Join the NPA

Theres The Rub
by Conrado de Quiros
from Philippine Daily Inquirer

The AFP is the best recruiter of the NPA.

That’s what people used to say during martial law. Or, “Marcos is the best recruiter of the NPA.” What it meant of course was that Marcos’ and/or the AFP’s oppressive and abusive ways were driving the poor in particular, who were their prime victims, into the arms of the rebels.

That’s still pretty much true today, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo simply having replaced Marcos. The only difference is not that GMA is less oppressive and abusive than Marcos but that the NPA has become less of an attractive thing to run to.

But not if today’s AFP can help it. Over the last several years, it has been resolutely, if quite unwittingly, advertising the NPA. It has done so by arresting doctors and health workers who have been tending to the sick among the poor in places God and government forgot, accusing them of being members of the NPA. If not indeed gunning them down presumably for trading shots with them. With what, polio shots?

Its latest caper ups the ante on it. Earlier this month, it arrested 43 people who were holding a health seminar in Morong, Rizal, charging them with being members of the NPA. Despite an order from the Supreme Court for them to produce the arrested people, they have not done so. Citing all sorts of excuses, from the sheer number of the detained, which they say entails security risks, to Romeo Capulong being their lawyer, which they say is proof they are truly NPA members.

You can understand why Capulong is fit to be tied. It was Lt. Col. Noel Detoyato, spokesperson of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, who supplied the logic about Capulong’s lawyering for the 43 being proof of their guilt. That is like saying that the Ampatuans are engaged in a conspiracy with Erap because a Fortun is their lawyer, and the Fortuns defended Erap in his impeachment trial. When in fact the only logic you can draw from it is that they deserve one another, being united in a common pursuit of fortune, whatever (mayhem) it takes.

But to go back to what I was saying: The AFP’s logic has always been that even if the people they arrest, or abduct or kill, are doctors or health workers, they are also NPA, who are merely using health care to advance their cause in far-flung areas. Well, if so, then that is not a good reason to arrest them, or abduct them, or kill them. That is a hell of a good reason to join them. If their cause brings them to heroically risk life and limb and forgo the conveniences of city life, particularly Metro Manila life, many of the suspects being professionals or NGO members, to bring life to the dying, then we can do worse than support that cause. If, on the other hand, the cause causes the people who are responsible for health care, among other cares, to not provide it because of greed, and cause them to order the military to arrest, abduct or kill the people who do because they make them look bad, then we ought to stop paying taxes to that cause.

Easy enough for the military to refute the claims of the 43 that they are health workers or people who have something to do with health care. All they have to do is produce them, and prove they have no such credentials, they only have credentials for wrecking health by turning far-flung places into war zones. The military says the huge number of the detainees poses a huge security risk. Well, we only have its word they are a risk. If they are in fact health workers, then they pose a risk only to swine flu, which they threaten to eradicate. Indeed, if they are in fact both health workers and NPA or remotely related to the NPA, then by their sheer number they pose the risk only of convincing the public about the justness of their cause.

In the end, from a broader viewpoint, the iniquity of all this lies in the policy of waging war against the NPA, which has taken the form in Arroyo’s time of massacring political activists, who are largely peasant and youth, and making peace with the warlords, which has taken the form in Arroyo’s time of coddling thugs like the Ampatuans. When the wisdom that has arisen over the ages says we should make peace with honorable enemies and wage war against dishonorable ones.

The NPA’s opposition to government is based on principle. Call those principles archaic, call those principles atavistic, call those principles misguided, they are still principles. And they still have the power to drive people to risk life and limb and forgo the conveniences of city life to help others. It is no small irony that the one who pursued a policy of peace with the rebels, thereby ushering a period of relative tranquility and prosperity, was a general, Fidel Ramos. And the one who waged a war of attrition against them, thereby ushering a period of mind-boggling destitution and bloodletting, was a usurper, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The warlords’ opposition is not just to government, it is to society. No, more than that, it is to sanity. They do not just defy authority, they defy decency. The warlords have taken up arms, or maintain private armies, for reasons that have nothing to do with the principle, other than the principle, which their patron in Malacañang has made the ruling principle of this country, of ruling forever. Or until such time as they are overthrown or dislodged by another thug. It is medieval, it is atavistic, it is barbaric. And yet we exterminate the first, or at least the public has not howled angrily at the wholesale massacre of political activists, while we perpetuate the second, even after the public has howled wrathfully at their wholesale, and unbelievably savage, massacring of their enemies.

Death to our enemies? In this upside down world, by all means let us shout that.

And join the NPA.

“Justice” incredible!

by Lito Banayo
from MALAYA

A dear friend died on Valentine morn, also the first day of the Lunar New Year, after a massive stroke which rendered her comatose for more than a week in Hong Kong. In that crisis-laden week and in the few days she was at St. Luke’s, family and friends prayed for her recovery. She finally went to the kingdom of the Lord in peace, surrounded by her loved ones.

That friend was Josefina Trinidad Lichauco, former secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications, and a feisty lawyer who had always fought for good governance, up to the very last. We will miss the “press dinners” at her residence, where colleagues in the profession would discuss with other concerned citizens the issues that bedevil the benighted land, over good food and better company.

In a sense, I am glad Tita Josie (she was my wife’s distant relative) did not get to read this article. She would have fulminated with righteous indignation. She would have cringed upon realization of the depths to which the profession of the law has been brought down by the bench and bar in indecent collusion. She had learned its precepts and procedures at the University of the Philippines, and then polished the same at Yale.

A lawyer-friend once chided me for an article where I wrote “Lady Justice has become a lady of the night in this benighted country”. Sobra naman daw ako. But many others agreed with my observations.

Read the chronology I narrate here, and weep:

Andrew James McBurnie, an Australian national, used to work for Pan-Pacific Hotel but his contract of work was about to end in early 1999. A common acquaintance introduced him to Eulalio Ganzon, a successful engineer-contractor who was in the business of building residential condominiums, and who wanted to dabble in the resort-hotel business. McBurnie proposed to Ganzon that they set up “Leisure Experts, Inc.”, which could go into the business of managing and supervising hotel and resort properties in the country. Agreement was reached in principle, but nothing concrete was done, not even to incorporate McBurnie’s idea.

To prolong his stay in the country, McBurnie requested Ganzon to stand as his “sponsor/employer” so he could apply for an alien work permit and a working visa thereafter. He prepared an “employment contract”, allegedly patterned after his “contract” with Pan Pacific Hotel, which Ganzon signed in May 1999, to be effective in September 1999, when the new business entity would hopefully have commenced registration and operation.

That never happened, because neither party raised the necessary funds, and hence, no alien work permit was issued McBurnie. In November 1999, McBurnie left for Australia. In December of the same year, he wrote Ganzon a letter stating that he would not be getting back, and requested that his personal belongings in a condominium unit be shipped back to Australia at Ganzon’s expense, with the promise that he would reimburse shipping expenses later. That was the end of Ganzon’s dealings with McBurnie, who did not bother to reimburse, nor pay other small financial accommodations in the past.

Whereupon, on October 4, 2002, a certain Andrew McBurnie allegedly filed a complaint for “illegal dismissal” with the National Labor Relations Commission. The case records showed that McBurnie “personally” filed the complaint in Quezon City. Yet, McBurnie never appeared before any of 14 hearings set by the labor arbiter assigned to his case. A subsequent check with the Bureau of Immigration would show that the Australian left on November 26, 1999, and no record of any return to the Philippines was recorded. In short, even the complaint he filed was not personally attested. Only a certain Atty. Arnel Z. Dolendo appeared for him.

But, despite non-appearance in 14 hearings, labor arbiter Salimathar Nambi on September 30, 2004 ruled that McBurnie was illegally dismissed and ordered Eulalio Ganzon to pay US $ 985,162.00 plus interest (46 million pesos more or less), damages of 2 million pesos, and 10% attorney’s fees. In effect, some 52 million pesos! For work never done, by a phantom worker without any work permit or alien resident visa.

Eulalio Ganzon’s lawyers went through the process of seeking reconsideration, as legal procedures go, and a petition to lower the appeal bond, set by an NLRC decision dated 31 March 2005 at the humongous sum of 54 million pesos. On 15 July 2005, NLRC denied their urgent motion for reconsideration. So, respondent Ganzon went to the Court of Appeals on August 12, 2005 and filed a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition. The CA forthwith issued a TRO against the NLRC.

Then, while Ganzon’s petition was still pending at the CA, the NLRC dismissed his motion for reconsideration on grounds of his failure to post an additional bond of 54 million pesos! And on September 4, 2006, the NLRC issued a writ of execution to enforce McBurnie’s monetary claims, and his lawyers subsequently garnished bank accounts and began auctioning off Ganzon’s properties (McBurnie, remember, was out of sight all this time).

Finally, on February 16, 2007, the Court of Appeals issued a writ of preliminary injunction enjoining the NLRC from causing the execution of their queer order. And on May 29 of the same year, CA ruled against McBurnie and declared that the surety bond of 10 million pesos paid by Ganzon was sufficient.

McBurnie’s lawyer went to the Supreme Court, assailing the CA’s writ of preliminary injunction on June 2007. The SC’s First Division dismissed the McBurnie petition for certiorari, “with finality” on October 8, 2007. And the Court of Appeals, on October 27, 2008, finally issued a decision where it held the NLRC as having gravely abused its discretion for “such capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment…”, and directed said commission to give due course to Ganzon’s appeal, remanding the same to NLRC for further proceedings.

But McBurnie’s lawyer went once more to the SC on March 27, 2009 assailing the CA ruling. Yet, while McBurnie had not even filed his reply, and in just over 5 months from the filing of the petition, the Supreme Court’s Third Division rendered a decision dated 18 September 2009, requiring Ganzon and his corporations to pay McBurnie some 60 million pesos.

Meanwhile, unaware of what was going on in the SC, and in compliance with the CA order to review the case, NLRC reversed the labor arbiter’s 2004 decision, and found “no legal or factual basis…for the money claims” and pronounced the arbiter’s decision “reversed and set aside, and a new one entered dismissing (McBurnie’s) complaint”. Its arbiter Salimathar Nambi clearly erred, and grievously at that.

Now, most everybody who has had to tangle with labor arbiters have horror stories to tell. The NLRC, without knowing who the present commissioners are, has a huge credibility problem, as some cesspool of graft. But what really bothers me most in this case are the actuations of a certain division of the tribunal. Note:

On August 26, 2009, the SC issued a resolution directing Andrew McBurnie to file his reply. Even before he could file a reply, and the respondent Eulalio Ganzon could thus file his rejoinder, the SC prematurely rushed the issuance of a decision dated 18 September 2009 reversing the decision of the Court of Appeals that was in favour of Ganzon.

Curiously, the postal markings of BOTH the August 26, 2009 resolution to file a reply and the September 18 decision show that BOTH were released by the SC and mailed to the parties concerned ON THE SAME DAY, October 13, 2009!

Because of this deft and sinister maneuver, the required filing of pleadings was suspiciously cut short and the Court suddenly issued a decision. In fine, that September 18, 2009 decision was issued without petitioner filing a reply, without respondents able to file their rejoinder, and without parties being notified that the case had been SUBMITTED FOR RESOLUTION. Oh my God!

That decision was penned by Associate Justice Consuelo Ynares Santiago, who retired on October 2, 2009. It was concurred with by the other four members of the division, including another since retired lady justice, Minita Chico Nazario.

In deciding on the basis of the failure of the respondent(s) to comply with the posting of the ludicrously exorbitant bond of 60 million pesos as “fatal” to their appeal, the Court effectively REVOKED and ANNULLED the provisions of the Labor Code and Philippine immigration laws that mandatorily requires foreigners to obtain an Alien Employment Permit. The SC has concluded that Australian Andrew McBurnie was dismissed even if there was ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE at all presented that he was dismissed by respondent(s). It relied only on a bare allegation in a position paper that was not even personally verified by McBurnie himself, that he was dismissed.

This is imposing judicial legislation, and since what the Supreme Court says is LAW, then from this point onwards, aliens need not get working permits. They can just work, and if challenged, they can always invoke that the Supreme Court, the legal holy of holies, has allowed them on the basis of its decision on McBurnie versus Ganzon.

There are other aspects of this unbelievably strange decision that for brevity’s sake I have not written in this article. Respondent Ganzon immediately filed a Motion for Reconsideration on November 3, 2009, which was perfunctorily dismissed in a decision dated December 14, 2009.

Now tell me if I am being extremely unfair when I describe that universal symbol of justice, the blindfolded lady with scale in hand and sword on the other, as having become a “lady of the night” in a long benighted country where the chief executive by admission, executes sleazy contracts in foreign lands “like a thief in the night”.

Weep for the benighted land.

(banayo_at@yahoo.com)

RA 9006 (Fair Elections Act) is the product of an inferior culture

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
by William M. Esposo
from The Philippine Star

PPCRV (Philippine Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) lawyer Howard Calleja and the Comelec (Commission on Elections) Legal Head Ferdinand Rafanan agitated a hornets’ nest last Thursday when they warned celebrities and showbiz personalities to take a leave of absence if they will endorse candidates. Presidential candidates as well as the personalities who will be affected immediately denounced the PPCRV and Comelec announcement.

The announcement was based on the provisions of RA 9006 or The Fair Elections Act which states that: “Any mass media columnist, commentator, announcer, reporter, on-air correspondent or personality who is a candidate for any elective public office or is a campaign volunteer for or employed or retained in any capacity by any candidate or political party shall be deemed resigned, if so required by their employer, or shall take a leave of absence from his/her work as such during the campaign period.”

Calleja upped the ante by citing penal provisions of between one to six years imprisonment for the violation of RA 9006.

Leading presidential candidate Senator Benigno Aquino III vowed to challenge RA 9006 in the Supreme Court. His main rival, Senator Manny Villar also echoed a similar contention against RA 9006. Both Aquino and Villar are benefiting from these endorsements although in the case of Aquino, his celebrity endorsers were volunteers who did not receive any payment.

Your Chair Wrecker consulted lawyers and a retired Supreme Court Justice and all of them agreed that RA 9006 is in conflict with Section 4 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution which states: “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”

It will be interesting to see how the Comelec can enforce RA 9006 in the face of such a clear violation of The Bill of Rights, especially as it applies to the following:

1. In the case of celebrity endorsers who are not receiving payments, this is a curtailment of their freedom of expression. In many other countries, celebrities are free to endorse any candidate they want to support.

2. In the case of media commentators and columnists, RA 9006 is a clear violation of freedom of the press. Opinion makers are there precisely to express personal views. Walter Winchell was hailed for taking a very strong position against German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler even before World War II erupted.

It is the news reporters who are duty bound to provide both sides of an argument or an issue. But broadcast commentators and press opinion columnists are free to espouse whichever side they believe in – if they wish to espouse a side of an issue. In the population control debate, a staunch Catholic will espouse the Pope’s position versus the liberal who will take the opposite view.

Even the publications are allowed to endorse a presidential candidate. In the 2008 US presidential elections, the prestigious New York Times and Los Angeles Times were among the major publications that endorsed Barrack Obama.

The main objective of a Fair Elections Act – to search for a level playing field for all candidates – is commendable. But the provisions and Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Fair Elections Act must not violate the Bill of Rights and should not be allowed to do so.

Those who are implementing a Fair Elections Act would do better to strictly enforce the limits to candidate election spending just like presidential candidate Manny Villar’s level of ad spending which has become too glaring and obscene. The tracked level of Villar’s fourth quarter 2009 TV ad spending alone may already approximate, if not exceed, his allowable total spending for the official campaign period.

The thinking behind RA 9006 reflects this “sore loser” mentality that is seen many times, in many places, in our country. Notice how handicapping is often resorted to in the search for a level playing field. This is a wrong approach that reflects an inferior culture.

This mindset behind RA 9006 is tantamount to penalizing the superior performer in order to assist the poor performer. The achiever nations are those that promote the ideal of being better than the best. Their focus is on improvement and competitive edge – not handicapping.

Following this handicapping mentality, shall we insist that all Filipinos must not be allowed to have a college education so that the poor who cannot attain a college degree can compete for jobs? Shall we prohibit those who worked hard to afford better health services from going to the superior hospitals and thus just go to our poorly equipped health centers for their complicated health problems?

When we play basketball in the Olympics, shall we insist with the International Olympic Committee that the taller Americans and Europeans play with us kneeling down so that there is no height advantage working against us? See how far you’ll go if you ask for that.

That is not reform. That is retrogression. You do not move forward with that mentality and can only sink deeper in your black hole and remain hopeless.

Chair Wrecker email and website:
macesposo@yahoo.com and www.chairwrecker.com

It really all adds up

by Lito Banayo
from MALAYA

In Iloilo which I just visited, most every elected public official is a declared Lakas-Kampi toady. But guess who the political overlords are whispering all over? Not Gibo, the official Pa-La-Ka candidate, but Money Villarroyo.

In nearby Antique likewise. And in Capiz, why, Joc-Joc Bolante, the “genius” who sold bottled water with a spoonful of urea, packaged it as foliar fertilizer, and sold the useless concoction at a 1,500% overprice to the Department of Agriculture where he was the most trusted undersecretary with a direct line to the Palace, mismo, is running for governor. He is the Nacionalista Party candidate, and his propaganda tarps proclaim Money Villarroyo as his president!

Yet here comes Alan Peter Cayetano, who claims that it was the Villar Senate which prosecuted Joc-Joc Bolante. But aside from boycotting the last session day of the Senate where the Gordon Blue Ribbon report that damned Bolante and his superiors in the Arroyo regime was supposed to be resolved in plenary, Manny Villar’s Nacionalista Party has anointed El Joc-Joc, mismo, as their “next governor” of Capiz. Breathtakingly “bolantic”. The “aswangs” must be rolling in glee.

In Caraga, NP senatorial candidates were all over the place a week or so ago, and guess who was “shepherding” them? Why, the wife of a Pa-La-Ka “loyalist”, who swears to the highest heavens that Gibo is it! And the powerful political families in the region, while maintaining their Pa-La-Ka ties and close affiliation with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, are hosts to Money Villarroyo and his wife Cynthia whenever he or she visits.

In Bohol, hardly any Pa-La-Ka, incumbent or not, is working for Gibo. Only his former colleague in the Arroyo cabinet, Art Yap, who is running unopposed as congressman of the 3^rd district, is hewing to the party line, and moves around for Gibo. Instead, it is common knowledge that administration “loyalists” are engaged to Money Villarroyo. The incumbent governor after all was Villar’s deputy speaker for the Visayas, and the vice-governor he has endorsed to succeed him is the official candidate of the NP.

In Batangas, a former governor, well known not because he was such a good administrator of the province, but because he was a most successful operator/financier of the numbers game called jueteng, swore into the Nacionalista Party more than a year ago. His legal confidante is the lawyer of Cezar O. Mancao, the “star” witness of Agnes Devanadera and Peter Ong of the DOJ. Who pays the lawyer’s professional fees? Or is it pro bono, he, he, he? The lawyer is such a loquacious fellow who loves to preen before TV cameras and has been caught peddling false information about the case against Ping Lacson. Does the governor pay his fees, or does Money Villarroyo foot the bill? But wait till you read the next paragraph.

A highly respected armed forces general, who retired with several stars, intimated that no less than the wife of a very powerful cabinet member played host to Money Villarroyo and his wife in Dipolog City recently. Wow! And Gibo hasn’t added it all up yet? Akala ko ba “galing at talino” ang kaibigan ko? Paano kang makaka-take-off kung ang makina ng eroplano ay na-cannibalize parang Nomad ng mga kasamahan mo sa Pa-La-Ka?

What’s the connection between the previous two paragraphs? Guess where the powerful cabinet member comes from. Why Batangas, of course! Like many other Arroyo cabinet members, he is running to reclaim his old seat in Congress.

And then there is this “wonder boy” who is super close to the First Couple. After losing his senatorial quest in 2007 because many Filipinos refused to recognize him as their “uTol”, he has lowered his sights somewhat. He hopes to succeed Sonny Belmonte as mayor of Quezon City. But is he the Pa-La-Ka candidate? Nope. He is the adopted candidate of Money Villarroyo and his Nacionalistas.

It all adds up. And Gibo cannot seem to figure it out. Or if he has, he tries hard not to show it.

All the surveys show that GMA is the most distrusted person in the history of the Philippine presidency. Still, there are anywhere from 15 to 18 percent benighted souls in the country who approve of her according to the same surveys. Gilbert Teodoro was introduced as Dona Gloria’s “champion” eight months ago, and his survey ratings have inched up from one percent to five, even four points, despite heavy media presence, good debate presence, and Galing at Talino ads lumilipad over the place. Where are Gloria’s 15 to 18% loyalists? Where is the vaunted party machinery that Gibo relies upon? Surely they should have shown in the surveys after 8 months, even little by little?

Upon the other hand, and I have kept writing about this, Dona Gloria knows that she cannot transact with Noynoy. Moreover, she hates those “traidores” (that’s how she calls them) among the Hyatt Ten who left her in the middle of 2005 when conscience bothered them about Hello Garci, and they are all with Aquino and Roxas, including her erstwhile defense secretary who left her in 2006. But Money Villarroyo is “otra cosa”. He can always be relied upon, because he has always been transactional.

He transacted with the late Speaker Mitra of the LDP in 1992, then with the FVR administration afterwards. He shooed off an Erap promise to install Joker Arroyo as speaker of the House right after May 1998, and was proclaimed Speaker. By transaction.

Mysteriously, Joker who even delivered a scathing privilege speech on the “transactions” of Money Villar in the floor of the House on August 17, 1998, became his buddy-buddy. Another transaction? And Villar, following the brilliant parliamentary maneuver taught him by Joker Arroyo, impeached the president who made him speaker. Another transaction?

Villar became senator in the wings of the 2001 Edsa Dos “People Power” Coalition, courtesy of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the woman who would not have become president had not Villar impeached Erap. And he became Senate President after 18 months of Frank Drilon, because he “transacted” with the Palace. In the wake of the Hello Garci revelations, did Money Villar denounce GMA? Of course not. He kept as quiet as an Egyptian sphinx. But the brinkmanship in him let loose several Nacionalistas to denounce Gloria and Garci. Like Alan Cayetano and Gilbert Remulla, both congressmen under his patronage. Even his wife Cynthia quietly aligned herself with the minority. But the other half of the Nacionalistas voted against impeachment or abstained to deny the opposition the requisite number. Including Cavite Representative Boying Remulla, now Money Villarroyo’s rabid attack dog.

Yet in 2007, when because of Hello Garci and other scandals, he found Gloria’s company a “kiss of death”, he flits back into the “opposition”. Which stupidly adopted him. Right after winning re-election, he “transacts” with known Gloria allies to ensure he retained the presidency of the Senate, and jettisoned his new allies in the Genuine Opposition.

Money Villar is a most “transactional” politician. The kind that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo loves to deal with. And has always dealt with.

You want six more years of business as usual, with President Money Villarroyo and Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo? With Joker Arroyo as President of the Senate? Wow! A gaggle of Arroyos, enough to suffocate us all.

It all adds up. And now, the piece de resistance — Manila RTC Judge Myra Garcia-Fernandez, issued a warrant of arrest against Senator Ping Lacson right on time, right after C-5 at Taga was banner story for several days, punctuated by the boycott of Money’s loyalists after Money delivered his defence sans sense. This despite the fact that the Lacson lawyers filed a motion for her to judicially determine whether probable cause existed, in the light of revelations in her own court, where Dumlao said Ping had nothing to do with Dacer-Corbito, and Mancao was caught in a web of factual inconsistencies, and where Mancao admitted that GMA’s loyal Romeo Prestoza of the PMA Class of ’78, did convince him to implicate Lacson, who was such a pain in the neck for the Arroyos.

Voila! C-5 at Taga has vanished from the news, and instead, the manhunt for Lacson is top running story, with fuel added by the ululations of that idiot in the NBI. Perfect timing?

Indeed! RTC Judge Myra was recommended by the Judicial and Bar Council to be appointed to the Court of Appeals, with only one brave man dissenting, Senator Chiz Escudero who has been following developments about the Lacson case.

The intent of the Arroyo regime, dear friends, is not to seek justice, but to impose revenge. Humiliate Lacson. Get him behind bars, and the Dacer sisters think they will get justice? Makulong lang, never mind if the evidence eventually exonerates Ping. Tutal, malilipat na sa ibang judge, because Myra Garcia Fernandez will soon become “Justice”, no longer “Judge”.

In the language of transactions, how do you call this?

Kaliwaan.

And for Money Villarroyo, ever so lucky, ever so wealthy, there is the bonus of C-5 at Taga out of the headlines. Now the Noynoy group would be absolutely stupid to let C-5 at Taga and other horror stories die down. Already, Villarroyo’s attack hounds are on the offensive, with SCTEX and Hacienda Luisita. They have even produced a lengthy documentary on Hacienda Luisita, slickly and professionally produced with the help of the communists who adore Joma Sison, and will soon launch the same.

And all with the blessings of the stinking palace beside the stinking river.

(banayo_at@yahoo.com)

What’s Villar Running For, or From?

FRANKLY SPEAKING
by Frank Wenceslao

Many overseas Filipinos are asking: Is Sen. Manuel Villar running for uplifting our poor countrymen, or from prosecution for the crimes he, Mrs. Villar and close associates are probably guilty of in their rush to build up a real estate development empire and mind-boggling personal net worth of close to $1 billion in only 16 years while the couple is members of Congress?

Up to now Villar maintains he’s from a poor Tondo family. Hence, using as baseline his 1992 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth when first elected to Congress it’s incredible he’d build up a billion-dollar net worth at the end of 2008 even under the most favorable conditions, hence beyond the realm of statistical probability.

Villar should’ve known once he announced his run for president the evidence of his wrongdoings will emerge. Or could this really be his plan to brave the run perhaps by buying the office for it’d be his “safe harbor” anyway? Note that Villar’s spending money for his campaign as though really running from the arms of law.

Another bomb was unleashed by former Senate president Franklin Drilon last week that Villar’s company, Crown Communities Iloilo, bought 12.7 hectares in Jibao-an, Pavia, Iloilo from farmer beneficiaries and converted this first-class irrigated rice land into a residential enclave, Savannah Subdivision.

Drilon claims that under the law, it is illegal to convert first-class irrigated agricultural land into a subdivision. That’s exactly what Villar did in developing the Savannah Subdivision. Drilon charged Villar of the crime as he presented tax declarations and other documents obtained from the provincial government.

Drilon said Villar had obtained approval of the Department of Agrarian Reform to convert the agriculture land into a residential area only in 2007, seven years after construction of the subdivision started in 2000. Hence, a criminal act has gone on for 5 years before the conversion was approved, which should’ve sufficed for the DAR to file criminal action unless, of course, Villar fixed it.

Drilon added that Villar used P4 million of his pork barrel funds to build a 585-meter national road that led right into the entrance of Savannah. “This is the only public works project of Villar in the province,” said Drilon at the Iloilo press conference.

Drilon said that Villar, not content with the 12-hectare Savannah property, bought the adjoining rice lands in the area and amassed a total of 250 hectares of land to expand his residential community. The farmers had no choice but to sell their property, said Drilon, because their irrigation supply had been cut off with Villar’s conversion of the Savannah property which was the primary source of water in the area.

Is this a sample of Villar’s social conscience he’d bring to the presidency?

Drilon, who naturally faces a libel suit if his claims weren’t true, said the source of water was cut off and led to the destruction of irrigation canals whose costs should be charged to Villar the same way the Senate is asking him to reimburse the government of close to P7 billion for the feasibility studies, engineering design and plans, and other preparatory work wasted when Villar’s pressured DPWH officials to change the C-5 road extension alignment to “snake” through and provide ingress and egress for 23 Villar-owned or controlled housing subdivisions arching over parts of Metro Manila, Cavite and Laguna.

Villar’s workers back-filled the canals so they can be classified as non-serviceable, said Drilon, who noted that the value of Villar’s Pavia property in Iloilo shot up to P3,500 per square meter from less than P150 per square meter.

Drilon further said, “This is what we call C-5 and a half. Regardless if it is only half a kilometer, it shows the lack of decency on the part of the developer, Senator Villar, who simply set aside all interest of the CARP beneficiaries to be able to pursue his business interests. The C-5 controversy is simply a tip [of] the iceberg. It is a pattern we now see. We are aware of other subdivisions all over the country where similar practice was followed.”

As usual, Villar dismissed the charges the same way he did the Senate Committee Report No. 780 on the C-5 road extension scandal which, according to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, a Harvard-trained lawyer, presents a strong case against Villar and if the issue was brought to court and handled by a good prosecutor, the presidential aspirant “will end up in jail.”

Sen. Jamby Madrigal who first brought the charges on C-5 against Villar and his corporations for the insertions he made in the national budget to cover the road extension costs. The insertions are the same as “earmarks” that brought members of the US Congress to jail.

There’s another property bought by Northwinds Prime Properties Inc. (a Villar company) for the amount of Php120,196,780.00 from Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Corp. was mortgaged to Capitol Development Bank (a Villar-owned thrift bank) under the name of ADR Farms in the amount of Php150,000,000.00 on July 4, 1996 which was used as collateral for a Php1,500,000,000.00 emergency loan from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and eventually sold to RCBC Savings Bank by Capitol Bank and then finally bought back by Palmera Homes Inc. (another Villar company).

Here again is a criminal act involving the BSP in questionable private business transactions whose benefits solely accrued to Villar’s owned Capitol Development Bank, Palmera Homes Inc. and, of course, himself.

It’s a fact an important aspect of a crime an investigator looks into is modus operandi. It’s undeniable that Villar’s MO is to acquire undeveloped lands that a road project is planned or can be made to traverse which he’d hasten through insertions in the national budget or using his pork barrel for road construction to the property, inflate its loan value and borrow housing development funds from government lending institutions.

Very neat, isn’t it? Even Mafia mobsters wanting to go legitimate couldn’t have thought of such criminal enterprise. Pamusa’s volunteer Filipino counsels are unanimous that Villar is probably guilty of “corrupt practices of public officers” under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) Sections 3(a) and 3(e).

Overseas Filipinos are urging the Ombudsman and Integrated Bar of the Philippines members to act immediately and cleanse our electoral system so an elective office especially the presidency in Villar’s case or Congress in Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s case wouldn’t be a “safe harbor” for crimes they’ve committed with impunity.

Moreover, there’re surely evidence that GMA and Villar have “seriously violated laws on US soil” which the FBI can immediately investigate under the US-RP Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and file the needed legal action in the US which should compel GMA and Villar to withdraw their candidacies, to wit:

1. Mail or Wire Fraud – transferring to the U.S. illegally earned funds or from the proceeds of corruption.

2. Money Laundering – transferring, investing and depositing in the U.S. banking or financial system illegally earned funds or from the proceeds of corruption.

3. Racketeering – violation of the RICO Act which provides that a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal and 8 state crimes —within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $250,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of “racketeering activity.” RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.

When the United States Attorney (prosecutor) decides to indict someone under RICO, he or she has the option of seeking a pre-trial restraining order or injunction to temporarily seize a defendant’s assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property, as well as require the defendant to put up a performance bond. This provision was placed in the law because the owners of Mafia-related shell corporation often absconded with the assets. An injunction and/or performance bond ensures that there is something to seize in the event of a guilty verdict.

In many cases, the threat of a RICO indictment can force defendants to plead guilty to lesser charges, in part because the seizure of assets would make it difficult to pay a defense attorney. Despite its harsh provisions, a RICO-related charge is considered easy to prove in court, as it focuses on patterns of behavior as opposed to criminal acts.

Norwalk, CA – 021310

In Search for a “Leader with Vision”

by Fr. Abraham Alonzo

As the Philippine’s national election approaches, the most crucial question we need to ask ourselves as electorates in choosing our next President is: Who among the candidates is aleader with vision?

Since the dawn of history, our country has not been blessed with a true leader with vision. President Manuel L. Quezon in campaigning for the first plebiscite during the Commonwealth government, once said that he prefers
the “Philippines run like hell by Filipinos; rather than run like heaven by the Americans”. It got stuck as our social curse up to the present. Because of his lack of confidence in his own people he started the ball rolling
down to “hell” by buying votes to push his agenda. From that time on it became our national “original sin” that up to now is the very root of all corruption and evils in all levels of our government and society as a whole.

Isn’t it that we are the most Christian nation in the Far East? And at one time we were ranked at the top in the level of literacy and GNP? When it comes to Filipinos abroad, are they not considered to be in the highest level of literacy rate and also among the highest in household income compared to other ethnic groups? But today, are we not only ranked among the poorest but also among the most corrupt countries? What happened? Are we not blessed with resources, world class talents and champions? But how come we do not have a world class leader?

Every great nation begins with a leader with vision. In the United States, for example, before the Declaration of Independence over 200 years ago, they were just like any British colony. But when its founding fathers
formulated a vision that, “All men are created equal and that everyone has the right to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.” And when those same leaders risked their own lives and fortune to stand up for that vision –
everything changed. Today, they are defined by that vision – more equality, freedom and opportunities shine.

Another example, is our own neighboring country Taiwan. Before the Kuomintang Revolution, Formosa, as it was called before was just an abandoned island of China. But when Chiang Kai-shek came with the inspiration of Sun Yat-sen formulated a tripod vision of “Self-sufficiency, Freedom and Democracy.” And when their succeeding leaders follow through with that vision, who they are today is defined by that same vision. If we look at Taiwan today, they are not only free and democratic but even have a higher per capita income than Japan.

A third example is Singapore, before their independence as a British colony, they were among the most depressed of the federated states of Malaya at that time. They also had rampant problems of corruption. But
when their leader Harry Lee Kuan Yew formulated a policy that later became a national vision called “clean house” and organized a government agency to investigate and stop corruption – everything changed. Now, it is
not only among the cleanest of nations but also among the most progressive among the first world countries.

Marcos had his vision of Bagong Lipunan but was he a leader? Was he not also called “the greatest thief and the worst violator of human rights”? Cory’s greatest contribution was giving back our freedom from dictatorship
but when she failed to acknowledge her capability to lead and prepare our country to search for the best qualified leader with vision at the most opportune time, did she not also fail us? Is there leadership for the incumbent President if her family’s notoriety for corruption is unbridled and whose main concern is simply to perpetuate herself in power? Remember the saying:“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat them.”

The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, people perish”(Prov. 29:18). Are we not at the bottom yet? Aren’t our people perishing and many are still in diaspora? For we have not found that leader with clearest of vision above
the rest. How long can we hold our pains and sufferings? We are a resilient people but there is a limit to everything. This election can be our new beginning. As electorates we have a sublime obligation, we are like a
collective CEO who can hire or fire our next “servant-leader-employee”, who can also make or unmake our destiny not just for a term but for many generations to come. Is our soul worth a few pesos? Let us not waste this
golden opportunity of a lifetime. Vote wisely with your conscience. Take time to know who they are, their accomplishments and their vision. Whoever can best articulate and champion the vision of our greatest ideals
and aspirations as people by one’s own record of leadership by example let that person be the next President!

Fakes

by Lito Banayo
from MALAYA

At the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo Tuesday night, there was no Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to round up her “troops” and cheer up the flagging campaign of Gilbert Teodoro. Whatever could be the reason for patroness not to be beside her “champion”? And yet, gallant “champion” gave her praises and acknowledged her “good” deeds before the audience Ronnie Puno trotted in to fill the stadium. Such a fine gentleman.

On the stage, with nary a smile, looking like imperious pro-consuls assessing the field of combat where defeat was certainty and only a treacherous deal could save their necks, were a bunch of fakes. Some of them were the very people I wrote about yesterday. They were standing in for their Dona Gloria, who earlier in the day made it a (coincidence?) point to be in Calamba, Laguna, inspecting some infrastructure project, and boarded a bus together with Malacanang reporters to show off her concrete “legacies”. Reminds me of Money Villarroyo giving a field trip to media in situ, upon C-5.

Just a few kilometres away from where the Dona preened, Money Villarroyo and his gang were parading the streets, and later in the afternoon, with prized and pricey comedians like Willie Revillame, proclaimed themselves for the three-month war ahead. It was a motley affair, with leftists Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza flanking Money and Loren in a motorcade through the crowded streets of the national hero’s birthplace, while making sure they would keep some distance beside Bonget Marcos, son of the late authoritarian leader who hounded them and their “pope” Joma.

Was that the “sign” that Dona Gloria gave to her faithful, that Manny Villar was really Villarroyo? Be in the same locus of Villarroyo’s proclamation, while being absent in Gibo? Teodoro should be thankful, but then again, the presence of Mikey Arroyo in his Puno-sponsored Antipolo bash spoiled the whole affair. Mikey dutifully said their Pa-La-Ka was solidly behind Gibo, but hey, what dolts listen to Mikey? Even his chief of staff in Congress is running as councillor in Caloocan, under the banners of the Nacionalista Party. Along with El Joc-Joc, of course, running for governor of Capiz, with Money Villarroyo his prisedinti!

In any case, the Dona, back in the metropolis on proclamation day, found her bus stuck in soft muck somewhere in Kyusi, in a road she wants to complete as part of her legacy kuno. Old folks would say “signos”, signs of impending doom, but then again, the Dona has outlasted all those signos for the past nine years and more, and believes she is on her way to many more years of glorious public “service” this time as mayordoma to Money Villarroyo.

Remember what I wrote about yesterday — Money Villarroyo as president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Speaker of the House, and Joker Arroyo as Senate President. Think about it. Our fate come July of 2010, which is just a scant five months from now, if we allow such a curse to be upon us. Hallelujah!

* * *

Don’t look now, not just yet. But an Ilocos Sur mayor intimated to me that their kingpin, El Chavit, has privately told them that he thinks Gilbert has little chance of making it. And although he likes Gibo, especially insofar as competence is used as measure, he is likely to go for Villar.

No wonder Erap’s loyalists are sore at Money Villarroyo. The mayor who informed me about Chavit’s leanings is also close to Erap’s handlers.

The informant told me that Chavit is in no hurry to decide anyway, because his half of Ilocos Sur will always wait for his “command”. I told my mayor-friend that Ilocos Sur is no longer command-vote country, just like the Lingayen to Lucena corridor, as Chavit’s province-mates have achieved a good measure of financial independence, with OFW remittances filling their frugal lifestyles enough.

But don’t tell me the Dona cannot work on Chavit? Or is she whispering someone else, like Money Villarroyo instead of Gibo?

* * *

A broadsheet that has seen better days bannered a “fake” story yesterday, just like sensationalist tabloids are wont to do. The banner headline was “Gibo gets Iglesia support”, although they qualified the word “support” in quotation marks, likely to mask the untruth behind it. The story however quotes Ed Ermita who qualified that despite the appearance of Dona Gloria in the INC Central last Wednesday, “we hope we get is…INC is very supportive of the administration”.

So did Gibo get Iglesia support, as the paper bannered? Of course not. What Gilbert’s handlers, some of whom are my friends, should ask themselves are: Did Dona Gloria whisper somebody else’s name? And why is the paper’s owner, so very, very close to Dona Gloria y su Esposo, playing with his chances, when everybody and his mother knows he is already committed to someone else?

Ah, the ways of Money Villarroyo. A half-foot here and a half-foot there, always nimble, always in brinkmanship. Always transactional.

* * *

But the fabulously moneyed Villarroyo hurls a challenge at his competition: “Pera ko naman ang ginagastos ko!” And adds: “Name your contributors”.

In Pia Hontiveros’ Strictly Politics, she twitted an uneasy Gilbert Remulla, Villarroyo spokesman, who earlier took pride in his moneyed principal’s claim, “He’s spending his own money”. Asked Pia, in such cute fashion, “E bakit doon sa (‘sangkatutak) na ads ninyo, sabi, ‘Paid for by Friends of Manny Villar”?

“Well…”, and the quickly voluble Gilbert Remulla found himself speechless, and had to wiggle himself out of the conundrum with perspiring contortions.

(banayo_at@yahoo.com)