VILLAR TRYING TO BUY THE PRESIDENCY – IS IT FOR SALE?

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE HAS BEEN GOING AROUND IN THE INTERNET SINCE FEBRUARY 2010. I’VE BEEN MONITORING THIS ARTICLE WAITING FOR A REBUTTAL FROM THE VILLAR CAMPAIGN. I AM PRETTY SURE THAT THE VILLAR CAMPAIGN — OR VILLAR HIMSELF — HAS READ THIS ARTICLE. IS VILLAR’S SILENCE TANTAMOUNT TO ADMISSION OF GUILT?
– PERRY DIAZ

VILLAR TRYING TO BUY THE PRESIDENCY – IS IT FOR SALE?

FACT— VILLAR HAS A MINIMUM OF 40 TV SPOTS A DAY AT A COST OF P10 MILLION EVERY DAY THE PAST 5 MONTHS FOR A TOTAL COST OF P1.5 BILLION – AND THAT IS NOT COUNTING HIS EXPENSES ON RADIO, DOLPHY, WILLLIE REVILLAME ETC, ETC AND THE ELECTION OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN PERIOD HAS NOT EVEN STARTED – THEY SAY HIS BUDGET IS P20 BILLION AND ALL FOR A JOB THAT PAYS P200 THOUSAND A YEAR!

LEADING NEWSPAPERS MENTIONED THAT THIS LEVEL OF SPENDING HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN PHILIPPINE POLITICS, IT IS OUTRAGEOUS AND SHAMEFUL. THIS IS NOT ALSO NATIONALISTA PARTY MONEY THIS IS JUST VILLAR’S MONEY, SO WHAT WE ARE
REALLY LOOKING AT HERE IS ONE SINGLE INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS A PERSONAL BUDGET OF 20 BILLION JUST TO BECOME A PRESIDENT. THE REST OF THE CAST OF THE SO CALLED NATIONALISTA BANDWAGON ARE MERE HIGHLY PAID ROLE PLAYERS, THAT’S WHY ITS A POLITICAL CIRCUS, WITH ALL POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES AND COLORS (LEFTIST,
FACIST, IDEALISTS, RED, WHITE, BLUE, ORANGE, ETC) PACKAGED IN ONE BASKET.

QUESTION —–HE SAYS HE IS A GOOD BUSINESSMAN – AND IF HE IS, I WONDER WHERE HE EXPECTS TO GET HIS RETURN ON HIS AT LEAST P20 BILLION INVESTMENT.

WHAT KIND OF RETURN WILL VILLAR EXPECT —–GIVEN THE HIGH RISK OF THIS UNDERTAKING, HE PROBABLY EXPECTS A GOOD RETURN – MAYBE DOUBLE OR TRIPLE HIS MONEY IN SIX YEARS SAY TO P60 BILLION.

DO YOU BELIEVE VILLAR WHEN HE SAYS THAT HIS INTENTION IS JUST TO SERVE?

FIRST OF ALL IF HE DOES NOT INTEND TO RECOVER THE 20 BILLION HE SPENT, THEN HE IS NOT A GOOD BUSINESSMAN AFTER ALL. SECOND. WHAT IS SO SPECIAL AND MOTIVATING ABOUT BEING THE HIGHEST RANKED PUBLIC SERVANT THAT YOU NEED TO SPEND 20 BILLION JUST TO GET IT – THE ONLY BELIEVABLE AND LOGICAL ANSWER IS THAT YOU WILL GET BACK WHAT YOU SPENT TEN TIMES BY CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE. IF THIS IS NOT THE CASE THEN VILLAR IS NOT FIT TO BECOME PRESIDENT, HE IS MENTALLY IMBALANCED.

THE RETURN —- TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET OF THE GOVERNMENT OVER THE NEXT 6 years IS P10 TRILLION WITH ABOUT P1 TRILLION DISCRETIONARY – IF VILLAR MAKES C5 AND TAGA ON THE P1TRILLIO OF 20% … hmmmm THATS P200 BILLION ON AN INVESTMENT OF P20 BILLION – HMMM VILLAR IS ONE SMART BUSINESSMAN.

BUT WAIT A MINUTE, THIS IS JUST VILLAR’S SHARE WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE CAST AND ROLE PLAYERS DO YOU THINK THEY WILL JUST BE HAPPY AND CONTENTED JUST LOOKING AT VILLAR WITH 200 BILLION IN HIS POCKET. OF COURSE MEYRON DIN SILA. LET’S NOT FORGET THAT THE ARROYOS AND MACAPAGALS WILL STIL BE AROUND,
THIS IS 100% SURE. THEREFORE, TULOY ANG CORRUPTION HOLIDAY, GUARANTEED 6 YEARS AND MAYBE INDEFINITELY SHOULD THEY SUCCEED IN AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION. DIOS KO PO, MAAWA NAMAN KAYO SA BANSA NATIN, SA SARILI NATIN, SA MGA ANAK NATIN, WAG NAMAN NATING HAYAAN MANGYARI ANG BANGUNGOT NA TO.

WHAT’S THE IMPACT ON THE POOR? – P200 BILLION THAT WILL CONSERVATIVELY BE LOST TO CORRUPTION AS A PAYBACK TO VILLAR’s CAMPAIGN EXPENSES CAN PAY FOR 40,000 CLASSROOMS TO SOLVE THE SHORTAGE PLUS, CREATE A MICRO LENDING FUND THAT CAN GENERATE 3.2 MILLION JOBS – CORRUPTION IS THE CAUSE OF POVERTY!

IT DOES NOT TAKE A GENIUS TO FIGURE THIS OUT.

Lame Duck, Pekeng Duck

Balitang Kutsero
by Perry Diaz

During President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s last junket to the United States, she decided to have another dining experience with just a few friends at the posh Le Cirque Restaurant in New York. She ordered orange-glazed duck with Port wine sauce and a bottle of vintage Chateau Lafite Rothschild. When her order arrived she was shocked, “What’s this?” she asked the waiter who then called the chef. The chef came and said, “Kumusta ma’am? I’m Pedro Pipit, the best Pinoy chep here at Le Circo. Do you have a question, ma’am?” “I ordered an orange-glazed duck and look what I got?” Gloria said. Pedro replied, “Well, ma’am, I prepared it especially for you. It’s a pekeng duck.” “Pekeng duck? A fake duck?” Gloria said. “No, ma’am, it’s not pek, it’s real, it’s named after China’s capital, Pekeng,” Pedro replied. “Oh, you mean, Peking,” Gloria laughed. Then she became serious and asked, “But how come it has only one leg?” “You see, ma’am,” Pedro said, “since you’re now a lame duck president, I thought it would be nice to serve you a lame pekeng duck.” “Gago! Let’s get out of here, girls!”

***
Presidential wannabe Manny Villar — a.k.a. “Money Villarroyo” — has been getting a lot of endorsements lately. Columnist Billy Esposo refers to them as “killer” endorsements. Villar didn’t particularly like what Billy called them. But when Villar was endorsed by the Maguindanao massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr., he hit the roof — he knew it was a “kiss of death” endorsement! Then a day later, Junior Andal changed his endorsement to Noynoy Aquino. The word was that Villar paid Junior Andal a hefty sum of money to switch his endorsement to Noynoy! Yup, what Manny wants, money gets.

Well, it turned out that Villar’s alter ego, Gilbert Remulla visited the detained Andal Ampatuan Sr. in Davao last month. When the visit was leaked out to the media, Remulla claimed that it was just a “social visit.” The plot thickens when it was revealed that Remulla is married to the sister of Sigfrid Fortun, who is the lawyer of the Ampatuans. Connect the dots and there’s only three degrees that separate Manny Villar from the suspected masterminds of the Maguindanao massacre!

Junior Andal got an idea on how to make a big bundle of money by selling his “kiss of death” endorsements. Yup, for a certain amount, depending on the position the candidate is running for, Junior Andal will endorse the candidate’s opponent for a price. As starters, Junior Andal offered to Dick Gordon’s opponents, at a discounted price, his “kiss of death” endorsement to Flashy Dick. There were no takers.

***
Presidential wannabe Dick Gordon sued survey-takers SWS and Pulse Asia for damages. He claimed that the methods they were using were “flawed and inaccurate.” He demanded that they stop the surveys. I don’t blame him for his actions because both pollsters show Flashy Dick’s poll ratings anywhere from one to three percent. Well, there was one brave pollster who had the guts to tell the hot-tempered Flashy Dick: Don’t blame surveys, fix your campaign. With two weeks left to campaign, it would be futile for Flashy Dick to fix his campaign. Perhaps, he should fix his head and quit while he’s still a head.

***
Gloria’s candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro seems like he’s in a trance. Everything looks deceiving. People around him used to wear green, his campaign color. Now, some are wearing orange (Villar’s color) and some are wearing yellow (Noynoy’s color). But when he started seeing some people in black, he got scared and asked them why? “Sir, when we saw Gloria wearing orange, we were happy because Gloria’s ‘kiss of death’ will kill Villar’s campaign.” “That’s great,” Gibo said, “but why are you wearing black?” His supporters said, “Sir, it’s because all your Cojuangco cousins are now wearing yellow so we thought your campaign is dead.”

Gloria cracked the whip on members of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, urging them to deliver victory to Gibo and end the “defections.” She asked the defectors, “Why did you defect?” “Ma’am, we defected when your husband Mike Arroyo ordered us to defect,” said one of the defectors. When Gloria asked Mike if it was true, he said, “Hell, no! They were belly aching about a lot of things in your party, so I told them to defecate so they’ll feel better.”

***
Recently, Gloria appointed her manicurist to a cabinet position as a trustee of the Home Development Fund (Pag-IBIG), a government body that loans millions of dollars for housing. She also appointed her gardener as deputy director of Luneta Park Administration. The former manicurist will earn P130,000 a month (that’s twice the salary of the President) while her former gardener earns a little less. This reminds me of the Roman Emperor Caligula who appointed his horse as Consul of Rome. I’m beginning to suspect that Gloria is the reincarnation of Caligula.

***
Nick Perla, who’s just a tad below Flashy Dick in the poll surveys, filed a petition with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to postpone the holding of the May 10 elections until such time Comelec can assure clean elections. Nick must really be naïve. If he wants clean elections, he should file a constitutional amendment to dissolve Comelec. And he should remember that to get votes he has to buy them.

***
Time to cry… It seems to me that it is becoming fashionable for certain people to cry in public. First, it was Flashy Dick Gordon who broke into tears at a gathering with his supporters. He said that he “could no longer bear seeing the suffering of the people.”

The second was Justice Renato Corona who, during his interview with the Judicial Bar Council, paused and wiped his eyes in the middle of his speech: “I always believed Mr. Chief Justice that there are two greatest gifts God can give a man in his lifetime: A faithful and dedicated wife, number two, a happy family. I have both. I don’t really need anymore, not even to become Chief Justice.”

The third was Acting Secretary of Justice Alberto Agra who cried during a press conference. When he was asked why he cried, he said he cried because he remembered his family and his father who had already passed away.

If Gordon wins the presidency, he’ll be known as the “Crying President.” If Corona is appointed Chief Justice, he’ll be known as the “Crying Chief Justice.” As for Agra, he’ll always be known as the “Cry Baby.”

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

Brightest dreams, darkest fears

Telltale Signs
by Rodel Rodis

I have been surfing the Net and watching the cable channels this past week excited by news in the US about the historic House vote on the health care reform bill and dismayed by news in the Philippines about the Supreme Court decision on the midnight chief justice appointment of the president.

In the course of all the Internet chatter about these developments, my friend, Laymon Jones, from Little Rock, Arkansas e-mailed me a quote he stumbled upon. “I am eternally hopeful that the better angels of our nature will prevail. In the meantime, in an election that promises change, let us appeal to our people’s brightest dreams than to their darkest fears.” The words did not come from 2008 candidate Barrack Obama but from 2010 presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino. But the sentiment was shared by President Obama.

When many pundits predicted two weeks ago that his health care reform bill was all but dead and buried, President Obama appealed to the American people to lobby wavering Democrats in the House to support the bill. In pinning his hopes that “the better angels of our nature will prevail,” Obama secured a 219-212 victory in the House of a bill that will provide 95 percent of Americans with affordable health insurance coverage, including 32 million who are currently uninsured. Pre-existing medical conditions can no longer be a basis to deny people coverage, young adults will be able to remain on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26, and tax credits and subsidies will be provided to low-income families and small businesses.

Just before signing the health care reform bill into law on March 23, 2010, President Obama said that it would “mark a new season in America.” He added, “We have now just enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care.”

The bill, considered the most sweeping piece of federal legislation since Medicare was passed in 1965, would cover those without coverage and those at risk of losing coverage. It would be paid for by taxing the rich. On average, those making more than one million dollars a year will pay $46,000 more in 2013. It would also cut Medicare subsidies to private insurers affecting their executives and shareholders.

While the “brightest dreams” of those without insurance coverage were realized in the United States, the “darkest fears” of those in the Philippines materialized in the same week when the Supreme Court appointees of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, by a 9-1 vote, gave her the power to appoint a “midnight” Chief Justice against the Constitution’s express prohibition.

As columnist Perry Diaz described it, the vote marked “the transition of the Supreme Court from an independent branch of government to an adjunct of the executive branch; from a bastion of enlightened minds to a dungeon of mindless misfits; and from selfless defenders of the constitution to selfish stooges who trample on the law of the land so their master will rule supreme.”

The “darkest fears” were also realized when the names of the nominees of the party-list groups were disclosed this past week. It was disclosed that President Arroyo’s son, Mikey Arroyo, is the first nominee of a party-list group that seeks to represent security guards. The second nominee of the group is Dennis Pineda, son of jueteng (a numbers’ game) lord Bong Pineda. It was also reported that as many as 50 nominees to various party-list groups are either relatives of President Arroyo or allied with her politically, ensuring that President Arroyo will secure enough votes to be elected House Speaker. It was a clear subversion of the constitutional provision creating party-list groups to represent the traditionally unrepresented segments of Philippine society.

In the event of a failure of national elections (presidential and senatorial), the Constitution provides that the House Speaker will be the head of state, allowing Arroyo to succeed herself. If this happens, the People Power that it will certainly generate will be larger than what occurred in February of 1986.

This scenario became more likely after Comelec Chairman Jose Melo announced that the printing of manual ballots has been stopped and that the automated Elections System (AES) will proceed without any manual system backup. As a result of this decision, non-partisan group that examined the Smartmatic automated election system concluded that automated election system now has only “25 percent probability of success.” Without a manual system to fall back to, this will ensure a failure of elections.

Noynoy Aquino may be asking supporters not to be discouraged by their “darkest fears” but that may yet be his most daunting challenge.

Send comments to Rodel50@aol.com or mail them to the Law Offices of Rodel Rodis at 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call 415-334-7800.

Are the Filipino Voters Listening?

By Tom Martin

Reflections - Philippines

Forget about what the Candidates running against Noynoy Aquino have said. Forget about what politicians in other parties have said. Just listen to what Noynoy Aquino has said.

Noynoy has said he decided to run because he believed the country needed change – (1) Noynoy is not opposed to political dynasties; (2) Noynoy is not a supporter of agrarian reform; (3) Noynoy is not for dividing land with farmers that legally should have been given to them nearly two decades ago because he thinks plantation owners know what is best for the farmers; (4) Noynoy is not for changing the Constitution; (5) Noynoy has welcomed defector Albay Governor Joey Salceda, President Arroyo’s main Economic Advisor to his camp; (6) Noynoy stated he would violate the law and not recognize any Chief Justice President Arroyo appointed, but has since backed off when threaten by the Supreme Court. Noynoy’s main criticism of President Arroyo is that she does not obey the law and (7) Noynoy says administration “bigwigs” will be joining his party before the election. What changes is Noynoy offering the people?

BSA Security Corporation – (1) Noynoy first said he had nothing to do with BSA Security Corporation. Noynoy then said he was only a back room employee. When S.E.C. Documents were produced (not fake either) Noynoy admitted he was only one of several family members that incorporated the company; (2) Noynoy said the Corporation was formed six months before his mother became President but, the official Corporation Headquarters listed on the Article of Incorporation was the Presidential Palace where his mother officially resided. The date of Incorporation was nearly a year after his mother took office; (3) Noynoy said the security company was formed so men would be trained to protect his mother from a coup attempt if she could not depend on the Philippine military and police. When it was pointed out that was illegal he tried to cover it up by saying the company is an excellent company that still exist and still has government contracts and no President since his mothers term has cancel any contract with the company; (4) Noynoy said he divested his interest in BSA in 1987. That means he was not truthful when he said he was not one of the incorporator’s, but it also proves he did something illegal and was not truthful when first caught and (5) Noynoy said BSA when incorporated never intended to bid on Government contracts when in fact the Article of Incorporation states their intended client was government owned corporations.

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The poor man’s vote

ON DISTANT SHORE
by Val G. Abelgas

For decades, Filipino politicians have courted the poor in their campaigns, and with good reason, of course, the poor having the most number of votes and being the most gullible among the nation’s voting groups. Most of those who associated themselves with the poor or who claimed to champion their cause have won election to important posts in both the House and the Senate and to the presidency.

It is ironic that while the poor have been responsible for the election of nearly all of these politicians, their economic situation has worsened through the years. In fact, their numbers have grown through the years that they elected alleged “champions of the poor” who promised to uplift them from their poverty.

And because their number keeps growing, and because their votes have become even more significant, more candidates are now claiming to be the poor man’s candidate, with one presidential candidate in the coming May elections claiming to have come from their ranks, being the “poor boy from Tondo.”

Of course, that line had been used successfully before when Rep. Diosdado Macapagal of the first district of Pampanga ran for vice president under the Liberal Party in 1957. Using the line “the poor boy from Lubao,” Macapagal easily defeated Jose Laurel Jr. although the Liberals’ standard bearer, former Speaker Jose Yulo lost to President Carlos P. Garcia of the Nacionalista Party.

Macapagal could not be faulted for using the monicker “the poor boy from Lubao” for he was indeed born to a poor family and, in fact, had to stop his law studies at the Philippine Law School to star in zarzuelas with boyhood friend and later brother-in-law Rogelio de la Rosa and raise enough money to continue his law studies at the University of Santo Tomas, eventually graduating as summa cum laude and topping the 1936 bar examinations.

And to his credit, Macapagal championed the cause of the poor as a congressman, authoring such pro-poor legislation as Land Reform Law, Rural Health Law, Minimum Wage Law, and the Barrio Industrialization Law, among others. He was unable to pursue many of his programs as president because of strong opposition from the Nacionalista-controlled Congress.

Before him, Ramon Magsaysay was elected president in 1953 by the masses on the strength of his being a former mechanic who rose to become one of the most popular government officials of his time. He defeated the scandal-ridden reelectionist President Elpidio Quirino and went on to become one of the most popular Philippine presidents ever. He was well loved by the masses because he championed their rights and opened the gates of Malacanang to them. But much of his attention was diverted to fighting the communists and following the dictates of the United States.

Although they were truly from the poor and really championed the poor man’s cause, Magsaysay and Macapagal inadvertently set the tone for other politicians to use the poor for political gain.

Actor Joseph Estrada was the most successful of these politicians, having won by landslide all the electoral contests he joined on the strength of his appeal as the “champion of the masses.” Although he was inarguably a scion of a wealthy clan, the toughness and simple ways he showed in his roles as protector of the oppressed in scores of films gained not just acceptance from the masses, but their unprecedented adulation as well.

He became so popular that the poor accepted even his weaknesses as their own weaknesses, and his vulnerability and his failures as their own. When he was ousted in a second People Power Revolt that turned out later to be a conspiratorial plot hatched by then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and some generals, his followers launched their own EDSA revolt and marched to Malacanang in what this writer called “a poor man’s rebellion.”

And yet, Estrada did not lift a finger to uplift the poor from poverty. Instead, he tolerated jueteng that robbed money from the poor. Instead, he displayed a callous disregard for the poor by building mansions for his mistresses while the people he claim to champion lived in abject poverty. Instead, he allowed corrupt cronies and colleagues to rob the people blind.

When Arroyo took over, she promised to combat poverty and corruption. After all, she had topped the senatorial elections and won the vice presidency by landslides on the strength of her support from the masses. But her economic programs were only meant to promote the interests of the wealthy businessmen, and she placed even heavier burdens on the shoulders of the poor with her onerous taxation policies. Instead of protecting the rights of the poor people she had promised to uplift, she allowed the wealthy and the powerful to abuse them and trample on their rights. As a result, the poor became poorer and the not-so-poor became poor, too.

And now comes Sen. Manny Villar, the Nacionalista Party bet who proclaims himself as the “poor boy from Tondo” as if being previously poor (if indeed he was one) was enough reason for the poor to support him. In each one of the multi-million-peso worth of commercials that he runs nearly every hour of the day on radio, television and newspapers, Villar claims that being a poor boy who rose to become one of the wealthiest Filipinos because of “honest and hard work,” he understands the needs of the poor and would, therefore, gear his efforts towards uplifting the masses.

Is the message reaching the poor? Of course, it does. Wowowee Willie Revillame makes sure it does. Dolphy makes sure it does. “Eat Bulaga’s” wacky trio make sure it does, and scores more of entertainers make sure it does. The multi-million peso ads make sure it does.

Will the message bring in the masses’ votes? Not necessarily. In the first few days of the campaign, the message seemed to have caught the attention of the poor as the surveys showed him catching up fast on LP bet Sen. Noynoy Aquino.

But as more and more credible journalists, columnists and opinion writers began exposing the numerous anomalies that could have helped Villar attain the billions that he has amassed while a member of the House and the Senate, Villar’s numbers started to go down again. And as writers and bloggers tore to pieces the myth that he was a poor boy from Tondo, the poor that seemed so gullible at first started drifting away from him, some going to the side of Aquino and many deciding to go back to the waiting arms of their idol Estrada.

Thus, the latest SWS survey showed Villar losing six percentage points and Aquino gaining one percentage point. Significantly, Estrada gained four points.

Aquino gained 15 percentage points in the ABC class with Villar losing 16 points among these upper and upper middle classes. Villar lost seven points in Class D (lower middle classes) and Aquino held his ground. In Class E (lower classes), Villar lost 3 points and Aquino gained one point. Although newspaper reports did not mention how much Estrada gained in the economic classes, it can be surmised that he got much of his gain among the D and E classes.

Villar is apparently hoping to win the support of the poor masses as evidenced by the direction of his political ads, which target the poor. Unfortunately, the poor cannot relate with him in the same way they relate to Estrada. He is too clean looking, too prim and proper. Besides, as Bagumbayan presidential bet Sen. Dick Gordon said, Villar does not have much to show in his record as a lawmaker that he had been promoting the welfare of the poor. Aside from housing laws that would evidently benefit his real estate businesses, Villar has nothing to prove he has the poor in his heart.

With the advent of text messaging, the internet and television, to which a big part of the masses now have access, hopefully the Filipino masses have become more discerning in voting for the candidates who have their interests at heart. Not just candidates claiming to be one of them.

(valabelgas@aol.com)

A place called Savannah

by Lito Banayo
from MALAYA

I do not know if you have come across a well-researched video documentary in the Net about a place called Savannah. It was put together through the efforts of Manuel Mejorada of Iloilo. This article is really Boy Mejorada’s work.

Boy shows how Manny Villar, through his Crown Communities, Inc., violated the law, circumvented regulations, sabotaged the country’s food security program and undermined the agrarian reform program. It also shows that Villar, contrary to his claim that he will lift the poor from poverty, displaced farmer-beneficiaries of land reform from their only means of livelihood and caused them to drown in a sea of misery.

Savannah Subdivision is Villar’s Panay flagship in Pavia and Oton, towns adjacent to the spanking international airport in Sta. Barbara, on the way to Panay’s queen city of Iloilo.

It began in 1994 when Villar started scouting for an area where to put up the project. Villar saw the lands in Barangays Jibao-an in Pavia, Abilay Norte and Pulo Maestra Vita in Oton, as an ideal location. The cost of the lands was dirt-cheap compared to potential locations within the city. From a real estate developers’ point of view, it was ideal for a housing development.

There was just one catch: the lands were covered by agrarian reform, and these were classified as first-class irrigated rice lands. This fact alone would trigger alarm bells in the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), which has the mandate to regulate the conversion of agricultural lands to other purposes. As then DAR regional director Elmo Banares said, such lands are categorized as “non-negotiable”. These lands are ineligible for conversion.

Moreover, the agrarian reform statutes — PD 27 and Republic Act No. 6657 — prohibits the transfer of ownership over lands given to farmer beneficiaries except to “qualified” individuals or the government. By qualified individuals, the law means other landless farmers who deserve to till their own lands. The purpose is obvious: the law wants keep its productive rice lands intact, and the farm lands awarded to farmer beneficiaries form the nucleus of this rice production program.

But Villar was undaunted. Nothing could stop him from achieving his goal of reaping huge profits from his real estate business. Each peso he puts into a project comes back to him a thousand or two thousand-fold. For Villar, the law is a minor obstacle. He had the clout and influence to bend the law, and the money to make regulators bow to his will. What happened in the Savannah subdivision project shows that massive corruption paved the way for Villar to obtain favorable decisions and recommendations from various agencies. In the end, Villar got what the law forbade.

What laws and regulations did Villar break?

1. Sec. 27, RA 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law) – Transferability of Awarded Lands: Lands acquired by beneficiaries under Act may not be sold, transferred or conveyed except through hereditary succession or to the government or to the LBP or to other qualified beneficiaries for a period of ten (10) years

The same section provides that in the event the land is transferred to any other beneficiary, that new owner “shall cultivate the land himself.”

1. Presidential Decree No. 27: “Title to land acquired pursuant to this Decree or the Land Reform Program of the Government shall not be transferable except by hereditary succession or to the Government xxx.”

1. Section 1, Sub-section B (Governing Policies), Paragraph 1 of Administrative Order No. 363 issued by President Fidel V. Ramos issued on October 9, 1997:

The following areas shall not be subject to conversion: All irrigated lands, as delineated by the Department of Agriculture (DA and/or the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) and approved by the President, where water is available to support rice and other crop production xxx. In ALL cases, applications for conversion involving lands protected from and non-negotiable for conversion shall not be given due course by the DAR.

1. The law also sanctions “Misrepresentation or concealment of material fact in the application for land use conversion, and other violations of the rules and regulations which are material to the grant of the conversion”. (Penalties and sanctions, Administrative Order No. 363)

Villar knowingly purchased an initial 112 hectares of prime irrigated ricelands covered by Operation Land Transfer (OLT) during the period 1994-1995 and utilized the properties for development into the Savannah subdivision. Two offenses are involved: the act of buying lands covered by agrarian reform, and the act of converting the same for non-agricultural use.

To get around the prohibition on the sale or conveyance of these lands, Villar concealed the fact about the acquisition and ordered a full stop to all agricultural activities for a period of five (5) years. The ploy was aimed at establishing the half-truth that “no food production activities are being undertaken on the lands.” After keeping the lands “barren” for five years, Villar then filed applications for conversion with the DAR, with the former owners themselves as applicants. As documented by Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter Jerry Esplanada in the July 24, 1998 edition of the paper, then DAR officials rejected the application for conversion because the lands fell under the “non-negotiable” category.

Despite this knowledge that the land conversion application was illegal, Villar went ahead to push for the DAR conversion. We can only surmise what happened next, because DAR’s position on the matter suddenly turned around, and the applications for conversion were approved on a piece-meal basis. The conversion in smaller sizes of land was apparently done to camouflage the true nature of the transactions — the large-scale development of a subdivision in the rice granary.

What Villar has done was dismantle the framework put into place to create a critical mass of motivated farmer-land owners and lay down the foundation for agro-industrial growth. From a few dozen hectares that Villar acquired, Savannah Subdivision quickly grew to 700 hectares. And the acquisition process is far from over. Another 600 hectares have recently been bought or in the process of being bought. The lands straddle the main irrigation canal in Barangays Abilay Norte, Abilay Sur, Pulo Maestra Vita in Oton and Jibao-an, Pavia. An entire rice granary is being systematically wiped out from the face of Iloilo Province, which used to be one of the country’s most productive rice granaries.

The national government policy is to expand the coverage of irrigation services, but in the Savannah project, Villar constricted and strangulated the flow of water to force more land owners to cave in and sell to him. In the end, several secondary canals were “back-hoed” and closed down. The canals, or the footprints of what used to be canals, are now part of the beautiful landscape of Savannah Subdivision.

The unbridled pursuit of profit by Villar as manifested through the Savannah project is a major factor why the country is increasingly dependent on imported rice. Instead of helping expand our rice production areas, Villar has targeted prime agricultural lands because of their proximity to urban centers and the cheap price. Villar knew that farmer beneficiaries were vulnerable to the temptation of money. He dangled before them what appeared to be fantastic sums. Only he knew that for every peso he spent to buy the lands, the ROI would be a thousand-fold.

The farmers became “one-day millionaires”. In 1994 and 1995, Villar started buying the lands at P165,000 per hectare. His recent acquisitions have fetched as much as P2.4 million per hectare. But as the farmers found out, the money didn’t last long. They had no alternative means of llvelihood. After the lapse of a few years, they became penniless, poorer than they were when agrarian reform was carried out. This experience of Iloilo farmers contradicts Villar’s campaign promise of uplifting the poor from their present misery. He even plunged these land owners into a deep morass of poverty.

In conspiracy with government officials in DAR, NIA and other agencies, Villar circumvented the law by misrepresenting the facts to obtain the required land conversion. The documents obtained from BIR, Register of Deeds, Provincial Assessor’s Office provide incontrovertible proof that Villar willfully lied to achieve his ends. For instance, he made it appear that the applicants for land conversion were the former farmer beneficiaries. This falsity is exposed by the conflicting information found in the BIR certificate authorizing registration (CAR) and the deed of absolute sale. In one sale, the BIR document states that the transaction was consummated on May 6, 2006. And yet, in the DAR application for conversion, Villar misrepresented former owners Doroteo Figura and Resurreccion Nochete as the applicants and landowners. The application was dated June 7, 2007.

As supporting documents to the DAR land conversion application, Villar submitted certifications from the Department of Agriculture, DAR municipal agrarian reform officer and NIA to the effect that: There was no more agricultural activity in the area; the lands were not covered by CARP nor PD 27; and the area was not serviced by an existing irrigation system.

The falsity of these statements is made apparent in the video documentary which you may view through: video weblink at (http://drop.io/0guufvm/asset/24p-v2-mp4-1024-ntsc-download-mp4).

Not all the landowners in the area willingly sold their lands to Villar. But what Villar failed to achieve through the use of the carrot, he ultimately succeeded in getting with a big stick. As several ex-farmers revealed, Villar’s agents employed threats and intimidation to force them to accede. Then those land owners whose properties were located downstream of the secondary canals found the flow of irrigation water constricted. After a brief period of resistance, they had no recourse but to yield. Villar’s siege tactics triumphed.

In sum, Manny Villar committed grave and high crimes against the Filipino nation and its people. What he did in Iloilo, he has also done in other provinces and cities where he built subdivisions like Savannah. Savannah is a template for his business, and it demonstrates how the immoral and illegal use of political clout yielded him billions and billions of pesos in profits. (I have still photographs of irrigation canals in Cavite to prove that some of his subdivisions traversed by Daang Hari used to be prime irrigated ricelands, provided by residents of the area. The Villar illegal land conversions are too numerous, and juxtaposed with what happened in Savannah, constitute evidence of his real estate stock-in-trade).

Would an ordinary real estate developer, and not one who was at the same time a congressman, a Speaker of the House, a chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and a Senate President, been able to get through the laws of the land with such facility?

Ask yourself that simple question. Iba na ang malakas. Iba na ang makapangyarihan.

And this is the man who vows that “he would eradicate poverty”?

God, help this benighted land.

(banayo_at@yahoo,com)

(atbanayo.blogspot.com)

Gibo Teodoro: So Much to Answer For

by Peachy Paderna

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=369324369941&id=520614093&ref=nf

My frustration with Gibo supporters lies in the fact that most of them are smart university students, academics, and professionals. We’re talking about individuals who should have the ability to form insightful opinions, especially on matters of great national and political relevance.

What I notice, though, is that people who are inclined to vote for Gibo are people who are hypereducated. I’m coining this word to strike a contrast between them and Manny Villar’s (mostly) uneducated followers. Do a quick survey of Gibo fans, and you’ll find that an overwhelming number of them aren’t merely intelligent. They’re aware that they’re intelligent, and their intellectual capacity is actually a great source of pride for them.

They support Gibo because at the very core of it, they see him as a peer. As intelligent people, it’s only right that they vote for the intelligent candidate, correct? His professional achievements are enviable: bar topnotcher, Harvard Law graduate, political golden boy. The man even has a pretty wife. And no one will dispute that Gibo has been the most eloquent speaker so far, and in various debates, his wit and rhetoric trump everybody else’s.

Gibo supporters place an inordinately high premium on academic achievement and — I am getting tired of this word — intelligence. There’s nothing wrong with that: I would never vote for an inept candidate, someone whose intelligence I would seriously question.

However, people who believe in Gibo are forgetting one thing: eloquence, wit, and polished rhetoric does not a good President make. There is a huge crevasse of logic that stands between a man’s intelligence and his ability to effect change in a country that needs it badly; in other words, the former doesn’t necessarily give rise to the latter, despite all appearances.

I know it’s been done countless times before, but I’m going to invoke history again: our most intelligent leaders — Marcos and Arroyo — were also the most reviled, because they did everything they could during their terms to plunder from us and keep themselves above the law. And why did they manage to get away with their thievery for so long? Remember that both Marcos and Arroyo served multiple terms. They were in power longer than they should have been. The reason? They were cunning and brilliant, and they knew exactly how to stay safely ensconced in Malacanang Palace.

Look, I’m not saying that we should conveniently vote for an idiot so we can easily boot him out when the situation calls for it. I’m also not saying that every intelligent candidate is a potential autocrat or a big-time crook. Instead, what I’m saying is that intelligence alone is a poor barometer for determining which presidential aspirant is most deserving of your vote.

So what about Gibo Teodoro? I think he’s a tragic example, actually, because I do admire his purported intellect. In fact, let’s throw in efficiency as well, since people have claimed that this man works well and has a great track record backing his candidacy. But you know what? None of these makes a difference to me. What completely ruins Gibo in my view is his utter inability to show us that he is a principled man.

Let’s face it. Public office demands principled individuals, because it’s a service-oriented job. You don’t want McDonald’s staff to drop their burger patties on the floor, only to pick them up later, dust them off, and bundle them up in buns and paper to serve to you. And when you pay a hundred pesos for that burger, it’s only right that you receive your change before the receipt rolls out. We trust people in service jobs to go beyond the bare fulfillment of their tasks; we also want them to be transparent and honest about what they’re giving us, and we want to know what goes on in every transaction that we enter with them.

Now let’s say that Gibo is a service crew member in your nearest McDonald’s, where he mops the floor and is in charge of tidying up the place. Nonetheless, this McDonald’s is a crappy one, where dropping food and serving them anyway is par for the course, and you find yourself always shortchanged by a few pesos here and there. Despite all these, however, our dear Gibo doesn’t decry the filthy practices of his colleagues. He doesn’t stand up and say, “Wait a minute, guys. We picked those burgers off the floor, they’re dirty, and you shouldn’t be eating them. Oh, and please count your change, because you don’t usually get all of it if you do business here.” He just mops away at the floor and does good work of it. That’s all he does.

Let’s imagine that this crappy McDonald’s is the administration, and that the manager is GMA. In other words, Gibo is turning a blind eye to everything that the administration is guilty of. And what’s his response when asked about what he’ll do with Arroyo once her term is over? “I won’t intervene.”

He won’t intervene? That’s it?? It’s a move that reeks of cowardice. It’s inaction that betrays a lack of principle. He knows that Arroyo did something that she has to account for, but he won’t even spearhead an investigation. The best he can do is “not intervene.” Nice try, Gibo.

People have asked me why it’s important for GMA to pay for her transgressions. Why waste time on such an endeavor? Why not focus on other matters? I’ll tell you why: it’s because we cannot keep on communicating to public officials that it’s okay to steal. If we let Arroyo get away with offenses of astounding magnitude, what will our lesser public officials think? They’ll think stealing from us again and again is fine, becausehey, we won’t do anything about it, anyway, and we allowed bigger crimes to pass through the net before. By letting Arroyo off the hook, we further encourage an already flourishing culture of corruption that should have long been nipped in the bud.

I’d like to go back to that analogy I drew about a crappy McDonald’s. Funny how, if you found out that the nearest branch habitually served dirty burgers, you would never go back to it again. If they always cheated you out of your change, you would protest and want your money, and you would never go back to that place again. But when it comes to our government, we’re masochists and we’re suckers: oh, you’ve been stealing from me? That’s okay, I’ll vote for you again. Oh, you’ve been trampling upon my human rights? That’s okay, I’m used to it.

If you vote for Gibo, you’re essentially the McDonald’s customer who’s happy to chew on burgers that have been dropped all over the place before they were finally served to you. You’re okay with getting less change than you should, because the guy who’s mopping the floor is doing a good job of it, and you think that a clean floor equals clean service. If this crew member were really doing a good job, he’d tell you to get out of there. He would hand in his resignation and find a better place where his principles don’t have to be compromised.

In other words, it’s not enough that a man be intelligent. It’s not enough that his rhetoric can sweep you off your feet. It’s not enough that he works efficiently. He must have principles, unyielding and certain. Principle is the scaffolding in true leadership, without which the whole structure of governance cannot sustain itself.

So think about that, Gibo supporters. I’m sure you can. You’re intelligent, after all.