meant much to the kith and kin of the deceased. That was plain to see from the way they received Noynoy. He wasn’t there when his presence really mattered.
***
Noynoy said he would create a Board of Inquiry to determine what really happened and who was responsible for the massacre in Mamasapano.
I will not wait with bated breath for the result of the work of that board. Noynoy had already set the tone and parameters for it. I do not think the official outcome of such an inquiry will deviate from what Noynoy had already defined, i.e., the BIFF and the MILF were not responsible for the carnage; that it was a mere mis-encounter (is there such an animal?); that it was due to the lack of coordination between the forces of the government and the MILF; and that the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law should not be affected by the incident. End of story.
Noynoy did not even give a definite response to a reporter’s question if it was true that it was his favorite cop, allegedly corrupt and suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima, whom he entrusted to lead the operation (confirmed no less by SAF commander Getulio Nespinas). His own friend and presumed “heir,” DILG secretary Mar Roxas and the acting PNP chief Leonardo Espina were also deliberately kept out of the loop.
Wouldn’t that leave Noynoy as the one mainly responsible for the death of the “Fallen 44”?
Incidentally, Purisima has since reportedly left for Saipan, ostensibly to attend a meeting of Masons. Will he be around when the board of inquiry decides to ask him to confirm or deny the statement of SAF Commander Nespinas that he (Purisima) was in full control of and directed by “remote control” the operation from his White House abode in Camp Crame?
Actually, Noynoy himself should be able to answer that all-important question if he chooses to. He admitted that he was in consultation with Purisima who, he said, was the one who knew the “intricacies” and had actionable intelligence on the whereabouts of Marwan and Usman supposedly supplied by the US.
***
Which takes us to the alleged role of the US in the operation. Everyone knows that if she had her way, the US would like the Bangsamoro autonomous (?) region see the light of day as soon as possible.
That was also evident when the US hatched with the Arroyo regime the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. Fortunately, it was aborted after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional.
The speculation is that the US wants a permanent presence in Mindanao. Apparently, she feels she would be able to do that more easily by dealing with a Bangsamoro than with Manila and its pesky nationalistic politicians and others in the media. The US motive should be plain to see.
***
A reader wrote:
“As a retired OFW small condominium owner, I would like to get sympathy, support and help to stop this monthly collection racket of Big Time Condominium developers in connivance with the supposed regulatory office, the HLURB.
“This is about exposing the billion peso monthly collection racket of Condominium developers and their dummies, cronies, puppets (even HLURB top dogs) running their dummy Homeowners’ Associations in all their CONDO operations (like Megaworld, Eaton, Citi. etc), victimizing marginalized condo unit owners like us (retired OFWs, retired ex-pats, employees, fixed income earners, etc) .
“The usual monthly collection/extortion racket run into billions, not subject to periodic audit/performance reports, amount from P4,000 per for a 30sq.m. unit to about P25,000 for a 600-sq.m. den/suite and even more for a larger unit. Taking only the conservative median monthly unit dues of about P10,000 per unit, with total units for just a city like Makati of (again conservatively) about 30,000 units, the monthly take is P300 million per month per city. For Metro Manila alone with almost 100,000 units, estimated unregulated collection for Condo owners’ monthly fees is more than a billion a month or about P2 to 20 billion per year, excluding the cities of Cebu, Davao, Baguio, Tagaytay, etc.
“For us small and limited income unit owners, the P4,000 is a big slice of our fund that could have gone to food, transport, medicine and even improvement of our house/unit. However, only a fraction of the monthly dues goes to the building maintenance and security with the dirty hallways, unkept facade and theft and robberies going on. For 12 long years that we have resided in our unit, not one audited financial report was provided us despite written request for said audited financial statements for the last 12 years.
“I was just wondering, why can’t the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board do their job of protecting the rights of condo unit owners like us. Are they in cahoots/beneficiaries in this multi-billion peso extortion racket or they just don’t know how to do their job? Who profited (developers, HLURB top dogs or both?) from the hundreds of billions of Condo Unit dues collected over the years? Why can’t they produce the needed annual or quarterly Audited financial statements? Some pockets must have been filled so much that purchases of resorts, ranches, houses abroad, Masseratis, Maybacs, Lamborghinis were just like candies bought by the dozens from those bulging pockets of extortionists. Can the HLURB and other government offices do something?
“Thank you for your concern in airing this retired OFW’s burdens and monetary problem that could have helped in my medical needs instead.”
Paging HLURB Chairman Vice President Jejomar Binay, CEO Antonio Bernardo, Ex-Officio Commissioner DOJ Usec Jose Vicente Salazar and all other concerned officials. Please look into the above complaint.
***
Reminders (for Noynoy):
1) Filing of charges against officials of the National Food Authority (NFA) during Arroyo’s illegitimate regime. Noynoy himself said on several occasions that there is documentary evidence to prove the venalities in the past in that agency. That was more than four and a half years ago.
2) Investigation of reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia and order his successor, Robert “Pretty Boy” Vergara, to file the proper charges, if warranted, against the former.
Noynoy should also order Vergara to report to him on COA’s findings that: (a) He received the obscenely excessive compensation of P16.36 million in 2012 making him the highest paid government servant then. He was also the highest paid in 2013 with P12.09 million. I wouldn’t be surprised if he again tops the list in 2014; and
(b) That over a year ago, at least P4.13 billion in contributions and loan payments made by 12 government offices, maybe more by now, to the GSIS had not been credited to the offices as of Dec. 31, 2011.
COA also said that the amount of unrecorded remittances could go much higher because only 36 agencies have at that time responded out of the 186 that were sent confirmation requests by government auditors. Of the 36, 27 confirmed “discrepancies” in their premium and loan payments ledgers when compared with those of the GSIS.
There are three questions being raised when remittances, or parts thereof, of government agencies are not recorded by the GSIS on time: a) Where are these huge sums “parked” in the meantime?; b) Do they earn interest?; and c) To where (whom?) does the interest, if any, go?
Pray tell, Mr. Vergara, what is the present status of these funds, including those that may have been remitted since and not yet recorded by the GSIS? How long do you think you can “dedma” these questions?
I believe it is time for COA to follow up on what Vergara has done on the above findings so that affected GSIS members would know the status of their contributions!
In this connection, I would like to address this question to Mesdames Gracia Pulido Tan and Heidi Mendoza of COA: “Is Vergara one of the sacred cows in Noynoy’s coterie whom you are afraid to investigate?”
***
Today is the 277th day of the eighth year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.
I dread to think of how many more years it will take before Jonas’ disappearance is finally resolved. Or, for that matter, the items in the Reminders above. It is beginning to look like it will not be during Noynoy’s watch.
***
From an internet friend:
Wife texts husband at work on a cold winter’s morning: “Windows frozen, won’t open.”
Husband texts back: “Gently pour some lukewarm water over it.”
Wife texts back 5 minutes later: “Computer really screwed up now.”
***
3 Feburary 2015
Email: roacrosshairs@outlook.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/reynaldo.arcilla.9847
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