Very Well Directed!
Please observe how every politician in Pampanga is reacting to reports that Among Ed is open to the idea of him running for president of our country in the 2010 elections. Their main theme is that Among Ed have not done enough as governor of Pampanga. In fact, they all allege that Among Ed 's performance as governor is so bad and terribly disappointing!
The chorus is joined in by all the disgruntled people from the local media, a few of the usual civil society leaders (we hope these s called society leaders can show the world that they really speak for a lot of Kapampangans), and also a few other persons in Pampanga who have made it a point to counter evrything the governor says or do.
PLEASE NOTE THAT IN ALL OF THESE NEGATIVE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST AMONG ED, NOT ANY ONE OF THEM IS ATTRIBUTED TO GRAFT AND CORRUPTION!
We understand that being "clean" is not enough. This is also abvious to the governor. The governor has done more than enough considering the "RESTRICTIONS" that the SP has imposed on the provincial executive. Of course the monumental increase in quarry collection and the eradication of graft and corruption at the Capitol especially at the office of the governor will be foremost. The repair and upgrade of facilities, equipment, and services in all the district hospitals of the province is next. The convening of the Provincial Development Council (PDC) and other Councls as mandated by laws (never done by the previous administrations) including the implementation of projects according to the outputs of the councils.
They keep on harping on the fact that the governor has been alienated also from the mayorrs. Sadly, this is true. However, it is not the governor's choice. This action of the mayors is part of the concerted effort to "RESTRICT" the governor. They may declare all the lies to the public, but not even the crocodile tears of a mayor from district 4 can alter the truth. We recall the reason of the PML president for their decision to boycott the last PDC meeting. They cited their main reason as the delay in the implementation of the PDC projects for 2008.
It is, indeed, true that the PDC projects for 2008 are yet to be finished as of this time. But what the good PML President fails to point out is that the PDC recommended projects were part of the 2008 budget submitted by the executive to the SP in APRIL 2008! The SP approved the PDC project budget in NOVEMBER 2008!
There is also this chorus about fully supporting PGMA as she is a Kabalen an she has brought a lot of projects to the province. We agree that we must support GMA not only because she is opur Kabalen but she is the President of the republic. The fact that she has brought a lot of projects to the province is just part of her job. What her drumbeaters in Pampanga are really trying to say is that the province has had a lot more of its just share from the national government because she is our Kabalen. This very insensitive. A lot of other provinces in our country needs more help and yet these Kapampangans openly claim that our province is really getting more because "malakas tayo sa kabalen natin."
Additionally, even if PGMA has done a lot for Pampanga, should this be reason enough for all of us to turn our eyes blind if there is rampant graft and corruption in PGMA's administration?
Secretary Remonde challenged Among Ed to file cases in courts against GMA if he has the goods against her. Is the secretary really that dumb! Or does he really thinks that we are that dumb to accept his misplaced logic? There are limits to what you can be sued agaisnt if you are a sitting president. The best course of action is the impeachment process. We know this will no work because the greater majority of congresmes are trapos who will always kowtow to the whims of Malacanang. Please do not forget the payolas that happens in Malacanang. This was exposed by Among Ed. This has caused all the troubles for his administration. This also the reason why a lot of current oppositionists are just patiently waiting for GMA's term to end in 2010. There is now a growing collective consensus to file all cases against GMA when she steps down as President. This is also the very reason why the administration have been exploring all means to ensure that current powers that be are protected beyond 2010.
May all of us be hit by God's lightning of conscience.
LUID KA!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Editorial
Directed by Mikey
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 06:43:00 03/30/2009
It is a terrible burden, to endure the utter vapidity that issues from the mouth of the Arroyo scion, when he does one thing but pretends to be doing another. And the only reason we listen to him is he may be sending political signals on behalf of his mother. In particular, when it comes to the continuing campaign to gather 196 signatures in the House in support of Charter change by constituent assembly, the young Arroyo insults the Filipino people’s intelligence by lying through his teeth.
After former Speaker Jose de Venecia revealed that Arroyo and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez approached him late last month to solicit his support for the constituent-assembly mode of amending the Constitution, the President’s eldest son issued a vigorous denial. The meeting at the Batasan was pure accident, he said. They had merely bumped into each other. “We talked about good times, bad times, how each other’s family is doing, how my ninang [godmother] Gina [de Venecia] is doing. That was the first time we had a chat since he was replaced,” he said.
But then the Pampanga congressman forgot himself. In denying De Venecia’s accusation, he also said that, in that same meeting, Romualdez brought out the controversial resolution seeking to convene Congress as a constituent assembly. Apparently, in Arroyo’s unthinking version of events, Romualdez, a former bank president and not exactly someone’s idea of a factotum, was in the habit of carrying a copy of the resolution—you know, just in case of pure accidents.
The truth is: This meeting was no social call. It was an opportunity to appeal to the former speaker’s vanity, to get him to use his still-considerable powers of persuasion to secure the 20 more signatures needed to turn the still-secret resolution into what lawyers call a justiciable controversy. Unfortunately for the Arroyo family, the rift with De Venecia seems wider than ever.
The young Arroyo also reacted to De Venecia’s broadside by seeking to put the Charter change issue behind him. “To put an end to this incessant talk that Cha-cha is meant to extend my mother’s term, let’s have Cha-cha after 2010,” he told reporters.
And yet, as far as we can piece it together, the Villafuerte resolution that will likely be filed after the Holy Week break proposes that the country’s system of government be changed from presidential to parliamentary—and that elections be held as scheduled in 2010, but for the new parliament.
This is the same resolution which the young Arroyo refuses to withdraw his signature from, and which he refuses to declare as “dead.” So which is which? Perhaps Arroyo has convinced himself into thinking that, simply because the proposed resolution does not call for a term extension and insists on elections next year, there will be no Charter change before 2010. And yet the resolution itself—as far as we can piece it together—calls for parliamentary elections next year.
On other occasions, the young Arroyo also sent mixed signals about the Con-ass initiative. Last month, he defended Speaker Prospero Nograles’ belated attempt to round up House support for the Villafuerte resolution. “He believes in something, so he tries to convince his colleagues, and believe me many have been convinced already,” Representative Arroyo told GMA News, in a transparent bid to create the illusion of momentum. But last week, he casually and gratuitously dropped a threat against Nograles, whom pro-Con-ass congressmen like him view as insufficiently enthusiastic. “The Speaker of the House is the most vulnerable position in Congress because he can be changed anytime by the members once they lose confidence in him. He should know that,” the young Arroyo said.
So brazen, and so shallow. Don’t other congressmen have better things to do than take dictation or direction from someone whose only distinction is to be born the President’s eldest son?
Directed by Mikey
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 06:43:00 03/30/2009
ADD one more reason to why the nation ought to reject Charter change before the 2010 elections: We won’t have to waste any more time listening to Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo, the President’s eldest son and alter ego in the House of Representatives.
It is a terrible burden, to endure the utter vapidity that issues from the mouth of the Arroyo scion, when he does one thing but pretends to be doing another. And the only reason we listen to him is he may be sending political signals on behalf of his mother. In particular, when it comes to the continuing campaign to gather 196 signatures in the House in support of Charter change by constituent assembly, the young Arroyo insults the Filipino people’s intelligence by lying through his teeth.
After former Speaker Jose de Venecia revealed that Arroyo and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez approached him late last month to solicit his support for the constituent-assembly mode of amending the Constitution, the President’s eldest son issued a vigorous denial. The meeting at the Batasan was pure accident, he said. They had merely bumped into each other. “We talked about good times, bad times, how each other’s family is doing, how my ninang [godmother] Gina [de Venecia] is doing. That was the first time we had a chat since he was replaced,” he said.
(The young Arroyo having helped lead the campaign to remove De Venecia from the speakership over a year ago, the irony surrounding that word “replaced” seems particularly dense.)
But then the Pampanga congressman forgot himself. In denying De Venecia’s accusation, he also said that, in that same meeting, Romualdez brought out the controversial resolution seeking to convene Congress as a constituent assembly. Apparently, in Arroyo’s unthinking version of events, Romualdez, a former bank president and not exactly someone’s idea of a factotum, was in the habit of carrying a copy of the resolution—you know, just in case of pure accidents.
The truth is: This meeting was no social call. It was an opportunity to appeal to the former speaker’s vanity, to get him to use his still-considerable powers of persuasion to secure the 20 more signatures needed to turn the still-secret resolution into what lawyers call a justiciable controversy. Unfortunately for the Arroyo family, the rift with De Venecia seems wider than ever.
The young Arroyo also reacted to De Venecia’s broadside by seeking to put the Charter change issue behind him. “To put an end to this incessant talk that Cha-cha is meant to extend my mother’s term, let’s have Cha-cha after 2010,” he told reporters.
And yet, as far as we can piece it together, the Villafuerte resolution that will likely be filed after the Holy Week break proposes that the country’s system of government be changed from presidential to parliamentary—and that elections be held as scheduled in 2010, but for the new parliament.
This is the same resolution which the young Arroyo refuses to withdraw his signature from, and which he refuses to declare as “dead.” So which is which? Perhaps Arroyo has convinced himself into thinking that, simply because the proposed resolution does not call for a term extension and insists on elections next year, there will be no Charter change before 2010. And yet the resolution itself—as far as we can piece it together—calls for parliamentary elections next year.
On other occasions, the young Arroyo also sent mixed signals about the Con-ass initiative. Last month, he defended Speaker Prospero Nograles’ belated attempt to round up House support for the Villafuerte resolution. “He believes in something, so he tries to convince his colleagues, and believe me many have been convinced already,” Representative Arroyo told GMA News, in a transparent bid to create the illusion of momentum. But last week, he casually and gratuitously dropped a threat against Nograles, whom pro-Con-ass congressmen like him view as insufficiently enthusiastic. “The Speaker of the House is the most vulnerable position in Congress because he can be changed anytime by the members once they lose confidence in him. He should know that,” the young Arroyo said.
So brazen, and so shallow. Don’t other congressmen have better things to do than take dictation or direction from someone whose only distinction is to be born the President’s eldest son?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
If elected, Panlilio will prosecute Arroyo
By Juliet Labog-Javellana
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 02:13:00 03/29/2009
Filed Under: Politics, Personalities
MANILA, Philippines — If and when elected president of the Philippines in 2010, Gov. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga province said, he will not declare the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero and will see to it that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is prosecuted for corruption.
Panlilio, a priest who made history by running for public office and beating well-entrenched politicians in Ms Arroyo’s home province in 2007, made these statements on Thursday night before potential supporters who wanted to know about his platform should he run for president in 2010.
But Panlilio clarified to the group calling itself Philippines for Righteous Governance that he had not made up his mind regarding the presidency, and that he would rather be a convener of ethical and reform-minded leaders who would seek the top posts in the government.
The group gathered at the house of businessman Patrick Pantaleon in the upscale subdivision Forbes Park in Makati City and called on Panlilio and other “nontraditional politicians” to join forces to win the presidency against Arroyo administration and opposition candidates. The names of preachers Bro. Eddie Villanueva and Bro. Mike Velarde, Chief Justice Reynato Puno, and even detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim were mentioned.
Panlilio agreed to talk about his possible platform on Pantaleon’s invitation.
Will ‘definitely’ prosecute
While professing reluctance to run for president, Panlilio candidly answered questions thrown at him by the group that gathered to “get to know” him.
When asked if he would prosecute Ms Arroyo, he said: “Oh yes, definitely. Definitely.”
To the question of whether he would declare Marcos a hero if he were asked by the dictator’s widow Imelda to do so, Panlilio was also categorical. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I will not declare Marcos a hero. My conscience would not permit that.”
When asked after the meeting to elaborate on his stand on Ms Arroyo, Panlilio said the President could be prosecuted for plunder after the end of her term in 2010.
“There are so many accusations against her, ill-gotten wealth, so many cases,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
He said these cases were the reason Ms Arroyo wanted to stay in power through moves of her allies to amend the Constitution and install her as prime minister under a new parliamentary government.
“That is why she wants to run for Congress — to impede” the possibility of being prosecuted, he said.
‘Like a school’
Pantaleon said it was Panlilio’s character and moral leadership that drove the Philippines for Righteous Governance (PRG) to start mobilizing support for him as Ms Arroyo’s possible successor.
“He is running Pampanga like a school where lying, cheating and stealing are not allowed,” Pantaleon said in introducing Panlilio to the group.
Pantaleon and Pastor Melo Go said the group, alternately called PRG or “the third force,” was seeking like-minded organizations to align with in the search for nontraditional politicians to run for president and vice president in 2010.
Pantaleon said the PRG was loosely composed of his group and a group called “Ateneo at La Salle at Lahat Na,” which consists of alumni of Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University.
Also present at the meeting were representatives of Ateneo’s Movement for Good Governance, the Philippine Alliance of Ex-Seminarians, the workers’ group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, the activist youth group Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan, the Sanlakas party-list group, the political party Partido Lakas ng Masa, and urban poor groups.
“We are looking for people who practice good governance,” Pantaleon said.“The purpose of our meeting with Among Ed is to get leaders like him together,” he added. “We will converge with other groups because we have to unite somewhere.”
“There is a phenomenon going on in our country now — there is a call for righteous leaders,” Pantaleon said.
“There are many groups who want to know the good leaders, and hopefully we will meet. And by November, we will come up with one leader” who will run for president, he said.
David against Goliath
Go, who presented the group’s “statement of unity,” said that only by joining forces could nontraditional politicians beat administration or opposition candidates.
“If four or five nontraditional candidates give way to each other, they can gather bigger votes, and Malacañang is afraid of that. If four or five candidates unite, it will be a battle of David and Goliath. We will win,” Go said.
Harping on the same theme, Panlilio said there were now “islands of hope” in a country beset by corrupt leaders.
He cited the trailblazing feats of Gov. Grace Padaca of Isabela province, Mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City and Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro town in Nueva Ecija province — his fellow members of Kaya Natin!, a movement formed by Ateneo’s Harvey Keh to promote good governance.
“If bad politicians can get together with their bad intentions, why can’t good politicians get together and make a difference?” Panlilio said.
He recalled how Pampanga residents weary of corruption in their province mounted a virtual People Power movement to install him as their leader, and noted how certain forces were now trying to remove him.
Panlilio remarked that he always went to work in a polo shirt and denims. “I don’t wear barong,” he said. “Because when I wear barong and I go to Malacañang, they give me P500,000.”
Panlilio was the first to confirm the distribution of paper bags containing P500,000 to local officials summoned to a meeting with Ms Arroyo in October 2007, when she was facing impeachment in the House of Representatives.
‘As a last resort’
After his speech, Panlilio was quizzed about his possible platform.
“I just want to clarify that I have not decided to go for national office,” he said, adding that his priority was still to return to priesthood.
Panlilio was suspended from performing priestly duties when he became governor of Pampanga in 2007.
“But I am open as a last resort. If there is someone who is better, more competent, I’m willing to support that person. I will convince people to gravitate to that person,” he said.
Panlilio said he saw himself more as a convener of alternative candidates for 2010. He said potential presidential candidates should be “willing and humble enough to undergo the process” of selection.
Panlilio said he met the previous night with Bro. Eddie Villanueva, leader of the Jesus is Lord movement, to discuss the need to field a common reform candidate.
Villanueva was preparing to launch his renewed bid for the presidency Saturday at the Araneta Center in Quezon City, Panlilio said.
But later, Panlilio said, Villanueva remained “open to dialogue.”
“We said we will go our own ways now but we will see after a few months [if] we might merge,” Panlilio said.
Basis for unity
Asked if he was also considering Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim — who is detained and being tried in military court for trying to mount a coup against Ms Arroyo—Panlilio said the latter could be one of the alternative leaders.
“But our priority now is to lay down the basis for unity, to set a vision for the Philippines, make our stand on land reform, human rights, the reproductive health bill, and the qualities we are looking for in a president,” he said.
Panlilio was scheduled to meet with Sen. Mar Roxas after the Thursday night meeting at Forbes Park.
He said he had been invited to meet with the senator, one of the contenders for the presidency. But he added that some members of Kaya Natin! were opposed to tapping Roxas because Roxas was considered a traditional politician.
State of decay
In its statement of unity, the PRG said the Philippines was in “a state of moral decay perpetrated by our present leadership who have shamelessly displayed the absence of morality in governance, integrity, justice and love of country.”
It added: “Our nation is tainted with crimes against God and humanity where human rights are systematically violated, resulting in the disappearance and death of over 1,000 Filipinos.
“We cannot anymore stand as mere spectators of dismal and flagrant display of historical failures to bring genuine social and economic reforms.
“The Philippines today needs genuine social and economic reforms that will be mustered by nontraditional politicians and a few exceptional politicians at all levels of public governance from the presidency down to the ‘barangay’ [village] level.” With editing by INQUIRER.net
By Juliet Labog-Javellana
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 02:13:00 03/29/2009
Filed Under: Politics, Personalities
MANILA, Philippines — If and when elected president of the Philippines in 2010, Gov. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga province said, he will not declare the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero and will see to it that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is prosecuted for corruption.
Panlilio, a priest who made history by running for public office and beating well-entrenched politicians in Ms Arroyo’s home province in 2007, made these statements on Thursday night before potential supporters who wanted to know about his platform should he run for president in 2010.
But Panlilio clarified to the group calling itself Philippines for Righteous Governance that he had not made up his mind regarding the presidency, and that he would rather be a convener of ethical and reform-minded leaders who would seek the top posts in the government.
The group gathered at the house of businessman Patrick Pantaleon in the upscale subdivision Forbes Park in Makati City and called on Panlilio and other “nontraditional politicians” to join forces to win the presidency against Arroyo administration and opposition candidates. The names of preachers Bro. Eddie Villanueva and Bro. Mike Velarde, Chief Justice Reynato Puno, and even detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim were mentioned.
Panlilio agreed to talk about his possible platform on Pantaleon’s invitation.
Will ‘definitely’ prosecute
While professing reluctance to run for president, Panlilio candidly answered questions thrown at him by the group that gathered to “get to know” him.
When asked if he would prosecute Ms Arroyo, he said: “Oh yes, definitely. Definitely.”
To the question of whether he would declare Marcos a hero if he were asked by the dictator’s widow Imelda to do so, Panlilio was also categorical. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I will not declare Marcos a hero. My conscience would not permit that.”
When asked after the meeting to elaborate on his stand on Ms Arroyo, Panlilio said the President could be prosecuted for plunder after the end of her term in 2010.
“There are so many accusations against her, ill-gotten wealth, so many cases,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
He said these cases were the reason Ms Arroyo wanted to stay in power through moves of her allies to amend the Constitution and install her as prime minister under a new parliamentary government.
“That is why she wants to run for Congress — to impede” the possibility of being prosecuted, he said.
‘Like a school’
Pantaleon said it was Panlilio’s character and moral leadership that drove the Philippines for Righteous Governance (PRG) to start mobilizing support for him as Ms Arroyo’s possible successor.
“He is running Pampanga like a school where lying, cheating and stealing are not allowed,” Pantaleon said in introducing Panlilio to the group.
Pantaleon and Pastor Melo Go said the group, alternately called PRG or “the third force,” was seeking like-minded organizations to align with in the search for nontraditional politicians to run for president and vice president in 2010.
Pantaleon said the PRG was loosely composed of his group and a group called “Ateneo at La Salle at Lahat Na,” which consists of alumni of Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University.
Also present at the meeting were representatives of Ateneo’s Movement for Good Governance, the Philippine Alliance of Ex-Seminarians, the workers’ group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, the activist youth group Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan, the Sanlakas party-list group, the political party Partido Lakas ng Masa, and urban poor groups.
“We are looking for people who practice good governance,” Pantaleon said.“The purpose of our meeting with Among Ed is to get leaders like him together,” he added. “We will converge with other groups because we have to unite somewhere.”
“There is a phenomenon going on in our country now — there is a call for righteous leaders,” Pantaleon said.
“There are many groups who want to know the good leaders, and hopefully we will meet. And by November, we will come up with one leader” who will run for president, he said.
David against Goliath
Go, who presented the group’s “statement of unity,” said that only by joining forces could nontraditional politicians beat administration or opposition candidates.
“If four or five nontraditional candidates give way to each other, they can gather bigger votes, and Malacañang is afraid of that. If four or five candidates unite, it will be a battle of David and Goliath. We will win,” Go said.
Harping on the same theme, Panlilio said there were now “islands of hope” in a country beset by corrupt leaders.
He cited the trailblazing feats of Gov. Grace Padaca of Isabela province, Mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City and Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro town in Nueva Ecija province — his fellow members of Kaya Natin!, a movement formed by Ateneo’s Harvey Keh to promote good governance.
“If bad politicians can get together with their bad intentions, why can’t good politicians get together and make a difference?” Panlilio said.
He recalled how Pampanga residents weary of corruption in their province mounted a virtual People Power movement to install him as their leader, and noted how certain forces were now trying to remove him.
Panlilio remarked that he always went to work in a polo shirt and denims. “I don’t wear barong,” he said. “Because when I wear barong and I go to Malacañang, they give me P500,000.”
Panlilio was the first to confirm the distribution of paper bags containing P500,000 to local officials summoned to a meeting with Ms Arroyo in October 2007, when she was facing impeachment in the House of Representatives.
‘As a last resort’
After his speech, Panlilio was quizzed about his possible platform.
“I just want to clarify that I have not decided to go for national office,” he said, adding that his priority was still to return to priesthood.
Panlilio was suspended from performing priestly duties when he became governor of Pampanga in 2007.
“But I am open as a last resort. If there is someone who is better, more competent, I’m willing to support that person. I will convince people to gravitate to that person,” he said.
Panlilio said he saw himself more as a convener of alternative candidates for 2010. He said potential presidential candidates should be “willing and humble enough to undergo the process” of selection.
Panlilio said he met the previous night with Bro. Eddie Villanueva, leader of the Jesus is Lord movement, to discuss the need to field a common reform candidate.
Villanueva was preparing to launch his renewed bid for the presidency Saturday at the Araneta Center in Quezon City, Panlilio said.
But later, Panlilio said, Villanueva remained “open to dialogue.”
“We said we will go our own ways now but we will see after a few months [if] we might merge,” Panlilio said.
Basis for unity
Asked if he was also considering Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim — who is detained and being tried in military court for trying to mount a coup against Ms Arroyo—Panlilio said the latter could be one of the alternative leaders.
“But our priority now is to lay down the basis for unity, to set a vision for the Philippines, make our stand on land reform, human rights, the reproductive health bill, and the qualities we are looking for in a president,” he said.
Panlilio was scheduled to meet with Sen. Mar Roxas after the Thursday night meeting at Forbes Park.
He said he had been invited to meet with the senator, one of the contenders for the presidency. But he added that some members of Kaya Natin! were opposed to tapping Roxas because Roxas was considered a traditional politician.
State of decay
In its statement of unity, the PRG said the Philippines was in “a state of moral decay perpetrated by our present leadership who have shamelessly displayed the absence of morality in governance, integrity, justice and love of country.”
It added: “Our nation is tainted with crimes against God and humanity where human rights are systematically violated, resulting in the disappearance and death of over 1,000 Filipinos.
“We cannot anymore stand as mere spectators of dismal and flagrant display of historical failures to bring genuine social and economic reforms.
“The Philippines today needs genuine social and economic reforms that will be mustered by nontraditional politicians and a few exceptional politicians at all levels of public governance from the presidency down to the ‘barangay’ [village] level.” With editing by INQUIRER.net
Friday, March 27, 2009
Inquirer Opinion/ Editorial
Lorelei-ing
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 00:24:00 03/27/2009
The President of the Philippines expresses her contempt for public opinion by deputizing the most ill-informed, the least knowledgeable neophyte politician available to speak on her behalf. We mean, of course, Lorelei Fajardo, one of two deputy presidential spokespersons.
Her role is lip service, in a deeply literal sense. Fajardo makes herself available to the media for comments on various issues, ostensibly on behalf of the President. But what insipid comments! Even critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will acknowledge the strength of her work ethic and the quality of her intellectual equipment. But Fajardo is the complete opposite; she is obviously out of her depth.
But she has a task to do, and she does it. By engaging the media, she allows the Arroyo administration to reinforce its claim that it respects the role of a free press in a democratic polity. By offering jejune commentary and sophomoric statements, however, she and the administration she works for undermine both the work of the press and the object of democracy.
How can the consent of the governed be informed, when the government only wants to pretend to inform the public? Call it Lorelei-ing (or Lore-lying).
The ideal approach is to ignore her, and to wait for more authoritative statements from Anthony Golez, Cerge Remonde, Eduardo Ermita or the President herself. Last Monday, however, she said some things in reaction to the news that Fr. Ed Panlilio, the priest-governor of Pampanga province, was considering a presidential run, that made us sit up and take notice — but for all the wrong reasons.
“It’s easy to talk, that’s rhetoric, but what about performance? We should look at performance, because we are already talking about the highest leader of the land,” Fajardo told reporters.
Her emphasis on performance seems to be yet another of those unexamined motherhood statements she was hired to spout. The deputy presidential spokesperson may be incapable of phrasing the thought felicitously, but who can argue with the idea that “performance” is an essential criterion for choosing the next president?
She dismissed the whole notion of “reformist” or value-based politics by asserting that the only — or the main — thing that distinguishes politicians is performance. For instance: “You are a traditional politician, and your performance is good, [then] I think performance should be the basis [for voters to choose you again].”
So far, so party-line. It is no secret that President Arroyo justifies her long tenure in terms of performance. Forget all the political noise (which in a moment of greater candor Ms Arroyo once admitted she was in large part responsible for); the important thing is that the economy is growing, poverty incidence has fallen, tourism is booming, and so on.
But Fajardo did not leave well enough alone. She also said running a province (a jab at Panlilio) was different from running a country. “If your performance is not good in a lower position, let’s say as mayor or governor or any position for that matter, how can you lead the entire nation? That’s what we have to be careful about.”
First things first: The implied criticism of Panlilio is part of a long-term Palace strategy to weaken his chances of reelection. Despite what Panlilio has done to stop corruption in Pampanga, the Arroyo administration has found excuses to get in his way: by refusing police support for the fight against the illegal numbers game “jueteng”; by organizing resistance to Panlilio among town mayors; by marginalizing the governor’s influence in the President’s home province. Fajardo’s dig at Panlilio’s record should be seen in this highly partisan context.
But, more important, let’s examine the assumption behind Fajardo’s blithe putdown of other offices. By her own logic, only four politicians are qualified to seek the presidency: the three former presidents, and the incumbent herself, all of whom are disqualified from running again.
Of course, running a province is different from running a country. But no one disputes that a state governor in the United States can become commander in chief, or a mayor of Paris an effective president of France. Why should Fajardo suggest otherwise?
The easy answer is to suppose that she wasn’t thinking. But the scary possibility exists that, on this point, the spokesperson is in fact reflecting the views of the person she speaks for.
Lorelei-ing
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 00:24:00 03/27/2009
The President of the Philippines expresses her contempt for public opinion by deputizing the most ill-informed, the least knowledgeable neophyte politician available to speak on her behalf. We mean, of course, Lorelei Fajardo, one of two deputy presidential spokespersons.
Her role is lip service, in a deeply literal sense. Fajardo makes herself available to the media for comments on various issues, ostensibly on behalf of the President. But what insipid comments! Even critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will acknowledge the strength of her work ethic and the quality of her intellectual equipment. But Fajardo is the complete opposite; she is obviously out of her depth.
But she has a task to do, and she does it. By engaging the media, she allows the Arroyo administration to reinforce its claim that it respects the role of a free press in a democratic polity. By offering jejune commentary and sophomoric statements, however, she and the administration she works for undermine both the work of the press and the object of democracy.
How can the consent of the governed be informed, when the government only wants to pretend to inform the public? Call it Lorelei-ing (or Lore-lying).
The ideal approach is to ignore her, and to wait for more authoritative statements from Anthony Golez, Cerge Remonde, Eduardo Ermita or the President herself. Last Monday, however, she said some things in reaction to the news that Fr. Ed Panlilio, the priest-governor of Pampanga province, was considering a presidential run, that made us sit up and take notice — but for all the wrong reasons.
“It’s easy to talk, that’s rhetoric, but what about performance? We should look at performance, because we are already talking about the highest leader of the land,” Fajardo told reporters.
Her emphasis on performance seems to be yet another of those unexamined motherhood statements she was hired to spout. The deputy presidential spokesperson may be incapable of phrasing the thought felicitously, but who can argue with the idea that “performance” is an essential criterion for choosing the next president?
She dismissed the whole notion of “reformist” or value-based politics by asserting that the only — or the main — thing that distinguishes politicians is performance. For instance: “You are a traditional politician, and your performance is good, [then] I think performance should be the basis [for voters to choose you again].”
So far, so party-line. It is no secret that President Arroyo justifies her long tenure in terms of performance. Forget all the political noise (which in a moment of greater candor Ms Arroyo once admitted she was in large part responsible for); the important thing is that the economy is growing, poverty incidence has fallen, tourism is booming, and so on.
But Fajardo did not leave well enough alone. She also said running a province (a jab at Panlilio) was different from running a country. “If your performance is not good in a lower position, let’s say as mayor or governor or any position for that matter, how can you lead the entire nation? That’s what we have to be careful about.”
First things first: The implied criticism of Panlilio is part of a long-term Palace strategy to weaken his chances of reelection. Despite what Panlilio has done to stop corruption in Pampanga, the Arroyo administration has found excuses to get in his way: by refusing police support for the fight against the illegal numbers game “jueteng”; by organizing resistance to Panlilio among town mayors; by marginalizing the governor’s influence in the President’s home province. Fajardo’s dig at Panlilio’s record should be seen in this highly partisan context.
But, more important, let’s examine the assumption behind Fajardo’s blithe putdown of other offices. By her own logic, only four politicians are qualified to seek the presidency: the three former presidents, and the incumbent herself, all of whom are disqualified from running again.
Of course, running a province is different from running a country. But no one disputes that a state governor in the United States can become commander in chief, or a mayor of Paris an effective president of France. Why should Fajardo suggest otherwise?
The easy answer is to suppose that she wasn’t thinking. But the scary possibility exists that, on this point, the spokesperson is in fact reflecting the views of the person she speaks for.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
MISSING THE ACTION by: Kiko Ortelano
HITLER'S PR MEN
I am trying to understand what the detractors of Among Ed are doing.
I understand how difficult it is to lose to a neophyte. I also understand how difficult it is even more to accept defeat when you use all the Guns, Goons, and Golds to somebody who did not have any of these three Gs. Among Ed have his own 3Gs; God's Love, God's Blessing, and God's children in Pampanga.
These sore losers continue to harass the governor. They have unleashed an army of propagandist to destroy Among Ed. From the Recount, to Recall, to Requiem, and the non-stop mudslinging. The audacity to lie continuously to the people just so they could discredit the governor. They must have read the story of Goebbel; Hitler's PR man. He said during Hitler's reign that if you repeat a lie continuously, people wil later on believe it to be true. However, they fail to realize that after the fall of Hitler, all the lies that they propagated were as exposed as they truly are, LIES!
We must never forget the power of our LORD. He may sometimes allow some of us to get away from his wrath for doing the wrong things, but in the end, whatever we do, it will catch up on us.
FAKE LEADERS!
These detractors of Among Ed have been telling people how bad Among Ed's administration is.
They talk as if they are experts. but please pray tell, what is their expertise?
Can Vice Governor Guiao tell us that he is a better government official than Among Ed? He has been calling the shots at the SP for almost 5 years now starting during the term of Mark Lapid. He openly opposed Mark during the last local and national elections. He claimed that he can not swallow anymore the corruption in quarrying that the Lapids perpetuated in Pampanga. We laud his position on this.
HOW COME HE DID NOT "CONTROL" MARK LAPID'S BUDGET THE SAME WAY THEY ARE DOING IT NOW TO AMONG ED? An objective observer will surely understand that what Guiao and the whole SP is doing is not really controlling but persecuting the governor for the latter's refusal to toe the line in accordance to the old political system of "everybody happy!"
The other night, Guiao spoke on TV about supporting a fellow kapampangan running for the country's presidency. He said that to be a fellow kapampangan must not be the sole reason for extending support.
WE AGREE.
However, his statement is obviously another instance of him taking an opportunity to discredit Among Ed. I am so sure of this as demonstrated by him leading all Pampanga politicians in declaring their undying support to PGMA.
What is wrong with this you may ask?
Well, it just so happened that PGMA is now touted to be the most corrupt president our country have ever had! One catholic bishop even publicly stated that the current conjugal occupants of Malacanang is truly even worse than the infamous conjugal dictatorship of th Marcoses! She has brought shame not only to her father's name but the whole proud Kapampangan race!
This simply shows the inconsistency of Guiao. He can turn the other cheek when it involves PGMA and yet throws everything at Among Ed even if the latter is never involved in corruption.
All they charge the governor is incompetence. Are these detractors the competent ones? Rosve Henson could not even make his gubernatiorial candidate win with all their 3Gs against the neophyte and pennyless Panlilio. Yeng Guiao also can not go beyond their gubernatorial candidate's loss to Panlilio. He uses every instance to discredit the governor to the extent of distorting facts. He can not even go beyond their humiliating loss by not allowing the the budget requirement of BALAS to be approved by the SP.
The Vice Gov and the whole SP can talk all they want. But we know that the welfare of our Kabalens has taken a backseat to their Panlilio bashing. The Kapampangans will not forget the seacts of treason they are doing to the poor of our province.
ABANGAN!
We were all surprised by Among Ed's statement about his probable run for the country's presidency in 2010.
His detractors claim that he is not competent enough to be president as evidenced by what is happening in Pamapnag under his stewardship.
I have been lukewarm to this idea since last yar.
However, because of what the gov's detractors have said, I am now inclined to believe that Among Ed might really be the man we need to be president of the Philippines in 2010!
LUID KA!
Monday, March 23, 2009
No Support For Among Ed! When Did You?
NO SUPPORT FOR AMONG ED! WHATS NEW?
Several Mayors from the Province of Pampanga, Board Members & Vice Governor Yeng Guiao told the media recently that they will not support Gov. Eddie Panlilio incase he runs for President of the Republic in 2010. What's New? When did these brilliant so called LEADERS of the province support the Governor? When did these so called PUBLIC SERVANTS appreciate the good things that Gov. Ed has done for the Cabalens? HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT WAY FOR YOUR FELLOW KABALEN! Are you showing the Filipino people that you are the only ones working and concerned for the benefit of the common good. That the incumbent Governor does not know what he's doing, that he should just return to priesthood and leave the Capitol so that you can have a feast. Filipinos are not STUPID! I suggest you guys to do what the people of Pampanga expect, do what you promised them during the campaign last 2007. WORK! BE GOOD LEADERS! BE TRANSPARENT! STOP MAKING NEGATIVE ISSUES! NOT BE BROADWAY ACTORS AND ARTISTS! THIS IS NOT A TALENT SEARCH FOR NEW ACTORS!
I feel so ashamed whenever people ask me about the current situation in Pampanga and Im ashamed that I am a Kapampangan. There's nothing to be proud of!!! BUT!!!! Thanks for the Arti Sta Rita and Ima Arti! Because of them, the shameful acts of our LEADERS in Pampanga were set aside even for just a short period of time.
Our great leaders told the media that the QUARRY COLLECTION has decreased! WHO'S TO BLAME? PANLILIO AGAIN? ARE THEY NOT PART OF THE PROVINCIAL CAPITOL? Did they do something about it? Did they act on it? Hmmm..... I dare the media to ask these SANGGUNIANG PANLALAWIGAN of Pampanga if they have alloted budget for this department. The Quarry Department did what they have to do eventhough they exists like ghosts in the Provincial Capitol.
Tourism is not doing good in Pampanga as well.... Do you want to know why? Again! I dare the media to inquire to the GREAT LEADERS OF THE SANGGUNIANG PANLALAWIGAN if the Department of Tourism has alloted budget for the year 2009 and how much.
I've been consistently telling you to ask the S.P if the departments that i have mentioned have alloted budget because these will answer all our questions and their reply will provide us light to the truth.
The biggest dare that i may ask from you is to ask the S.P and the mayors of my beloved province PAMPANGA about their job descriptions. The head of the province is more an implementor than a policy making body. WHO'S THE POLICY MAKING BODY? WHO APPROVES BUDGETS? The head of the province cannot implement projects for the poorest of the poor kapampangans unless the PROVINCIAL BOARD approves it. The provincial head can give orders to the Mayors to implement E.O's but it doesnt mean that whenever he tells them to act or support on such that they will definitely act on it. Its a FACT!
For a better Pampanga, it is important for these leaders to be united. Stop politicizing! Be what the people have trusted you to be! Set aside whatever issues these people might have and concentrate on providing services for the Kapampangans. Reminder to these SO CALLED LEADERS, the eyes of the people of Pampanga are monitoring you. 2010 ELECTIONS is just around the corner, if you have dreams of retaining you positions or aiming for higher positions, DO WHAT THE PEOPLE EXPECT FROM YOU! WORK! BE SENSITIVE FOR THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE! CONCENTRATE ON SERVICES AND NOT ON SHOWBIZ! You are EMPLOYEES of the People of Pampanga! You work for them and not the other way around.
I cannot blame these SO CALLED YOU KNOW if they do not wish support their fellow Kapampangan in the coming Presidential Elections, it is their belief and decision but for me it is nothing NEW! If they did not support him as a Governor then why support him as a Presidentiable? Nothing NEW...............
Several Mayors from the Province of Pampanga, Board Members & Vice Governor Yeng Guiao told the media recently that they will not support Gov. Eddie Panlilio incase he runs for President of the Republic in 2010. What's New? When did these brilliant so called LEADERS of the province support the Governor? When did these so called PUBLIC SERVANTS appreciate the good things that Gov. Ed has done for the Cabalens? HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT WAY FOR YOUR FELLOW KABALEN! Are you showing the Filipino people that you are the only ones working and concerned for the benefit of the common good. That the incumbent Governor does not know what he's doing, that he should just return to priesthood and leave the Capitol so that you can have a feast. Filipinos are not STUPID! I suggest you guys to do what the people of Pampanga expect, do what you promised them during the campaign last 2007. WORK! BE GOOD LEADERS! BE TRANSPARENT! STOP MAKING NEGATIVE ISSUES! NOT BE BROADWAY ACTORS AND ARTISTS! THIS IS NOT A TALENT SEARCH FOR NEW ACTORS!
I feel so ashamed whenever people ask me about the current situation in Pampanga and Im ashamed that I am a Kapampangan. There's nothing to be proud of!!! BUT!!!! Thanks for the Arti Sta Rita and Ima Arti! Because of them, the shameful acts of our LEADERS in Pampanga were set aside even for just a short period of time.
Our great leaders told the media that the QUARRY COLLECTION has decreased! WHO'S TO BLAME? PANLILIO AGAIN? ARE THEY NOT PART OF THE PROVINCIAL CAPITOL? Did they do something about it? Did they act on it? Hmmm..... I dare the media to ask these SANGGUNIANG PANLALAWIGAN of Pampanga if they have alloted budget for this department. The Quarry Department did what they have to do eventhough they exists like ghosts in the Provincial Capitol.
Tourism is not doing good in Pampanga as well.... Do you want to know why? Again! I dare the media to inquire to the GREAT LEADERS OF THE SANGGUNIANG PANLALAWIGAN if the Department of Tourism has alloted budget for the year 2009 and how much.
I've been consistently telling you to ask the S.P if the departments that i have mentioned have alloted budget because these will answer all our questions and their reply will provide us light to the truth.
The biggest dare that i may ask from you is to ask the S.P and the mayors of my beloved province PAMPANGA about their job descriptions. The head of the province is more an implementor than a policy making body. WHO'S THE POLICY MAKING BODY? WHO APPROVES BUDGETS? The head of the province cannot implement projects for the poorest of the poor kapampangans unless the PROVINCIAL BOARD approves it. The provincial head can give orders to the Mayors to implement E.O's but it doesnt mean that whenever he tells them to act or support on such that they will definitely act on it. Its a FACT!
For a better Pampanga, it is important for these leaders to be united. Stop politicizing! Be what the people have trusted you to be! Set aside whatever issues these people might have and concentrate on providing services for the Kapampangans. Reminder to these SO CALLED LEADERS, the eyes of the people of Pampanga are monitoring you. 2010 ELECTIONS is just around the corner, if you have dreams of retaining you positions or aiming for higher positions, DO WHAT THE PEOPLE EXPECT FROM YOU! WORK! BE SENSITIVE FOR THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE! CONCENTRATE ON SERVICES AND NOT ON SHOWBIZ! You are EMPLOYEES of the People of Pampanga! You work for them and not the other way around.
I cannot blame these SO CALLED YOU KNOW if they do not wish support their fellow Kapampangan in the coming Presidential Elections, it is their belief and decision but for me it is nothing NEW! If they did not support him as a Governor then why support him as a Presidentiable? Nothing NEW...............
Saturday, March 21, 2009
PANLILIO EYES PRESIDENCY
Seeks run with Isabela gov; backers up
By Tina Arceo-DumlaoPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 00:16:00 03/22/2009
An elderly gentleman has expressed his intention to part with $100 from his budget for hypertension and diabetes medicine. A Filipino in New York is also putting in $100, and another is contributing $5.
A member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983 has pledged an initial $100. A contract worker in Jordan is investing $1,000.
Pledges like these from ordinary Filipinos clamoring for good governance and willing to put their money where their mouth is are serving to encourage Panlilio to seriously consider seeking the presidency in 2010, with Isabela Governor Grace Padaca as his running mate.
“I am open to taking up the challenge,” Panlilio told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Saturday in an interview at the newspaper’s main office in Makati City.
The Catholic priest-on-leave said that while he was still in “a period of discernment,” he had taken steps to get civil society groups, non-government organizations, and even military officials together and gather support for a reform candidate.
“I will go for whoever will represent a genuine reform constituency,” he said. “It does not necessarily have to be me. If there is a more appropriate candidate, why will I present myself? I look at my role now as more of one of the convenors of a genuine reform coalition.”
Biggest issue: Corruption
Panlilio said he had been telling various groups “that we should have one reform candidate; otherwise, we will get a president that we do not like.”
He said he had to help solidify a reform movement for 2010 because he believed that Filipinos were desperately seeking candidates who were not steeped in traditional politics and were willing to stamp out graft and corruption.
“Corruption is the biggest issue of the 2010 elections. People are tired of it and it is really the reason behind all of our problems,” he said.
Panlilio said he had realized that he would face an uphill climb if he decided to run for president.
But he said his spirits were buoyed by the expressions of support from diverse groups committed to devote not only time and effort but also money to his and Padaca’s campaign.
Big backer
One such supporter is former Chinatrust Philippines president Joey A. Bermudez, who told the Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, in a separate interview that he would actively campaign for Panlilio and Padaca and would help raise funds for their campaign.
“I will support them because they represent a different kind of politics. They are the right candidates because they are reform-minded and they have the actual hands-on experience in running their local governments,” said Bermudez, current president of the Management Association of the Philippines.
“They are not just mouthing off theories,” he said.
Bermudez said he would not back any of the names being floated as possible presidential candidates because they were “traditional politicians.”
“I would not put the future of the country in their hands,” said Bermudez, who was active in the late Raul Roco’s campaign for the presidency in 2004.
“The 2010 election presents another opportunity for us to correct mistakes,” he said.
Ifugao gov’s support
Also supporting Panlilio is Ifugao Gov. Teodoro B. Baguilat Jr., who expressed the belief that a “silent majority” would come out in 2010 to vote for a reform candidate.
Baguilat, who may also seek reelection as governor in 2010, said he was taking a risk by supporting Panlilio.
But he is convinced that it is the right thing for him to do.
“As corny or as cliché as it may sound, I am doing this for the country,” said Baguilat, who is actively gathering financial, technical and even moral support for Panlilio and Padaca.
“I am helping lay the groundwork for their campaign. The dynamics should work itself out later on,” he said, adding:
“I am really just tired of hearing people say that they are tired of corruption and yet do not do anything about it. Now, I am asking people to be part of the campaign and not just complain.”
Baguilat, like Panlilio and Padaca, is a member of Kaya Natin!, a movement that seeks to propagate the gospel of good governance.
Among the other members are Mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City and Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija.
Alternative to ‘trapo’
Early in 2007, Panlilio, then 53 and backed by a ragtag army of volunteers, campaigned for the governorship of Pampanga as an alternative to traditional politicians.
He defeated the incumbent governor, Mark Lapid, and provincial board member Lilia Pineda, wife of alleged “jueteng” lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda.
He won over Pineda by only 1,147 votes.
Panlilio spent 26 years in the priesthood. He decided to cease performing priestly duties in March 2007 to run against Lapid and Pineda.
Just a month after assuming office after the May 2007 elections, Panlilio was able to collect for Pampanga P29.4 million from quarry operations on volcanic ash from Mt. Pinatubo.
It took his predecessor one year to collect about the same amount.
In October 2007, Panlilio told the media that he was handed a paper bag containing P500,000 right after a meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and local officials in Malacañang.
The distribution of money was suspected as a move by Malacañang to drum up support for the dismissal of an impeachment complaint against her.
Recall election
Panlilio, who was named the Inquirer Filipino of the Year for 2007, has lately faced a challenge.
In October 2008, the group Kapanalig at Kambilan ning Memalen Pampanga Inc. filed a petition for a recall election to unseat him.
The petition was anchored on four cases – the complaint of two workers terminated for alleged corruption in quarry fee collection; Panlilio’s refusal to enforce an ordinance that would ease restrictions on quarry tax collections and increase mayors’ access to these funds; a perjury case; and a case against Panlilio’s decision to change the assignments of district hospital heads.
But last February, a budget-deficient Commission on Elections ruled that the holding of a recall election might no longer be possible.
Seeks run with Isabela gov; backers up
By Tina Arceo-DumlaoPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 00:16:00 03/22/2009
MANILA, Philippines – This early, pledges from overseas are coming in for Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio.
An elderly gentleman has expressed his intention to part with $100 from his budget for hypertension and diabetes medicine. A Filipino in New York is also putting in $100, and another is contributing $5.
A member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983 has pledged an initial $100. A contract worker in Jordan is investing $1,000.
Pledges like these from ordinary Filipinos clamoring for good governance and willing to put their money where their mouth is are serving to encourage Panlilio to seriously consider seeking the presidency in 2010, with Isabela Governor Grace Padaca as his running mate.
“I am open to taking up the challenge,” Panlilio told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Saturday in an interview at the newspaper’s main office in Makati City.
The Catholic priest-on-leave said that while he was still in “a period of discernment,” he had taken steps to get civil society groups, non-government organizations, and even military officials together and gather support for a reform candidate.
“I will go for whoever will represent a genuine reform constituency,” he said. “It does not necessarily have to be me. If there is a more appropriate candidate, why will I present myself? I look at my role now as more of one of the convenors of a genuine reform coalition.”
Biggest issue: Corruption
Panlilio said he had been telling various groups “that we should have one reform candidate; otherwise, we will get a president that we do not like.”
He said he had to help solidify a reform movement for 2010 because he believed that Filipinos were desperately seeking candidates who were not steeped in traditional politics and were willing to stamp out graft and corruption.
“Corruption is the biggest issue of the 2010 elections. People are tired of it and it is really the reason behind all of our problems,” he said.
Panlilio said he had realized that he would face an uphill climb if he decided to run for president.
But he said his spirits were buoyed by the expressions of support from diverse groups committed to devote not only time and effort but also money to his and Padaca’s campaign.
Big backer
One such supporter is former Chinatrust Philippines president Joey A. Bermudez, who told the Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, in a separate interview that he would actively campaign for Panlilio and Padaca and would help raise funds for their campaign.
“I will support them because they represent a different kind of politics. They are the right candidates because they are reform-minded and they have the actual hands-on experience in running their local governments,” said Bermudez, current president of the Management Association of the Philippines.
“They are not just mouthing off theories,” he said.
Bermudez said he would not back any of the names being floated as possible presidential candidates because they were “traditional politicians.”
“I would not put the future of the country in their hands,” said Bermudez, who was active in the late Raul Roco’s campaign for the presidency in 2004.
“The 2010 election presents another opportunity for us to correct mistakes,” he said.
Ifugao gov’s support
Also supporting Panlilio is Ifugao Gov. Teodoro B. Baguilat Jr., who expressed the belief that a “silent majority” would come out in 2010 to vote for a reform candidate.
Baguilat, who may also seek reelection as governor in 2010, said he was taking a risk by supporting Panlilio.
But he is convinced that it is the right thing for him to do.
“As corny or as cliché as it may sound, I am doing this for the country,” said Baguilat, who is actively gathering financial, technical and even moral support for Panlilio and Padaca.
“I am helping lay the groundwork for their campaign. The dynamics should work itself out later on,” he said, adding:
“I am really just tired of hearing people say that they are tired of corruption and yet do not do anything about it. Now, I am asking people to be part of the campaign and not just complain.”
Baguilat, like Panlilio and Padaca, is a member of Kaya Natin!, a movement that seeks to propagate the gospel of good governance.
Among the other members are Mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City and Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija.
Alternative to ‘trapo’
Early in 2007, Panlilio, then 53 and backed by a ragtag army of volunteers, campaigned for the governorship of Pampanga as an alternative to traditional politicians.
He defeated the incumbent governor, Mark Lapid, and provincial board member Lilia Pineda, wife of alleged “jueteng” lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda.
He won over Pineda by only 1,147 votes.
Panlilio spent 26 years in the priesthood. He decided to cease performing priestly duties in March 2007 to run against Lapid and Pineda.
Just a month after assuming office after the May 2007 elections, Panlilio was able to collect for Pampanga P29.4 million from quarry operations on volcanic ash from Mt. Pinatubo.
It took his predecessor one year to collect about the same amount.
In October 2007, Panlilio told the media that he was handed a paper bag containing P500,000 right after a meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and local officials in Malacañang.
The distribution of money was suspected as a move by Malacañang to drum up support for the dismissal of an impeachment complaint against her.
Recall election
Panlilio, who was named the Inquirer Filipino of the Year for 2007, has lately faced a challenge.
In October 2008, the group Kapanalig at Kambilan ning Memalen Pampanga Inc. filed a petition for a recall election to unseat him.
The petition was anchored on four cases – the complaint of two workers terminated for alleged corruption in quarry fee collection; Panlilio’s refusal to enforce an ordinance that would ease restrictions on quarry tax collections and increase mayors’ access to these funds; a perjury case; and a case against Panlilio’s decision to change the assignments of district hospital heads.
But last February, a budget-deficient Commission on Elections ruled that the holding of a recall election might no longer be possible.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
MISSING THE ACTION by: Kiko Ortelano
Missing the Action.
KASAUP is a group of dedicated municipal based organizations with people who wants to be catalysts of change in Pampanga. Change in the politics of patronage. Change in the corrupt practices in governance. Change in the hearts and minds of the people.
KASAUP is aware of this daunting task. It will persevere because it believes in its advocacy.
The daunting task is made difficult by a lot of factors. We are able to hurdle the difficult tasks by maintaining focus; by being consistent; by supporting each other within.
It is during these times when we miss the presence of our venerable SUPREMO; Tang Vic Martin, Sr. It is also during these times when we realize that Tang Vic never left us and will always guide us. His influence on all of us he left at KASAUP have been one of most important tools for discernment. We will always miss our IDOL; but he will also always be with us.
We also miss our sister-in-arms Vicky who had to move to another country. She who was always there to support the group. She who was always one of those who would provide the nourishment of food and drinks everytime we meet. She who would always work on the sidelines
to avoid being confrontational. She who always gets out of her way to please everybody without compromising her conviction. We hope Vicky can get back home soon.
ALARMING
We basically have heard the side of the Provincial Administrator and the side of Mayor Oca and City Administration Caylao on the allegation of illegal quarrying by the city government of San Fernando.
We do not intend to discuss the legal merits of the case. We will leave that to the lawyers.
We would like to comment on how it can be better managed next time.
Everybody knows the support that mayor Oca has given to Among Gov despite everyone else's persecution of the latter. We are not suggesting that the gov should look the other way when an issue involves the city mayor of the city of San Fernando. We would like to suggest however that all other means of persuasions short of what was done by the PA should be made when similar situations occur in the future. Perhaps, emmissaries can be tapped to avoid a repeat of the misunderstanding between the PA and the city government. Perhaps the PA herself can exert more personal efforts in similar situations. Perhaps the PA can ask other people for suggestions. If all of these fails, then the gov and the city mayor can sit down and thresh this out by themselves without the issuance of official letters.
If all of the above fails, then perhaps, the letter may do. If it still does not, then sue the city government.
Obviously it will never be good to antagonize people spcially your friends even when you feel and think that they have antagonized you (we are not suggesting that the PA was antagonized here but the city government is). You do not fight fire with fire. And when the response is that which is sensitive, practical, accomodating (without being illegal), and respectful, it solidify relationships. You may not win more friends, but it will be enough to win respect.
LUID KA!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Bataan bishop: Conjugal dictatorship is back
By Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 06:14:00 03/17/
MANILA, Philippines—A conjugal dictatorship, along with the kind of corruption seen during martial law that led to a people power revolt, has returned, a Catholic bishop said Monday.
Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas said corruption in the Arroyo administration had reached “an alarming state” that it prompted comparison to the Marcos regime.
Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas said corruption in the Arroyo administration had reached “an alarming state” that it prompted comparison to the Marcos regime.
“Thirty years ago we coined the term ‘conjugal dictatorship,’ referring to the martial law President (Ferdinand Marcos) and his wife (Imelda Marcos),” Villegas said in a statement titled “Corrupt and Corrupting Families.”
“In those days, we rallied and protested against crony families and fought the political dynasties. The reasons for our social discontent 30 years ago have resurrected,” said Villegas, a trusted aide of the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin who played a pivotal role in the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.
Villegas noted that being “family-based” was “the singular trademark” of graft and corruption in the Philippines.
“The shadow of corruption perennially haunts the President and her husband. Can all the accusations be purely politically motivated without any grain of truth?” he said.
The Balanga bishop also cited the case of former military comptroller Carlos F. Garcia, who along with his wife and two sons, has been charged with unexplained and undeclared wealth. His wife and children were arrested recently in the United States.
Villegas is one of the more outspoken members of the Catholic hierarchy.
New government
On Oct. 28 last year, Villegas was among the five bishops who declared that “the time to form a new government is now.” They strongly condemned corruption in government that they said had become “endemic, massive, systemic and rampant in our politics.”
The others who called for radical reforms were Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Masbate Bishop Joel Baylon and Legazpi Bishop-Emeritus Jose Sorra.
Lagdameo is the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Villegas followed up the group’s declaration with a statement on Nov. 27 calling on the Catholic faithful to “fight the sin of graft and corruption” and not to leave the solution to corrupt officials.
Feast of St. Joseph
Villegas issued his statement Monday as part of his reflections for the March 19 feast of St. Joseph, patron saint of the cathedral of the Diocese of Balanga in Bataan.
In his statement, Villegas rued that corruption had become a family affair.
“We have deteriorated. We have turned from bad to worse. The glaring proof that corruption has reached its alarming state in or country is that families are no longer just corruptible, but have become blatantly corrupt and corrupting,” he said.
He said “the corruption syndicate is either a husband and wife partnership or a father and son connivance or a whole family in cahoots.”
Simplify lives
Villegas urged families to pray together, to simplify their lives and to spend more time together to restore integrity in the family.
He said sharing stories among family members should replace the habit of watching telenovelas.
“I am sure you want to tell me that I am too simplistic. Can such family acts fight corruption? Believe me, when fear of God is brought back to the family, we will be a better nation,” Villegas said.
“When a sense of honor and dignity returns to the home, we will be able to bounce back to moral uprightness… The best school is the family. There is no teacher better than a credible parent,” he said.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Reprinted from the Philippine Star issue of March 16, 2009
Why Filipinos don't like the 'Pulis'
CTALK By Cito Beltran
Updated March 16, 2009 12:00 AM
In an effort to explain why the police are not as popular or respected, some PNP officials, raised the worn out or “gasgas ng” excuse that it is the fault of TV and movies that ridicule or demonize the police. Instead of getting sympathy, many people simply shook their heads at such a “lazy” knee jerk response.
The Filipinos are eternal optimists and would readily support the PNP if only the PNP leadership would be as honest about their short-comings as they were in admitting their shortage of firearms and ammunition.
By nature and consequence of the job, it is normal that some degree of unpopularity is expected among those who are truly violators of the law or truly victims of abuse by law enforcers. In a professionally run system most of that would be minimal.
If many Filipinos don’t like the “Pulis” it is because there is a very long history of events and abuses that created the situation we are in. The history of the Police in the Philippines has mostly been about good cops. Unfortunately when good cops are placed under crooks or dirty politicians, you have local overlords who used and abused their authority over the police.
The solution was suppose to be the integration and nationalization of the police, but thanks to the integration of the PMAers who established discrimination on the basis of school and batch seniority, the PNP became a schizophrenic institution confused and abused by “Mistahs”.
We should not blame art which imitates life, rather the PNP should do an independent survey in order to list down what Filipinos clearly don’t like or hate in or about the PNP.
Last Saturday I decided to list down and observe peoples’ reactions and comments on the issue. It didn’t take too long for the first reason to drive by in the loudest manner. Two motorcycle cops weaving and waving with sirens blaring as they cleared the way for some arrogant person in an SUV.
The cops may just be doing their job, but they are the initiators of the abuse that the President said is illegal! So the blame and the anger are aimed at cops because we don’t see the jerk in the tinted SUV.
Next up you have uniformed policemen driving by in a Pasig Police AUV blasting their siren going up Shaw Boulevard using the siren as a horn because he is a policeman. How many Filipinos did he annoy?
Then you see policemen in uniform with their sidearm riding on their personal motorcycles with no license plate or using a plate with the word “POLICE” but even worse, they don’t wear the helmets required by law. Ironically, police patrols regularly stop drivers with “modified” or repainted car plates, people who place commemorative plates in the wrong position get flagged down if not shaken down.
On the other hand, just down the corner or some intersection, you will find policemen stopping motorcycle riders with helmets and legal license plates conducting routine inspections like border guards in Gaza.
Do the PNP even realize how much fear or terror their “Men In Black” creates? Imagine a couple of guys armed with automatic weapons wearing combat attire in black driving beside you on motorcycles?
I have good friends within the PNP and I consider myself very pro-PNP but things that have to change. First and foremost, the PNP has to drill and grill their officers with the fact that “THE LAW APPLIES TO ALL ESPECIALLY THE POLICE”.
The PNP needs to emphasize on training officers with the rules of engagement. Whether we like it or not “rules of engagement” and the “Miranda doctrine” have purpose in law enforcement. Only when Police Officers treat Filipinos with respect will they be worthy of full respect.
The funds of the PNP must be spent FIRST on what is needed and on the least or lower ranked members. Spending money for the Scuba training of senior officers in the eyes of the public is nothing more than a junket. How many more guns could have been bought just from the gasoline and food they consumed at Anilao? One 9mm or an M-16 maybe?
Invest first on the needs of the lower rank policemen, their training as well as their families. Give the lower rank Policemen media training, financial competency. Invest in systems that preserves the assets of the PNP such as patrol cars, get help in drive proficiency, etc.
The PNP senior officials should be the first to undergo a social and political sensitivity training. If the PNP has some image problem, blame it on the junket and lifestyle of PNP officials who have become the example for their people. The “Euro-generals” caused more embarrassment and unpopularity to the PNP than any “Pulis Patola” movie
The PNP Transformation program is a very praise worthy undertaking. The initial honesty about their need and lack of firearms actually got me to thinking of soliciting donations from well-armed people I know. But when the “gasgas” excuse of blaming things to TV and Movies came up, I seriously questioned just how sincere some people are about transformation?
We all need to help the PNP. We must all support the PNP. They have good and great men and women in the service. But it is only the PNP that can decide if they really want help and if they are willing to face and fix what needs to be fixed.
Why Filipinos don't like the 'Pulis'
CTALK By Cito Beltran
Updated March 16, 2009 12:00 AM
In an effort to explain why the police are not as popular or respected, some PNP officials, raised the worn out or “gasgas ng” excuse that it is the fault of TV and movies that ridicule or demonize the police. Instead of getting sympathy, many people simply shook their heads at such a “lazy” knee jerk response.
The Filipinos are eternal optimists and would readily support the PNP if only the PNP leadership would be as honest about their short-comings as they were in admitting their shortage of firearms and ammunition.
By nature and consequence of the job, it is normal that some degree of unpopularity is expected among those who are truly violators of the law or truly victims of abuse by law enforcers. In a professionally run system most of that would be minimal.
If many Filipinos don’t like the “Pulis” it is because there is a very long history of events and abuses that created the situation we are in. The history of the Police in the Philippines has mostly been about good cops. Unfortunately when good cops are placed under crooks or dirty politicians, you have local overlords who used and abused their authority over the police.
The solution was suppose to be the integration and nationalization of the police, but thanks to the integration of the PMAers who established discrimination on the basis of school and batch seniority, the PNP became a schizophrenic institution confused and abused by “Mistahs”.
We should not blame art which imitates life, rather the PNP should do an independent survey in order to list down what Filipinos clearly don’t like or hate in or about the PNP.
Last Saturday I decided to list down and observe peoples’ reactions and comments on the issue. It didn’t take too long for the first reason to drive by in the loudest manner. Two motorcycle cops weaving and waving with sirens blaring as they cleared the way for some arrogant person in an SUV.
The cops may just be doing their job, but they are the initiators of the abuse that the President said is illegal! So the blame and the anger are aimed at cops because we don’t see the jerk in the tinted SUV.
Next up you have uniformed policemen driving by in a Pasig Police AUV blasting their siren going up Shaw Boulevard using the siren as a horn because he is a policeman. How many Filipinos did he annoy?
Then you see policemen in uniform with their sidearm riding on their personal motorcycles with no license plate or using a plate with the word “POLICE” but even worse, they don’t wear the helmets required by law. Ironically, police patrols regularly stop drivers with “modified” or repainted car plates, people who place commemorative plates in the wrong position get flagged down if not shaken down.
On the other hand, just down the corner or some intersection, you will find policemen stopping motorcycle riders with helmets and legal license plates conducting routine inspections like border guards in Gaza.
Do the PNP even realize how much fear or terror their “Men In Black” creates? Imagine a couple of guys armed with automatic weapons wearing combat attire in black driving beside you on motorcycles?
I have good friends within the PNP and I consider myself very pro-PNP but things that have to change. First and foremost, the PNP has to drill and grill their officers with the fact that “THE LAW APPLIES TO ALL ESPECIALLY THE POLICE”.
The PNP needs to emphasize on training officers with the rules of engagement. Whether we like it or not “rules of engagement” and the “Miranda doctrine” have purpose in law enforcement. Only when Police Officers treat Filipinos with respect will they be worthy of full respect.
The funds of the PNP must be spent FIRST on what is needed and on the least or lower ranked members. Spending money for the Scuba training of senior officers in the eyes of the public is nothing more than a junket. How many more guns could have been bought just from the gasoline and food they consumed at Anilao? One 9mm or an M-16 maybe?
Invest first on the needs of the lower rank policemen, their training as well as their families. Give the lower rank Policemen media training, financial competency. Invest in systems that preserves the assets of the PNP such as patrol cars, get help in drive proficiency, etc.
The PNP senior officials should be the first to undergo a social and political sensitivity training. If the PNP has some image problem, blame it on the junket and lifestyle of PNP officials who have become the example for their people. The “Euro-generals” caused more embarrassment and unpopularity to the PNP than any “Pulis Patola” movie
The PNP Transformation program is a very praise worthy undertaking. The initial honesty about their need and lack of firearms actually got me to thinking of soliciting donations from well-armed people I know. But when the “gasgas” excuse of blaming things to TV and Movies came up, I seriously questioned just how sincere some people are about transformation?
We all need to help the PNP. We must all support the PNP. They have good and great men and women in the service. But it is only the PNP that can decide if they really want help and if they are willing to face and fix what needs to be fixed.
Reprinted from the Philippine Daily Inquirer issue of March 16, 2009
Inquirer Opinion/ Editorial
THE DOCUMENTS STUPID
Regardless of what the House of Representatives will choose to do with the impeachment complaint filed against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez by three-time Senate topnotcher Jovito Salonga and others, her fate in history is all but sealed. The reason is she perfectly illustrates a classic Filipino saying, down to the last crooked syllable. “It’s hard to awaken those who are pretending to sleep.”
Whatever little of her reputation has survived her close association with and solicitousness for the Arroyo administration will forever be consumed in the aptness, the very justice, of that worldly-wise expression.
It is hard to wake up those who are only pretending to sleep.
Is there any other officer of the law, in the post-Marcos era, who has as sedulously struggled to keep one’s eyes shut in the face of evidence of graft and corruption? Even the Arroyo administration’s irascible Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, notorious for his partisan approach to the administration of justice, at least tries to reckon with inconvenient reality. Gutierrez simply denies the reality, period.
Consider her breathtakingly brazen decision-making process on the anomalous P1.3-billion Mega-Pacific contract. While in our legal system the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts, it cannot pretend to be blind in the face of overwhelming evidence. Thus it had ruled that the automation contract was anomalous on its face (the same finding reached by the Senate blue ribbon committee), and directed the Ombudsman to finally conduct an investigation. For some reason, Gutierrez dragged her foot, and was eventually admonished by the Court and given a deadline to meet. Just before the deadline expired, the Ombudsman announced that a host of minor personalities and at least one election commissioner would face charges.
In the end, however, and based on hearings it conducted after the Court’s original deadline, it found no one guilty of any crime. The Mega Pacific contract was illegal, but in the Ombudsman’s view no one actually broke the law.
Those who are pretending to sleep are the hardest to wake.
We are led to consider yet again this Filipino expression because of the Ombudsman’s recent inaction—that would be the polite term—in the case of the World Bank-funded road projects.
The Washington, DC-based multilateral financing institution had blacklisted three Filipino contracting firms, one of them permanently, because of what it said was evidence of collusion. As quickly became clear, the Ombudsman was furnished copies of the World Bank findings a long time ago, but did, well, almost nothing.
In a Senate hearing, Gutierrez even said there was nothing much she could do, because the reports were marked confidential.
Last week, the bank’s representative to the Philippines, Bert Hofman, diplomatically reminded the Ombudsman and those senators and congressmen who had chosen to be obtuse that, in fact, evidence of collusion was readily available—assuming that they wanted the evidence in the first place.
“I notice, in the Philippines, the witness statements have drawn a lot of attention and a lot of press. But really, what I hear from my [Department of Institutional Integrity] INT colleagues is, ‘Look at these documents,’” Hofman said at a forum.
“Most of the evidence we find in the collusion were from documentary evidence. They do interview witnesses. They do interview people to corroborate the evidence found in the documentation,” he said. But: “This is all evidence on the bid itself; nothing to do with witnesses, nothing to do with statements, nothing to do with hearsay. This is all in the bid documents themselves,” he said.
In 10 years of experience fighting rigged bids worldwide, the World Bank, Hofman said, had found the same patterns of collusion, which include: almost similar bids, “questionable disqualification of bids” and “abnormally high bids.”
We can read between the lines of this diplomatically worded reminder. The powerful Ombudsman has the mandate to initiate an investigation even without a complaint. That she considers herself hamstrung by the confidentiality of the World Bank report means she had not bothered to look at the bidding documents themselves. She has access to them, but apparently she could not bestir herself, after receiving a warning from the bank, to probe the documents.
Moral: It is difficult to awaken those only faking sleep.
Inquirer Opinion/ Editorial
THE DOCUMENTS STUPID
Regardless of what the House of Representatives will choose to do with the impeachment complaint filed against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez by three-time Senate topnotcher Jovito Salonga and others, her fate in history is all but sealed. The reason is she perfectly illustrates a classic Filipino saying, down to the last crooked syllable. “It’s hard to awaken those who are pretending to sleep.”
Whatever little of her reputation has survived her close association with and solicitousness for the Arroyo administration will forever be consumed in the aptness, the very justice, of that worldly-wise expression.
It is hard to wake up those who are only pretending to sleep.
Is there any other officer of the law, in the post-Marcos era, who has as sedulously struggled to keep one’s eyes shut in the face of evidence of graft and corruption? Even the Arroyo administration’s irascible Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, notorious for his partisan approach to the administration of justice, at least tries to reckon with inconvenient reality. Gutierrez simply denies the reality, period.
Consider her breathtakingly brazen decision-making process on the anomalous P1.3-billion Mega-Pacific contract. While in our legal system the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts, it cannot pretend to be blind in the face of overwhelming evidence. Thus it had ruled that the automation contract was anomalous on its face (the same finding reached by the Senate blue ribbon committee), and directed the Ombudsman to finally conduct an investigation. For some reason, Gutierrez dragged her foot, and was eventually admonished by the Court and given a deadline to meet. Just before the deadline expired, the Ombudsman announced that a host of minor personalities and at least one election commissioner would face charges.
In the end, however, and based on hearings it conducted after the Court’s original deadline, it found no one guilty of any crime. The Mega Pacific contract was illegal, but in the Ombudsman’s view no one actually broke the law.
Those who are pretending to sleep are the hardest to wake.
We are led to consider yet again this Filipino expression because of the Ombudsman’s recent inaction—that would be the polite term—in the case of the World Bank-funded road projects.
The Washington, DC-based multilateral financing institution had blacklisted three Filipino contracting firms, one of them permanently, because of what it said was evidence of collusion. As quickly became clear, the Ombudsman was furnished copies of the World Bank findings a long time ago, but did, well, almost nothing.
In a Senate hearing, Gutierrez even said there was nothing much she could do, because the reports were marked confidential.
Last week, the bank’s representative to the Philippines, Bert Hofman, diplomatically reminded the Ombudsman and those senators and congressmen who had chosen to be obtuse that, in fact, evidence of collusion was readily available—assuming that they wanted the evidence in the first place.
“I notice, in the Philippines, the witness statements have drawn a lot of attention and a lot of press. But really, what I hear from my [Department of Institutional Integrity] INT colleagues is, ‘Look at these documents,’” Hofman said at a forum.
“Most of the evidence we find in the collusion were from documentary evidence. They do interview witnesses. They do interview people to corroborate the evidence found in the documentation,” he said. But: “This is all evidence on the bid itself; nothing to do with witnesses, nothing to do with statements, nothing to do with hearsay. This is all in the bid documents themselves,” he said.
In 10 years of experience fighting rigged bids worldwide, the World Bank, Hofman said, had found the same patterns of collusion, which include: almost similar bids, “questionable disqualification of bids” and “abnormally high bids.”
We can read between the lines of this diplomatically worded reminder. The powerful Ombudsman has the mandate to initiate an investigation even without a complaint. That she considers herself hamstrung by the confidentiality of the World Bank report means she had not bothered to look at the bidding documents themselves. She has access to them, but apparently she could not bestir herself, after receiving a warning from the bank, to probe the documents.
Moral: It is difficult to awaken those only faking sleep.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
MISSING THE ACTION by: Kiko Ortelano
TARGET
We are not referring to a brand of a processed meat. We are also not referring to a popular chain store in the United States.
Among Ed Panlilio is the TARGET!
We are aware of this from the very start of his term as governor of Pampanga. The initial strategy was to destroy all the people around the gov so that in the end, it will be the governor who will really take the heat. Even to his nemesis in the the province, it was obvious that the gov was a difficult direct target as he was really a clean politician. All sorts of things were done just to ensure his defeat in the electoral exercise and yet he still won.
Then the gov made a "mortal political sin"! He exposed the payola in Malacanang! The political malpractices that pervades the country was exposed by the gov of the president's own home province! What was worse is that it showed the people that such malpractices are being hatched and propagated by the highest officials of our land!
Political Operators know that the quarry operations is the most obvious and tangible achievement of the gov so far. This is the real reason why the PB and the mayors will never cooperate with the gov on the continuing succes of BALAS and all his other laudable projects. This is the very reason why the PB is really firm on its intent to continue producing legislative measures to curtail the powers of the gov on the quarry operations. The PB is doing this even to the extent that the BALAS operations will fail to the detriment of the province. It does not matter that the quarry operations of the province was recognized and awarded by GALING POOK with no less than the president giving the award in Malacanang!
The issue on JUETENG is another one. The lies that the Secretary of the DILG and PNP Regional Director for Central Luzon has kept on barbling in public shows their futile attempt to justify their inaction and obvious conspiracy to protect JUETENG. They can not fool us! We see everyday around our neighborhood the operations of jueteng. We see how the local executives from the Municipal to the barangay levels, including the police, ignore jueteng operations. We are also aware of the payolas that these local executives receive from jueteng down to the barangay officials. They may deny these in public forum specially in their interaction with media. They may fool some people sometimes specially those who do not discern lies from truth. BUT WE THE PEOPLE KNOW.
It is good that the president ordered the PNP to stop to all illegal gamblings. But if the PNP under the DILG leadership were doing their job, it is absolutely unnecessary for the president to issue such order. Motto Propio, the DILG and the PNP should have eradicated jueteng as it is illegal and it is their mandate to stop illegal activities wether there are complaints or none.
It is also very well that Archbishop Aniceto and Auxilliary Bishop David made public their acknowledgement that there is jueteng in the province and that government officials should really put a stop to it. NOW LET US SEE HOW SECRETARY PUNO OF THE DILG REFUTE THE SATEMENTS OF THE TWO PRINCES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN PAMPANGA.
Every one of us should support the gov in his crusade for Good Governance. Everyone of us who hope for a better Pampanga should share in the burden of transforming not just Pampanga but the whole country into the path of RIGHTEOUS LEADERSHIP. We all can share in our own little way. We can include our leaders in our daily prayers. We can start inside our homes by educating ourselves together with all the members of our family about the necessity of Good Governance in our midst. We can help by sorting, recycling, and composting our garbage. We can help by not betting on jueteng. We can help by reaching out to our neighbors so they too can advocate Good Governance. WE CAN HELP!
LUID KA!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Editorial
Attorney Mike
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 19:11:00 03/04/2009Filed Under: Impeachment,the House of Representatives — betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, because of alleged inaction — right after she absolved everyone involved in the Mega Pacific scam. (This scam, to be sure, is included in the present complaint.)
After the Senate blue ribbon committee had established the anomalies in the Mega Pacific contract as facts, and the Supreme Court (after castigating the same Ombudsman for slowness of action) confirmed the existence of irregularity, what did Gutierrez do? She absolved everyone, like a priest at a Lenten rite. Her decision, we wrote in this same space on Oct. 6, 2006, “asks us to believe, against all evidence and experience, in a crime without criminals, an evil deed without evildoers.”
Thus, the supreme irony: In her tenure as Ombudsman, Gutierrez has served as midwife to the perfect crime.
It may be that “Attorney Mike’s” defense of a batch mate would not have come about without the enterprising work of a reporter (in this case, Kara David of GMA News). But this is not the first time that Arroyo had had the opportunity to speak to reporters. That he took the opportunity to ask the public to let the ombudsman alone tells us something about his essentially political approach even to legal matters. That he took advantage of the opportunity to say anything at all — well, that says something about his relationship with Gutierrez. Apparently, while he requires the services of the avuncular Jesus Santos or the pugnacious Ruy Rondain to defend his actions, Attorney Mike thinks nothing of lawyering for his law school year mate. What, after all, are friends for?
Attorney Mike
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 19:11:00 03/04/2009Filed Under: Impeachment,the House of Representatives — betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, because of alleged inaction — right after she absolved everyone involved in the Mega Pacific scam. (This scam, to be sure, is included in the present complaint.)
After the Senate blue ribbon committee had established the anomalies in the Mega Pacific contract as facts, and the Supreme Court (after castigating the same Ombudsman for slowness of action) confirmed the existence of irregularity, what did Gutierrez do? She absolved everyone, like a priest at a Lenten rite. Her decision, we wrote in this same space on Oct. 6, 2006, “asks us to believe, against all evidence and experience, in a crime without criminals, an evil deed without evildoers.”
Thus, the supreme irony: In her tenure as Ombudsman, Gutierrez has served as midwife to the perfect crime.
It may be that “Attorney Mike’s” defense of a batch mate would not have come about without the enterprising work of a reporter (in this case, Kara David of GMA News). But this is not the first time that Arroyo had had the opportunity to speak to reporters. That he took the opportunity to ask the public to let the ombudsman alone tells us something about his essentially political approach even to legal matters. That he took advantage of the opportunity to say anything at all — well, that says something about his relationship with Gutierrez. Apparently, while he requires the services of the avuncular Jesus Santos or the pugnacious Ruy Rondain to defend his actions, Attorney Mike thinks nothing of lawyering for his law school year mate. What, after all, are friends for?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Editorial
Shameless
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 19:53:00 03/03/2009Filed Under:
Here are Gutierrez’s credentials to the hall of shame:
• The extortion case against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, in which she stands accused of either being so incompetent as to deserve removal from office, or of deliberately bungling the filing of extortion charges so that the courts were left with no choice but to throw out the cases.
• The Mega Pacific case against Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos Jr., in which the Supreme Court found the contract for election voting machines tainted with corruption and void, firmly establishing a case for prosecution. Instead, Gutierrez absolved Abalos and company.
• The fertilizer fund scandal involving former undersecretary of agriculture Jocelyn Bolante, in which charges separately filed by the Senate, former solicitor general Frank Chavez and the late journalist Marlene Esperat ended up gathering cobwebs on her desk. She created task force “Abono” and announced in December 2008 that she would resolve the case by the end of January 2009 — a deadline that came and went without any resolution or concrete action.
• The curious case of the police generals and their confiscated euros, and the evidence gathered, including an admission from Police Director Eliseo de la Paz that he broke regulations, that resulting in no concrete action by Gutierrez.
• The World Bank findings of collusion among contractors and government officials. Gutierrez got an oral briefing on the matter in 2006 and documents were sent to her as far back as 2007. She had a firm basis for launching an investigation, but didn’t do so.
There is also the matter of using her powers to suspend politicians with whom Malacañang has not been too friendly, like Gov. Neil Tupaz of Iloilo province, or out of a personal vendetta, such as Gov. Enrique Garcia of Bataan, the political rival of her brother.
All of these, according to the charges against Gutierrez, constitute betrayal of public trust and culpable violations of the Constitution. The ombudsman is supposed to be the protector of the people, but instead she has become a bodyguard of crooks. This is obviously a shameful thing to have to endure, but instead of hanging her head in shame, the ombudsman has taken to handling the damning charges against her by means of the well-honed mantras, “Where is your evidence? Bring it to the proper forum!” and “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” — mantras that are, incidentally, beloved of the very administration with whom she is alleged by the complainants to be in collusion.
In responding to the charges, the ombudsman alternated between shrieking calumny on her accusers and dropping the names of legal luminaries who are prepared to represent her, not to mention threatening to file libel charges against her accusers. In no way, beyond a general and predictable denial of guilt, has she actually addressed the charges. But that is probably because addressing the charges would be difficult since she has very little to show for her almost four years in office.
What Gutierrez has demonstrated, however, is a determination to fight, and her determination to stay in office sends a clear signal to members of the House of Representatives that they have to tread carefully around her case. Even if she has done little by way of prosecuting crimes, she can undoubtedly claim to possess mountains of evidence against everyone, on both sides of the aisle, and she retains vast powers to use — and inflict — on anyone who crosses her the wrong way.
The members of the ruling coalition are thus confronted with the problem of having in their hands a strong case against a powerful official who will cling to power at all costs but who also happens to have the goods on a great number of them or their patrons and allies up and down the official hierarchy. And can the representatives afford to embarrass the Philippine National Police by poking into the euro scam once again? Can they afford to antagonize Bolante and his patrons? Perez and his pals? Abalos and his henchmen?
Shameless
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 19:53:00 03/03/2009Filed Under:
That, according to the citizens who filed an impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, is what she is. And arbitrary, tyrannical, partisan, and possibly downright incompetent, too. The complaint lays down a powerful indictment of an ombudsman who, according to the complainants, either deliberately bungled or simply sat on some of the most shocking cases of official malfeasance in living memory.
Here are Gutierrez’s credentials to the hall of shame:
• The extortion case against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, in which she stands accused of either being so incompetent as to deserve removal from office, or of deliberately bungling the filing of extortion charges so that the courts were left with no choice but to throw out the cases.
• The Mega Pacific case against Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos Jr., in which the Supreme Court found the contract for election voting machines tainted with corruption and void, firmly establishing a case for prosecution. Instead, Gutierrez absolved Abalos and company.
• The fertilizer fund scandal involving former undersecretary of agriculture Jocelyn Bolante, in which charges separately filed by the Senate, former solicitor general Frank Chavez and the late journalist Marlene Esperat ended up gathering cobwebs on her desk. She created task force “Abono” and announced in December 2008 that she would resolve the case by the end of January 2009 — a deadline that came and went without any resolution or concrete action.
• The curious case of the police generals and their confiscated euros, and the evidence gathered, including an admission from Police Director Eliseo de la Paz that he broke regulations, that resulting in no concrete action by Gutierrez.
• The World Bank findings of collusion among contractors and government officials. Gutierrez got an oral briefing on the matter in 2006 and documents were sent to her as far back as 2007. She had a firm basis for launching an investigation, but didn’t do so.
There is also the matter of using her powers to suspend politicians with whom Malacañang has not been too friendly, like Gov. Neil Tupaz of Iloilo province, or out of a personal vendetta, such as Gov. Enrique Garcia of Bataan, the political rival of her brother.
All of these, according to the charges against Gutierrez, constitute betrayal of public trust and culpable violations of the Constitution. The ombudsman is supposed to be the protector of the people, but instead she has become a bodyguard of crooks. This is obviously a shameful thing to have to endure, but instead of hanging her head in shame, the ombudsman has taken to handling the damning charges against her by means of the well-honed mantras, “Where is your evidence? Bring it to the proper forum!” and “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” — mantras that are, incidentally, beloved of the very administration with whom she is alleged by the complainants to be in collusion.
In responding to the charges, the ombudsman alternated between shrieking calumny on her accusers and dropping the names of legal luminaries who are prepared to represent her, not to mention threatening to file libel charges against her accusers. In no way, beyond a general and predictable denial of guilt, has she actually addressed the charges. But that is probably because addressing the charges would be difficult since she has very little to show for her almost four years in office.
What Gutierrez has demonstrated, however, is a determination to fight, and her determination to stay in office sends a clear signal to members of the House of Representatives that they have to tread carefully around her case. Even if she has done little by way of prosecuting crimes, she can undoubtedly claim to possess mountains of evidence against everyone, on both sides of the aisle, and she retains vast powers to use — and inflict — on anyone who crosses her the wrong way.
The members of the ruling coalition are thus confronted with the problem of having in their hands a strong case against a powerful official who will cling to power at all costs but who also happens to have the goods on a great number of them or their patrons and allies up and down the official hierarchy. And can the representatives afford to embarrass the Philippine National Police by poking into the euro scam once again? Can they afford to antagonize Bolante and his patrons? Perez and his pals? Abalos and his henchmen?
Monday, March 2, 2009
Beacons of good governance (2)
ROSES & THORNS By Alejandro R. Roces Updated March 03, 2009 12:00 AM
(Part 2) From the March 04, 2009 issue of the Philippine Star
In the course of our daily lives, we come across people who make life happier and easier to live. Few have a genuine commitment to make life better not only for himself but for others as well. I take off my hat to those whose primary goal is to be able to contribute in making the world a better place to live in. Last week, we featured the five local government units and the innovative programs implemented by their respective leaders in improving the quality of life of the people living in their communities. Let me feature in today’s column the other five LGU-awardees cited and given the Galing Pook Awards by President Arroyo in formal ceremonies held last February 12 at the Malacañang Palace.
The lone champion in the Visayas region this year is San Carlos City in Negros Occidental which adopted the sustainability framework in its development strategy for the San Carlos Sustainable City Project. Economic growth and ecological balance were integrated in the province’s overall development objectives, in which the active involvement of all sectors in the province was a key factor. Led by Mayor Eugenio Jose Lacson, rural communities were transformed into agro-industrial areas, thus making these economically viable and the people socially responsible and mindful of the environment.
Governor Joey Salceda organized the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) with the objective of developing more pro-active and disaster-resilient communities in Albay, where each year, 198,000 houses are threatened by destruction from typhoons usually affecting 350,000 people, with another 300,000 people threatened by tsunami. This is aside from the threats of volcanic eruption which can cause about 127 villages to be buried in mudslides and eight municipalities and two cities inundated by floods. The program became a disaster management program model which many disaster-prone communities here and abroad can use in preventing calamities from inflicting damage to life and property.
In San Fernando City, Pampanga, the people have been rallied into a common vision to transform the city into a business center and tourist junction, the Gateway to the Northern Philippines. They aspire to make the city as the flagship province in the Central Luzon region, a champion of Good Governance by 2015, a Global Gateway by 2020 and finally, a Habitat for Human Excellence by 2030. San Fernando City’s Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez effectively leads the citizens to participate in achieving an ambitious road map for the province, leaving no stone unturned in the realization of these goals. Using the Public Governance System (PGS) patterned after the Balanced Scorecard Tool from Harvard, officials, business establishments and citizens share in the task of improving governance, raising its standards based on excellence, all for the benefit of their people.
The Family Townhomes for the Poor were built for the urban poor by the City of Taguig. Aside from homes, the project also provides livelihood opportunities to the beneficiaries, thus creating a model for capacity building. Credit goes to Mayor Sigfrido Tinga and his constituents for this model program which can be replicated by other municipalities.
For years, the Province of Pampanga was earning an average of only P22.5 million yearly in quarry taxes. Fiscal management and accountability measures were strengthened in quarrying operations under the program called Biyaya A Luluguran at Sisikapan (BALAS) Program, whose successful implementation led to increased quarry collections raised to P230 million in the first year alone. This is another undertaking that proves that anything can be achieved if everyone will just cooperate and participate.
May these local government units and their achievements serve as inspiration and models for other local governments to emulate. We look forward to seeing more and more LGUs do their share in ensuring competence and honesty in public governance which our people deserve.
ROSES & THORNS By Alejandro R. Roces Updated March 03, 2009 12:00 AM
(Part 2) From the March 04, 2009 issue of the Philippine Star
In the course of our daily lives, we come across people who make life happier and easier to live. Few have a genuine commitment to make life better not only for himself but for others as well. I take off my hat to those whose primary goal is to be able to contribute in making the world a better place to live in. Last week, we featured the five local government units and the innovative programs implemented by their respective leaders in improving the quality of life of the people living in their communities. Let me feature in today’s column the other five LGU-awardees cited and given the Galing Pook Awards by President Arroyo in formal ceremonies held last February 12 at the Malacañang Palace.
The lone champion in the Visayas region this year is San Carlos City in Negros Occidental which adopted the sustainability framework in its development strategy for the San Carlos Sustainable City Project. Economic growth and ecological balance were integrated in the province’s overall development objectives, in which the active involvement of all sectors in the province was a key factor. Led by Mayor Eugenio Jose Lacson, rural communities were transformed into agro-industrial areas, thus making these economically viable and the people socially responsible and mindful of the environment.
Governor Joey Salceda organized the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) with the objective of developing more pro-active and disaster-resilient communities in Albay, where each year, 198,000 houses are threatened by destruction from typhoons usually affecting 350,000 people, with another 300,000 people threatened by tsunami. This is aside from the threats of volcanic eruption which can cause about 127 villages to be buried in mudslides and eight municipalities and two cities inundated by floods. The program became a disaster management program model which many disaster-prone communities here and abroad can use in preventing calamities from inflicting damage to life and property.
In San Fernando City, Pampanga, the people have been rallied into a common vision to transform the city into a business center and tourist junction, the Gateway to the Northern Philippines. They aspire to make the city as the flagship province in the Central Luzon region, a champion of Good Governance by 2015, a Global Gateway by 2020 and finally, a Habitat for Human Excellence by 2030. San Fernando City’s Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez effectively leads the citizens to participate in achieving an ambitious road map for the province, leaving no stone unturned in the realization of these goals. Using the Public Governance System (PGS) patterned after the Balanced Scorecard Tool from Harvard, officials, business establishments and citizens share in the task of improving governance, raising its standards based on excellence, all for the benefit of their people.
The Family Townhomes for the Poor were built for the urban poor by the City of Taguig. Aside from homes, the project also provides livelihood opportunities to the beneficiaries, thus creating a model for capacity building. Credit goes to Mayor Sigfrido Tinga and his constituents for this model program which can be replicated by other municipalities.
For years, the Province of Pampanga was earning an average of only P22.5 million yearly in quarry taxes. Fiscal management and accountability measures were strengthened in quarrying operations under the program called Biyaya A Luluguran at Sisikapan (BALAS) Program, whose successful implementation led to increased quarry collections raised to P230 million in the first year alone. This is another undertaking that proves that anything can be achieved if everyone will just cooperate and participate.
May these local government units and their achievements serve as inspiration and models for other local governments to emulate. We look forward to seeing more and more LGUs do their share in ensuring competence and honesty in public governance which our people deserve.
At Large
The persecution of Dennis Villa-Ignacio
By Rina Jimenez-DavidPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:23:00 03/03/2009Filed Under:
One of these threats happens to be Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, whom she has not only virtually marooned in a limbo of responsibility (all the cases he used to handle have been re-assigned to other lawyers), but also gone after with a flurry of charges that range from the ridiculous to the petty.
The first salvo fired against Villa-Ignacio were charges that he had technically malversed funds when he channeled the budget earmarked for his office’s Christmas party to a charitable cause, a Gawad Kalinga project. The decision to make more practical use of the party budget happened to have been made from a consensus of the entire office, but Villa-Ignacio’s accusers say the decision to donate it to GK was made without their consent.
I thought at the time that deputy ombudsmen, who called a press conference to air the charges, had better things to do than besmirch a civil servant’s decades-long service with accusations of malversing Christmas party funds. But it seems Gutierrez’s proxy warriors weren’t through yet with Villa-Ignacio.
Most recently, another press conference was called in which all the deputy ombudsmen “urged” Villa-Ignacio to resign before his term comes to an end (next year) since he apparently was no longer interested in doing his job and had not been reporting for work.
When I asked Villa-Ignacio about this, he replied that not only is he rightfully entitled to leave credits, he also has no practical need to report for work since Gutierrez has taken all responsibility from him. “One of these days, I won’t be surprised if I report for work and find that my desk and chair had been taken away.”
* * *
At this point, let me say that I am writing from a not-so-objective point of view. The Villa-Ignacios and my family have been neighbors for over two decades in the same gated village. In fact we served simultaneously on the board of directors of our homeowners association in the early years, when Villa-Ignacio was an “ordinary” prosecutor known to everyone in the neighborhood as “fiscal.”
But in fairness to both of us, this is the first time I am writing about him. Not even at the height of the plunder trial of former President Joseph Estrada, where Villa-Ignacio led the prosecution team, was I ever tempted to wangle an exclusive from him. Nor did he ever approach me to do a profile or even offer a few words of encouragement. I think it was precisely because we are cordial neighbors that we respected each other’s boundaries. In fact, this column was inspired by a long lunch we shared in Tagaytay City the other weekend, in the course of looking over a personal project of Villa-Ignacio and his children. Oh, the stories he could tell!
Dennis says he knows what — or who — is behind all this pressure to make him leave his post before his retirement. He is set to retire in 2010, but before then all the cases before the Ombudsman for corruption and plunder that involve or could involve certain top officials and their kin have to be resolved in their favor. Or else some people’s plans for a cushy retirement would be in peril.
* * *
These officials know that with Villa-Ignacio as special prosecutor charged with shepherding all the cases brought to the Ombudsman through trial at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, once a case is deemed fit for trial, Villa-Ignacio will go at it with the tenacity of a pit bull.
He is famous for crossing swords with Rene Saguisag, who was on Jose Estrada’s defense team, in an argument that descended into a personal clash. This, Villa-Ignacio says today, he deeply regrets because he respects, and was even inspired by, Saguisag the human rights lawyer and the man.
Villa-Ignacio was part of a prosecution team that the members had dubbed the “Fellowship of the Ring,” after the band of hobbits, an elf, a dwarf, a wizened wizard and noblemen made famous in the Tolkien trilogy. The prize at the end of the group’s trek was not the destruction of a ring that rules them all, but the prosecution of a corrupt former president. So you can imagine how Villa-Ignacio felt, after securing Estrada’s conviction on plunder charges, when the former president was pardoned, on the very day, as he tells it, he was set to appear before the Sandiganbayan to appeal for the garnishment of certain properties.
* * *
At present, Ombudsman Gutierrez faces several challenges. She has yet to explain satisfactorily why she didn’t take any action on the World Bank report disclosing corruption and collusion in the bidding for several infrastructure projects, in which the First Gentleman was implicated by at least one witness.
She has yet to act on the recommendation of the Senate blue ribbon committee to conduct further investigation of and prosecute former undersecretary of agriculture Jocelyn Bolante and other officials and individuals in the billion-peso fertilizer fund scam.
And she has yet to act on the many leads uncovered in the course of investigations into the NBN-ZTE deal, despite the heavy publicity and the direct testimony of many witnesses.
Gutierrez protests that she is “looking into” these cases, but that these aren’t the only ones her office has to deal with. One would think that with so many high-profile and indeed controversial cases on her plate — too many, she says, than she has time to attend to — Gutierrez would welcome the assistance of someone with a proven capacity for hard work and successful prosecution. Instead, she chooses to waste her and her associates’ time going after a respected colleague.
One wonders not just at Merceditas Gutierrez’s sense of priorities, but even her sense of proportion.
The persecution of Dennis Villa-Ignacio
By Rina Jimenez-DavidPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:23:00 03/03/2009Filed Under:
No wonder Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez can’t do her job. She’s so busy answering her critics and neutralizing potential threats.
One of these threats happens to be Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, whom she has not only virtually marooned in a limbo of responsibility (all the cases he used to handle have been re-assigned to other lawyers), but also gone after with a flurry of charges that range from the ridiculous to the petty.
The first salvo fired against Villa-Ignacio were charges that he had technically malversed funds when he channeled the budget earmarked for his office’s Christmas party to a charitable cause, a Gawad Kalinga project. The decision to make more practical use of the party budget happened to have been made from a consensus of the entire office, but Villa-Ignacio’s accusers say the decision to donate it to GK was made without their consent.
I thought at the time that deputy ombudsmen, who called a press conference to air the charges, had better things to do than besmirch a civil servant’s decades-long service with accusations of malversing Christmas party funds. But it seems Gutierrez’s proxy warriors weren’t through yet with Villa-Ignacio.
Most recently, another press conference was called in which all the deputy ombudsmen “urged” Villa-Ignacio to resign before his term comes to an end (next year) since he apparently was no longer interested in doing his job and had not been reporting for work.
When I asked Villa-Ignacio about this, he replied that not only is he rightfully entitled to leave credits, he also has no practical need to report for work since Gutierrez has taken all responsibility from him. “One of these days, I won’t be surprised if I report for work and find that my desk and chair had been taken away.”
* * *
At this point, let me say that I am writing from a not-so-objective point of view. The Villa-Ignacios and my family have been neighbors for over two decades in the same gated village. In fact we served simultaneously on the board of directors of our homeowners association in the early years, when Villa-Ignacio was an “ordinary” prosecutor known to everyone in the neighborhood as “fiscal.”
But in fairness to both of us, this is the first time I am writing about him. Not even at the height of the plunder trial of former President Joseph Estrada, where Villa-Ignacio led the prosecution team, was I ever tempted to wangle an exclusive from him. Nor did he ever approach me to do a profile or even offer a few words of encouragement. I think it was precisely because we are cordial neighbors that we respected each other’s boundaries. In fact, this column was inspired by a long lunch we shared in Tagaytay City the other weekend, in the course of looking over a personal project of Villa-Ignacio and his children. Oh, the stories he could tell!
Dennis says he knows what — or who — is behind all this pressure to make him leave his post before his retirement. He is set to retire in 2010, but before then all the cases before the Ombudsman for corruption and plunder that involve or could involve certain top officials and their kin have to be resolved in their favor. Or else some people’s plans for a cushy retirement would be in peril.
* * *
These officials know that with Villa-Ignacio as special prosecutor charged with shepherding all the cases brought to the Ombudsman through trial at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, once a case is deemed fit for trial, Villa-Ignacio will go at it with the tenacity of a pit bull.
He is famous for crossing swords with Rene Saguisag, who was on Jose Estrada’s defense team, in an argument that descended into a personal clash. This, Villa-Ignacio says today, he deeply regrets because he respects, and was even inspired by, Saguisag the human rights lawyer and the man.
Villa-Ignacio was part of a prosecution team that the members had dubbed the “Fellowship of the Ring,” after the band of hobbits, an elf, a dwarf, a wizened wizard and noblemen made famous in the Tolkien trilogy. The prize at the end of the group’s trek was not the destruction of a ring that rules them all, but the prosecution of a corrupt former president. So you can imagine how Villa-Ignacio felt, after securing Estrada’s conviction on plunder charges, when the former president was pardoned, on the very day, as he tells it, he was set to appear before the Sandiganbayan to appeal for the garnishment of certain properties.
* * *
At present, Ombudsman Gutierrez faces several challenges. She has yet to explain satisfactorily why she didn’t take any action on the World Bank report disclosing corruption and collusion in the bidding for several infrastructure projects, in which the First Gentleman was implicated by at least one witness.
She has yet to act on the recommendation of the Senate blue ribbon committee to conduct further investigation of and prosecute former undersecretary of agriculture Jocelyn Bolante and other officials and individuals in the billion-peso fertilizer fund scam.
And she has yet to act on the many leads uncovered in the course of investigations into the NBN-ZTE deal, despite the heavy publicity and the direct testimony of many witnesses.
Gutierrez protests that she is “looking into” these cases, but that these aren’t the only ones her office has to deal with. One would think that with so many high-profile and indeed controversial cases on her plate — too many, she says, than she has time to attend to — Gutierrez would welcome the assistance of someone with a proven capacity for hard work and successful prosecution. Instead, she chooses to waste her and her associates’ time going after a respected colleague.
One wonders not just at Merceditas Gutierrez’s sense of priorities, but even her sense of proportion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
