Lifestyle check for provincial engineers

“You've got to think lucky. If you fall into a mudhole, check your back pocket - you might have caught a fish.”  Darrell Royal

By Alex P. Vidal

DO we prevent graft and corruption in government when we do a no non-sense check and balance?

A lifestyle check for those working in government should be done periodically and shouldn’t be a case only of ningas cogon for those implementing it.

Corrupt government employees and officials who don’t know how to conceal their wealth are usually the ones who end up wrestling with criminal and administrative raps filed against them before the Office of the Ombudsman.

When officials and employees in a certain government agency display ostentatious wealth, that agency becomes the red light for graft and corruption.

How they became instant rich and where they get their loot would be the hottest topic in every nook and cranny.

For instance, many provincial engineers have no qualms parading their luxury vehicles in public and have virtually transformed the capitol parking areas into an exhibit of expensive cars.

When a taxpayer visits the capitol, he will be horrified to find some luxury cars like MU-X Isuzu, Toyota Fortuner, Crosswind Isuzu, Isuzu D-Max pick-up, among the latest car models in parking spaces.

These are purportedly owned by engineers who acquired their wealth from "kickbacks" in various infra and road projects.

RICH

Some of these rich employees also reportedly connived with corrupt area engineers who sell diesel fuel distributed for use of capitol backhoes, loaders, bulldozers and dump trucks in project sites.

Each of the five areas reportedly gets 2,000 liters of fuel for a total of 10,000 liters of fuel distributed in five areas in the province.

For instance, if the tanker deposits 80 liters daily, the corrupt area engineer liquidates 120 liters.

“There is connivance between the tanker and the area engineer and everybody is happy,” sources said. “If the diesel fuel is P30 per liter, imagine how they laugh their way to the videoke bar.”

Sources added: “The sad part is that provincial engineer Gracianito Lucero appears to be unaware of this anomaly because he does not have close and regular dialogue with his men.”

The one who is calling most of the shots in the provincial engineer’s office is reportedly assistant engineer Romeo Andig, not Lucero.

Lucero was not available when we tried to reach him yesterday.

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THE “Kampohan Sang Mga Biktima Sang Yolanda” romped off on February 16 and will last until February 20 outside the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional office 6 in Molo district, Iloilo City.

Led by the Paghugpong sang mga Mangunguma sa Panay kag Guimaras (Pamanggas), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)-Panay, Gabriela, Anakbayan, and Kadamay, an urban for alliance, the group called for the immediate full release of the financial shelter aid for victims of typhoon Yolanda and the scrapping of the Memorandum Circular No. 24 Series of 2014 or the guidelines on the implementation of Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) for Yolanda victims.

Of the P9 billion approved for the aid of typhoon victims in Western Visayas, only P1.4 billion has been released according to DSWD-6 Regional Director Evelyn Macapobre.

Cris Chaves, Pamanggas secretary-general, said those with totally damaged houses were promised P30,000 each while partially damaged houses were promised P10,000 each.

Winnie Legriso of KMU decried the government’s snail-paced approach in the distribution of funds.

“Biktima ka na sang bagyo biktima ka pa gid sang pagka uyaya sang gobierno. Biktimahon ka pa gid sang corruption (the typhoon victims are also victims of government neglect and corruption),” he bewailed.

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CITY administrator Norlito Bautista did not reveal the names of the four city hall casual employees reportedly caught forging the signatures of city officials in a bogus payroll they made and presented to a cellular phone company in order to avail a promo in the recent Dinagyang Festival.

But he confirmed that the four have been fired or their contracts will no longer be renewed.

They reportedly used the bogus payroll to make it appear that they get a salary of at least P10,000 a month, which is a requirement in order to avail of the promo.

We laud city hall’s decisiveness and quickness in dealing with the case of the four erring employees.

We hope city hall will also be quick to lower the boom on employees and officials who commit more than payroll forgery.

Minors in cyber sex dens

“Humans are the only animal who can have sex over the phone.” Dave Letterman 

By Alex P. Vidal

A 16-year-old minor was among those “arrested” by police in a raid on a suspected cyber sex den in Brgy. Sinikway, La Paz in Iloilo City last July 10.

She was with three other adult on-line sex performers, including house owner Helen Delotavo, 57, when members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Iloilo swooped down on the unit.

Instead of being “arrested” the girl should have been “rescued” and turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The law exempts minors from culpability in crimes committed by adults especially if they turned out to be the victims themselves.

The girl had no business in that cyber sex den, in the first place. And she was not supposed to be in the police station trying to hide herself from photographers and TV crew who had no idea how old she is. 

In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration, as stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The use of minors is rampant not only in dangerous workplaces but also in prostitution houses and commission of crimes.

Sometimes they are used as fronts and decoys to confuse authorities, thus they are exposed to extreme danger especially if they are asked to act as couriers of illegal drugs. 

Minors have become the favorite sacrificial lambs of syndicates and the veritable scapegoats of abusive adults.

FORCED

If they are not forced to sell their bodies, they are used as tools or performers in on-line sex chats with foreigners for a fee or what is now known as cyber sex.

The payment is done via Western Union money transfer through middlemen who act as agents for the den.

The agents are the ones who look for clients mostly in the US, Canada and Europe.

Since cyber sex is illegal, there is no guarantee that the minor performers get their fair share of the amount paid by on-line clients.

In most cases, these minor performers are exploited and hoodwinked. The cyber sex den operators and their agents are the ones getting the lion’s share and laughing their way to the banks. 

Sometimes they end up settling for a penny or pocketing only 10 to 20 percent of the actual amount paid by on-line clients.

There were reports that some minors also suffered from maltreatment and other forms of abuse by some cyber sex den operators. 

Aside from being shortchanged of their income, they were also subjected to humiliation by being forced to perform lewd acts in front of male clients salivating for their bodies on-line. 

Police should work closely with the DSWD or invite their representatives in future raids because there are strong possibilities that they would again stumble into more minors in clandestine cyber sex or whore houses in the cities and provinces in Western Visayas.

Meanwhile, a source from Guanco St., City Proper who requested strict anonymity informed us that there are more cyber sex dens in the City Proper, Jaro, Molo, and Mandurriao maintained by pimps who also operate boarding house or room for rent business.

LOCATE

“It’s easy to locate these cyber sex dens,” said our female informant who lives in Bo. Obrero, Lapuz district. ”If you are a woman and you know a pimp in one barangay and you want to apply as on-line sex performer, you know who to approach.”

Some barangay officials are reportedly aware of the existence of cyber sex dens in their areas, “but like in the campaign against drugs, some of them become deaf and mute when it comes to giving of tips to authorities.”  

Many losing internet cafes have reportedly closed shop and dabbled in cyber sex business which is thriving in other places of the country.

“Cyber sex den is easy to operate because all you need are computer sets or laptops and women who are willing to undress and perform sexual acts in front of on-line customers,” added our informant.