Malacañang Globetrotters

President Arroyo usually brings with her the entire Cabinet

At a time when an energy crisis, swine flu and expensive airfares make world travel difficult, a team of globetrotters defy the odds and travel at a regular basis.

As President Arroyo reaches the twilight of her tenure as chief executive, she plans to take advantage of her remaining months by going on different trips. Most of them seem to be leisure, but as the Palace would always say it is indeed business. Her last trip, according to her spokespersons, netted $2 B worth of investments. It seems like its worth it, but how many times have we heard before of planned foreign investments that fail to employ even a single Filipino?

Yet her visits continue, bringing with her the usual entourage: which is 1/3 of the House of Representatives and 2/3 of her Palace staff. The globetrotters then stay in a five-star hotel and receive the finest accommodations. And instead of being paid for by the host countries when she makes official state visits, the amount is pulled out of a Filipino taxpayer’s pocket.

Definitely, a nation must be embodied by its leader during international events such as summits of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). But bringing with her such a huge entourage at a time when the economy is struggling to grow?

The president’s travel expenses must be within the budget allotted by law, and the budget allotted by law should be a surplus sum or should be pooled from lawmakers excess pork. In other words, the budget the President uses for her travel should be unimportant and should not be given priority. And when she does travel, she should review the entourage and evaluate everyone if that person is needed on the trip or not.

Attracting foreign investments is an impractical reason for a President to make such extravagant visits. Foreign investment came to countries like Taiwan and Vietname not because their Presidents making overseas trips but because of their success in making their countries economically-feasible and business friendly. Something President Arroyo’s administration failed to do in its nine-year tenure.

The Gonzalez Factor

Cesar Mancao, one of Gonzalez's successes

The Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary successfully brings Mancao home, and has Dumlao on his way back home. That’s a double score for Raul Gonzalez. And definitely would give him plus points to the President. But the most unexpected happened, Gonzalez announces his resignation as justice secretary and plans to run for congress in his hometown. Speculations arose, is he just seeking a better position (financially) or is there anything to do with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case especially since the prime suspect, Senator Panfilo Lacson announces his withdrawal from next year’s elections?

That idea gave all of us food for thought. A scary thought actually if the administration and the opposition would forge some kind of deal behind our backs and satisfy both greeds. At whose cost though? At Dacer and Corbito’s family, and all those seeking for justice.

Certainly, it is crucial for President Arroyo to remain in power, or at least be influential after next year’s elections with almost all of the presidentiables promising to get her for all corruption allegations. With Senator Lacson being her fiercest rival among the possible candidates, she’s going to have to find a way to ease her troubles.

For Senator Lacson however, the Dacer-Corbito double murder case is the one closest to pinning him as a criminal. Evading this case is vital. And the only one in position to get him off the hook, is President Arroyo.

Two great evils needing each other to watch their back. With Gonzalez officially out, it looks like they’re going to have it their way. But history would always repeat itself, Marcos was ill-fated to pass on his power to his children and Estrada’s habit for gambling failed to get financed by public funds. For me, whether this conspiracy is real or just a figment of imagination, it will never happen without the Filipinos having the final say on it.

Poll Automation

The winning machine from Smartmatic Consortium

The COMELEC ’s (Commission on Elections) dream of n automated election has finally come true, just yesterday actually as they formally awarded the P7.2 B contract to Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corportation. The deal may be a bargain to some regarding the amount approved earlier by Congress (P11.3 B), but what worries most is that the bargain may come at a price. If the poll machines would prove to be mediocre and would be an easy target for the corrupt to cement their spot in public office.

The dream of an automated poll came along with the new millenium, as Filipinos associated the arrival of modern time with modern technology. Congress paved the road for it, and the long wait seemed to have arrived last 2003 when COMELEC awarded the poll automation contract to Mega Pacific consortium. A budget was released that would pay for almost 2,000 machines at a cost of about P1.2 billion, the project was intended for the 2004 general elections. But a few months before the polls, the Supreme Court (SC) voided the deal citing irregularities in the COMELEC’s bidding guidelines. And in effect, all those who participated in the Mega Pacific contract were given graft charges.

This case is still under process and while the accused are still walking free, the purchased machines are rotting in where ever they are stored. So before we celebrate of having modern elections, we must first wait until the voting day itself to see if the billions of peso  were really worth it.

There are still many obstacles we need to hurdle though, one tough test for thewinning consortium is if they can deliver the machines in perfect(or at least P7.2 B worth) quality. The votes must be tallied accurately, without any glitches that could expose it to the risk of being hacked.

And even if they have already found the supplier, the COMELEC are not yet off the hook though. In fact, they are in a make or break situation. They need to distribute the machines to all of the voting precincts nationwide and educate the poll officers on how to operate the machines.

There are also some problems that would still hinder the new automation method to be successful. As votes can still be bought and voters intimidated. The COMELEC also need to cater problems regarding the machines if they persist.

All of these needs to be done in order to finally, after all these years, say we have a modern electoral process.

The Same Song with a Different Tune

Rallies like this are what stops lawmakers from extending President Arroyo's term...even if they want to.

After the death of the Charter Change, the Arroyo ass-kissing, opportunistic lawmakers went back to the drawing table and hatched a new idea. They wanted to fight for the same cause: cut the chains that restrain them from nurturing their greed, the Philippine Charter. That was what Cha-cha was for actually, now they’re using a new name: Con-ass or Constitutional Assembly.

Contrary to what every other critic would say, I don’t believe that the Con-ass is to extend President Arroyo’s or anyone else’s terms. That is virtually impossible with the number of Filipinos who want her out. They surely wouldn’t want their representative to extend her stay. They (the representatives) know that, Arroyo herself knows that. They’re too smart for that! What this Con-ass would is to give the greedy more teeth into the taxpayers’ money. The wealth of the country.

As it was earlier reported, Con-ass would give P20 M more pork to lawmakers. Think of what kind of advantage this would give the administration in their 2010 election bid. More money to campaign, advertise and the painful one, bribe.

The more an administration candidate would retain their spot in next year’s elections the more President Arroyo would continue her grasp on the nation. Just remember the Harry Potter series, Lord Voldemort was powerless and gone but his loyal servants stayed and brought him back to power. The Congress is already Arroyo-dominated, retain this and add more in the years to come and you’ve got an Arroyo Congress! Now all thats left is the Senate, even just 1/3 of that chamber would be enough to formally say that Arroyo stays as a president even if she will not run again.

What I’m saying here is that we shouldn’t aim our rants and rallies at one person (the President), because really…it’s just one person! We should zero in on where corruption is more rampant, the Congress and see what they’re doing. Because really, this Con-ass is just the same old ass-y song.

Mancao’s Return

It's all up to this guy: Cesar Mancao

After countless attempts to get him back following the reopening of the Dacer-Corbito double murder case, former Philippine Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) agent Cesar Mancao is finally coming back to the Philippines to testify in the said case.

His return may well sound superb especially to the family of Bubby Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, but let’s ponder for a while—why now and not months back? Are we going to suffer another “jocjoc” and have a witness who is drained of all the intriguing facts he knows?

We were all eager to hear what Jocelyn Bolante had to say in the fertilizer fund scam, but the long wait was nothing. In the end, we had our hearts broken when Jocjoc said the phrase: “there is no fertilizer fund scam”. Where did the Php 728M fund go to? To fertilizers for farmers or for fertilizers to plant administration candidates into public office?

Mancao has a lot of things to consider before he decides to either lie or tell the truth: one is the family Dacer and Corbito left, one wrong move would make their deaths useless. And another thing is to expose the real “bad guys”. Both former president Joseph Estrada and Senatior Panfilo Lacson are linked to the case, and both seek a term in the highest office in the land. If they are criminals and are given the powers of a president, who knows what kind of chaos that would bring to the country.

So to Mr. Cesar Mancao, sir, testify not for a subpoena but for your country.

Security Breach: First Case of Swine Flu in the Philippines

A poster you should expect to see lately.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has just confirmed the Philippines’ first case of the dreaded Influenza A(H1N1) virus.

The victim is a ten-year old girl who just arrived with her family from the U.S. and Canada. Her identity, the hospital she is staying in and where the hospital is remains undisclosed as of press time.

The news came as such a big suprise as the RP government were so committed to keep the virus away from the country. Although the virus didn’t breed at home, and clearly isn’t a failure of the Heath Department, the government can still be blamed for not banning flights to and from flu-stricken countries.

Good news however is that the best -known counter against the flu, the TamiFlu, has been imported extensively.

Now the sight of face masks would be common in the Philippines as well.

A Sympathy Act

Talk about making a big deal out of things.

The National Bureau of Investigation have finally released the result of the investigation done on the now infamous Trina Etong Case. And as it would have obviously turned out to be, the case was ruled a suicide and not homicide or any extreme theory rumored.

And honestly, I’m glad that it is over because this case brought mayhem to the country, most especially the Quezon City Police District (QCPD). The incident made headlines on both tv and paper.

It was April 15 of this year when news broke out that veteran news anchor Ted Failon Etong brought his wife all covered in blood to a hospital. Different stories were told, one of those was that the Failon couple were having an argument inside their car when Ted drew his gun which was inside their car and shot his wife. The story however was ruled out incorrect.

Ted Failon undergoes paraffin testing.

In my opinion, the case was well overhyped. Investigation was of course procedure, but the publicity it received was unnecessary. And was probably because of Ted Failon’s popularity as a news anchor and a former politican. Dozens of this kind of incidents occur everyday, mostly to ordinary people. Hundreds dated from years back and still remain unsolved today. Most usually end up in dusty filing cabinets.

But it wasn’t the overhyping that ticked me off. It was the fact that policemen, who were actually not being linient for a change, were apprehended as a sympathy act.

We all saw on tv the scenes that followed the next night, when Trina’s relatives were arrested by QCPD policemen for obstruction of justice, which had grounds. Actually, it was only Trina’s sister that they wanted, but because she got hysterical her relatives got in the way of the arresting team and were eventually taken into custody. There was really no violation committed by the policemen, or as the CHR would call it “human rights violation”. More than a third of the arresting team were low-ranking deputies who just took orders from their superiors, but ironically they were the ones at the receiving end of a heavier punishment than the commanders.

Clearly the punishment was due to the fact that the people found the arrest “heartbreaking” and “inhuman”, but we have to remember that justice shows no compassion and sees no friend or foe. If the families of murderers and kidnappers would cry and kneel down in front of the judge during trial will that wipe the crime he or she did? Surely not for ordinary people, but for the popular and influential ones…?

Purely, an act of sympathy.

Three people for an Island

The kidnapped Red Cross Workers, from left: Mary Jean Lacaba, Eugenio Vagni and Andreas Notter with Sulu Vice-Governor.

How messed up can this be? First, terrorists see somekind of market value on Red Cross volunteers so they kidnap them. Second, a Red Cross head acts like a military general. Then more recently, the geniuses acting as negotiators thought it would be best to surrender an entire island, valued for its rich agricultural reserves, for three people. And two of them are even foreign.

Is this how desperate we are? Why don’t the government scrap our armed forces as well if they keep on offering to pull out and minimize our territories? The last time there was a similar threat which was barely a year ago, when the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) wrecked havoc in the south, the government also thought of just sitting down and writing a peace treaty which would relinquish one-fourth of our territory to Muslim “exhibitionists”.

I mean hello? Although we “proudly” have one of the weakest armed forces in the world they are still very much capable of taking out those terrorists. They have proven this over the years as they were influential in taking out notorious terrorist leaders like Abu Sabaya, Commander “Robot”, Khadaffy Janjalani and Hamsiraji Sali.

If  Sulu is lost, that would be the second as it looks like the government is going to give up the Spratlys as well. A group of islands valued for rich petroleum reserves. In the ongoing battle for the islands, China fired a racist shell at the Philippines. Tsip Tsao, a writer for Hong Kong magazine called our country, ”a nation of servants”. As usual, the statement was taken as an insult and caused another diplomatic fiasco in the Philippines just like the Terry Hatcher-”Desperate Housewives” issue. Now this is very embarassing, not because our dignity is tainted but because we are obviously in denial. We know that the statement is true and that’s why we find it very offensive.

Just look back at the manner the government had in making decisions. Didn’t they always concede to what the bad guys wanted? When was the last time we got the upper hand at the enemy? During the Burnham rescue when the military shot all three hostages they were trying to rescue? The government constantly make us Filipinos look like servants. And what’s confusing is they are always the first to protest this kind of name-calling.

The terrorists set a March 31st deadline for the government to order all armed entities to retreat at a certain distance or else a hostage would be beheaded. And as predicted, the government did order the military to do so. Blowing away a golden opportunity to pressure the bandits into releasing the hostages. And when the deadline was drawing near they changed their demands into something greater, the surrender of the entire Sulu province. You see what happens if we spoil the bad guys? Who knows what they would ask in the next hostage crises.

Kidnapping, extortion and similar terrorist habits are increasing gradually. The government should take every incident as a learning experience, and be able to form a stratedgy to prepare for the next crises and learn not to give in to demands and still win the situation.  Because come to think of it, why would anyone continue to do something if they don’t get anything from it?

The Spirit that Lived On

After 26 years of incarceration, all remaining ten of the 14 soldiers convicted for the Aquino-Galman double murder case have been released after their sentences were communed by the President. Much to the disappointment of the Aquino family and Ninoy Aquino supporters all over the world. For them, it was Arroyo’s way of getting back at Ninoy’s widow, Cory Aquino, who has joined the opposition’s side.

There’s nothing anyone can do to stop their release, with the exception of course of the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the SC is the President’s pet.

But come to think of it, there’s no reason to cry over spilled milk. Sure we still don’t know who planned his assassination, or so much the guy who pulled the trigger on him. But let’s look at it from a positive view, at least we got something from it.

Because of Ninoy’s sacrifice, if you would call it, we Filipinos learned to be strong. We learned to unite against the same enemy and the common goal, atrocity and freedom. And we showed this three years later in what we commemorate today as the People Power Revolution.

Sure, evil did prevail in killing the leader of the revolution, Ninoy, but we learned that no matter what weapon they use they will never kill the spirit. The spirit of courage and patriotism. We regained the hope we lost and picked ourselves up from the ground and continued to fight. Ninoy’s death taught us to be Filipinos.

It has been twenty-six years after the crime that shook not only the country but the world at that time. No cases have succeeded in putting Marcos’ widow, Imelda, into prison. Nor did anyone with the Marcos family name spend a single second in prison. Neither have close Marcos allies like General Fabian Ver. The soldiers convicted, members of the Aviation Security Command (AVSECOM), had no basis of being imprisoned. But you see, if Ninoy hadn’t been killed perhaps tyranny and corruption would still cloud over our heads. We learned People Power and we have used it effectively in ousting two Presidents in the past. And when time calls for it again, no doubt Filipinos will use it again.

Trackless Trains

To solve the overcrowding problem in Light Railway Transit (LRT) coaches, the LRTA (LRT Authority) purchased $81M worth of trains. That’s 48 train wagons at $1.7M, a reasonable price. Now, the LRT which used to suffer serving 48,000 passengers a day can now accommodate 500,000 passengers with ease.

Problem solved right? Well, not quite. Since there aren’t enough tracks for these trains to run on.

Passengers overcrowd LRT coaches daily.

Normally, we build tracks and then put trains to run on them. Not in the Philippines however, as the bidding for the new coaches were done first.

The Metro Railway Transit (MRT), which serves more passengers than the LRT, has 73 trains in all and 13 of them are on standby. To save on costs, why didn’t the LRT propose to lease the surplus trains?

The last time the LRT got new coaches was in 2006, when Japan helped fund the acquisition of 12 modern Third Generation (3G) trains. At that time the LRT had 63 first generation and 28 second generation trains. The new trains raised the standards of train travel.

But the age of the trains doesn’t solve the overloading problems. The LRTA has to face the problem of serving over 50,000 passengers daily and thrice more during holidays like All Soul’s Day and Christmas.

Purchase of the new trains was really a practical decision, but as to where the trains would run on that would be a problem. Trains would be useless if they can’t run. (Duh?)

Usually purchases as big as this would undergo a study or two, finding out if this would be a good investment or not. If one was indeed done, they certainly overlooked something very obvious.

Anomaly? I wish not to be a whistleblower. All I’m concerned with is the welfare of train commuters using the LRT everyday as well as the taxpayers whose money may well have been kept in the wrong pockets.