EXCLUSIVE: DOT Secretary Teo 'backs out' from New York City parade

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Dr. Prospero Lim, president of the New York-based Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI), confirmed in an exclusive phone interview on May 28 that Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Wanda Corazon Tulfo-Teo "has backed out" from the 119th Philippine Independence 27th Annual Parade here on June 4, 2017.
Lim said, "I did not exactly know what happened, but there was an official invitation given to the secretary of the Department of Tourism which was officially received (by the DOT)."
"But she is always welcome to attend on June 4," Lim added. "What I can assure you is that Cesar Montano and the three beauty queens--Miss World 2013 Megan Young, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, and Miss International 2016 Kylie Verzosa--are coming."
Montano is the chief operating officer of the Tourism Promotions Board, an agency under the DOT.

SUBORDINATE

"If Montano who is only Teo's subordinate is coming, how come the secretary, who is head of the DOT will not?" asked a parade organizer, who refused to be named because she was not authorized to talk about the parade's details.
Teo, who had earlier reportedly expressed "excitement" to attend the biggest parade of Filipino Americans in the United States held every first week of June, could not be reached for comment.
Lim, who is on his second term as PIDCI president, said "I am not aware" if DOT has made any financial commitment to support the parade on Madison Street in Manhattan organized jointly by PIDCI and the Philippine Consulate General in New York headed by Consul General Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega.
He admitted that "money has always been difficult no matter what we do but the Consulate has been very supportive and helpful and they have been with us."
Dizon-De Vega was expected to come back from the Philippines, where she reportedly met incoming Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.

ON LEAVE

Lim said PIDCI treasurer, Nora Galeros, was "on leave."
He confirmed there was an ongoing auditing of PIDCI funds saying "it's natural".
PIDCI officer Joecelyn Aligarbes had earlier disclosed the auditing "is still ongoing."
Lim denied they are having financial problems.
PIDCI is an umbrella organization of Filipino American associationns based on the East Coast.
"It is principally dedicated to promoting history, the cultural heritage and traditions of the Filipino people through the celebration of Philippine Independence Day, hence, the name," its website declared.
Lim said: "We are hoping for the best (parade) and I hope it will not rain. Somebody up there has been good to us."

'Give us water or give us death'

“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.”W. H. Auden

By Alex P. Vidal

We can live for seven days without food, but not without drinking water.

In this modern age, we can live without electricity, but not without drinking water. Food is hard to swallow and digest without water. Human evolution is impossible to attain without water.

We have been expressing fears that our endless woes with the cash-strapped Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) would develop from bad to worse.

And those fears have now become our nightmares.

MIWD continues to maintain a Punch-and-Judy relationship with its bulk water supplier, FLO Water Resources Iloilo, Inc., and the direct casualties are the water consumers.  

Since FLO Water Resources Iloilo, Inc. operates as a business entity, its transaction with the MIWD is purely business.

Compassion and whatever “human” considerations won’t interfere in this conundrum.

If MIWD fails to pay its arrears on time, which has reached P5 million, FLO Water Resources Iloilo, Inc. cuts off its water supply. We, the consumers, bellyache! As simple as that.

How long shall we suffer? If MIWD continues to renege on its obligations with the FLO Water Resources Iloilo, Inc., we will also continue to suffer indefinitely.

CYCLE

It has become a cycle. We have the same problem several months back, and the same problem will continue to haunt us if the situation is not remedied.

The debate on how to deal with the bungling water agency was only temporarily set aside when other pressing issues took over these past months, but MIWD’s inefficiency and inadequacy to perform its obligations to the Ilonggos remained.

The move of Iloilo City Rep. Jerry P. Trenas to introduce House Resolution No. 1363 calling for the privatization of the MIWD last August 12 won’t immediately solve the water district’s mismanagement.

While the politicians debate in the House of Representatives, the Ilonggo consumers won't have water to drink.

The threat by Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to file a case against MIWD also won’t immediately solve the water crisis.

While the lawyers prepare for the legal battle in court, there is not water in the faucets.

Gov. Arthur Defensor, the appointing official of the MIWD board, neither supports nor opposes the privatization and the filing of case against the MIWD, but he, too, is hard-pressed to ferret out any immediate solution to address the mess.

EMBARRASS

Some local officials, especially the business sector, fear embarrassment should MIWD’s skullduggery prolongs until next year when the city will host part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meetings here.

Never mind the APEC. These ministers will stay in the hotels anyway. With or without the APEC, we still need water. 

It’s the household consumers that badly need drinking water on a daily basis. APEC will come and go, but the Ilonggo consumers' need to have a drinking water on the table during meals, is still the most paramount.  

Ilonggo consumers are getting impatient. Unlike in the electricity, they seldom complain about their water bills, which are “cheaper”, thus they almost religiously settle their bills on time without any prejudice to the MIWD.

But they don’t get the kind of services that they deserve in return. MIWD does not reciprocate the consumers’ goodwill and show of support for the management. 

Instead, MIWD bungles on its job and takes the consumers for a ride.

Enough is enough. 

Each time water fails to come out from the faucets, we can almost hear the Ilonggo consumers scream collectively, “Give us water or give us death!”

Yes to water, no to MIWD

“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.”  
W. H. Auden

By Alex P. Vidal

Water and the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) are supposed to be like Siamese twins: inseparable.

Without MIWD there is no water. Without water there is no MIWD. At least that’s how most Ilonggo concessionaires think in as far as the water system in Iloilo is concerned for almost 50 years now.

MIWD produces potable water in the households, offices and farms. Consumers pay for the water supply. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. They maintain this type of symbiotic relationship.

Just like Panay Electric Company (PECO) and electricity, services are smooth and uninterrupted if consumers don’t renege on the payment of their monthly bills. There is no public uproar and restlessness if there are no frequent power outages and atrocious hidden fees. Simple logic.       

But public perception for MIWD has changed critically. Irate consumers have grown tired of its inefficiency and lackadaisical services that MIWD is not anymore indispensable in their eyes.

LIFE

Consumers have realized that there would still be life, after all, even without MIWD. They are not anymore afraid to kick MIWD in the butt and tell MIWD straight in the face to get lost!

When the faucets stopped producing water last June 14 and 15 because MIWD failed to settle the partial payment of its debt worth P2.7 million to its bulk water supplier, Flo Water Resources Iloilo, Inc., the patience of consumers reached the tipping point. Enough is enough.

Picking up the cudgels for the distraught consumers, Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Trenas and Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, who are water consumers themselves, uncorked the heaviest verbal barrage never uttered before by high-ranking local leaders in recent memory.

Trenas, a many-time referee of MIWD internal squabbles, has called for the privatization of the water utility firm. He feared the worst for the consumers if MIWD’s management was not privatized. He has no more love lost for MIWD owing probably to his love for his constituents and, perhaps, to his love for Dr. Rogelio Florete, Jr., his business associate and owner of Flo Water Resources Iloilo, Inc.

ADOPT

Trenas wanted MIWD to adapt to the paradigm shift of water management in the modern world. There is no room for inefficiency, sloppiness and ineptitude in a privatized MIWD, Trenas thought.

Mabilog, on the other hand, wanted to dissolve the MIWD. He wants water consumers in the city to look for their own water distribution system and not to anymore rely on the decrepit MIWD.

He has given up on MIWD’s series of demagoguery. Both city leaders fear MIWD’s lousy services will delay Iloilo City’s march to progress and development. Investors would never risk a long-term investment in a city that can’t quench the thirst of its residents even during rainy season.

The hostile reactions of both Trenas and Mabilog were enough proof that Iloilo City is willing to let go of MIWD after years of mutual co-existence and relationship. Somebody has to pack up and leave. A divorce is inevitable.

No concrete answer why 26 journalists have been killed

"If you have to kill a snake, kill it once and for all." 
--Japanese Proverb

By Alex P. Vidal

As community journalists, we have heard in brutal details how some of our colleagues were killed in cold blood by hired assassins. Sometimes they died in the line of duty like cops and soldiers in the battlefield. 

When we joined the press after the EDSA Revolution, the country was already becoming one of the most dangerous places on earth for journalists, a notoriety that hasn't changed until today. 

Extra-judicial killings and other forms of harassment continued unabated under the Cory administration -- even after Marcos has fled. FVR, Erap and Gloria have failed to curb the culture of impunity, as well. 

Journalists, labor leaders, and other activists disappeared like shallow lakes in the summer season. They were summarily executed sometimes in front of their family members and in broad daylight. 

Back in November 2009 at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California, an American soldier asked why I was in tears while I was reviewing the news in the internet. "My colleagues were massacred in the Philippines," I replied in cracked voice. I cried in horror because of the magnitude of that massacre.

MAGUINDANAO

I was referring to the Maguindanao massacre on November 23, 2009. Of the 58 victims, 34 were community journalists. Two of them were my former roommates at the Hyatt Hotel in Manila way back in the 90s when we were still active members of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI).

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the Maguindanao massacre the single deadliest event for journalists in history. Until now, justice continues to elude the victims and their families.

When an American journalist, who accompanied President Barrack Obama in Manila last April 28, brought the matter of media killings during a joint conference, President Noynoy Aquino was caught flat-footed. 
In fact, he failed to satisfy this very straight-to-the-point and simple question: "President Aquino, as a journalist, I’d like to ask you why 26 journalists have been killed since you took office. And I understand that there have only been suspects arrested in six of those cases. What are you doing to fix that?"

President Aquino's answer: "With regards to the killing of journalists, perhaps we should say from the outset that I don't have the figures right here before me. But we did set up an inter-agency committee to look on extralegal killings and forced disappearances, torture, and other grave violations of right to life, liberty and security of persons. 

FIGURES

"And in this particular body, there has been -- I have the figures for labor-related issues -- there were 62 suspected cases of extrajudicial killings referred to it, and of the 62 investigations before this committee, there have been 10 that have been determined to fulfill the criteria and the definitions of what constitutes an extrajudicial killing.  Of the 10 cases that have been determined to be possible EJK cases, only one happened during our watch -- the case of Mr. Estrellado. 

"Now, as far as journalists are concerned, perhaps the track record speaks for itself. The Maguindanao massacre involved something like 52 journalists, and there are presently something like over 100 people who have been indicted for this crime and are undergoing trial. That doesn’t mean that we have stopped trying to look for others potentially involved in this particular killing. And may we just state for the record that even when it comes to journalists, it is not a policy of this state to silence critics. All you have to do would be to turn on the TV, the radio, or look at any newspaper to find an abundance of criticisms.

INVESTIGATIONS

"Now, having said that, investigations have been done. Anybody who has been killed obviously is a victim, and investigations have been ongoing. If at times we do not reveal the discoveries by our intelligence agencies and security services, perhaps we are very sensitive to personal relationships by the people who are deceased who were killed not because of professional activities, but, shall we say, other issues. But having said that, they were killed.  That is against the law. And the people will have to be found, prosecuted and sent to jail."

Why they were killed and what is the president doing to fix the killings? President Aquino has failed to break the camel's back in this very fundamental question. No assurance that the culture of impunity will end. No assurance that justice will soon be served on the fallen members of the Fourth Estate. 

No 'sweet victory' for Tom Doyle even as HLURB orders a refund

No 'sweet victory' for Tom Doyle 
even as HLURB orders a refund

"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory," MAHATMA GANDHI

By Alex P. Vidal

Victory appears to be "not sweet" for Thomas "Tom" Patrick Joseph Doyle and wife Mesalie even if the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) has ordered IVQ Landholdings, Inc. to refund them the amount of P348,285 they paid as downpayment for the subdivision lot sold by the realty developer in 2011.
"The order says the refund should be made within 30 days from receipt thereof. It's not yet 30 days, but I don't think they will refund me," boomed Doyle, who went to the IVQ Landholdings, Inc. office on Mabini St. February 25 to claim his money. "Despite my age and physical deformity (he can't walk without a cane) they gave me a run around."
Because of the way he was treated by IVQ Landholdings, Inc. Doyle said he was contemplating on hauling the developer firm to court for damages. He wanted HLURB to penalize IVQ Landholdings, Inc. with interest of his money.  
IVQ Landholdings, Inc. refused to make a comment when contacted by this writer yesterday (February 25). This writer also went to IVQ Landholdings, Inc. last February 21 but was told by the secretary to leave a contact number. No representative from the IVQ Landholdings contacted this writer since February 21. A second attempt to get the side of the IVQ Landholdings, Inc. proved futile as the staff, who asked anew for this writer's contact number, did not make a return call as promised yesterday (February 25) afternoon. 

ORDER

In an order dated February 10, 2014 on the "manifestation and motion for the refund of downpayment" the Doyle couple filed last December 3, 2013, HLURB arbiter Melchor M. Calopez also declared as "cancelled or rescinded" the contract to sell signed between the Doyle couple and IVQ Landholdings, Inc., represented by its president, Ian Eric Pama and vice president Joel M. Nermal, dated November 27, 2012.
"Accordingly, the herein respondent is hereby ordered to refund to the complainant, within thirty (30) days from receipt thereof, the amount of P348,285.00 without interest. It is so ordered," stated Calopez's order.
The Dolye couple filed the manifestation and motion after HLURB earlier ordered them to apply for a loan to pay IVQ Landholdings, Inc. the total balance of P1,393,140 for the subdivision lot known as Block 4, Lot 7 of Princedale Residences located at Yulo St., Arevalo district, Iloilo City.

LOAN

The couple argued Doyle's loan applications with three commercial banks: The Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI), Banco de Oro, and Metrobank have been denied because he is an alien and already 76 years old, and his wife is unemployed and has no means of income and lacks capacity to pay.
HLURB gave credence to the Doyle couple's assertion.
Calopez's order stated that IVQ Landholdings, Inc. "knew from the very start" that Doyle is an alien and already 76 years old at the time he was enticed to purchase the subdivision lot.
"That respondent IVQ also assured complainants that they could avail of a loan with Valiant Bank, a sister company of IVQ, however, their loan application was also turned down by the said bank;
"That had it not for the assurances of respondent's sales agents and its Vice President, Mr. Joel M. Nermal, complainants did not enter into contract to sell and paid a downpayment amounting to P348,285.00;

COMPEL

"That in view of the foregoing, respondent IVQ cannot therefore compel the complainants to continue with the contract to sell and pay the remaining balance of the purchase price considering that they could not avail of a loan from any bank or financial institution, hence the contract to sell should rather be rescinded and respondent be ordered to refund the total downpayments plus interest," read part of Calopez's order.
Calopez's order pointed out that the Doyle couple "have tried to comply with the decision of the (HLURB) Regional Office (to apply for a loan to cover the remaining amount of the subdivision lot), however, they were not able to do so because they are not qualified borrowers."
Calopez's order further explained: "This circumstance was made known only after the decision has been rendered. To rule that they are no longer entitled to refund of their downpayment will be unjustly depriving them of their money though no fault on their part.
"Based on equitable ground, and after determining that the complainants cannot possibly comply with the terms and conditions of the contract to sell, the contract to sell dated November 27, 2012 should be rescinded, and the respondent should return the amount of P348,285.00 without interest."