Garin lessons: Gov’t positions not worth if you’ll land in jail

“There are no regrets in life, just lessons.”

—Jennifer Aniston

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WHAT happened to Iloilo first district Rep. Janette Loreto-Garin is a good example that even if a political clan will corner all the juicy positions in government owing to the clan’s vast power, influence, resources, name recall, and, perhaps, luck, the positions or “political achievement” are worthless if eventually a clan member in power will rot in jail.

We aren’t saying, of course, that Loreto-Garin, 50, who is facing graft and technical malversation charges together with four others over the Department of Health’s P3.5-billion anti-dengue mass vaccination program during the Aquino administration, will be convicted. 

If they are innocent, let’s hope they won’t spend a single day in jail.

Any Filipino public official facing graft charges in the Ombudsman will admit it’s hell to be in this predicament.

Graft cases ruin politicians.

No matter how successful they are, it’s always hard for public servants to bounce back to glory once graft cases have been slapped against them regardless of the outcome.

The presumption from biased public that those facing graft charges are guilty has always been overwhelming and cruel.

Any case or uproar that involves public funds and public safety will always be a mortal sin.

So even if Loreto-Garin, et al are still presumed innocent until proven otherwise, there are people who think the review panel tasked by Ombudsman Samuel Martires to initiate the filing of cases was correct.

 

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The Garins are, perhaps, among the luckiest political clans in the Philippines second to the Marcoses. 

Even if their patriarch, Oscar “Oca” Garin Sr. is no longer around (God bless his soul), almost all members of his family are now well-placed and holding high positions in government.

So even if all the Garins are holding elective positions locally (the mayors in Guimbal, San Joaquin, Miag-ao; and Iloilo vice governor are members of the formidable Garin clan) and nationally (Loreto-Garin and another clan member as Department of Energy undersecretary), it’s not a guarantee of “political success” and peace of mind (the most important of all).

Peace of mind means none of the clan members in power is facing graft charges and won’t be in danger of landing in the calaboose for graft and corruption.

Political success means they are all able to serve the public and retire with flying colors, or without being defeated in the election or dismissed from office for irregularities or scandal involving misuse of public funds or abused of authority.

What will it profit a political clan to dominate the races and reign supreme unmolested in politics—and create a spectacular legacy in public service as a result—if one of the prominent members will eventually fall in disgrace, or land in jail?

The Ombudsman panel’s resolution, by the way, showed that P3.5-billion Dengvaxia vaccination had placed a large number of public school students “at considerable health risks as there were still pending issues on the safety and efficacy of the Dengvaxia vaccines, thereby causing undue injury to the government in billions of public funds.”

Loreto-Garin, et al deserve their day in court.

 

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TO YE ALL WHO LIVED TO TELL THE TALE…(Written by Ambassador Leo Tito Ausan Jr., a former practicing lawyer, professor, columnist, chess player in Iloilo City)

Our applause and commendations as well as love!

Indeed you’re sent by the Father from heaven above.

To this day against all odds you doggedly live on bravely and strong.

So that your story can be shared & retold on & 

on…

By honoring  our country & her heroes to this day,

From you, we & our children shall learn & Our goosebumps & patriotism shall thrive,

long after today.

Inspiration from ye we shall draw,

To face life’s rigors that confront us anew.

To those of you, whom we are still with today 

Keep on, even if some of you have already fallen away,

Your tales’ lessons, we’ve clearly & loudly heard,

And forever in our hearts these shall be preserved.

So that Your LIVING TO TELL THE TALE

SHALL NOT BE PUT TO NAUGHT,

ITS LESSONS OF LOVE & PATRIOTISM 

SHALL FOREVER BE TAUGHT!!!

In the same manner that Andres Bonifacio’s Cry in

Balintawak still rings loud in our ears until today

Your ideals shall for long persist to be our 

Guideposts like sunrays peeking from heaven through a cloudcast day.

MABUHAY!!…

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

Ignorance is the only evil

“Vaccines don't cause autism. Vaccines, instead, prevent disease. Vaccines have wiped out a score of formerly deadly childhood diseases. Vaccine skepticism has helped to bring some of those diseases back from near extinction.”
--Alex Pareene

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Ignorance will kill more children than the measles outbreak.
If Hippocrates were alive today, he would have spanked idiotic parents whose skepticism has caused them to falsify the true essence of the modern medicine’s immunization program.
Filipino children denied of immunization only because their parents are ignorant or misinformed are still protected by law, thus they can still be saved from parental stupidity.
The Philippines has the Republic Act 10152 or the Mandatory Infants and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011.
Under this law, government hospitals and health centers are mandated to provide immunization for free to infants and children up to five years old.
Some Filipino parents refuse to immunize their kids for fear that the vaccine might harm the tots, a jittery caused by the Dengvaxia imbroglio.
Other parents are still influenced by a debunked study that claims certain vaccines could lead to autism and a theory that claims vaccines were linked to brain damage.
Because of these fears, thousands of Filipino kids who have not been immunized were in danger of being seriously infected with diseases like the measles, rubella, mumps and hepatitis.
In fact, the Department of Health (DOH) has already declared a measles outbreak over the week.
No less than the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) along with Filipino pediatricians as well as experts on infectious diseases have expressed alarm over the measles outbreak in the Philippines that has affected some 20,000 children since December 2018.
Children’s disease is evil, but the biggest evil is that which has created a monster in the minds of some nervous parents.
In fact, there is no evil in this world, according to Socrates, but ignorance.

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If “mama” or “papa” are adamant, do it yourself--if you can.
Take the case of a brave 18-year-old teen from Norfolk, Ohio who recently made the decision to receive his first-ever vaccines for a number of diseases despite his parents’ beliefs.
The Hill reported that Ethan Lindenberger admitted he had gone without vaccines for diseases like the measles, rubella, mumps and hepatitis for his entire life due to his mother’s anti-vaccine beliefs.
He told the publication that his mother, Jill Wheeler, was influenced by online misinformation, including a debunked study that claims certain vaccines could lead to autism and a theory that claims vaccines were linked to brain damage.
Throughout his childhood, Lindenberger said his mother would tell him about the negative side effects of vaccines and how they were bad. He also said he thought it was normal for children not to receive vaccines. But after he realized his other friends and classmates had all been vaccinated, Lindenberger said that’s when he began to do his own research into the matter, reported The Hill.

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“When I started looking into it myself, it became very apparent that there was a lot more evidence in defense of vaccinations, in their favor,” Lindenberger said.
Lindenberger said he later approached his mother with research that debunked some of her claims, including a report from the CDC that explained how vaccines did not cause autism.
"Her response was simply 'that's what they want you to think,'" Lindenberger said. "I was just blown away that you know, the largest health organization in the entire world would be written off with a kind of conspiracy theory-like statement like that."
After failing to change his mother’s thinking on the matter, Lindenberger decided to get vaccinated on his own after turning 18 years old.
As the publication also notes, the story comes at a time when more measles outbreaks have been reported in the Pacific Northwest, prompting more concern among minors about whether they are able to use their own consent to obtain vaccines.
In the month of January alone, measles were confirmed in ten states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, according to the CDC.
Washington officials also declared a public health emergency as an outbreak of measles spread across an anti-vaccination "hot spot" near Portland, Oregon, late last month.

Moral support

“You need a strong family because at the end, they will love you and support you unconditionally. Luckily, I have my dad, mom and sister.”
-- Esha Gupta

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- The state should be at war only against external forces that threaten to undermine or subvert its sovereignty and hurt the political and economic well-being of its people.
Democracy is pro-God, pro-people, pro-freedom, pro-unity and progress.
The purpose of government is to serve, preserve, and protect the people and their primordial interests, not to trample on their basic rights, freedom and dignity.
The purpose of the armed forces and police is to ensure peace and order, safety and protection of the citizens regardless of geographical locations, civic, political and spiritual affiliations.
If government resources, authority and power are marshaled to suppress and silence individuals with dissenting and radical opinions, it’s not a government of the people; it’s not a government for the people.
That “government” is the enemy of the people.

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Now that there is an imminent threat against the interest of thousands of power consumers in Iloilo City in the Philippines in the ongoing power play between the Panay Electric Company (PECO) and the MORE Power and Electric Company, the government should prepare the precautionary measures to ensure that the consumers will not be in the losing end.
PECO has threatened to halt operations starting January 19, 2019, according to reports, apparently in “protest” of the “hasty” imprimatur by the Senate Committee on Public Services chaired by Senator Grace Poe allowing More Power and Electric Company to be the new power distributor in Iloilo City even if PECO’s application for renewal of its franchise is still pending in the Lower House.

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When PECO “snubbed” the meeting of a technical working group (TWG) that will handle the transition works between PECO and MORE Power on November 8, 2018, it should be treated as a portent of things to come.
And now that PECO lawyer Inocencio Ferrer has let the cat out of the bag by saying in media interviews that the local power company will stop its operations on the day its franchise will expire (January 19, 2019), the Department of Energy (DoE) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) should now be ahead of time and are expected to be on top of the situation.
The bottom line here is, the power consumers shouldn’t be caught flat-footed; they should be spared from the corporate wars and must not be involved whether there is a “blackmail” or an ultimatum whatsoever.

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The decision of the Garin family to allow former Health Secretary Janette-Loreto Garin to “substitute” for her husband, Rep. Oscar “Richard” Garin, Jr. in the next congressional term in Iloilo’s first district (granting that their rival, Gerardo Flores, will lose anew), is understandable.
Among the Garin clan members, it’s Dr. Loreto-Garin who is a facing a thunderstorm in public life.
If the Dengvaxia cases filed against her will prosper in court and she is back in Congress, she will have at least something to lean on as a matter of “defense and survival” when the war of attrition versus the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and other anti-Garin forces lingers.
It’s been tested and proven that in the Philippines, a public office could be an ideal “asylum” for those who are in dire straits legally; not to wiggle out from the trouble permanently, but, at least, for a temporary relief.
In crisis and in happiness, the Garins don't abandon each other; they cling to each other for moral support and otherwise.
Everything will change, of course, if Flores, who has never won an electoral battle versus the Garins, will pull an upset in the May 2019 elections.

Richard goes to social media for Janette

“A real man loves his wife, and places his family as the most important thing in life. Nothing has brought me more peace and content in life than simply being a good husband and father.”
--Frank Abagnale

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- No one can now accuse him of just watching and doing nothing while his wife is being saddled by a heavy storm.
Because he can’t openly lash at the critics of his beleaguered wife, Dr. Janette Loreto-Garin, for delicadeza, Iloilo 1st district Rep. Oscar “Richard” Garin Jr. has opted to utilize his Facebook accounts to “share” some news from several media websites that somehow tended to “cushion the impact” of Sen. Richard Gordon’s draft report of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on the P3.5 billion dengue vaccination program.
The news Rep. Garin shared in his two Facebook accounts these past days appeared to be balanced, objective, and weren’t tainted with any bias in favor of Gordon’s committee draft that recently recommended charges against Loreto-Garin, former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, and former Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad in relation to the botched deal.

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Rep. Garin must have felt there was a need for him to urgently disseminate those articles not only to his social media friends but also to the public in general, in order to help disabuse the minds of those who think that his wife, Mr. Aquino and Abad are guilty beyond reasonable doubt and, thus, deserve the guillotine.
He probably wanted those who have not yet seen or read the draft committee to take a second look at the stormy issue and scrutinize further the evidence presented, as well as the sides of the accused and their accusers.
If Rep. Garin did nothing and acted only like a deaf and mute kibitzer while Gordon’s committee draft was ripping apart the three like ribbons, his family, friends and constituents will think he is an irresponsible, insensitive and a coward husband who has no love and concern for an embattled wife.

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For her part, Loreto-Garin herself has insisted the program was not rushed as talks about a dengue vaccine started in the time of her predecessor, Dr. Enrique Ona, and ended in the time of her successor, Dr. Paulyn Ubial.
Ubial was among those who pinned down Loreto-Garin. She filed a libel case against Ubial and several others in return.
It was reported that some 830,000 schoolchildren were vaccinated under the program before drug maker Sanofi Pasteur admitted late last year that Dengvaxia may cause severe dengue when administered to patients who have not contracted the mosquito-borne disease before.
The Duterte administration has since suspended its dengue vaccination program, but several parents claimed that their children died due to complications from the vaccine. These claims, however, have yet to be proven, it was reported earlier.

No solid punches

“The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel.”
--James Thurber

By Alex P. Vidal

NEWARK, New Jersey -- In my opinion, the libel cases former Philippine health secretary Janette Loreto-Garin filed against former health secretary Paulyn Obial and three other Department of Health (DOH) officials weren’t solid punches.
Libel is a difficult case to prosecute especially if the plaintiff and the accused are former public officials.
In a libel case, if the plaintiff can’t prove malice beyond reasonable doubt, the case won’t prosper.
Dr. Loreto-Garin claimed that the statements and imputations made by Drs. Ubial, Anthony Leachon, Teodoro Herbosa, and Francisco Cruz against her on the Dengvaxia imbroglio “have caused dishonor, discredit or contempt upon my person”.
If I were Dr. Loreto-Garin, I would file a case for moral damages.

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In its excitement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) hurriedly announced that Nader Essam Assaf, a Lebanese national, and his wife, Mona, a Syrian national, tagged as principal suspects in the brutal torture and murder of 29-year-old domestic helper Joanna Demafiles from Sara, Iloilo, have been arrested.
Fine. We have no quarrel with that.
The Filipinos seeking justice for the slain OFW, at least, were able to heave a sigh of relief.
Arrest, however, is different from prosecuted.
It will be a different reaction from Demafiles’ kababayans if the DFA will break the news that the suspects have been found guilty.
Because of the degree of cruelty that Demafiles had incurred, her kababayans want no less than a death penalty for the assailants.
That would be a cause for jubilation and would send a strong signal to all sadistic employers not only in the Middle East but also in other continents where there are large number of OFWs.

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We can’t blame politicians who showed up in the wake of Joanna Demafiles in Sara, Iloilo when President Duterte visited there recently.
Some critics claimed the politicians only wanted to exploit Demafiles’ case for their self aggrandizement and free publicity.
Not all.
If some politicians wanted to ride on the Demafiles issue, it’s not a news. That’s politics 101 and normal in the Philippines.
It happens from time to time, not just in the case of the murdered OFW.
I believe, however, that most of them were obligated to be present as a protocol and courtesy for the visiting president who is the highest official of the land.
If an important guest will come to our house, we can’t stay in the bedroom and appoint the lizards and cats to entertain the visitor.

Three in one

"Juvenile crime is not naturally born in the boy, but is largely due either to the spirit of adventure that is in him, to his own stupidity, or to his lack of discipline, according to the nature of the individual."
--Robert Baden-Powell

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- By issuing an executive order directing the mandatory closure of nightclubs and establishments selling liquors by two o'clock in the morning, Iloilo City Mayor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa III delivered a knockout blow on three wicked activities: drunkenness, prostitution, drug addiction.
It's a three-in-one juggernaut for city hall.
It's during night time or bar hours where these three main producers of criminal and immoral activities flourish.
Joe III's Executive Order (EO) No 146 dated Dec 14, 2017 will not only prevent gangs, ruffians, and drug addicts from straying in the streets like serpents, it will also discourage or minimize prostitution in the city's prominent watering holes.
When bars and establishments selling liquors are closed, these misguided elements will have no place to use as tambayan.
Crimes will be minimized if not totally prevented.
Peace and order will improve.

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In trying to link Iloilo 1st District Rep. Oscar "Richard" Garin Jr. to the Dengvaxia imbroglio and connecting the controversial vaccination program to her rejection by the House Commission on Appointments (CA), former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial sounded like a sore loser and a cry baby.
It's obvious from the start of the Senate hearing on the ill-fated P3.5 anti-dengue vaccination program that Ubial only wanted to pin down her predecessor, Dr. Janette Loreto-Garin.
Ubial, who was appointed as DOH chief by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, probably wasn't happy as Loreto-Garin's undersecretary during the administration of President NoyNoy Aquino, thus her umbrage and abhorrence toward the Garin couple.
Her sadness probably worsened after she was repulsed in the CA hearings.
If it is true that Rep. Garin "pressured" her to "order" more Dengvaxia for implementation in the congressman's district as well as in the districts of solons who were CA members, how would these solons influence the purchase of the hated P3.5 billion vaccine which was already consummated?

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The "noise" created by the recent Supreme Court decison on the Metropolitan Cebu Water District furor in Cebu City was what prompted Iloilo City Mayor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa III and the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) Board of Directors to scuffle.
Joe III, a lawyer, based his decison to terminate the five MIWD directors appointed by Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. on the SC en banc verdict.
Joe III believes, based on the SC ruling, that he has the authority to appoint the MIWD directors.
MIWD General Manager Imelda Magsuci appears to be cool and isn't bent to engage city hall in a legal collision course.
If they all base their arguments and discussions on legality and reason, confusion and further debate will be avoided.

Why husband Richard is silent

"A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong."
-- Milton Berle

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Before the formal investigation in congress on the Dengvaxia tragedy started, the name of Dr. Janette Loreto-Garin was already in tatters.
Angry parents, politicians, health workers, opinion writers tore to shreds the former Philippines Department of Health (DOH) secretary and blamed her for the titanic vaccination disaster that reportedly put at risk thousands of lives of Filipino schoolchildren.
If she were Japanese, Loreto-Garin, 45, would have committed suicide due to large-scale damage on her name and intensity of condemnation from an irate public.
But Loreto-Garin isn't yet finished.
She didn't fly the coop.
She failed to immediately address the issue because she was mourning the recent death of her father, Jose, in Baybay, Leyte.
She has expressed willingness to face any investigation in the proper forum and time.

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We expect Iloilo 1st district Rep. Oscar "Richard" Garin Jr., husband of Dr. Loreto-Garin, to defend his wife amid the worsening storm of public denunciation.
Rep. Garin, himself probably shocked by the wave of public outcry for his wife's blood, hasn't issued any public statement in defense of his physician wife.
But in his Facebook account, Rep. Garin posted on December 10, 2017 a NEWS ABS-CBN.COM article entitled: "Garin tags ex-health chief Ona in dengue vaccine decision."
Earlier on December 8, 2017, Rep. Garin also posted a NEWSINFO INQUIRER.NET opinion article entitled: "In defense of Garin" written by Ramon Tulfo.
No husband will sit down and keep quite while his wife is being sliced to pieces by vitriol and vilification coming from all angles.
No husband will not feel sad after seeing on national TV and reading in the newspapers and the social media bundles of unsavory words being thrown at his wife.
But unlike other husbands or wives of embattled public officials who immediately join the fray and lash at critics of their loved ones when push comes to shove, Rep. Garin did not want to throw caution to the wind and will probably wait for the right time to open his mouth.

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Owners of restaurants and pubs selling liquors in Iloilo City in the Philippines are aghast by the city dads' proposal to limit the serving or selling of alcoholic drinks at 1 o'clock in the morning.
They fear loss of income.
Many of these establishments operate only at night and cater to drinking customers and tourists who come home late or at around 3 to 4 o'clock in the morning.
The proposal came after a shooting incident killed a promising medical worker at Smallville two weeks ago.
Probers attributed the violence to a dispute between two groups of young men intoxicated by liquor.
They theorized that if they were not drunk, the protagonists wouldn't have resorted to violence and a life would've been spared.
But what about illegal drugs? Where authorities able to determine with finality that liquor had caused the fracas?
But in any decision that redounds to the benefit of society, the public officials have the final say after a public hearing has been conducted.

A test of Loreto-Garin's integrity

"One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised."
-- Chinua Achebe

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Ilonggos will be watching with bated breath as former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin defends the controversial purchase during the term of former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III of the controversial P3.5 billion anti-dengue vaccination, which is now the subject of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) probe.
Since Loreto-Garin, 45, is a former Iloilo provincial board member and the wife of Iloilo 1st District Rep. Oscar "Richard" Garin Jr., the Ilonggos are worried that her name might be dragged in the controversy, which has the potential to explode as a tidal wave.
Since it involves billions of pesos and tagged as "danger to public health" (about 10 percent of the estimated 700,000 children vaccinated prior to dengue infection are reportedly at risk), the story has sent shockwaves all over the world.
So far, no Ilonggo public servant who served in the national government has been implicated in a scandal of horrific proportion in recent memory.
We are confident that, without prejudice to the ongoing NBI probe as ordered by the Department of Justice (DOJ) effective December 4, 2017, Loreto-Garin will not besmirch the reputation of the Ilonggos and she can wiggle out from the difficult dilemma.


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Loreto-Garin, one of the richest cabinet officials who served under the Aquino administration, has no derogatory record in as far as public service is concerned.
That's why her relatives in Leyte and in-laws in Iloilo as well as their political supporters, are not worried that the controversy might cause dishonor to her name and jeopardize the political future of the Garins once the NBI has conducted its full blown investigation.
Loreto-Garin's innocence in the anti-vaccine tumult is vital as the Philippines prepares for the next congressional elections, which is about 15 months away.
Most of her in-laws in Iloilo are gunning for important elective seats, and they can't afford to carry a heavy baggage like the controversy Loreto-Garin is in today during the campaign period.
If the NBI investigation will find Loreto-Garin among those liable in the alleged anomalous DOH-Sanofi Pasteur P3.5 billion Dengvaxia deal, her husband and in-laws could suffer the domino effects in the 2019 elections.
The entire Garin clan's political luck rests on Loreto-Garin's exoneration.


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SOME Iloilo City hall "job hires" assigned in the Esplanade for the city government's cleanliness program are reportedly being required to report morning and afternoon to work as sweepers without day off effective December 2017.
To compound the matter, they can hardly make both ends meet because aside from their low salary, they are also allegedly being paid late.
If true, let's hope that City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) chief, Engr. Noel Hechanova, can help them.

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With or without peace talks with the communist and the seccesionist rebels, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) should always be on the watch for possible ambush and raid in their precincts and detachments.
They aren't supposed to let their guards down and complain of harassment ad "treachery" when they are killed in "surprised" attacks.
Soldiers should always be on alert because they have been sworn to protect the republic from those who intend to topple the government; and that's why they are hailed as heroes.
Being killed in action or in "surprised" attacks is part of the risk they face every day.